Customizing your Pocket Pro

[Xerxes]

Well that would be awesome.

[AJ Starr]

After playing with Logomaker and a couple of bmp files ALL afternoon, I'm finally close.

I gave up on the pictures and decided to try just text. So I went into my Presentation Software, wrote my name and phone no. and saved it as a .bmp. with page size 4x6 Portrait. My software gives me many options so I played with it.

The first picture, I saved the file as:
600x800 (vertical not landscape), 4 bit color, and 600 DPI. That gave me a physical size of 6.25" by 8.33". I did the same for the ending file. It gave me 4 horizontal pics, but the same garbage exit picture I had been having. THIS IS 1000 times better that what I had been getting with my pictures.

So, I tried again, using: 1200x1600 , resolution 150, 4 bits, which gave me a physical size of 8" by 10.67". As you can see I now have 2 horizontal pics. And the exiting picture is the exit picture side by side.

I'm stopping there for the day, and thinking about it. AFter some of the disaster tries I've had today, this is a tremendous success.

AJ

PS I went into my photo program and wiped out my phone number before I'm posting it. The picture on the PEZ is Perfect.

[DaleDe]

Try 2 bit color. (2 bits is 4 shades of gray).

[AJ Starr]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Try 2 bit color. (2 bits is 4 shades of gray).

I'll give that a try next time I work on it. It seems that when I was doing the photo, when I used the 2 bit or 1 bit, the physical size reduced. And it appears that the physical size is what is making it fill the page. That is why the lesser DPI is working, the higher DPI caused a smaller physical size.

But I'll try it when I get back to playing with it. Thx.

AJ

[ekaser]

I've succeeded at creating STARTUP and SHUTDOWN fullscreen graphics for the Hanlin V5 (EZ Reader Pocket Pro).

I don't think you're going to be able to use the LogoMaker from Jinke to do it, unless that program has options that aren't public (which I doubt, since it was written before the V5 existed).

The logo.bin file has to be 2*(600*800) bytes long. The first 600*800 bytes are the STARTUP image, the second 600*800 bytes are the SHUTDOWN image. There's one byte per pixel, and the values appear to be 0-255 (black-white), even though the V5 only displays 8 shades of gray. The ROWS of pixels in the logo.bin file are 'standard' BMP upside-down format. ie, the first row of 600 bytes in the file is the BOTTOM line of pixels on the screen, and the 800th row of bytes in the file is the TOP line of pixels on the screen.

I've written a program that will take two input .BMP files (which have to be 600x800 pixels and 256-grayscale format, it should be pretty easy to modify it to handle 24-bit color, but it's easy enough to create the picture as 256-grayscale in the graphics editor, so why should I go to the extra work??? ), and output the logo.bin file. However, you then have to run a separate program to create the .MD5 checksum file. I'm going to try to grab some code off of the net to generate .MD5 checksums and add that into the program, so the one program will do it all, and then I'll put together a package and upload it here.

Stay tuned...

(Now, if only the V5 displayed a fullscreen image when you lock the keyboard, THAT would be even MORE useful!)

[Xerxes]

Proof...

[Chiron]

Originally Posted by ekaser

I've succeeded at creating STARTUP and SHUTDOWN fullscreen graphics for the Hanlin V5 (EZ Reader Pocket Pro).

I don't think you're going to be able to use the LogoMaker from Jinke to do it, unless that program has options that aren't public (which I doubt, since it was written before the V5 existed).

The logo.bin file has to be 2*(600*800) bytes long. The first 600*800 bytes are the STARTUP image, the second 600*800 bytes are the SHUTDOWN image. There's one byte per pixel, and the values appear to be 0-255 (black-white), even though the V5 only displays 8 shades of gray. The ROWS of pixels in the logo.bin file are 'standard' BMP upside-down format. ie, the first row of 600 bytes in the file is the BOTTOM line of pixels on the screen, and the 800th row of bytes in the file is the TOP line of pixels on the screen.

I've written a program that will take two input .BMP files (which have to be 600x800 pixels and 256-grayscale format, it should be pretty easy to modify it to handle 24-bit color, but it's easy enough to create the picture as 256-grayscale in the graphics editor, so why should I go to the extra work??? ), and output the logo.bin file. However, you then have to run a separate program to create the .MD5 checksum file. I'm going to try to grab some code off of the net to generate .MD5 checksums and add that into the program, so the one program will do it all, and then I'll put together a package and upload it here.

