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Old 10-02-2009, 12:09 AM   #1
cdfick
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Astak EZ Reader Pocket Pro Problem with .prc Files

Hi, everyone. I used my Pocket Pro for the first time last night, and my experience was not a good one. Although I love the look and feel of the reader, the device's function was not adequate. The main problem was that the device would constantly freeze. The problem happened with two .prc files that I downloaded from mobileread...captain blood and sea hawk. With captain blood, the unit froze after every ten pages or so. Sea Hawk froze at the title screen. Has anyone else experienced the same, or does anyone else want to try those files and see if they are having a similar problem?

I like the device and especially its support for numerous file types, but if the files are essentially non-usable, i'll likely return the product. I'm downloading the new firmware right now in hopes that it will solve the problem, but the description of the firmware didn't list this fix.

Welcome everyone's perspective.
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Old 10-02-2009, 12:52 AM   #2
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Originally Posted by cdfick View Post
Has anyone else experienced the same, or does anyone else want to try those files and see if they are having a similar problem?
I tried both ebooks and they seem to work. I flipped though the first chapter of Sabatini, Rafael: Captain Blood: Books One and Two, v.1, 27 Dec 2007 and the NOTE at the start of Sabatini, Rafael: The Sea-Hawk v1 9 jan 2009. I was not actually reading, and the space between page turns might make a difference, but I saw no problems.

Perhaps this is a USB transfer issue or a SD card issue? I always read from the SD card, but you could try internal memory (or try a SD card if you were reading from internal).

By the way, Captain Blood crashed the Windows version of FBReader. I think because it is uncompressed. The Hanlin's MOBI app should handle uncompressed MOBIs, although they are unusual.

Last edited by wallcraft; 10-02-2009 at 01:03 AM.
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Old 10-02-2009, 01:10 AM   #3
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Sometimes the reader will require a second or even a third press of the next page key, particularly if you took a long time reading the page. Give that a try. I am not sure what is happening but I think the unit is going to sleep while you are reading the page and missing the next key press. It wakes up but doesn't know what to do.

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Old 10-02-2009, 07:13 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cdfick View Post
Hi, everyone. I used my Pocket Pro for the first time last night, and my experience was not a good one. Although I love the look and feel of the reader, the device's function was not adequate. The main problem was that the device would constantly freeze. The problem happened with two .prc files that I downloaded from mobileread...captain blood and sea hawk. With captain blood, the unit froze after every ten pages or so. Sea Hawk froze at the title screen. Has anyone else experienced the same, or does anyone else want to try those files and see if they are having a similar problem?

I like the device and especially its support for numerous file types, but if the files are essentially non-usable, i'll likely return the product. I'm downloading the new firmware right now in hopes that it will solve the problem, but the description of the firmware didn't list this fix.

Welcome everyone's perspective.
PRC work great for me, over a thousand pages from Baen Webscriptions.

I have your type of problem with LIT files., must use reset button, power/lock is frozen also.
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Old 10-02-2009, 07:38 AM   #5
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I have experienced the same issue. The unit will randomly freeze on the page turn. When it happens, the buttons still beep, so the button push is acknowledged but nothing happens. The only button that works (kind of) is the power button. One push/release gets the keyboard locked message. Another push/release does nothing. From here, the only solution is to hold the power button till the unit shuts down. I have only been reading .prc files so far. I have some epubs and have been able to flip around through them without crashes, but have not done a reading session with an epub yet. I upgraded the firmware but the problem persists.
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Old 10-02-2009, 07:46 AM   #6
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Originally Posted by Toeknee View Post
I have experienced the same issue. The unit will randomly freeze on the page turn. When it happens, the buttons still beep, so the button push is acknowledged but nothing happens. The only button that works (kind of) is the power button. One push/release gets the keyboard locked message. Another push/release does nothing. From here, the only solution is to hold the power button till the unit shuts down. I have only been reading .prc files so far. I have some epubs and have been able to flip around through them without crashes, but have not done a reading session with an epub yet. I upgraded the firmware but the problem persists.
I can confirm having exactly the same problem you described Toeknee. I use mostly epub and pdf files but I was also having it when I switched to some other file types as an experiment (think it was prc). At first I though it was related to letting the machine sit around with power on, as I would often come back and find it in that state. That may be the case, but the more I read the more I noticed it happening even during a normal reading session.

This was with a slate blue PPro, updated with the first (only?) firmware update. Files were being read off a 16 gb class 6 sdhc card that was about half full.

