diff --git a/envbuffer.py b/envbuffer.py
index 7b5bdde..b706207 100644
--- a/envbuffer.py
+++ b/envbuffer.py
@@ -15,11 +15,11 @@ class EnvBuffer():
   len = 0
   max_size = None
   var = {}         # key=value
-  encoding = 'ascii'
+  encoding = 'latin_1'
   crc_prefix = True
   delim = '\x00'
   
-  def __init__(self, data = None, delim = '\x00', crc_prefix = True, encoding = 'ascii'):    
+  def __init__(self, data = None, delim = '\x00', crc_prefix = True, encoding = 'latin_1'):    
     self.encoding = encoding
     self.delim = delim
     self.crc_prefix = crc_prefix
@@ -34,10 +34,10 @@ class EnvBuffer():
           data = data[prefix_len:end+1]
           self.var = self.parse_env_b(data, delim, encoding)
   
-  def parse_env_b(self, data, delim, encoding = 'ascii'):
+  def parse_env_b(self, data, delim, encoding = 'latin_1'):
     dict = {}
     self.len = len(data)
-    data = data.split(delim.encode('ascii'))
+    data = data.split(delim.encode('latin_1'))
     for i, s in enumerate(data): 
       s = s.strip()
       if len(s) < 1:
diff --git a/read_info.py b/read_info.py
index ffa2606..0557016 100644
--- a/read_info.py
+++ b/read_info.py
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ class DevInfo():
       return None
     if os.path.getsize(fn_local) <= 1:
       return None
-    with open(fn_local, "r") as file:
+    with open(fn_local, "r", encoding="latin_1") as file:
       self.dmesg = file.read()
     return self.dmesg
 
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ class DevInfo():
       return self.kcmdline
     if os.path.getsize(fn_local) <= 1:
       return self.kcmdline
-    with open(fn_local, "r") as file:
+    with open(fn_local, "r", encoding="latin_1") as file:
       data = file.read()
     if verbose:
       print("Kernel command line:")
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ class DevInfo():
     data = data.replace("\n", ' ')
     data = data.replace("\x00", ' ')
     data = data.strip()
-    env = EnvBuffer(data, ' ', crc_prefix = False, encoding = 'ascii')
+    env = EnvBuffer(data, ' ', crc_prefix = False, encoding = 'latin_1')
     self.kcmdline = env.var
     #self.kcmdline = type("Names", [object], self.kcmdline)
     return self.kcmdline
@@ -318,13 +318,13 @@ class DevInfo():
       return self.nvram
     if os.path.getsize(fn_local) <= 1:
       return self.nvram
-    with open(fn_local, "r") as file:
+    with open(fn_local, "r", encoding="latin_1") as file:
       data = file.read()
     if not retdict:
       return data
     if verbose:
       print("NVRam params:")
-    env = EnvBuffer(data, '\n', crc_prefix = False, encoding = 'ascii')
+    env = EnvBuffer(data, '\n', crc_prefix = False, encoding = 'latin_1')
     self.nvram = env.var
     if verbose and self.nvram:
       for i, (k, v) in enumerate(self.nvram.items()):