Will Sony 300 play well with Linux?

kojak666 · 08-16-2009, 06:32 PM

I'm thinking about buying the new sony pocket reader when it is released. My big concern is being able to purchase download and install titles without using a windows machine. (I suppose I could use virtualbox to run a winxp window, but that seems cumbersome and annoying) would it show up as a usb drive and I could then copy files over, or how is it likely to work? Or could I purchase titles from the sony store and then use Calibre to install them. Anyone have any tips or other things I should be thinking about?
If the sony wouldn't work well could I get the opus and still get books from the sony store and use that instead? my main criteria are 5' screen so as to be pocketable (a bit smaller would be even better, but I'm not hung up on it), ability to purchase new releases for $10ish and ability to work without windows.

Thanks,
Phil

JSWolf · 08-16-2009, 10:31 PM

The 300 itself will work well with Linux. I'm guessing that once Sony's shop changes to ePub it would only play well with Linux if there is a Linux version of ADE. If there is no ADE for Linux, then you'll need Windows for any device that supports DRMed ePub.

HarryT · 08-17-2009, 03:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The 300 itself will work well with Linux. I'm guessing that once Sony's shop changes to ePub it would only play well with Linux if there is a Linux version of ADE. If there is no ADE for Linux, then you'll need Windows for any device that supports DRMed ePub.

But only once, to register the device. Once the device has been registered, you no longer need ADE.

igorsk · 08-17-2009, 04:48 AM

You still need ADE to download DRMed books.

HarryT · 08-17-2009, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by igorsk

You still need ADE to download DRMed books.

No you don't. We've been through all this before

. See post #35 onwards in this thread.

igorsk · 08-17-2009, 04:46 PM

Interesting. I thought ADE needs to authenticate with the servers to download the book. If not, that's great!

kovidgoyal · 08-17-2009, 09:26 PM

Hmm from what I recall you can't use the acsm file alone to download the book.

HarryT · 08-18-2009, 06:30 AM

Even if that is true (and I've no personal experience of whether or not it is), apparently ADE runs fine under WINE, so there's no problem using it under Linux.

kovidgoyal · 08-18-2009, 10:42 AM

ADE rus fine under WINE, except for the DRM book download part.

HarryT · 08-18-2009, 11:01 AM

Ah - I didn't know that

. Thanks.

RichieV · 08-18-2009, 12:31 PM

Hi all. First time poster here

I've been lurking for awhile and appreciate all the useful information that's been made available by MobileRead's user community.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that using Ubuntu 8.10 and GNOME, I've been able to run ADE under Wine and authorize it with Adobe. Also, I've been able to successfully download DRM'd epub books that I've purchased from Books On Board by following these steps:

Download and save the acsm file after you purchase your book.
Open ADE under Wine.
Find the downloaded acsm file and drag it into the open ADE window.

After doing that, ADE downloads the epub, then ADE adds whatever bit of information to the epub so that it works with your ADE account, and then ADE finally saves it in the My Digital Editions folder in the /home/useraccount directory (or whichever directory you've specified for 'My Documents' under Wine) and opens the book for you to read.

You can then take that epub and copy it into your Sony Reader (and I assume to any other ADE-recognized reading device) that's been registered to your ADE account and start reading. Also, you can import that epub into Calibre. In Calibre, you won't be able to read the book, but you can add metadata such as tags so that you can put it into a collection for your Sony Reader.

What I have not been able to do in Linux is find a way to authorize your Sony Reader with Adobe. ADE under Wine doesn't seem to recognize that I've plugged it in. Nor is it recognized if I run ADE under Windows XP in VirtualBox. So, to authorize my Sony Reader, I had to use a Windows computer.

Well, I think that's all I can say. Hopefully it will be of some help

--Richard

kovidgoyal · 08-18-2009, 12:34 PM

Good to know. Sad about the authorizing.

=X= · 08-18-2009, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Hmm from what I recall you can't use the acsm file alone to download the book.

I just validated HarryT's claim.

The ACSM file is a textfile with the URL of the PDF or ePub. Just point your browser to the URL in the ACSM file and it will download the book. It did download the correct eBook.

The one thing I have not tried is to download the eBook on a pristine purchase e.g before downloaded the eBook with ADE. There might be some authentication there but I don't know.

=X=

=X= · 08-18-2009, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichieV

Hi all. First time poster here

I've been lurking for awhile and appreciate all the useful information that's been made available by MobileRead's user community.

Anyway, I just wanted to say that using Ubuntu 8.10 and GNOME, I've been able to run ADE under Wine and authorize it with Adobe. Also, I've been able to successfully download DRM'd epub books that I've purchased from Books On Board by following these steps:

Download and save the acsm file after you purchase your book.
Open ADE under Wine.
Find the downloaded acsm file and drag it into the open ADE window.

