Glo 2.4.0 bugs

[BobC]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

The <em> tag is being shown as bold whereas in 2.1.5 and anywhere else (Sigil, Sony reader, Internet Explorer etc) it is shown in italics. This bug alone is enough to make me go back to 2.1.5.

The <em> tag is supposed to provide "emphasis" and is usually in Italics but according to references need not be. If Italics specifically are intended the <i> tag should have been used (like the difference between <strong> and <b>).

I agree that it can be odd to find the same device rendering it in different ways but at least the intent of the markup (emphasis) is being met.

How is it rendering text wrapped with <i> tags in the same circumstances ? - if that is bold then there is a real bug rather than a user preference.

BobC

[ShellShock]

Originally Posted by BobC

How is it rendering text wrapped with <i> tags in the same circumstances ? - if that is bold then there is a real bug rather than a user preference.

I had already gone back to 2.1.5 before I saw your post , but your point about <em> versus <i> got me wondering...so I loaded 2.4.0 again and replaced <em> with <i>, and it is still showing as bold. So this is definitely a bug. The following also does not work:

<span class="em">text</span>

where em is:

.em {font-style:italic}

This is still showing as bold, whereas

.em {font-style:normal}

shows as normal. I conclude that the bug is not that the Glo is treating em as bold, but that for the italic font it is actually picking the bold font.

But not all fonts are affected:

Built-in:

Amasis - OK
Avenir - broken
Caecilia - OK
Georgia - OK
Gill Sans - broken
Kobo Nickel - broken
Malabar - OK
Ryumin - OK
Gothic MB101 - OK

Side-loaded:

Amaranth - OK
Charis SIL - broken
Charis SIL SMCP - broken
Driod Serif - broken
Fontin - OK
Gentium Basic - broken (not bold or italic)
Gentium Book Basic - broken (not bold or italic)

There just does not seem to be any way to display italics for some fonts in 2.4.0.

[Shai-Hulud]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

The <em> tag is being shown as bold whereas in 2.1.5 and anywhere else (Sigil, Sony reader, Internet Explorer etc) it is shown in italics. This bug alone is enough to make me go back to 2.1.5.

As someone else pointed out recently, it's a sad state when you're forced to choose based on the least buggy firmware rather than the version that offers most benefits.
I don't think Kobo are deliberately trying to ruin our reading experience, after all who would want to showcase a shoddy product and still expect to stay in business? But I do believe their software regression testing leaves an awful lot of room for improvement and I do think they should actually listen to the feedback from their beta testers that often spot these bugs (why bother having them otherwise?)

[Shai-Hulud]

Originally Posted by BobC

if that is bold then there is a real bug rather than a user preference.

User preference? As in getting to choose which firmware doesn't render the fonts incorrectly?

[Shai-Hulud]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

Built-in:

Amasis - OK
Avenir - broken
Caecilia - OK
Georgia - OK
Gill Sans - broken
Kobo Nickel - broken
Malabar - OK
Ryumin - OK
Gothic MB101 - OK

I listed Ryumin as buggy in my report in this thread since on my Touch, whilst Ryumin was italicised it also had bold emphasis applied as well.
Could you check yours again and see if it's the same?

[BobC]

Interesting that the Kobo Nickel font is broken - if it were just side-loaded then I could understand it but for Kobo's own font to give these problems displays a degree of slackness in testing that is inexcusable.

For the time being I'm sticking with Malabar.

BobC

[ShellShock]

Has anyone else noticed that most of the broken fonts have spaces in the names? I have been playing around with the font naming to see if I can fix the broken italic fonts - no joy so far.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

Has anyone else noticed that most of the broken fonts have spaces in the names? I have been playing around with the font naming to see if I can fix the broken italic fonts - no joy so far.

I did think that but the Avenir upset that idea.

BobC

[ShellShock]

Originally Posted by BobC

I did think that but the Avenir upset that idea.

Yes it is most but not all; but there must be something in the actual font-files themselves which means italics work or do not work. This gives me hope that this is something we can fix ourselves (by tweaking the fonts), especially as some side-loaded fonts DO work.

[Shai-Hulud]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

Yes it is most but not all; but there must be something in the actual font-files themselves which means italics work or do not work. This gives me hope that this is something we can fix ourselves (by tweaking the fonts), especially as some side-loaded fonts DO work.

They did work in 2.1.5., they don't in revisions since. Breaking sideloaded fonts is understandable (Kobo can't test for every known font) but breaking included fonts is simply sloppy. By all means explore all avenues to circumvent for yourself (I simply chose a different sideloaded font that does work), but something has fubar'd that rely on the developers, not the user, to fix.

[ShellShock]

I have a bit more info about the broken fonts - it seems to be a combination of the font name possibly containing a space and the locale of the Kobo. For example: "Charis SIL" is broken irrespective of locale, I think because of the space in the name.

As an experiment I created a copy of the Charis SIL font and called it Charisas (no space in the name). Now the "Charis SIL" font only defines a language of "English - United States". The locale of the Kobo is set in the .kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf file (see https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=206200). This defaults to a US locale (CurrentLocale=en_US) which worked with my new Charisas font (without the space in the name). However, I had previously changed the locale of my Kobo to en_GB (to get dates in DD/MM/YYYY format) so I also had to add a Language "English - United Kingdom" to my Charisas font, and hey presto, it now works: bold and italics are now working on 2.4.0.

Something broke between 2.1.5 and 2.4.0 in how the Kobo finds fonts, to do with the font naming and the device's locale. This should be fixed by Kobo, but at least we now have a workaround.

[lissandro.sosa]

Originally Posted by lissandro.sosa

Bug: If you change shutdown time, you cant let the device to no shutdown ( ever sleep )

Reproducible: Yes, if you let the settings as is, the device never shutdown, if you change the settings, then the option never is not showned in the shutdown option as the sleep time option.

New: NO, bug was present in previous firmwares

Kepub or epub: N /A

Workaround: I dont know how make the kobo never shutdown, ever sleep. (mmmm., i think if I make a full reset and sideloaded the 2.4.0 firmware and not touch the sleep and shutdown settings)

This a real bug, its reproducible, and I tested again.

I reinstall the 2.4.0 firmware and i not touch any power setting, and my device not shutdown, is ever on sleep.

the solution to this is add the option NEVER to the drop-down list. it´s be useful.

I shutdown the device wherever i want, not 60 minutes after sleep.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

Something broke between 2.1.5 and 2.4.0 in how the Kobo finds fonts, to do with the font naming and the device's locale. This should be fixed by Kobo, but at least we now have a workaround.

Calling something a bug that needs to be fixed that requires a totally non-standard change to the device (setting the locale) seems a bit much.

I'd rather see effort go into fixing real issues using the devices as intended by the manufacturer.

[ottdmk]

Am I mistaken, or was ShellShock claiming Charis SIL was broken even with the locale set to the default en_US?

[tshering]

Originally Posted by lissandro.sosa

Workaround: I dont know how make the kobo never shutdown, ever sleep. (mmmm., i think if I make a full reset and sideloaded the 2.4.0 firmware and not touch the sleep and shutdown settings)

cf. this post.