Kobo FW 2.6.1., we'll have to redefine embarrasing - Page 4

PinkET · 06-23-2013, 10:50 AM

Since FW 2.6.1 my Glo freezes when I put it in sleep mode.
Not every time though.
It seems to happen only when it is for a longer period.

The only way to reboot is with a pin in the little hole.

Had this 7 times now. Had it only twice before since I own the Glo so it must be a bug.
I will monitor how long more or less the sleep mode needs to be active before it decides to freeze.
I have a feeling it might be exactly 2hr since that's the time it is set to power down completely.

Another thing I noticed is that all of the sudden my battery seems to drain at an alarming rate . Like three times faster with no wifi and no light on.
Also erratic behavior by the battery icon saying 18% while it's charging for an hr, and then suddenly jumps to 100%.

My Glo was working fine before so I guess new bugs introduced by 2.6.1.

That's it for now. Having a BBQ today with some friends and I need to set the tables and parasols.

Greetings and a happy sunday,

Mike

tkavan · 06-23-2013, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkET

I know they do, but they follow the madness of the day, much like politicians do. (title-bar in, title-bar out, light on bottom, light on top etc..).
They should make a roadmap of where they want to go, instead of making ad-hoc decisions. They could make a lot of criticism disappear with giving the user as much configurability as possible.
And they definitely need better UI designers. No joke.

Good suggestions. Kobo does seem to operate in a really haphazard way.

Like you, as you said in your post, I also like my Glo, and would buy another if this one broke. But Kobo could save itself a lot of grief is it would just sit down and think through what kind of interface it wanted, and then deliver it. With as much user customization as possible.

VelvetElvis · 06-23-2013, 03:46 PM

I would love to have the hardware of the Kobo Glo, with the reliability/stability of the Sony eReaders I've owned.

DH59 · 06-23-2013, 04:41 PM

My Glo (and my husband's) has gone crazy since the update to 2.6.1, which happened automatically and I had no choice whether to accept it or not. Sometimes I have to press twice to turn a page of a book, and then it hesitates before doing so. With the Sudoku, the squares sometime need a couple or more presses before selecting, and the grid symbol at the bottom where you select the large number or the smaller possible numbers, sometimes does not activate on pressing. My husband's Glo locked up altogether while he was playing Sudoku the other night and he had to reset.

I don't mind the tiled home page, and other new features, but the sluggishness is really annoying. How can I get back to the old version?

Anak · 06-23-2013, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkET

I know they do, but they follow the madness of the day, much like politicians do. (title-bar in, title-bar out, light on bottom, light on top etc..).
They should make a roadmap of where they want to go, instead of making ad-hoc decisions. They could make a lot of criticism disappear with giving the user as much configurability as possible.

The didn't removed the title bar. The title bar is still there but without the text. The bar has still the same dimensions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mystika1

I do think Kobo listens and monitors the opinions here. I remember so many people fussing about the black band on the bottom of the screen because it was wasted space. I never found it to be a problem. Now, kobo removed it in the last firmware update.

I agree Kobo removed the black bar at the bottom. I hope (count on it) that they will fix the dimensions of the blank top bar with the release of the next firmware.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mystika1

Yes, it would be nice to fully customize your reader, bottom line. But.. I don't know any eink reader that does this.

No product is perfect or fully customizable. But there are more flexible readers on the market. For example the Cybook Odyssey and Odyssey HD can:

show/hide title bar in reading mode (top bar)
show/hide page number bar in reading mode (bottom bar)
enable/disable use of ligatures; to improve text quality
enable/disable publisher styles: option to ignore publisher’s original styles (allows full customization of the publication and also faster processing of complex editions).
enable/disable hyphenation: hyphenate text for better typographic white space.
enable/disable ligatures: make ligatures between letters in order to improve the quality of the text.

So this reader is a good aternative for the Kobo Glo.
If Bookeen releases a Aura HD alternative that offers the same customizability then I'll order it instantly.

Ripplinger · 06-23-2013, 05:16 PM

The Cybook readers have really been tempting me lately, but is there anyway to purchase them in the US?

Anak · 06-23-2013, 05:50 PM

Not sure, but I guess it is only available in Europe.

DNSB · 06-23-2013, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anak

The didn't removed the title bar. The title bar is still there but without the text. The bar has still the same dimensions.

