Disastrous firmware upgrade for many BeBook users: no excuses from BeBook!!!

[Diogene]

Moderator's note: BeBook is aware of this issue and, unlike this thread's title may suggest, has offered their support to anyone who is affected. If you have any more questions in this regard, we recommend that you get in contact with them directly.

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The latest firmware upgrade had a simple but disastrous consequence for many BeBook owners: all the books we had in the internal memory were deleted!
It is even worse than that: the firmware renders the built-in memory totally unusable. Transferring files back to it does not work: they disappear immediately!!!
After 4 days of users accumulating testimonies of the same thing happening, not a word of excuse, not a single explanation, nothing!!!
Some companies like Bookeen are updating their firmwares too rarely, others do it often but do not have the proper security procedures to offer safe firmware upgrades.
I feel like a guinea pig, the owner of a beta product. Are consumers more and more treated with utter contempt? Are companies cutting costs too much and by doing so test their products too little before releasing/selling them? I think so, if I analyze many of my purchases from the past years.

EDIT: finally, some apologies! But they still offer the same destructive firmware on their Downloads page!

[Nate the great]

I would have expected that to happen. Didn't it happen with the last firmware upgrade? What was the difference between the two upgrades?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Diogene

The latest firmware upgrade had a simple but disastrous consequence for many BeBook owners: all the books we had in the internal memory were deleted!
After 4 days of users accumulating testimonies of the same thing happening, not a word of excuse, not a single explanation, nothing!!!
Some companies like Bookeen are updating their firmwares too rarely, others do it often but do not have the proper security procedures to offer safe firmware upgrades.
I feel like a guinea pig, the owner of a beta product. Are consumers more and more treated with utter contempt? Are companies cutting costs too much and by doing so test their products too little before releasing/selling them? I think so, if I analyze many of my purchases from the past years.

I thought it was common knowledge nowadays that you take backup of things. And you especially take backup before a firmware update. Even if the firmware update does not erase books the update can fail for some reason and you might have to send the unit for repair.

[Diogene]

Originally Posted by tompe

I thought it was common knowledge nowadays that you take backup of things. And you especially take backup before a firmware update. Even if the firmware update does not erase books the update can fail for some reason and you might have to send the unit for repair.

The update DID fail in so many cases!
We were given no reason!
And no excuses!
That is a major failure on all counts: utter incompetence and contempt of their consumers!
Well, after all, they are only a reseller in it for a quick buck.
Unlike Jinke, Sony or E-ink, they never contributed anything to the e-book market manufacturing-wise. Should I really be surprised?
Next time I will buy from a real manufacturer.

[mvoosten]

Originally Posted by Diogene

The update DID fail in so many cases!
We were given no reason!
And no excuses!
That is a major failure on all counts: utter incompetence and contempt of their consumers!
Well, after all, they are only a reseller in it for a quick buck.
Unlike Jinke, Sony or E-ink, they never contributed anything to the e-book market manufacturing-wise. Should I really be surprised?
Next time I will buy from a real manufacturer.

If you want incompetence: buy a Irex reader.. Compared to them hanlin/BeBook can't go wrong

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by mvoosten

If you want incompetence: buy a Irex reader.. Compared to them hanlin/BeBook can't go wrong

[SilverBullit]

Ok. What did they ever do to you?

As far as I can tell they put a lot of effort in developing the firmware to contribute to the ebook hardware.

I bet even Jinke uses their input on the firmware and ideas.

Besides that. I find it strange that you put up such a flame against a company that seems to put a lot of energy in improving their reader.

Firmware updates can go wrong. Things just happen even without a reason. Get over it....

I lost count on how many updates gone wrong on my macbook, iPhone and iPods I collected over the years. You do not see me complaining on the Apple forums.

And change that dramatic subject title where you at it.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Diogene

The update DID fail in so many cases!

Is this the same firmware that is on the Jinkie site?

