Alternative software for Sony eReaders!

[orwell2k]

Anyone tried this with FB2 books? I would probably never buy a Sony device on principle, but it's good to know it could hanlde FB2, if this alternative software does a decent job.

[DrunkenDonkey]

I'm using only fb2, and it works great with them, opening times are about 2 seconds for a book.

[Fis2]

Originally Posted by DrunkenDonkey

I'm using only fb2, and it works great with them, opening times are about 2 seconds for a book.

I have problems with several FB2, usually ones generated with BookDesigner 5.0.
Could you try this one? try

[DrunkenDonkey]

The moment I go home, which will be in about 4 hours I will

[DrunkenDonkey]

Sorry man, I completely forgot. I tested it and it is really not working, ebookapps should see why

[Fis2]

Originally Posted by DrunkenDonkey

Sorry man, I completely forgot. I tested it and it is really not working, ebookapps should see why

If you convert it to LRF using Calibre and then back to FB2, it works on this firmware.
Maybe a code problem.

[Achiever]

Wow your Firmware is great, I wish you could do a semilar one for the new generation of sony's ereaders, for the PRS 350/650.

Hope you'll get one of those and work a little on them.

Because more and more people to come with the new sony ereader and I think they all want to have your firmware advantages

Thanks anyway you did a great job.

I like innovative programmers like you so much, you can't imagine.
I'm looking forward for a new firmware.

[ebookapps]

We made a file search and flexible font sizes in eBook Applications firmware. Please check the version 1.9.0.1

[readyread]

I "installed" v1.9.0.3 on my Sony PRS 505.

My first impressions:
* Firmware starts fast
* Configuration options are great (font types, font sizes and so on)
* I love the zoom options in pdf-mode
* left and right justified text => great!

This firmware really enhances the PRS 505! Thanks for this amazing piece of software!

But while testing the firmware I also found some drawbacks:
* An epub-file takes a minute or two til its loaded
* The value of the battery display jumps nearly with each buttonclick between several stages
* If I turn off the device or simply go to another page I can see the contents of the last page on empty places -> It seems that the sony-firmware clears the screen in a clearer way
* css-styles and paragraphs in an epub-file are ignored
* If I open a pdf-file and switch to landscape and also select the zoom-option "text width" the firmware ends in an endless loop when I skim to the next page. Only the progressbar shows that the display is not frozen but after an hour I didn't like to wait any further so I had to press the reset button because no other buttonpress revitalized my PRS 505. After that the fully loaded battery was empty! Is the powerconsumption of the firmware so high? -> It would be nice if there is something like a "cancel"-button
* When I loaded the same pdf after the reset of my PRS 505 it seems that everything works with the same settings (landscape + zoom on text width). But the problem is that some lines are not readable because they flow out on top or bottom of the viewable area
* Selecting the option "switch back to sony firmware" needs also a manual reset because the hourglass-screen does not disappear even after several minutes

[DaleDe]

I made a wiki entry for this product. Enjoy.

[sein]

Thank you for this great alternative firmware. My Sony PRS-505 feels like a new machine now, with many of the essential features that are totally missing in the original firmware. Everything is so customizable and easy to use: the folder-based file manager, custom fonts, page settings, dictionaries, etc... It's really great.

I can read the fb2, text, and rtf files without problem, with all the formatting and images showing up as they should. Epubs, though, lose their original formattings: no italics (or they show up as bold), and the emdashes (—) disappear totally... Some prc, docs, and htmls files open well enough, but others are imcomprehensible... I hope these problems will be solved in the next firmware versions.

Still, it is such a great and generous effort that I must thank you again for your dedication.

[carmelra]

Does this alternate firmware support reading RTL text?
The current Sony Readers doesn't handle RTL languages properly.
For example, when trying to read Hebrew ePub, the text is displayed from left to right which is wrong (and obviously not readable.)



Thanks!

[ebookapps]

Yes, it does and it also renders Hebrew correctly

[carmelra]

Originally Posted by ebookapps

Yes, it does and it also renders Hebrew correctly

Thanks! I tested it and can confirm that it's much better than the original firmware. In general, it's even possible to read the text. However, there are a few problems that prevent a good reading experience.

Below are a few photos I took (very bad photos, I know...) that demonstrate the current status and issues I found:

1) The main device menu: The text is displayed left to right and therefore it is not readable in Hebrew.


2) The book settings menu: The text is displayed left to right and therefore it is not readable in Hebrew.


3) TOC: The text is displayed left to right and therefore it is not readable in Hebrew.


4) Main Book Reading area: The text is displayed right to left and therefore it is readable. However, it's not reflowing properly. Lines are getting breaking without a real need (you can see it in the photo that a few lines has no period at the end). That's annoying.


5) Main Book Reading area - Text with punctuation marks: The punctuations are not being displayed properly. They appear to the left of every relevant character.

[Spiffy]

Overall I like this firmware, but I have a few issues (at least on the 505).

1.) if you touch ANY buttons while the unit is "busy" (whenever those little circles appear to tell you the unit is "thinking"), you stand a large chance of locking the unit

2.) the "jump ten pages" functionality of holding down the navigation buttons--a pretty standard convention--is missing

3.) the battery meter seems... wrong

There are also the formatting issues others have mentioned, particularly with ePub.