Touch Best Firmware version from 2.3.1 onwards?

[Kino_11]

Hi all,

I recently got myself a Kobo Glo, and I'm going to pass my old touch to my mother. She doesn't care about technology at all, and only wants the device in order to be able to carry various books simultaneously and because of the capability of making the font bigger, . I thought the most recent firmware version was very slow on Kobo Touch and full of functions that she would never use, so I decided to downgrade to a "simpler" version. For now I choose 2.3.1, since it is the first firmware version that supports Brazilian Portuguese, our mother tongue (she knows a little English, but she isn't proficient in it or in any other language supported). What I want to know is: Between 2.3.1 and the release before the Pocket integration one, which is the best firmware in terms of speed, simplicity and lack of bugs? I thank you in advance for any tips you can provide, ^^

[GeoffR]

2.3.1 is probably not a good choice, it has some serious bugs such as books not opening to the correct page, and font size changing when a new chapter begins. Better to at least upgrade to 2.3.2 which fixed these bugs.

For the Glo I think the best firmware version is 3.1.1, followed by 2.8.1, then perhaps 2.4.0.

Edit: 3.1.1 is not released for the the Touch, so I guess 2.8.1 would be best.

[Kino_11]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

2.3.1 is probably not a good choice, it has some serious bugs such as books not opening to the correct page, and font size changing when a new chapter begins. Better to at least upgrade to 2.3.2 which fixed these bugs.

For the Glo I think the best firmware version is 3.1.1, followed by 2.8.1, then perhaps 2.4.0.

Edit: 3.1.1 is not released for the the Touch, so I guess 2.8.1 would be best.

Thanks for the answer, ^^. I thought about installing 2.3.2, but since the firmware thread said that maybe it was a Japan-only release I was afraid it would brick my device or something. I didn’t know 2.3.1 was so bugged... Guess I'll try 2.3.2 or 2.4.0 then.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Kino_11

Thanks for the answer, ^^. I thought about installing 2.3.2, but since the firmware thread said that maybe it was a Japan-only release I was afraid it would brick my device or something. I didn’t know 2.3.1 was so bugged... Guess I'll try 2.3.2 or 2.4.0 then.

It is true, for some reason 2.3.2 was only released in Japan, but it did fix some serious bugs in 2.3.1 and didn't add any new bugs so it is a puzzle why it wasn't released elsewhere.

2.4.0 is probably a better choice than 2.3.x, I think the only advantage of the 2.3.x firmwares was that they were the only version that would sort the library so that the book series were in order.

[Ripplinger]

I use 2.4.0 and I love it, I won't upgrade from it. It's cleared up several major bugs and annoyances for me that are in newer versions.

The only problem I've seen with 2.4.0 is in Sudoku, the numbers to select are just black boxes. But it's easy enough to tell what number is where, and I don't really play it, I was just testing various parts of the firmware.

[Kino_11]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I use 2.4.0 and I love it, I won't upgrade from it. It's cleared up several major bugs and annoyances for me that are in newer versions.

The only problem I've seen with 2.4.0 is in Sudoku, the numbers to select are just black boxes. But it's easy enough to tell what number is where, and I don't really play it, I was just testing various parts of the firmware.

Uh-oh, now that’s a bit of a problem. My mom really likes sudoku, and she is actually pretty interested in this extra functionality. I installed 2.4.0 yesterday, but I didn’t check the game (I’m not a fan of sudoku myself). Thanks for pointing that out, =). So, what about 2.5.0? Is it any good? If the reading is too bugged in that version, I guess I’ll just stick with 2.4.0 and teach her how to deal with the black boxes.

[Ripplinger]

You might check the Sudoku game, it might be just a quirk with my reader. And like I said, it's easy enough to know without even thinking which black box corresponds to which number. When you select the number, they do appear in the grid perfectly as they should. It's only the bottom row where you select 1-9.

