Firmware 4.28.17826

[Cootey]

If somebody has already brought attention to this, then I apologize.

I was poking around with font controls on my Elipsa running this firmware and discovered that there’s a new advanced mode for adjusting fonts. It allows a side-by-side comparison with a select few fonts supported. Also (and this will of interest many people on here), font weight is now supported.

The reason I discovered it was because the EPUB I was reading had been set at a gargantuan sized font size. So as I was adjusting it I noticed the advanced comparison page. The font size is not accurate, but it’s still a good side-by-side comparison.





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[Cootey]

I thought the geeks out there might like to see how markups and notebooks are handled on the Linux side of the Kobo.

First, here is the directory listing for my Elipsa:


You’ll notice some new directories in there. First of all, screensavers does not work anymore. At least not on my Elipsa. I’m having odd glitches whenever I connect my Elipsa into the computer. Importing erases all of my downloaded Kobo purchases. Perhaps the screen saver isn’t working for the same glitchy reason. At any rate here’s the content listings for “iink”. The content template for each subdirectory is the same (The names of the subdirectories are on the left):



The other new directory is called “markups”. It is in this directory that all annotations reside. Annotations seem to survive a factory reset, or more likely, are synced to and restored from Kobo’s servers upon setup and sync. Notebooks are just goners. What’s curious is that the files are pairs of JPGs and SVG vector graphics. This is what allows the annotations to adapt to some typographic changes. Ones that can’t adapt are left in the ebook with a markup icon to allow you to revert or the original markup typographic settings, or to delete the markup:


The thing I was looking for was where are those pesky notebooks kept? I found them. The are located in the root directory as *.nebo files. I have extracted mine and will see if I can reimport them just by copying them to the root when I get finish with Kobo and my defective Elipsa.

Any questions?


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[anacreon]

The screen savers work for me, but the panel saying it was sleeping or off, and giving the last book read' %read and time left. I don't mind since I was never interested in those statistics on the cover.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Cootey

If somebody has already brought attention to this, then I apologize.

I was poking around with font controls on my Elipsa running this firmware and discovered that there’s a new advanced mode for adjusting fonts. It allows a side-by-side comparison with a select few fonts supported. Also (and this will of interest many people on here), font weight is now supported.

The reason I discovered it was because the EPUB I was reading had been set at a gargantuan sized font size. So as I was adjusting it I noticed the advanced comparison page. The font size is not accurate, but it’s still a good side-by-side comparison.

I don't see anything new there. The advanced settings shows up when you select most of the built in fonts. The setting is font specific, so it isn't shown for "Publisher Default". It is also not available for Chinese and Japanese fonts. There is a patch to allow the advanced settings for sideloaded fonts.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I don't see anything new there. The advanced settings shows up when you select most of the built in fonts. The setting is font specific, so it isn't shown for "Publisher Default". It is also not available for Chinese and Japanese fonts. There is a patch to allow the advanced settings for sideloaded fonts.

iink & markups directories we’re in previous firmware? I know I don’t live here enough, but I just never saw them mentioned before. I’ve been poking around Kobo’s innards for years. I’m a bit surprised I never noticed them before. I’ll have to check my Kobo disk backups.

As for the advanced font control, I am very surprised to hear that was already there. I’ve read so many new Kobo owners ask here if there was a way to increase the thickness/weight of the font, and nobody ever mentioned the advanced manu in those particular threads. However, I usually use “Publisher Default” because it’s fine and it avoids tiny font/humongous font issues. No wonder I never noticed it.

Where were *.nebo files mentioned before? I’d like to read that thread and see what else I missed.


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[sherman]

Originally Posted by Cootey

iink & markups directories we’re in previous firmware? I know I don’t live here enough, but I just never saw them mentioned before. I’ve been poking around Kobo’s innards for years. I’m a bit surprised I never noticed them before. I’ll have to check my Kobo disk backups.

As for the advanced font control, I am very surprised to hear that was to there, too. I’ve read so many new Kobo owners ask here if there was a way to increase the thickness/weight of the font, and nobody ever mentioned the advanced manu in those particular threads. However, I usually use “Publisher Default” because it’s fine and it avoids tiny font/humongous font issues. No wonder I never noticed it.

Where were *.nebo files mentioned before? I’d like to read that thread and see what else I missed.


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I think davidfor was just talking about the advanced font stuff.

But yeah, the advanced font tweaking has been a feature on Kobo devices for years.

[Skydog]

As mentioned, the advanced font feature has been around as long as I can remember. I have all my Kobos patched to enable the feature on sideloaded fonts.

[salamanderjuice]

Originally Posted by Cootey

I thought the geeks out there might like to see how markups and notebooks are handled on the Linux side of the Kobo.

