Here's another snapshot. There are no functional changes since last one (in particular, Sony and Cybook are not yet ready), only e-ink driver speed improvement. Please test and report any bugs encountered (especially display-related).

Documentation (in progress, please help us fixing and improving it):

* User's Guide (http://openinkpot.org/wiki/0.2/UsersGuide)
* Installation Guide (http://openinkpot.org/wiki/0.2/InstallationGuide)

Downloads:

* http://openinkpot.org/pub/snapshots/20090102/

I flashed my BeBook, rather than try the Live version from the SD card. I noticed two things straight off:

This snapshot did not bluescreen my Windows XP box when I plugged in the USB cable like the previous snapshot (20081128). However, I still can't access the device via SSH, but at least my BeBook is now charging when on the USB cable.
The page turns are noticably faster.


Good progress! Just give me SSH access and Mad (or Loco) PDF and I'll be happy! :)

I also tried it, but I could not get the USB driver to load for Windows XP.

Are the SD card and internal memory supposed to be exported via USB? I don't see them from Windows. I would like SSH access, but USB disk access would be almost as good for many purposes. None of the EInk devices seem to require a special USB driver (on the Desktop) to export USB filesystems. So perhaps there could be a "USB FS only" mode. On the EZ Reader, this mode locks the screen (on the iLiad it not only locks the screen but also only works from the contentlister, i.e. from madshelf, which would be ok too).

Are the SD card and internal memory supposed to be exported via USB?

No, until someone steps in and implements it.

However, I still can't access the device via SSH, but at least my BeBook is now charging when on the USB cable.


Any additional info? Works fine with Linux.

Any additional info? I found Gumstick: Windows XP usbnet (http://docwiki.gumstix.org/Windows_XP_usbnet) which helped show what should happen. Most of the times I tried I did not get a "Step 4" (Hardware Type), and without this step (i.e without selecting a network adaptor device type) I could not get Windows to accept the linux.inf ("not relevant to device", or something like that).

One time I did get through all the steps outlined on the Gunstick page, but there was an error in the installation so it got to Step 11 but not to Step 12. I have Windows XP SP3. So I assume linux.inf has problems. I should have taken a screenshot of the error message, if I can get to that point again I will do so.

Please do! It is quite hard to debug this problem without any kind of error messages.

What I get almost always is "unknown device", and what looks like a null device id. See the attached screenshot.

I have the same issue as Wallcraft, I think. When I first plug in the USB cable, I get an error message stating "One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it."

If I look into the Device Manager, I see an "Unknown Device". If I try to update the driver for this device, using the linux.inf file, I get a message stating "the specified location does not contain information about your hardware."

What I get almost always is "unknown device", and what looks like a null device id. See the attached screenshot.

Please open a ticket in our trac, with all information collected so far.

Trac ticket opened and picked up by jekhor.

Mr. Moe,
You'll be happy to know that locoPDF is alive! It has basic functions -> zooming, panning, trimming (you can choose # of pixels to trim off on left,right,top and bottom, to get rid of those pesky margins). Best of all, it remembers the settings for each individual book, so that when you reopen it, it will be exactly how you left it (especially handy for for trimming values, when you've got them just right). I believe we're planning a new snapshot in a couple days, which should include locoPDF. Feedback is welcome, btw!

That's great news, quickhand. I already love OI, so better now with PDF support.

Awesome work!!

You'll be happy to know that locoPDF is alive! It has basic functions -> zooming, panning, trimming (you can choose # of pixels to trim off on left,right,top and bottom, to get rid of those pesky margins). Best of all, it remembers the settings for each individual book, so that when you reopen it, it will be exactly how you left it (especially handy for for trimming values, when you've got them just right). I believe we're planning a new snapshot in a couple days, which should include locoPDF. Feedback is welcome, btw!

This is indeed good news, quickhand. You said "basic functions", but I don't think any of the other ereader PDF viewers have panning and trimming, so I'd call that more than basic! Looking forward to the new snapshot.:)

Is it usual for internal storage to be empty? I can see the SD card with no problem, but not the internal filesystem.

When I reflashed, I assumed the internal storage had been erased. However, I have switched back to the Hanlin firmware and the books in internal storage are still there. They are again not accessible from the OI-on-SD version.

Is it usual for internal storage to be empty? I can see the SD card with no problem, but not the internal filesystem.


It's different "internal storage" - actually the contents of /home directory of the rootfs, not the separate partition which is "internal storage" of Hanlin firmware. Nobody had the time and incentive to fix it yet, though it should be easy.

In addition to the problem with not seeing internal memory, I am unable to get my BeBook to connect to my PC. From what I have seen so far, I very much like the OI system. But it is a problem that I can't get my books from internal memory to SD card. For now will reflash to the BeBook firmware, then reinstall OI.

Karen

Just installed OI for the first time, but I had to move back to the jan snapshot because I could not see the files in internal storage. Apart from that, I like it very much, especially the flexibility it provides with font sizes, margins etc. So much better than the BeBook firmware. Since I can't program for these type of devices I decided to show my support by doing a small donation to the project.

A few things I miss from the original bebook fw though:
- fast boot
- ability to lock screen by clicking the off button
- ability to shut down by holdinf the off button

Are there any workarounds for those issues?

The workarounds are called "go ahead and fix/implement it" :)

a little grumpy?

a little grumpy?


Hey, an open source project is a group effort, so it is perfectly reasonable to ask someone who wants something special to implement it themselves and submit it to the project. Submitting bug reports to the ticket system is helpful for everybody concerned, but asking for a free ride deserves the reply that dottedmag gave, IMHO.

Hey, an open source project is a group effort, so it is perfectly reasonable to ask someone who wants something special to implement it themselves and submit it to the project. Submitting bug reports to the ticket system is helpful for everybody concerned, but asking for a free ride deserves the reply that dottedmag gave, IMHO.

