Touch Kobo Touch Firmware 2.0

[volpo]

Originally Posted by jusmee

If brighter light stops it working, wouldn't that mean it won't work in full sunlight? It's night time here, so I can't test, but I doubt that's the case.

It's the angle of the light hitting the Touch that's at play here. It may be possible to 'blind' the sensor when the light floods the sides of the device. The brighter the more IR interference may be generated.

I've noticed that I have trouble with the sensor when I am in a position with the light source on an acute angle in relation to the screen/sensor strips.

Taking this into account the light source should be as close to 90° as possible in relation to the screen to have a minimum effect on the sensors. Well, this is the theory....

As well, in bright sunlight in most cases the sun is high over head and not on an acute angle.

[roycymru]

Originally Posted by SameerH

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to drop by and say that all our customers will be benefiting from the work we did on the 2.1+ versions of the Kobo Touch software very soon. It is top-of-mind for me given the positive feedback we have been receiving on it to-date. I definitely do not want to keep it from you any longer than necessary.

As some folks have already mentioned, to be on the safe side, I would not recommend installing the build yourself before receiving it through our upgrade process.

As usual, I can't share exact timeframes for when the software will be available, but please know that it's not far off. Thank you for bearing with us so far, and stay tuned.

Thanks,
Sameer.

Glad to hear the official UK launch of 2.1.X should be with us soon. Page turning in the "unofficial" 2.1.1 is so much better, and back to (or even better than 1.9.7 speeds). Launch from Power Off is slow (around 40 seconds) so it would be nice if this could be quicker. It still sometimes incorrectly displays the wrong cover in Sleep or Power Off mode. Also (this may be specific to my Kobo fror some reason), but in Launch Browser, it does not register entries on the "keyboard" and there I can't search for anything ( I have noticed this since the officil 2.0.0 release)

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by roycymru

Launch from Power Off is slow (around 40 seconds) so it would be nice if this could be quicker.

One minute for me... Used to be around 35 seconds with 1.9.17...

[Gilgamesh]

It's nice to read about some of the problems people are having and realizing that it's not just me.

I recently got a refurbished Kobo after mine broke. I had to wait for three months until I made it back to Canada in order to mail the old one to the company since they don't accept it from where I live.

Anyway, once I got it back, I upgraded and noticed that the page turns and screen response just didn't seem as good as the old one. Hopefully, this will get fixed when I get the 2.1 update yet.

I'm not in Canada anymore so I can't just send the Kobo back.

This is definitely one area where Amazon beats Kobo. I know people who contacted Amazon when their Kindle broke and the company immediately sent them a new one.

[DNSB]

Sorry but I managed to lose your original message so can't reply privately but thanks for the feedback on the original test file and my apologies for the delay in posting this version. It is an updated version of my test file with the Charis SIL2 fonts (JSWolf's modified Charis SIL font) embedded in it so it will work with ADE on a Windows machine and the addition of quite a few diacritics and some odd characters.

[jusmee]

Originally Posted by volpo

It's the angle of the light hitting the Touch that's at play here. It may be possible to 'blind' the sensor when the light floods the sides of the device. The brighter the more IR interference may be generated.

I've noticed that I have trouble with the sensor when I am in a position with the light source on an acute angle in relation to the screen/sensor strips.

Taking this into account the light source should be as close to 90° as possible in relation to the screen to have a minimum effect on the sensors. Well, this is the theory....

As well, in bright sunlight in most cases the sun is high over head and not on an acute angle.

Hmm, this has me wondering what sort of touchscreen they use. Mostly you hear about resistive and capacitive. I had not heard of an infrared one on portable devices. Seems a strange choice if it is effected by light.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by jusmee

Hmm, this has me wondering what sort of touchscreen they use. Mostly you hear about resistive and capacitive. I had not heard of an infrared one on portable devices. Seems a strange choice if it is effected by light.

As volpo said, it uses IR emitters and detectors around the screen. IR beams go across the screen so when you touch the screen, they are broken. It doesn't matter what you touch the screen with, so long as it is big enough to break the beams. Also, it means that pushing hard doesn't help.

Interference from other light sources has been discussed before. From memory, they were about hot lights rather than just bright lights.

[Corpsegoddess]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I have seen a few comments along those lines. I assume that you have tried all the different options of another computer and cable?

Yes, and here's where things get even *more* interesting. At the time of the problems with my first Kobo, my husband didn't own one and I didn't want to put software on his computer that he didn't use. So, I did all the usual elimination tests on mine--different cables, different USB ports, the whole nine yards.

My hubby has since bought a Kobo (after I received my second KT and the problems continued), so I decided to hook it up to his PC and see what happened. My PC is older and runs XP; his is newer and runs Windows 7.