Stay tuned...

(Now, if only the V5 displayed a fullscreen image when you lock the keyboard, THAT would be even MORE useful!)

OMG; it would be REALLY nice if you could do that (sends some karma to speed up process =P)

[ekaser]

Okay, here it is. UnZIP into a folder of your choice. It contains these files:

logo.bin
logo.md5
main.c
md5.c
md5.h
readme.txt
shutdown.bmp
startup.bmp
v5logos.exe

The logo.bin and logo.md5 files are samples, pre-made from the enclosed sample startup.bmp and shutdown.bmp. The source files (for any programmers out there) are main.c, md5.c and md5.h. There are brief explanations/instructions in the readme.txt file, and the program itself is v5logos.exe. This is a command-line program that has to be run from a command-line prompt. Read the readme.txt file. Perhaps when I get a little more time (I should NOT have been doing THIS this morning!), I'll also convert it to a regular Windows program that prompts you for the input files.

Don't be worried by the disclaimer of warranty and placing all risk of use upon you. While those ARE true, I've extensively tested it on my own EZ-PEZ, and it works great.

Now go have some fun!

Everett

[Robertb]

Originally Posted by AJ Starr

After playing with Logomaker and a couple of bmp files ALL afternoon, I'm finally close.

I gave up on the pictures and decided to try just text. So I went into my Presentation Software, wrote my name and phone no. and saved it as a .bmp. with page size 4x6 Portrait. My software gives me many options so I played with it.

The first picture, I saved the file as:
600x800 (vertical not landscape), 4 bit color, and 600 DPI. That gave me a physical size of 6.25" by 8.33". I did the same for the ending file. It gave me 4 horizontal pics, but the same garbage exit picture I had been having. THIS IS 1000 times better that what I had been getting with my pictures.

So, I tried again, using: 1200x1600 , resolution 150, 4 bits, which gave me a physical size of 8" by 10.67". As you can see I now have 2 horizontal pics. And the exiting picture is the exit picture side by side.

I'm stopping there for the day, and thinking about it. AFter some of the disaster tries I've had today, this is a tremendous success.

AJ

PS I went into my photo program and wiped out my phone number before I'm posting it. The picture on the PEZ is Perfect.

Dear AJ:

YOU did great!! However, this is going to remain a problem until the final solution (changing Logomaker to include V5 and that means engineering).

We (Astak) have this problem facing us too. We want to change the warm-up screen for a special promotion and need a LOGO in there. Let me work on the factory!

[Xerxes]

Originally Posted by ekaser

Okay, here it is. UnZIP into a folder of your choice. It contains these files:

logo.bin
logo.md5
main.c
md5.c
md5.h
readme.txt
shutdown.bmp
startup.bmp
v5logos.exe

The logo.bin and logo.md5 files are samples, pre-made from the enclosed sample startup.bmp and shutdown.bmp. The source files (for any programmers out there) are main.c, md5.c and md5.h. There are brief explanations/instructions in the readme.txt file, and the program itself is v5logos.exe. This is a command-line program that has to be run from a command-line prompt. Read the readme.txt file. Perhaps when I get a little more time (I should NOT have been doing THIS this morning!), I'll also convert it to a regular Windows program that prompts you for the input files.

Don't be worried by the disclaimer of warranty and placing all risk of use upon you. While those ARE true, I've extensively tested it on my own EZ-PEZ, and it works great.

Now go have some fun!

Everett

People like you are a huge reason I got the Pocket Pro.

Sure Sony's 505 has a huge bag of tricks but... <shrug>

[ekaser]

Originally Posted by Robertb

YOU did great!! However, this is going to remain a problem until the final solution (changing Logomaker to include V5 and that means engineering).

We (Astak) have this problem facing us too. We want to change the warm-up screen for a special promotion and need a LOGO in there. Let me work on the factory!

Robert: Astak has my full permission to use V5LOGOS (my version of LogoMaker for the V5) to accomplish your needs. It generates exactly what the updated LogoMaker from Jinke will (someday) create. See above message for download link.

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by ekaser

Okay, here it is. UnZIP into a folder of your choice. It contains these files:

logo.bin
logo.md5
main.c
md5.c
md5.h
readme.txt
shutdown.bmp
startup.bmp
v5logos.exe

The logo.bin and logo.md5 files are samples, pre-made from the enclosed sample startup.bmp and shutdown.bmp. The source files (for any programmers out there) are main.c, md5.c and md5.h. There are brief explanations/instructions in the readme.txt file, and the program itself is v5logos.exe. This is a command-line program that has to be run from a command-line prompt. Read the readme.txt file. Perhaps when I get a little more time (I should NOT have been doing THIS this morning!), I'll also convert it to a regular Windows program that prompts you for the input files.