I agree that any web page for firmware upgrades should tell everyone to backup all their ebooks before reflashing. Also, if there are multiple reports of problems they should disable the firmware download until it is fixed. However, as you say, Jinkie's "local partner" model does tend to fragment the ebook expertise. BeBook probably had no one "minding the store" over the weekend. This should have been addressed by now though.

[Diogene]

Originally Posted by SilverBullit

Firmware updates can go wrong. Things just happen even without a reason. Get over it....

The fact that they gave no reason is apparently enough for a brain deprived of any logic to believe there is indeed no reason for the same thing happening to many people with the same file. The BeBook corp. and most corporations will be delighted to learn that silence and contempt may indeed be successful communication strategies.

I lost count on how many updates gone wrong on my macbook, iPhone and iPods I collected over the years. You do not see me complaining on the Apple forums.

And change that dramatic subject title where you at it.

The fact that you take pleasure in a clear form of masochistic passivity does not make this pathetic behavior mandatory for 6 billion consumers on this planet.
But rest assured that many CEOs see you as the ideal man!

[Diogene]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Is this the same firmware that is on the Jinkie site?

I agree that any web page for firmware upgrades should tell everyone to backup all their ebooks before reflashing. Also, if there are multiple reports of problems they should disable the firmware download until it is fixed. However, as you say, Jinkie's "local partner" model does tend to fragment the ebook expertise. BeBook probably had no one "minding the store" over the weekend. This should have been addressed by now though.

This has not been seriously addressed by now: they still offer this disastrous firmware upgrade in their Downloads section!
An absolutely exemplary way of dealing with one's own disastrous mistakes!
Well, maybe there is only one overwhelmed incompetent employee in that company, and the CEO is right now enjoying a line of coke in a brothel in Thailand?
I am curious to know!

[tompe]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

I agree that any web page for firmware upgrades should tell everyone to backup all their ebooks before reflashing.

I do not know if the web page have been changed this week but

http://mybebook.com/a11/Downloads/article_info.html

says in big letters "***BEFORE YOU START:***, - BACKUP/COPY ALL CONTENT FROM YOUR BEBOOK TO YOUR PC!!, - MAKE SURE YOUR BEBOOK IS FULLY CHARGED"

[Diogene]

Originally Posted by tompe

I do not know if the web page have been changed this week but

http://mybebook.com/a11/Downloads/article_info.html

says in big letters "***BEFORE YOU START:***, - BACKUP/COPY ALL CONTENT FROM YOUR BEBOOK TO YOUR PC!!, - MAKE SURE YOUR BEBOOK IS FULLY CHARGED"

So what? Does that change anything to the disastrous behavior of this company in this case?
And the question is: since when is this mentioned?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Diogene

So what? Does that change anything to the disastrous behavior of this company in this case?
And the question is: since when is this mentioned?

If you did an update you should know if it was mentioned. If you did the upgrade without taking backup when it was explicitly said you should take backup then you have only yourself to blame.

[SilverBullit]

Originally Posted by Diogene

This has not been seriously addressed by now: they still offer this disastrous firmware upgrade in their Downloads section!
An absolutely exemplary way of dealing with one's own disastrous mistakes!
Well, maybe there is only one overwhelmed incompetent employee in that company, and the CEO is right now enjoying a line of coke in a brothel in Thailand?
I am curious to know!

[Diogene]

Originally Posted by tompe

If you did an update you should know if it was mentioned. If you did the upgrade without taking backup when it was explicitly said you should take backup then you have only yourself to blame.

Not blaming a company for releasing a firmware that deletes all the books I put in the product I bought from them!? Not blaming that company for giving us no explanation!? Not blaming that company for not apologizing!? Not blaming that company for still offering that file (and no other file) four days after it was mentioned to them in their forum?!
I have copies of those books scattered around in many directories on my hard-disks. I wasted time copying them back: they were deleted again as soon as I disconnected my BeBook from my PC!!! Many other customers are in the exact same situation.

You must be one more clone of the sheepish consumer dreamed by so many CEOs who cut the budgets they should spend on thoroughly testing the products/software they make before they get released!