When I connected to his PC, I immediately got a message telling me that I had a corrupted file on my device, and I should repair it or it may cause serious problems when I tried to disconnect. So, I figured what the heck. I repaired it, and lo and behold--no Kobo Desktop kicking me off and not recognizing my device.

HOWEVER--the next time I connected back to my computer is when the problems started. When I opened the Kobo Desktop, it tried to walk me through the setup and then couldn't complete it, which of course brought a whole host of new problems.

I ended up doing a factory reset, which just reintroduced the "Delayed Write Failed" thing all over again.

[Corpsegoddess]

Originally Posted by Jaden

One minute for me... Used to be around 35 seconds with 1.9.17...

Yep, I'm noticing that as well. It's gotten to the point where I'll turn my device on, wander through the house or put it down and go do something else--because I know it's going to be a bit.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Corpsegoddess

Yes, and here's where things get even *more* interesting. At the time of the problems with my first Kobo, my husband didn't own one and I didn't want to put software on his computer that he didn't use. So, I did all the usual elimination tests on mine--different cables, different USB ports, the whole nine yards.

My hubby has since bought a Kobo (after I received my second KT and the problems continued), so I decided to hook it up to his PC and see what happened. My PC is older and runs XP; his is newer and runs Windows 7.

When I connected to his PC, I immediately got a message telling me that I had a corrupted file on my device, and I should repair it or it may cause serious problems when I tried to disconnect. So, I figured what the heck. I repaired it, and lo and behold--no Kobo Desktop kicking me off and not recognizing my device.

HOWEVER--the next time I connected back to my computer is when the problems started. When I opened the Kobo Desktop, it tried to walk me through the setup and then couldn't complete it, which of course brought a whole host of new problems.

I ended up doing a factory reset, which just reintroduced the "Delayed Write Failed" thing all over again.

There has been a few similar cases over in the calibre forum. And it did come down to using another computer. Have you tried connecting his Kobo to your computer?

What "Removal policy" is set? With Windows 7, this is in the device properties when connected to Windows. The options are "Quick removal (default)" and "Better performance". For this, you want to make sure the "Quick removal" is selected. XP has the option but under a slightly different name (from memory).

The other option is to borrow your husbands computer often enough that he goes out and buys you a new one

[Brainfrz]

Originally Posted by Corpsegoddess

Yep, I'm noticing that as well. It's gotten to the point where I'll turn my device on, wander through the house or put it down and go do something else--because I know it's going to be a bit.

I'm new to the Kobo, but what advantage does turning the device off have instead of "sleeping" it?

[jusmee]

Originally Posted by Brainfrz

I'm new to the Kobo, but what advantage does turning the device off have instead of "sleeping" it?

Just testing this myself. I suspect that frequent restarts from off will use more battery power, but in more normal use, battery life will be better if it turns off, rather than just sleeping when not in use.

That said, battery life on mine (which I have just changed to sleep rather than turn off all the time) still seems very good.

The other thing to consider is that restarting each time, means the computer in your ereader is being rebooted each time, so that might mean less problems with the type of bugs that cause problems when a computer is running for extensive periods of time.

[DrNefario]

The sleep time seems less good on my Kobo than on my Kindle. I can't really test like for like, but I've been reading paper books for a while, and recently decided it was time to read an ebook again, and my Kobo was dead (well, needed a charge), while my Kindle was still over half full. I have seen my Kobo get that flat before, while my Kindle has only ever asked to be charged during active use. I wonder if the book cover display thing is more costly? Or if it just has a smaller battery?

It's entirely possible that the Kobo was more drained than the Kindle to begin with.

It's not a major problem - I mean, that's one of the reasons I have two readers - but it would be nice if there were more options for power-off. I'd like to see 24 hours. If I'm reading a book on the Kobo, I'm not likely to leave it untouched for more than 24 hours, and I'm happy to have it sleep only, but if I'm not, it might be weeks before I use it again and it might be nice for it to power off. I think the longest delay in the settings is 60 minutes, which doesn't seem much use.

[ltr]

Originally Posted by Brainfrz

I'm new to the Kobo, but what advantage does turning the device off have instead of "sleeping" it?

Using sleep mode exclusively, the battery will last about 10 days.
Using power off mode exclusively, the battery will last about 40 days.

ltr

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by ltr

Using sleep mode exclusively, the battery will last about 10 days.
Using power off mode exclusively, the battery will last about 40 days.

ltr

Where did you get those numbers? And for what kind of usage are they (how many hours of reading a day, how many reading sessions a day (switching on and off or on and asleep etc.))?

I'm curious as to why sleep would cost (more) battery. What's it doing when asleep? Nothing right? It changed the screen once to display a book cover and as it's eInk, it doesn't cost any power to maintain the cover on the screen. Off-mode does this too. The only button both sleep and off mode react to is the on/off switch... So where's the difference in power usage?