On an Aura, FW 2.4.1 had a top margin ~5mm, FW 2.5.1 had a top margin of ~3 mm, FW 2.5.2 put the title of the book there and increased the top bar to match the bottom bar so ~11mm and FW 2.6.1 removed the title and decreased the top margin to ~5mm. If you want refresh your memory as to what the top bar on FW 2.5.2 looked like, just tap the center of the screen. On my Aura, the bar that pops up covers the first two lines of text which makes current top margin just a titch narrower.

This is for epubs only. On the Aura, .kepub.epub books from the Kobo store or using the Calibre plugin to convert on the fly have the same title bar as the .kepubs on the Touch or Glo since before the v2 firmware.

I realize that not that many people want to get near their ereader screen with calipers but I have trouble seeing how even the Mark 1 naked eyeball can't see the difference between 5mm and 11mm.

Regards,
David

davidfor · 06-23-2013, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

On an Aura, FW 2.4.1 had a top margin ~5mm, FW 2.5.1 had a top margin of ~3 mm, FW 2.5.2 put the title of the book there and increased the top bar to match the bottom bar so ~11mm and FW 2.6.1 removed the title and decreased the top margin to ~5mm. If you want refresh your memory as to what the top bar on FW 2.5.2 looked like, just tap the center of the screen. On my Aura, the bar that pops up covers the first two lines of text which makes current top margin just a titch narrower.

I don't think it changed on the Touch. I didn't measure it, but the top of the text seemed to be in the same place relative to the top menu. The Glo is noticeably smaller with the bar covering most of the top line of text.

roger64 · 06-24-2013, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

I realize that not that many people want to get near their ereader screen with calipers but I have trouble seeing how even the Mark 1 naked eyeball can't see the difference between 5mm and 11mm.

Regards,
David

Hi David

I only really care about the quality of the page display.

I'll give you one example. It took me some effort to produce an illustrated EPUB with about 25 full-screen (really full-screen, i.e. without any white border) images. On a small screen it provides -to my taste- a nice startling effect. This intended effect is all ruined on the Kobo...

I think the more an ePUB has been carefully designed, the more you resent this kind of modifications. Kobo is proud to inform customers that they can now modify at will -side-margins, but it hurries to add some vertical ones of its own that we can't take off. Does it make sense?

Not to forget that, when I read a six-inch PDF (to be precise 9x12cm) on my Glo, I get an extra right margin, just big enough to distract me. A Kobo gift, I guess... I also guess, it will be here for ever though this bug has been reported. (BTW do you know a hacked way to center the PDF text display?)

I still keep 2.5.1. No sync for me anymore.

Canuck_in_Japan · 06-24-2013, 05:34 AM

It's not a perfect firmware update that's for sure but I think the definition of embarrassing is safe for now.

jackastor · 06-24-2013, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DH59

My Glo (and my husband's) has gone crazy since the update to 2.6.1, which happened automatically and I had no choice whether to accept it or not. Sometimes I have to press twice to turn a page of a book, and then it hesitates before doing so. With the Sudoku, the squares sometime need a couple or more presses before selecting, and the grid symbol at the bottom where you select the large number or the smaller possible numbers, sometimes does not activate on pressing. My husband's Glo locked up altogether while he was playing Sudoku the other night and he had to reset.

I don't mind the tiled home page, and other new features, but the sluggishness is really annoying. How can I get back to the old version?

I have had the chess game go to a white screen in the middle of play usually when its the glos turn. The only way to fix it was to exit and reenter game and undo move.

Makes the game pointless

Jack

Anak · 06-24-2013, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anak

The didn't removed the title bar. The title bar is still there but without the text. The bar has still the same dimensions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DNSB

On an Aura, FW 2.4.1 had a top margin ~5mm, FW 2.5.1 had a top margin of ~3 mm, FW 2.5.2 put the title of the book there and increased the top bar to match the bottom bar so ~11mm and FW 2.6.1 removed the title and decreased the top margin to ~5mm. If you want refresh your memory as to what the top bar on FW 2.5.2 looked like, just tap the center of the screen. On my Aura, the bar that pops up covers the first two lines of text which makes current top margin just a titch narrower.

This is for epubs only. On the Aura, .kepub.epub books from the Kobo store or using the Calibre plugin to convert on the fly have the same title bar as the .kepubs on the Touch or Glo since before the v2 firmware.

