With firmware 6 using the same renderer for both, will kepub go away?

[MGlitch]

I’d think it would require them either declaring all devices that they aren’t going to send 6.0 to (or whatever it gets to when it’s beyond beta) EoL or finally bring all the devices to it.

I haven’t updated in ages because I just don’t see the point. I haven’t seen any features in the sub 5.0 firmware that I need to have. And with kobo deciding to have different versions out at the same time it became more hassle to update and patch than the update was worth.

[rantanplan]

They can still release updates to the 4.38.x version though. Which is what they are already doing anyway.

[Dal Bhat]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

There is a patch requiring your consent before updating. It works perfectly. I've turned wifi on for one of my Kobos several times in the past year and it's still on an older firmware.

I've searched and cannot find a single patch for firmware 4.45.23655.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

Why would they have to pay Adobe? Kobo uses their own DRM scheme on the devices.

On kepub.epub, Kobo uses their own DRM. On .epub, Kobo uses Adobe's ADEPT DRM and Adobe's Content Server backend. This keeps allows users without Kobo devices/apps to use their services.

On the v6 firmware, kepub.epub, LCP DRMmed .epub and DRM free .epub files use Kobo's webkit based renderer called TENG. Adobe DRMmed epubs are opened with RMSDK (library books, downloads from other sites, etc.) for compatibility. You can also download a .acsm file and it will open on the Kobo.

In my limited testing, TENG seems to treat all epubs the same as far as statistics go though only ebooks synced from Kobo seem to have their statistics stored on Kobo's servers.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Dal Bhat

Are older device capable of running the newer renderer?

In theory yes. It will take some work to make it as speedy as the old code and there may also be memory size issues.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Dal Bhat

I've searched and cannot find a single patch for firmware 4.45.23655.

No. You'd have to slightly downgrade or upgrade the firmware (can be done manually). If you have the Clara BW version P365, then unfortunately I don't know where to find patch-compatible older firmware versions for that.

Kobo has really made a hot mess with all the different firmwares for different devices and device versions.

[Dal Bhat]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

No. You'd have to slightly downgrade or upgrade the firmware (can be done manually). If you have the Clara BW version P365, then unfortunately I don't know where to find patch-compatible older firmware versions for that.

Kobo has really made a hot mess with all the different firmwares for different devices and device versions.

It is the 'N' version.

What caught my attention was mention of a patch that requires my assent to upgrade firmware. And I'm interested in that because I'd like to be able to connect to my home network for the sole purpose of getting the clock to pick up the correct time, without the Clara calling home and updating itself.

So let me ask the question clearly: (I do not have a Kobo account.) If I log in to my network, will the device try and succeed to update itself?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Dal Bhat

So let me ask the question clearly: (I do not have a Kobo account.) If I log in to my network, will the device try and succeed to update itself?

Quite probably. OTOH, you could manually upgrade to 4.46.23836 and install the patches for that version without needing to go online.

[Dal Bhat]

The discussion in that patch thread looks kind of scary.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Dal Bhat

The discussion in that patch thread looks kind of scary.

What discussion? That several patches that originally did not work with 4.46.23836 have been updated to work with that version so the patch .zip file has been updated to v2?

You do not need to apply every patch. For myself on my Kobos where Kobo Patcher is usable, I use the My 10 line spacing values patch, the Unify font sizes patch and because it doesn't hurt anything for me, the Disable widows/orphans avoidance patch. Since I regard the home page as something I pass through quickly, I don't bother with any of the patches for it. The same for most of the other patches.

[Dal Bhat]

I gather from the previous discussion that there is a patch that lets me decline a firmware update. That's all that I require. But I don't know where that one is.