After doing that, ADE downloads the epub, then ADE adds whatever bit of information to the epub so that it works with your ADE account, and then ADE finally saves it in the My Digital Editions folder in the /home/useraccount directory (or whichever directory you've specified for 'My Documents' under Wine) and opens the book for you to read.

You can then take that epub and copy it into your Sony Reader (and I assume to any other ADE-recognized reading device) that's been registered to your ADE account and start reading. Also, you can import that epub into Calibre. In Calibre, you won't be able to read the book, but you can add metadata such as tags so that you can put it into a collection for your Sony Reader.

What I have not been able to do in Linux is find a way to authorize your Sony Reader with Adobe. ADE under Wine doesn't seem to recognize that I've plugged it in. Nor is it recognized if I run ADE under Windows XP in VirtualBox. So, to authorize my Sony Reader, I had to use a Windows computer.

Well, I think that's all I can say. Hopefully it will be of some help

--Richard

Hi Richard, welcome to mobileread. And great first post!

=X=

JSWolf · 08-18-2009, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by =X=

I just validated HarryT's claim.

The ACSM file is a textfile with the URL of the PDF or ePub. Just point your browser to the URL in the ACSM file and it will download the book. It did download the correct eBook.

The one thing I have not tried is to download the eBook on a pristine purchase e.g before downloaded the eBook with ADE. There might be some authentication there but I don't know.

=X=

I did use the URL in the ACSM file to download the epub. And while it sort of seemed to work, it didn't really work. ADE was unable to open the book. It said the download was incomplete. So using the ACSM file to download from without ADE does not actually work.

08-16-2009, 06:32 PM	#1
kojak666 Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: none	Will Sony 300 play well with Linux? I'm thinking about buying the new sony pocket reader when it is released. My big concern is being able to purchase download and install titles without using a windows machine. (I suppose I could use virtualbox to run a winxp window, but that seems cumbersome and annoying) would it show up as a usb drive and I could then copy files over, or how is it likely to work? Or could I purchase titles from the sony store and then use Calibre to install them. Anyone have any tips or other things I should be thinking about? If the sony wouldn't work well could I get the opus and still get books from the sony store and use that instead? my main criteria are 5' screen so as to be pocketable (a bit smaller would be even better, but I'm not hung up on it), ability to purchase new releases for $10ish and ability to work without windows. Thanks, Phil

08-18-2009, 12:31 PM	#11
RichieV Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Alexandria, VA Device: Sony PRS-505	Hi all. First time poster here I've been lurking for awhile and appreciate all the useful information that's been made available by MobileRead's user community. Anyway, I just wanted to say that using Ubuntu 8.10 and GNOME, I've been able to run ADE under Wine and authorize it with Adobe. Also, I've been able to successfully download DRM'd epub books that I've purchased from Books On Board by following these steps: Download and save the acsm file after you purchase your book. Open ADE under Wine. Find the downloaded acsm file and drag it into the open ADE window. After doing that, ADE downloads the epub, then ADE adds whatever bit of information to the epub so that it works with your ADE account, and then ADE finally saves it in the My Digital Editions folder in the /home/useraccount directory (or whichever directory you've specified for 'My Documents' under Wine) and opens the book for you to read. You can then take that epub and copy it into your Sony Reader (and I assume to any other ADE-recognized reading device) that's been registered to your ADE account and start reading. Also, you can import that epub into Calibre. In Calibre, you won't be able to read the book, but you can add metadata such as tags so that you can put it into a collection for your Sony Reader. What I have not been able to do in Linux is find a way to authorize your Sony Reader with Adobe. ADE under Wine doesn't seem to recognize that I've plugged it in. Nor is it recognized if I run ADE under Windows XP in VirtualBox. So, to authorize my Sony Reader, I had to use a Windows computer. Well, I think that's all I can say. Hopefully it will be of some help --Richard

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08-16-2009, 10:31 PM	#2
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,931 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The 300 itself will work well with Linux. I'm guessing that once Sony's shop changes to ePub it would only play well with Linux if there is a Linux version of ADE. If there is no ADE for Linux, then you'll need Windows for any device that supports DRMed ePub.

08-17-2009, 04:48 AM	#4
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	You still need ADE to download DRMed books.

08-17-2009, 04:46 PM	#6
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	Interesting. I thought ADE needs to authenticate with the servers to download the book. If not, that's great!

08-17-2009, 09:26 PM	#7
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Hmm from what I recall you can't use the acsm file alone to download the book.

08-18-2009, 06:30 AM	#8
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Even if that is true (and I've no personal experience of whether or not it is), apparently ADE runs fine under WINE, so there's no problem using it under Linux.

08-18-2009, 10:42 AM	#9
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	ADE rus fine under WINE, except for the DRM book download part.

08-18-2009, 11:01 AM	#10
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Ah - I didn't know that . Thanks.

08-18-2009, 12:34 PM	#12
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Good to know. Sad about the authorizing.

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