Is it possible to replace Sony font? [350 & 650]

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

The first library book I read on my Sony (all of a few days ago) looked beautiful. The formatting and the font were fantastic. I was so happy, I thought all library books would look like that. It turns out, that particular epub had an embedded font. The next library book I checked out looked like amateur crap. Now I am a little less happy. Why should I have to go through all the hoops (legal and otherwise) of un-drm, change CSS, etc., to a book I don't even own, when Sony could have just put a better font on the device? Or a few to choose from?

My thoughts exactly. I really don't feel I should have to remove DRM, add files, and edit CSS to make a book readable to me. Or flash the device. (Thanks induna. At least I know it is possible perhaps with some risk?)

Originally Posted by Jason Green

You would have thought it would have been a good idea to have a menu option to change the font you want to read all books in.

Other ereaders provide this option. Sony could have also. The Nook's amassis (?) font would have been fine.

[elemenoP]

I saw that about flashing the firmware on another thread. WAAAAAAY too scary for me. One poor guy on the other thread permanently bricked his reader that way!

But if anyone braver than me tries it out, I want to hear all about it!

[ShellShock]

Originally Posted by elemenoP

I saw that about flashing the firmware on another thread. WAAAAAAY too scary for me. One poor guy on the other thread permanently bricked his reader that way!

But if anyone braver than me tries it out, I want to hear all about it!

It does work.

The "Russification" bit means that it replaces Dutch language support with Russian. So if you are not Dutch, you should be OK , just follow the instructions carefully.

Some people have (permanently?) bricked their reader by flashing a firmware that they have created themselves (not the "Russification one"). Creating your own firmware has the big advantage that you can tweak it more to your liking, but the big disadvantage that YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Otherwise, stick to the original firmware, or the Russification version.

[chris_tribble]

Even I managed to do the Russification Flash and am very happy thus far - HOWEVER, I'm still working out how to get the right fonts to show - and to look good. It's not as straightforward as you might hope... Heigh ho..

[PatNY]

I'd like to thank induna for his step-by-step instructions and link to the Russian forum. I just flashed my one-day-old PRS-350 and now have Georgia as the default serif font and am very happy. It's really not too difficult. This is better than having to embed your own font into each epub because not only is that a much bigger hassle, but it increases the size of each epub.

A few things to add: You should be sure that your device is fully charged and firmly connected to your PC before you proceed, and also turn off your firewall/anti-virus software (or any software that could stall the flashing process).

Also, if you try this, download the original version of the Sony firmware from the Russian site at the same time and store it in your archives. This way you have it handy if you ever want to put back the original firmware.

[SmartyPants]

PatNY, can you tell me what is you battery usage post-flashing?
Lots of people on russian forum are complaning about the battery drain...

thanks heaps!

i do love my Sony, but hate how inflexible it is... my previous reader (Astak) was super easy to flash and had lots of font and font sizes choices... I really miss that!!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Yes, I did a search and found jswindon's and dminoz's written instructions on how to change the epub CSS code. They are very nicely written but the technique doesnt always work. Plus it has to be repeated each and every time.

I was hoping the new models had a way to replace the built-in font. It's unfortunate the Sonys have just one font.

Cpl, I don't care for it either.

Actually, it is not Sony's font. It is ADE's font. So blame Adobe for this, not Sony.

[JSWolf]

Read the following thread. It also works on the 350, 650, & 950. It tells how to change the font (in ePub) using fonts installed on the Reader.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36361

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by SmartyPants

PatNY, can you tell me what is you battery usage post-flashing?
Lots of people on russian forum are complaning about the battery drain...

i do love my Sony, but hate how inflexible it is...

SmartyPants, as I said in my post, I only had the reader for 1 day when I did this. So I have nothing to compare it to. Tell me what I should be looking out for in terms of abnormal battery drain and I'll try to watch out for it.

