PRS+: Enhanced firmware for Sony Reader, Folders, Games & more

[kartu]

Wasn't it that there had a .noscan file to be placed somewhere. I thought I'll have to redo the install to get the default back.

Mike, .noscan has to be put in the root folder of the SD/MS card that one doesn't want to get scanned. This feature exists on top of disabling/enabling scan of ALL cards, available via PRS+ settings menus.

I'm just pulling the wiki. How long should that take?

A couple of minutes or faster. After pulling you should "update".

[Mike_73]

Kartu, I made it :-)
I'm having trouble with my internet connection currently. Every now and then, it just stops. I've uploaded the manual as a pdf (I know this is not soooo open as we all like, but it was easier for me. Besides, it offers the structure I need to quickly translate it), changed some online descriptions and pictures. But I didn't know I have to merge everything before I push. I mean, now it sounds logical, but hey....

Anyway, it's done

[kartu]

Mike, if you'd send me the file in word or other document format, I'd convert it to wiki format.

[Mike_73]

Sure, what version do you need exactly? 2003, 2007? Where do you want me to send it to?

[kartu]

2003. You can email it to kartu3 at gmail.

[Mike_73]

Kartu, you've got mail!

By the way, really great work. I think once the open pictures is implemented (even if it's not top priority according to the poll), the 505 is device I initially wanted. Despite the screen size. I would prefer a little bigger like the kindle DX. But I like sonys design and buttons. It just feels solid compared to plasticky things. (just my 2 cents)

Uhm, just forgot to mention. Once you converted the manual to wiki, I should be able to make the edits online if necessary.

Uuups, forgot the 3 in your mail address. But now you've got mail :-)

[kartu]

Poll leaders so far (surprise, surprise):

1) File Manager (copy/delete/move files/folders) 21% (34 votes)
2) Option to mark books as "read" 18% (29 votes)
3) Localization (Russian, German, French etc language support) 17% (27 votes)
4) Context Dictionary (allowing to choose words from existing book) 16% (25 votes)

Uuups, forgot the 3 in your mail address. But now you've got mail :-)

Yeah, I wonder who owns my little nice "kartu" email. (update: ah, "Sorry, your username must be between 6 and 30 characters long.")

I think once the open pictures is implemented (even if it's not top priority according to the poll), the 505 is device I initially wanted

I've heard Sony employees are reading this forum. Maybe, just maybe, they'll pay attention to what people say.

[Mike_73]

Yeah, if sony would (or "put name of desired company here") listen to customers, that would be awesome. I've had many devices so far that either got better by fw updates over the time (well, why not release a finished product) or by fw hacks.
But concerning the fact that companys want to make profit, they just omit what customers want. I know first hand from companys I work(ed) for. Well, whatever. Good stuff always finds it way ;-)

[fei-d]

Originally Posted by kartu

I've just checked the flasher, well, on the one hand, everything seems to be location agnostic. On the other libfskload.so is explicitly referencing "b:\" (that's a path to SD card), but it's probably part of the code that is not used in this case.

So to summarize, it's very likely that it will work from MS card.

Originally Posted by mpd123

just to confirm for those interested this hack will work with memory sticks aswell as sd cards.
i just purchased an 8 gig stick and i'm in the process of transferring my library to it.

cheers ,mick

Thanks a lot, you two!

But I am having a new problem now:

I just started to flash my PRS 505, but at Igorsk's flasher interface, after having tried to copy the image from the card, it just tells me that my firmware isn 't supported.

I have the firmware 1.4.00.23260

Edit: Just figured it out myself. Because of having the German FW I have to change my FW to the us-american one.


Can I just flash the image now or do I have to worry I'd brick my reader that way?

I am just unsure because at the installation guide it is said the FW isn't really important if you do not changing it.

[kartu]

fei-d
Well, it depends. So that you understand the risks: sony firmware consists of several parts, most interesting to us are 2:

rootfs - stuff mounted under /
fskfs - stuff mounted under /opt

Sony's updaters update both rootfs/fskfs, but Igorsk's flasher only updates /opt. Now, some versions of rootfs work with some versions fskfs, some do not work. Unfortunatelly nobody bothered to create compatibility list, you might need to update entire firmware to some version, or you might not. The only way to find out is to try and see. To force igorsk's flasher to flash your device, just rename the folder "files.505.1.1.00.18040" to "files.505.1.4.00.23260"

On the other hand, nobody has managed to brick the device into ubrickable state so far. In the worst case, 10 timely resets in a row switch the reader into firmware update state.

[kartu]

Somebody has reflashed 1.4.x (Deutch?) into 1.1.(US) without any problem:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49062

If you do it prior to installing PRS+, everything should definitely work. (but flash to 1.1.0.18040, not the later version)

[fei-d]

Thanks a lot again.

I was finally able to flash your firmware and it is fantastic.

But I have on last question. I have put about 1300 ebooks on my Pro Duo Stick and my reader became incredibly slow now. Turning pages in PDFs has become unbearable, before it wasn't that bad.

So I just wanted to ask if there is any way to keep my whole collection on my reader and still have the speed advantage or am I forced to drastically reduce the amount of ebooks on my stick to get it to work at normal speed again?

[kartu]

fei-d
That's quite strange behavior, the only reason I could imagine that would lead to something being slower is memory problems, or a bug in PRS+. Did you try to restart and check if that helps?

Did you try to disable MS SD scanning (an option in Settings -> PRS+ Settings -> Browse Folders) => copy book you want to read to Internal Memory (via Browse Folders) and open it from there? (I know, it's not as convenient as opening stuff directly on memory card, but it speeds up things a lot. Basically it allows you to have tens of thousands books on sd/ms card. Opening cards directly from external card with disabled scanning will probably be implemented, but not in the nearest future)

PS
PRS+ User Manual (by Mike_73):
http://wiki.prs-plus.googlecode.com/...Plus_10_en.pdf
check the "5.1 Browse Folders Settings" chapter.

[kartu]

PPS
By the way, how did you flash it? Did you downgrade to 1.1.00.18040 first?

[fei-d]

Originally Posted by kartu

fei-d
That's quite strange behavior, the only reason I could imagine that would lead to something being slower is memory problems, or a bug in PRS+. Did you try to restart and check if that helps?

Did you try to disable MS SD scanning (an option in Settings -> PRS+ Settings -> Browse Folders) => copy book you want to read to Internal Memory (via Browse Folders) and open it from there? (I know, it's not as convenient as opening stuff directly on memory card, but it speeds up things a lot. Basically it allows you to have tens of thousands books on sd/ms card. Opening cards directly from external card with disabled scanning will probably be implemented, but not in the nearest future)

PS
PRS+ User Manual (by Mike_73):
http://wiki.prs-plus.googlecode.com/...Plus_10_en.pdf
check the "5.1 Browse Folders Settings" chapter.

Thanks, I'll try disabling MS card scanning.

Btw. I tried reading an ebook from the internal memory without having my memory stick with more than 1000 ebooks in my reader, and it was lightning fast. It seems that the large ebook collection really causes it to become way slower