Kobo Bug thread

[Muttly]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

There are several MR members who know more than I do about Kobo font handling.

I can well imagine.

It's clear to me that you're not one of them.

As you seem to have very little understanding of font file technicalities I shall not let what's clear to you that worry me in the slightest.

It shouldn't be a great surprise that a font (Bookerly) created specifically for Amazon reading apps and Amazon proprietary (undocumented) ebook formats may not work as-is in a Kobo proprietary ebook format (kepub) in a Kobo proprietary reading app (Access).

This perfectly illustrate your almost complete lack of understanding of defined file format standards in general.

The True Type and Open Font file types are long and well established and are used by hundreds of millions of people.

Only software written by a complete muppet would require special tweaking to work with a font that works properly on Windows, Kindle, (Apple [and hence Unix]), and lord knows what else.

Even if that was the case here, it would not explain why the font displayed perfectly well for two books, and then failed for ALL books, including the two it previously worked on.

Based on your attitude in the last few posts, I can't think of a worse way of going about it. I've heard enough, I'm off.

Don't let the door catch you on the way out.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Muttly

(Apple [and hence Unix])

Are you joking here? Apple hence Unix?

[Muttly]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Problem is, bugs which are shared for a lot of people (battery, for example,) and which are more or less diagnosed, have a chance of going away (I don't say they go, mind you, but they have a chance). Bug reported by one person (I hope you have reported to Kobo customer support, I don't remember if you have told it, sorry), and not diagnosed, have very little to no chance of going away.

I don't think either of these bugs are root cause bugs (i.e. that each is a specific stand alone bug). I suspect that the Kobo has got itself into some bad state in one of its processes and that is causing a few problems.

I'm hoping that when the firmware update is eventually released (remember they said it had been delayed to address 'other issues'), it will be a little more resilient.

I'll then do a factory reset, reload everything, and hope all is well.

And yes, Kobo can be used out of the box, I know a lot of people who use them in that way.

Indeed, I am using mine quite happily.

I just asked about a couple of questions in case they were particular, known, problems with a work around.

It was immediately apparent that they were not and no one really had a clue.

My big mistake was to dare to call the software 'very buggy' - purely a reflection of my experience of it - which upset a couple of fanbois, who decided that they had to try and convince (themselves?) that it was actually all my fault.

Protestations that I had managed to use Kindles for many years without problem only stirred the flames.

A pity as people were most helpful when I initially got the device and had to be steered towards kepubs and their loading, for which I was most grateful.

[Muttly]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Are you joking here? Apple hence Unix?

It's a sort of a dig. Not really relevant to font rendering.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Muttly

It's a sort of a dig. Not really relevant to font rendering.

I don't get the expression, sorry. Anyway, equal Apple OS and Linux in any context is not good for me.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Muttly

I don't think either of these bugs are root cause bugs (i.e. that each is a specific stand alone bug). I suspect that the Kobo has got itself into some bad state in one of its processes and that is causing a few problems.

I don't have info enough to make a diagnosis, so I cannot tell you. I'il wait for the next FW, when it's available, as I have no battery problem (conf file modified), no file problem, 500 books nicely loaded into it... let's see.

[howyoudoin]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When I switched from Sony to Kobo, I lost one feature I would still like to have. In the NCX ToC, Sony showed the ADE page number for the chapters. That was a nice feature to have.

That sounds like a wonderful feature and one that I didn't even realize I needed until you mentioned it

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

When I switched from Sony to Kobo, I lost one feature I would still like to have. In the NCX ToC, Sony showed the ADE page number for the chapters. That was a nice feature to have.

I lost that, the nested TOC, nested collections, autocollections for series and authors... (last things with PRS+): I still miss them from time to time.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Muttly

This perfectly illustrate your almost complete lack of understanding of defined file format standards in general.

The True Type and Open Font file types are long and well established and are used by hundreds of millions of people.

Only software written by a complete muppet would require special tweaking to work with a font that works properly on Windows, Kindle, (Apple [and hence Unix]), and lord knows what else.

I've seen issues with fonts with some versions of ADE, Kindle, Sony, and others. No Reader is perfect and Bookerly was made to work with a Kindle. Because it doesn't seem to work with Access on a Kobo is not Kobo's fault. You need get a font editor and have a look at the font's settings to see what they are. It's possible something needs to be changed.

