902 firmware 2.1.2 pdf problems

[kortpeter]

device: Pocketbook 902 pro
firmware: 2.1.2
software version: W902.2.1.2 20111215_172217

I upgraded to firmware 2.1.2 and am now having trouble reading pdf documents with both AdobeViewer and pdfviewer.

pdfviewer:
If zoom is set to "normal" or "column", and zoomed in so the screen doesn't cover the whole page, then pushing the down arrow causes the reader to cycle through two screens instead of just going to the next screen as it should. For instance, when reading a text book in landscape mode and zoomed in so small print is easy to see. If viewing the top of a page, the down arrow should take me to the bottom of that page. It doesn't, instead the bottom of that page flashes on for a instant, then the top of the next page is displayed. Makes the book unreadable.

AdobeViewer:
With previous firmware (I think I was running 2.0.6 but am not sure) reading textbooks with small print, equations, and diagrams was wonderful. I would zoom in to reduce the margins to as small as possible, and sometimes switch to landscape mode. Then when viewing the top of a page the top 2/3 or so would display, then hit the down arrow and the bottom 2/3 of the page would display. The middle 1/3 would display in both screens. Any equation or diagram cut in half in one screen would show up in full in the other.
Now with firmware 2.1.2, the top of a page displays the same as before. But when I hit the down arrow, only the part of the page that was off the screen before will display. No part of the page displays in both screens. This means that when viewing the top of a page, if there is an equation (or diagram) with only its top half displayed (at the bottom of the screen) , that when viewing the bottom part of that page, only the bottom half of the equation is displayed (at the top of the screen). The whole equation is never displayed. This makes the equation, and the book, unreadable.

The obvious solution to these problems is to reinstall firmware 2.0.6, which I will do if I can't find another solution. I really don't want to do that though, since I really love the multitasking and other improvements in 2.1.2. Does anyone know how to solve either of these problems?

Thanks.

[rkomar]

I have not tried this, so I can't say for sure if it will work. If you can get a copy of AdobeViewer.app from the 2.0.6 firmware, copy it to /mnt/ext1/system/bin/ under a different name, and then add that name to /mnt/ext1/system/config/extensions.cfg for reading PDF files, then you might get the old behaviour back (if the old executable can still run on a new system). It's also possible that note taking may have changed since 2.0.6, and that would break.

Getting the old version of AdobeViewer.app takes some hacking. You either have to re-install 2.0.6 on your device, get some kind of terminal access on the device, and copy it from /ebrmain/bin/AdobeViewer.app that way, or extract it from the old firmware zip file directly (via a Linux system) and copy that to the device. Neither is simple for the non-hacker, and the second is much trickier than the first. Let me know if you're willing to give it a try and want information.

[kortpeter]

Rkomar,

Thanks I'll work on your suggestions for a while.

I've run linux for years (though I'm not much of a hacker) so I tried to unpack SWUPDATE.BIN, but had no luck. I think I'll try the other method. I'm thinking of trying "rsh" or "get_root" for terminal access. Although I couldn't get either to work with the 2.1.2 firmware.

/mnt/ext1 is the directory I'm put in when I mount the device's internal memory. Is that correct?

If that is correct then I don't have a /mnt/ext1/system/config/extensions.cfg file. I do have the /mnt/ext1/system/config directory containing other .cfg files.

Thanks again.

[rkomar]

I've run linux for years (though I'm not much of a hacker) so I tried to unpack SWUPDATE.BIN, but had no luck. I think I'll try the other method. I'm thinking of trying "rsh" or "get_root" for terminal access. Although I couldn't get either to work with the 2.1.2 firmware.

Search the net for a program called pbfwsplit.pl (I found a copy in the Russian PB forum). It's a perl script that unpacks the SWUPDATE.BIN file into pieces. One of the pieces is called app.img; mount that using loopback. For 2.0.6, look in the bin/ directory of the mounted filesystem for AdobeViewer.app. In newer firmware updates, there's a cramfs image inside that also needs to be mounted before you get to the copy of AdobeViewer.app

/mnt/ext1 is the directory I'm put in when I mount the device's internal memory. Is that correct?

Yes, that's exactly right.

If that is correct then I don't have a /mnt/ext1/system/config/extensions.cfg file. I do have the /mnt/ext1/system/config directory containing other .cfg files.

Create the file if you don't already have it, and copy in the line:

pdf:@PDF_file:1:XXXXX.app,AdobeViewer.app,pdfviewer.app:ICON_PDF

Replace XXXXX.app with whatever you rename the old AdobeViewer.app to.

[kortpeter]

Rkomar,

Your pbfwsplit.pl method worked perfectly. I now have the renamed 2.0.6 AdobeViewer working as it should with 2.1.2 firmware.

The only slight hicup was that the page turning keys were reversed. But that was fixed using Configuration -> Key mapping. Now page tuning keys are reversed for the 2.1.2 AdobeViewer, pdfviewer, and probably DJVu, but I don't care. One other thing I noticed, moving from top of page screen to bottom of page screen doesn't work until you have turned at least one page, but again, I don't care.

Thanks again. I'm really happy that I didn't have to reinstall 2.0.6.

[rkomar]

Excellent! It's good to know that there is still backwards compatibility with older programs. I'm glad I didn't waste your time with that suggestion.