I realize that not that many people want to get near their ereader screen with calipers but I have trouble seeing how even the Mark 1 naked eyeball can't see the difference between 5mm and 11mm.

Regards,
David

Well, David I'm not blind and I do try to make relevant comments.
See the attached files for proof.
Regards,
Anak

davidfor · 06-24-2013, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anak

Well, David I'm not blind and I do try to make relevant comments.
See the attached files for proof.
Regards,
Anak

As I commented, it depends on the device. For the Touch nothing changed (or at least to my eyes). The Glo got a couple of millimetres back. I don't have an Aura or Mini, so I can't check those.

Tachikoma · 06-24-2013, 08:35 AM

I actually like the new interface, and other than the fact brightness sometimes kicks in at 50% rather than 100% after putting it to sleep, double page turns in CBR files seems slightly worse (but has gone in epubs), and battery usage with CBR files seems to have increased, I don't really have any problems.

Agree with some others, would like the ability to pin a reference book or especially a shelf to the home screen though. Would also like more tiles if the pin option ever appears.

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06-23-2013, 10:50 AM	#46
PinkET Enthusiast Posts: 35 Karma: 198870 Join Date: Sep 2012 Device: Kobo Glo	Since FW 2.6.1 my Glo freezes when I put it in sleep mode. Not every time though. It seems to happen only when it is for a longer period. The only way to reboot is with a pin in the little hole. Had this 7 times now. Had it only twice before since I own the Glo so it must be a bug. I will monitor how long more or less the sleep mode needs to be active before it decides to freeze. I have a feeling it might be exactly 2hr since that's the time it is set to power down completely. Another thing I noticed is that all of the sudden my battery seems to drain at an alarming rate . Like three times faster with no wifi and no light on. Also erratic behavior by the battery icon saying 18% while it's charging for an hr, and then suddenly jumps to 100%. My Glo was working fine before so I guess new bugs introduced by 2.6.1. That's it for now. Having a BBQ today with some friends and I need to set the tables and parasols. Greetings and a happy sunday, Mike

06-23-2013, 03:46 PM	#48
VelvetElvis Addict Posts: 258 Karma: 20028 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Canada Device: Fire HD8, Asus, Sony (T1, PRS-300), Kobo (Glo, Touch, Wireless)	I would love to have the hardware of the Kobo Glo, with the reliability/stability of the Sony eReaders I've owned.

06-23-2013, 04:41 PM	#49
DH59 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 7910 Join Date: Jun 2013 Device: Kobo Glo	My Glo (and my husband's) has gone crazy since the update to 2.6.1, which happened automatically and I had no choice whether to accept it or not. Sometimes I have to press twice to turn a page of a book, and then it hesitates before doing so. With the Sudoku, the squares sometime need a couple or more presses before selecting, and the grid symbol at the bottom where you select the large number or the smaller possible numbers, sometimes does not activate on pressing. My husband's Glo locked up altogether while he was playing Sudoku the other night and he had to reset. I don't mind the tiled home page, and other new features, but the sluggishness is really annoying. How can I get back to the old version?

06-23-2013, 05:16 PM	#51
Ripplinger 350 Hoarder Posts: 3,574 Karma: 8281267 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Midwest USA Device: Sony PRS-350, Kobo Glo & Glo HD, PW2	The Cybook readers have really been tempting me lately, but is there anyway to purchase them in the US?

06-23-2013, 05:50 PM	#52
Anak Guru Posts: 600 Karma: 641742 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: DE Device: Kobo Glo	Not sure, but I guess it is only available in Europe.

06-24-2013, 05:34 AM	#56
Canuck_in_Japan Wizard Posts: 1,476 Karma: 14328611 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Tokyo, Japan Device: Aura, Aura H2O, Kindle PW3	It's not a perfect firmware update that's for sure but I think the definition of embarrassing is safe for now.

06-24-2013, 08:35 AM	#60
Tachikoma Connoisseur Posts: 50 Karma: 18402 Join Date: Jan 2013 Device: Kobo Glo	I actually like the new interface, and other than the fact brightness sometimes kicks in at 50% rather than 100% after putting it to sleep, double page turns in CBR files seems slightly worse (but has gone in epubs), and battery usage with CBR files seems to have increased, I don't really have any problems. Agree with some others, would like the ability to pin a reference book or especially a shelf to the home screen though. Would also like more tiles if the pin option ever appears.