*VERY* detailed guide on changing default Reader fonts

[gwynevans]

No, but there are dates displayed, e.g. in the titles of the "Book by Date" pages which are in 'mm/dd/yyyy' format & which would be expected to be in some other format (probably 'dd/mm/yyyy') for outside North America.

[JeffElkins]

Originally Posted by gwynevans

No, but there are dates displayed, e.g. in the titles of the "Book by Date" pages which are in 'mm/dd/yyyy' format & which would be expected to be in some other format (probably 'dd/mm/yyyy') for outside North America.

Yes, I understand. I was just saying that I didn't (yet) see anything we could adjust to choose one format or the other, i.e. a hack.

[Pendergast]

Hello again.
I have a bit of a problem with the new font. It's a minor issue and I think I'm the one to blame.
When I open a book, I can't use the "(page) / (>/<) buttons" at the bottom left to turn pages. I can only do that with the ones that are next to the numbers.

That's annoying because I use those buttons a lot but I think that I screwed it when choosing the options to flash. I wil repeat all the process and I won't select any option related to navigation.

EDIT: Solved. Reflashed again and choosing only Personalization, Uniform fonts and Localization and the problem is gone. Lesson: Don't mess again with the rest of the buttons.

[Valloric]

Originally Posted by Pendergast

That's annoying because I use those buttons a lot but I think that I screwed it when choosing the options to flash. I wil repeat all the process and I won't select any option related to navigation.

PRSC has certain options that change button behavior. But then again, you specifically have to select them if you want this to happen. So yes, don't touch the selection buttons in PRSC if you don't know what you're doing.

[roofone]

Connect the Reader to your computer, and remove then transfer back all the books you had in memory... If you skip this last step about reloading books, you may find that some of the lines are missing.

Ever run into a situation where this happens even though you reload the books? With Caecilia and the latest PRS customizer, I'm missing a line or two on every page.

[Pendergast]

Originally Posted by roofone

Ever run into a situation where this happens even though you reload the books? With Caecilia and the latest PRS customizer, I'm missing a line or two on every page.

I experienced the same problem with Vera and the last prs customizer in the prs of my wife. I'm using Cambria in my prs and I have no problems. Try it.

Pendergast

[igorsk]

If you've got missing/cropped lines in your books on Reader, your fonts on Reader and eBook Library are not in sync. Make sure you've got exactly the same ttf files on Reader and in the "\Program Files\Sony\Reader\Data\fonts" folder. Also, if you uploaded any books before you replaced the fonts, you will have to a) reupload them or b) delete cache2.xml and let reader reformat the book on first opening.

[Valloric]

Originally Posted by igorsk

If you've got missing/cropped lines in your books on Reader, your fonts on Reader and eBook Library are not in sync. Make sure you've got exactly the same ttf files on Reader and in the "\Program Files\Sony\Reader\Data\fonts" folder. Also, if you uploaded any books before you replaced the fonts, you will have to a) reupload them or b) delete cache2.xml and let reader reformat the book on first opening.

The guide does have a section on updating fonts in Sony's eBook Library, and it suggest the user to do just that, but it fails to mention that it's a requirement if you're using the Library to transfer ebooks to the Reader instead of calibre.

I made a mention on how I will update the guide to reflect this necessity, but it seems I have forgotten to actually do it.

I'll get the updated version online later today.

EDIT: Update online.

[roofone]

Originally Posted by igorsk

If you've got missing/cropped lines in your books on Reader, your fonts on Reader and eBook Library are not in sync. Make sure you've got exactly the same ttf files on Reader and in the "\Program Files\Sony\Reader\Data\fonts" folder. Also, if you uploaded any books before you replaced the fonts, you will have to a) reupload them or b) delete cache2.xml and let reader reformat the book on first opening.

Thanks. That fixed it.

[shawn99]

how do I backup my books from the reader before I flash it?