I used 2.5.1 for quite awhile and while basically it performs the same, I had 2 major problems. Turning pages didn't work well for me, at least 50% of the time I'd have to try again as many as 4x to get the page to turn. And occasionally the 2nd time I swiped to turn the pages, it would advance 2 pages, as if it should have turned the page the previous time but didn't for some reason. And I use Calibre always with my readers; for me on WinXP and an AMD cpu, I would always get the error "can't communicate with device" as soon as I would attempt the first task in Calibre.

Both of those problems went away when I downgraded to 2.4.0. I never get the error from Calibre no matter how many tasks I perform during one connection, and it's rare that I have to do a double swipe to turn a page.

I should add that the page turning problems did not happen if I used a tap instead of a swipe, but for me, I need to use swipes, especially when holding the reader in my left hand, I can't reach far enough to tap the right side. If your Mom prefers taps, it's not an issue. And if you don't use Calibre with WinXP with an AMD cpu, that may not be a concern for you either.

Keep in mind too that not everyone has the same issues on their reader, if 2.4.0 gives the black boxes for you, then I'd give 2.5.1 a try and see how it performs in your instance.

[Kino_11]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

You might check the Sudoku game, it might be just a quirk with my reader. And like I said, it's easy enough to know without even thinking which black box corresponds to which number. When you select the number, they do appear in the grid perfectly as they should. It's only the bottom row where you select 1-9.

I used 2.5.1 for quite awhile and while basically it performs the same, I had 2 major problems. Turning pages didn't work well for me, at least 50% of the time I'd have to try again as many as 4x to get the page to turn. And occasionally the 2nd time I swiped to turn the pages, it would advance 2 pages, as if it should have turned the page the previous time but didn't for some reason. And I use Calibre always with my readers; for me on WinXP and an AMD cpu, I would always get the error "can't communicate with device" as soon as I would attempt the first task in Calibre.

Both of those problems went away when I downgraded to 2.4.0. I never get the error from Calibre no matter how many tasks I perform during one connection, and it's rare that I have to do a double swipe to turn a page.

I should add that the page turning problems did not happen if I used a tap instead of a swipe, but for me, I need to use swipes, especially when holding the reader in my left hand, I can't reach far enough to tap the right side. If your Mom prefers taps, it's not an issue. And if you don't use Calibre with WinXP with an AMD cpu, that may not be a concern for you either.

Keep in mind too that not everyone has the same issues on their reader, if 2.4.0 gives the black boxes for you, then I'd give 2.5.1 a try and see how it performs in your instance.

Yup, the black boxes are there, . I use Calibre a lot, but with Windows 7 (my CPU is not AMD, btw). Hm, that swipe bug is pretty major... I'll give the e-reader to her tomorrow, so I still don't know if she will prefer to use taps or swipes to turn the pages. Have you (or anyone else reading this post) tried version 2.3.2? It supposedly fixes a lot of bugs, but since it was a Japan-only release I'm afraid it may brick my device .

[Ripplinger]

I've tried newer firmware versions and none of them correct either of my major problems, the multiple swipes nor the WinXP AMD communication error. Plus I absolutely HATE the layout of the newer firmware with the boxes, it's just the ugliest layout possible to me. I much prefer the older simpler look of 5 books where I have my next 4 reads queued.

I should add that not everyone had my problem with needing multiple swipes, you might give 2.5.1 a try then and see how it behaves for her, without letting her know what problems might be there.

[ottdmk]

I'm using 3.0.1 on my Touch and it works great for me.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Kino_11

Have you (or anyone else reading this post) tried version 2.3.2? It supposedly fixes a lot of bugs, but since it was a Japan-only release I'm afraid it may brick my device .

I used 2.3.2 on my Glo for a while, it was fine from what I remember, just like 2.3.1 but with some of the bugs fixed.

[Ken Maltby]

You can add KoboLauncher to your Kobo, it includes a few games including Sudoku.

If you don't want to try Koreader just stop after Step 8.

Luck;
Ken

[Chocky]

I've been on 3.0.1 for the past month or so, and it's been the best release for me in the past year.