Automatic Daily Comic Strip Download

[Adam B.]

I've setup my iLiad to automatically download a group of comic strips every morning at 8:00. This is a bit more of an advanced process, but it's really cool. I'm attaching some of the files necessary (scripts, gnu wget, etc) to do it.

There are a few assumptions to this tutorial.

• You have basic linux terminal knowledge
• You have the updated busybox with cron installed. The easiest way to do this is with my enhanced image. Let me know if you need me to post the busybox binary.
• You have reflash ability (Working with system files, messy scripts, etc)
• Your iLiad is connected to a wired network and setup to use dhcp
• You've set your iLiad to the correct timezone

First, unzip Comics.zip to your books directory. Make sure Comics is capitalized.

Now, either open up mrxvt, or an ssh session.

We will need to make the folder that contains the crontab.

mkdir -p /var/spool/cron/crontabs

Then, we will need to add the following line to the end of /home/root/start.sh

crond &

Now, we will edit the crontab to run the script every morning. I have mine set to run at 8:00am Monday through Friday. Here's a cron reference if you need to brush up and make changes.

Start the cron editor

crontab -e

Paste this into the crontab

0 8 * * 1-6 /mnt/free/books/Comics/fetch.sh

You should be all set. Run fetch.sh to test.

The comics are being downloaded from http://high5.net/comic/ . The comics displayed and order is determined by a cookie. I've included a cookie that has a few that I like. If you wish to add more or change the order, you'll need to do the following.

1. Visit http://high5.net/comic/
2. Expand and order the comics as you like
3. Copy your cookies.txt (~/.mozilla/firefox/profile/ on your linux pc if you use firefox) to /mnt/free/books/Comics/ on your iLiad

Windows IE users will need to use the export cookies function of their browser. Windows and Firefox should be in "C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\profile"

I also use FBReader to view the page after it's downloaded. It's a bit quicker and more stable than the internal html browser. You'll need to edit /mnt/settings/er_registry.txt to change the association for html.

[Adam B.]

I know this is a bit involved, so would anyone be interested in a version where you manually initiate the download and don't have to mess with any of the internals?

[templario]

I don´t have any linux skills and i would appreciate a way to download this for the average Joe. As a side note i don´t have the reflash option, so i wouldn´t do it if there is any risk of bricking.

Thanks a lot

[DeGodefroi]

I am interested...
Just some application that does this... pretty please?

[Adam B.]

I'm working on scripting it now. Once I finish the automatic internet connection part, I'll release it.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Pretty cool idea! You might want to contact the online comics producers, and let them know about your SW! If I were an online comic producer, I'd want people to know how to do this.

[Adam B.]

I've released the manual version here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12666

It's up to whoever created that page (can't find a conact name), as to what comics are included. I'm not sure how/where they get them from. But it seems to be pretty comprehensive.

[DeGodefroi]

Hmm and how to install this? I read the first post with a lot of unix editing. I like this as a package like FBreader or the ipdf distribution.

[Adam B.]

You can't simply install this version. You need to know a bit of Linux.

[DeGodefroi]

yeah saw the other that would be easier :-)

[ElaHuguet]

Originally Posted by Adam B.

It's up to whoever created that page (can't find a conact name), as to what comics are included. I'm not sure how/where they get them from. But it seems to be pretty comprehensive.

Isn't it High5, who is a member here? I've seen Dutch on that page, and High5 is Dutch...? It seems to be a strange coincidence.