New Firmware: First Impressions

ThomasMcKean · 03-13-2010, 02:29 AM

.LIT = Still not working. 'Nuff said about that.

Coolreader = !!!!!

Definitely a major improvement! I was quite excited...

UNTIL...

I noticed that paragraph breaks are TWO spaces instead of ONE? (Like in this post. The spaces between the paragraphs.) Has ennyone else seen this? I tried mucking about with the settings (and there are a LOT of settings! OK key and long OK key take yew to different menus), but I couldn't find a way around this? Is there something I am missing or is this a bug?

The two spaces pretty much ruin for me. I do hope there is a setting I am missing and this is not just the way it is...

Still, there is potential. .LIT is better, yes, but still not readable.

Yew are getting close!

Laura81 · 03-13-2010, 09:42 AM

Sorry to hear about the LIT but I hadn't gotten my hopes up that it was fixed so am not too disappointed. What's this coolreader thing you mention?

So I guess if the LIT isn't improved... what makes this update worth downloading?

KarateMonkey · 03-13-2010, 09:42 AM

I'm seeing the same thing. I don't typically read .lit files so I only had a couple available to test with, but I couldn't get either of them to even open.

I suspect you could fix the extra lines in FB2 files by running your files them through calibre to remove spaces between paragraphs. Personally, I hate the way Coolreader hyphenates so I won't be using it anyway.

Dave_S · 03-13-2010, 10:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laura81

What's this coolreader thing you mention?

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Cool_Reader

ThomasMcKean · 03-13-2010, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarateMonkey

I'm seeing the same thing. I don't typically read .lit files so I only had a couple available to test with, but I couldn't get either of them to even open.

I suspect you could fix the extra lines in FB2 files by running your files them through calibre to remove spaces between paragraphs. Personally, I hate the way Coolreader hyphenates so I won't be using it anyway.

There are a lot of new hyphenation settings, including no hyphenation at all. That's one reason I was thinking it might be a decent reader. But the double spaces are even worse than the hyphenation! ACK!

Dave_S · 03-13-2010, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThomasMcKean

There are a lot of new hyphenation settings, including no hyphenation at all. That's one reason I was thinking it might be a decent reader. But the double spaces are even worse than the hyphenation! ACK!

As soon as I saw that possibility, I turned hyphenation off. I checked to see if my FB2 books had double line spacing between paragraphs, but they do not. The CoolReader is currently showing a single line space between paragraphs, but my FB2 books do not have *any* line spacing between paragraphs. I guess maybe your source has line spacing between paragraphs, and CoolReader is adding another one? Perhaps there is a .CSS setting in the CoolReader .CSS files that can turn off that extra line space between paragraphs?

ThomasMcKean · 03-13-2010, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_S

As soon as I saw that possibility, I turned hyphenation off. I checked to see if my FB2 books had double line spacing between paragraphs, but they do not. The CoolReader is currently showing a single line space between paragraphs, but my FB2 books do not have *any* line spacing between paragraphs. I guess maybe your source has line spacing between paragraphs, and CoolReader is adding another one? Perhaps there is a .CSS setting in the CoolReader .CSS files that can turn off that extra line space between paragraphs?

Okay that's what I wanted to hear. That someone else's is working fine. That means there is hope, at least for this. But then again, if I am having problems (and I tried it with several files?) then how do I fix them? Hmm...

sein · 03-13-2010, 03:41 PM

I updated to the new firmware with no problem. And what a great firmware it turns out to be! The CoolReader is really great. It handles fb2, html, rtf, txt, flawlessly, with tons of useful settings, like hyphenation, page margins, interline spaces, etc. Embedded images and graphics in htmls are rendered nicely. It's even possible to use custom fonts placed in the 'fonts' folder, although it should be noted that customs fonts don't render italics, nor bold. It has a very nice Recent Books list, and you can erase any book from that list by long pressing the corresponding number. Bookmarking is easy too. I still haven't figured out how to use the links though.

The PDF and EPUB readers are the same as in the previous firmware. Good enough for most files, including EPUBs with embedded fonts. The LIT and DOC readers, though, are still totally inadequate and/or useless.

I haven't run into the double line spacing problem neither. I've opened many books with different formats, and all text formatting have turned up so far nicely.

