Lbook Firmware Question?

Blossom · 07-02-2010, 03:01 AM

I see all the talk about Cool Reader and EPUBS being better with the Lbook firmware. I was wondering would there be any benefit to upgrade to the Lbook firmware for those who use MOBI/PRC files? I'm currently using Astak's December firmware with no real issue and a very long battery life.

I like the idea of being able to delete books directly but I need to know if MOBI support for the Lbook is as good or better then what I'm using.

It's also important I can use my own fonts while reading a MOBI/PRC book and that the firmware remembers the last page I was on when I reenter a book.

Battery drain issues kinds of worries me too seeing right now I can go up to a month without needing a charge on my Pocket Pro.

So if anyone can tell me how Lbook handles MOBI files compared to Astak's I would be extremely grateful.

Dave_S · 07-02-2010, 03:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blossom

I see all the talk about Cool Reader and EPUBS being better with the Lbook firmware. I was wondering would there be any benefit to upgrade to the Lbook firmware for those who use MOBI/PRC files? I'm currently using Astak's December firmware with no real issue and a very long battery life.

I like the idea of being able to delete books directly but I need to know if MOBI support for the Lbook is as good or better then what I'm using.

It's also important I can use my own fonts while reading a MOBI/PRC book and that the firmware remembers the last page I was on when I reenter a book.

Battery drain issues kinds of worries me too seeing right now I can go up to a month without needing a charge on my Pocket Pro.

So if anyone can tell me how Lbook handles MOBI files compared to Astak's I would be extremely grateful.

I always convert MOBI/PRC to FB2 and then also to EPUB, so although I am currently using the latest Lbook firmware, I can not directly answer your question. From what I understand of your post, you seem quite satisfied with you current Astak firmware, so it probably is best to stick with it. The Lbook firmware has most of it's new format features in FB2, EPUB, PDF, and DjVu. Lbook starts with the same Hanlin firmware that Astak does, so where no special improvements have been made it is likely to be quite similar to the Astak firmware. MOBI/PRC is probably in that catagory. The "File tools" menu in the BookShelf is a very nice Lbook feature, but that will probably eventually come to the Astak firmware via a factory firmware update to Astak.

DaleDe · 07-02-2010, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blossom

I see all the talk about Cool Reader and EPUBS being better with the Lbook firmware. I was wondering would there be any benefit to upgrade to the Lbook firmware for those who use MOBI/PRC files? I'm currently using Astak's December firmware with no real issue and a very long battery life.

I like the idea of being able to delete books directly but I need to know if MOBI support for the Lbook is as good or better then what I'm using.

It's also important I can use my own fonts while reading a MOBI/PRC book and that the firmware remembers the last page I was on when I reenter a book.

Battery drain issues kinds of worries me too seeing right now I can go up to a month without needing a charge on my Pocket Pro.

So if anyone can tell me how Lbook handles MOBI files compared to Astak's I would be extremely grateful.

lBook is an official product from Jinke and has the same MOBI and ADE support as other Jinke products.

Dale

Blossom · 07-02-2010, 04:23 PM

Well I decided to be brave and give it a shot and change firmware.

WOW what a difference! The contrast is sooo nice and dark. I don't need a booklight no more!
There's no PC_Restore in file listing to bug me and for someone with eye vision issues this is a dream come true!

Fonts are crisp, clear and just gorgeous!

Menu is larger and easy to read as well.
The font rendering in MOBI is just 50% better with Lbook.
I could read in times font if I wanted before it looks like washed out newspaper print.

The only thing I notice so far is keys are less responsive.
The blank battery gauge in MOBI happens with this firmware as well as my old one but turning the device off then on fixes just like in Astak.

From a woman's perspective it's just prettier, brighter and nicer to use.

Edit: I just realized instead of file names it shows the Title name of the book!

Solicitous · 07-03-2010, 08:04 PM

Does the ADE implementation of the LBook firmware have those annoying page numbers on the right hand side of the page when reading?

Edit: It is ok everyone, I downloaded and installed the LBook firmware and checked myself. Nice, but the menus appear slower than the Astak firmware (though once loaded Coolreader is actually faster).

