Koreader running on Kobos (all of them, hopefully!)

[Name28]

Hello! I used the last version of Koreader for about 10 days and now I finally have returned to the old version (downloaded about 2 years ago. version - v2014.11-277-g51e8dee).
Reasons why I returned to the old one:
1. It works much faster. I mean using my Kobo Glo, the difference in working speed between two versions was significant for me.
2. I use only two dictionaries. On the last version, it works very slowly when I want to translate any word, and often it crashes during "searching" of words. I do not know why, but using an older version I did/do not have any problems with dictionaries and it worked/works much faster.
If anybody has interest in solving this issue, I can send "crash.log".
Thank you.

[Ken Maltby]

Frenzie & Dushistov are working on the Stardict API (sdcv) and will probably have another updated version for KOReader in the near future.

2014.11-277 was quite some time ago, if we could find out the versions that contained Frenzie's earlier bumps to sdcv, you could try the version just before them and find the newest version that works for you. ( It would also ID where the slow down started.)

Luck;
Ken

[Frenzie]

On the sdcv side nothing has really changed (see here). I will update sdcv one of these days, but cmake is proving more frustrating than I anticipated. Anyway, logically that means that if anything is slowing things down, it would be one or a combination of these.

For example, a very simple thing to try would be to comment out or delete this line. It has recently become somewhat contentious.

[Name28]

Ken Maltby, thank you for your reply. I will try another version, when I have time.

Originally Posted by Frenzie

On the sdcv side nothing has really changed (see here). I will update sdcv one of these days, but cmake is proving more frustrating than I anticipated. Anyway, logically that means that if anything is slowing things down, it would be one or a combination of these.

For example, a very simple thing to try would be to comment out or delete this line. It has recently become somewhat contentious.

Thank you for your reply. I commented the line you mentioned, but no result. Translation window still pops up in ~5sec, and Koreader often crashes. I cannot try other combinations, since I do not have enough knowledge in programming.
Anyway, I just compared two versions one more time. I can definitely say that overall performance of older version is noticeably better than new one's. I mean not only dictionary search, but page turn over is also faster. In short, Kobo works much faster on older Koreader.
I am attaching “crash.log” file (renamed to ".txt"), maybe it helps to find out problem.
Thanks.
crash.txt

[Frenzie]

Did you try updating it to the latest nightly? I think one of those looks like it might've been fixed in https://github.com/koreader/koreader/pull/3155 You can keep two versions of KOReader in KSM.

I couldn't say about speed. It doesn't really seem any different to me. But then dictionaries don't take 5 seconds to show up.

[Alan_S]

About speed, when it is mention, overall speed is more or less same (I was on very old b695 or something like that, now I'm on one of the latest, maybe a week old), page turns, etc.

But, there's one thing that is slower (but not that it is a too big of a problem, at least not for me), highlighting. After we leave dictionary highlight is removed visible slower than before.

Just to mention...

[Frenzie]

That's basically the same thing as the line I mentioned above. If you have an immediate dictionary result, then displaying a little "searching for" infobox might actually slow it down slightly (particularly on an older, slower E Ink display), or at least feel slower to some people even if it isn't necessarily so. But you don't have to wait for the highlight to disappear before tapping. The point is actually to reduce visual disorientating by leaving some markers around the interface.

A bit like how this highlights the element you were linked to:
http://jsfiddle.net/nnyxwh84/

[Name28]

Originally Posted by Frenzie

Did you try updating it to the latest nightly?

Thank you very much!!! I have just downloaded the latest version and it works great. Overall speed and dictionary as well are fast enough. Thank you again, I very appreciate the work you people have been doing.

[Frenzie]

Originally Posted by Name28

Thank you very much!!! I have just downloaded the latest version and it works great. Overall speed and dictionary as well are fast enough. Thank you again, I very appreciate the work you people have been doing.

You're welcome, but other than one or two crash fixes that may have affected you there really shouldn't be any difference in speed.

[gerhaher]

It's probably half a year or longer since I last read a pdf-file but if I remember correctly I could long press the upper right corner to see the full, unconverted pdf-page, and then with another long press return to reflow mode again.
Today I can't do that anymore.

Have I screwed up my settings or has this feature been removed?

[Frenzie]

@gerhaher
That particular way of accessing bookmark flipping/browsing mode was semi-accidentally removed but it's back in the navigation menu on the top left as "Bookmark browsing mode".

But maybe a single tap on the top left to enter page flipping mode (hasn't changed) would appeal more?

[gerhaher]

Yeah, that will do. Thanks for your help.

[gerhaher]

I've downloaded one of the latest nightly from this place: http://build.koreader.rocks/download/nightly/

Before (with the latest release from 20170821):
KOReader started immediately. The first time I searched in the dictionary took almost a minute (I have three dictionaries installed).

After:
Now it is the opposite: KOReader takes almost a minute to start. First search in dictionary takes no time at all.
If I delete the dictionaries, KOReader starts as before.


I know the Github-guys have worked with the dictionary feature recently.
So is this an issue related to that or is the change intentional?

[Alan_S]

For me, it takes some time to start, but it is always related to time to open book (as I use in option to open last read book).

So, sometimes it can be relatively long time (but not as long as a minute, or at least I didn't read book that will take so much time to open), sometimes is much faster. I would say, between 5-20 seconds. On average of course, as I said, it depends on a current book.

But, I also must say, I'm not on last nightly (but relatively close to it, maybe 2-3 weeks behind) so there may be something changed in that regard.

Maybe try to open last read book if you don't use that option? This may speed things up. Or, maybe even slow it down considerably.

[Frenzie]

Originally Posted by gerhaher

Before (with the latest release from 20170821):
KOReader started immediately. The first time I searched in the dictionary took almost a minute (I have three dictionaries installed).

After:
Now it is the opposite: KOReader takes almost a minute to start. First search in dictionary takes no time at all.
If I delete the dictionaries, KOReader starts as before.

Neither of those scenarios sound normal to me. I dropped a quick note in https://github.com/koreader/koreader...ment-333645475

What Alan_S says is very true of course, though I'd say most books load in under ten seconds for me.

First search in dictionary could be slightly slower, but I doubt some caching could make the difference between a couple of seconds and 20+ seconds.

Edit: copying reply for convenience

Originally Posted by poire-z

I don't know.
This change will indeed have the dictionary directory browsed on startup, just to read the .ifo files in there.
sdcv would do the same on each call.

It could have that effect if the dict directory on this user's device was "hard" to physicaly read on the sdcard: first time walking the directory hierarchy + reading the ifo could take some time - but once it's done, it's cached in RAM and the following attempts at that (by sdcv or by a restart of koreader) would have a reason to be fast.

The user could check if it's still the same after a koreader restart (without a reboot).
(Or there could be a really bad and huge .ifo, but that would mean not only the first search in dictionary with old version would take a minute, they would all do).
I can't think of anything else.