Mini Unblock It! (Beta Feature) Problem

[Kiwisaurus]

Hey everybody!

I'm Kiwisaurus.

This is my first actual post (not counting my "Introduction" thingy) and I am a complete novice at this stuff, so please try to keep it as simple as possible

Uh...alright. So here is the problem:

I own a Kobo Mini and I manually updated it from firmware version 3.4.1 to 3.19.5761 which is the latest version it can run without breaking.

(It's not officially for the Mini, by the way).

Now, Chess has disappeared from "Beta Features", and I know that is normal, because it got removed in the newer firmware. And under the "Beta Features" menu, a new game appeared, called "Unblock It!".

And that is not surprising at all.

The weird part is, if I go into Sudoku in both firmware versions, or Chess in 3.4.1, at the very start, an intro, I guess, or welcome screen pops up, with a picture of an eReader smoking pipe, saying "Choose difficulty level".

But when I go into "Unblock It!", the little eReader pic (smoking pipe) does not appear, and it just says "Select difficulty level".

Is he supposed to appear like he does in Chess or Sudoku?



Did Kobo remove him?



If so, why does Sudoku still have it?



All suggestions welcome.

[PeterT]

Probably the code does not include screen scaling to the resolution of the Mini

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[Kiwisaurus]

Yeah, probably.

I also tried downgrading back to 3.4.1 from 3.19.5761 with "Unblock It!" on my homepage, and when I opened it, the picture of the eReader smoking pipe was there, but when I hit "PLAY" the game starts and the blocks are super-large and the picture of the eReader covers the whole screen.

I guess the Mini wasn't built for that game.

But the weird thing is, it's screen resolution is the same as most other Kobos, though smaller.

Is there any way to fix this issue?

Thanks.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Kiwisaurus

Is there any way to fix this issue?

Unblock It works fine on my Kobo Mini. All I did to upgrade (with the official Kobo Mini 3.19.x software) was change the affiliate to "rakutenbooks" and it updated automatically over the air. If you're currently at 3.4.x, just change the affiliate and sync.

(Affiliate is in the affililate.conf file, under .kobo)

[Kiwisaurus]

[deleted]

[Kiwisaurus]

[deleted]

[Kiwisaurus]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Unblock It works fine on my Kobo Mini. All I did to upgrade (with the official Kobo Mini 3.19.x software) was change the affiliate to "rakutenbooks" and it updated automatically over the air. If you're currently at 3.4.x, just change the affiliate and sync.

(Affiliate is in the affililate.conf file, under .kobo)

Please try this now if possible:

Open "Unblock It!"

The welcome screen will pop up.

Do you see an eReader smoking pipe?

Choose difficulty level.

Start playing.

Is the game to scale?

Or is the eReader pic at the bottom covering the whole screen?

Thanks.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Kiwisaurus

Please try this now if possible:

Open "Unblock It!"

The welcome screen will pop up.

Do you see an eReader smoking pipe?

Choose difficulty level.

Start playing.

Is the game to scale?

Or is the eReader pic at the bottom covering the whole screen?

Thanks.

No eReader smoking the pipe until I choose a difficulty level and hit "Let's play." The game is to scale (I guess) it takes up about 1/3 (maybe a little more) of the screen. The eReader smoking the pipe takes up a small part of the screen (probably about an inch) on the bottom (part way hidden by the Menu).

[Kiwisaurus]

Originally Posted by rcentros

No eReader smoking the pipe until I choose a difficulty level and hit "Let's play." The game is to scale (I guess) it takes up about 1/3 (maybe a little more) of the screen. The eReader smoking the pipe takes up a small part of the screen (probably about an inch) on the bottom (part way hidden by the Menu).

Hmm...so it is normal that he does not appear until the gameplay starts.

But you see, when you tap Sudoku, the eReader is there when you choose the difficulty.

And he is also there if I downgrade from version 3.19.5761 back to 3.4.1 while "Unblock It!" is still on my screen. But he is so large that he covers the gameplay and I can't see the bricks!

So, why does he appear in "Unblock It!" at version 3.4.1 but not in 3.19.5761?

Also, why does the game even work on version 3.4.1? The game is not in the "Beta Features", but if I keep it on the homescreen while downgrading, the game still works.

Does that make any sense to you?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Kiwisaurus

Hmm...so it is normal that he does not appear until the gameplay starts.

But you see, when you tap Sudoku, the eReader is there when you choose the difficulty.