Blossom · 07-03-2010, 09:24 PM

Wouldn't you know I figured it out after I asked. lol

Davimee · 07-28-2010, 06:17 PM

I've also got a question about LBook, and rather than starting a new thread I figured I'd just add to this one. I downloaded and tried LBook for a couple weeks, and really liked it! Especially the file management options. Unfortunately, my epubs (opened in ADE) seem very slow. Especially if it's a big file. I have a large file (non-drm Bible), and it takes a couple minutes (instead of seconds) to open the file. Then when I try to go to the table of contents to select a book and chapter, it's just painfully slow. So I ended up switching back to Astak. Has anyone else experienced this with epubs in the LBook firmware? I really liked CoolReader in LBook, but quite a lot of my books are epub. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I might be doing wrong, or is this a bug with the FW?

Thanks!

Randal6393 · 07-28-2010, 08:46 PM

Yep, sometimes lbook is slow to do things. But it does them. The ability to delete books and subdirectories makes up for a lot of faults. The other great thing is that the (generally) darker fonts make reading much easier.

Coolreader is the greatest for reading text documents -- does a great job. That means I can drop a lot of documents that I want to scan through onto the device and not have to spend hours converting.

Overall, I would rate lbook firmware as the best currently available. Of course, I am always looking for a leg up and something "better".

Enjoy,

Blossom · 07-28-2010, 09:29 PM

I use Cool Reader 3 to read NonDRM EPUBs but it does not show the TOC.
I add my own inline TOC at the beginning of the book to work around that.

I can't say about ADE I don't use it. I have few times accidentally open ADE instead of CR3.
It seem to have the same speed to me but none of my EPUBs are over 1MB
and I have my EPUBs set to split it files if it's over 100kb inside the epub file.

The only slowness I notice is when CR3 is for the first time opening a book. Once it cached it opens much faster.

I think most who do use Lbook's firmware use it for CR3, better contrast and file management options.

Davimee · 07-30-2010, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randal6393

Yep, sometimes lbook is slow to do things. But it does them. The ability to delete books and subdirectories makes up for a lot of faults. The other great thing is that the (generally) darker fonts make reading much easier.

Coolreader is the greatest for reading text documents -- does a great job. That means I can drop a lot of documents that I want to scan through onto the device and not have to spend hours converting.

Overall, I would rate lbook firmware as the best currently available. Of course, I am always looking for a leg up and something "better".

Enjoy,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blossom

I use Cool Reader 3 to read NonDRM EPUBs but it does not show the TOC.
I add my own inline TOC at the beginning of the book to work around that.

I can't say about ADE I don't use it. I have few times accidentally open ADE instead of CR3.
It seem to have the same speed to me but none of my EPUBs are over 1MB
and I have my EPUBs set to split it files if it's over 100kb inside the epub file.

The only slowness I notice is when CR3 is for the first time opening a book. Once it cached it opens much faster.

I think most who do use Lbook's firmware use it for CR3, better contrast and file management options.

Thank you both for your replies.

Although most of my books are epub, most of what I am currently reading are .rtf. At home I prefer to use my print Bible, but for church, it's so much easier to use my Pocket Pro. Maybe I'll just have to reflash the firmware to Astak each Sunday morning, then go back to LBook when I get home and want to read my sci-fi fan fiction stories. You'd think there'd be an easier way, though...

Oh, here's another question... would multiple flashings of the firmware mess up the Pocket Pro at all? I mean, would I eventually have to reformat it? And if I did, does that mean I'd lose all my books currently on there?

Dave_S · 07-30-2010, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davimee

Maybe I'll just have to reflash the firmware to Astak each Sunday morning, then go back to LBook when I get home and want to read my sci-fi fan fiction stories. You'd think there'd be an easier way, though...

I am really curious why that would even be necessary. The Lbook firmware has ADE on it too. Although for the conditions that you describe I would use the official Lbook firmware from 22 June 2010 and not the experimental firmware that Buggins is providing for testing.
http://www.lbook.ua/ru/downloads/firmwarev5

Quote:

Originally Posted by Davimee

Oh, here's another question... would multiple flashings of the firmware mess up the Pocket Pro at all? I mean, would I eventually have to reformat it? And if I did, does that mean I'd lose all my books currently on there?

