kobofirmware 2.0 - An easy way to get info about Kobo firmware

geek1011 · 04-24-2018, 05:28 PM

As some of you may have noticed, I have been working on (and just finished) a major redesign of my kobofirmware page over the past few weeks.

Here are the main improvements and new features:

Higher information density on tables (it now fits a lot better and looks cleaner)
Past versions table (like the one on the wiki)
Version availability by device table (a dense chart showing which versions are available for every device)
Version availability by affiliate table (a chart showing which affiliates have which versions for every device)
3x faster loading
Error reporting (with Sentry) so I can fix errors right away
A better filter bar (less false positives)
A cleaner design
If you use an adblocker (which is fine with me), the placeholder for the ads will not take up space
Nicer dialogs
Many bugfixes
More reliable date extraction
Nicer changelog viewer

Please try it and tell me what you think (suggestions, bugs, feedback, etc).

geek1011 · 04-24-2018, 10:56 PM

Here are some screenshots of the 3 new views and the new design for the latest version table.

davidfor · 04-25-2018, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geek1011

Here are some screenshots of the 3 new views and the new design for the latest version table.

Looks good. Are the tables taken from the Wiki page? Or another source? If the "All old versions by hardware" table comes from the Wiki, is there any reason to strip the link to the discussion thread?

geek1011 · 04-25-2018, 12:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

Looks good. Are the tables taken from the Wiki page? Or another source? If the "All old versions by hardware" table comes from the Wiki, is there any reason to strip the link to the discussion thread?

Everything on the downloader page is generated (including all the charts and tables).

The old versions are automatically stored in a db by a script I made here, and this is the code used to generate the table based on it.

What do you think of the shades of red and green I picked? I personally feel like they are a bit glaring, but I'm not sure what I should change it to.

davidfor · 04-25-2018, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geek1011

Everything on the downloader page is generated (including all the charts and tables).

But, unless you have been collecting this information for a lot longer than I thought, the data in "All old versions by hardware". At first glance, it looked like like what is on https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kob...ses#Firmware_2, but, I can see it isn't exactly the same.

Quote:

The old versions are automatically stored in a db by a script I made here, and this is the code used to generate the table based on it.

What do you think of the shades of red and green I picked? I personally feel like they are a bit glaring, but I'm not sure what I should change it to.

Hmm, I think I agree that they aren't quite right, but, I have no idea what to suggest instead. I'm terrible with colours and am quite happy to let my wife dress me when it comes to colour combinations

anacreon · 04-25-2018, 03:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geek1011

What do you think of the shades of red and green I picked? I personally feel like they are a bit glaring, but I'm not sure what I should change it to.

First of all, thanks for your work.

I do think the colors are a bit glaring. I assume you are working with excel: you can choose a set of colors in the theme that are softer, or alternately choose them in the "other colors" wheel.

geek1011 · 04-25-2018, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anacreon

First of all, thanks for your work.

You're welcome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anacreon

I do think the colors are a bit glaring. I assume you are working with excel: you can choose a set of colors in the theme that are softer, or alternately choose them in the "other colors" wheel.

The tables are not made using excel. They are generated on the fly with JavaScript.

geek1011 · 04-25-2018, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

But, unless you have been collecting this information for a lot longer than I thought, the data in "All old versions by hardware". At first glance, it looked like like what is on https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Kob...ses#Firmware_2, but, I can see it isn't exactly the same.

I usually skip versions with major problems in the past versions list. As for how I get the info: for the stuff before 2014, I get the info from the wiki, and for the stuff after I checked manually, and since 2015 I've been using my script.

Also note that the wiki does not have anything like the version availability table (the one with colors) or the affiliate table. It will not ever be able to have something like the affiliate table, as it needs to be automatically generated from the API.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

Hmm, I think I agree that they aren't quite right, but, I have no idea what to suggest instead. I'm terrible with colours and am quite happy to let my wife dress me when it comes to colour combinations

Same here.

JohhnyMix · 04-25-2018, 01:53 PM

This looks very nice and clean so thanks for putting in that work and sharing it with us... thumbs up!!

geek1011 · 04-25-2018, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohhnyMix

This looks very nice and clean so thanks for putting in that work and sharing it with us... thumbs up!!

Thanks! Any other ideas for more tables/charts to add?

boriar · 04-25-2018, 04:36 PM

Excellent work geek1011! I like it so much.

geek1011 · 04-25-2018, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boriar

Excellent work geek1011! I like it so much.

Thanks! Any suggestions for more features?

dmapr · 04-25-2018, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geek1011

Thanks! Any suggestions for more features?

It's a bit unfair to ask because it requires manual upkeep, but a list of known bugs for each released firmware could be helpful to some. I see posts of the "what's broken in version x.y.z?" with some regularity.

Many thanks for making this tool!

geek1011 · 04-25-2018, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dmapr

It's a bit unfair to ask because it requires manual upkeep, but a list of known bugs for each released firmware could be helpful to some. I see posts of the "what's broken in version x.y.z?" with some regularity.

Many thanks for making this tool!

You're welcome! I'm actually already planning on a better changelog feature already (but I don't have an ETA yet).

dmapr · 04-26-2018, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by geek1011

You're welcome! I'm actually already planning on a better changelog feature already (but I don't have an ETA yet).

I was referring more to the issues discovered and reported by the community members for each firmware than to the official changelog from Kobo. Things like "broken reading stats in 4.7.xxx" and so on. That's why I said it requires manual upkeep as you can't fetch that automatically from anywhere

. I think the changelog you show right now is perfectly adequate.

04-24-2018, 05:28 PM	#1
geek1011 Wizard Posts: 2,808 Karma: 7423683 Join Date: May 2016 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: Kobo Mini, Aura Edition 2 v1, Clara HD, Clara BW, Libra Colour	kobofirmware 2.0 - An easy way to get the latest firmware links As some of you may have noticed, I have been working on (and just finished) a major redesign of my kobofirmware page over the past few weeks. Here are the main improvements and new features: Higher information density on tables (it now fits a lot better and looks cleaner) Past versions table (like the one on the wiki) Version availability by device table (a dense chart showing which versions are available for every device) Version availability by affiliate table (a chart showing which affiliates have which versions for every device) 3x faster loading Error reporting (with Sentry) so I can fix errors right away A better filter bar (less false positives) A cleaner design If you use an adblocker (which is fine with me), the placeholder for the ads will not take up space Nicer dialogs Many bugfixes More reliable date extraction Nicer changelog viewer Please try it and tell me what you think (suggestions, bugs, feedback, etc). Last edited by geek1011; 05-27-2018 at 03:46 PM.

04-24-2018, 10:56 PM	#2
geek1011 Wizard Posts: 2,808 Karma: 7423683 Join Date: May 2016 Location: Ontario, Canada Device: Kobo Mini, Aura Edition 2 v1, Clara HD, Clara BW, Libra Colour	Here are some screenshots of the 3 new views and the new design for the latest version table. Attached Thumbnails

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04-25-2018, 01:53 PM	#9
JohhnyMix Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2018 Device: Kobo H2O V2	This looks very nice and clean so thanks for putting in that work and sharing it with us... thumbs up!!

04-25-2018, 04:36 PM	#11
boriar Evangelist Posts: 407 Karma: 314204 Join Date: Jan 2015 Device: bq Avant XL, Kobo Aura H2O, Onyx Boox M96C Plus	Excellent work geek1011! I like it so much.