Instructions for patching firmware 3.15.0

[Nick_1964]

I hope the old patches keep being there also,because they are more likely to be customized.
I must work with the Metazoa idea, but I am afraid that things like: make the page xx of xx bigger are not possible.
On the other hand,then Geoffr must make 2 different patches which is muck more work.
I still work to understand the metazoa patches a bit more, so excuse me if what I want,is still possible.
I liked the old way of patching, it cost me a long time to understand,but now I am used to it, but thanks GeoffR for all the work u are doing !

[Siard]

After applying the 10 or 15 line spacing values patch, setting the line spacing with the slider and switching my Glo off, then after switching it back on, the line spacing is lost and has become very small, although the slider is still at its place.
It can be corrected by moving the slider 1 step, and moving it back 1 step to where it was. But I have to do this every time after switching the reader on.
Changing the replacement values in the patch does not affect it.
I also had this problem with every previous patch.
Is it a known problem and is there a fix?

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by mamado

You had a patch previously to change book titles style from Italic to Normal, so that it works for Arabic
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...1&postcount=17

I couldn't find it in the new patch files, and when I tried to use it, I got an error, can you please let me know how to update it?

I've spent some time trying to find an update for this patch, but the code has changed and I can no longer see any way to affect the style of the book titles in the library list at all.

The only think I can suggest is asking in the "Modifications for bad eyes thread", as tshering seems to know a lot more about this aspect of the code than I do.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Siard

After applying the 10 or 15 line spacing values patch, setting the line spacing with the slider and switching my Glo off, then after switching it back on, the line spacing is lost and has become very small, although the slider is still at its place.
It can be corrected by moving the slider 1 step, and moving it back 1 step to where it was. But I have to do this every time after switching the reader on.
Changing the replacement values in the patch does not affect it.
I also had this problem with every previous patch.
Is it a known problem and is there a fix?

There have been one or two reports of this, but I have never encountered it myself. I suspect it indicates a problem with the device's database that the patch makes more noticable.

When you change the line spacing in a book the device saves the setting in the database for that specific book, and in the configuration file as a global default for books that have not been opened.

If there is a problem writing to the database, then turning the device off and on will cause the information about the book's setting to be lost, and when you open the book again an old value will be read from the database.

If the line spacing value read from the database is not one of the values available on the slider (perhaps because the book was opened before the patch was applied) then the firmware sets the line spacing to the lowest value on the slider. With the line spacing patch this is very noticable because the lowest slider value is very small. With the unpatched firmware it is probably not as noticable, because then most people use the lowest line spacing setting anyway.

All I can suggest is to check your database, either from sqlite with the "PRAGMA integrity_check;" command, or from Calibre using the KoboUtilities plugin.

If there is no problem with the database then I don't know what is going on. But I can say that this problem should not happen, and I can't see any way the patch would cause it to happen (other than making any existing problem more noticable.)

[GERGE]

It always happens to me for the first book I open after applying the patch, but never again. No problem with database either.

But it doesn't happen with your values, only with my custom values here:

# 10 values for replacement
replace_float = 604B10, 1.05, 0.7
replace_float = 604B18, 1.07, 0.75
replace_float = 604B20, 1.1, 0.80
replace_float = 604B28, 1.35, 0.85
replace_float = 604B30, 1.7, 0.90
replace_float = 604B38, 1.8, 0.95
replace_float = 604B40, 2.2, 1.0
replace_float = 604B48, 2.4, 1.025
replace_float = 604B50, 2.6, 1.05
replace_float = 604B58, 2.8, 1.1
</Patch>

Therefore, we might say that it is about the values.

[GeoffR]

Thinking about it there could be a problem with the `My 10 line spacing values` patch. I would recommend using the `My 15 line spacing values` patch instead if you are having problems.

The possible problem is that the firmware builds a list of 15 values, and the 10 value patch just skips 5 of the original 15 values and inserts the other ten that it has modified into the slider widget. But when the device reads the saved value for a book from the database, it might search the list of 15 which includes 5 of the original values to try and find a match. It could potentially find a match with one of the values that the 10 value patch skipped, and I don't know what happens in that case.

