From 2b2bc95cf20fbd71c9ea2ba38689157328db0a01 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: cottongin <cottongin@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2026 21:10:08 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] fixed

---
 lib/Epub/Epub/Section.cpp                    | 18 ++++++++++++++----
 src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.cpp | 13 ++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 26 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)

diff --git a/lib/Epub/Epub/Section.cpp b/lib/Epub/Epub/Section.cpp
index f346bd8..9f43321 100644
--- a/lib/Epub/Epub/Section.cpp
+++ b/lib/Epub/Epub/Section.cpp
@@ -193,10 +193,20 @@ bool Section::createSectionFile(const int fontId, const float lineCompression, c
 
   SdMan.remove(tmpHtmlPath.c_str());
   if (!success) {
-    Serial.printf("[%lu] [SCT] Failed to parse XML and build pages\n", millis());
-    file.close();
-    SdMan.remove(filePath.c_str());
-    return false;
+    Serial.printf("[%lu] [SCT] Failed to parse XML, creating placeholder page for chapter\n", millis());
+    // Create a placeholder page for malformed chapters instead of failing entirely
+    // This allows the book to continue loading with chapters that do parse successfully
+    auto placeholderPage = std::unique_ptr<Page>(new Page());
+    // Add placeholder to LUT
+    lut.emplace_back(this->onPageComplete(std::move(placeholderPage)));
+    
+    // If we still have no pages, the placeholder creation failed
+    if (pageCount == 0) {
+      Serial.printf("[%lu] [SCT] Failed to create placeholder page\n", millis());
+      file.close();
+      SdMan.remove(filePath.c_str());
+      return false;
+    }
   }
 
   const uint32_t lutOffset = file.position();
diff --git a/src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.cpp b/src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.cpp
index 832144e..47648a6 100644
--- a/src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.cpp
+++ b/src/activities/reader/EpubReaderActivity.cpp
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ void EpubReaderActivity::renderScreen() {
         renderer.displayBuffer(EInkDisplay::FAST_REFRESH);
       };
 
-      if (!section->createSectionFile(SETTINGS.getReaderFontId(), SETTINGS.getReaderLineCompression(),
+        if (!section->createSectionFile(SETTINGS.getReaderFontId(), SETTINGS.getReaderLineCompression(),
                                       SETTINGS.extraParagraphSpacing, SETTINGS.paragraphAlignment, viewportWidth,
                                       viewportHeight, SETTINGS.hyphenationEnabled, progressSetup, progressCallback)) {
         Serial.printf("[%lu] [ERS] Failed to persist page data to SD\n", millis());
@@ -524,6 +524,17 @@ void EpubReaderActivity::renderScreen() {
       section.reset();
       return renderScreen();
     }
+    
+    // Handle empty pages (e.g., from malformed chapters that couldn't be parsed)
+    if (p->elements.empty()) {
+      Serial.printf("[%lu] [ERS] Page has no content (possibly malformed chapter)\n", millis());
+      renderer.drawCenteredText(UI_12_FONT_ID, 280, "Chapter content unavailable", true, EpdFontFamily::BOLD);
+      renderer.drawCenteredText(UI_10_FONT_ID, 320, "(File may be malformed)");
+      renderStatusBar(orientedMarginRight, orientedMarginBottom, orientedMarginLeft);
+      renderer.displayBuffer();
+      return;
+    }
+    
     const auto start = millis();
     renderContents(std::move(p), orientedMarginTop, orientedMarginRight, orientedMarginBottom, orientedMarginLeft);
     Serial.printf("[%lu] [ERS] Rendered page in %dms\n", millis(), millis() - start);