[ProDigit]

it should be noted in appendix C 'unbricking the device' that changing the text ...40 to 41, could give trouble whenever there's a Sony update for the device.
chances are small, but people no longer will be able to update their device to:
PRS-505 Updater 1.1.00.18041.exe

I'd also ask for caution in this matter, because as soon as Sony gets wind of this they will disable the possibility for you to do this in the future.
I want to remind you of the PSP, where Sony fought hard for 2 years with several OS updates to 'secure' the PSP. For us it seems like we can improve their products.
For them they take it as a breach in security, and probably fear that customers will return their products once they brick them.

Tampering with any of their devices is not really welcomed by Sony.
I don't really like this policy, but the past has proven Sony is more than willing to put a team of engeneers ready to further secure the software data inside their products.

That ofcourse isn't really bad, because Sony had to do something to convince customers to update their OS.
So their newer OS had more feats than their previous, resulting in the PSP being able to browse the internet, and so on...

And honestly, the homebrew guys, most of them where IT cracks, that invented an OS that ran on the PSP,and could play many (other than Sony) games.

If sony sees you can already change the lettertype, I hope they will not start fearing you'd also be able to buy books on Amazon with a hack on their device, or start manufacturing your own type of games that run on this device (or something)....

Same with laptop batteries. The only reason almost every Sony Vaio has a different battery is to discourage third party sellers that can offer batteries at often 1/3th the price of Sony.
In worst case scenario I found batteries sold online at 18% of the original Sony batteries. Sony warned customers about fake low quality batteries, but so far I've been using this battery for 1,5 years and it still runs my laptop longer than the original unused lower capacity Sony battery. Never caught fire, never became hot...
you know..

[igorsk]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

it should be noted in appendix C 'unbricking the device' that changing the text ...40 to 41, could give trouble whenever there's a Sony update for the device.
chances are small, but people no longer will be able to update their device to:
PRS-505 Updater 1.1.00.18041.exe

Nope, this trick just allows you to force reflashing the firmware. The actual version flashed stays at 18040.
As for your other points, Sony could have definitely made our life harder by disabling the autorun hook (and they actually claimed they've done so when 505 was announced) but I guess they see that this option makes the Reader more popular and might actually increase sales.

[ProDigit]

So you're saying that by changing the 40 to 41,you're not making the system believe it's installing a firmware upgrade to 1.1.00.18041?

If things are similar with the PSP,you won't be able to downgrade; and Sony might not really see this as a positive thing.
I'm pretty sure they have not yet caught wind of people tampering with the device, if they do, Sony knowing, they will make everything work so that tampering will be impossible

[Peto]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

So you're saying that by changing the 40 to 41,you're not making the system believe it's installing a firmware upgrade to 1.1.00.18041?

If things are similar with the PSP,you won't be able to downgrade; and Sony might not really see this as a positive thing.
I'm pretty sure they have not yet caught wind of people tampering with the device, if they do, Sony knowing, they will make everything work so that tampering will be impossible

Sure, pretty much like they did with the PS2 in which there was an empty slot where the hacking chip fit and worked perfectly.

[Valloric]

Originally Posted by ProDigit

I'm pretty sure they have not yet caught wind of people tampering with the device, if they do, Sony knowing, they will make everything work so that tampering will be impossible

Sony reads this forum, and has a very nice relationship with its staff. A member of MB staff was invited to the unveiling of the PRS-700 just a few weeks ago, so I doubt they hold any grudges.

Furthermore, the hacks that igorsk, JeffElkins, kovidgoyal, myslef and others provide increase the value of the Reader, and I'm fairly sure Sony knows this. For instance, I never would have bought the Reader had it not been for calibre and ConvertLIT. This is true for many other people.

Sony is not stupid. The fact that MobileRead enjoys a warm realtionship with Sony to this day is proof that even if they mind the hacks (which I sincerely doubt they do), they're not going to oppose them.