Considering to buy a M92 or M92S

[ericshliao]

I am a iLiad user for almost 5 years. My iLiad is having some problem on the E-INK display starting from yesterday. I think the problem is going to be worse, so I am considering to buy a new E-INK device. I tried to read on LCD tablet and found that I just can't get used to it.

BOOX M92 or M92S is the best options that I can find. Before buying, I need some more information. I am totally happy with my iLiad, so I will compare any new device with my past experience with iLiad.

1. I don't need drawing on screen (I don't write on iLiad, too), but I need touch screen for UI. Does M92S differ from M92 in UI in screen control?

2. Is standy-by mode available? iLiad don't have stand-by mode. I think newer devices will have it. Just want to make sure.

3. Is SDK available? I did a lot porting on iLiad. I wrote my own program to run on iLiad. Can I create my own program or port QT program to M92? Any restrictions? Is the e-ink screen refresh API available?

4. Can I SSH to M92 and M92S? M92S has no wifi. Is it possible to SSH to M92S? SSH is useful for me to operate the file system. I can live without Internet connection as long as I can SSH.

5. How is the reflash (unbrick) procedure? I presume it should be ready. Just want to make sure.

6. Can I instal user fonts? I have my personal favored TTF fonts when reading. On iLiad, FBreader supports user fonts rendering. Is it the same with M92?

7. There is FBReader on QT. Any FBReader for M92?

8. How does M92 support mobipocket format? Mobipocket is proprietary format. I guess M92 won't support mobipocket format with DRM. What about mobipocket dictionary? I have some mobipocket dictionaries without DRM. Can I use them on M92?

I have read M92 wiki.
Any advice or information is appreciated. Thanx in advance.

[FDD]

Hello Eric,
some answers:

1. AFAIK the UI for M92 and M92S is the same (I have an M92). You don't need the stylus for navigating the UI, but some function won't be available, like "2 Point zoom", which I use quite a lot.
2. Yes, it has standby, after a customizable delay or upon user request. (More technical details here.)
3. The SDK is available and the design is based on QT. It is poorly documented as far as I can tall, but there are enough example programs to get started (and a few users ported great stuff already! Thank you guys!) A refresh API is available, but it is far from ideal, IMHO. Kernel source are available, but seem incomplete; I am tracking this down, but I have no time right now.You should be aware that there is an ongoing Android port by Onyx, but it's not here yet.
4. I use usb-serial, but SSH should be usable: see the beginning of this thread for both of them.
5. You should not brick the device as far as you stay away from the recovery partition . There is a LVTTL serial console (see here), but the JTAG is still to be found, so AFAIK there is no complete recovery procedure, yet.

I'm not sure about the other answers, so I leave them for someone who knows better...
Ciao!

[Booxtor]

Thanks FDD for answering 1-5!
The rest is quite easy to answer:
6. yes
7. yes
8. yes, non DRM .mobi documents reading is supported. I don't know about mobi dictionaries, but I 'd like to try it out. Is it possible to send me one?

[ericshliao]

Thanx for your reply. Still, if people have any info to share, please do it.

I think I will choose M92.

As for the mobi dictionary, there is one here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16419

Where is FBReader for M92? Any pictures?

[ericshliao]

It seems that FBReader is officially bundled with M92. Right? Which version of FBReader does M92 have? FBReader 0.99.2 has been released. Will ONYX update FBReader for M92?

For my personal needs, I must make some modification to FBReader. I want to modify the source code and replace FBReader by ONYX. I presume it's possible. Do you have any comment or advice?

I am thinking about buying I62 HD. After all, M92 is too large for me. Do I62 HD and M92 have same software (system and reader)?

Thanx for any reply.

[pkbo]

Originally Posted by ericshliao

It seems that FBReader is officially bundled with M92. Right? Which version of FBReader does M92 have?

Yes that's right. I believe the version is 0.10.3. At least this version specified in sources

Originally Posted by ericshliao

FBReader 0.99.2 has been released. Will ONYX update FBReader for M92?

Considering that current version is rather old, I'm in doubt they will.

[ericshliao]

Originally Posted by pkbo

Yes that's right. I believe the version is 0.10.3.

Considering that current version is rather old, I'm in doubt they will.

Thanx for your reply.
It's not good to hear this. To be honest, I have been using FBReader 0.12 on iLiad right after it was released till now. Why don't developers port newer FBreader to M92? AFAIK, SDK, screen refresh API and Scratchbox2 are available. That means porting newer FBReader should be feasible. Is there any obstacles or restrictions?

[pkbo]

Probably they have some higher priority tasks. Let Booxtor comment on this, he should know better. I only see that their activity on open source part of the project is about zero. From technical point of view porting newer FBReader is doable. IMHO the main obstacle is that there is no people willing to do it.

[Booxtor]

Originally Posted by pkbo

Probably they have some higher priority tasks. Let Booxtor comment on this, he should know better. I only see that their activity on open source part of the project is about zero. From technical point of view porting newer FBReader is doable. IMHO the main obstacle is that there is no people willing to do it.

Currently we are polishing on new pdf reader. The new update will be released very soon. I am getting daily new update versions and testing it.
I was not thinking about updating of FB-Reader but after reading your message I will talk to the team.

[janek]

Originally Posted by Booxtor

Currently we are polishing on new pdf reader. The new update will be released very soon. I am getting daily new update versions and testing it.
I was not thinking about updating of FB-Reader but after reading your message I will talk to the team.

Any news on annotations merging bug(s) being fixed? New academic year's approaching, I'll have my hands busy checking students' essays. This feature would be perfect for doing that...

[Knorke]

Originally Posted by janek

Any news on annotations merging bug(s) being fixed? ... This feature would be perfect for doing that...

[Booxtor]

Originally Posted by Knorke

Hi,

is it about that issue ?
"Merging does not work when special characters are used in the comment text (non-ascii characters from annotations such as Polish special characters ąęśćżźńółĄĘŚĆŻŹŃÓŁ or German ö ä ü ß µ § ´ å é)"

I have tried to reproduce the described issue in the new software and couldn't. May be it was already solved, but I would like to test it with your documents too.

Could you please send me some affected sample pdfs?

[janek]

Originally Posted by Booxtor

Hi,

is it about that issue ?
"Merging does not work when special characters are used in the comment text (non-ascii characters from annotations such as Polish special characters ąęśćżźńółĄĘŚĆŻŹŃÓŁ or German ö ä ü ß µ § ´ å é)"

I have tried to reproduce the described issue in the new software and couldn't. May be it was already solved, but I would like to test it with your documents too.

Could you please send me some affected sample pdfs?

Booxtor, have mercy!
Not only you received a copy of "affected" pdf but also *.sketch file with annotations! The two different bugs that Knorke and I discovered got confirmed. Please see the apropriate thread and do check your PM for sketch file.