Glo - Should I upgradde from 2.8.1?

[Chris_Snow]

Greetings,

I've been trying to catch up on the bug fixes after the firmware my Glo is running. It would seem that later fw creates as many bugs as fixes!

My Glo is running fine. I'm wondering if that long paragraph bug has been fixed yet. That is something I would be glad to be rid of.

Can I restore a backup if I won't to go back to 2.8.1. Like others, I don't sync after my reader is setup.

Much appreciated.

[meeera]

If you've sideloaded your books from Calibre onto the main memory of your reader: make sure you tag in Calibre the books you want on your reader, and store your reading positions with Kobo Utilities. After that, reloading your books after a factory reset & firmware install is a cinch, though if there are a lot of books, processing may take some time.

I'm very happily on the newest firmware on my Aura 6". Not everyone is encountering a panoply of dealbreaker bugs!

[Chris_Snow]

Originally Posted by meeera

If you've sideloaded your books from Calibre onto the main memory of your reader: make sure you tag in Calibre the books you want on your reader, and store your reading positions with Kobo Utilities. After that, reloading your books after a factory reset & firmware install is a cinch, though if there are a lot of books, processing may take some time.

I'm very happily on the newest firmware on my Aura 6". Not everyone is encountering a panoply of dealbreaker bugs!

Thx for the help. Can I backup the current FW and reload it if I want to revert?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Chris_Snow

Thx for the help. Can I backup the current FW and reload it if I want to revert?

You can if you want to.

The firmware thread has links to the older versions, so you can download the desired version, do a factory reset and install it. Then you sideload your books back it.

If you want to get back to the state you are in now, you could backup the contents of the user partition on the Glo. Then, if you don't like the newer firmware, you do a factory reset, install your preferred firmware and restore the backup files.

If you have a good idea of what books are on the device, you could backup the database (.kobo\KoboReader.sqlite) and restore that with the books afterward the factory reset and firmware install. That will be quicker to do the backup, but no quicker to do the restore.

Another way to do it is to open the Glo, remove the internal SD card and take an image of it. Then, if you don't like the new firmware, you just restore the image. Personally, I think this is a little overkill. But, as I keep sending images of the card to people to restore, maybe it isn't.

[Chris_Snow]

Originally Posted by davidfor

You can if you want to.

The firmware thread has links to the older versions, so you can download the desired version, do a factory reset and install it. Then you sideload your books back it.

If you want to get back to the state you are in now, you could backup the contents of the user partition on the Glo. Then, if you don't like the newer firmware, you do a factory reset, install your preferred firmware and restore the backup files.

If you have a good idea of what books are on the device, you could backup the database (.kobo\KoboReader.sqlite) and restore that with the books afterward the factory reset and firmware install. That will be quicker to do the backup, but no quicker to do the restore.

Another way to do it is to open the Glo, remove the internal SD card and take an image of it. Then, if you don't like the new firmware, you just restore the image. Personally, I think this is a little overkill. But, as I keep sending images of the card to people to restore, maybe it isn't.

Thx for the massive input. I've only upgraded the FW once and I had some trouble getting it all going. Finally, so I'm not so keen to go down that path again.

My main reason for upgrading is the long paragraph bug - but has it been fixed yet??

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Chris_Snow

My main reason for upgrading is the long paragraph bug - but has it been fixed yet??

No, that bug is in the Adobe RMSDK library, it probably won't be fixed until the RMSDK is updated (assuming Adobe have fixed the bug), probably when their new DRM scheme starts.

There is a patch that helps with the long paragraph bug though, it works with firmware 2.8.1 and all later firmware versions.

[Chris_Snow]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

No, that bug is in the Adobe RMSDK library, it probably won't be fixed until the RMSDK is updated (assuming Adobe have fixed the bug), probably when their new DRM scheme starts.

Originally Posted by GeoffR

There is a patch that helps with the long paragraph bug though, it works with firmware 2.8.1 and all later firmware versions.

Tell me more

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Chris_Snow

Tell me more

The details for patching older firmware versions are buried in this thread, the complication is that there were actually two different firmwares with version number 2.8.1, one is shown in the device information as 2.8.1 (9a63806202), AKA 2.8.1a, and the other as 2.8.1 (b2c05cda0e), AKA 2.8.1b. You need to check which version your device is running and apply the correct patch for that version. You can probably get help by posting in that thread with which version you are using, if you need it.

As for the effect of the patch, for most well-constructed epubs the long paragraph bug is completely fixed. The books where I find it still occurs are ones with very long chapters, or ones where the publisher has put multiple chapters into one .html file (which can be easily fixed in Calibre). It seems that after a few hundred page turns into a chapter the bug can resurface.

The patch also has a side-effect of disabling page breaks that are there to avoid orphans/widows, but for most people that seems to be an added bonus.

[Chris_Snow]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

The details for patching older firmware versions are buried in this thread, the complication is that there were actually two different firmwares with version number 2.8.1, one is shown in the device information as 2.8.1 (9a63806202), AKA 2.8.1a, and the other as 2.8.1 (b2c05cda0e), AKA 2.8.1b. You need to check which version your device is running and apply the correct patch for that version. You can probably get help by posting in that thread with which version you are using, if you need it.

As for the effect of the patch, for most well-constructed epubs the long paragraph bug is completely fixed. The books where I find it still occurs are ones with very long chapters, or ones where the publisher has put multiple chapters into one .html file (which can be easily fixed in Calibre). It seems that after a few hundred page turns into a chapter the bug can resurface.

Thx for this post. I'll follow it up and see what version I have. Finding the right info is always made more difficult because I don't know what I should be searching for Much appreciated.

Originally Posted by GeoffR

The patch also has a side-effect of disabling page breaks that are there to avoid orphans/widows, but for most people that seems to be an added bonus.

How will this affect me. I already use some Extra CSS code to add widows/ophans. That seemed to fix a lot of formatting issues. The LP bug is the only remaining one at present.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

No, that bug is in the Adobe RMSDK library, it probably won't be fixed until the RMSDK is updated (assuming Adobe have fixed the bug), probably when their new DRM scheme starts.

And it won't be fixed in the next firmware release. Not that many us will be getting that version.

[Chris_Snow]

Originally Posted by davidfor

And it won't be fixed in the next firmware release. Not that many us will be getting that version.

I think I can understand why!

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Chris_Snow

I think I can understand why!

But, I suspect you are wrong But, them maybe the couple of hints I've dropped have made it more obvious than i thought.