All in all, I find the new firmware to be a major improvement. In comparision, books in txt, rtf, and html formats in the previous firmware were barely readable, which caused quite a lot of frustration. I think this firmware actually takes the Pocket Pro to what it's supposed to be. Now it's really my best ebook reader!

AJ Starr · 03-13-2010, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sein

I updated to the new firmware with no problem. And what a great firmware it turns out to be! The CoolReader is really great. It handles fb2, html, rtf, txt, flawlessly, with tons of useful settings, like hyphenation, page margins, interline spaces, etc. Embedded images and graphics in htmls are rendered nicely. It's even possible to use custom fonts placed in the 'fonts' folder, although it should be noted that customs fonts don't render italics, nor bold. It has a very nice Recent Books list, and you can erase any book from that list by long pressing the corresponding number. Bookmarking is easy too. I still haven't figured out how to use the links though.

The PDF and EPUB readers are the same as in the previous firmware. Good enough for most files, including EPUBs with embedded fonts. The LIT and DOC readers, though, are still totally inadequate and/or useless.

I haven't run into the double line spacing problem neither. I've opened many books with different formats, and all text formatting have turned up so far nicely.

All in all, I find the new firmware to be a major improvement. In comparision, books in txt, rtf, and html formats in the previous firmware were barely readable, which caused quite a lot of frustration. I think this firmware actually takes the Pocket Pro to what it's supposed to be. Now it's really my best ebook reader!

I concur with everything except one. My TTS is gone

Does anyone know if the updates where the version does not change, whether the codeing is repeated or just left out. If it is just left out, can I resinstall the Dec update, have TTS on epubs and pdf, and still have Cool Reader for txt (which I'm liking more and more) ???

AJ

ThomasMcKean · 03-13-2010, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJ Starr

I concur with everything except one. My TTS is gone

Why so upset? They did us a favor!

Har Har.

(Working even now and trying to fix line space problem...)

ThomasMcKean · 03-13-2010, 04:37 PM

Coolreader spacing seems to be fine when I read TXT (as in the Shadow), but it is still having problems with html and fb2 formats. I tried to load Peter Beagle's "A Fine and Private Place" (much better than his more popular "Last Unicorn" story, I may opine), and it had double spaces. I tried a whole mess of html, including the novelization of the original "Battlestar Galactica", and it had double spaces.

By the way, if yew want a real hoot, try turning on the inverse display in the coolreader. I am not saying anyone will use it, and I suppose that's good, because, as yew can see, it is about as useful as the lit reading. And it used to work well!

ThomasMcKean · 03-13-2010, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_S

As soon as I saw that possibility, I turned hyphenation off. I checked to see if my FB2 books had double line spacing between paragraphs, but they do not. The CoolReader is currently showing a single line space between paragraphs, but my FB2 books do not have *any* line spacing between paragraphs. I guess maybe your source has line spacing between paragraphs, and CoolReader is adding another one? Perhaps there is a .CSS setting in the CoolReader .CSS files that can turn off that extra line space between paragraphs?

I had already thought this was what's happening. There must be a way to turn it off so only the original spaces show? But I ahve tried just about every setting and nothing seems to work?

hidari · 03-13-2010, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sein

I updated to the new firmware with no problem. And what a great firmware it turns out to be! The CoolReader is really great. It handles fb2, html, rtf, txt, flawlessly, with tons of useful settings, like hyphenation,
books in txt, rtf, and html formats in the previous firmware were barely readable, which caused quite a lot of frustration. I think this firmware actually takes the Pocket Pro to what it's supposed to be. Now it's really my best ebook reader!

Have to agree with Sein.... great new firmware. I downloaded it from Team Research inc. dropped it on an SD card (I never use one with my PP,just keep a faux one in there) and put it into the reader. I did the FW update as it said on the website. No problems. Had all the beeps.

Epub, PDF same.

FB2 much better.... and lots of options. have yet to check out txt, rtf or doc.

sein · 03-13-2010, 04:54 PM

ThomasMcKean:

Try opening this fb2 file. The Time Machine.zip. It shouldn't show double line spacing. Also the book title should be in bold, and the author name in italic.

