Firmware Update Should I Update Kindle Voyage Firmware?

[Cirlonde]

My Kindle Voyage currently has Firmware Version 5.8.9.2. It is not jail broken. I keep it in airplane mode all the time, mostly to save battery but also because I side load all of my books through Calibre and don't need to connect to Amazon or WiFi.

I'm trying to decide whether the benefits of updating the firmware are worth the risk of breaking the "system" I've got going. My husband just got a Voyage that came with 5.11.1.1 and the first couple of books I side loaded for him do not show the page numbers. They do show up correctly on my more outdated firmware. Losing the page numbers would be a deal break for me, but I'm not sure if maybe I just need to convert the books to .KFX instead of .mobi?

Basically, I'm just hoping to get some guidance from the experts! Am I missing out on a lot by not updating? Or should I just stay the way I am? Thank you in advance!

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Cirlonde

Basically, I'm just hoping to get some guidance from the experts! Am I missing out on a lot by not updating? Or should I just stay the way I am? Thank you in advance!

I'm not an expert, but I do know that my Kindles (at about 5.11.x) started having trouble with Send to Kindle documents when using my custom fonts. One of my Kindles is blocked from updating and it works fine. I wish the Voyage had been blocked from updating as this is a frustrating issue for me. If you don't use Send to Kindle, or custom fonts, this particular issue should not affect you.

[jhowell]

After connecting the Voyage to calibre select the "Configure this device" choice from the drop down menu of the "Device" icon. In there is a setting "Send page number information when sending books". Make sure that option is checked. No need to change the firmware.

Do this with the Voyage that is not getting page numbers. Settings are kept separately for each device.

[Cirlonde]

Originally Posted by rcentros

If you don't use Send to Kindle, or custom fonts, this particular issue should not affect you.

I don't currently use custom fonts, but it's definitely the weird issues like this that make me nervous about updating!

Originally Posted by jhowell

After connecting the Voyage to calibre select the "Configure this device" choice from the drop down menu of the "Device" icon. In there is a setting "Send page number information when sending books". Make sure that option is checked. No need to change the firmware.

Do this with the Voyage that is not getting page numbers. Settings are kept separately for each device.

Thanks for this advice!! I re-loaded the books on my husband's Voyage and it is now showing page numbers.

I'm still not sure if I'm brave enough to update the firmware on my device though...

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Cirlonde

I'm still not sure if I'm brave enough to update the firmware on my device though...

Then don't.

You can always do it later, if ever. Kindle firmware does not allow going back to previous versions.

[larand]

Originally Posted by Cirlonde

My Kindle Voyage currently has Firmware Version 5.8.9.2. It is not jail broken. I keep it in airplane mode all the time, mostly to save battery but also because I side load all of my books through Calibre and don't need to connect to Amazon or WiFi.

I'm trying to decide whether the benefits of updating the firmware are worth the risk of breaking the "system" I've got going. My husband just got a Voyage that came with 5.11.1.1 and the first couple of books I side loaded for him do not show the page numbers. They do show up correctly on my more outdated firmware. Losing the page numbers would be a deal break for me, but I'm not sure if maybe I just need to convert the books to .KFX instead of .mobi?

Basically, I'm just hoping to get some guidance from the experts! Am I missing out on a lot by not updating? Or should I just stay the way I am? Thank you in advance!

My Paperwhite is five years old, and I've never updated it; it still works perfectly (except for a battery that's starting to not hold a charge). Like you, I keep it in airplane mode and never let it connect to the Internet; all my books are sideloaded through Calibre. It works just fine. If you're happy with what you have, don't mess with it.

[Junket]

It's up to you, but I don't think that you are missing out on anything valuable by remaining with an older firmware build. There are lots of people who refuse updates to keep their Kindles stable, protect jailbreaks or just don't want to risk losing specific features (which are sometimes depreciated) or gain bugs which sometimes show up in new builds. I for one certainly wouldn't want the headaches associated with newer (5.11+) firmware.

Do a search for "change logs" to give you a general idea of what has been added to newer builds if you wish. Often it's little more than badges on book covers and the like. Since you said that you value how your current configuration works, it would seem wise to not update unless there is some specific feature that you feel you need in a newer firmware build.