Sony Firmware Upgrade Experience - A+

Brandon202000 · 11-26-2009, 12:19 PM

1. Turnaround time for the upgrade: My unit was returned on the 7th day after being shipped for upgrade. It may be that the "two-week" period stated by Sony is a worst-case estimate. The quick return was certainly expedited by Sony paying for over-night air shipment via UPS both to AND from the upgrade facility.

2. Memory card: I was worried about having left my memory card in the reader. In fact, Sony removed the memory card and returned it inside a little baggie and that inside another plastic bag closed with an adhesive tie AND this double bagging identified with a barcode label.

3. One note of caution: The retuned unit was not reattached to the Sony cover, so it's important to be cautious when first handling your unit in order to avoid dropping it.

4. Recommendation: Sony's directions for shipping ask that your ID number be written on the outside of the box used to ship the unit. Since barcodes are used extensively during the upgrade process (my unit had three stickered on), I suspect doing so avoids any delay in getting the unit into the upgrade process.

Overall: Kudos to Sony not only for throwing a lifeline to EPUB for PRS-500 users, but also for the quality of the upgrade process!

AprilHare · 11-26-2009, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandon202000

1. Turnaround time for the upgrade: My unit was returned on the 7th day after being shipped for upgrade. It may be that the "two-week" period stated by Sony is a worst-case estimate. The quick return was certainly expedited by Sony paying for over-night air shipment via UPS both to AND from the upgrade facility.

2. Memory card: I was worried about having left my memory card in the reader. In fact, Sony removed the memory card and returned it inside a little baggie and that inside another plastic bag closed with an adhesive tie AND this double bagging identified with a barcode label.

3. One note of caution: The retuned unit was not reattached to the Sony cover, so it's important to be cautious when first handling your unit in order to avoid dropping it.

4. Recommendation: Sony's directions for shipping ask that your ID number be written on the outside of the box used to ship the unit. Since barcodes are used extensively during the upgrade process (my unit had three stickered on), I suspect doing so avoids any delay in getting the unit into the upgrade process.

Overall: Kudos to Sony not only for throwing a lifeline to EPUB for PRS-500 users, but also for the quality of the upgrade process!

Hmmmmm. They never told me about an ID number for the outside of the box..
I remembered to keep hold of my memory stick

Gunna add more books to it in meanwhile..
Yes indeed, goodonya Sony, you're legends!

JSWolf · 11-27-2009, 07:58 PM

Took a week to get back the 500. Well done Sony.

GeneS · 11-27-2009, 08:13 PM

Good ... except that Calibre no longer recognizes the 500 reader. I haven't tried reinstalling the Sony library software yet to see if it is usable with the upgrade.

kennyc · 11-27-2009, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeneS

Good ... except that Calibre no longer recognizes the 500 reader. I haven't tried reinstalling the Sony library software yet to see if it is usable with the upgrade.

That's very interesting...

AprilHare · 11-28-2009, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeneS

Good ... except that Calibre no longer recognizes the 500 reader. I haven't tried reinstalling the Sony library software yet to see if it is usable with the upgrade.

Our tame resident programmer (Kovid) is on the case.

kennyc · 11-28-2009, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AprilHare

Our tame resident programmer (Kovid) is on the case.

I'll bet he is......

This might be another clue as to why it had to go back to the mothership....

AprilHare · 11-28-2009, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

I'll bet he is......

This might be another clue as to why it had to go back to the mothership....

Well, the PRS-500 drivers with calibre were pretty buggy here. Hopefully, now it is a USB mass storage device and supports EPUB, Kovid will make it work with calibre like it were a PRS-505.

kennyc · 11-28-2009, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AprilHare

Well, the PRS-500 drivers with calibre were pretty buggy here. Hopefully, now it is a USB mass storage device and supports EPUB, Kovid will make it work with calibre like it were a PRS-505.

So from these comments (here and in another thread) I'm taking it that the 500 did not previously show up as a storage device under the OS?

AprilHare · 11-29-2009, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

So from these comments (here and in another thread) I'm taking it that the 500 did not previously show up as a storage device under the OS?

