PRS-650 Flashing the firmware

[chris_tribble]

Hey - some success! I've been able to get Droid working following Sherman's kind advice. Hooray!

Now I'd like to see if it's possible to a) try this with other fonts + see if it's possible to shift the base font size to something a little bigger so that I can use the Sony SMALL option as the default (rather than Medium) at the moment, with Droid, Medium's a bit big and Small's a bit small...

For the reference of others I give below the full userStyle.css that I'm now using. I'm thinking that there must be a command that I could put in the final "body" command alongside the line-height: 1.2em but I've got no idea about the command language.

In terms of a reference to start building my own ability to do this, will guides for Dreamweaver CSS codes help?

Thanks again to the community - I appreciate the effort that's gone into all this

=========

@font-face {
font-family: DroidSerif;
font-weight: normal;
font-style: normal;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/droid/DroidSerif-Regular.ttf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: DroidSerif;
font-weight: bold;
font-style: normal;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/droid/DroidSerif-Bold.ttf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: DroidSerif;
font-weight: normal;
font-style: italic;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/droid/DroidSerif-Italic.ttf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: DroidSerif;
font-weight: bold;
font-style: italic;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/droid/DroidSerif-BoldItalic.ttf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: "sans-serif1";
src:url(res:///opt/sony/ebook/FONT/tt0003m_.ttf);
}

h1 {
font-family: sans-serif1, sans-serif;
}
body {
font-family: DroidSerif; line-height: 1.2em
}

[Mark Nord]

Originally Posted by chris_tribble

The next question is going to be how to re-set time zone etc when travelling. At the moment the Reader gives me the correct UK local time (picking this up from the computer?). But I'd have no idea of how to change if this was needed.

I could simply say RTFM!
But I suggest you have a look on pages 88ff of the PRS650.PDF manual, how to set Date and Time, even with a not russified firmware.

Spoiler:

Settings
88
Table of Contents Index
Changing Settings
Tap [Settings] tab at [Home] menu.
[General Settings] ( 90)
[Date and Time]
[Date and Time Format]
[Page Turn Preference]
[Menu Language]
[Keyboard]
[Screen Orientation]
[Application Preferences] (> 91)
[Dictionary]
[Slideshow]
[System Management] (> 92)
[Power Management]
[Device Lock]
[Standby Screen]
[General Settings] menu items
[Date and Time]
Tap a field to change.
Input a number by tapping the numeric key pad.
Tap [OK] to apply the change.
Tip
The date and time of your Reader will be automatically
synchronized to your computer by the Reader Library after
connection.
[Date and Time Format]
Tap [Month-Day-Year] or [Day-Month-Year] to select
the date format.
Tap [12 hour] or [24 hour] to select the time format.
Tap [OK] to apply the changes

For the hacks just go to the about screen and use the buttons, the options should just toggle thru.

[chris_tribble]

Originally Posted by Mark Nord

I could simply say RTFM!

And you'd be completely justified

It's all down to expectations I think - when I tapped on the setting buttons all I noticed was the screen flashing as I wasn't expecting the settings themselves to toggle through. Thanks for the heads up!

Still working out the font side of things - Trying to see how to improve word spacing with Droid Serif at the moment - really ugly as I've currently got it, so I've gone back to the Sony font .

I'll keep on hunting through the manual / FAQs etc - but hope it's ok to come back and ask questions too - maybe my newbie Odyssey will be helpful for others who are only just starting to climb this particular learning curve.

Best

Chris

[chris_tribble]

Success! Now using Adobe Garamond Pro successfully.

The final userStyle.css that I'm working with is given below.

With an M setting in the PRS-650 this gives me a page that I feel really comfortable with (though I liked Calibri too). As I've saved the alternative versions of the userStyle.css with meaningful names it will be OK to adjust these for a change.

THANKS ladies and gentlemen!