The 15 value patch modifies the whole list and inserts all 15 values into the slider, so there is no way the firmware can match a value on the list that is not also on the slider.

I think I will remove the `My 10 line spacing values` patch in the future, unless anyone has a good reason for keeping it.

Edit: Just to be clear, I don't know for sure that the `My 10 line spacing values` patch has a problem, I just haven't looked far enough into the code to know what happens with the 5 values that are skipped.

[GERGE]

I checked, custom 15 values have no problems. I didn't have any problems with your 10 values too but I only used it once before customizing. I checked your 10 values again, same problem persists. My not having problems that one time was an anomaly probably.

Only reason I am using 10 values is to bypass aesthetic problems with set top and bottom margins (Yes, I realize that I am just nitpicking). I changed to this now:

# 15 values for replacement:
replace_float = 604A48, 1.0, 0.7
replace_float = 604B10, 1.05, 0.75
replace_float = 604B18, 1.07, 0.8
replace_float = 604B20, 1.1, 0.825
replace_float = 604A50, 1.2, 0.85
replace_float = 604B28, 1.35, 0.875
replace_float = 604A58, 1.5, 0.9
replace_float = 604B30, 1.7, 0.925
replace_float = 604B38, 1.8, 0.95
replace_float = 604A60, 2.0, 0.975
replace_float = 604B40, 2.2, 1.0
replace_float = 604B48, 2.4, 1.25
replace_float = 604B50, 2.6, 1.5
replace_float = 604B58, 2.8, 1.75
replace_float = 604A68, 3.0, 1.1

This values solve the margin problems too, every step makes a difference in lower glyph sizes.

[Siard]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

All I can suggest is to check your database, either from sqlite with the "PRAGMA integrity_check;" command, or from Calibre using the KoboUtilities plugin.

I checked the database with the Calibre KoboUtilities plugin:
"Result of running 'PRAGMA integrity_check' on database on the Kobo device:
ok"
Moreover, if I use the slider to set the line height, it does not affect the line height of other books, so the database seems to be OK.

Originally Posted by GeoffR

If the line spacing value read from the database is not one of the values available on the slider (perhaps because the book was opened before the patch was applied) then the firmware sets the line spacing to the lowest value on the slider.

I removed a book, applied the patch and reloaded the book, but after switching the device off and on, the line height still defaults to that low value.
The desired line height is 0.88, so I changed every 'replace_float' value to at least 0.88, also to no avail. So I wonder where that low value is taken from.
Applying the 10 or 15 line patch makes no difference.

Now the best solution I found until now is this one:
in the global configuration file, .kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf, I set the line height to 0.88 manually:
[Reading]
readingLineHeight=0.88
I disabled both the 10 line and the 15 line patch. Now when starting the device, it reads this correct value of 0.88. The line height slider must never be touched again though, for that would set the value back to a minimum of 1.0.

BTW, with one of the line height patches applied, this correct value of 0.88 was in the configuration file all the time, but the device does not seem to read it on startup then. It does pick up the value when the patches are disabled.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Siard

I removed a book, applied the patch and reloaded the book, but after switching the device off and on, the line height still defaults to that low value.
The desired line height is 0.88, so I changed every 'replace_float' value to at least 0.88, also to no avail. So I wonder where that low value is taken from.
Applying the 10 or 15 line patch makes no difference.

There is something strange happening there, I can't explain it and I can't reproduce the problem on my Glo.

Are you reading epubs or kepubs? What other patches do you have enabled? Are you using full-screen reading mode?

Edit: The other thing that would be interesting to check for anyone having similar problems is the line spacing value stored in the database for the book in question. You can do this with a SQL query such as:

SELECT ReadingLineHeight FROM content_settings WHERE ContentID=='file:///mnt/onboard/H/Holdstock, Mythago Wood.epub';

where ContentID is the path to the sideloaded file, or for kepubs synced from Kobo you can find the ContentID with a query like:

SELECT ContentID FROM content WHERE BookID IS NULL AND IsDownloaded=='true' AND Title=='Mythago Wood';

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

There is something strange happening there, I can't explain it and I can't reproduce the problem on my Glo.

