Touch Kobo Touch Firmware 1.9.17 - Page 17

MacEachaidh · 05-28-2012, 03:31 PM

Yep, I can reproduce this, roycymru. (Should I just say "Welsh Roy"?)

I haven't taken the plastic screen skin off mine - it's still new, and I've been looking for a screen protector - but the adhesive is a little loose down in the bottom left corner, where the tab is. If I breathe on it, the plastic moves enough to set off the sensor, and I get what you've described: a word (always down in the left-hand corner) being highlighted with the handles, as if I'm going to look it up in the dictionary, but the screen freezes and won't respond to any tap at any point on the screen. The "x" won't close that option, and all I can do is turn it off, and hold the slider across long enough for it to power down.

If I just put it in sleep mode, and then wake it up again, that achieves nothing: the screen is still locked. I have to shut it down completely, and then the first attempt to power it up produces no response, but the second attempt always wakes it up, and the screen is unlocked. Until the next time it happens ...

Completely reproducible, and the exact same pattern of behaviour ensues very time. The fact that it won't power up again on the first try is pretty strange, but it's exactly the same every single time.

One thing I don't know is whether this happened on earlier versions of the firmware as well. Even though my Touch came pre-installed with 1.9.14 (I think), it updated immediately the very first time I initialised it, so I've only ever used 1.9.17.

MacEachaidh · 05-28-2012, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

@Roycymru: See https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=170256 for others with this issue.

The difference though, Peter, is that the thread you've pointed roycymru to seems to be people whose KTs have just frozen; as i understand what roy was asking, and the example of mine I was giving, is that it it goes into a word selection mode first, without direct prompting, and then freezes. And as I indicated, mine (at least) behaves strangely in recovery, as well.

Mrs_Often · 05-28-2012, 04:14 PM

I wonder whether Kobo actually reads these posts and takes notes of feature requests and bugs that we mention. To be on the safe side I decided not to assume they do, and mailed them at their 'help' e-mail address. Every single time I raised an issue (or a list of issues, rather), I got a very detailed reply within 24 hours. For anything they couldn't solve, they promised to send it on as a feature request and for things they thought they could solve we mailed back and forth a bit, but eventually those problems were also sent on to the development team. I include a list of issues I raised below.

I must say, I'm impressed with the customer care, especially after reading so many posts complaining about not getting replies at all! I encourage everyont to send your feature requests and bug fix requests to Kobo's help email address (via their "get help" link on the site).

Tasmin

1. Feature request: low battery warning (as apposed to just switching off mid page turn leaving you stuck without a book to read until you get to a charging station!)
2. Bug report: top-margin issue (where there is no top-margin for side loaded books)
3. Feature request: the ability to set the clock to 24 hours in the English system (currently only possible in foreign languages)
4. Feature request: the ability to set a preference for the way page numbers are shown in kepubs. They now show page number per chapter ("Chapter two: page 3 of 28") while I'd prefer them to be set to page number per entire book ("Page 45 of 432") as it gives a better overview of where you are and how far you've got. (NB This issue can be bypassed by downloading the DRM epub version of the keypub and reading that in stead: that DOES give pages per entire book. Weird.)
5. Feature request: the ability to switch off headers in kepubs. (NB Same bypass as point 4.)
6. Feature request: better cover display for sideloaded books. Not all covers currently show up, depending on whether they are attached by Calibre or actually built into the epub file itself. Also, when the cover does display, the aspect ratio is usually messed up and the device for some reason puts margins to the left and right of the picture. Ugly result.
7. Feature request: for the battery life icon to be displayed during sleep mode, so you can keep track of how the battery's doing. (I have the problem that I'm either reading the book (no battery display) or have the book in sleep mode so I never get to see how low my battery life is, and it always takes me by surprise when it suddenly complains and tells me to charge now.)
8. Feature request: the ability to choose which menu items to display in the bottom bar when reading a book and selecting some text. Now, only the facebook icon appears (which I never ever use), and to look up the definition of a word I have to go through the menu icon first. It would be a lot easier to have the definition icon right there next to the facebook icon (or instead of the facebook icon)...
9. Feature request: custom book shelves, of course.

taming · 05-28-2012, 05:10 PM

I don't have any special insights into Kobo policy on when to speak up and when to remain silent. I do know they pay attention to the posts here.

My assumption is that over time they learned that if they talk about things they are working on, looking for solutions for, planning for the future etc, invariably someone posts about how slow they are, asks how long could it take to fix something so simple, yada yada.

Personally, I'd rather have the engineers/developers working on the devices than interacting with us here. It is though nice to know that they pay attention--and they do.

murg · 05-29-2012, 05:07 AM

The problem with Kobo's complete lack of communication is that we think we have been forgotten about.