Chris

@font-face {
font-family: adobegaramondpro;
font-weight: normal;
font-style: normal;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/adobegaramondpro/AGaramondPro-Regular.otf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: adobegaramondpro;
font-weight: bold;
font-style: normal;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/adobegaramondpro/AGaramondPro-Bold.otf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: adobegaramondpro;
font-weight: normal;
font-style: italic;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/adobegaramondpro/AGaramondPro-Italic.otf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: adobegaramondpro;
font-weight: bold;
font-style: italic;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/adobegaramondpro/AGaramondPro-BoldItalic.otf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: "sans-serif1";
src:url(res:///opt/sony/ebook/FONT/tt0003m_.ttf);
}

h1 {
font-family: sans-serif1, sans-serif;
}
body {
font-family: adobegaramondpro; line-height: 1.2em
}

[elemenoP]

I have been following this thread (very interested but too chicken to do it myself) and I was *just* going to suggest a font actually used in professional publishing, such as Minion, Palatino, or Garamond! I'd love to see a screen shot of a page with Garamond in place.

Once you have done the "flash" you don't have to do it again? It always refers to the latest version of userstyle.css? Or do you have to flash the firmware every time you change fonts?

[sherman]

Hmm, my mistake, I used serif1 as the name, not DroidSerif, although it shouldn't have made amy difference.

But anyway, here's my stylesheet:

@font-face {
  font-family: serif1;
  font-weight: normal;
  font-style: normal;
  src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/droid/DroidSerif-Regular.ttf);
}

@font-face {
  font-family: serif1;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-style: normal;
  src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/droid/DroidSerif-Bold.ttf);
}

@font-face {
  font-family: serif1;
  font-weight: normal;
  font-style: italic;
  src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/droid/DroidSerif-Italic.ttf);
}

@font-face {
  font-family: serif1;
  font-weight: bold;
  font-style: italic;
  src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/droid/DroidSerif-BoldItalic.ttf);
}

@font-face {
  font-family: "sans-serif1";
  src:url(res:///opt/sony/ebook/FONT/tt0003m_.ttf);
}

body {
  font-family: serif1;
  line-height: 1.2em;
}
h1 {
  font-family: sans-serif1, sans-serif;
}

[induna]

My userstyle.css is as follows:

@font-face {
font-family: -ua-default;
font-weight: normal;
font-style: normal;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/cambria/cambria.ttf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: -ua-default;
font-weight: bold;
font-style: normal;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/cambria/cambriab.ttf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: -ua-default;
font-weight: normal;
font-style: italic;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/cambria/cambriai.ttf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: -ua-default;
font-weight: bold;
font-style: italic;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/cambria/cambriaz.ttf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: "sans-serif1";
src:url(res:///opt/sony/ebook/FONT/tt0003m_.ttf);
}

h1 {
font-family: sans-serif1, sans-serif;
}


It works perfectly.

If there are any mistakes in the file, the reader will use the default font.

[sherman]

@chris_tribble

I used line-height: 1.2em because Droid is a very tall font, and that gives a bit of separation between lines.

You can use any value you like (and it doesn't even have to be in em -- % is another good metric to use here). A line-height of 1em would be "single spacing", and is the default. A line-height of 2em would be "double spacing" (or close to it) etc.

To add extra spacing between characters, you may like to add letter-spacing: <value>, where value can be given in em, points (pt), pixels (px) etc.

Feel free to experiment...

[SmartyPants]

guys have you tried changing default font size in Calibre?
Thats supposed to be the easier way..
when converting books, go to 'Look and Feel' tab and change the size there.
CSS can be tweaked with as well on this page.
I am still playing with it, some books i managed to change the font on, some not.

[chris_tribble]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

I have been following this thread (very interested but too chicken to do it myself) and I was *just* going to suggest a font actually used in professional publishing, such as Minion, Palatino, or Garamond! I'd love to see a screen shot of a page with Garamond in place.

Hi - below is a screenshot with AdobeGaramondPro (I think this font comes with the Adobe Creative Suite 5) I'm very happy with it. Font size set to M. PS Just added a shot of Palatino (in different light conditions + slightly different proximity to camera...) I definitely prefer the Garamond on the Reader.

Originally Posted by elemenoP

Once you have done the "flash" you don't have to do it again? It always refers to the latest version of userstyle.css? Or do you have to flash the firmware every time you change fonts?