Although the firmware goes on the same physical memory chip as the storage region set aside for books, it is not on the same area of the chip. That means that flashing the firmware should have no effect at all on your books. Also, you would have to flash the firmware over at least 10,000 times before you would begin to wear out the FLASH. At once a week that would take about 192 years.

Davimee · 07-30-2010, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_S

I am really curious why that would even be necessary. The Lbook firmware has ADE on it too. Although for the conditions that you describe I would use the official Lbook firmware from 22 June 2010 and not the experimental firmware that Buggins is providing for testing.
http://www.lbook.ua/ru/downloads/firmwarev5

Although the firmware goes on the same physical memory chip as the storage region set aside for books, it is not on the same area of the chip. That means that flashing the firmware should have no effect at all on your books. Also, you would have to flash the firmware over at least 10,000 times before you would begin to wear out the FLASH. At once a week that would take about 192 years.

Ok, that's good to know I've got almost 200 years of flashing on my Pocket Pro. *lol*

And I think that's the firmware I previously downloaded, but thanks for the link! I'll try it again and see if I have better luck. Maybe I downloaded the wrong one last time. I'll try it and post back after using it for a bit, and see if it makes any difference.

Edit: Ok, I downloaded the firmware from your link and opened the file I had tried earlier. (I just checked and the Bible is a 1MB file, if that makes any difference.) It seemed to take a while, so I exited out and then opened it again, this time timing it. It took 12 seconds to open, and that is acceptable. Before it would take so long so I would open the book, go get ready for church and come back and it would be ready. I also just tried navigating in the book and from each keypress it only takes 1-2 seconds to go where I want to go, from the TOC. I must have downloaded the wrong firmware last time, thank you so much for providing that link! I can definitely wait 12 seconds to open a book.

Blossom · 07-30-2010, 06:28 PM

You could try fixing the EPUB Bible in Calibre. It may need to be split more or you could try to convert it to MOBI and see if that helps. MOBI has faster TOC navigation too.

I have calibre set to split epubs every 100kb and they all load fast and without problems.

Davimee · 07-30-2010, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blossom

You could try fixing the EPUB Bible in Calibre. It may need to be split more or you could try to convert it to MOBI and see if that helps. MOBI has faster TOC navigation too.

I have calibre set to split epubs every 100kb and they all load fast and without problems.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by splitting the file... Oh, wait... I just started playing around with Calibre and found that setting. It's currently set at 260K. So does this mean that the lower number you have the quicker it will load? I will try splitting it, as well as converting it to MOBI, just to see how it works. Thanks for the suggestions!

Davimee · 07-30-2010, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blossom

You could try fixing the EPUB Bible in Calibre. It may need to be split more or you could try to convert it to MOBI and see if that helps. MOBI has faster TOC navigation too.

I have calibre set to split epubs every 100kb and they all load fast and without problems.

Hm... how do you set up the TOC in MOBI? When I converted my epub to MOBI the TOC turned into links, but I can't quite figure out how to navigate through them. I'd like the same style of TOC as I had with epub - is that possible? Thanks.

07-02-2010, 03:01 AM	#1
Blossom Treasure Seeker Posts: 18,708 Karma: 26026435 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo HD Glo, Kindles, Kindle Fires, Andriod Devices	Lbook Firmware Question? I see all the talk about Cool Reader and EPUBS being better with the Lbook firmware. I was wondering would there be any benefit to upgrade to the Lbook firmware for those who use MOBI/PRC files? I'm currently using Astak's December firmware with no real issue and a very long battery life. I like the idea of being able to delete books directly but I need to know if MOBI support for the Lbook is as good or better then what I'm using. It's also important I can use my own fonts while reading a MOBI/PRC book and that the firmware remembers the last page I was on when I reenter a book. Battery drain issues kinds of worries me too seeing right now I can go up to a month without needing a charge on my Pocket Pro. So if anyone can tell me how Lbook handles MOBI files compared to Astak's I would be extremely grateful.