The way you are complaining is not doing you any favors. Turn it down a bit.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Muttly

No, it has to do with your denial that the Aura One software is very buggy.

Since 'very buggy' would generally be a somewhat relative statement I simply pointed out that I was relating the Kobo to the Kindle, of which I have had several, and on which the only bug I have found if that the reading speed is wrong and inconsistent to a bizarre extent. On the Kobo, however, I can cite a long list of bugs the I have personally found, leading me to the conclusion that this software is buggy and 'unfinished'.

You are right, saying "buggy compared to Kindle" is valid. But, once you have said that, any further reference to that in this particular thread is actually off-topic. I to can list a lot of bugs in the Kobo firmware, and I would bet that my list is longer than yours.

That's gobbledegook in this context. The Kobo rendered two books perfectly well using Bookerly correctly. Then it refused to use the Bookerly regular font and rendered everything in Bookerly bold.

The problem with calling it gobbledegook, is that I bet you cannot reproduce the behaviour. I bet that if you try to get those fonts working again, you wouldn't be able to. Of course, that would require you doing a factory reset, putting the same books on it, adding the fonts in the same way and then reading the same books.

Correct. The fonts are valid. The Kobo is just not handling them correctly.

No, it demonstrates that Kobo is handling differently to the other OSes and applications.

Sorry, I didn't realise how little you know about software.

:r ofl::rof l:

Considering how much my boss is paying me as a software engineer, he is going to be upset when he finds that out.

But, you are telling me that there are absolutely no applications out there that depend on particular file names for their configuration? Particularly their default configuration. And there are no applications that create a bunch of files with particular file names and extensions so that they are grouped together and the application knows they are to be processed together. Or that parse the file name to work out the purpose of the file. Maybe it is lazy, old code or something else, but there are plenty of applications in the real world that do this.

Please, I beg you, do not use calibre with the Kobo devices.

Yes, of course individual files have significant names. What no decent software does is try and tie multiple instance header containing file contents with their names. There is absolutely no point in doing that. The name of the typeface is the name in the header file.

Yes, it is probably better not to do this. But, the fact is that the Kobo firmware works that way. NOTHING you can do will change that. If you do not put the fonts on the device in the way the firmware expects them, THEY WILL NOT WORK.

I said: (P #758)

"Well, yes, the format is obviously important, but it's well defined and the files work perfectly well in Window's application. They also worked perfectly well for two books on the KOBO. Indeed, one of them still works, it's just that it's picking the wrong weight."

And I say, who cares about how the Windows application works. The Kobo firmware has requirements about the files that are sideloaded to it for it to use. If those requirements are not met, then you cannot expect things to work correctly

I said: (P #733)

"Secondly, it seems to have 'lost' a font. I loaded Bookerly, and used it quite happily to read a couple of books, then, when I started the next, the whole thing displayed in bold. I assumed it was a problem with the book, and soldiered on, but when I finished it, I discovered that all books displayed in bold only, and had to change typeface to get a normal weight."

As you seem to be having problems, let me guide you through it in simple steps. Then you may understand why I am all but certain it is not a problem with the font files:

1) USB loaded fonts onto Kobo
2) Ejected Kobo
3) Kobo says it is processing
4) New fonts appeared correctly
5) Read two books with new font with no problems whatsoever
6) Without any intervening connection to a computer, started a new book
7) New book displayed in bold
8) All books, including the two I had already successfully read now display in bold.
9) Did a hard restart
10 ) Problem remained.
11) Deleted one of the books I'd read successfully.
12) Current situation, ALL books display in bold when using Bookerly. (To spell it out, yes, that includes the one that initially displayed correctly.)

Good. We know the order of events that happened and what is still happening. It is always nice to have it concisely summarised like this after the discussion that has taken place. But...

Are the font files named properly on the device? Are they in the correct directory?

No, because all you are doing is demonstrating that you don't really understand the intricacies of a file system - or where the file system is used and where main memory is used.

Well, I have never claimed to have a great understanding of the intricacies of file systems. These are things I like to leave alone unless something goes wrong and I need to recover files. Then I dig up the tools I need, check my memory and maybe read a bit, or walk over to a colleague who thinks these things are fun and ask for help.

