Some questions on Aura HD use

[Nick Payne]

I've recently purchased an Aura HD - first ereader I've used. A few things I find rather annoying and would like to ask if they can be changed, as I can't find anything in the settings that changes them. The firmware in the reader is current.

1. Quite often, when I go forward a page in a book, the the page numbering displaying at the bottom of the screen ("Page x of y") doesn't increment, but stays the same. I have to advance two pages for the numbering to increment by one.

2. Is there any way to tighten the leading between paragraphs? Reducing the line spacing to the minimum reduces the leading within paragraphs quite significantly but hardly seems to affect the leading between paragraphs at all. If I'm reading a page that is a succession of single line dialogue paragraphs, it all looks a bit disconnected, and would be easier to read if the inter-paragraph leading were tighter.

3. The Kobo algorithm for determining where to put page breaks doesn't work very well. I sometimes get pages that are only approximately half full, with the following paragraph starting on the next page. From looking at pages where this happens, the common factor I notice is that it seems to be when the following paragraph is so long that it won't fit on a single page even if started at the top of the page. And as the author who I'm currently reading (Patrick O'Brian) frequently has long paragraphs, these half full pages happen quite often.

4. When I tap the RH side of the page to advance, about one time in five or six I get advanced two pages. There doesn't seem to be any sensitivity setting for that that I have found.

[speakingtohe]

1. Normal for most epub readers. ADE is 1024 characters per page. Depending on the font size the page number is advanced every 1024 characters,

2. Depends on the books CSS or formatting style. Must be changed in the book with calibre or Sigil etc. Then the book resent to the reader.

3. Search in Kobo forum for widows and orphans.

4. Could be firmware problem or you are not used to tapping to turn. I seem to get far fewer double page turns than I used to, but I don't know if a firmware update improved things or I just tap more evenly.

Helen

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Nick Payne

I've recently purchased an Aura HD - first ereader I've used. A few things I find rather annoying and would like to ask if they can be changed, as I can't find anything in the settings that changes them. The firmware in the reader is current.

1. Quite often, when I go forward a page in a book, the the page numbering displaying at the bottom of the screen ("Page x of y") doesn't increment, but stays the same. I have to advance two pages for the numbering to increment by one.

Page numbers for epubs are calculated in a weird way. The calculation is actually from Adobe and is based on the compressed size of the HTML files within the epub. It is the size of the compressed HTML file divided by 1024. Then, when reading, the uncompressed text is divided into that number of pages. And depending on the font size and other settings, the page can be spread over one or more screens.

2. Is there any way to tighten the leading between paragraphs? Reducing the line spacing to the minimum reduces the leading within paragraphs quite significantly but hardly seems to affect the leading between paragraphs at all. If I'm reading a page that is a succession of single line dialogue paragraphs, it all looks a bit disconnected, and would be easier to read if the inter-paragraph leading were tighter.

This is the styles used in the epub. Whoever created it did so with a margin between paragraphs. Changing the line height should affect this, but it could have been set in absolute units rather than a relative unit. The only fix for this is to edit the book and change the style so this doesn't happen. A conversion in calibre can be done to change the style.
[/QUOTE]
3. The Kobo algorithm for determining where to put page breaks doesn't work very well. I sometimes get pages that are only approximately half full, with the following paragraph starting on the next page. From looking at pages where this happens, the common factor I notice is that it seems to be when the following paragraph is so long that it won't fit on a single page even if started at the top of the page. And as the author who I'm currently reading (Patrick O'Brian) frequently has long paragraphs, these half full pages happen quite often.
[/QUOTE]
This is a known bug in the renderer. And that seems to be the right description for when it happens. It has been around for a while and Kobo don't seem to have done anything about it.
[/QUOTE]
4. When I tap the RH side of the page to advance, about one time in five or six I get advanced two pages. There doesn't seem to be any sensitivity setting for that that I have found.[/QUOTE]

Some people seem to get occasional double page turns, some get occasional missed page turns. Some people find it is better to swipe to turn. There are no sensitivity settings for the touch. In fact, it isn't actually touch sensitive. The Kobo ereaders use infra-red beams across the top of the screen. Breaking this is what triggers the touch. How hard you press has no affect on this.

[samhy]

Regarding the double page turn, I noticed it was somewhat light related to me. For example, it tends to happen more if there are a lot of shadows on the screen or if the light is very dim.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by samhy

Regarding the double page turn, I noticed it was somewhat light related to me. For example, it tends to happen more if there are a lot of shadows on the screen or if the light is very dim.

Odd. Does it happen with the Aura light on?

