Kobo Firmware 4.12.12111

[koboy]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The new home screen works for me. I've gotten used to it. The changes to the firmware in the last few versions have made it worth the update.

But if Kobo were to decide to go to some dolled-up version of the old configurable tile home screen, I would be very happy they did.

i've put this latest firmware on my Kobo Touch and i concur it does have some nice new additions which is why i decided to try it. unfortunately having to give up the ability to have book covers and multiple collections like i can on the old home screen is on balance a step too far/not worth it for me. in every other aspect the new features are definitely an advancement/improvement.

edit. one minor gripe being right handed i would have preferred it if the icon on the top left hand side of the home screen that brings up the various settings/options was on the top right side instead, although i'm sure i'd get use to it.

best wishes koboy

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by koboy

i prefer it mainly because i have 14 pages worth of collections to go through therefore i find it much easier to have as many of them as possible on the home screen. sometimes i may have 2 or 3 books showing and the rest are collections or i might have 4 books and a couple of collections. ultimately i do it because i have the choice to do so. the old home screen in my opinion is much more user friendly in that regard. thank you for asking



best wishes koboy

Ah yes I understand. I must admit I only use the top row of the four currently reading books. The rest is just wasted screen or a ‘fun’ reminder of the book inmost recently added to my library. But I didn’t really mind. Extra collections on the home screen wouldn’t really be of much use to me personally because I don’t know in advance from what Collection I’d like to start/continue reading after I finished a current book. But now that I think about it, I would really appreciate if one of the slots would hold a link to Pocket, as I do use that regularly. Thank you for sharing!

[Quoth]

This FW seems OK on my Kobo H2O original. Previous FW 4.8.1103
The unofficial conf setting for full screen, before, would work for a while with ordinary ePubs and then chop off edge at right margin. The 4.12.12111 working fine.

I use embedded Dejavu Serif on my own documents. Rendering used to lose detail badly at the most useful size, one step larger on GUI made it render fine (no problem on Sony PRS350 or Nook Simple Touch). Now the font renders correctly at smaller size. Also setting Georgia to a lighter weight now seems to work better, though that might be my imagination (reading Grace O'Malley from Project Gutenberg).

The arrows on bookshelves/list of books is good as occasionally my fumble fingers would open a book instead of changing page. I do so like using volume buttons on my phone's eReader app and dedicated page turn buttons on Nook Simple Touch, Sony PRS350 and the old Kindle DXG.

[frostschutz]

I'm late to the party, just updated my H2O today, and I skipped the (unofficial) updates in between.

This update will take some time getting used to for me... full screen reading in epub mode is gone, and the replacement wastes way more space all around. I'd like to reduce margins and line spacing but I can't.

Setting margins to 0 literally glues the text to the left and right borders, but there's still huge space to top and bottom. Line spacing seems to have grown larger as well, even though it's set to minimum.

[boriar]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The new home screen works for me. I've gotten used to it. The changes to the firmware in the last few versions have made it worth the update.

But if Kobo were to decide to go to some dolled-up version of the old configurable tile home screen, I would be very happy they did.

I agree with that. The new home screen (with recent updates and patches) are better now but the old 3.x home screen was more useful IMHO

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by frostschutz

I'm late to the party, just updated my H2O today, and I skipped the (unofficial) updates in between.

This update will take some time getting used to for me... full screen reading in epub mode is gone, and the replacement wastes way more space all around. I'd like to reduce margins and line spacing but I can't.

Setting margins to 0 literally glues the text to the left and right borders, but there's still huge space to top and bottom. Line spacing seems to have grown larger as well, even though it's set to minimum.

Do you use the Kobo patches?

One of the two line spacing patches will give you the ability to customise the values used by the line spacing slider. One of the patches allows you to define your own 10 values, the other 24 values. That said, it still relies on the CSS in your individual books not being written such that it is not possible for the Kobo to override the original line spacing.

There is also a patch which can reduce the footer from approx. 4mm to 1mm.

More details available if you need them.

[Quoth]

I'd like the now much older configurable homescreen that was able to ONLY have the list of books in use. A big tile for My Books and a big tile for last selected collection is pointless as is the "promotional" stuff at the bottom.

I'm still otherwise happy with this release, except it doesn't fix the first line indent bug where the indent is 1/2 of the correct amount unless the first line indent is in "em". By default on Linux, Calibre leaves indent using LibreOffice's units (I use points, LO doesn't have an "em" option). If you tick the "remove spacing between paragraphs" and put the em size equivalent of original points, 1em = 12 pt, 1.4em = 16pt etc then it's perfect on my Kobo. The 16pt without conversion displays same as 1.4em on Calibre viewers, ePub apps and similar to correct on other eReaders.

[marianico]

Originally Posted by Namenlos

Has anyone tested the update on the mini yet?

I installed the update in my mini and it works well

[jlemonde]

This new update doesn't show up on my Kobo Clara HD.... Why is this so ? Any idea ? I'm still on 4.10 !

[geek1011]

Originally Posted by jlemonde

This new update doesn't show up on my Kobo Clara HD.... Why is this so ? Any idea ? I'm still on 4.10 !

It's due to the affiliate in affiliate.conf. Kobo does staged rollouts based on where you purchased your kobo. Recently, bestbuyca, walmartca, and beta have been the first to get new versions.

[jlemonde]

Originally Posted by geek1011

It's due to the affiliate in affiliate.conf. Kobo does staged rollouts based on where you purchased your kobo. Recently, bestbuyca, walmartca, and beta have been the first to get new versions.

Thank you ! Is it safe then to type in "beta" instead of "Kobo" ? (lowercase?) What other changes would that imply ?

[Biloute75]

Hi,

I try to install the last firmware without success. I have a Kobo Aura One. I am still under the 4.10.11655 (8/28/18). How comes ? I live in Denmark (don't think Kobo deploy the firmware first in USA then in Europe or something like that).

I don't want to use the Kobo Desktop (why should I use it if my devise have the wi-fi?)

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by jlemonde

Thank you ! Is it safe then to type in "beta" instead of "Kobo" ? (lowercase?) What other changes would that imply ?

Yes it’s safe. No changes except quicker updates

[Mrs_Often]

Originally Posted by Biloute75

Hi,

I try to install the last firmware without success. I have a Kobo Aura One. I am still under the 4.10.11655 (8/28/18). How comes ? I live in Denmark (don't think Kobo deploy the firmware first in USA then in Europe or something like that).

I don't want to use the Kobo Desktop (why should I use it if my devise have the wi-fi?)

Because, like has been said several times in this thread already, Kobo rolls out the updates in stages. It depends on your affiliate in your affiliate file (and it used to also depend on your location, but I don’t know if it still does). You can either change your affiliate, or just be patient. The update will be offered to you eventually.

[geek1011]

Originally Posted by jlemonde

Thank you ! Is it safe then to type in "beta" instead of "Kobo" ? (lowercase?) What other changes would that imply ?

Yep, in affiliate.conf. No other changes would be made (except fnac branding for fnac and walmart branding for walmartca).