[Kindle 4] bottom third of screen broken -> render only on top 2/3

Strathopic · 10-18-2021, 03:13 PM

An unknown incident left the bottom right area of this k4's screen stuck. Fortunately, the top part still works well.

I'm trying to get KOReader to render books only on the top part. I've gotten almost there by increasing the bottom margin size (DCREREADER_CONFIG_B_MARGIN_SIZES), but the max effective value leaves a couple of lines of text below the unusable part (2nd picture).

Any ideas on how to push those last couple of lines up? Ideally the whole UI would be above that height, but we'd be more than happy with getting the entire text to render.

I've read that android devices can use a "patch.lua" file to change the resolution, but had no luck making something like that work here.

On a side note, I'm thinking that being able to mask one or more areas of a broken screen so that KOReader would render around them would a cool feature.

Thanks in advance!

Frenzie · 10-18-2021, 03:31 PM

You can do the same thing on Kindle more easily (although I'm not sure otoh if you can do it as persistently).

See here for an example:
https://github.com/koreader/koreader...evice.lua#L123

It'll probably suffice to add a similar viewport to the Kindle4 definition:
https://github.com/koreader/koreader....lua#L319-L328

According to https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Amazon_Kindle_4 it's 800 × 600, so for a viewport that's presumably something like:

Code:

viewport = Geom:new{x=0, y=0, w=600, h=500}, -- 800 - 300 = 500, just a guess but easy to adjust

If there's something weird going on (like the screen is upside down) then you'll have to use something like y=300, h=800 instead.

Strathopic · 10-18-2021, 06:00 PM

Very nifty. Thanks, Frenzie!

In addition to the viewport, I added a new "require" to device.lua:

Code:

local Geom = require("ui/geometry")

This patch probably won't survive a KOReader update, but we can live with that.

Cheers!

Frenzie · 10-19-2021, 12:05 PM

Which values did you end up using?

Strathopic · 10-19-2021, 06:20 PM

w=600, h=485 ;D (half of the status bar is under the broken part).

Now taking a quick look at geometry.lua to see if it does compound rectangles.

Frenzie · 10-20-2021, 07:02 AM

It can do various tricks with rectangles, but I don't think rectangles that aren't actually shaped like rectangles is one of them. But given that everything else builds on proper rectangles I doubt it makes a difference regardless.

JSWolf · 10-27-2021, 10:24 AM

@Strathopic, you are best to dump your broken Kindle and buy a new Kindle. The screen is broken and chances are it will only get worse.

Strathopic · 10-29-2021, 09:00 PM

True that. It was rather cool to see the line slowly crawl upwards, leaving everything under it frozen.

It seems to have stabilized, though! It's been like the attached img for a few hundred page turns so far.

I made sure to set the viewport a couple pixels above the unusable area. My thinking being avoiding asking the device to update that part of the screen.

Even though replacing it wouldn't be expensive, I think it was worth the trouble if we can squeeze a few more books out of it as a secondary ereader.

I'll edit this post if it gets any more borked

10-18-2021, 03:13 PM	#1
Strathopic Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2021 Device: Kindle pw1, Kobo Aura One, Kindle 4	[Kindle 4] bottom third of screen broken -> render only on top 2/3 An unknown incident left the bottom right area of this k4's screen stuck. Fortunately, the top part still works well. I'm trying to get KOReader to render books only on the top part. I've gotten almost there by increasing the bottom margin size (DCREREADER_CONFIG_B_MARGIN_SIZES), but the max effective value leaves a couple of lines of text below the unusable part (2nd picture). Any ideas on how to push those last couple of lines up? Ideally the whole UI would be above that height, but we'd be more than happy with getting the entire text to render. I've read that android devices can use a "patch.lua" file to change the resolution, but had no luck making something like that work here. On a side note, I'm thinking that being able to mask one or more areas of a broken screen so that KOReader would render around them would a cool feature. Thanks in advance! Attached Thumbnails

10-18-2021, 03:31 PM	#2
Frenzie Wizard Posts: 1,627 Karma: 724945 Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Antwerp Device: Kobo Aura H2O	You can do the same thing on Kindle more easily (although I'm not sure otoh if you can do it as persistently). See here for an example: https://github.com/koreader/koreader...evice.lua#L123 It'll probably suffice to add a similar viewport to the Kindle4 definition: https://github.com/koreader/koreader....lua#L319-L328 According to https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/Amazon_Kindle_4 it's 800 × 600, so for a viewport that's presumably something like: Code: viewport = Geom:new{x=0, y=0, w=600, h=500}, -- 800 - 300 = 500, just a guess but easy to adjust If there's something weird going on (like the screen is upside down) then you'll have to use something like y=300, h=800 instead.

10-18-2021, 06:00 PM	#3
Strathopic Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2021 Device: Kindle pw1, Kobo Aura One, Kindle 4	Very nifty. Thanks, Frenzie! In addition to the viewport, I added a new "require" to device.lua: Code: local Geom = require("ui/geometry") This patch probably won't survive a KOReader update, but we can live with that. Cheers! Attached Thumbnails

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10-19-2021, 12:05 PM	#4
Frenzie Wizard Posts: 1,627 Karma: 724945 Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Antwerp Device: Kobo Aura H2O	Which values did you end up using?

10-19-2021, 06:20 PM	#5
Strathopic Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2021 Device: Kindle pw1, Kobo Aura One, Kindle 4	w=600, h=485 ;D (half of the status bar is under the broken part). Now taking a quick look at geometry.lua to see if it does compound rectangles.

10-20-2021, 07:02 AM	#6
Frenzie Wizard Posts: 1,627 Karma: 724945 Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Antwerp Device: Kobo Aura H2O	It can do various tricks with rectangles, but I don't think rectangles that aren't actually shaped like rectangles is one of them. But given that everything else builds on proper rectangles I doubt it makes a difference regardless.

10-27-2021, 10:24 AM	#7
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 74,386 Karma: 129358310 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	@Strathopic, you are best to dump your broken Kindle and buy a new Kindle. The screen is broken and chances are it will only get worse.

10-29-2021, 09:00 PM	#8
Strathopic Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2021 Device: Kindle pw1, Kobo Aura One, Kindle 4	True that. It was rather cool to see the line slowly crawl upwards, leaving everything under it frozen. It seems to have stabilized, though! It's been like the attached img for a few hundred page turns so far. I made sure to set the viewport a couple pixels above the unusable area. My thinking being avoiding asking the device to update that part of the screen. Even though replacing it wouldn't be expensive, I think it was worth the trouble if we can squeeze a few more books out of it as a secondary ereader. I'll edit this post if it gets any more borked