I still get a lot of going back a page or two instead of forward, and the book opening a few pages back with 2.6.1.(my margins are zero and I tap at the far right)

Helen

[Lyn2012]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I still get a lot of going back a page or two instead of forward, and the book opening a few pages back with 2.6.1.(my margins are zero and I tap at the far right)

Helen

This is exactly the sort of behaviour that puts me off getting a Kobo again, the basic functions of a reader don't work consistently. None of my previous Sony readers or my current Paperwhite have ever returned me to the wrong page within a book, neither do I get, (or have got), double page turns. Thank you Helen for reminding me of these annoying habits, it's been a while since I had a Kobo reader and I had forgotten about them. I'm also remembering the numerous times when I was adjusting the font size/spacing on my Kobo Glo/Touch and the whole reader froze. Once again, only the Kobo has ever done this on me. I'm still hoping for a Sony front lit high resolution reader, otherwise the Aura might still tempt me though.

[FJames]

The double page turn is due to a simple software bug that could be easily fixed. Nobody seems to know why Kobo hasn't fixed it when it has been there for years.

There are bound to be many small bugs in any device this complex that gets used so much. You just learn to live with them and ignore them. I don't think any of them are a really big deal. I'm on my 3rd Kobo, and I don't regret buying any of them.

[glos]

I haven't had any double page turn yet (admittedly, I own one since saturday, but I've been testing and reading on it for a few hours) maybe because I always swipe? the only time that happened is when my finger was lingering too close to the screen (like less than a mm, almost touching it) maybe because of the IR...

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by FJames

The double page turn is due to a simple software bug that could be easily fixed. Nobody seems to know why Kobo hasn't fixed it when it has been there for years.

There are bound to be many small bugs in any device this complex that gets used so much. You just learn to live with them and ignore them. I don't think any of them are a really big deal. I'm on my 3rd Kobo, and I don't regret buying any of them.

I have learned to live with them but resent many of them strongly.
The slow shelf opening, the inconsistent and misnamed sorting, The alphabetical sorting for numbers, the non displaying of book covers with the awful square face being back, the lack of a back button in most places, and the only one they do have on the Aura doesn't work right, the jumpy slider bar and the much more cumbersome shelf navigation are but a few that irritate me. While not major bugs that totally make it unusable, I would not call them minor. Most are in the class of walking around with toilet paper stuck to your shoes and your fly undone for years at a time.

I don't regret buying the Kobo and Mini, although I have sworn to never buy a book from Kobo till they fix things up. I bought the Mini for it's size which is perfect for on the bus etc. and the Aura because I was going out of town to work in the extreme boonies and wanted a new toy to play with. And it has been almost a hobby trying to figure out what is going on and see if I can make it cry by minor changes in the conf. file Too many bugs, too little time. Oddly enough my Sony and kindle readers do not seem to have many bugs. Maybe one or two which occur annually.

I hope that Kobo eventually sees the wisdom in an expression commonly used among programmers.

"There is never time to do it right, there is always time to do it over." But by then I will have most likely have moved on.

Helen

[samhy]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

Odd. Does it happen with the Aura light on?

I still get a lot of going back a page or two instead of forward, and the book opening a few pages back with 2.6.1.(my margins are zero and I tap at the far right)

Helen

It was more on the Mini, so I don't know if the light on would change something, but it seldom happens.
Regarding going back several pages, the only time it happened everything was making the Aura go backward. Even prompting the menu bar. I turned it off and on, then everything was well again.

I have to say that issues are not common at all on both my Mini nor my Aura.

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by samhy

It was more on the Mini, so I don't know if the light on would change something, but it seldom happens.
Regarding going back several pages, the only time it happened everything was making the Aura go backward. Even prompting the menu bar. I turned it off and on, then everything was well again.

I have to say that issues are not common at all on both my Mini nor my Aura.

Nice for you

It doesn't bother me that much as the wrong page on opening only happens about every second time I turn it on perhaps 1-2 times a day, and the going backwards is only about once every 10 pages. Maybe Kobo is trying to simulate the real book experience of when you have a real thick book and remove your hand and all the pages go together or when you drop it on the floor or your mother or cleaning lady reshelves it

I could read only on my Sony which is far more reliable but I paid more for the Aura so feel I should use it. Mea Culpa.

Helen

[robko]

Originally Posted by Lyn2012

I'm also remembering the numerous times when I was adjusting the font size/spacing on my Kobo Glo/Touch and the whole reader froze. Once again, only the Kobo has ever done this on me.

This was fixed quite a few firmware updates ago, so you can play with changing fonts to your hearts content and no freezes anymore.

I've had issues with double turns or dead taps in past, but this issue has also disappeared for me for a quite a while ago. Not sure what the difference is for why some people are still having issues and it's gone away for others . I use tap exclusively in either the bottom right or left corners (depending if I'm laying down or not).