Kobo Firmware 4.6.9995

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Incanus

Well, I side loaded and upgraded to firmware 4.6.9995 on my Kobo Aura 2013 and after some testing, I downgraded back to 3.12.1 (side loading, mind you: it works like a charm).

To keep in mind: I keep 14.774 books organized on 239 collections, storing them on a 32Gb Class 4 uSD SanDisk Card that I manage with Calibre

Even though the Collections' access time did improve to merely 20 seconds (compared to my previous 2 minutes or so on 3.12.1) almost every other function takes closer to 30 seconds or more: getting to the home screen, changing reading settings (while reading a book, mind you), opening the search option, getting to my library, changing configuration... all of it takes what it feels like forever, compared with the near instantaneous response on 3.12.1.

So: if you, like me, keep a large library on a uSD Card, with many a collection, and general interface time (not merely Collections access) matters to you, my advice is to pass this upgrade for Kobo Aura 2013.

On the other hand, if no matter the library size/storage/collections arrangement, you change or alternate books rarely and use other functions of the reader seldom, then by all means upgrade.

Anyway, that's my experience with this firmware.

Are you sure you installed 4.6.9995 and not 4.6.9960? Your description of the performance problems matches what I saw 4.6.9960. Kobo said that the problem was related to the sort order you used on the book list. But, it seemed to be triggered each time you did something that caused the book status to be saved. So, while reading, this could be closing the book to return to the library or home screen, sleep, opening the book details, search, opening the ToC and opening the reading settings. For some these it's not obvious why the status was being saved, but from them all you could either move to another book (search for a book, the related tab of the details) or make a change that mean the book had to be re-rendered. When the status is saved, there are at least four database updates made. And it would mean the "last read" date was changed triggering a resort of the book list if recent was being used. I assume someone messed up the sort or something.

For me 4.6.9995 is working well. The actions you mention are all under two seconds with just under 4000 books on my devices. I'll try dropping some more books on one of them to see if it gets worse quickly. Maybe there is a tipping point where the performance starts getting really bad.

[Incanus]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

why would you want them all at once?

Because my approach to ebooks, pictures I've taken last year, music and some other media (but, alas, not video: I do have a Netflix subscription) is that I 'm not allways online, nor expect to allways have a PC with my media library for side loading accesss.

Cheers,

Incanus

[Incanus]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Are you sure you installed 4.6.9995 and not 4.6.9960?

Well, the downloaded file had version 4.6.9995 on its filename, so I think I installed version 4.6.9995.

Originally Posted by davidfor

Your description of the performance problems matches what I saw 4.6.9960. [...]

For me 4.6.9995 is working well. The actions you mention are all under two seconds with just under 4000 books on my devices. I'll try dropping some more books on one of them to see if it gets worse quickly. Maybe there is a tipping point where the performance starts getting really bad.

Yeah, well... I realize most people carry less ebooks than I do so they usually don't get to experience the performance problems I have with Collections access... and only with Collections access, mind you: version 3.12.1 works perfectly in every other single aspect, regardless of how many ebooks I have on my SD card.

Thanks for your reply!

Incanus

[ErikG]

Originally Posted by geek1011

Is it just me, or has this update fixed the touchscreen accuracy on the Aura 2?

I DO believe you are right. I have an Aura One.
Pressing on the plus-signs in the font adjustment now actually does something while before you had to press quite a bit to the left of the plusses.
Also typing on the keyboard is more accurate to the right side of it.

Well done, Kobo! It took you a while though.

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Where does someone get 14,774 eBooks and why would you want them all at once?

My collection's smaller (about 2900) but I like having them all with me as well. It's not that you want them all at once, it's that you don't know ahead of time which one you're going to want. If you have everything with you, you can pull up whatever you want on the fly.

[Witty Username]

This new upgrade is causing problems for my Kobo Touch. Every time I swipe or tap to turn a page I get a black border round the text. I can get rid of it by bringing up the reading menu -the black border goes away when I tap to leave the menu. Every page turn, the black border comes back again.

I have tried reinstalling the upgrade several times but nothing changes. I haven't yet contacted Kobo, (I will do so) but has anyone else seen this happen with an upgrade?

[boyunayim]

I have 5549 books (5.9GB) in my Kobo Glo HD. I replaced 16GB Class 10 sdcard in my device. I upgraded it to 4.6.9995 from 4.5.xxxx. Device opens Books section in 4 seconds and it returns to Home Page from open book in 2 seconds. It is little bit slower than 4.5.xxxx but I like new Books section. (First opening is exactly 60 seconds)

[zampir]

Manually updated firmware. All right. Thank you

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Witty Username

This new upgrade is causing problems for my Kobo Touch. Every time I swipe or tap to turn a page I get a black border round the text. I can get rid of it by bringing up the reading menu -the black border goes away when I tap to leave the menu. Every page turn, the black border comes back again.