No need to reflash. All you have to do is:

1/ Attach the Reader to your computer with the USB cable - wait until it becames available as a device on your computer (I'm working with a Windows 7 64 bit PC)
2/ Rename the current userStyle.css to something that makes sense (as below)
3/ Edit the userStyle.css file with the new font names as per the instructions above and save as userStyle.css (I use NotePad for this)

When you disconnect the Reader from the computer, the reader re-starts and imposes the new font on all books you open. Once you've got the syntax of the .css file right it seems to be very straightforward.

As I'm learning which font works best for me I'm saving each new version of the userStyle.css with a new name. I currently have the following list of possible fonts:

userStyle.css (the version currently in use)
userStyle.css.orig (the original .css file from the Russification flash

Alternative userStyle files.
userStyle.css.droid
userStyle.css.calibri
userStyle.css.adobegaramondpro
userStyle.css.palatino

Hope this helps.

C:

[koadic]

Originally Posted by chris_tribble

Hey - some success! I've been able to get Droid working following Sherman's kind advice. Hooray!

Now I'd like to see if it's possible to a) try this with other fonts + see if it's possible to shift the base font size to something a little bigger so that I can use the Sony SMALL option as the default (rather than Medium) at the moment, with Droid, Medium's a bit big and Small's a bit small...

...

body {
font-family: DroidSerif; line-height: 1.2em
}

To increase the base font size, I have found it easiest to edit the body tag to read as follows...

body {
font-family: DroidSerif;
line-height: 1.2em;
font-size: 125%;
}

or whatever percentage you want to increase your base size by... or I believe that you can do this directly in pts, like 12pt (play around with it til you get the size you want). This will increase your Medium size by the same amount though, I dont think there is a way to specify a specific size for the xs, s, m, l, xl, and xxl.

[chris_tribble]

Koadic - brilliant - this works a treat. I've now added the last line (remembering to finish with the semi-colon!) and it now means that any book opens with a font that I find comfortably sized. Screen shots at S size setting for Calibri and AdobeGaramondPro given below. I'm sticking with the serifed font for the moment - but I also like the look of the Calibri...

Many many thanks to the kind people in the community who've provided these resources and who have helped my get the PRS-650 working like I want it to.

Chris

[PatNY]

Ahh, so this is where the geniuses hang out!

Seriously, I never noticed this sub-forum till Chris linked to it on a thread on the parent forum. So thank you Chris. And thanks to porkupan for his work on the new firmware.

Chris, I also want to increase the size of the font when a book first opens. Where exactly did you put the new font size instructions? In the userstyle.css where you specified the new font?

Also, thanks for the suggestion of using Garamond Pro. I am trying that out now with my old standby, Georgia.

Can someone let me know how I take a screenshot with the new firmware. Figured out almost everything but that.

[chris_tribble]

Pat - the others are the geniuses!

My current userStyle.css is given below. The font size command is right down the bottom.

re screen shots - I've been doing this with a digital camera. Save the images from the camera as a JPEG and resize to no bigger than 800x800 pixels. To include in the posting, start a reply, then click on "go advanced". Once you're there, scroll down and you'll see a "manage attachments" button. Click on this, browse for your image, select, and then click on upload.

Hope this helps.

Best

C:
=============

@font-face {
font-family: adobegaramondpro;
font-weight: normal;
font-style: normal;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/adobegaramondpro/AGaramondPro-Regular.otf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: adobegaramondpro;
font-weight: bold;
font-style: normal;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/adobegaramondpro/AGaramondPro-Bold.otf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: adobegaramondpro;
font-weight: normal;
font-style: italic;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/adobegaramondpro/AGaramondPro-Italic.otf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: adobegaramondpro;
font-weight: bold;
font-style: italic;
src: url(res:///Data/epub/FONT/adobegaramondpro/AGaramondPro-BoldItalic.otf);
}

@font-face {
font-family: "sans-serif1";
src:url(res:///opt/sony/ebook/FONT/tt0003m_.ttf);
}

h1 {
font-family: sans-serif1, sans-serif;
}
body {
font-family: adobegaramondpro;
line-height: 1.2em;
font-size: 125%;
}

[PatNY]

Chris, thanks for the clarification regarding the font size and where to put it.

As for the screenshots, I know how to take those with a camera and embed images in forum posts already. I was talking about the ability to take screenshots internally, in the reader. It's an added feature with the new Boroda firmware. But how to use it???