Mini "Best" firmware for the Mini?

[issybird]

I've decided to update the firmware on my Mini from 3.4.1. Recommendations on how far to take it? Should I stop at 3.19.5613, go for broke, or does something in the middle maximize returns?

[JSWolf]

Go for 4.6.9995 and see what happens. If it works then you should be good. If it doesn't work, then go for 3.19.5761.

[slate]

So what happened here? You brick it or not.

[booklover6]

I'm running 4.3.9084 on mine. Haven't tried anything higher. Works fine on that FW.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by slate

So what happened here? You brick it or not.

I didn't brick it, but that might be because I took the chicken's conservative approach and only went up to 3.19.5613, the last official firmware for the Mini. It's an improvement on 3.4, but it's weird; you can't delete a title only from the device, just as one example.

So, and given that others have gone far beyond, as with:

Originally Posted by booklover6

I'm running 4.3.9084 on mine. Haven't tried anything higher. Works fine on that FW.

I think I may try for the most recent. Unlike with my One and my H2O, I'm not especially vested in having the old screen on my Mini and it would be fun if the new bells and whistles worked on it. I just haven't quite got round to it.

Thanks for the input!

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by issybird

I think I may try for the most recent. Unlike with my One and my H2O, I'm not especially vested in having the old screen on my Mini and it would be fun if the new bells and whistles worked on it. I just haven't quite got round to it.

Thanks for the input!

So you are saying you are keeping the old home screen on the other devices? I am the opposite, I am running the new FW on my Glo HD and my Aura H2O. But want to keep one with the original home screen, and that is my Mini.

I actually like the new FW.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by booklover6

So you are saying you are keeping the old home screen on the other devices? I am the opposite, I am running the new FW on my Glo HD and my Aura H2O. But want to keep one with the original home screen, and that is my Mini.

I actually like the new FW.

Since you asked....

I put the new firmware on my Glo HD and I do like it, especially how it's noticeably faster, plus a few of the other tweaks. Plus, it means I can access my Kobo library from a device again since I don't have to keep it offline, which is handy.

But I still strongly prefer the old home page; it's so much easier to navigate among the books I'm reading (generally more than the four max I can get on the home screen with the new firmware) and my most-used categories. And given that more tiles fit on the home screen with more area, I'm staying with older firmware on the two bigger devices for now; they're my reading workhorses in any case and I like how the old home screen makes it easy to browse for my next read. I still hate the wasted space on the new home page, with one quarter devoted to one shelf and one quarter devoted to a link to my books - what good does that do that I can't get with a click elsewhere on the page?

I've also got a Glo and I'm on the fence. I turned it into a book depository for my Calibre library and I'm finding that quite useful. Here, given the age of the device and the number of books on the SD card, I'm a bit in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" camp. But the added speed would be nice and given its function I wouldn't be bothered by the new home screen, so I suspect I'll go ahead at some point.

Which leaves the Mini. It would be more functional with the latest firmware and it wouldn't break my heart if I bricked it, so I figure I'll go for it.

[booklover6]

If you put the latest FW on the Mini, tell us how you like it. My Mini is pretty much my book repository, I seldom take it on the go during the winter when the nights are longer. Take it everywhere in the summer!

[issybird]

Originally Posted by booklover6

If you put the latest FW on the Mini, tell us how you like it. My Mini is pretty much my book repository, I seldom take it on the go during the winter when the nights are longer. Take it everywhere in the summer!

I'm afraid 4.6.9995 was a no-go. It worked fine and I liked it, except there was an intermittent issue with black hatching across the bottom of the screen which I suspect is related to the black band problem reported by some with their Touches. I decided to try a clean install just in case that was the issue and did a factory reset, but the same issue recurred. So now I'll roll back, but I'll give 4.4.9298 a try.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by issybird

I'm afraid 4.6.9995 was a no-go. It worked fine and I liked it, except there was an intermittent issue with black hatching across the bottom of the screen which I suspect is related to the black band problem reported by some with their Touches. I decided to try a clean install just in case that was the issue and did a factory reset, but the same issue recurred. So now I'll roll back, but I'll give 4.4.9298 a try.

Well, 4.4.9298 is fine, but I already miss 4.6.9995! For one thing, the full screen hack is back to eating the right-hand margin of kepubs (a problem I noticed seemed to be fixed with 4.6.9995 on my Glo HD) and the Mini is next to useless without the full screen hack. And aside from some of the handy add-ons, call me crazy, but the text with 4.6.9995 seemed sharper. A very good thing with the Mini with its relatively poor display.

So... I may try 4.6.9995 one more time and see if the black hatching interferes with the books themselves (I didn't see it on book pages, but I didn't try it exhaustively). But not now! I'm sick of the thing.

The benefit to this whole experience is that I may make my peace with 4.6.9995 on all my devices. I'd miss the old front page, but the added functionality is probably worth it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by issybird

Well, 4.4.9298 is fine, but I already miss 4.6.9995! For one thing, the full screen hack is back to eating the right-hand margin of kepubs (a problem I noticed seemed to be fixed with 4.6.9995 on my Glo HD) and the Mini is next to useless without the full screen hack. And aside from some of the handy add-ons, call me crazy, but the text with 4.6.9995 seemed sharper. A very good thing with the Mini with its relatively poor display.

Give 4.6.10075 a try on your Mini. There's a thread for this firmware.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Give 4.6.10075 a try on your Mini. There's a thread for this firmware.

Yeah, I saw. I tend not to be an early adopter of new firmware in general and I think my Mini's little innards might be reacting badly to all those factory resets. I think I'll sit on it for a bit. Not to worry, it's in a cover.

[Larla]

Perhaps you can hatch another one --