The PRS-500 did not previously act as a mass storage device, correct. Sony used x86 drivers that worked under XP and Vista 32 bit only. Calibre worked on more platforms (when it worked at all; it's drivers were reverse-engineered and weren't exactly perfect).

kennyc · 11-29-2009, 05:44 AM

Oh, I see. Wow. I didn't realize the 500 was THAT different.

JSWolf · 12-02-2009, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

Oh, I see. Wow. I didn't realize the 500 was THAT different.

The USB driver for the 500 also works on Windows 7 x86 (32-bit)

vinniet · 12-03-2009, 08:04 PM

I have to say I am SO happy with the upgrade. First I could not get Calibre driver to work with my PRS-500. Now with my updated PRS-500 no problem. Also I see all kinds of improvement, like page goto, breakdown by letter under title, etc.

It would be great if I got my clock back and joystick to change pages but I can wait for that. Right now just very happy.

AprilHare · 12-11-2009, 07:43 AM

My Reader is back now!

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The USB driver for the 500 also works on Windows 7 x86 (32-bit)

Didn't know that, interesting. No USB driver hangups anymore, woohoo!

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinniet

I have to say I am SO happy with the upgrade. First I could not get Calibre driver to work with my PRS-500. Now with my updated PRS-500 no problem. Also I see all kinds of improvement, like page goto, breakdown by letter under title, etc.

It would be great if I got my clock back and joystick to change pages but I can wait for that. Right now just very happy.

I'm happy with the improvements as-is, having never taken advantage of the hacks. - I love how I can type in the page number I want now and go straight to it!

JSWolf · 12-11-2009, 08:29 AM

And just for people who don't yet know, the updated 500 no longer needs a USB driver. It mounts as a USB removable drive. So it will work with 64-bit operating systems.

11-26-2009, 12:19 PM	#1
Brandon202000 Member Posts: 20 Karma: 10000 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: SONY	Sony Firmware Upgrade Experience - A+ 1. Turnaround time for the upgrade: My unit was returned on the 7th day after being shipped for upgrade. It may be that the "two-week" period stated by Sony is a worst-case estimate. The quick return was certainly expedited by Sony paying for over-night air shipment via UPS both to AND from the upgrade facility. 2. Memory card: I was worried about having left my memory card in the reader. In fact, Sony removed the memory card and returned it inside a little baggie and that inside another plastic bag closed with an adhesive tie AND this double bagging identified with a barcode label. 3. One note of caution: The retuned unit was not reattached to the Sony cover, so it's important to be cautious when first handling your unit in order to avoid dropping it. 4. Recommendation: Sony's directions for shipping ask that your ID number be written on the outside of the box used to ship the unit. Since barcodes are used extensively during the upgrade process (my unit had three stickered on), I suspect doing so avoids any delay in getting the unit into the upgrade process. Overall: Kudos to Sony not only for throwing a lifeline to EPUB for PRS-500 users, but also for the quality of the upgrade process!

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11-27-2009, 07:58 PM	#3
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,970 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Took a week to get back the 500. Well done Sony.

11-27-2009, 08:13 PM	#4
GeneS eBook Enthusiast Posts: 120 Karma: 726 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: US Device: Sony PRS-350, Astak PocketPro, iPhone, Asus eee Pad Transformer	Good ... except that Calibre no longer recognizes the 500 reader. I haven't tried reinstalling the Sony library software yet to see if it is usable with the upgrade.

11-29-2009, 05:44 AM	#11
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Oh, I see. Wow. I didn't realize the 500 was THAT different.

12-03-2009, 08:04 PM	#13
vinniet Connoisseur Posts: 59 Karma: 97 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: New Jersey Device: Sony PRS-500	I have to say I am SO happy with the upgrade. First I could not get Calibre driver to work with my PRS-500. Now with my updated PRS-500 no problem. Also I see all kinds of improvement, like page goto, breakdown by letter under title, etc. It would be great if I got my clock back and joystick to change pages but I can wait for that. Right now just very happy.

12-11-2009, 08:29 AM	#15
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,970 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	And just for people who don't yet know, the updated 500 no longer needs a USB driver. It mounts as a USB removable drive. So it will work with 64-bit operating systems.

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