Firmware 3.18.0 discussion

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Here are some other things that are not officially supported by Kobo:

* Using the built-in web browser
* Sideloading KePubs
* Using Calibre to sideload (and much more)
* Installing third-party software
* Patching the firmware

How many people here don't depend on at least one of those things to make their reading experience better?

I don't have an issue with non-supported options being used. I just think if a non-supported feature has a problem, then don't call it a bug. Sure you can try to work around it or try to fix it, but it's not a bug since the feature isn't supported. That's all.

[Jarrett]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

* Using the built-in web browser

Using the web browser on e-ink amuses me more than anything. I tried YouTube

[MewCore]

I have Glo HD on 3.17.3 but there are no notifications to update when syncing via wifi or when connected to Kobo Desktop. How do I obtain this update?

Tnx

[BeeTee-Ess]

I have just updated my Mini to 3.18.0, notwithstanding it is not officially supported, and applied the patches.

I am reading without problems.

Thanks to all concerned.

[Kieran Seymour]

Originally Posted by Jarrett

Using the web browser on e-ink amuses me more than anything. I tried YouTube

Don't knock the mighty web browser - I ordered a DVD with it in double-quick time last night. And there's definitely a guilty thrill in using a Kobo Touch to purchase a Kindle eBook

I'll be honest, I'm a bit wary about letting another firmware upgrade install. The last two haven't gone particularly smoothly, and I've only just got everything loaded back on after having to do a full factory reset because of 3.17.0.

[Nick_1964]

Originally Posted by dordale

I'm sure refreshing every page turn will have an affect on battery usage, but I don't think the effect would be that significant. I change my refresh options quite frequently and quite a bit of the time I have it set to refresh every page--simply to have clearer text on the page. I personally don't notice a difference in how long the battery charge lasts.

On the other hand, I can understand how this would be annoying to people who what to use the FullScreenReading setting and really don't like seeing the refresh.

I don't use the feature because it is having some problems, but as far as I know my old Sony does the page refresh also with every page turn,but it didn't do it before on the Kobo at every pageturn,and reading can be experienced a bit slower...and if you fiddle around a bit,it turns off the refresh all the way..

Originally Posted by PeterT

I will admit I fail to understand why people insist on enabling the buggy / unsupported / unfinished FullScreenReading mode.

I don't insist on that,but if you see how much is taken from a page and converted to blanc space while reading kepubs and you know there is a setting to get all this space back,even when unsupported,I can understand why people like it.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What I don't get is why people say there are bugs in FullScreenreading mode and complain about them. It's an unfinished/unsupported/unofficial feature. So if it doesn't work, it doesn't work and it's not a bug that it doesn't work properly.

It's an open forum so anyone who wants to complain,can do it.
But following your logic, if people can't call it a bug, they call it a beatle and then it is okay for you to discuss about it ??
It do is important that it is known because a lot of people use it and it now have another behavior then before.

The patches of GeoffR are also unsupported by Kobo, but after every new update from Kobo,most people here are waiting installing it until GeoffR release the new patches.
Why ??
And imho,when even with a undocumented setting when sudden strange things happening in a device,you can call it a bug.
Because for further developement of the feature it can be important to know what happens and why,and it now reacts with the unsupported fullscreen,but it can also react with other related things that might occur.
If there must be a discussion about everything found/supported or unsupported,to call it a bug or not,then this forum can be closed for 80%.

Calibre isn't also supported by Kobo, all the plugins are not supported by Kobo.. so then we could not react on anything,and stop using it because it isn't supported ?

If Kobo would look at the patches and learn from it why we use it,and change their firmware in that way so we would not use them anymore,we would all be ready and content.. here we say , with the word IF, you could place the whole world in a bottle..

For GeoffR it is important to know some answers,and a lot of people depend on him,and trust him to turn the reader in something usable.
I don't think it is fair to discuss if he calls it a bug or not.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by MewCore

I have Glo HD on 3.17.3 but there are no notifications to update when syncing via wifi or when connected to Kobo Desktop. How do I obtain this update?