07-02-2010, 04:23 PM	#4
Blossom Treasure Seeker Posts: 18,708 Karma: 26026435 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo HD Glo, Kindles, Kindle Fires, Andriod Devices	Well I decided to be brave and give it a shot and change firmware. WOW what a difference! The contrast is sooo nice and dark. I don't need a booklight no more! There's no PC_Restore in file listing to bug me and for someone with eye vision issues this is a dream come true! Fonts are crisp, clear and just gorgeous! Menu is larger and easy to read as well. The font rendering in MOBI is just 50% better with Lbook. I could read in times font if I wanted before it looks like washed out newspaper print. The only thing I notice so far is keys are less responsive. The blank battery gauge in MOBI happens with this firmware as well as my old one but turning the device off then on fixes just like in Astak. From a woman's perspective it's just prettier, brighter and nicer to use. Edit: I just realized instead of file names it shows the Title name of the book! Last edited by Blossom; 07-02-2010 at 04:25 PM. Reason: Spelling and all that.

07-03-2010, 08:04 PM	#5
Solicitous Wizard Posts: 1,434 Karma: 1525776 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: TAS, Australia Device: Astak Pocket Pro (Black), 2 x Kindle WiFi (Graphite), iPod Touch 4G	Does the ADE implementation of the LBook firmware have those annoying page numbers on the right hand side of the page when reading? Edit: It is ok everyone, I downloaded and installed the LBook firmware and checked myself. Nice, but the menus appear slower than the Astak firmware (though once loaded Coolreader is actually faster). Last edited by Solicitous; 07-03-2010 at 08:43 PM. Reason: Hmmf

07-03-2010, 09:24 PM	#6
Blossom Treasure Seeker Posts: 18,708 Karma: 26026435 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo HD Glo, Kindles, Kindle Fires, Andriod Devices	Wouldn't you know I figured it out after I asked. lol Last edited by Blossom; 07-03-2010 at 09:28 PM. Reason: No longer needed help

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07-28-2010, 06:17 PM	#7
Davimee Happy Wife & Momma Posts: 532 Karma: 1634 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: USA Device: Purple Astak Pocket Pro! :)	I've also got a question about LBook, and rather than starting a new thread I figured I'd just add to this one. I downloaded and tried LBook for a couple weeks, and really liked it! Especially the file management options. Unfortunately, my epubs (opened in ADE) seem very slow. Especially if it's a big file. I have a large file (non-drm Bible), and it takes a couple minutes (instead of seconds) to open the file. Then when I try to go to the table of contents to select a book and chapter, it's just painfully slow. So I ended up switching back to Astak. Has anyone else experienced this with epubs in the LBook firmware? I really liked CoolReader in LBook, but quite a lot of my books are epub. Does anyone have any suggestions of what I might be doing wrong, or is this a bug with the FW? Thanks!

07-28-2010, 08:46 PM	#8
Randal6393 Ebook Addict for ten year Posts: 17 Karma: 58 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Charlotte, NC, USA Device: Ebookwise 1150, Bebook Mini as lbook, Dell Axim Pocket PC	Yep, sometimes lbook is slow to do things. But it does them. The ability to delete books and subdirectories makes up for a lot of faults. The other great thing is that the (generally) darker fonts make reading much easier. Coolreader is the greatest for reading text documents -- does a great job. That means I can drop a lot of documents that I want to scan through onto the device and not have to spend hours converting. Overall, I would rate lbook firmware as the best currently available. Of course, I am always looking for a leg up and something "better". Enjoy,

07-28-2010, 09:29 PM	#9
Blossom Treasure Seeker Posts: 18,708 Karma: 26026435 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo HD Glo, Kindles, Kindle Fires, Andriod Devices	I use Cool Reader 3 to read NonDRM EPUBs but it does not show the TOC. I add my own inline TOC at the beginning of the book to work around that. I can't say about ADE I don't use it. I have few times accidentally open ADE instead of CR3. It seem to have the same speed to me but none of my EPUBs are over 1MB and I have my EPUBs set to split it files if it's over 100kb inside the epub file. The only slowness I notice is when CR3 is for the first time opening a book. Once it cached it opens much faster. I think most who do use Lbook's firmware use it for CR3, better contrast and file management options.

07-30-2010, 06:28 PM	#13
Blossom Treasure Seeker Posts: 18,708 Karma: 26026435 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: Kobo HD Glo, Kindles, Kindle Fires, Andriod Devices	You could try fixing the EPUB Bible in Calibre. It may need to be split more or you could try to convert it to MOBI and see if that helps. MOBI has faster TOC navigation too. I have calibre set to split epubs every 100kb and they all load fast and without problems.