Touch Best N905 Firmware

[tekk]

I just got a 1st gen Touch and went through the non-registration method (inserting a fake user into the sqlite db, per the wiki.) After that I went and updated to the latest firmware, but not only is the firmware way laggier, which didn't surprise me much since it was for a 9 year old reader, but it also doesn't work at all with a local-only registered tablet. Does anyone know which firmware is the last to not break when not using an account/what firmware version has the best balance of being up to date and not running like trash?

[DNSB]

If you read back a few years, you'll find reports that kludging the user into the database can and will cause issues with updating. Register with a throwaway email address or simply make up an email address (somename@erewhon.net for instance) since Kobo does not check to see if you used a real email address.

See Bypassing registration in 3.19+ for an example of someone who had issues with a firmware upgrade.

Personally, since bypassing registration is not a supported action, you are taking your chances for no real gain.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

If you read back a few years, you'll find reports that kludging the user into the database can and will cause issues with updating. Register with a throwaway email address or simply make up an email address (somename@erewhon.net for instance) since Kobo does not check to see if you used a real email address.

See Bypassing registration in 3.19+ for an example of someone who had issues with a firmware upgrade.

Personally, since bypassing registration is not a supported action, you are taking your chances for no real gain.

I've been saying that it's a really bad idea to fake register a Kobo and may others have been poo-pooing me for it even though it really is a bad idea.

[tekk]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Register with a throwaway email address or simply make up an email address (somename@erewhon.net for instance) since Kobo does not check to see if you used a real email address.

Unfortunately I don't have a windows box (and the kobo isn't detected in wine.) My kobo also won't connect to wifi; it just doesn't see wifi networks. Persists through factory resets, tried the wpa_supplicant.conf patch, etc. I may look into that 3.19 link though; it seems like that's the version everyone likes?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tekk

Unfortunately I don't have a windows box (and the kobo isn't detected in wine.) My kobo also won't connect to wifi; it just doesn't see wifi networks. Persists through factory resets, tried the wpa_supplicant.conf patch, etc. I may look into that 3.19 link though; it seems like that's the version everyone likes?

Sorry, but 3.19 is not what everyone likes. Most like 4.26.16704. There have been lot of changes for the better since 3.19.

[tekk]

No worries, I just remember seeing a lot of notes in posts pointing out 3.19 was the last one with the old UI (though even that's quite different from 1.x). When I tried 4.x it felt a lot more sluggish, like they were trying to cram a tablet interface onto an e-ink display.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by tekk

Unfortunately I don't have a windows box (and the kobo isn't detected in wine.) My kobo also won't connect to wifi; it just doesn't see wifi networks. Persists through factory resets, tried the wpa_supplicant.conf patch, etc. I may look into that 3.19 link though; it seems like that's the version everyone likes?

Manually install firmware 3.19.x or later. You won't be able to connect with anything older due to the checking the device does when connecting and that had to Kobo remove support for older security protocols from their servers. But, it should see the network and let you enter the password. My N905 Touch can have issues connecting. It would once, then not again until after a reboot. But, this seems to have improved the more recent firmware.

As to Touch firmware versions:

• 2.6.1 - Last with Mozaic home screen. But, WiFi probably won't work.
• 3.0.0 - First with tiled home screen. But, I wouldn't use it.
• 3.12.x or 3.14.x - Last 3.x version with good collections speed. Not sure of the exact version, but, it was about this point. One of these were a popular stopping point for people. And Kobo held the Mini to one of these for a long time.
• 3.19.5761 - Last 3.x version, has tiled home screen. My usual recommendation for those who do not want the current home screen. WiFi will work. But largish collections are slow.
• 4.x - I don't recommend anything except the current release. The early versions had plenty of bugs and were not released for the Touch. And the later versions have no real advantage over the current release.

Personally, I keep my Touch on the latest version of firmware. I use it mainly for testing when I don't want to interrupt my current reading. I don't really see any performance issues. But, I haven't run one of the older firmware for a long time.

One thing is that you if you decide on a firmware between 2.6.1 and 3.16.0, install 2.6.1 first. The firmware versions between these did not include the kernel or uImage for the Touch. There were some issues for people who jumped to these directly from a factory reset.

[JSWolf]

There are some rather useful improvements in 4.26.16704 from the 3.19.5761 such as much better ePub highlighting, improved dictionaries, series sorting, and the ability to use NickelMenu.

I don't find the speed of the current firmware to be slow. When I got my H2O, It may have come with 3.8. So I've been through I lot of different firmware versions to get to the current version.