Best firmware for kindle PW3?

[notareader69]

I know it's pretty subjective, but is there a firmware that a majority of people liked being on for the PW3? My current version is 5.10 and I feel the kindle has great battery life and does what I need, but it never hurts to update to a better firmware.

[j.p.s]

Some people have reported excessive battery drain with recent firmware. 5.12.5 supposedly fixed that, but so far, 5.12.5 is not available for the PW3.

[Sol Arkite]

Originally Posted by notareader69

I know it's pretty subjective, but is there a firmware that a majority of people liked being on for the PW3? My current version is 5.10 and I feel the kindle has great battery life and does what I need, but it never hurts to update to a better firmware.

Firmware 5.10.x is what I’m sticking with when I can. You can use the folder trick to keep at that firmware. Keep in mind amazon killed that trick at higher firmwares.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by notareader69

I know it's pretty subjective, but is there a firmware that a majority of people liked being on for the PW3? My current version is 5.10 and I feel the kindle has great battery life and does what I need, but it never hurts to update to a better firmware.

I'm keeping my PW3 stuck at 5.9.7 because it works with all my books. For some reason later firmware releases have trouble with custom fonts and Send-to-Kindle files. If I could go back on the Voyage, I would. But the Voyage was already updated past 5.9.7 when I got it and (at the time) I didn't realize it would matter anyhow.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Some people have reported excessive battery drain with recent firmware. 5.12.5 supposedly fixed that, but so far, 5.12.5 is not available for the PW3.

Some have reported excessive battery drain with 12.5.4. And some have reported the battery drain fixed in 5.12.5.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I'm keeping my PW3 stuck at 5.9.7 because it works with all my books. For some reason later firmware releases have trouble with custom fonts and Send-to-Kindle files. If I could go back on the Voyage, I would. But the Voyage was already updated past 5.9.7 when I got it and (at the time) I didn't realize it would matter anyhow.

I'll disagree about later firmware having trouble with custom fonts on the PW3. The only thing I can't say at the moment is what's the latest later firmware I've some experience with.

[notareader69]

Thank you for all the wonderful feedback, everyone!

I have one question though. What's the folder trick Sol Arkite mentioned? Thanks again!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by notareader69

Thank you for all the wonderful feedback, everyone!

I have one question though. What's the folder trick Sol Arkite mentioned? Thanks again!

The folder trick is to prevent firmware updates when you sync. But then you don't need to sync or even have WiFi on.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by notareader69

I have one question though. What's the folder trick Sol Arkite mentioned? Thanks again!

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The folder trick is to prevent firmware updates when you sync. But then you don't need to sync or even have WiFi on.

To actually answer the question, from the first post in the thread:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=320564

Which means making sure you won't get force-fed an unwanted OTA update is *very*important. Switch to airplane mode ASAP, and create a *folder* named update.bin.tmp.partial at the top-level (in other words, at the root) of the visible USB storage.

WARNING: FW >= 5.12.x is potentially much more aggressive, and we currently don't have a sure-proof way of preventing OTA updates on those newer FW versions (short of sticking to Airplane mode).

WARNING: FW >= 5.12.2 is definitely much more aggressive, and it will *probably* destroy your JailBreak. You'll want to make *absolutely* sure that your bridge is up-to-date *before* the update to have any chance of keeping it alive.

TL;DR: Stay away from FW >= 5.12.x.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I'll disagree about later firmware having trouble with custom fonts on the PW3. The only thing I can't say at the moment is what's the latest later firmware I've some experience with.

Okay, I'll add on to what I said. For me, using a custom font (usually Constantia but other custom fonts have the same issue), Send-to-Kindle documents lock up on firmware newer than 5.10.x on my Kindles. This is true on my Kindle Basic (8th Generation, 5.12.4) – on my PW2 (5.12.2) and on my Voyage (5.12.4). The PW3 (5.9.7), on the other hand, works fine with Send-to-Kindle documents using my custom fonts. The PW2 and Kindle Basic (8th generation) had worked fine with these custom fonts and my Send-to-Kindle documents before the upgrades. (The Voyage was already updated past this point when I got it used.) Really nothing to "disagree with," I'm just stating a fact. This is reality in my world, not an opinion.

EDIT: 5.12.5 seems to have fixed this problem on the Kindle 8 and Voyage.

[atonement]

I am keeping my PW3 at the factory default 5.10.2 in the hope of a software jailbreak being available in the future. Right now battery life is great. 35-45 minutes of reading with frontlight at min,in flight mode drains 1%. I have disabled A2 page refresh as well. This is my first e-ink device. Also the last Kindle. Next time either an Android based one or a Kobo.

[notareader69]

Originally Posted by atonement

I am keeping my PW3 at the factory default 5.10.2 in the hope of a software jailbreak being available in the future. Right now battery life is great. 35-45 minutes of reading with frontlight at min,in flight mode drains 1%. I have disabled A2 page refresh as well. This is my first e-ink device. Also the last Kindle. Next time either an Android based one or a Kobo.

How come you would go for a Kobo next? What does it have that's advantageous to the Kindle?

[Quoth]

Better annotation support via Calibre.
Better Collection support via Calibre.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Better annotation support via Calibre.
Better Collection support via Calibre.

And Kobo has the new series feature that means you don't need series named collections.

[atonement]

Originally Posted by notareader69

How come you would go for a Kobo next? What does it have that's advantageous to the Kindle?

Support for ePUB for one. And correct me if I am wrong but from what I can find Kobo readers are much more open to software modifications without needing to be jailbroken.