ThomasMcKean · 03-13-2010, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sein

ThomasMcKean:

Try opening this fb2 file. Attachment 47953. It shouldn't show double line spacing. Also the book title should be in bold, and the author name in italic.

Umm...Okay? Sure, why not? I will give it a go and report back here soon!

03-13-2010, 02:29 AM	#1
ThomasMcKean Disabilities Advocate Posts: 255 Karma: 162 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Blue Ridge Mountains Device: Kindle PW3	New Firmware: First Impressions .LIT = Still not working. 'Nuff said about that. Coolreader = !!!!! Definitely a major improvement! I was quite excited... UNTIL... I noticed that paragraph breaks are TWO spaces instead of ONE? (Like in this post. The spaces between the paragraphs.) Has ennyone else seen this? I tried mucking about with the settings (and there are a LOT of settings! OK key and long OK key take yew to different menus), but I couldn't find a way around this? Is there something I am missing or is this a bug? The two spaces pretty much ruin for me. I do hope there is a setting I am missing and this is not just the way it is... Still, there is potential. .LIT is better, yes, but still not readable. Yew are getting close!

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03-13-2010, 09:42 AM	#2
Laura81 Addict Posts: 360 Karma: 407796 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Victoria, Australia Device: Paperwhite 5	Sorry to hear about the LIT but I hadn't gotten my hopes up that it was fixed so am not too disappointed. What's this coolreader thing you mention? So I guess if the LIT isn't improved... what makes this update worth downloading?

03-13-2010, 09:42 AM	#3
KarateMonkey Connoisseur Posts: 90 Karma: 210 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: Astak Pocket Pro, Sony PRS-300	I'm seeing the same thing. I don't typically read .lit files so I only had a couple available to test with, but I couldn't get either of them to even open. I suspect you could fix the extra lines in FB2 files by running your files them through calibre to remove spaces between paragraphs. Personally, I hate the way Coolreader hyphenates so I won't be using it anyway.

03-13-2010, 03:41 PM	#8
sein Connoisseur Posts: 84 Karma: 3427 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: U.S.A. Device: Kindle, inkBook, Kobo	I updated to the new firmware with no problem. And what a great firmware it turns out to be! The CoolReader is really great. It handles fb2, html, rtf, txt, flawlessly, with tons of useful settings, like hyphenation, page margins, interline spaces, etc. Embedded images and graphics in htmls are rendered nicely. It's even possible to use custom fonts placed in the 'fonts' folder, although it should be noted that customs fonts don't render italics, nor bold. It has a very nice Recent Books list, and you can erase any book from that list by long pressing the corresponding number. Bookmarking is easy too. I still haven't figured out how to use the links though. The PDF and EPUB readers are the same as in the previous firmware. Good enough for most files, including EPUBs with embedded fonts. The LIT and DOC readers, though, are still totally inadequate and/or useless. I haven't run into the double line spacing problem neither. I've opened many books with different formats, and all text formatting have turned up so far nicely. All in all, I find the new firmware to be a major improvement. In comparision, books in txt, rtf, and html formats in the previous firmware were barely readable, which caused quite a lot of frustration. I think this firmware actually takes the Pocket Pro to what it's supposed to be. Now it's really my best ebook reader!

03-13-2010, 04:37 PM	#11
ThomasMcKean Disabilities Advocate Posts: 255 Karma: 162 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Blue Ridge Mountains Device: Kindle PW3	Coolreader spacing seems to be fine when I read TXT (as in the Shadow), but it is still having problems with html and fb2 formats. I tried to load Peter Beagle's "A Fine and Private Place" (much better than his more popular "Last Unicorn" story, I may opine), and it had double spaces. I tried a whole mess of html, including the novelization of the original "Battlestar Galactica", and it had double spaces. By the way, if yew want a real hoot, try turning on the inverse display in the coolreader. I am not saying anyone will use it, and I suppose that's good, because, as yew can see, it is about as useful as the lit reading. And it used to work well!

03-13-2010, 04:54 PM	#14
sein Connoisseur Posts: 84 Karma: 3427 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: U.S.A. Device: Kindle, inkBook, Kobo	ThomasMcKean: Try opening this fb2 file. The Time Machine.zip. It shouldn't show double line spacing. Also the book title should be in bold, and the author name in italic.