FW 4.2.8110

[drjd]

Applied the Metazoa Patches without any problem.

Kobo-nightmode patch_build13 does not work on this FW. So I tried experimental nightmode for KA1, provided by frostschutz, and It worked! Now I can use the long press on light switch normally, and toggle the nightmode.

Prima facie I can say that the FW is fairly fast in page turns, dictionary look up and my sleepcover (not official) appears to be working in a more improved manner.

[robko]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

.... i'm still getting words cut off the sides of kepubs (that ive bought) in full screen mode, ...

I won't defend Kobo on the other points, but in fairness to them FULL SCREEN MODE is a hack and not an official feature, so complaining that they haven't fixed that particular one isn't fair.

[the.Mtn.Man]

Originally Posted by EldRick

Odd -single-finger light-level works fine on my H2O and Aura One.

I never heard of using two fingers - perhaps that's why it's flaky for some people...

Originally Posted by DNSB

The two finger light adjustment is a feature specific to the orignal 6" Aura with the capacitive touch screen.

That would explain why the one-finger swipe on the left margin didn't work.

That said, I did find a pattern to the light adjustment flakiness: when first loading a book, either from the home screen or upon waking the device from sleep, the two-finger swipe doesn't work on the first attempt, but it does seem to work more or less reliably after that. However, there is another oddity: sometimes the two finger swipe registers as a tap and hold, so instead of adjusting the brightness, the dictionary pop-up opens instead. (And this behavior is not limited to just the latest firmware; the previous official 6" Aura firmware also had these issues.)

These might sound like minor annoyances, but they happen just enough to impact usability, especially for a feature that should "just work" every single time. As I've said, firmware 3.12.1 works perfectly in this regard: the two-finger light adjustment is 100% reliable and 100% predictable, the way it should be.

People might say that such an old firmware is "obsolete", but since my library consists exclusively of side-loaded books, and since my Aura functions exactly as it needs to to allow me to read my books without software bugs getting in the way of my enjoyment, I don't see any good reason to "upgrade". Maybe if Kobo adds Over Drive support to older devices then a compelling case could be made, but until then...

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by cerem0ny

Oh Gosh, Kobo sure is taking their sweet time to get their act together. Its been like, half a year and several updates and they've only *just* managed to *maybe* fix the auto-brightness issue...! I dont mean to be a negative Nancy and start fights or whatever (because I do love my Aura one more than any ereader ever) but hot damn, i'm still getting words cut off the sides of kepubs (that ive bought) in full screen mode, as well as numerous other bugs that are really testing my patience... I really dont feel like reinstalling the patch every time a new firmware comes out just so my Kobo can display text infull screen properly but them's the breaks... the auto-light still works pretty poorly and would still love to see ligatures in kepubs... it took them a few months to fix the software to show whether you have actually read a book or not... why are these updates so slow and honestly kind of poor?

Anywho, rant over, grrr...

To be fair to Kobo (even though my KA1 lies unused for lack of a good sleep cover), the full screen function is experimental and unsupported at this time. It can be fixed with CSS. (If you know exactly what to put where...)

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

To be fair to Kobo (even though my KA1 lies unused for lack of a good sleep cover), the full screen function is experimental and unsupported at this time. It can be fixed with CSS. (If you know exactly what to put where...)

4.2.8110 fixes the sleep cover issue. You can get a good cover now that should work. You'll be able to use your KA1 again.

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

4.2.8110 fixes the sleep cover issue. You can get a good cover now that should work. You'll be able to use your KA1 again.

Does it fix the issues with *all* covers? I don't like the official one, and most third party covers didn't work well; either they didn't put the reader to sleep reliably, or they didn't have any magnetic shielding sticker to make sure the reader stays awake when the cover is folded back. Only one cover had this protection.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Does it fix the issues with *all* covers? I don't like the official one, and most third party covers didn't work well; either they didn't put the reader to sleep reliably, or they didn't have any magnetic shielding sticker to make sure the reader stays awake when the cover is folded back. Only one cover had this protection.

