Epub Page turning gets slower further into the novel

[mukoan]

I haven't experienced this before and was wondering if anyone else has. I've read a lot of epubs on my sony prs 505 now and usually it's all good. But I recently downloaded John Scalzi's "Agent to the Stars" in epub format, (which you can get from here btw: http://manybooks.net/titles/scalzijo...the_stars.html)... and although the page turning behaves ok at the start of the book... by the time I get to a few chapters in, the page turning becomes really bad... like several seconds per page turn. I tried re-formatting from epub to epub using calibre and it made no difference. I eventually solved the problem by converting from epub to lrf using calibre, and now it's cool, but I would prefer to have a decent working epub version. I've read epub novels much longer than this one without any issues, so it makes me think there's something specific with the formatting of this one. Does anyone know the cause?

If you have a prs505 and want to duplicate my scenario exactly, download the epub version from the above link, change the font to large, then go to page 82... you'll see what I mean.

Oh, btw, the book so far is very cool and I highly recommend it. It's rare when a book makes me laugh out loud like an idiot.

[Penguin44]

I've actually noticed this on many epub books. Even the new Steven King suffers. I also get a constant 'formatting' on every page turn like it has to process the entire book for the next page flip.

[mukoan]

Yeah, I've resorted to pretty much converting anything I've got to LRF format so I don't run into the problem. I'm keeping the EPUBs for future compatibility, but it's the LRF format that I'm currently using. I think it's something to do with the way the 505 handles the EPUB rather than the format itself.

[sony_fox]

I thought it was just me!

I've thought it a recent change? since the last update or two? But I wasn't paying close attention and so could be wrong.

Glad to know that converting to Lrf fixes this. Can I do this with a DRM'd epub?

Thanks.

[mukoan]

Originally Posted by sony_fox

I thought it was just me!

Glad to know that converting to Lrf fixes this. Can I do this with a DRM'd epub?

Thanks.

*getting up onto my hi-horse*

This is a prime example of why DRM is a bad thing... but fortunately it is easy enough to disinfect your book of DRM, (just do a search around these forums). Conversion to any format should then be relatively trivial, (especially if you use excellent software like calibre).

*getting off my hi-horse*

[radius]

I think this usually happens with long "flows". So you can either fix the epub by chopping it into smaller pieces (like one file per chapter) or by converting it to LRF as mentioned above.

Just be aware the for epubs, each file starts on a new "page" so be careful if you break up a long chapter into multiple files it will have breaks in it.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by mukoan

If you have a prs505 and want to duplicate my scenario exactly, download the epub version from the above link, change the font to large, then go to page 82... you'll see what I mean.

I did what you said and couldn't recreate your slow page turns. Going to page 82 with large fonts (which in a epub book is the same page whether you have small or large font set.) The page turns for me were the same as any other time I've read. I flipped through the next 13 pages without a hitch. The last 50+ books I have read were in epub and I have never run into this phenomenon.

I have heard others describe what your experiencing. I always thought maybe it was embedded fonts, but that would be slow from the beginning to the end. At least embedded fonts is slow in LRF format. I looked at the html code and it is a very simple format, they used Calibre to shift it to this format.

For the record I have a PRS-505 firmware version 1.1.00.18040 with PRSplus hack installed. I have only ever used Calibre to send books to my reader. I am setup to use the free fontin fonts for every epub book on the fly. The fonts and a small css file are located on my reader. To be clear though this is a new setup that I've used now for 3 books. The previous 50 or so epubs were without the PRSplus hack or these fonts.

The only thing I can think of is that since early on I have ensured that half of my internal memory card is clear. I seemed to notice oddities when I started to fill my card beyond 75% full, like maybe it writes temp files. Currently I have 96 megs of free memory and no slow page turns.

If I had this problem I would backup my books. Then, using the option on the reader itself under Advanced Settings, I would format internal memory (this will wipe any books on the reader.) I would then place this book on by itself and see if the problem still exists.

Good Luck

[AdamGott]

I have experienced this problem recently as well! It isn't a particularly long EPUB (221 pages) and it does not seem to matter which font size I use. I have read at least a hundred other books on my reader and never experienced this problem.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by AdamGott

I have experienced this problem recently as well! It isn't a particularly long EPUB (221 pages) and it does not seem to matter which font size I use. I have read at least a hundred other books on my reader and never experienced this problem.

I have to admit this evening I started to run into the slow page turns. After 4 or 5 slower turns I powered down the device (not put it to sleep) and restarted it and the problem vanished.

It is just a small linux device. Occasionally you might run across something that puts a hitch in its giddy-up and just have to shut it down to clear out the cobwebs.

Shutting down the device can be found under advanced settings.

Since I use PRSplus I have the center joypad button set to shutdown the device if I hold it in for a few seconds while in any menu. You never can tell when you might want to power it down.