Seriously, 3 months between releases is ridiculous. This will mean that when the next release comes out, we will have gotten 2 releases in 6 months. Each release fixes some bugs, and introduces new ones.

The primary consideration on when to do a release seems to be when some new social app thingee is complete, not when bug fixes are complete. Or when some new advertising program is implemented.

Or maybe, the development staff is busy with Kobo's new products, and any existing product is abandoned 6 months after it is released. This is a great way for Kobo to achieve a reputation.

Don't get me wrong, I like my Touch. I just want the bugs fixed.

John F · 05-29-2012, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roycymru

Freezing Bug!

Anyone else come across this in 1.9.17. Both my wife and I have noticed it on our Kobo Touch's. It doesn't happen every time but if when your are reading and inadvertently rest your thumb (right) thumb on the screen for a while (which results in a word or part of word being highlighted, and the book, face book and X icons being displayed), it freezes up. You can't cancel by pressing on X and to come out of it you have to switch the Kobo off.

Anyone able to replicate this and, if so, reproducibly?

This happens to me every once in a while (probably every two weeks?).

taming · 05-29-2012, 08:09 AM

I got my Touch on release day, June 10, 2011. If I remember correctly (please correct me if I do not), Kobo introduced some new features on the Touch, and then caught Kobo WiFi up, to some degree. We may see that sort of scenario if a new device is dropped.

I agree, the lack of bug fixes is beyond annoying. Fortunately, the bug list is not all that long, at this point. They drive folks batty, no matter how few there are out there, of course.

What is a big unknown is if the bug fixes would be different now than they would need to be after whatever is being planned actually happens. Sort of a staging issue. We'll never know that, of course, but I have seen that kind of thing close-up with other tech.

Comparing Kobo to in terms of interaction on MR: are the Sony developers more active on the boards? How about the Kindle folks? Nook?

roycymru · 05-29-2012, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Yep, I can reproduce this, roycymru. (Should I just say "Welsh Roy"?)

I haven't taken the plastic screen skin off mine - it's still new, and I've been looking for a screen protector - but the adhesive is a little loose down in the bottom left corner, where the tab is. If I breathe on it, the plastic moves enough to set off the sensor, and I get what you've described: a word (always down in the left-hand corner) being highlighted with the handles, as if I'm going to look it up in the dictionary, but the screen freezes and won't respond to any tap at any point on the screen. The "x" won't close that option, and all I can do is turn it off, and hold the slider across long enough for it to power down.

If I just put it in sleep mode, and then wake it up again, that achieves nothing: the screen is still locked. I have to shut it down completely, and then the first attempt to power it up produces no response, but the second attempt always wakes it up, and the screen is unlocked. Until the next time it happens ...

Completely reproducible, and the exact same pattern of behaviour ensues very time. The fact that it won't power up again on the first try is pretty strange, but it's exactly the same every single time.

One thing I don't know is whether this happened on earlier versions of the firmware as well. Even though my Touch came pre-installed with 1.9.14 (I think), it updated immediately the very first time I initialised it, so I've only ever used 1.9.17.

Glad you can confirm. Anyone else? I have had a few previous firmware versions and have only noticed it with 1.9.17. For me this the only major issue I have with 1.9.17, as double page turns etc. with 1.9.16 seem to have been eliminated.

Other things I would like are:

Slightly better contrast and sharper (higher resolution) text. Text was improved in 1.9.16 but in comparison to the new Kindle touch, the Kindle has the better contrast and sharpness.

Better support for links. Not that I use this very often, but my wife has a reference bible wihich has links to different parts of text (explanations, discussion points) etc. and they sort of work in the Kobo but not very well, especially if you want to try and jump back to the original text. My son has a Kindle Touch and on this these work flawlessly.

panda53 · 05-29-2012, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roycymru

Freezing Bug!

It doesn't happen every time but if when your are reading and inadvertently rest your thumb (right) thumb on the screen for a while (which results in a word or part of word being highlighted, and the book, face book and X icons being displayed), it freezes up. You can't cancel by pressing on X and to come out of it you have to switch the Kobo off.

Anyone able to replicate this and, if so, reproducibly?

I've had a Kobo touch for 3 months, with v 1.19.17 firmware update. I had this happen several times when I first got Kobo, but then things settled down. Ironically, the problem you describe occurred again today. It either happens in the way you describe, by leaning on the touch screen and inadvertently "selecting" words - or I wonder if there's a problem somewhere on the right side of the page that produces this.

Luckily, turning off and on corrects the problem - but it would be great if it could be resolved instead.