I never read the thread, beside the first post, as it was google-translated text and I always have problems figuring out what the heck they are saying. But after I saw your post, I took a closer look and skimmed through the last 5-6 pages of the thread. I didn't see one comment talking about battery drain. I notice there are other firmware hacks offered in that forum. Could the battery issues have been with another firmware?

Can you post the link to the thread where they talk about the battery issues?

[SmartyPants]

Originally Posted by PatNY

I notice there are other firmware hacks offered in that forum. Could the battery issues have been with another firmware?

ah, i see.
There are two types of 'hacks' being discussed on the russian forum.
The first one is a simple 'russification' of the reader, which allows cyrillics to be displayed correctly and also offers a couple of other extra tweaks, like an ability to allocate different functions to Zoom and Options buttons.
I think this must be the hack you've installed. I didnt realiase it offers anything in regards to font changes. This hack DOES NOT cause any battery drain as far as i know (thats what i have on my 350 right now and the battery is fine). I HAVE been able to change the font using CSS tweaking in Calibre, but i dont think it has anything to do with modified firmware.

And there is also another hack, which i think at this stage is for older models only. This one changes interface completely, is FB2 friendly and allows font changes on the reader directly (i think). Thats the one that causes battery drain. Now, i might be wrong, since i havent followed the discussion in detail.

I dont think anyone has attemped to install this on 350/650 models, but the latest version is apparently coming out soon, which will be for newer models specifically.

Myself personally, i will attempt it once its out, if only for FB2!!

[chris_tribble]

I'm using the Boroda version and have no battery drain problems + after a bit of a struggle, no problems installing the desired fonts.

Instructions and download are here:
http://translate.google.com/translat...a3&sl=ru&tl=en

Then scroll down to item 4:
Sticky: [Poll] Russification Sony Reader 350/650/950 (ver. boroda)


the userStyle.css I'm now using is listed here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...6&postcount=64

Hope this helps - and thanks to those who helped me get this right!

[Cpl Punishment]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Actually, it is not Sony's font. It is ADE's font. So blame Adobe for this, not Sony.

I hear ya....But far as I know ADE doesn't make an ereader...

[viviena]

Thanks to those who posted about the Russified firmware. I probably should have thought twice, having the 350-which-has-no-SD-slot-for-recovery, but I was recklessly bold and it worked well enough for me. I love being able to change the default font whilst letting EPUBs keep their embedded fonts (if they have any), the screenshot feature, and the customisable button functions. After experimenting with a lot of serif fonts, I've settled currently on Droid Serif, though I think I'll switch between Georgia and Fontin occasionally.

1st: Droid Serif
2nd: Fontin
3rd: Georgia

[elemenoP]

>> Actually, it is not Sony's font. It is ADE's font. So blame Adobe for this, not Sony.

Oh, that is even worse. There are plenty of people at Adobe who understand what kerning is. And Adobe makes the best fonts!! I wish I could give an earful to somebody at Adobe about this.

[PatNY]

Originally Posted by SmartyPants

ah, i see.
There are two types of 'hacks' being discussed on the russian forum.
The first one is a simple 'russification' of the reader, which allows cyrillics to be displayed correctly and also offers a couple of other extra tweaks ... I didnt realiase it offers anything in regards to font changes. This hack DOES NOT cause any battery drain as far as i know (thats what i have on my 350 right now and the battery is fine). I HAVE been able to change the font using CSS tweaking in Calibre, but i dont think it has anything to do with modified firmware.

Yes, it's the Boroda firmware. What it does is set up the reader so fonts can be easily changed. It's a 2-stage process: One, flash with the Boroda firmware. Two, import font files onto the reader and edit the userstyle.css sheet on the reader to link to the new font files. On page one of this thread are step-by-step instructions for stage two from induna.

If you currently use css tweaking in Calibre, that is a more time-involved and messy process. You don't need to do that anymore. This way is very simple. And you can keep multiple font families on the reader and change between them by simply hooking up to your PC and making a quick edit to the name of a css stylesheet. It would take one minute perhaps. Certainly it is not as easy or convenient as doing it by a menu option right on the reader. But this is the next best thing.