Last edited by Morlac; 10-02-2009 at 09:38 AM. Reason: providing additional info
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Old 10-02-2009, 07:51 AM   #7
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I have never left mine unattended while powered on so all of my experiences have been while actively using it. I have emailed Astak, and I will report back with what I hear from them.
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Old 10-02-2009, 07:56 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Toeknee View Post
I have experienced the same issue. The unit will randomly freeze on the page turn. When it happens, the buttons still beep, so the button push is acknowledged but nothing happens. The only button that works (kind of) is the power button. One push/release gets the keyboard locked message. Another push/release does nothing. From here, the only solution is to hold the power button till the unit shuts down. I have only been reading .prc files so far. I have some epubs and have been able to flip around through them without crashes, but have not done a reading session with an epub yet. I upgraded the firmware but the problem persists.
Thanks, Toeknee. That is exactly what is happening with mine, and the power button only kind of works (i.e. will lock and power down the machine, but not let me unlock). I had hoped that it was only a problem with .prc files, but based on the previous post, it looks like it's not confined to just that type of file. It's a really frustrating problem as my unit just crashed two times in three pages. Thanks for the response, everyone. I wonder if Robert from Astak any some advice.
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Old 10-02-2009, 10:08 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Toeknee View Post
I have experienced the same issue. The unit will randomly freeze on the page turn. When it happens, the buttons still beep, so the button push is acknowledged but nothing happens. The only button that works (kind of) is the power button. One push/release gets the keyboard locked message. Another push/release does nothing. From here, the only solution is to hold the power button till the unit shuts down. I have only been reading .prc files so far. I have some epubs and have been able to flip around through them without crashes, but have not done a reading session with an epub yet. I upgraded the firmware but the problem persists.
I've had it freeze, mostly or exclusively on .prc files. I find if I HOLD the exit button, (the moon shape next to the OK button) for about 4 to 5 or more seconds, it unfreezes.

AJ
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Old 10-02-2009, 01:33 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cdfick View Post
Hi, everyone. I used my Pocket Pro for the first time last night, and my experience was not a good one. Although I love the look and feel of the reader, the device's function was not adequate. The main problem was that the device would constantly freeze. The problem happened with two .prc files that I downloaded from mobileread...captain blood and sea hawk. With captain blood, the unit froze after every ten pages or so. Sea Hawk froze at the title screen. Has anyone else experienced the same, or does anyone else want to try those files and see if they are having a similar problem?

I like the device and especially its support for numerous file types, but if the files are essentially non-usable, i'll likely return the product. I'm downloading the new firmware right now in hopes that it will solve the problem, but the description of the firmware didn't list this fix.

Welcome everyone's perspective.
I also had this problem (or very similar) that only seemed to happen with prc files (accelerando by charles stross). The first few times that I tried to read it it would seem to get frozen, but then I tried the power button for a few seconds and the device would power up. It seems as if it is powering off without telling me and I need to power it off (not good, not good). But after a few times I tried again and right now I've read about 10 pages without this problem. before I saw the problem after two or three pages.

Also, this happened when I was reading or when the screen was blocked, but with a prc book.


edit: by the way, try with other files.
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Old 10-02-2009, 02:14 PM   #11
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This was with a slate blue PPro, updated with the first (only?) firmware update. Files were being read off a 16 gb class 6 sdhc card that was about half full.
Doesn't Astak recommend that you use Class 4 or less? Class 6 and higher cards are designed for cameras, especially video cameras, and have fast, minimum data transfer speeds. The class rating has to do with how fast the card can transfer data. It seems like the PPro needs the slower SD cards.
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Old 10-02-2009, 02:35 PM   #12
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Doesn't Astak recommend that you use Class 4 or less? Class 6 and higher cards are designed for cameras, especially video cameras, and have fast, minimum data transfer speeds. The class rating has to do with how fast the card can transfer data. It seems like the PPro needs the slower SD cards.
I *think* class should not matter here. So far as I know--

(a) it's a rating of how fast the card is able to accept data being written, not read. Shouldn't really have an effect other than when initially copying files over.

(b) isn't it a rating of how fast it *can* accept data, not how fast the data *must* be supplied to it?

In another thread, Musicman said that he was using a class 6 8gb sdhc card in his EZReader w/o problems.
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Old 10-02-2009, 02:48 PM   #13
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I *think* class should not matter here. So far as I know--

(a) it's a rating of how fast the card is able to accept data being written, not read. Shouldn't really have an effect other than when initially copying files over.

(b) isn't it a rating of how fast it *can* accept data, not how fast the data *must* be supplied to it?

In another thread, Musicman said that he was using a class 6 8gb sdhc card in his EZReader w/o problems.
That is correct - I have music on the card and wanted to try the MP3 player in the EZ-Reader. I had no problems (this is a Micro Center Brand card).
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Old 10-02-2009, 04:55 PM   #14
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I've had it freeze, mostly or exclusively on .prc files. I find if I HOLD the exit button, (the moon shape next to the OK button) for about 4 to 5 or more seconds, it unfreezes.

AJ
I have only had one freeze since reading this post and holding the EXIT unfroze it! Woohoo! As long as there is a way to easily unfreeze it, then this is not a huge problem. Hopefully, this will work every time.
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Old 10-02-2009, 07:06 PM   #15
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I have only had one freeze since reading this post and holding the EXIT unfroze it! Woohoo! As long as there is a way to easily unfreeze it, then this is not a huge problem. Hopefully, this will work every time.
awesome -- will definitely try that when I get my unit exchanged!

Can we somehow get facts like that put into the wiki or a FAQ? I just know that I'm going to be trying to remember it a week from now!
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