Kobo Forma - 4.11.11911 update removed fullscreen reading

[Ammonite]

I used this link to get full-screen reading:
https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/20...kobo-ereaders/

However, inserting this below into the eReader.config file does nothing anymore. In Reading Settings, I see new checkboxes next to Show Title and Show Footer. But when I unselect them, the text still doesn't become full-screen. There's only empty space where the title and page numbers would go.

[FeatureSettings]
FullScreenReading=true

[MGlitch]

Even without patching using this option is a big improvement over having the header and footer on.

With patching and then turning on the footer you can get back to what adding the feature setting gave you for the footer.

It’s currently a theory that modifying some of the patches might yield the same results for the header.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Ammonite

I used this link to get full-screen reading:
https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/20...kobo-ereaders/

However, inserting this below into the eReader.config file does nothing anymore. In Reading Settings, I see new checkboxes next to Show Title and Show Footer. But when I unselect them, the text still doesn't become full-screen. There's only empty space where the title and page numbers would go.

Can you post a screen shot? On my devices, hiding the title means there is a margin at the top, but, it is probably about a quarter of the space taken by the header. At the font size I normally use, it is less than one lines worth of text. It is bigger than I'd like, but, it is a lot less than the title. All my devices are roughly the same. I haven't seen what the Forma does, so I'd be interested in a screenshot as you say it doesn't help.

[Ammonite]

Notice how much wasted space there is even after checking them off. It wasn't this way before.





Show Title and Show Footer used to be different before the update.

They looked like this for actual full-screen reading:

[davidfor]

That photo clearly shows header and footers. Your original post said that when you didn't show these, it was using the same amount of space. I was expecting to see a photo without the header.

The other problem with this, is that where you drew the boxes isn't where the text is limited to. The best way to see this is by bringing up the menu bars. When in header and footer displayed mode, these show where the top and bottom of the text will be drawn. There will be a little more margin in both places, but not much. And the bottom of the text will be drawn so that a full line is shown. That means the bottom can appear a lot bigger depending on exactly how many whole lines will fit. And for epubs where the widows and orphans CSS settings are respected, it can get even more.

The attached screenshots are from my Clara HD running firmware 4.11.11911. They show the various combinations of the header and footer shown and not show. Plus with the menubars shown to show the differences there. And there is a screenshot with the smallest font to try and fill the text area as much as possible.

From the screenshots, I can see:

• With headers and footers, they use no more space than in previous firmware.
• Without headers and footers, I get at least four extra lines at my preferred font size. I think the top and bottom margins are to big, but it is worth at most two lines at this font size.

This should be roughly the same on the Forma. The exact spacing is probably different, but I wouldn't expect by much.

[Ammonite]

Originally Posted by davidfor

That photo clearly shows header and footers. Your original post said that when you didn't show these, it was using the same amount of space. I was expecting to see a photo without the header.

The other problem with this, is that where you drew the boxes isn't where the text is limited to. The best way to see this is by bringing up the menu bars. When in header and footer displayed mode, these show where the top and bottom of the text will be drawn. There will be a little more margin in both places, but not much. And the bottom of the text will be drawn so that a full line is shown. That means the bottom can appear a lot bigger depending on exactly how many whole lines will fit. And for epubs where the widows and orphans CSS settings are respected, it can get even more.

The attached screenshots are from my Clara HD running firmware 4.11.11911. They show the various combinations of the header and footer shown and not show. Plus with the menubars shown to show the differences there. And there is a screenshot with the smallest font to try and fill the text area as much as possible.

From the screenshots, I can see:

• With headers and footers, they use no more space than in previous firmware.
• Without headers and footers, I get at least four extra lines at my preferred font size. I think the top and bottom margins are to big, but it is worth at most two lines at this font size.

This should be roughly the same on the Forma. The exact spacing is probably different, but I wouldn't expect by much.

Very interesting, my Forma previously filled up the entire screen including the area for the top and bottom menu bars. In your second image, no header/no footer, I see empty areas where text can fit.

I need to get my hands on another Forma that hasn't been updated and take more pics (I don't have a screenshot feature so I assume you're on a custom FW?) to show that fullscreen mode used the whole screen versus now. The only reason I'm complaining is I want to take advantage of the 8" screen.