And he is also there if I downgrade from version 3.19.5761 back to 3.4.1 while "Unblock It!" is still on my screen. But he is so large that he covers the gameplay and I can't see the bricks!

So, why does he appear in "Unblock It!" at version 3.4.1 but not in 3.19.5761?

Also, why does the game even work on version 3.4.1? The game is not in the "Beta Features", but if I keep it on the homescreen while downgrading, the game still works.

Does that make any sense to you?

No, but then I don't play the games much (at all). For a while I didn't want to upgrade because I didn't want to lose Chess, but then I realized I never played Chess anyhow, so I upgraded to the newer software. It's possible that 3.4.x firmware had an early (beta) version of Unblock It, I guess. I think Chess is still somewhere on 3.19.x, but you can't get to it. Although I think you can patch the software to find it. Have you checked into the patches on the development forum?

[Kiwisaurus]

Originally Posted by rcentros

No, but then I don't play the games much (at all). For a while I didn't want to upgrade because I didn't want to lose Chess, but then I realized I never played Chess anyhow, so I upgraded to the newer software. It's possible that 3.4.x firmware had an early (beta) version of Unblock It, I guess. I think Chess is still somewhere on 3.19.x, but you can't get to it. Although I think you can patch the software to find it. Have you checked into the patches on the development forum?

No, but I know a way to have Chess in 3.17.X, unfortunately not in 3.19.5761.

Okay, so here is how:

1. Downgrade to 3.4.1.

2. Open Chess at least once, so it appears on your homescreen.

3. Open other stuff as well, like Library or Storefront or Recommended Books, so that your homescreen is full, with Chess in it. This is required because if your homescreen is not full, then Kobo will frequently display stuff, like ads or recommendations on your homescreen, pushing Chess off it.

4. OK, now update to 3.17.X. Any version that is under 3.17 (preferably the latest). You cannot update to 3.19.X with Chess on your homescreen because it does not open for some reason.

5. When you have version 3.17.X with Chess on your homescreen, you are done. Now both Chess and Unblock It! will work.

I am not really familiar with patches and stuff. I only have the Night Mode hack, that's all. I don't like to mess around with the settings and files and codes and complicated stuff.

Also, sorry if I confused you with my last post (the one before this that says "Does this make any sense?" All I meant to say was what I just said about keeping Chess, but with Unblock It!.

So, does all that make sense, or should I write all that again, but simpler?



[BY THE WAY, YOU WILL HAVE TO FREQUENTLY OPEN CHESS, AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK, TO MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT DISAPPEAR OFF THE HOMESCREEN!]

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Kiwisaurus

Hmm...so it is normal that he does not appear until the gameplay starts.

But you see, when you tap Sudoku, the eReader is there when you choose the difficulty.

And he is also there if I downgrade from version 3.19.5761 back to 3.4.1 while "Unblock It!" is still on my screen. But he is so large that he covers the gameplay and I can't see the bricks!

The answer to all these questions is "Beta Features". Kobo doesn't promise anything with them. I suspect they exist largely as experiments for coding other parts of the interface. It's possible they give them to new developers to play with to learn the ins-and-outs of the environment. So, don't expect consistency between them, just hope they work.

So, why does he appear in "Unblock It!" at version 3.4.1 but not in 3.19.5761?

Also, why does the game even work on version 3.4.1? The game is not in the "Beta Features", but if I keep it on the homescreen while downgrading, the game still works.

Does that make any sense to you?

Installing the firmware basically just unpacks a set of files into the right places. Downgrading without a factory reset means that any extra files in the later versions are not removed. So, the Unblock It! executable will still be there. And as long as it doesn't rely on an updated library, and you can start it, it will run. People have taken advantage of this for other games on the devices that don't have them in the Beta Features.

[Kiwisaurus]

Originally Posted by davidfor

The answer to all these questions is "Beta Features". Kobo doesn't promise anything with them. I suspect they exist largely as experiments for coding other parts of the interface. It's possible they give them to new developers to play with to learn the ins-and-outs of the environment. So, don't expect consistency between them, just hope they work.


Installing the firmware basically just unpacks a set of files into the right places. Downgrading without a factory reset means that any extra files in the later versions are not removed. So, the Unblock It! executable will still be there. And as long as it doesn't rely on an updated library, and you can start it, it will run. People have taken advantage of this for other games on the devices that don't have them in the Beta Features.

Wow. Interesting.

Thanks for that information, davidfor!