First, I didn't find dottedmag's answer that grumpy, just a bit sarcastic, but I am fine with that, I can take it (I've been using OSS for many years now, enough to develop a thick skin for that).

Regarding Dave's answer, not so sure what he meant by free ride. I was not asking "something special", and I at least tried to be polite and contribute the way I can (since I can't code for the project, I thought the team would appreciate to see some money showing up in their paypal account). I didn't demand a fix, saying the software is crap without those features or anything of that sort. I just politely asked for a workaround. Who knows, maybe someone could say "hey, you can get a much faster boot by doing this and that" or "you can lock the screen by pressing this and that button as well". I was just wondering. There's no such info in the user guide but who knows, documentation in OSS projects may be out of date (and I can help with that, sure). I am new to OI and was just trying to get some info.

This mentality of "this is open source, implement it yourself or shut up" is too old, that is not what open source is about, and supporters of OSS should actually work hard to clear that image from public perception, because that is the kind of FUD that companies like Microsoft use against OSS.

Anyway, I will skip this forum and use the bug tracker instead, so people don't call it a free ride anymore.

We can try to keep documentation up-to-date. So: no workarounds/hacks exist yet for the functionality you asked for. There is going under-the-hood reconstrution, we'll return to user-visible changes as soon as it finishes.

We can try to keep documentation up-to-date. So: no workarounds/hacks exist yet for the functionality you asked for. There is going under-the-hood reconstrution, we'll return to user-visible changes as soon as it finishes.

Cool, thanks.

Oops: "we can try" should be read as "we try" :)

Regarding the boot time, one workaround would be to leave the device always on, I know that the reader does not spend energy when it's not turning pages. Is that really OK to leave the device always on? Does the screen "burn", or the hardware lasts less if we do so?

I was not asking "something special", and I at least tried to be polite and contribute the way I can (since I can't code for the project, I thought the team would appreciate to see some money showing up in their paypal account). I didn't say I was demanding a fix, saying the software is crap without those features or anything (that would deserve the kind of answer I got),

As you may have guessed by now, that seems to be a matter of opinion.


I just politely asked for a workaround.

"Workaround" is a term used for bugs, and not for missing desired features.


Who knows, maybe someone could say "hey, you can get a much faster boot by doing this and that" or "you can lock the screen by pressing this and that button as well". I was just wondering. There's no such info in the user guide but who knows, documentation in OSS projects may be out of date (and I can help with that, sure). I am new to OI and was just trying to get some info.

I am very sorry if you took my comment as being too harsh. I was just trying to see things from the developers point of view. I think that most developers are working on the OpenInkPot project in their "free" time, and it seems some people disregard that when asking for features that may not be desired by the user community as a whole. If you read the developers section on the OpenInkPot web site, you can see some of your questions were already under consideration there, and are being prioritized for future releases.
http://openinkpot.org/report

As for slow boot time, just do not shut down, and then you do not have to wait for the boot time. As an added plus, your battery will also last longer. I think that I recall that your other "issues" are already in the ticket system and development schedule.


Might be because English is not my first language, but what do you mean with "asking for a free ride" exactly?
Again, I am sorry that may have sounded too harsh. It simply means asking for something without offering anything in return. I am sure that all of us who care about OpenInkPot have made financial contributions, but the stated purpose of financial contributions is to support new new hardware, so IMHO financial contributions do not entitle us to ask the developers for new features outside the bug reporting system.

Regarding the boot time, one workaround would be to leave the device always on, I know that the reader does not spend energy when it's not turning pages. Is that really OK to leave the device always on? Does the screen "burn", or the hardware lasts less if we do so?

Yes, it really is OK to leave the reader always on. The boot process probably expends more energy than reading several hundred pages. Another thing that will save energy is to transfer your current reading projects into the internal memory, as reading from the SD card is also quite energy intensive.

"Screen burn in" applies more to CRT and plasma displays than any other display technology. eInk does not have any similar physical mechanism to cause permanent and unrepairable image retention like CRT and plasma displays have. The eInk display does sometimes leave some after image ghost after a high contrast image has been displayed, but that is just some of the ink particles not being fully rotated. That after image is not permanent, and will disappear with further screen refreshes.

"Workaround" is a term used for bugs, and not for missing desired features.


In the software projects I work on we use the term for both cases, but who knows, may be different from community to community.

So for instance an user might ask me "how do I get this report exported to Excel" and I might tell him "we do not support Excel export but you could export it to CSV and then import in Excel". So it is a workaround, even though the lack of Excel export is not a bug in our system.

A workaround in my view is an alternative way to avoid an issue. An issue may be a bug, a missing feature, or anything in between (the line between a bug and a missing feature is not always very clear, anyway).

Is that really OK to leave the device always on?


Yes. I personally only turn device off to reflash it.

[/QUOTE]Does the screen "burn", or the hardware lasts less if we do so?[/QUOTE]

No.

In the software projects I work on we use the term for both cases, but who knows, may be different from community to community.

That seems reasonable, but what I said is my opinion based on my own experience in cell phone software development. In that case, software needs to "workaround" bugs in the cell phone ASIC hardware. In that context "workaround" is a bit derogatory.


So for instance an user might ask me "how do I get this report exported to Excel" and I might tell him "we do not support Excel export but you could export it to CSV and them import in Excel". So it is a workaround, even though the lack of Excel export is not a bug in our system.

That is a very good example!!! I can understand your view completely from that example.

A workaround in my view is an alternative way to avoid an issue. An issue may be a bug, a missing feature, or anything in between (the line between a bug and a missing feature is not always very clear, anyway).

Conceded. :)