Instructions for patching firmware 3.11.0

[GalacticHull]

@Jackie_w

Yes, conversion to TTF did work! Thank you! As for the bold/italic/normal confusion, I've just weeded out fonts that wont work after adjusting internal and external names, and kept those which fared well. My top five all made it, so no complaints.

Thank you!

[GeoffR]

I've updated the kobo_patch_3110.zip attached in post #1 to include the `Freedom to advanced fonts control` patch (since no-one has reported any problems, apart from the usual one that some fonts don't work), and made the `Fix page breaks bug` patch enabled by default.

I've also updated the `ePub fixed top/bottom margin` patch to include an alternative to set both top and bottom margin to the same value (similar to the `ePub ajustable top/bottom margin patch). If you are using full-screen reading mode you probably want to set both top and bottom margins to be equal, whether fixed or adjustable.

Post #2 has a new patch to remove the white borders from the book covers on the homescreen tiles.

Edit: Post #2 has a new patch `Compact homescreen layout (Glo/Aura only)`. This patch reduces the margins between some of the objects on the homescreen, which allows a bit more space for the tiles. (Still not quite enough room to get three rows of book tiles like earlier firmware versions could though.)

[GeoffR]

I've updated the `Compact homescreen layout (Glo only)` patch in post #2, I reduced the margins even more and also reduced the spacing between tiles, so now it is possible (only just) to squeeze in three rows of book tiles.

(Edit: Updated the patch again to reduce the size of the % read font, which was making tiles for partially read books a bit larger than the tiles for new or finished books.)

This patch will probably only work on the Glo, as the Aura has a slightly shorter screen.

See this post for how my Glo's homescreen looks without the patch. Attached is a screenshot with the patch:

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

I've updated the `Compact homescreen layout (Glo only)` patch in post #2, I reduced the margins even more and also reduced the spacing between tiles, so now it is possible (only just) to squeeze in three rows of book tiles.

Thank you! That is awesome!!!

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

I've updated the `Compact homescreen layout (Glo only)` patch in post #2, I reduced the margins even more and also reduced the spacing between tiles, so now it is possible (only just) to squeeze in three rows of book tiles.

I'm going to point out though that the Glo will only show the last 6 larger book tiles. If you hide most tiles like I do, you can't have it show the last 8 books.

It must also depend on when you open up the other smaller tiles as well for their placement. When I added 2 smaller tiles for a collection and for a game, it dropped a book tile so only 5 were visible instead of keeping all 6, even though it easily should have fit 3 down as you show.

[Inkblot]

I'm not sure why, but installing this patch (in the first post) with only a few modifications caused my Aura to factory reset. (Not a big deal for me as it took all of a few minutes to get back up and running with calibre; except for sideloaded fonts—Recycle Bin to the rescue!)

However, installing the same patch after the factory reset with the exact same modifications except to add the three extra patches in the second post worked perfectly. Any idea what's up? Could a corrupted database cause this? (I ask because once when connecting to my PC prior to installing the patch the first time it gave a bad database error and wouldn't connect immediately.)

[Martina Schein]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

I've updated the `Compact homescreen layout (Glo only)` patch in post #2, I reduced the margins even more and also reduced the spacing between tiles, so now it is possible (only just) to squeeze in three rows of book tiles.

Thank you for this patch, GeoffR. It looks great.
Please take a look of my new Homescreen with the patch.

[PeterT]

Remember the colour is from use of the Kobo snapshot; the actual screen will still be gray

[Terisa de morgan]

Thank you Geoff, I've patched at the end my Kobo... for the homescreen only

[Nick_1964]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Remember the colour is from use of the Kobo snapshot; the actual screen will still be gray

I have seen this before... making a screenshot and it is full color, offcourse the screen isn't capable of display color,but for some reason i was thinking that the reader process everything in grey.. until I saw the color screenshot, so the 16 shades of grey (ehh the book has more and i am not referring to it) are color displayed in grey.. interesting..

