Quick question: Kobo Nickel font fixed?

Joques · 02-18-2016, 03:32 AM

Hi, I haven't visited here for a year now, I think, since in its patched version I was completely happy with the firmware I was on. But it suddenly occurred to me that I am in fact running a patched FW, for the sole reason that the line spacing in Kobo Nickel is (was?) borked. And I do very much prefer to run vanilla FW. So - is the line spacing still borked, or have they fixed it?

GeoffR · 02-19-2016, 01:24 AM

Sadly, the Kobo Nickel font still has insanely wide line spacing in firmware 3.19.5761.

Joques · 02-19-2016, 04:22 AM

My god, it's never going to happen, is it?

JSWolf · 02-19-2016, 05:19 AM

It is trivial to fix Kobo Nickel's wide spacing. I could do it in less than 30 minutes.

Joques · 02-19-2016, 09:01 AM

I guess it's like housework: The small things tend to never get done while you focus on the big things.

shalym · 02-19-2016, 09:54 AM

Can't you just choose one of the other fonts on the device? What's so special about the Kobo Nickel font?

Shari

Rand Brittain · 02-20-2016, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shalym

Can't you just choose one of the other fonts on the device? What's so special about the Kobo Nickel font?

Shari

It's mostly just bizarre that Kobo went to the trouble of making their own rather nice font and then lets a bug, apparently easily fixed, that makes it largely unusable sit untouched for years.

davidfor · 02-21-2016, 01:57 AM

Has anyone considered that this is not a bug? That Kobo has designed this font to work exactly this way? And that the older behaviour people want back is actually the bug they have fixed?

This is probably not the case, but, there is plenty of behaviour in various software products that one person calls a bug, but another sees as exactly what is wanted.

For anyone waiting for Kobo Nickel to be "fixed", I suggest you stop waiting. Kobo don't think it's a problem, or don't think it's an important enough problem to fix, or fixing it breaks something else, or maybe they don't know how to fix it. But, it is unlikely to be fixed, so it's probably time to accept it and find another font.

the.Mtn.Man · 02-21-2016, 07:36 PM

I loved Rockwell on my Touch. I wish they would just bring that back.

MGlitch · 02-21-2016, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the.Mtn.Man

I loved Rockwell on my Touch. I wish they would just bring that back.

it's available in old firmware files. Might not be legal to distribute but I doubt Kobo is going to come after you for downloading an old firmware update and getting to the font file. Especially since any computer can do it, with just basic computer skills of double clicking.

Joques · 02-22-2016, 04:49 AM

davidfor, that may well be. I guess I'll just stay on my patched firmware and be happy I have the patch at least.

JSWolf · 02-22-2016, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the.Mtn.Man

I loved Rockwell on my Touch. I wish they would just bring that back.

I don't know what the version of Rockwell looks like that Kobo used, but I did find this and if it's the same or close enough, it may do.

http://ufonts.com/search/rockwell

JSWolf · 02-22-2016, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGlitch

it's available in old firmware files. Might not be legal to distribute but I doubt Kobo is going to come after you for downloading an old firmware update and getting to the font file. Especially since any computer can do it, with just basic computer skills of double clicking.

I believe the fonts Kobo uses are obfuscated. So even if you could get a firmware that has the font(s) you wan, there's not a lot you can do with them.

jackie_w · 02-22-2016, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I believe the fonts Kobo uses are obfuscated. So even if you could get a firmware that has the font(s) you wan, there's not a lot you can do with them.

For info. They are in recent firmware versions but back in Kobo's Rockwell days the font files weren't locked. I have a couple of different versions of Rockwell that I extracted from (I think) fw versions 1.9 and 2.0.

Rockwell also has the benefit of being considered as a built-in font, even if you sideload it, so Advanced TypeGenius works with it even if you haven't applied Patches.

MGlitch · 02-22-2016, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I believe the fonts Kobo uses are obfuscated. So even if you could get a firmware that has the font(s) you wan, there's not a lot you can do with them.

can't say for sure as I've not loaded them on to my H2O, but I was able to find the files for Rockwell and my Mac had zero issues opening and displaying them. I did not try installing them.

eta- Jackie_w beat me to it, I really should refresh before commenting

02-18-2016, 03:32 AM	#1
Joques Addict Posts: 294 Karma: 107414 Join Date: May 2013 Device: Kobo Glo	Quick question: Kobo Nickel font fixed? Hi, I haven't visited here for a year now, I think, since in its patched version I was completely happy with the firmware I was on. But it suddenly occurred to me that I am in fact running a patched FW, for the sole reason that the line spacing in Kobo Nickel is (was?) borked. And I do very much prefer to run vanilla FW. So - is the line spacing still borked, or have they fixed it?

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02-19-2016, 01:24 AM	#2
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	Sadly, the Kobo Nickel font still has insanely wide line spacing in firmware 3.19.5761.

02-19-2016, 04:22 AM	#3
Joques Addict Posts: 294 Karma: 107414 Join Date: May 2013 Device: Kobo Glo	My god, it's never going to happen, is it?

02-19-2016, 05:19 AM	#4
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 79,745 Karma: 145864619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	It is trivial to fix Kobo Nickel's wide spacing. I could do it in less than 30 minutes.

02-19-2016, 09:01 AM	#5
Joques Addict Posts: 294 Karma: 107414 Join Date: May 2013 Device: Kobo Glo	I guess it's like housework: The small things tend to never get done while you focus on the big things.

02-19-2016, 09:54 AM	#6
shalym Wizard Posts: 3,058 Karma: 54671821 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: New England Device: PW 1, 2, 3, Voyage, Oasis 2 & 3, Fires, Aura HD, iPad	Can't you just choose one of the other fonts on the device? What's so special about the Kobo Nickel font? Shari

02-21-2016, 01:57 AM	#8
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	Has anyone considered that this is not a bug? That Kobo has designed this font to work exactly this way? And that the older behaviour people want back is actually the bug they have fixed? This is probably not the case, but, there is plenty of behaviour in various software products that one person calls a bug, but another sees as exactly what is wanted. For anyone waiting for Kobo Nickel to be "fixed", I suggest you stop waiting. Kobo don't think it's a problem, or don't think it's an important enough problem to fix, or fixing it breaks something else, or maybe they don't know how to fix it. But, it is unlikely to be fixed, so it's probably time to accept it and find another font.

02-21-2016, 07:36 PM	#9
the.Mtn.Man Guru Posts: 710 Karma: 2483502 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: Kobo Aura	I loved Rockwell on my Touch. I wish they would just bring that back.

02-22-2016, 04:49 AM	#11
Joques Addict Posts: 294 Karma: 107414 Join Date: May 2013 Device: Kobo Glo	davidfor, that may well be. I guess I'll just stay on my patched firmware and be happy I have the patch at least.

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