Firmware 4.38.21908

[Aleron Ives]

When was the last time Kobo actually made a serious change to the database format that would actually have led to database damage if you ignored the warning and used an old KTE with a newer firmware?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

When was the last time Kobo actually made a serious change to the database format that would actually have led to database damage if you ignored the warning and used an old KTE with a newer firmware?

I'm not aware of any such change going back to the early 2010's. As there are some Kobo beta testers in this forum, I believe that any such issue would be posted about before the release of the firmware.

[Aleron Ives]

In that case, shouldn't the warning be removed entirely, or at least changed to a short "this might potentially break things, but it probably won't" message? It seems to be much more severe than is warranted.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

If you update your Kobo firmware before Calibre gets an update for that firmware, you'll always see an "unsupported firmware" error. If Kobo didn't make any changes to the database, it's safe to use Calibre normally. If Kobo did make changes to the database format, you may corrupt the database.

It's a "use at your own risk" type of situation. If you want to avoid such Calibre errors, then don't update your Kobo until Calibre also has an associated update. Kobo doesn't change the database very often, so it's usually safe to ignore the error, as long as you keep database backups just in case.

But who is updating calibre for this new firmware? calibre 6.26.0 (released today) does not show it's been updated. So if nobody is updating it, we'll be flooded with people asking this very same question.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by compurandom

I haven't had a major database corruption in a month or two.

... and of course, this jinxed it for me.

Corrupted database detected this morning. Reboot didn't fix it.
Had to restore yesterday's database, which did fix it.

And I _was_ on the home screen when I plugged in and wifi was off, so that's not sufficient for this version of the firmware apparently. Sigh.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by compurandom

... and of course, this jinxed it for me.

Corrupted database detected this morning. Reboot didn't fix it.
Had to restore yesterday's database, which did fix it.

And I _was_ on the home screen when I plugged in and wifi was off, so that's not sufficient for this version of the firmware apparently. Sigh.

I thought I had mentioned that before? WiFi has nothing to do with the issue. Safely ejecting has nothing to do with the issue. Files not being closed before the USB connect? That seems to be the issue. In my experience, restarting the ereader (a reboot is the easiest way) is the only safe way to go.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I thought I had mentioned that before? WiFi has nothing to do with the issue. Safely ejecting has nothing to do with the issue. Files not being closed before the USB connect? That seems to be the issue. In my experience, restarting the ereader (a reboot is the easiest way) is the only safe way to go.

This is the approach I used to take when running into db problems with my Elipsa. I just didn’t trust the firmware to close the files when switching to the Home Screen. Since then, I’ve gotten lazy. I should probably start rebooting again before connecting so that I don’t run into this error again.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I thought I had mentioned that before? WiFi has nothing to do with the issue..

Actually it does. Wifi doesn't have to be off, but if wifi is on, the device may randomly try to sync. Sometimes sync gets stuck (and drains the battery) and then doesn't release the database when you plug in USB.

In my experience, restarting the ereader (a reboot is the easiest way) is the only safe way to go

I'll agree with that. Reboot before usb...except that I wouldn't call that easiest....it's just the only one that works every time.

There are multiple causes for this problem... my point is that I eliminated the two most common causes and still had a problem.

[icallaci]

I'm trying to be patient, but does anyone know if we will eventually have patches for 4.38.21908? Geek1011 said he would release them "soon" but that was on August 31, and I haven't seen or heard anything since then. I managed to get a few of them working from the previous version, but some (like My 24 line spacing values) are beyond my ability to modify. I'm not trying to pressure anyone, and I guess I could go back to the previous firmware version, but before I do that, I thought I'd ask. Thanks.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by icallaci

I'm trying to be patient, but does anyone know if we will eventually have patches for 4.38.21908? Geek1011 said he would release them "soon" but that was on August 31, and I haven't seen or heard anything since then. I managed to get a few of them working from the previous version, but some (like My 24 line spacing values) are beyond my ability to modify. I'm not trying to pressure anyone, and I guess I could go back to the previous firmware version, but before I do that, I thought I'd ask. Thanks.

The biggest delay at the moment is that patch `My 24 line spacing values` needs rewriting for this fw. I think it's probably one of the most used patches but it's also one of the most complex so I think @geek1011 is probably the only one who can fix it. I'm sure he will when he has enough time to devote to it.

[icallaci]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

The biggest delay at the moment is that patch `My 24 line spacing values` needs rewriting for this fw. I think it's probably one of the most used patches but it's also one of the most complex so I think @geek1011 is probably the only one who can fix it. I'm sure he will when he has enough time to devote to it.

Thanks, Jackie. I figured it was more complicated than usual, since in the past I've been able to use the old patches with new firmware without modification, but not this time. Oh, well, it's not a huge deal (I can still read), so I will practice being patient.

[Aleron Ives]

Many of the patches are simple integer constant replacements, whereas that particular patch rewrites the assembly code for the function that controls line spacing, so if Kobo makes any changes to related functions, it could not only change the position of the line spacing function within the library, but it could also change which registers are being used, thus requiring significant alterations to the assembly instructions being added with the patch.

It's the kind of thing that Kobo can change trivially with access to the source code, but trivial changes to source code can cause the compiler to make significantly different decisions, and the resulting assembly can be incompatible with a previous version of the same patch.

[geek1011]

Patches are out

[lee.hauser]

I'm relatively new to Kobo (Libra 2 specifically) and after the firmware update (right in the middle transferring a large number of books from Calibre to the device), my NickelMenu gives me a "generator error" instead of showing Koreader and Plato. I haven't seen anyone else complain about this, so I don't know if its unexpected behavior or not. Should I just reinstall?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by lee.hauser

I'm relatively new to Kobo (Libra 2 specifically) and after the firmware update (right in the middle transferring a large number of books from Calibre to the device), my NickelMenu gives me a "generator error" instead of showing Koreader and Plato. I haven't seen anyone else complain about this, so I don't know if its unexpected behavior or not. Should I just reinstall?

That indicates that there is an issue with the NickelMenu/KFMon install. A reinstall of the KFMon install package from the first message in the One-Click Install Packages for KOReader & Plato using the appropriate script in the second message is probably the easiest route.