So... is the new firmware update worth it? - Page 3

Dr. Drib · 03-16-2010, 06:36 AM

I firmly believe the upgrade is now worth it.

The Lit, however, is unsatisfactory and very, very buggy and often freezes the Reader. Lit is NOT much of an improvement and I am very disappointed about that.

Here is my unadulterated feeling about the firmware ONLY:

Get the LIT working to a comparable level that TXT, RTF, EPUB, .FB2, and MOBI enjoy and the Pocket Pro will be the best device on the market in terms of firmware.

Don

Sunspark · 03-16-2010, 08:05 AM

Needs to be more responsive to keypresses. I often have to press the button more than once to generate a pageturn.

irenas · 03-16-2010, 11:22 AM

now, after reading your stories, i am not sure if i want to upgrade my 6'' device..."Why fix something that isn't broken"

cancelx · 03-17-2010, 03:54 PM

Quick Questions....

the old firmware, from DEC... can you do the add .fb2 to an EPUB and read in Coolreader? (was DEC version coolreader2 or 3?)

is there a way to have DEC firmware but have better coolreader and font size from March?

lastly, as ive not get got my PP (and I suspect the firmware is from the summer)... can anyone tell me if the DEC firmware has a drop-down menu for selecting Book Font Size? or is it a blind cycling? (is march any different)

Sorry for the newb Qs.

jb

Dave_S · 03-17-2010, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cancelx

Quick Questions....

the old firmware, from DEC... can you do the add .f2b to an EPUB and read in Coolreader? (was DEC version coolreader2 or 3?)

No, the previous Astak version was CoolReader 2, which did not support EPUB.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cancelx

is there a way to have DEC firmware but have better coolreader and font size from March?

No again, at least for the PocketPRO. The Lbook and especially the Tirwal firmware for the EZReader have a lot of features not in the factory firmware.

cancelx · 03-17-2010, 04:14 PM

These two things I mentioned are the most important to me in a Reader (and would be if I got my mother one)...zoom selection & quality of reader program (that is readable text)

Thank you

--ps-- so is it possible to load a Coolreader 3 onto a DEC firmware?

cancelx · 03-18-2010, 07:19 PM

Dave_S : I'm confused... the Cool Reader site in the history of version "2" (which is the one on DEC version of PP firmware, right?) says it supports FB2, so, why can't you do the rename of epub files to epub.fb2 and cool reader read them?

thanks

tmclough · 03-19-2010, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cancelx

Dave_S : I'm confused... the Cool Reader site in the history of version "2" (which is the one on DEC version of PP firmware, right?) says it supports FB2, so, why can't you do the rename of epub files to epub.fb2 and cool reader read them?

thanks

CoolReader 2 can't read epub files. An .epub.fb2 file is, in simplified terms, an epub file disguised as an fb2 file. In other words, it's an fb2 file on the outside (the filename has a .fb2 extension); but it's still an epub file on the inside (the syntax, etc.).

wallcraft · 03-19-2010, 12:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmclough

CoolReader 2 can't read epub files. An .epub.fb2 file is, in simplified terms, an epub file disguised as an fb2 file. In other words, it's an fb2 file on the outside (the filename has a .fb2 extension); but it's still an epub file on the inside (the syntax, etc.).

I agree. Another way of looking at this is that the .epub.fb2 renaming is so that the device passes the file to CoolReader for processing. At that point CoolReader strips off the .fb2 and looks at .epub. CoolReader 3 can read it, but CoolReader 2 can't.

Dave_S · 03-19-2010, 03:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

I agree. Another way of looking at this is that the .epub.fb2 renaming is so that the device passes the file to CoolReader for processing. At that point CoolReader strips off the .fb2 and looks at .epub. CoolReader 3 can read it, but CoolReader 2 can't.

I also agree. I think this exploit is just taking advantage of a function that CoolReader has always had. For instance, if an FB2 file is enclosed in a ZIP archive and named something.fb2.zip CoolReader will first unzip the ZIP file and then read the FB2 contents. CoolReader can also run Linux shell scripts in a similar manner. So something.epub.fb2 is just building on that tradition now that CoolReader 3 can read EPUB files.

jusmee · 03-19-2010, 03:34 AM

I think it's more likely that Coolreader examines what is in the file to find out how to display it. Most linux stuff does not depend on extensions to determine file type - that's a Window's infliction on the world of computing. The renaming trick is just to fool the host system into using Coolreader rather than ADE.

Dave_S · 03-19-2010, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jusmee

I think it's more likely that Coolreader examines what is in the file to find out how to display it. Most linux stuff does not depend on extensions to determine file type - that's a Window's infliction on the world of computing. The renaming trick is just to fool the host system into using Coolreader rather than ADE.

Yes, of course, that is what CoolReader itself does, and always has done. The extra name extension is just for the bookshelf application. For instance, when FB2 is added to the extension of an EPUB file the bookshelf application shows the file type icon for an FB2 file instead of it's true file type. That is also how shell scripts and binary executables are passed to CoolReader for execution.