I have tried reinstalling the upgrade several times but nothing changes. I haven't yet contacted Kobo, (I will do so) but has anyone else seen this happen with an upgrade?

I haven't seen that on my N905 Touch. Which version do you have?

[the.Mtn.Man]

Originally Posted by the.Mtn.Man

Seems to be working fine on my Mark 5 Aura. Nice and fast, no unexpected behavior, and the two-finger swipe to adjust lighting seems to finally(!) work like it used to (the primary reason I've stuck with 3.12.1 for so long).

Originally Posted by Incanus

First post after longtime lurking with no user! :-)

I have a Mark 5 Aura, too (the original 2013 edition).

I'm also staying for the forseable future on 3.12.1: for it's stability and full (beta) features... not so much for it's perfomance.

Is this 4.6.9995 firmware version showing better performance than the good ol' 3.12.1?

I'm specially interested in the Collections response time; I usually wait for two minutes (or so) before I reach them. I do keep 14.774 books 239 collections, storing them on a 32Gb Class 4 uSD SanDisk Card that I manage with Calibre.

I've tried other firmware versions (including 4.5.9587 and 4.6.9960) but so far the Collections' access time doesn't improve (and I don't use the rest of the new features) so I keep downgrading to 3.12.1.

That being said: any advice on upgrading my Aura (or not) to this new firmware?

BTW: I'm chilean (spanish native speaker) so please forgive any mispelling or grammar errors; my written english is rather rusty.

Thanks in advance,

Incanus

I may have spoken too soon. The two-finger swipe to adjust the front light still has a bit of flakiness that can make it really annoying. It's responsive enough but doesn't have the instant works-every-time-without-fail responsiveness of 3.12.1, which I could live with if it wasn't for the other problem: when adjusting the brightness, it'll occasionally trigger a page turn, or it'll highlight a word and open the dictionary.

Adjusting the brightness is something I do quite regularly -- I do a lot of reading in marginal lighting -- so anything that interferes with or outright breaks that feature is a deal-breaker as far as I'm concerned, so I'm now back to my beloved patched version 3.12.1.

[the.Mtn.Man]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Yes, 4.6.9995 is faster than 3.12.1.

3.12.1 actually feels a little snappier overall, but I don't know if that's just because it's what I'm used to.

[the.Mtn.Man]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Where does someone get 14,774 eBooks and why would you want them all at once?

Huh, and I thought I had a lot with over 500 books, and about two-dozen of those are "complete works" volumes, so my actual individual book-count is probably closer to 700, if not more.

Anyway... to answer your question, why not? I mean, why wouldn't you want your complete library with you? With electronic devices, it's as easy to carry one book or music album as it is to carry hundreds, or thousands, so why not? I can't see any downsides to it. It's the same reason I carry an MP3 player with over 8000 songs on it. It sure beats the days when I couldn't easily bring more than a dozen CDs with me on a road trip.

[seking]

is th latest firmware 4.6.9995 working properly for everybody? There were some issues in the previous firmware, have they been fixed in this release?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by seking

is th latest firmware 4.6.9995 working properly for everybody? There were some issues in the previous firmware, have they been fixed in this release?

The simplest answer to that question is "yes, no and maybe". Because, "yes, some problems have been fixed", and "no, some problems have not been fixed" and "some problems might have been fixed but no one has reported on way or another". And the reason for that answer is that I don't know what firmware version are you referring to as the "previous firmware".

And to be honest, the point of these threads is to actually answer that question. Usually one of the first posts lists known changes*. Then people start using it and picking it apart. Or praising the changes. Or, both for exactly the same thing. You need to read the thread and see if the problems you are interested in are fixed. Or if there are new problems that might affect you. Or ask a question about a specific problem you have with the firmware you are using.

* This firmware release was a little different. It was a quick fix for a version 4.6.9960 to fix performance issues.There should have been no other changes. I usually post a change list but hadn't decided whether to post the full list from 4.6.9960 or just the one change with a reference to the change list for 4.6.9960. (see what I mean about "previous firmware"?)

Oh, as far as my usage goes, 4.6.9995 is "working properly". But, I'm not everybody.

[seking]

@davidfor by previous firmware i meant 4.6.9960. I will wait for some time. Thanks for the response.