Forma Firmware 4.11.11911 - Page 5

jiminrussell · 10-30-2018, 12:57 PM

I would like to test this out but Kobo still haven't shipped my replacement device! My request is sitting on "Hold" now, with no explanation as to why. I emailed them about it and got a quick response that they would escalate it but nearly 24 hours later it is still sitting on hold.
The joy of dealing with Kobo customer service. 😐

MGlitch · 10-30-2018, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jiminrussell

I would like to test this out but Kobo still haven't shipped my replacement device! My request is sitting on "Hold" now, with no explanation as to why. I emailed them about it and got a quick response that they would escalate it but nearly 24 hours later it is still sitting on hold.
The joy of dealing with Kobo customer service. 😐

Phone or the chat service is best and in that order.

k9reeder · 10-30-2018, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGlitch

How to reproduce this bug:

1) Ensure you are on 4.11.11911 (not sure if it happens on the shipped firmware)
2) Enable the PIN setting in Settings>Energy and Privacy Settings
3) Put the Forma to Sleep (presuming power off would also work)
4) Wake/turn on Forma, open a book, kepub or epub, and take over 1 min or so to turn the page

Yup, and seemed like only seconds really, and then...frozen. Something wrong with the PIN implementation. Don't care to experiment any more, thank you all very much. Back to reading.

jiminrussell · 10-30-2018, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MGlitch

Phone or the chat service is best and in that order.

Yeah I started with phone and then switched to emails to provide contact info, shipping address etc. My contact at Kobo has been responsive to my emails, it is another group in Kobo that does the replacements. In any case the request has just moved to the next step "In Process (Replacement)" so hopefully I get notice of shipment by end of day today, if not I will try the chat option.

Enverex · 11-01-2018, 08:58 AM

Another Clara HD owner chiming in that the stock update went fine. Weirdly enough Sync kept failing but I sideloaded it instead and that was successful. Then applied the patches for this version (e.g. larger books on home page) afterwards as well which also worked.

davidfor · 11-01-2018, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverex

Another Clara HD owner chiming in that the stock update went fine. Weirdly enough Sync kept failing but I sideloaded it instead and that was successful.

Just to be clear, Kobo has not released firmware 4.11.11911 for anything other than the Forma. If an update was being done, it would not have been to a 4.10.x firmware.

Enverex · 11-01-2018, 12:44 PM

That's interesting. Shouldn't it have refused to install if the firmware wasn't suitable? That said, I've tested a few books, gone through the settings, etc, everything seems to be fine.

NiLuJe · 11-01-2018, 02:03 PM

IIRC, it only checks for stuff that has a surefire way of soft-bricking the device (kernel, uboot, ...).

frostschutz · 11-01-2018, 02:16 PM

It does a generic corruption check (gunzip test before simply unpacking KoboRoot.tar.gz) which protects against incomplete downloads - I guess. This check was added at some point in 3.x firmware I think.

It does a md5sum check for new kernel images (manifest.md5sum included in firmware update zips) and files are named in such a way that it won't just use a file intended for a different platform.

But that aside it doesn't check anything at all - that also why it's so easy to install mods, just drop a KoboRoot.tgz in there and off it goes.

So yes it's possible to completely brick with a wrong KoboRoot.tgz - with any luck, factory reset should still work.

davidfor · 11-01-2018, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enverex

That's interesting. Shouldn't it have refused to install if the firmware wasn't suitable? That said, I've tested a few books, gone through the settings, etc, everything seems to be fine.

My statement was a bit clumsy. I meant, that the update is only offered over WiFi or through the Kobo desktop application. The device will check when syncing if there is an update available, and if so download and install it. For firmware 4.11.11911, the Forma is the only device that will see this and download it. For manually installing, the device doesn't check the update. It does validate the files look good, and picks from the package the appropriate images, then it will install it. And the way that Kobo builds the firmware packages means that they are complete for the all the devices in the same mark (mark 7 in this case). They always release a version for each new device when the device is released. They usually only release it for that device and have a catch-up release a month or so later.

It is safe to install 4.11.11911 on the Clara HD and other Mark 7 devices. But, if you complained to Kobo about a problem, they can legitimately say "Not supported". I do have it installed on all my devices with no issues (except the one I sacrificed to test something else). But, the method I get access to those is a little different

11-01-2018, 08:58 AM	#65
Enverex Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2018 Device: Kobo Clara HD	Another Clara HD owner chiming in that the stock update went fine. Weirdly enough Sync kept failing but I sideloaded it instead and that was successful. Then applied the patches for this version (e.g. larger books on home page) afterwards as well which also worked. Attached Thumbnails

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10-30-2018, 12:57 PM	#61
jiminrussell JimInRussell Posts: 355 Karma: 143302 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Russell Ontario Canada Device: kobo Aura One, Forma, Elipsa, Sage	I would like to test this out but Kobo still haven't shipped my replacement device! My request is sitting on "Hold" now, with no explanation as to why. I emailed them about it and got a quick response that they would escalate it but nearly 24 hours later it is still sitting on hold. The joy of dealing with Kobo customer service. 😐

11-01-2018, 12:44 PM	#67
Enverex Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2018 Device: Kobo Clara HD	That's interesting. Shouldn't it have refused to install if the firmware wasn't suitable? That said, I've tested a few books, gone through the settings, etc, everything seems to be fine.

11-01-2018, 02:03 PM	#68
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,477 Karma: 26012494 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	IIRC, it only checks for stuff that has a surefire way of soft-bricking the device (kernel, uboot, ...).

11-01-2018, 02:16 PM	#69
frostschutz Linux User Posts: 2,279 Karma: 6123806 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Heidelberg, Germany Device: none	It does a generic corruption check (gunzip test before simply unpacking KoboRoot.tar.gz) which protects against incomplete downloads - I guess. This check was added at some point in 3.x firmware I think. It does a md5sum check for new kernel images (manifest.md5sum included in firmware update zips) and files are named in such a way that it won't just use a file intended for a different platform. But that aside it doesn't check anything at all - that also why it's so easy to install mods, just drop a KoboRoot.tgz in there and off it goes. So yes it's possible to completely brick with a wrong KoboRoot.tgz - with any luck, factory reset should still work.

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