Firmware V4.0 RC

[Markismus]

My Note 5 received a notice for a new firmware update.

2025-03-09_21-56_v4.0-rel_5cf49da030
2025-03-11 11:16:56
Dear users,
We sincerely invite you to update to BOOX Firmware V4.0 RC (Releease Candidate). It includes many bug fixes, and is also
packed with improvements & features to make reading and note-taaking more intuitive. This update aims to boost your
productivity and spark your creativity.
(Since there are major upgrades in the NeoReader and Library, to rmake sure your reading data is in order, the *syncing
functionalities* of the reflowable documents reading data (including annotations & highlights) are *temporarily
unavailable*. It will be available again after the adjustment is donee. We suggest you back up your reading data locally just
in case.)
*Before you upgrade to this version, you should know:
- Please back up all of your important data in case of any datta loss.
- After the upgrade is completed, the system will be deeply optimized in the background. During optimization, the device
may experience brief heating and increased power consumption.Power consumption could go back to normal in about 2-3
days.
-If you don't want to upgrade,please ignore this version.
*Changelogs:
[System]
- Improved overall system Ul interfaces, stay minimal, and more urified.
- Improved operation feedback prompts make the screen-touching experience more intuitive and accurate.
- Added an option to enable/ disable full refresh when back to thehome screen, you can find it in [Settings > Display> Full
Refresh When Back to Home Screen>On/Off].
[Library & NeoReader]
- Added the ability to customize the top function bar in the Library.You can select and re-order those functions in [Library
Settings>Library List Settings].
- Added the Library View switch button in the lower right corner ofthe Library,you can switch between the View modes
with just one click.
- Added Customizable Reading Themes, easily customize your own reading themes by adjusting font, margin, spacing, and
background color. Apply your favorite theme to any reflowable dododcument with just one tap, saving time on repetitive setup.
- Added a more intuitive reading progress percentage badge on the document cover. Removed the document reading
progress bar.
- Support independent settings for titles,body text fonts, and supppplementary fonts of reflowable documents.
- Optimized OCR function, OCR now works in the background whille you read PDFs, you can continue turning pages,
annotating,and highlighting seamlessly without any wait.
- Optimized word lookup experience,you can prioritize Word Lokup or Translation(Selection)in [Neoreader>Settings
Dictionary Settings].
-Optimized the display of traditional/Japanese symbols.
- Adjusted the [Refresh] entry of Neoreader to the first-level bottom merhu for easier refresh mode customization.
-Adjusted the Google Drive related permissions.
[Notes]
- Improved the Notebook creation experience. You can import PDICAJ, EPUB, MOBI, JPEG, JPG, PNG, and TXT from local
storage to create a notebook, and all the index hyperlinks will be kept and interactive.
- Improved the Add Page experience.
- Improved the Marker display. When using the marker to hightthe layering is optimized for clearer contrast.
- Optimized the [Canvas] function to the [Margin] function,which now lets you resize your canvas by just dragging the
margins.
-Optimized the width of the Stroke Eraser.
- Added the Notebook View switch button in the lower right cornerof the Notes app, you can switch between the View
modes with just one click.
- Added 18 new shapes, such as parallelograms and pyramids. And the shapes are now adjustable.
- Added Outline function to help clarify the structure of extensive Inotes and enable faster navigation across pages.
Supporting 5-level outline (long press the blank space of the page or adfromnotebookthumbnails).
- Adjusted the notebook page limit from 500 pages to unlimited. Please note that more pages could cause slower
rendering when opening the notebook.
[Other Improvements]
- Fixed some known issues and improved system stability.

This is Onyx Boox conversion of a screenshot to a text PDF. That's where most of the errors were introduced.

Didn't like some of previous changes to note taking and like the previous update, you cannot revert after this update. So I am kind of wondering whether is is a good idea...
Anybody upgraded already? Is it worth it?

[Markismus]

I've got what is, I think, an incremental update from 2024-09-10_23-27_3.5.4.fbdec6b69a to 2025-03-09_21-56_v4.0-rel_5cf49da030.

[Renate]

I presume that you are subscribed to the "Beta" release channel?

You can use EDL to make a full, raw backup of the Note5.
This will be about 64 GB. Yeah, big.
But you will be able to rollback to where you where after installing a beta.

Warning: NEVER "wipe user data" or "fastboot -w".

[Markismus]

Renate, would you have a link to info where EDL is explained? I remember you posting about it before and that I would have to solder a switch between some wires in a USB cable, but it's been a while back.

Oddly enough, this release candidate was offered even when I didn't apply for beta testing. It does explain why I had to create this thread days after the update became available. Normally, the new firmware thread is up and running when I get to it...

[Renate]

If your system is still working, "adb reboot edl" is easier.

[vuanh1408]

Originally Posted by Renate

If your system is still working, "adb reboot edl" is easier.

Hi. Do u have link to a guide of how to make a raw backup in edl mode?

[Renate]

Originally Posted by vuanh1408

Hi. Do u have link to a guide of how to make a raw backup in edl mode?

Read the general instructions for EDL on my website and learn to load a Firehose loader. After that loads and it talks Firehose:

edl /r bigfile.img

Then go and make a coffee.

[starkruzr]

Originally Posted by Renate

Read the general instructions for EDL on my website and learn to load a Firehose loader. After that loads and it talks Firehose:

edl /r bigfile.img

Then go and make a coffee.

does this work both for UFS and non-UFS devices?

[Renate]

For UFS you have (probably) six files that you individually pull:

edl /u0 /r backup0.img
edl /u1 /r backup1.img
...