PRS+: Enhanced firmware for Sony Reader, Folders, Games & more

[Hamid]

Thanks for all your work, just hoping that developping efforts go back to PRS505 soon.

[kartu]

I won't abandon my good old 505, no way.
And stuff that is developed now is mostly "cross - platform" so it will also work on 505 with minor changes.

[Cayendi]

Hi all,

I recently got a PRS-505 through a friend, because he wasn't using it any more, and I've been thoroughly enjoying it, haven't read this much in ages. I absolutely love it

When I stumbled across this forum, I was hesitant to try out the options, especially after reading about the difference in firmware numbers (I have one of the English/Canadian ones). But yesterday I decided to give it a go anyway and spent last night and today pimping my reader, and it went off without a hitch; no glitches, no getting stuck, no bricking.
I really enjoy being able to read e-books in my preferred font, URW Gothic L. What can I say, I love 'normal' rounded a's instead of the print version, though I haven't put an lrf book back on my reader to see whether I did it correctly.
I like seeing the clock in the bottom bar, because I tend to lose track of time pretty quickly when I'm reading, and playing around with a new logo is just up my street (even though it's pretty small).

So, thanks Kartu, for developing PRS+ and enabling us to use some PRSCustomizer features with it as well

Of course, there are a lot of features I probably won't be using, and I have a question about that.
I really only have the ereader for reading, so I don't even use the mp3 player function (I have enough of those already), but my kids have now noticed they can play games on it *sigh* and I'd really rather not tempt them.
Is there a way to install PRS+ without the gaming option, or an option to hide it (and maybe hide the mp3 player as well)?


Cheers,

Anita (aka Cayendi)

Oh, my camera's lacking a charged battery at the moment, but this is my new logo:

[kartu]

Cayendi
To remove games you'd have to harness build process.
Other than that, I don't think Sudoku is a kind of game that kids would enjoy.

[Cayendi]

Kartu,

Lol. When I say kids, I mean intelligent teens (15,17,18) who only like gadgets when they come with games and solve sudokus quicker than I can

As for the build process ... I think I'll leave that up to the experts. I'm not as ready to dive into that one ... yet.

Cheers,

Anita

Originally Posted by kartu

Cayendi
To remove games you'd have to harness build process.
Other than that, I don't think Sudoku is a kind of game that kids would enjoy.

[Pi Squared]

I've had a UK PRS-505 for a couple of years and been reasonably satisfied with it (like all things Sony IMHO, hardware Alpha+, software Delta-).

For some reason I decided to try to 'improve' it as per the various instructions in this forum. And sure enough I screwed things up. Unfortunately I didn't keep a record of everything I did as I did it, so I can't describe accurately how I arrived at this situation. Anyway, I've managed to recover from the never-ending "Starting up ..." cycle, and various other errors along the way.

Currently I'm left with a US Firmware 1.1.00.18040 version, rather than the UK 1.2 I started with. Am I right in deducing from what I've read that there is no way back to a full UK virgin firmware setup?

I can't seem to locate instructions and/or firmware files to complete this. If not then I'll stop looking and put it down as another of life's interesting experiences. But if there is a way, I'd be interested in having a stab at it.

Thanks in advance

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Pi Squared

Currently I'm left with a US Firmware 1.1.00.18040 version, rather than the UK 1.2 I started with. Am I right in deducing from what I've read that there is no way back to a full UK virgin firmware setup?

If you made it back to this point you should try again. First ensure your reader is fully charged. Then backup anything on your reader. Format internal memory and start fresh. Believe me it won't mess up a second time. You won't regret it.

[kartu]

Pi Squared

in deducing from what I've read that there is no way back to a full UK virgin firmware setup?

There is a way back to any software. Have a look:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84660

You'll need firmware dumps however.

[Pi Squared]

Dwanthny and kartu,

Thank you both for the prompt replies.
Especially kartu for the link - it seems every time I come to this or related forums a new source of information pops out. I swear I'd looked for stuff like this before posting! As I indicated, my sequence of events that lead to bricking and then unbricking (aside: anyone remember a 1969 LP by Fairport Convention 'Unhalfbricking'?) were not well documented or remembered by me (doh!) so I don't believe I have relevant firmware backups. No-one's fault but mine for that.

My 505 gives every appearance of being fully functional as a 1.1.00.18040 device. My enquiry was more driven by curiosity about UK 1.2 firmware. Since getting the 1.1 firmware loaded I have tried PRSCustomiser a couple of times to make minor changes successfully. However I do seem to consistently fail when trying to load new fonts, but I've established a recovery routine there. I'll continue experimenting, but my ambition and expectations in this direction are already very much reduced as a result of my earlier mishaps.

Thanks again for the replies.

[kartu]

Pi Squared
So that you better understand what the problem was. There are 2 partitions in firmware that are getting flashed:

1) FSK - every single flasher / customizer touches this one
2) Root - only Sony's flasher and in some cases PRS+ (in case of unsupported firmware) touches it

When FSK & Root are from different versions, it might or might not lead to problems.
The most common version used by flashers / customizers is US version (1.1.00.18040).

In case of PRS+ there is a "Chinese" way of replacing LRF fonts without actually flashing. (using mount --bind command)

[yolan]

Hi there!

I've had my 505 for more than a year (got it on clearance before th 300/600 release), and can't be happier with my reader.
And even more after using PRS+ enhancements. How can anyone live without foders??

Though, there is something I would like do, but don't know if it is possible.
I'd like to get a quick access to changing the epub stylesheet without having to go all the way through the settings menu...

Is there a way to jump straight to this option?

Many thanks! and please keep up the fantastic work you're doing!!!

[kartu]

yolan
Yes it's possible, I even thought there already was an action for that.
When 2.x.x beta for 505s will start, remind me about this feature please, if I forget to add it.

[Muzer]

Just registered on here to say thanks a lot for this fantastic enhancement, and to put in a feature request (if it doesn't already exist! It wasn't on the wiki page, though)

It would be nice if it was easy to develop apps for the eBook reader, and then to release them in an easy-to-install manner - so how about allowing the user to place apps in a directory on SD and/or internal memory, which will then get picked up and placed under the utilities menu?

If this is already possible (in the 1.x branch at the moment, I've a PRS-505), please tell me how! If not, it'd be a lovely feature for 2.x, especially when it's backported to PRS-505.

[Mark Nord]

Originally Posted by Muzer

It would be nice if it was easy to develop apps for the eBook reader,

Even if it is not extremly difficult to develop for Sony-PRS there is no documented way of doing. The Apps under "Games and Utillities" are based on the kinoma FSK-Framework for GUI Design and JavaScipt.

and then to release them in an easy-to-install manner - so how about allowing the user to place apps in a directory on SD and/or internal memory, which will then get picked up and placed under the utilities menu?
If this is already possible (in the 1.x branch at the moment, I've a PRS-505), please tell me how! If not, it'd be a lovely feature for 2.x, especially when it's backported to PRS-505.

Look for "BETA-TESTER-PACK" or bp4.zip in this thread.
Just place your App in the addons-folder and they will be added.
If you are serious on developing you may also have a look on my FSK Test-Environment for Autorun Applications under MS-Windows(Shameless selfpromotion)
It should be possible to port any keyboard-controlled JS-Application runing in a browser to PRS. (See my Calculator, it happens again...).
I was thinking of porting minesweeper, but can't find the time in the moment, so maybe you may have a look.

[Muzer]

If you were to port that to Linux, I would use it (the emulator)

Yeah, I noticed there were no docs - I'm sure I could use other apps as examples, though.

And what a coincidence - I was actually planning on creating minesweeper!