Pandigital Novel firmware updates

[jlg432]

Canadian Black PDN with the Kobo Reader

I purchased my B-Cnd PDN Dec 21, 2010. I did the FW update after first trying it out of the Box. At that time the firmware was a downloaded file called Polaris_Update.dat. There was no PC update file.

This FW update installed as instrucked and opened the B-PDN to allow app installs etc. It still was only And 1.5 but I believe the unit did get some performance enhancements as the touch screen seemed to be more responsive after. The firmware was dated 2010-10-15. In January I went back to the PDN web site to see if there were any further updates. On hitting the "Update" for the Canadian PDN instead of downloading the file it wanted to do the PC update procedure only. So I went ahead and did the procedure.

On finishing I ended up with the installed firmware for the USA-PDN which has the B&N or Borders Reader(I can't remember which) with the apps just below the Reader. I tried the update again with the same results. Fortunately I still had my original update file "Polaris_Update.dat". So I reset the unit to factory specs and re-applied it after which I was back to normal FW update dated 2010_10_15.

I then checked a few days ago and discovered that there was a new update dated 2010_10_28 but again only available via the PC update process.

When the download was finished I had the file "S64N_SLST_KOBO_P1_2010_10_10.dat" in the root of my internal PDN memory. I tried several times to initiate the update as per the instructions but it would not start. I thought I might not be doing it correctly. (Hold Vol + and the power button for approx 5-10 seconds). I then decided to rename the file to "polaris_update.dat" and retry the process. It worked!
The "About Reader" page now shows
HD Platform RD101-2GB-W
FW S64N_SLST_KOBO_P1_2010_10_28.
Kernel version 2.6.27 Kobo@Android
Adobe RMSDK: 9.1.0

I don't know what changes were applied but one thing I did noticed was the "Notification area" at the top of the screen no longer shows "Unknow SD card or invalid file format. It now displays "The SD card is mounted sucessfully". Note even though it claimed a problem prior to the update I had no issues unmounting/mounting the SD card and using it.

Everything else appears works as it did before.

Oops.
I had to re-actiavte the ADE DRM but now it claims I have reached my max authorizations for the current ADE account and it will not accept the activation. Bummer. So I have created a new account and I will have to use that for new purchases and downloads.

No issues with prior purchases as I practice removing DRM anyways.

John

[RockdaMan]

Does anyone find that the Kindle app cuts off the top line of the book you're reading because the back, home and options tabs are permi-present?

[Debrah]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Does anyone find that the Kindle app cuts off the top line of the book you're reading because the back, home and options tabs are permi-present?

RockdaMan, I'm also running the 1/14 fw version on a white PDN and finally got a Kindle app to work on it. If I open a book, the top menu bar disappears. But if I press the volume button, the top menu bar will come back, and lose the top lines of the book. Can't find any way to get rid of the menu without closing the Kindle program entirely and restarting it. Quite a hassle, but like you, I'm hesitant to upgrade to the latest fw because of having to reload everything. Can't they make a fw upgrade where you don't have to reload everything?

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by Debrah

RockdaMan, I'm also running the 1/14 fw version on a white PDN and finally got a Kindle app to work on it. If I open a book, the top menu bar disappears. But if I press the volume button, the top menu bar will come back, and lose the top lines of the book. Can't find any way to get rid of the menu without closing the Kindle program entirely and restarting it. Quite a hassle, but like you, I'm hesitant to upgrade to the latest fw because of having to reload everything. Can't they make a fw upgrade where you don't have to reload everything?

I fixed this last week when I downloaded the most current version of the Kindle App from the link below.

http://www.freewarelovers.com/android/app/kindle

[steven522]

Well Pandigital now has an "official" page about the update to the open platform OS:

Pandigital Android tablet Firmware

[Debrah]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

I fixed this last week when I downloaded the most current version of the Kindle App from the link below.

http://www.freewarelovers.com/android/app/kindle

That's the Kindle App I'm currently using. But I am using the PDN firmware from 1/14/2011 version 5.1.1.0

Does anybody know what exactly is the difference between version 5.1.1.0 and 6.0.0.0?

According to the PDN website, with 6.0.0.0 you get Slide Me, Calculator, Dictionary, Office Suite, and various other things... all of which I already got on version 5.1.1.0... so what would I be getting with upgrading to 6.0.0.0 (besides headaches )

[steven522]

Those are just versions of the installer. The 6.0 version detects the PDN better and performs data backups between firmware updates.

[RockdaMan]

Deb,

I fixed mine by uninstalling the Kindle app and by deleting all instances of the Android device (there were two?!?) from "Manage My Kindle" on the Amazon website.

Then I reinstalled it and it and worked correctly.

[Suzie7454]

"Well Pandigital now has an "official" page about the update to the open platform OS:

Pandigital Android tablet Firmware"

But is there a FW for the Canadian version?

[Debrah]

Originally Posted by steven522

Those are just versions of the installer. The 6.0 version detects the PDN better and performs data backups between firmware updates.

