' appears as a load of boxes

alehel · 02-24-2009, 11:54 AM

I know there are already posts about special characters not being displayed correctly, but this seems a bit different. I just purchased the O'reily book called "iPhone SDK" by Jonathan Zdziarski. All the letters appear as they should, but the ' get replaced by three square boxes every time. I've never had this problem with other ebooks.

The book in question is a mobi book. I can't test it on my computer as I'm using a Mac system. I've tried installing Times New Roman fonts which I transfered from my Mac system, but they have exactly the problem.

Any ideas?

Jellby · 02-24-2009, 11:57 AM

Maybe it uses a multi-byte encoding (incorrectly set up) and the curly apostrophe is the only non-ascii character...

mtravellerh · 02-24-2009, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alehel

I know there are already posts about special characters not being displayed correctly, but this seems a bit different. I just purchased the O'reily book called "iPhone SDK" by Jonathan Zdziarski. All the letters appear as they should, but the ' get replaced by three square boxes every time. I've never had this problem with other ebooks.

The book in question is a mobi book. I can't test it on my computer as I'm using a Mac system. I've tried installing Times New Roman fonts which I transfered from my Mac system, but they have exactly the problem.

Any ideas?

Try Dejavu. That font is quite famous for solving this kind of problem as it has all kinds of special symbols integrated.

HarryT · 02-24-2009, 12:11 PM

If you have access to a Windows PC, the "Lucida Sans Unicode" font is another one which has everything bar the kitchen sink in it.

Jellby · 02-24-2009, 12:17 PM

or Code2000.

alehel · 02-24-2009, 12:20 PM

Hmm. The first font I tried installing, Times New Roman, went without a problem. None of the other fonts I've tried to install though have worked. They don't show up in the list. I did exactly the same as I did with Times New Roman which worked just fine. A bit stumped.

I've tried shutting down and starting the device again without luck. Might try the reset function.

HarryT · 02-24-2009, 12:24 PM

Connect the Gen3 to your computer, go into the "system" folder and delete the file called ".fonts.cache-1" (if you're using a Mac this will be a hidden file because it starts in a "."). When you exit USB connectivity mode, your new fonts should be visible.

Nate the great · 02-24-2009, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alehel

I know there are already posts about special characters not being displayed correctly, but this seems a bit different. I just purchased the O'reily book called "iPhone SDK" by Jonathan Zdziarski. All the letters appear as they should, but the ' get replaced by three square boxes every time. I've never had this problem with other ebooks.

The book in question is a mobi book. I can't test it on my computer as I'm using a Mac system. I've tried installing Times New Roman fonts which I transfered from my Mac system, but they have exactly the problem.

Any ideas?

Yes, you can. FBReader can handle Mobi, and it runs on a Mac.
http://www.fbreader.org/

You could also try calibre, but its Mobi implementation is still in beta.
http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/

alehel · 02-24-2009, 02:14 PM

Tried all the dejavu fonts and none of them did the trick. Must be some formatting error.

alehel · 02-25-2009, 07:03 PM

Well I gave up trying to fix this and sent an email to oreilly to let them know. After just 40 min I got this reply.

Quote:

Hi Aleksander,

I have checked it out on the MobiReader for Windows and the file has the
problem you described. I let our ebook production team know about it,
so they will check into the problem and hopefully have an update for
that ebook soon!

Thanks for taking the time to let us know!

Now that's what I call customer service. I just hope the fixed version will come along soon.

Incidently, if anyone is looking for computer ebooks, oreilly is in the process of converting their library to pdf, mobi and epub. All drm-free. Apparently they currently have around 700 book available as ebooks. You can also purchase book packs were you get both the printed and the digital version for just $3 more than the price of the printed book. I really recommend them as they really seem to be taking this whole ebook thing seriously.

02-24-2009, 11:54 AM	#1
alehel Zealot Posts: 112 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Norway Device: Kobo Clara HD	' appears as a load of boxes I know there are already posts about special characters not being displayed correctly, but this seems a bit different. I just purchased the O'reily book called "iPhone SDK" by Jonathan Zdziarski. All the letters appear as they should, but the ' get replaced by three square boxes every time. I've never had this problem with other ebooks. The book in question is a mobi book. I can't test it on my computer as I'm using a Mac system. I've tried installing Times New Roman fonts which I transfered from my Mac system, but they have exactly the problem. Any ideas?

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02-24-2009, 11:57 AM	#2
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,542 Karma: 19001583 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	Maybe it uses a multi-byte encoding (incorrectly set up) and the curly apostrophe is the only non-ascii character...

02-24-2009, 12:11 PM	#4
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	If you have access to a Windows PC, the "Lucida Sans Unicode" font is another one which has everything bar the kitchen sink in it.

02-24-2009, 12:17 PM	#5
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,542 Karma: 19001583 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	or Code2000.

02-24-2009, 12:20 PM	#6
alehel Zealot Posts: 112 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Norway Device: Kobo Clara HD	Hmm. The first font I tried installing, Times New Roman, went without a problem. None of the other fonts I've tried to install though have worked. They don't show up in the list. I did exactly the same as I did with Times New Roman which worked just fine. A bit stumped. I've tried shutting down and starting the device again without luck. Might try the reset function.

02-24-2009, 12:24 PM	#7
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Connect the Gen3 to your computer, go into the "system" folder and delete the file called ".fonts.cache-1" (if you're using a Mac this will be a hidden file because it starts in a "."). When you exit USB connectivity mode, your new fonts should be visible.

02-24-2009, 02:14 PM	#9
alehel Zealot Posts: 112 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Norway Device: Kobo Clara HD	Tried all the dejavu fonts and none of them did the trick. Must be some formatting error.

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