But, I will claim to know a lot about how the Kobo devices work, how they use the internal storage, how they use the memory, how they read and process the various files that we put on the device. I don't claim to know everything, as I don't have access to the source code or design documents. But, if I stated that I know more about how they work than most posters here,

But, I am answering your question. You stated:

I would be intrigued to know what you think the Kobo could be doing, internally, for 20 seconds between finishing one book and starting another - that would leave the font files present but somehow stop the device using them properly.

I gave you a list of things I either know are happening or can guess that are. Several of those things could cause a problem like you describe. But, they would be unlikely to survive a restart. Which is why I asked earlier if you had restarted the device at appropriate times. And of course, if the software finds a problem processing a file, it could of course move/rename/delete it to prevent reprocessing the file later and having exactly the same problem later. I have no idea if this is the case, but it is a possibility.

Let me restate my last paragraph from my last post:

I am not denying you are seeing a problem. All my posts have been about working out what that problem is. The issue to me is that you are the ONLY one reporting the problem. That makes it hard to work out what is actually going wrong. So I have been trying to understand what is happening ON YOUR DEVICE. With a clear understanding of that, maybe someone else can reproduce the problem, and we can see if there is a suitable workaround until the bug is fixed. And, you can make a clear report of the bug to Kobo so they can fix it.

So, to make clear what I want to know:

- Are the font files on the device correctly named? And contain what they supposed to contain?
- Have you tried reinstalling the font files? This is to check that the files on the device haven't been corrupted somehow.

And most importantly of all:

- Have you reported this to Kobo so that they can fix the problem?

[Corpsegoddess]

My finished book count isn't updating--either when I finish reading a book, or scrolling to the end and finishing it up.

Also, can somebody PLEASE suggest to Kobo that when you mark a book as finished using the menu, it updates in your reading count--at least for the first time?

I use Kobo to keep track of my reading, but when I use a new reader, or have to reload the contents of my SD card, it means I have to go in to each individual book I've finished, scroll to the last page, "finish" the book--all this, just to have it count.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Corpsegoddess

My finished book count isn't updating--either when I finish reading a book, or scrolling to the end and finishing it up.

Which FW do you have? Because this is failing in the last one (available for KA1) but not in the other FWs, I believe.

[Corpsegoddess]

Originally Posted by Terisa de morgan

Which FW do you have? Because this is failing in the last one (available for KA1) but not in the other FWs, I believe.

I have a Kobo Aura One with 4.07 as the software.

Thanks for asking, I forgot to mention that in my original post.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Corpsegoddess

I have a Kobo Aura One with 4.07 as the software.

Thanks for asking, I forgot to mention that in my original post.

I'm afraid that you'll going to have to wait for the new FW (as myself) to have this bug fixed.

[Muttly]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've seen issues with fonts with some versions of ADE, Kindle, Sony, and others. No Reader is perfect and Bookerly was made to work with a Kindle.

This is where you show your almost complete ignorance of font technicalities.

I have created fonts from scratch, modified many and written a font manager for Windows so I do have a vague clue as to what I'm talking about.

Although it's quite true that a font may be commissioned for a particular device (or company or product) there is absolutely nothing in the process of creation that involves matching the font file to a particular device.

If you actually understood the nature of file standards you would also understand the absurdity of what you wrote above.

Now, it is quite true that it is possible that a badly structured file will work with some implementations designed to use it and not others. However, that is pretty much ruled out here by the fact that the file in question worked at one point and the stopped working for the same books.

Again, had you experience of software development these diagnostic insights would be second nature and you would not be wittering on about weirdly malstructured files when there is clear evidence that they are not.

Because it doesn't seem to work with Access on a Kobo is not Kobo's fault.

Believe that if you wish but you are deluding yourself. There is no way that a correctly working system will, with no interim changes made to any configuration, work with a file of this nature one minute and not work the next.

If the font file was incorrect for the Kobo it would not have been able to correctly render two books.

You need get a font editor and have a look at the font's settings to see what they are. It's possible something needs to be changed.

Sorry, that's just rubbish.

The way you are complaining is not doing you any favors.

Quite honestly I think you are the one who is not doing him/herself any favours. Continually making fairly dogmatic statements about something you clearly do not properly understand does your credibility no good at all.

And, I would add, that my complaint is long past. Bookerly is nice but there are perfectly good fonts built in. I just wondered is random font loss was a known problem with a work-round.

All the trash in this thread is the result of a couple of people who do not seem to really understand font technology trying to deflect blame way from a very minor fault in the Kobo. Fanboism at its worst.