[Ripplinger]

After 10 tries fiddling with various spacing for the homescreen, I finally got 8 book tiles to fit. My tiles seem slightly longer than others in screenshots, and I'm pretty certain it's because the text is slightly larger than what I see in other screenshots. And I have no idea how or where I might have changed that.

This is the spacing I used that finally allowed 3 rows of book tiles showing. Anything smaller and the top line of the search bar was cut off, or the y in Library at the bottom was missing. You can see wherever the % sign is used that it forces the tile to be slightly taller than those without the %. I had set Avenir font for the footer for the page numbers within books, could that also be what is used for the text in the tiles on the homescreen?

Spoiler:

<Patch>
patch_name = `Compact homepage layout (Glo only)`
patch_enable = `yes`
#DragonHomePageView (Search bar height)
replace_string = CDEE88, `min-height:100px;`, `min-height:089px;`
replace_string = CDEE9B, `max-height:100px;`, `max-height:089px;`
#QWidget (Space below search bar)
replace_string = CDF021, `min-height:40px;`, `min-height:01px;`
replace_string = CDF033, `max-height:40px;`, `max-height:01px;`
#MultiColumnTileView (Space between tiles)
replace_string = CDF1D1, `horizontalSpacing:10;`, `horizontalSpacing:01;`
replace_string = CDF1F2, `verticalSpacing:10;`, `verticalSpacing:01;`
#footer (Footer menu bar height)
replace_string = CDF61E, `min-height:95px;`, `min-height:68px;`
replace_string = CDF630, `max-height:95px;`, `max-height:68px;`
</Patch>

Edit: I put any font changes in the patch back to the original settings and I still can't get 3 book tiles with a % read in the description to fit going down. I still think it has to do with the slightly larger text I'm showing than others, but I really have no idea how I ended up with the larger text.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

Edit: I put any font changes in the patch back to the original settings and I still can't get 3 book tiles with a % read in the description to fit going down. I still think it has to do with the slightly larger text I'm showing than others, but I really have no idea how I ended up with the larger text.

I noticed the same thing and updated the patch to reduce the height of the font that is used for the reading percentage, you must have been using the patch from before the update.

There seems to be limits on how many tiles can be in each column (two in the first column, three each in the other two columns?), so it is not possible to fill the screen with small tiles. I guess the patch will not be very useful if you like to have a lot of collection tiles.

The patch is not ideal, it would be better if there was a way to change the size of the tiles.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Inkblot

I'm not sure why, but installing this patch (in the first post) with only a few modifications caused my Aura to factory reset. (Not a big deal for me as it took all of a few minutes to get back up and running with calibre; except for sideloaded fonts—Recycle Bin to the rescue!)

However, installing the same patch after the factory reset with the exact same modifications except to add the three extra patches in the second post worked perfectly. Any idea what's up? Could a corrupted database cause this? (I ask because once when connecting to my PC prior to installing the patch the first time it gave a bad database error and wouldn't connect immediately.)

(Edit: In another thread it was suggested that if the database is corrupt, the device might continue to function normally until it is restarted, and then do a factory reset. Since patching causes the device to restart, this could fit what happened to you.)

It could happen if the device was running the wrong firmware version before the patch, and then updated to the correct version after the factory reset.

But my Glo did a spontaneous factory reset when testing a faulty patch in firmware 3.3.0, so I know it is possible for a bad patch to cause the problem too.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

I noticed the same thing and updated the patch to reduce the height of the font that is used for the reading percentage, you must have been using the patch from before the update.

There seems to be limits on how many tiles can be in each column (two in the first column, three each in the other two columns?), so it is not possible to fill the screen with small tiles. I guess the patch will not be very useful if you like to have a lot of collection tiles.

The patch is not ideal, it would be better if there was a way to change the size of the tiles.

I probably copied your patch about 4 hrs before you updated it to include that change hehe. It's now gorgeous and a homescreen I can live with between your terrific patches and the Kobo Utilities plugin. Thanks for all your work making reading more enjoyable for the rest of us.

[Martina Schein]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Remember the colour is from use of the Kobo snapshot; the actual screen will still be gray

Yes I know, PeterT.