March 2nd Update

[mr_nobody]

Originally Posted by kcarscadden

P.S. Thanks to Brad from Kobo, James/ne0rmatrix and the SuperOneClick guys

You've obviously been interacting with kobo folks via the beta. Any idea why gingerbreak no longer works?

[hieronymos]

I do not have any idea what went on in the Kobo dev's team. As if complicating rooting could do any good to anybody.

Rooting on Linux is as always a little easier (no need for drivers!). Get the SuperOneClick package, and
chmod +x Exploits/zergRush
chmod +x Dependencies/busybox
adb push Exploits/zergRush /data/local/tmp
adb push Dependencies/busybox /data/local/tmp
busybox cp /data/local/tmp/busybox /system/xbin
adb shell
cd /data/local/tmp
./zergRush
./busybox mv /data/local/tmp/su-v2 /system/xbin/su
./busybox chmod 6755 /system/xbin/su
./busybox chown 0.0 /system/xbin/su
./busybox cp /system/xbin/su /system/bin/su
./busybox chown 0.2000 /system/bin/su
./busybox cp /data/local/tmp/busybox /system/xbin
./busybox chmod 0755 /system/xbin/busybox
./busybox chown 0.2000 /system/xbin/busybox

if that is the result, you're good:

ls -l /system/xbin/su /system/bin/su
-rwsr-sr-x root root 26264
-rwsr-sr-x root shell 26264

reboot!

[peterhondak]

thanks everyone,

and I agree, the facebook update and telling me what it buy wasn't really what I hoped for in an update

[kcarscadden]

Originally Posted by mr_nobody

You've obviously been interacting with kobo folks via the beta. Any idea why gingerbreak no longer works?

I am in the beta group, so got to try the update earlier. I don't know if GB no longer working was deliberate or an accidental side effect of something else. But Kobo did help with getting adb to work for the Vox on Windows - the edit to adb_usb.ini was their contribution.


Keith

[Jesslynne]

Well I'm definitely not doing the update after reading this. It doesn't seem worth it, and I'd like to live without the recommended reads for as long as I can manage. I don't see anything beneficial in it so far so there isn't any good with the bad so I'll survive with the software.

Besides I like to be rooted.. and am not enough of a geek to even comprehend the instructions.

[renee0986]

I think the new software update has fried my vox. It reset about 10 times before it appeared like it was actually going to load my home screen. Once the home screen was loaded and about 5 minutes (so I was sure that it wasn't going to reset itself again) I attempted to deleted the Kobo (large) widget off of my home screen (as it wasn't working right and would not load) and then add it again. Upon trying to add the widget again my vox froze and asked if I wanted to force close or wait for the Kobo app to respond. I chose force close and once again my vox appeared to reset. This time, however, it did not just reset but turned off completely and did not turn back on. So I manually turned it on myself and then it went right back to the original start up asking for wireless information, etc. Looks like I've yet again lost all my sideloaded books.

I then begin to go through the "get started" setup and it freezes and resets again every time I try to select my wireless options. I have not yet been able to get through this stage without my vox restarting.

Anyone else having this issue? About how many times did your vox restart itself after the new software update before it finally started working again?

Originally Posted by kcarscadden

I am in the beta group, so got to try the update earlier. I don't know if GB no longer working was deliberate or an accidental side effect of something else.

I'm guessing that it was an accidental side effect. If it was intentional, they could have locked out the use of adb and unverified apps. Yet they didn't.

Still, I'm not very happy with the update. I understand what they're doing: they've made the social reading bit a priority and they are making marketing a priority. But the reader is lacking in other areas. I think that it's beyond belief that PDF support still isn't there because that is a big reason for choosing a tablet over an eInk device. The lack of support for library books is also disappointing since I would imagine that most of the people who are serious enough about reading to buy a dedicated ereader is going to read a mix of bought and borrowed books.

[oldyellr]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

I understand what they're doing: they've made the social reading bit a priority and they are making marketing a priority. But the reader is lacking in other areas.

Bingo! I wish they'd ease off on the promotional and social media stuff and work on making the eReader component equal or better than anything else out there. Once the Kobo reader has everything anybody else has, they can continue with the fluff.

[Suzanna]

Originally Posted by renee0986

Anyone else having this issue? About how many times did your vox restart itself after the new software update before it finally started working again?

Mine installed without any issues.

After downloading the update, the vox restarted on its own to install the update, then restarted a second time to the home screen.

[cindiaugustine]

No problems with the update here. Everything is working fine.

[Kboland]

So i've been trying to get the root back using the directions on page one of this topic posted by kcarscadden, and I'm a bit lost. I've installed the sdk and the usb drivers fine, but when I navigate to the folder indicated to find the 'Android ADB Composite Interface' there's no such driver file contained in the folder. Not sure if I'm missing a step or not. Anyway any help or a step by step would be handy.

Cheers

[kcarscadden]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

I think that it's beyond belief that PDF support still isn't there because that is a big reason for choosing a tablet over an eInk device. The lack of support for library books is also disappointing since I would imagine that most of the people who are serious enough about reading to buy a dedicated ereader is going to read a mix of bought and borrowed books.

There are several apps that do PDFs very well - ezPDF and Mantano are two -and you can get Overdrive for library books. One of the advantages of an open tablet is that you can get other apps for it.


Keith

[Kappafun]

My Vox has been continually rebooting since the update. It's not quite a brick, but it certainly is unusable. After the reboot, sometimes the unlock slider doesn't work, other times it will work, but nothing else works afterwards. I can't read a book, enter Settings, nothing.

Originally Posted by oldyellr

Bingo! I wish they'd ease off on the promotional and social media stuff and work on making the eReader component equal or better than anything else out there. Once the Kobo reader has everything anybody else has, they can continue with the fluff.

I definitely agree with that sentiment. The thing is, are we typical ereader users? Actually, the better question is: are we the typical ereader users who will spend a lot of money on ebooks? I'm guessing a big reason for the Facebook integration is because it offers Kobo free marketing on their hardware and books.

Originally Posted by kcarscadden

There are several apps that do PDFs very well - ezPDF and Mantano are two -and you can get Overdrive for library books. One of the advantages of an open tablet is that you can get other apps for it.

That is definitely a benefit of an open tablet, and it's handy for the more obscure formats like DjVu as well as providing access to competitor's products (e.g. Amazon). Alas, I was using three apps for the common formats (kobo epub, adobe drm epub, pdf) and it would be really nice to have a more integrated library. That's especially true when it comes down to things like highlighting and annotations.