Tnx

Edit the affiliate.conf file on the reader to read:
affiliate=BestBuyCA

That location gives you the fastest updates. Which could be a curse though if you find out later there's a bug that annoys you and you'll need to downgrade then. I keep mine set to BestbuyCA always, but I never turn on wifi unless I want to download new firmware so it doesn't bother me. I sideload all my books through Calibre.

[frostschutz]

When I reboot the device starts to sync even though I have no automatic syncs in the settings. It's also still turning on WiFi every time waking from standby even though I'm not using the web browser / shop / whatever at the time (the only legit reason for it to wifi anything). I wish it would stop doing that.

[Ksquared]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

On the Aura the bug causes the screen to no longer be refreshed. On other devices it causes a full screen refresh to occur at every page turn regardless of the "Refresh the screen every" reading setting.

I am on an Aura, and only refresh after a chapter. It would have taken me a while to notice this! It amazes me how quickly you folks find this stuff.

I will likely stay with 3.18 and see if this "unexpected behavior in an undocumented/unsupported feature" (rather than calling it a bug) bothers me.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by frostschutz

When I reboot the device starts to sync even though I have no automatic syncs in the settings. It's also still turning on WiFi every time waking from standby even though I'm not using the web browser / shop / whatever at the time (the only legit reason for it to wifi anything). I wish it would stop doing that.

There is a new setting in the [ApplicationPreferences] section of my Glo's config file: syncOnNextBoot=false

This must be related to:

Originally Posted by davidfor

• After a sync that finds and applies an update, the regular sync is completed after update

One new thing I noticed since 3.17.3 is that after sync says it is complete, but is really still running in the background, when I turn wi-fi off I don't get a popup telling me sync is still running and asking if I want to cancel, it just turns wi-fi off and silently cancels the sync.

In some ways this is even worse than 3.17.3, because now I have no way to know for sure if sync is actually finished or not. I think the old way was best, before 3.17.3, where it didn't run in the background and I could see when it had really finished.

[Dryhte]

PinchToZoom?

[thepossum]

Originally Posted by Jarrett

Using the web browser on e-ink amuses me more than anything. I tried YouTube

Also don't knock the web browser. I have used it to download .epub files directly to my device when I had no usb cable available.

[PeterT]

I view the browser as being in a different class from the FullScreenReading mode; the browser has been officially exposed to us the user (albeit flagged as Beta), while FullScreenReading was only found by looking for strings in the firmware.

[MGlitch]

I view fullscreen mode as the way to make kepubs acceptable. One of the draws of the H2O to me was the screen size, giving up a chunk of that to what it arguably useless information was enough of a turn off that I didn't bother converting to kepub until sideloaded kepubs got some love.

Am I annoyed they changed things in such a way that it introduced issues with fullscreen reading? Yeah, it was working fine with patches. Do I consider it a bug or something worth reporting to Kobo outside of a desire to see fullscreen reading as a usable option? Nope. I'll just switch back to epub.

[Nick_1964]

Originally Posted by MGlitch

I view fullscreen mode as the way to make kepubs acceptable. One of the draws of the H2O to me was the screen size, giving up a chunk of that to what it arguably useless information was enough of a turn off that I didn't bother converting to kepub until sideloaded kepubs got some love.

Am I annoyed they changed things in such a way that it introduced issues with fullscreen reading? Yeah, it was working fine with patches. Do I consider it a bug or something worth reporting to Kobo outside of a desire to see fullscreen reading as a usable option? Nope. I'll just switch back to epub.

I totally agree (exept of it it a bug or not..) but I have asked Kobo many times to extend their screen a bit,unpatched you lost almost a cm on top of a kepub, and at least 2 cm on the bottom,making a 6 inch screen almost a 5 inch one.
Kobo knows,that with epubs, unpatched the same almost 2 cm footer is there.
It is for a lot of people the reason why they patch it.
As others pointed out so,it is not the responsibility of Kobo that an undocumented option is now disturbed, BUT if everyone keeps thinking we don't tell Kobo that we don't like it that they "steal" so much space by headers and footers,they will never change it. (and I know almost as a fact that they know we don't like it,for sure someone of Kobo is following the "patch" topic's..)
With my Sony, 6 inch,I never felt the need to patch something because the headers or footer space... and changing all the time from kepub to epub and vice versa just for lay-out changes,wasn't the first thing I was thinking about.