Firmware 3.8.0 released

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by hleo12

It seems that I'm frequently getting database corruptions on my Glo with 3.8. But using the compress database option in Kobo Utilities seems to always fix the problem...

Interesting; I've not seen any yet but did see lots with 3.5

[hleo12]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Interesting; I've not seen any yet but did see lots with 3.5

I'm mostly getting errors like this...

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by davidfor

• Ability to take screenshots is back. This works the same as before.

How do you take a screenshot on the reader? Or is it only on some models and not on the Glo?

[Canuck_in_Japan]

Originally Posted by murg

I've updated the first post of the Direct Links thread with 3.7.0 and 3.8.0.

I'm calling the 3.7.0 release: The Catch Me If You Can release.

The 3.8.0 release is The Charge of the Light Brigade release.

There is a new release of the PC Desktop for 3.8.0.

I've moved the release from Jan 2014 to mid-May to the second post of the Direct Links thread.

I'm not sure I get the reasoning behind it but I sure like the idea of giving firmware releases names instead of numbers. Kind of like Android.
"Which firmware are you using?"
"I'm on Charge of the Light Brigade".

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

How do you take a screenshot on the reader? Or is it only on some models and not on the Glo?

You need to edit the config file to have:

[FeatureSettings]
Screenshots=true

The FeatureSettings section will probably be there, so just add the other line after it. And make sure you use a Linux line end aware editor.

With the above in place, sliding the power switch will take the screenshot. Unfortunately, you can't use the power switch to wake the device or turn it off. But, if you use a sleep cover, that isn't as important.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by davidfor

You need to edit the config file to have:

[FeatureSettings]
Screenshots=true

The FeatureSettings section will probably be there, so just add the other line after it. And make sure you use a Linux line end aware editor.

With the above in place, sliding the power switch will take the screenshot. Unfortunately, you can't use the power switch to wake the device or turn it off. But, if you use a sleep cover, that isn't as important.

Thanks for that info. Isn't it risky being without the power switch though? I know my Glo has locked up several times (although not recently) where it was impossible to do anything except a factory reset using the power button. What happens in that instance, the power button won't function to do the factory reset?

[Nick_1964]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

Thanks for that info. Isn't it risky being without the power switch though? I know my Glo has locked up several times (although not recently) where it was impossible to do anything except a factory reset using the power button. What happens in that instance, the power button won't function to do the factory reset?

Don't know,but it is not an official feature so you put it there at own risk,same when battery went dead or any other cases where you need the power button.. so I just put the feature on in the config file when needed, make a screenshot,and then put it out again, I never let it on for the same reasons to avoid power switch problems, you can enable and disable it.
Goto the .kobo directory and from there again to kobo, there you will find the Kobo eReader.conf file.
I edit it with notepad ++

Then I go to this path (possible you have to insert it.)
[FeatureSettings]
FullBookPageNumbers=false
OnlineWikipedia=false
Screenshots=false

When you change Screenshots=false into Screenshots=true you can make the screenshots with the power button, after that I change it back to Screenshots=false and leave it that way.
So in an emergency i will never face the problem of a non working power button.

More "tweaks" you can find in https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=218376 but always use them at own risk.

[davidfor]

A little. I only use it with the screenshots enabled for a little while. The pin-hole will usually reset the device to boot. The switch would work to turn the device on if it gets turned off. But getting it off might be a problem.

[Nick_1964]

Originally Posted by davidfor

A little. I only use it with the screenshots enabled for a little while. The pin-hole will usually reset the device to boot. The switch would work to turn the device on if it gets turned off. But getting it off might be a problem.

And I don't see myself easy put the battery out,just like a mobile phone,by an emergency...
I just red about the announcement of Sony to stop developing new e-readers , stop making bugfixes and firmware,and they stop producing it,so out of stock means sold out,so maybe the market will be now up to kobo.