First, here is the directory listing for my Elipsa:


You’ll notice some new directories in there. First of all, screensavers does not work anymore. At least not on my Elipsa. I’m having odd glitches whenever I connect my Elipsa into the computer. Importing erases all of my downloaded Kobo purchases. Perhaps the screen saver isn’t working for the same glitchy reason. At any rate here’s the content listings for “iink”. The content template for each subdirectory is the same (The names of the subdirectories are on the left):



The other new directory is called “markups”. It is in this directory that all annotations reside. Annotations seem to survive a factory reset, or more likely, are synced to and restored from Kobo’s servers upon setup and sync. Notebooks are just goners. What’s curious is that the files are pairs of JPGs and SVG vector graphics. This is what allows the annotations to adapt to some typographic changes. Ones that can’t adapt are left in the ebook with a markup icon to allow you to revert or the original markup typographic settings, or to delete the markup:


The thing I was looking for was where are those pesky notebooks kept? I found them. The are located in the root directory as *.nebo files. I have extracted mine and will see if I can reimport them just by copying them to the root when I get finish with Kobo and my defective Elipsa.

Any questions?


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Can you open and edit those .Nebo files in one of the nebo apps? And vice versa?

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

Can you open and edit those .Nebo files in one of the nebo apps? And vice versa?

I don't exactly follow you. The *.Nebo files *are* the notebooks on the Elipsa, so they are opened and edited on the Elipsa. I took a look inside them, and they are binary files with no discernible text or images.

On my Ghost ebooks thread, somebody suggested I avoid WiFi to prevent the firmware update. I think I will factory reset thru the dev tools to the original firmware and try that to see if the problems I am running into with this firmware happen with the original one, assuming it's different. I'll reimport my .nebo files and let you folks know if they can be reimported into the notebooks app, but first I will remove the screensaver folder and the custom dictionaries to see if they are the source of the corruption.

Update: I don't know why somebody told me this would bypass the upgrade. You only have two choices at setup: WiFi or Kobo desktop app. Both force an update immediately. So I'm missing something. But good news! .nebo files can be reimported into notebooks just by copying them to the root of the device. Curiously, without using WiFi, the desktop app does not install the required handwriting recognition resources. I need to enable WiFi to allow my Elipsa to edit these imported .nebo files or create new notebooks. Once installed, I can continue adding to my imported notebooks. So now we have a way of backing up our notebooks.


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[patrik]

Originally Posted by Cootey

But good news! .nebo files can be reimported into notebooks just by copying them to the root of the device.

Maybe you can kindly ask davidfor to add the option to backup/restore those in his excellent calibre kobo utility plugin?

[salamanderjuice]

Kobo licensed tech from MyScript who make the Nebo note taking app on Windows, iOS and Android. See https://www.nebo.app/. They also use the ".nebo" extension and you can manually import notebooks into the apps that you maybe backed up on Dropbox or whatever so I'm curious if the Kobo ".nebo" notebooks are compatible with the apps and are notebooks from the apps compatible with the Elipsa?

I can send you a test notebook if you need one and are curious.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Cootey

Update: I don't know why somebody told me this would bypass the upgrade. You only have two choices at setup: WiFi or Kobo desktop app. Both force an update immediately. So I'm missing something.

You can prevent the update if you use the Kobo desktop to do the setup. After the setup is finished, and before you eject the device, remove the firmware update files. Then eject and it will run without an update.

But, I doubt the problem is with the firmware, but, it won't harm to try this. As mentioned in another reply, it sounds like the database is being corrupted. If this is continuously happening after factory resets, and you can't find a pattern to cause it, it might be failing storage in the device. We do see this with the older devices and replacing the internal SD card, where possible, can fix things. In this case, it is a brand-new device, so I hope it isn't having problems. I haven't noticed anyone else having problems, but, if they are not connecting to the PC or restarting the device, it is less likely they would notice.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by salamanderjuice

Kobo licensed tech from MyScript who make the Nebo note taking app on Windows, iOS and Android. See https://www.nebo.app/. They also use the ".nebo" extension and you can manually import notebooks into the apps that you maybe backed up on Dropbox or whatever so I'm curious if the Kobo ".nebo" notebooks are compatible with the apps and are notebooks from the apps compatible with the Elipsa?

I can send you a test notebook if you need one and are curious.

Thanks! I didn’t know that. In my search for Nebo files, the app didn’t come up. I will definitely experiment with testing cross-compatibility with the iOS app on my iPad. I’ll post an update in my Elipsa Notebook chat thread.


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[Cootey]

Originally Posted by davidfor

You can prevent the update if you use the Kobo desktop to do the setup. After the setup is finished, and before you eject the device, remove the firmware update files. Then eject and it will run without an update.

Ah! That’s how it’s done. Thank you. I hadn’t thought to use the desktop app in this way. I always setup over Wi-Fi. I just finished setting up again after my fourth factory reset (is there a name for the dev tool version to differentiate from the garden variety version?). So far, no troubles, but if things go as they have been, I’ll start noticing glitches by the end of today. I’d like to rule out the current firmware, so I’ll probably reset again as you’ve suggested.


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[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Cootey

Ah! That’s how it’s done. Thank you. I hadn’t thought to use the desktop app in this way. I always setup over Wi-Fi

So do I. But, occasionally I want to try and older firmware for some reason. Then I use the desktop app.

I just finished setting up again after my fourth factory reset (is there a name for the dev tool version to differentiate from the garden variety version?).

I haven't settled on a term. I probably refer to it as "full factory reset" as it does take it back to the out-of-factory state. It does the same thing as what Kobo calls a "manual reset" (see https://help.kobo.com/hc/en-us/artic...or-Kobo-Elipsa), but, is probably easier to do, especially if you already have developers mode turn on.