There were some covers that caused the H2O to sleep sometimes when the cover was folded back. That's not a sleep cover issue with the A1, but an issue with the cover.

I cannot say how the sleep cover issue is fixed, but some have posted that it now works. Here's a post that says the sleep cover now works.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...00#post3445500

[koboy]

Originally Posted by robko

I won't defend Kobo on the other points, but in fairness to them FULL SCREEN MODE is a hack and not an official feature, so complaining that they haven't fixed that particular one isn't fair.

if Kobo implemented the full screen mode in the first place then there would be no need for a hack. also the fact that there are so many patches etc shows you just how poor the official firmware releases are at giving people what they actually want.


best wishes koboy

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by koboy

if Kobo implemented the full screen mode in the first place then there would be no need for a hack. also the fact that there are so many patches etc shows you just how poor the official firmware releases are at giving people what they actually want.

Well... you must not forget that these patches and features are only wanted by a tiny, die-hard e-reading minority. Most people don't care. I've seen people reading books ripped off the internet (torrents, newsgroups), that would be labeled "mangled beyond recognition" by me. Weird or no line breaks, scene breaks, chapter breaks, no TOC, riddled with (OCR) errors, you name it, I saw it. And when I asked how they could read that crap, they just shrugged their shoulders. "I can understand the story, can't I? And this illegal copy saved me €5, so what could be better?"

Most people just don't care about anything beyond the text if its an e-book. I wonder if they'd accept the same crap (no covers, no TOC, mangled markup, missing pages...) in paper books as well; I suppose not.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by koboy

if Kobo implemented the full screen mode in the first place then there would be no need for a hack. also the fact that there are so many patches etc shows you just how poor the official firmware releases are at giving people what they actually want.


best wishes koboy

Remember marketing decide what functions are needed, and function requirements are driven by mass appeal, not fanboy appeal.

The more functions / options exist in an interface, the more complex support becomes, the more unexpected interactions occur between options.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Remember marketing decide what functions are needed, and function requirements are driven by mass appeal, not fanboy appeal.

The more functions / options exist in an interface, the more complex support becomes, the more unexpected interactions occur between options.

i'm on 3.16.0 with my Kobos using nickel only and it works perfectly fine for my needs no patches at all, i would like a full screen mode in the stock software but it's no big thing for me, my post was mainly aimed at what other people seem to want not myself.

btw i'm no fanboy or a Koboist, i just say it how i see it.

best wishes koboy

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by koboy

i'm on 3.16.0 with my Kobos using nickel only and it works perfectly fine for my needs no patches at all, i would like a full screen mode in the stock software but it's no big thing for me, my post was mainly aimed at what other people seem to want not myself.

btw i'm no fanboy or a Koboist, i just say it how i see it.

best wishes koboy

I find it silly that people get called a fanboy for liking something.

[koboy]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I find it silly that people get called a fanboy for liking something.

it's not a term i would use, each to their own i suppose, my understanding of the meaning of fanboy would be someone who likes something to the point of being blinked by it's flaws or it's limitations not something i suffer from myself, of course i could be wrong it did happen once i believe in 1984.

best wishes koboy

[cerem0ny]

Well I am a total Koboist fan-person and I love my A1 but I have a feeling I better start getting used to lacklustre updates and poorly functioning software/hardware features unless I am using the patch. Its just a bit of a hassle to download and apply the patch every so often but they are so well-made and they take care of every possible gripe I have and then some. I guess now its just a matter of waiting til they simply stop updating the firmware at all for 8 months a la the Aura H2O pre September last year (or was it this year?) :-P

[trishau]

Just installed it to my GloHD. The finger slide to adjust brightness is a LOT more responsive and page turns seem to be faster though it's hard to tell exactly because mine were pretty good before on FW 3.19.5761