Firmware 4.8.10956

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by davidfor

• Font selected for "Publisher Default" in epubs has changed. It was "Georgia", but no appears to be "Kobo Tsukushi Mincho". This is good in that this font has a fuller set of characters. But, it doesn't display either italics or bold in epubs. Which is not good.

I haven't updated to this firmware version yet, but from what I can see in librmsdk they have also changed the generic "serif" font from "georgia" to "KBJ-TsukuMin Pr6N RB", and the generic "sans-serif" from "Avenir" to "KBJ-UDKakugo Pr6N M".

This means that if the publisher has forced the use of the generic serif / sans-serif anywhere in the ePub then there may be no way to prevent the KBJ fonts being loaded unless the ePub is edited before sideloading or the firmware is patched.

This could be bad news for reading ePubs, not only do the KBJ fonts have no bold or italic glyphs, but they use far more memory than Georgia and Avenir and could make reading ePubs slow or impossible on devices with limited available memory (e.g. older devices with lots of books and sideloaded fonts like my Glo.)

I've always had problems on my Glo whenever I selected one of the KBJ fonts, ever since they were first added, but until now I could easily avoid the problems simply by not selecting them. I think this change is a big mistake by Kobo.

[dmapr]

@GeoffR, can we expect the next set of patches to contain ability to re-define the default serif and sans-serif fonts the way you have it for the monospace font?

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by dmapr

@GeoffR, can we expect the next set of patches to contain ability to re-define the default serif and sans-serif fonts the way you have it for the monospace font?

Yes, the patches will allow you to set three of your own choices (built-in or sideloaded) to be used when the publisher selects serif, sans-serif, or monospace. I think the method of defining serif, sans-serif, and monospace with @font-face statements automatically added to the stylesheet when sideloading with Calibre should still work too.

[JohhnyMix]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

From someone who only loads epubs, it's a shame it doesn't also work on regular epubs. I miss this feature from my Sony 350, it doesn't make sense that Kobo can't do it when Sony had the feature back in 2010.

I think they want to push their own format so kepub it is.

[dmapr]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Yes, the patches will allow you to set three of your own choices (built-in or sideloaded) to be used when the publisher selects serif, sans-serif, or monospace. I think the method of defining serif, sans-serif, and monospace with @font-face statements automatically added to the stylesheet when sideloading with Calibre should still work too.

Thanks! For some reason I kept getting complete CSS blowout (none of the styles working at all) on some of the books when using the sideloading method, some of which were because of the use of !important in the book's stylesheet while others I couldn't figure out at all. So the patch will be the way to go for me.

[JohhnyMix]

Great to hear that that reading stats got fixed but i just synced my kobo h2o but didn't get the update yet and i am scared to do it manually because of the warning that there are different version of the h2o out so ill just wait.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by JohhnyMix

Great to hear that that reading stats got fixed but i just synced my kobo h2o but didn't get the update yet and i am scared to do it manually because of the warning that there are different version of the h2o out so ill just wait.

Do you have the original Aura H2O? If so, there is only one. The Aura H2O Edition 2 is the one with the different versions.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by JohhnyMix

I think they want to push their own format so kepub it is.

That is probably part of it, but, they also have less control over the RMSDK code used for epubs. It is possible they can't easily implement some features.

[GeoffR]

Jut confirming that after installing this firmware version my Glo now has the same problem when selecting the "Publisher Default" font in ePub books that it previously had when selecting the "Kobo Tsukushi Mincho" font, which is that the device becomes very slow, the screen goes blank, and when I try to turn a page the book closes and is marked as finished.

The problem disappears after patching the firmware to change the default ePub serif and sans-serif fonts back to Georgia/Avenir, the way they were in previous firmware versions.

[Stevex]

It would be helpful to have an index of which patches are in which patch files. The reason I say that is, I was looking for "Avenir" as a text string to see where to get the old fonts back, and the first one I came across was libnickel, and I was thinking "duh - this looks like it is replacing Georgia with something else, but surely the whole point is that Georgia is gone" before my brain registered I was looking at Dictionary font. So then I looked further and found the entry I really needed in librmsdk.
So, I just think a readme with an index to the patches would be helpful as an idiots's guide.
Thanks for all your work!!!!
Cheers, Steve

[JohhnyMix]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Do you have the original Aura H2O? If so, there is only one. The Aura H2O Edition 2 is the one with the different versions.

yea i got the h2o v2 model 1.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

The problem disappears after patching the firmware to change the default ePub serif and sans-serif fonts back to Georgia/Avenir, the way they were in previous firmware versions.

Is that patch pretty easy to install?

[Martina Schein]

I quickly installed the new version yesterday evening.
The handling of my ePub books is very fast, even turning the pages is fast. eBooks are opened quickly.
Marking individual words or a larger area is much more precise than in the previous version.
Currently I am testing the large print mode. I like him a lot now.

[JSWolf]

Kobo Firmware 4.8.10956

Kobo firmware 4.8.10956 has been released. As of April 24, 2018, it has been released to the Kobo Touch A/B, Kobo Touch C, Kobo Glo, Kobo Glo HD, Kobo Touch 2.0, Kobo Aura, Kobo Aura HD, Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Aura H2O Edition 2, Kobo Aura ONE, Kobo Aura ONE Limited Edition, and the Kobo Aura Edition 2. It has not been released to the Kobo Mini. The affiliates used to check these firmware versions were: kobo, bestbuyca, fnac, beta, rakutenbooks, and the walmartca.


Download Links

Official Links:

• Kobo Touch A/B (mark 3) - Download | Release Notes
• Kobo Touch C (mark 4) - Download | Release Notes
• Kobo Glo (mark 4) - Download | Release Notes
• Kobo Glo HD (mark 6) - Download | Release Notes
• Kobo Touch 2.0 (mark 6) - Download | Release Notes
• Kobo Aura (mark 5) - Download | Release Notes
• Kobo Aura HD (mark 4) - Download | Release Notes
• Kobo Aura H2O (mark 5) - Download | Release Notes
• Kobo Aura H2O Edition 2 (mark 6) - Download | Release Notes
• Kobo Aura ONE (mark 6) - Download | Release Notes
• Kobo Aura ONE Limited Edition (mark 6) - Download | Release Notes
• Kobo Aura Edition 2 (mark 6) - Download | Release Notes

You can also try the generic links at your own risk:

• Mark 3 - Download
• Mark 4 - Download
• Mark 5 - Download
• Mark 6 - Download

Generated by kobofirmware by Patrick G (geek1011). Source Code

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Is that patch pretty easy to install?

I would say yes, but obviously it's subjective. Go to the main patching thread for fw 4.8.10956 and read post #1 to see what you think.

Most of the customisation effort happens on your PC so I'd say it's less of a white-knuckle ride than flashing a Sony (which I have personal experience of) or jailbreaking a Kindle (only anecdotal evidence read in these forums).

What I can say is that once you've successfully applied one 'must-have' Kobo patch you will find there are many more you can apply and it's just as easy to apply 10 of them as it is just one of them.