Xochipilli2012 · 03-19-2010, 04:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jusmee

I think it's more likely that Coolreader examines what is in the file to find out how to display it. Most linux stuff does not depend on extensions to determine file type - that's a Window's infliction on the world of computing. The renaming trick is just to fool the host system into using Coolreader rather than ADE.

I believe this is correct. I tried renaming FB2s as TXT files (so I could examine the code on my reader) and it formatted them as FB2s anyway. I needed to paste the code into Word and save as "filtered Web page" before the Pocket Pro would cooperate and allow me to look at the groove-line XML tags that FB2 uses.

The ".fb2" extension simplify overrides the Pocket Pro's preference to use ADE for EPUBs. And as others have pointed out, Cool Reader 3 has added the ability to display EPUBs, something which CR2 lacked.

Cheers!

AJ Starr · 03-19-2010, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xochipilli2012

I believe this is correct. I tried renaming FB2s as TXT files (so I could examine the code on my reader) and it formatted them as FB2s anyway. I needed to paste the code into Word and save as "filtered Web page" before the Pocket Pro would cooperate and allow me to look at the groove-line XML tags that FB2 uses.

The ".fb2" extension simplify overrides the Pocket Pro's preference to use ADE for EPUBs. And as others have pointed out, Cool Reader 3 has added the ability to display EPUBs, something which CR2 lacked.

Cheers!

Just as a matter of interest, if you did this trick, adding .fb2 to the end of a DRM epub, what would happen?

AJ

Dave_S · 03-19-2010, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJ Starr

Just as a matter of interest, if you did this trick, adding .fb2 to the end of a DRM epub, what would happen?

AJ

CoolReader does not do DRM, so nothing good will happen. I have removed DRM from all my EPUBs, so I do not know exactly what would happen, but it certainly would not be readable.

03-17-2010, 03:54 PM	#34
cancelx Nervous Groupie Posts: 154 Karma: 22 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Nova Scotia Device: Pocket Pro	Quick Questions.... the old firmware, from DEC... can you do the add .fb2 to an EPUB and read in Coolreader? (was DEC version coolreader2 or 3?) is there a way to have DEC firmware but have better coolreader and font size from March? lastly, as ive not get got my PP (and I suspect the firmware is from the summer)... can anyone tell me if the DEC firmware has a drop-down menu for selecting Book Font Size? or is it a blind cycling? (is march any different) Sorry for the newb Qs. jb Last edited by cancelx; 03-17-2010 at 05:58 PM.

03-17-2010, 04:14 PM	#36
cancelx Nervous Groupie Posts: 154 Karma: 22 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Nova Scotia Device: Pocket Pro	These two things I mentioned are the most important to me in a Reader (and would be if I got my mother one)...zoom selection & quality of reader program (that is readable text) Thank you --ps-- so is it possible to load a Coolreader 3 onto a DEC firmware? Last edited by cancelx; 03-17-2010 at 04:38 PM.

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03-16-2010, 06:36 AM	#31
Dr. Drib Grand Sorcerer Posts: 45,441 Karma: 59592133 Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Peru Device: KINDLE: Oasis 3, Scribe (1st), Matcha; KOBO: Libra 2, Libra Colour	I firmly believe the upgrade is now worth it. The Lit, however, is unsatisfactory and very, very buggy and often freezes the Reader. Lit is NOT much of an improvement and I am very disappointed about that. Here is my unadulterated feeling about the firmware ONLY: Get the LIT working to a comparable level that TXT, RTF, EPUB, .FB2, and MOBI enjoy and the Pocket Pro will be the best device on the market in terms of firmware. Don

03-16-2010, 08:05 AM	#32
Sunspark Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 2600 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: EZ Reader Pocket PRO	Needs to be more responsive to keypresses. I often have to press the button more than once to generate a pageturn.

03-16-2010, 11:22 AM	#33
irenas Zealot Posts: 101 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Orange County Device: Astak EZ reader	now, after reading your stories, i am not sure if i want to upgrade my 6'' device..."Why fix something that isn't broken"

03-18-2010, 07:19 PM	#37
cancelx Nervous Groupie Posts: 154 Karma: 22 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Nova Scotia Device: Pocket Pro	Dave_S : I'm confused... the Cool Reader site in the history of version "2" (which is the one on DEC version of PP firmware, right?) says it supports FB2, so, why can't you do the rename of epub files to epub.fb2 and cool reader read them? thanks

03-19-2010, 03:34 AM	#41
jusmee Wizard Posts: 1,047 Karma: 203682 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Libre 2	I think it's more likely that Coolreader examines what is in the file to find out how to display it. Most linux stuff does not depend on extensions to determine file type - that's a Window's infliction on the world of computing. The renaming trick is just to fool the host system into using Coolreader rather than ADE.