Boox Leaf 2 general discussion

[pandaquq]

Root Tutorial?
I wrote in Chinese in another forum but the translation tested well in English via microsoft egde.
https://www.yunyaokz.com/forum.php?m...extra=page%3D1

[kandwo]

Received my unit today. Wow, setting up this device really made me understand what people mean with these Android devices being hard to use.

It's taken me a couple of hours. A lot of bugs with permission management. I give app permissions, then they don't work. I have to open them up and deny the permission and then grant it again for it to work. USB connection between the device and my computer has been buggy. The device itself has had mini freezes throughout the process where the touch screen stops responding for a time.

The lack of a back button kills me. The swipe movements interfere with app functionality and often summons the keyboard for no reason in certain apps.

Goldendict doesn't work as it should. I installed the same dictionaries as on my other Android devices, but it just doesn't want to cooperate. Aard2 has some annoying animations when scrolling using the page turn buttons, which it doesn't have on my A9 with the volume buttons.

Finally, I started reading in Koreader. Made the huge mistake of swiping from the top down to summon the settings bar, activate the front light. Then I wanted to get back to reading. Forget about it, the top bar is now constantly visible, because apparently I just escaped fullscreen mode for ever.

Well, instead of hurling the device out the window, I'll take a deep breath, curse the world and go back to using my other readers to get something useful done tonight. I'll continue experimenting tomorrow. Not really looking forward to it.

[Renate]

Yup, I feel for you.
I upgraded my Poke3 and I had to say, "@#$&*^, when did they put this stupid thing in?"
To be fair (which I hate to be) some of these so-called features end up being more efficient after one gets over the indignation.

[denisuu]

Pictures of the inside of the leaf 2 and the EDL points in the attachment.

The chipset is: QCS2290 (QCS_AGATTI)

[mergen3107]

@denisuu
Was it difficult to open the Leaf 2? Any glue?

[denisuu]

Originally Posted by mergen3107

@denisuu
Was it difficult to open the Leaf 2? Any glue?

No, it was really easy to open. I just stuck my fingernail under the corner at the power-button an slid it across one or two clips popped, I then used one of those guitar-pick and slid it around the device.

[kandwo]

Having used the Leaf 2 for reading for another day here are some further thoughts:

- It's very light - considerably lighter than the Libra 2. Easy to hold in one hand. This is not something I care a lot about. I have the Hisense A9 for whenever I need something mobile. And I sync my reading progress between all my devices (except the Kindles and the Libra 2). The materials feel good.

- The colour looks great, especially the interplay between the inner gray and the outer white frames. But I'm not using my e-readers as interior decoration or art, and would've preferred it to be all gray in the same colour as the screen background. Now the outer white edges get a bit too bright and distracting at times.

- The screen is one of the sharpest I've seen and an utter joy to read on. Considerably sharper than the Libra 2, which surprised me. Maybe the water proofing on the Libra 2 adds another slightly obfuscating layer?

- The page turn buttons work great when pressed, but they are flimsy and slightly unstable. They move when I rest my finger on them. Makes me wonder how they'll hold up in the long term. In contrast the home button on my Nova 3 is very nice and rigid.

- For some reason Koreader insists on using the upper button as a Next page button, whereas the other apps have this reversed. Confusing. I haven't found where to change this behaviour yet.

I have also just bought an SD card, which I will install and use for comics/manga. Hopefully the smaller screen will still work for that.

Now I just hope that Onyx will release a 300 PPI 10 inch version of this. With a sunken screen, SD card slot and page turn buttons.

[denisuu]

Originally Posted by kandwo

- The colour looks great, especially the interplay between the inner gray and the outer white frames. But I'm not using my e-readers as interior decoration or art, and would've preferred it to be all gray in the same colour as the screen background. Now the outer white edges get a bit too bright and distracting at times.

Yea, I wish there was an all black version with the sunken display. But, it's still a beautiful device and the edge doesn't bother me.

Originally Posted by kandwo

- For some reason Koreader insists on using the upper button as a Next page button, whereas the other apps have this reversed. Confusing. I haven't found where to change this behaviour yet.

Not on my device, only when I hold it upside down, the buttons don't switch when you turn the device. So if you hold in your right hand then, yea, the top button is page up.

There's a patch here: Koreader page turn buttons do not switch with rotation

The framwork.jar method might also work.

There's also an option in KoReader settings: TOP BAR > Taps and gestures > Page turns > Invert page turn tap and swipes / buttons

[mergen3107]

@denisuu
Thanks! Great news there is no glue

[popej]

Is there a risk to damage latches, when opening the case?
I would gladly remove magnets form inside, if opening is safe.

[denisuu]

There's always a risk I guess, just be gentle and take your time. I don't think you're likely to break any latches if you make sure you go all the way around and heard it pop everywhere. Don't try to pull it out if you only have it half open.

Why do you want to take the magnets out?

Just next to where the EDL pads are there's a speaker (which has a magnet) so putting a reed switch there might not be the best idea. Are there any more magnets in there which are not the speakers?

[Renate]

Originally Posted by denisuu

Why do you want to take the magnets out?

Indeed.
The reed switch I speced for the EDL test points was both the smallest and the least sensitive.
You have to put a good magnet on it to activate it.
Moreover, an accidental activation while it's operating normally does nothing.

[popej]

There are 2 magnets at the corners with narrow frame.

I'm afraid they can magnetize parts of my smartphone (smartwatch too). This could damage compass functionality. Now I have always to be careful to not place these devices together.

[kandwo]

Originally Posted by denisuu

Yea, I wish there was an all black version with the sunken display. But, it's still a beautiful device and the edge doesn't bother me.

There's also an option in KoReader settings: TOP BAR > Taps and gestures > Page turns > Invert page turn tap and swipes / buttons

Thank you, that solved it! Yes, I changed the orientation so that I can use it with my right hand. I really don't understand why they've made it default to have the buttons on the left.

I don't like black borders on my ereaders and prefer white. But the best option would be to have it all gray like the background of the screen to make reading as immersive as possible. Of course, this all fades away after a while of reading, but it would help the transition as you get sucked into the book

[denisuu]

Originally Posted by popej

There are 2 magnets at the corners with narrow frame.

I'm afraid they can magnetize parts of my smartphone (smartwatch too). This could damage compass functionality. Now I have always to be careful to not place these devices together.

You're right, there are 3 magnets in total in the device. 2 normal magnets on one side and one in the speaker on the other side. I don't think they interfere with smartphones or a smartwatch but I could be wrong. You would make it even lighter by taking them out lol.

If you search for 'fastboot' on the Onyx reddit, there's a post of someone with a Boox Nova Air C that got the device in EDL mode with a EDL-cable. Do you happen to have one laying around? If so, could you test that pretty please

Otherwise, I'll make one to test it myself.