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by Ammonite

(I don't have a screenshot feature so I assume you're on a custom FW?)

You can turn screenshots on in the config file, by adding “Screenshots=true” under [FeatureSettings]. The power button will then take screen shots that show up in the device’s root folder.

The only reason I'm complaining is I want to take advantage of the 8" screen.

You still can, by patching, like MGlitch explained:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=311870

Or, if you prefer, you could do a factory reset and not let the Forma do a firmware update.

[Ammonite]

Originally Posted by Mrs_Often

Or, if you prefer, you could do a factory reset and not let the Forma do a firmware update.

Thank you. Factory reset confirmed I was not crazy.

I measured with a ruler and verified that after the FW update and with header/footer turned off, you only get 7.25" of diagonal for the text. In the factory default FW, you get 7.8" of text diagonally.

So you pay for an 8" screen, but only get 7.25" with header/footer off after the update.

It's silly for me to avoid syncing for fear of the firmware changing and having less space allowed for the text. I've been on the fence on whether to return the Forma, and little niggles like this push me away.

[GeoffR]

AFAIK there is not yet any patch to restore full use of the screen as was possible in the full-screen mode of earlier firmware versions.

There is a patch to prevent the firmware being updated during sync, so it should be possible to re-install the old firmware that supports full-screen mode, patch it, and and stay on that version without giving up the ability to sync.

The lack of proper full-screen mode is a big blow, personally I won't be buying any new Kobo device that can't run a firmware version old enough to support the old full-screen mode.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

The lack of proper full-screen mode is a big blow, personally I won't be buying any new Kobo device that can't run a firmware version old enough to support the old full-screen mode.

In case it helps, this is the closest I could get to edge-to-edge text on a Forma on patched 4.11.11911.

ETA: Forgot to say, this is a standard epub.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

In case it helps, this is the closest I could get to edge-to-edge text on a Forma on patched 4.11.11911.

Thanks for the pic. That space at the top looks to be about 50px or 3.5% of screen width. Is that the normal size, or is it affected by your header size patch?

It is too big for me though, and it doesn't really help to be able to make three margins small if the fourth can't be sized to match.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Thanks for the pic. That space at the top looks to be about 50px or 3.5% of screen width. Is that the normal size, or is it affected by your header size patch?

It is too big for me though, and it doesn't really help to be able to make three margins small if the fourth can't be sized to match.

I did some light testing shrinking down Jackie’s menu patch beyond even the 50% mark (though you really can’t push too much more without the menu bar then covering bits of the controls). I did not notice any marked improvement in terms of the space used up by the now invisible header.

I can’t recall default pre-patch if this was the case or not but patched the menu bar does overlap the text slightly.


There was some speculation on the instructions for patching 4.11.11911 thread that tweaks to the kepub and ePub margin patches could have an effect on this but I’ve not heard more and haven’t had the time to see if it was something I could look at and understand.

Was going to test with the firmware released last night but apparently that has all sorts of issues with kepubs if the stylesheet isn’t inline

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Thanks for the pic. That space at the top looks to be about 50px or 3.5% of screen width. Is that the normal size, or is it affected by your header size patch?

It is too big for me though, and it doesn't really help to be able to make three margins small if the fourth can't be sized to match.

I've attached 2 more pics from a ClaraHD running 4.11.11911 using your Margin Test epub from way back. This should allow a more direct comparison with your 6" Glo. Both have:

- font-family: Georgia
- font-size: 27
- line-height: 0.75
- L/R margins: 0

Using the "empty box" fullscreen image, I measure:

- top margin gap: 3.5mm (approx. 42px ???)
- bottom margin gap: 1.5mm

Note: Please ignore the timestamp in the bottom right corner. It's a hack that I didn't want to have to uninstall. It's simply a text overlay and does not affect the underlying standard text layout.

I don't think my Header patches affect the empty top margin when Show Title is disabled

[Barty]

^^^ hi jackie_w what font you are using in that pic?

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by Barty

^^^ hi jackie_w what font you are using in that pic?

Post #10 is Minion Pro. Post #13 is the built-in Georgia (as stated).