Vivlio software update v634.6.9.951 introduces an unskippable login screen :(

[DJUNGELSKOG]

I wanted to share my adventure with my Vivlio (aka Pocketbook) device’s firmware upgrade, long story short it had introduced a login screen that wasn’t there before and can’t be (easily) skipped.

This only applies to Vivlio devices (and potentially limited to Cultura’s ones) and does not affect normal Pocketbooks.


I got a notification on my device: there is a firmware update, so I’ve checked the release notes and it actually had a feature that I was interested in. So I have pressed the “update” button. What could possibly go wrong?


After the upgrade I was immediately greeted with a Vivlio’s splash screen even though I had vanilla pocketbook firmware installed on my device before the update. I had to select a language, then I pressed “next”. The device has briefly shown the WiFi selection screen with no option to skip this step, it has automatically connected to my WiFi and presented me with a login screen, prompting me to login with a Cultura account (that’s the shop where my device comes from)

This screen wasn’t present before even when I’ve accidentally installed Vivlio firmware upgrades in the past, and it also provided no way to skip the login process, no “skip” button, no “close” button, nothing.

I decided that it must have been a mistake so I’ve restarted my device. Same story: splash screen, select your language, then the WiFi connection screen for a split second, and then the login screen.

I decided to connect my device to my PC with a cable and install the vanilla Pocketbook firmware again since I rely on a feature that’s not available on Vivlio. It didn’t connect to my PC even though I have the “always connect” option enabled in my settings. It hasn’t shown the “usb connection detected, what do you wanna do?” dialog. They really want you to sign in. Pressing the home button didn’t get rid of the login screen either.

I could have given them a fake email at this point but I got pissed off, so I’ve turned off my router and restarted the device. This time it has booted properly without the login screen and I was able to copy a proper firmware file to it’s root folder. Then I decided to check what would happen if I restarted my device again, so I’ve turned my router back on, restarted my device, and there it is, the login screen is back! I’m just happy that I was able to flash the original firmware by holding the page turn buttons + the power button.


TLDR: if you own a Vivlio device and install this firmware version, be ready to be presented with an unskippable login screen that you might or might not find acceptable.

[orontee]

Bordel... Horrible.