Are you reading epubs or kepubs? What other patches do you have enabled? Are you using full-screen reading mode?

Edit: The other thing that would be interesting to check for anyone having similar problems is the line spacing value stored in the database for the book in question. You can do this with a SQL query such as:

SELECT ReadingLineHeight FROM content_settings WHERE ContentID=='file:///mnt/onboard/H/Holdstock, Mythago Wood.epub';

where ContentID is the path to the sideloaded file, or for kepubs synced from Kobo you can find the ContentID with a query like:

SELECT ContentID FROM content WHERE BookID IS NULL AND IsDownloaded=='true' AND Title=='Mythago Wood';

There is a good chance that this is it, but if the book was deleted, the settings should be deleted as well. The utilities plugin can display these change or delete these settings for a book. It can set and delete them for a group of books, but viewing them is one at a time.

To see them all, this will show all books with their own reading settings is:

SELECT c.ContentID, Title, Attribution, ReadingFontFamily, ReadingFontSize, ReadingAlignment, ReadingLineHeight, ReadingLeftMargin, ReadingRightMargin 
FROM content c JOIN content_settings cs USING (ContentID)

[jim.1405]

I screwed up and tried to install this patch on top of 3.11 on my H2O. Now it it is stuck in the in the updated process (4 of 5 progress squares on the screen).

Did I just brick the device? Any way to recover from this boneheaded error?

[jim.1405]

Originally Posted by jim.1405

I screwed up and tried to install this patch on top of 3.11 on my H2O. Now it it is stuck in the in the updated process (4 of 5 progress squares on the screen).

Did I just brick the device? Any way to recover from this boneheaded error?

Never mind. I was able to do a factory reset/restore and get back to square one. This time I'll upgrade to 3.15 before applying the patch

[Libretom]

Special Thanks! Exellent!

[Siard]

Further investigations reveal that, after switching on the device, the database is not read until something is altered in the DB, e.g. by moving some slider.
Without the line height patch, the line height is taken from the global configuration file. With one of the two patches applied, it is probably also taken from there, but the line height becomes a certain smaller proportion of that, say 75%.
After moving some slider, or connecting with USB and disconnecting, the values are taken from the database.

Until firmware version 2.8.1, a line height of 1.35 was common. But from 2.10 on, line heights were displayed much wider, so 0.88 became optimal. But 1.0 remained the minimum value that could be set with the slider, so that's why the patch became wanted.

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Are you reading epubs or kepubs?

Only epubs.

Originally Posted by GeoffR

What other patches do you have enabled?

Probably not relevant, but here they are:
Custom reading footer style
Custom left & right margins
Custom font sizes
Search in Library by default
Unitless ePub line height
Custom footer
Fix page breaks bug

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Are you using full-screen reading mode?

This is unknown to me. Only present in kepubs I guess?

Originally Posted by GeoffR

The other thing that would be interesting to check for anyone having similar problems is the line spacing value stored in the database for the book in question. You can do this with a SQL query such as:
SELECT ReadingLineHeight FROM content_settings WHERE ContentID=='file:///mnt/onboard/H/Holdstock, Mythago Wood.epub';

These fields contain the correct line height values, 0.88 in my case.
But, as explained, these are only read after something in the database has been altered.

[Siard]

Originally Posted by davidfor

The utilities plugin can display these change or delete these settings for a book. It can set and delete them for a group of books, but viewing them is one at a time.

To see them all, this will show all books with their own reading settings is:
SELECT c.ContentID, Title, Attribution, ReadingFontFamily, ReadingFontSize, ReadingAlignment, ReadingLineHeight, ReadingLeftMargin, ReadingRightMargin FROM content c JOIN content_settings cs USING (ContentID)

As a Linux user, I found 'sqlitebrowser' (in the Debian repositories). It is a simple program, with which you can view (and edit, if needed) the contents of an SQLite DB in a spreadsheet-like way. Familiarity with SQL commands is not needed.
But there are similar programs for Windows.