So I hope Kobo will work on the interface... lets be reasonable,the front screen/menu isn't the most beautiful one, but allso make the "easter eggs" like taking a screenshot, a part of the menu in a feature firmware.
They are there,build in the firmware for some reason,but you can't reach it without hooking your device on a computer
Then a android version of Calibre that makes it possible to edit my books from a tablet would make my experience totally happy with the kobo.
The Kindle is not for sale in The Netherlands officially.. so Kobo is the only "big" player left here on this market.

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Nick_1964

So I hope Kobo will work on the interface... lets be reasonable,the front screen/menu isn't the most beautiful one, but allso make the "easter eggs" like taking a screenshot, a part of the menu in a feature firmware.
They are there,build in the firmware for some reason,but you can't reach it without hooking your device on a computer

It's most likely a diagnostic feature. As such, an official interface isn't only unnecessary, but undesirable from their perspective.

I have to do that for my job, putting in "features" that the public doesn't - and shouldn't - know about, because they're the groundwork for new features. Sometimes these "temporary" kludges can last for a couple of years, as the new features get delayed in favor of bug fixes and other development...but that doesn't make them less temporary or kludgy, and I still wouldn't want the general public to know about them. That would only lead to questions about when those features would be finished, or (worse yet) complaints about "bugs" when the unfinished features don't work flawlessly.

[Nick_1964]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

It's most likely a diagnostic feature. As such, an official interface isn't only unnecessary, but undesirable from their perspective.

I have to do that for my job, putting in "features" that the public doesn't - and shouldn't - know about, because they're the groundwork for new features.

I can go with you a far end, but I would not place such things into a permanent firmware, only in a developer environment, leaving them into the final firmware allso make the risk of a crash higher,because they are sometimes like you say,unfinished features but can interfear with the main programs even when buyers don't know they are there and trigger them by accident...

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by Nick_1964

...
When you change Screenshots=false into Screenshots=true you can make the screenshots with the power button, after that I change it back to Screenshots=false and leave it that way.
So in an emergency i will never face the problem of a non working power button.
...

I think that's what I'll do as well, just enable it when I really need a screenshot and immediately disable it again.

Originally Posted by davidfor

A little. I only use it with the screenshots enabled for a little while. The pin-hole will usually reset the device to boot. The switch would work to turn the device on if it gets turned off. But getting it off might be a problem.

A few times my Glo has locked up though where absolutely nothing but forcing the factory reset with the power switch and light button would work. The soft reset with the pinhole did nothing, and connecting it to the PC or a power cable did nothing. So since I know it can happen, I'm not going to tempt fate and I'll leave it disabled except for the short time I need it.

I'll admit I do miss the convenience of the Sony being able to take a screenshot though. What I've been doing with the Glo when I want a "screenshot" is to scan it on my flatbed scanner .

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Nick_1964

I would not place such things into a permanent firmware, only in a developer environment, leaving them into the final firmware allso make the risk of a crash higher,because they are sometimes like you say,unfinished features but can interfear with the main programs even when buyers don't know they are there and trigger them by accident...

...which is why you have to hook the reader up to a computer and manually edit the config file to turn them on, instead of having a handy menu option.

Leaving these things out of release code usually just isn't an option. Imagine going up to a construction team as they're building a house, complaining that it's not secure because anyone can just walk in through the incomplete walls, and declaring that they can't just LEAVE it that way overnight. Well, yeah, they kind of have to do that. Otherwise, they'd spend half the day building the house, then half the day taking it back apart, nothing (ahem) constructive would get done, and the next thing you know, LEGO wants a cut of the action.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

Thanks for that info. Isn't it risky being without the power switch though? I know my Glo has locked up several times (although not recently) where it was impossible to do anything except a factory reset using the power button. What happens in that instance, the power button won't function to do the factory reset?

In older firmware, if you held the power button for 15-20 seconds, it would still force your ereader to power off and the power switch would then work to power on. Alternatively, to trigger a factory reset, hold the light button and hit the pinhole reset -- the only time I've seen the pinhole reset method not work was a Glo where by opening it up a few times, the switch had been damaged. Gentle was not in that gentleman's vocabulary.

Regards,
David

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

What happens in that instance, the power button won't function to do the factory reset?

Hope I don't need to do that, since my power slider doesn't work on either of my Glos. My fault