Thanks, Stephen. I'm thinking of upgrading the internal memory card to 8gb, so perhaps I'll do the 6.0.0.0 upgrade after that.

[Debrah]

[QUOTE=RockdaMan;1407764
I fixed mine by uninstalling the Kindle app and by deleting all instances of the Android device (there were two?!?) from "Manage My Kindle" on the Amazon website.

Then I reinstalled it and it and worked correctly.[/QUOTE]


Thanks, RockdaMan. There is only one android listed on my Amazon Kindle account, so I'm hesitant to delete it as I've bought (free) books from there and don't want to lose access to them. But I'll look into this further.

[Caesius]

Originally Posted by Suzie7454

"Well Pandigital now has an "official" page about the update to the open platform OS:

Pandigital Android tablet Firmware"

But is there a FW for the Canadian version?

I expect this has been answered, but when I started by following the string of links that took me to Downloads, I came to where I picked the type of device (PDN vs picture frame, etc. -- which is the top choice, btw) and THEN it went to a page with three choices: U.S., Canadian, and Netherlands. After I picked the appropriate country it then took me to where that link does. So, if you start at the beginning and not the above link, you may find what you need.
This should be the page with the three choices: Blop

Hope this helps.

I have a question about the Firmware Update noted above, though. I have a BLACK PDN 7 from QVC (that distinction seems to matter sometimes). And I have spent approx. 9 hours installing and installing the new FW from the Pandigital site (as noted on the links above). Prior to this I had the 11/23/2010 version. And this next one is supposed to provide "Android Media Tablet functionality". Everything goes as planned until I press Power On and Volume+ but I notice that it still indicates (each and every time) that I have the 11/23/2010 version. And naturally, my screens look nothing like the "new" versions noted on the screen shots listed on the Pandigital site (no apps below the reader, etc.). Help? Any suggestions as to what I'm doing wrong? I'm following each step precisely.

Thanks all.

______________________________
UPDATE: On the umpteenth try, I changed the name of the file I had in the PDN from whatever string of numbers and letters that ended with 2010_11_23 or whatever to and so the new Update exe file didn't find it and started from scratch -- which was where I managed to see that what I have been downloading is labeled 6.0.0. And if THAT is the latest, then it is no different than what I had -- which is odd given all they said about the new "Android Media Tablet functionality" and that my screens are no different either. I am really grumpy now.
_______________________

[steven522]

OK. Again, the downloader on the Pandigital site is version 6.0.0.0 and this has absolutely nothing to do with the firmware. this is the utility that detects the type of Pandigital Novel you have connected to your computer and then downloads the correct firmware for you.

I have no experience with a Black PDN, but if it is anywhere close to the same as the standard white version, you need to connect to your PC and look at the drive mapped to the PDN internal drive. Make sure you do not have multiple firmware files. If you do, try deleting them and then running the firmware update program a second time.

[jlg432]

Look here for the right PDN firmware along with instructions.

http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php?...s-and-patches/

[Caesius]

Originally Posted by jlg432

Look here for the right PDN firmware along with instructions.

http://www.slatedroid.com/index.php?...s-and-patches/

Thanks. I had seen it before, but wasn't comfortable going outside of the Pandigital site. But the PD site really didn't explain what to do - not in a comprehensive, step by step way like this post on SlateDroid. And certainly not enough info for a newbie to eReaders and especially to Android.

I don't think this is going to work out for me though. I followed the instructions but got nowhere.
I put the SD card into the PC.
DL'd the update.dat to the SD card.
Put the card into the powered-down PDN, then pressed the Power and Volume + at the same time. Now I've seen when this works, and have done it before. But in this instance I spent 45 minutes trying and trying to get it to load. The best that would happen is that I'd see the start of the load, the white text at the top would flash while at the same moment the blue text at the bottom would flash something along with only about half an inch of the "status" bar. Then it would all disappear just as quickly. Once or twice I thought that maybe that was all I was to expect (because that was all I'd see time after time) and so I turned it on -- but it looked no different than it ever has. At this point in the process the instructions say I should have the Android Platform OS/UI.

So I couldn't continue to the step that includes the AppInstaller as a result. As I said, I suppose it is best I leave well enough alone. I will have to deal with watching Mp4 movies with audio slightly out of sync, and viewing (but unable to read) some of my PDF books in the tiniest print ever (unlike standard PDF documents, the font adjustment hasn't changed these types of books at all...i.e. color books with pictures and text combined). The instructions on SLATEDROID are clear enough, but the bottom line is that the piece that I'm responsible for - the part that is supposed to occur on my end, just...isn't.

Anyway, again, thanks for the help. I had been a successful LAN Administrator, and provided PC support for years -- and while I hadn't done it for about 4 years, I'm not a complete dunce when it comes to this sort of thing. But I think this forum is more for the advanced eReader and Android users/developers.

I do appreciate your patience and help.