Glo Kobo Software Update 2.5.2

[taming]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

I think the strong objections (I don't think I'd go so far as to say bullying though) are probably because there has already been a lot of feedback prior to this update that most everyone doesn't like the width of the bottom bar,

The Aura has been out for well less than a month. This was a bug fix update (not they they got all of those done, by any means). Changing course in terms of how they think about the appearance of the pages when people read may need some internal discussion, and more testing/development than can be done both well and quickly.

It's the kind of thing I might look for in a 2.6 kind of firmware update, rather than in a small bug fix. I know they were hoping to get 2.6 out this last time, but it couldn't be done.

I am willing to bet they they had intended to have the top margin title appear in the release version of the device and it wasn't done in time.

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by DNSB

You can always delete the update files before you disconnect. Or modify the configuration file to say you are on a later version so the update never happens.

Regards,
David

How is the latter accomplished?

[Ripplinger]

The firmware though affects most Kobo readers though, I'm talking about the Glo which has been out for quite awhile and protests about the wasted space have been around this forum for months.

That the Aura is only a month old doesn't explain why the Glo and Touch have a title bar at the top. The firmware wasn't just for the Aura.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by Skydog

How is the latter accomplished?

All updates in effect place 3 items on your device. In the .kobo directory you will see a folder / directory called upgrade, a file called manifest.md5sum and finally, one more file called KoboRoot.tgz.

So, before disconnecting the device from the PC where Kobo Desktop has just downloaded the upgrade, drop those three items.

[Lily7]

Can someone post a picture of a sideloaded epub opened to a page with the title on the top as per 2.5.2 so I can see what it looks like before I update my glo?

[icallaci]

Originally Posted by Quexos

The issue has not been fixed yet so if anything we have not complained enough

This. Exactly.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Skydog

How is the latter accomplished?

Check the version file in the .kobo directory. There was an earlier thread about changing the value for the firmware version to prevent updates from occurring.

Regards,
David

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Check the version file in the .kobo directory. There was an earlier thread about changing the value for the firmware version to prevent updates from occurring.

Regards,
David

So one needs only to change x.x.x to (in this case) 2.5.2? That sounds too easy.

Thank you, David!

[Skydog]

Originally Posted by PeterT

All updates in effect place 3 items on your device. In the .kobo directory you will see a folder / directory called upgrade, a file called manifest.md5sum and finally, one more file called KoboRoot.tgz.

So, before disconnecting the device from the PC where Kobo Desktop has just downloaded the upgrade, drop those three items.

Hmm.... I do not use Kobo Desktop so I suppose I can never turn on wifi again.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by icallaci

This. Exactly.

There are other issues with the Kobo readers that I would consider to be higher importance than losing a couple of lines at the top of the screen. Writing the code to allow introspection of sideloaded fonts or allowing DRMed library books to be borrowed through the ereader's web browser. Others might consider a night mode with white on black text or getting the wifi and browser to work reliably with hotspots that want a web popup before connecting to the internet as being more important. Perhaps having the ARM renderer and Access NetFront renderer display fonts at closer to the same size might be more important to some people?

Look at the number of messages whinging that the full screen sleep or power off image has a bar or slide on it. Do you ever wonder what type of person spends their time gazing adoringly at the sleep/power off screen on their ereader? Why not turn it on and read a few pages instead?

I spend a few decades reading dead tree books before building my first computer. Almost every one had the name of book and the name of the author at the top of facing pages just in case I forgot what book I was reading. Heck, they could have run the text up to the top of the page and down to the bottom and gotten at least 4 more lines of text on each page.

Regards,
David

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by Skydog

Hmm.... I do not use Kobo Desktop so I suppose I can never turn on wifi again.

So override the version info as listed above.

[taming]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

The firmware though affects most Kobo readers though, I'm talking about the Glo which has been out for quite awhile and protests about the wasted space have been around this forum for months.

That the Aura is only a month old doesn't explain why the Glo and Touch have a title bar at the top. The firmware wasn't just for the Aura.

I never noticed much in the way of protesting of the bottom margin until the 2.5.x series of releases. The protests I did see were more about the way orphans and widows were handled so that there were varying amounts of space on the bottom due to that issue. I have not seen that particular issue raised with the 2.5.2 version, so maybe it is fixed. I read kepub.epub, and it seems fine in that format.

I do think the top menu is a bigger problem on the smaller screen devices like the Glo and Touch.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I was considering getting an Aura later this month, but not with all that wasted screen space in 2.5.2.

I was just today looking at the pre-order announcements at Bookworld and A&R - but my very first thought (well, after "Ooh, pretty") was "What if they come with 2.5.2 and would only factory reset back to it, so I was stuck with the title bar?"

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Lily7

Can someone post a picture of a sideloaded epub opened to a page with the title on the top as per 2.5.2 so I can see what it looks like before I update my glo?

The title at the top looks just like that on a kepub downloaded from Kobo, i.e. title centered in a very small font. The page number style at the bottom hasn't changed.

[david_e]

Originally Posted by icallaci

This. Exactly.

Piffle. Extraordinarily.

The users of this forum speak for no group. They certainly do NOT represent the millions of users who are going to see this, mutter something along the lines of, "Oh, wow, look at that," and go back to their reading.