Don't be worried by the disclaimer of warranty and placing all risk of use upon you. While those ARE true, I've extensively tested it on my own EZ-PEZ, and it works great.

Now go have some fun!

Everett

Great work, I havent been able to test it as I can't compile it under Linux. It is ok, I might when I have time load my virtual windows install and give it a go.

[ekaser]

Originally Posted by Solicitous

Great work, I havent been able to test it as I can't compile it under Linux. It is ok, I might when I have time load my virtual windows install and give it a go.

I don't have a Linux box, or I'd modify it. There shouldn't be a whole lot to modifying it:
1) Change the "CreateFile()" calls to "open()" or your favorite file access library.
2) Grab the definitions for the Windows bitmap structures (they HAVE to be on the net somewhere, and if not, holler, I can post them for you... come to think of it, I SHOULD have just included them in the main.c file.)
3) Modify the GetSize() function, which could be as simple as "open the file for reading, seek to the end, close the file and return the seek length".

Everything in the MD5 files is JUST like I grabbed it off the net, and it compiled without errors the first time, so the MD5 stuff should work fine on Linux also. Other than that, it's just fairly straight-forward "read the files, mung the data, write the files" command line stuff that should be just as easy to do on Linux.

[AJ Starr]

Originally Posted by ekaser

It generates exactly what the updated LogoMaker from Jinke will (someday) create. See above message for download link.

This is fantastic. I have a couple of questions before I delve into it.

First, You said we would have to get the checkdisk v5 program. Do we still need to get it, or did you get it incorporated into your program?

Next, you said the files had to be 256 greyscale? First, I can't get my program to convert to a 256 greyscale, it saves ok but when I pull it back up, it shows 8bit color. And the two files you have as an example, also show as 8 bit color in my program. Is this my program not doing it, or am I confused, or does your program work on 8 bit color, or .........

My latest success with the Jinke Logomaker had me using 4 bit, 300 dpi, and 2400x1000 pixels giving me a 8"w by 3.33" h file. I figured I must be doing something wrong.....

I'd love to get going on this but I need to know about the checksum file and the 256 greyscale before I upload it.

Thanks.....

AJ

[ekaser]

Originally Posted by AJ Starr

First, You said we would have to get the checkdisk v5 program. Do we still need to get it, or did you get it incorporated into your program?

It's now incorporated. All you need is the V5LOGOS.EXE program.

Next, you said the files had to be 256 greyscale? First, I can't get my program to convert to a 256 greyscale, it saves ok but when I pull it back up, it shows 8bit color. And the two files you have as an example, also show as 8 bit color in my program. Is this my program not doing it, or am I confused, or does your program work on 8 bit color, or .........

In my program (Paintshop Pro), a 'grayscale' bitmap is different than a 256-color bitmap, although they're both 8 bits per pixel, and the stored file size is the same for both. I believe the difference is in the palette mapping in the file. Either one will WORK... but with the 256-color, you probably won't get what you hope for. The 'colors' tend to be off, they don't translate well to grayscale in the PEZ. I think I can fix that in the V5LOGOS program, but it will have to wait a day or three until I get more time to look at it. (I'm just about done for the night...)

My latest success with the Jinke Logomaker had me using 4 bit, 300 dpi, and 2400x1000 pixels giving me a 8"w by 3.33" h file. I figured I must be doing something wrong.....

It was SORT of working that way, but if you look at your screen captures, you'll see that your image was being duplicated, used twice. And there's nothing you can do about it (with LogoMaker), because that program is simply outputting the wrong format file for the V5 (PEZ).

I'd love to get going on this but I need to know about the checksum file and the 256 greyscale before I upload it.

You can go ahead and play with it "as is", using 256-color bitmaps, but you may need to create a 'test' bitmap that has rectangles of all 256 colors (in order), load those in and take a picture of them, so you know which ones are really LIGHT and which ones are really DARK, and then go back and 're-color' your images that way. It's kind of hokey, but I think I can fix things up to avoid that problem. But it won't happen tonight, probably not until tomorrow night, and possibly not until Saturday night or Sunday morning. (Work and family, work and family... )