Go6 unboxing

[Renate]

I've always found where somebody does the unboxing of a new device in a 30 minute video boring. So I try to skip over the part where you say, "And then I remove the cellophane from..."

I just received my new Go6. The question always is: should I read the instruction manual or warm up the soldering iron?

[Renate]

All you astute people have noticed already that the circuit board says "Poke6".

Opening the case on this is much tougher than the Poke5.
It takes quite a bit of force to open it.

This has a different processor than anything we've seen, an SM6115.
But it's part of the "Bengal" family so the same SDM662 Firehose loader works.
Currently I'm doing a full, raw backup. Done.
That way, no matter how I screw it up I can recover it.

The UART and EDL test points are as shown.

[AnnieQuinn]

Congratulations on getting a new device, and have been exploring it as much as you need.

[Renate]

As I've done to my Poke3 and Poke5 I have added a magnetic reed switch to my Poke6, erm, Go6. There are times that you can brick your device and the only way to recover is by using the EDL test points. This device is seriously a bear to open and I never want to do it again. The photos are of the little switch and of the wiring. (I took the photo before I cleaned the flux up. I didn't leave it sloppy.) I added a dab of epoxy to keep it from bouncing.

In any case, my device is back together again. (And still working.)

If a finite number (i.e. 1 or 2) people are seriously interested in doing this I can drop you a reed switch in the mail.

[Renate]

Then there is the question of magnetic cases. I always remove most of the back flap of the cover. I glue the remainder of the cover to the back of the case. By doing this I can remove 13 magnets from inside the device and 15 magnets from the back cover. That is something of a weight savings.

This is all detailed in the Poke5 thread.

[ottischwenk]

Hmmm - is the Go 6 so much “better” than the Poke 5 that this investment pays off after all, considering that I have about a dozen 6 inchers and read either on Palma and similar design (on the road) or on larger ones

[Renate]

1.01 * Poke3 = Poke5
1.01 * Poke5 = Go6

The Poke5 has 4 core, the Poke3 and the Go6 are 8 core.
All are eMMC 5.1 32GB and 2 GB RAM.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by Renate

1.01 * Poke3 = Poke5
1.01 * Poke5 = Go6

The Poke5 has 4 core, the Poke3 and the Go6 are 8 core.
All are eMMC 5.1 32GB and 2 GB RAM.

Thanks - I know, but
is Carta 1300 remarkably better than 1200?
Or can you only see the difference when the devices are next to each other?

[Renate]

I'm not sure what the Poke5 was using.

ED060KC1 - Carta 1000
ED060KC6 - Carta 1300 - Go6

[Renate]

There is one tiny cosmetic problem using the SDM662 Firehose loader. But it doesn't affect anything.

Found EDL 9008, handshaking... version 2.1
Sending sdm662.bin 100% ok, starting... ok, waiting for Firehose...
<log value="ERROR: Call to ufs_open(0, UFS_WLUN_DEVICE) failed:0" />
Ok

I'll be making a custom Firehose loader for the Go6 when I get around to it. Done!

I'm currently working on a non-Magisk root.

[Renate]

So, I have a Magisk-less root now. See: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=346096. The device is 90% there. That means that I can read my book, use my clicker and can't tell that I'm not on my Poke5.

OTOH, I find that I can get a system crash (900e) easier than I ever did with the Poke5. This needs some investigating.

Comparing screens is very difficult since Onyx plays with contrast, brightness, gamma and fonts. You have to put a slash through the "master switch" in the Eink center. But it is my impression that the Go6 has blacker blacks than the the Poke5.

[Renate]

To get your text to look the same as it has always looked on all the 6" 300 DPI devices that you've owned:

First, make sure that each app has the display density set to 300. The default is 350. WHY? This setting is under Eink Center for each app under the gear icon.

In Android Settings > Display > Advanced > Font size set the slider one click from the left. This should show as "Default" in contrast to the initial value of "Small fonts".

The Go6 does seem to boot about twice as fast as the Poke5. I have a bootanimation.zip with a count up that only gets to 5 while the Poke5 counts to 10.

[Renate]

From actually reading with the Go6 I find that the blacker blacks does add to ease of reading.
I'd really like to get an accurate measurement of the reflectance vs the Poke5.

If you only have really old ereaders, a Go6 is a great reader.
If you already have a Poke5, it's a bit of a splurge to go buy a Go6. YMMV.
(And if you don't need Android and 16 GB is ok then the Kobo Clara BW (1300) looks pretty hot too.)

[Renate]

I've patched, hashed and unsigned a Firehose loader for the Go6.
So now it gives no spurious error and it runs a full second quicker.
The link can be found in my sig on the EDL page.

[Renate]

So, for the Poke5 vs. Go6 comparison. Here is my microscope view under the same conditions.