WS64 · 05-29-2012, 05:47 PM

The freezing bug also happens with 1.9.16
(My Kobo came with 1.9.12, automatically updated to 17, and I manually downgraded to 16)

winsomnia · 05-30-2012, 04:24 AM

Yes, I have had this happen as well. It acts like it wants to highlight a word (long-press action) but it freezes that way, and can only be unfrozen by turning off/on. And this has only happened to me through some accidental touch, not a true long-press. Luckily this doesn't happen often.

And yes, it has happened on my Kobo Touch through at least two (maybe three) different firmwares. I am using the most recent fw, and the last time this annoying bug happened to me was three nights ago.

danskmacabre · 05-30-2012, 04:58 AM

I've also noticed that freezing bug very occasionally under those circumstances that have been described already.

roycymru · 05-30-2012, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roycymru

Freezing Bug!

Anyone else come across this in 1.9.17. Both my wife and I have noticed it on our Kobo Touch's. It doesn't happen every time but if when your are reading and inadvertently rest your thumb (right) thumb on the screen for a while (which results in a word or part of word being highlighted, and the book, face book and X icons being displayed), it freezes up. You can't cancel by pressing on X and to come out of it you have to switch the Kobo off.

Anyone able to replicate this and, if so, reproducibly?

I haven't tried this yet but customer service suggest the below as a cure:

Make sure that the device is fully charged

a. Plug it into your computer for 4 hours using the USB cable
2. Power the device off and then on again

a. Slide the power button to the right for 5 to 6 seconds to turn it off
b. Slide the button to the right again to turn it on
3. Complete a basic reset

a. Straighten a paper clip
b. Turn the eReader over
c. Poke the paper clip into the hole in the back until it clicks
d. Remove the paper clip

WS64 · 05-30-2012, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roycymru

I haven't tried this yet but customer service suggest the below as a cure:

Make sure that the device is fully charged

a. Plug it into your computer for 4 hours using the USB cable
2. Power the device off and then on again

a. Slide the power button to the right for 5 to 6 seconds to turn it off
b. Slide the button to the right again to turn it on
3. Complete a basic reset

a. Straighten a paper clip
b. Turn the eReader over
c. Poke the paper clip into the hole in the back until it clicks
d. Remove the paper clip

How is that shorter than "turning the device off and on again"?
(which takes at least 2-5 minutes at my Kobo, I consider that already as a lot of wasted time)

Xennex1170 · 05-30-2012, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WS64

How is that shorter than "turning the device off and on again"?
(which takes at least 2-5 minutes at my Kobo, I consider that already as a lot of wasted time)

I thought that was 3 suggestions that were just formatted badly.

05-28-2012, 05:10 PM	#244
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	I don't have any special insights into Kobo policy on when to speak up and when to remain silent. I do know they pay attention to the posts here. My assumption is that over time they learned that if they talk about things they are working on, looking for solutions for, planning for the future etc, invariably someone posts about how slow they are, asks how long could it take to fix something so simple, yada yada. Personally, I'd rather have the engineers/developers working on the devices than interacting with us here. It is though nice to know that they pay attention--and they do. Last edited by taming; 05-28-2012 at 05:13 PM.

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05-28-2012, 03:31 PM	#241
MacEachaidh Browser Posts: 745 Karma: 578294 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Touch, Kobo Aura HD	Yep, I can reproduce this, roycymru. (Should I just say "Welsh Roy"?) I haven't taken the plastic screen skin off mine - it's still new, and I've been looking for a screen protector - but the adhesive is a little loose down in the bottom left corner, where the tab is. If I breathe on it, the plastic moves enough to set off the sensor, and I get what you've described: a word (always down in the left-hand corner) being highlighted with the handles, as if I'm going to look it up in the dictionary, but the screen freezes and won't respond to any tap at any point on the screen. The "x" won't close that option, and all I can do is turn it off, and hold the slider across long enough for it to power down. If I just put it in sleep mode, and then wake it up again, that achieves nothing: the screen is still locked. I have to shut it down completely, and then the first attempt to power it up produces no response, but the second attempt always wakes it up, and the screen is unlocked. Until the next time it happens ... Completely reproducible, and the exact same pattern of behaviour ensues very time. The fact that it won't power up again on the first try is pretty strange, but it's exactly the same every single time. One thing I don't know is whether this happened on earlier versions of the firmware as well. Even though my Touch came pre-installed with 1.9.14 (I think), it updated immediately the very first time I initialised it, so I've only ever used 1.9.17.

05-28-2012, 04:14 PM	#243
Mrs_Often Wizard Posts: 1,775 Karma: 2694823 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: The Netherlands Device: Kobo Touch, Glo, Clara HD	I wonder whether Kobo actually reads these posts and takes notes of feature requests and bugs that we mention. To be on the safe side I decided not to assume they do, and mailed them at their 'help' e-mail address. Every single time I raised an issue (or a list of issues, rather), I got a very detailed reply within 24 hours. For anything they couldn't solve, they promised to send it on as a feature request and for things they thought they could solve we mailed back and forth a bit, but eventually those problems were also sent on to the development team. I include a list of issues I raised below. I must say, I'm impressed with the customer care, especially after reading so many posts complaining about not getting replies at all! I encourage everyont to send your feature requests and bug fix requests to Kobo's help email address (via their "get help" link on the site). Tasmin 1. Feature request: low battery warning (as apposed to just switching off mid page turn leaving you stuck without a book to read until you get to a charging station!) 2. Bug report: top-margin issue (where there is no top-margin for side loaded books) 3. Feature request: the ability to set the clock to 24 hours in the English system (currently only possible in foreign languages) 4. Feature request: the ability to set a preference for the way page numbers are shown in kepubs. They now show page number per chapter ("Chapter two: page 3 of 28") while I'd prefer them to be set to page number per entire book ("Page 45 of 432") as it gives a better overview of where you are and how far you've got. (NB This issue can be bypassed by downloading the DRM epub version of the keypub and reading that in stead: that DOES give pages per entire book. Weird.) 5. Feature request: the ability to switch off headers in kepubs. (NB Same bypass as point 4.) 6. Feature request: better cover display for sideloaded books. Not all covers currently show up, depending on whether they are attached by Calibre or actually built into the epub file itself. Also, when the cover does display, the aspect ratio is usually messed up and the device for some reason puts margins to the left and right of the picture. Ugly result. 7. Feature request: for the battery life icon to be displayed during sleep mode, so you can keep track of how the battery's doing. (I have the problem that I'm either reading the book (no battery display) or have the book in sleep mode so I never get to see how low my battery life is, and it always takes me by surprise when it suddenly complains and tells me to charge now.) 8. Feature request: the ability to choose which menu items to display in the bottom bar when reading a book and selecting some text. Now, only the facebook icon appears (which I never ever use), and to look up the definition of a word I have to go through the menu icon first. It would be a lot easier to have the definition icon right there next to the facebook icon (or instead of the facebook icon)... 9. Feature request: custom book shelves, of course.

05-29-2012, 05:07 AM	#245
murg No Comment Posts: 3,238 Karma: 23878043 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo: Not just an eReader, it's an adventure!	The problem with Kobo's complete lack of communication is that we think we have been forgotten about. Seriously, 3 months between releases is ridiculous. This will mean that when the next release comes out, we will have gotten 2 releases in 6 months. Each release fixes some bugs, and introduces new ones. The primary consideration on when to do a release seems to be when some new social app thingee is complete, not when bug fixes are complete. Or when some new advertising program is implemented. Or maybe, the development staff is busy with Kobo's new products, and any existing product is abandoned 6 months after it is released. This is a great way for Kobo to achieve a reputation. Don't get me wrong, I like my Touch. I just want the bugs fixed.

05-29-2012, 08:09 AM	#247
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	I got my Touch on release day, June 10, 2011. If I remember correctly (please correct me if I do not), Kobo introduced some new features on the Touch, and then caught Kobo WiFi up, to some degree. We may see that sort of scenario if a new device is dropped. I agree, the lack of bug fixes is beyond annoying. Fortunately, the bug list is not all that long, at this point. They drive folks batty, no matter how few there are out there, of course. What is a big unknown is if the bug fixes would be different now than they would need to be after whatever is being planned actually happens. Sort of a staging issue. We'll never know that, of course, but I have seen that kind of thing close-up with other tech. Comparing Kobo to in terms of interaction on MR: are the Sony developers more active on the boards? How about the Kindle folks? Nook?

05-29-2012, 05:47 PM	#250
WS64 ♫ Posts: 660 Karma: 506380 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Germany Device: Kobo Aura / PB Lux 2 / Bookeen Frontlight / Kobo Mini / Nook Color	The freezing bug also happens with 1.9.16 (My Kobo came with 1.9.12, automatically updated to 17, and I manually downgraded to 16)

05-30-2012, 04:24 AM	#251
winsomnia Groupie Posts: 163 Karma: 190082 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: BC, Canada Device: kobo Touch, kobo Aura	Yes, I have had this happen as well. It acts like it wants to highlight a word (long-press action) but it freezes that way, and can only be unfrozen by turning off/on. And this has only happened to me through some accidental touch, not a true long-press. Luckily this doesn't happen often. And yes, it has happened on my Kobo Touch through at least two (maybe three) different firmwares. I am using the most recent fw, and the last time this annoying bug happened to me was three nights ago.

05-30-2012, 04:58 AM	#252
danskmacabre Guru Posts: 733 Karma: 3593438 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Glo. Galaxy Tab S 8.4	I've also noticed that freezing bug very occasionally under those circumstances that have been described already.

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