iLiad Applying DR GTK+ patches to iLiad

ericshliao · 03-12-2010, 07:26 PM

I guess that DR series gain much performance from patched GTK+. So, I am doing an experiement of applying the patch to GTK+2.14.7 and make it running on iLiad. Maybe I can improve the performance of iLiad.

ericshliao · 03-12-2010, 09:34 PM

Since the core part of eink-update is quite the same for DR800 and iLiad (with a brief review, I guess so), I think maybe the patched GTK+-2.12.7 for DR800 can be applied to iLiad directly.
The problem for now is:
There are many patch files in directory "patches". How to apply those patch files in some simple steps?

Added:
The source code from iRex is already patched. It's not necessary to patch it again.

ericshliao · 03-12-2010, 10:00 PM

Well, I got it compiled. Now, I need to deploy the patched GTK+2.12.7 to a bootable CF and see if it will conflict with ContetLister and ipdf.

ericshliao · 03-13-2010, 02:20 AM

The conclusion of my experiement is:
1. patched GTK+-2.12.7 for DR800 is also compatible with iLiad (re-compilation is required of course).
2. It's ok with ipdf and newLister since these two have their own e-ink update routines. But not for other applications, such as FBReader.
3.The protocol to displayMgr server of DR800 must be different from iLiad. If I can fix this problem, it's highly possible to have a GTK+ lib with eink-update ability on iLiad.

Iñigo · 03-13-2010, 03:36 AM

Hello ericshliao

I'm afraid it should be too much work and not clear success.
Afaik the refresh process is very different, with those patches to gtk+ sources and another refresh engine, so though you could get patched gtk+ working, I don't know if it would work for the normal apps.

I got my DR800S a week ago. It's a nice device, and once iRex provide zoom and annotations, it will be far better than the Iliad.
DR800S refresh is fast and porting apps is also easier as well. In fact I ported fbreader 0.10.7 in a few moments (ok, once I discovered the errors I got ;-)
Btw, it's quite strange but fbreader 0.12.x is very slow on the DR800S, but not 0.10.x branch... did you note this same behaviour in your ports?

Keep the good and hard work,
Iñigo

ericshliao · 03-13-2010, 03:55 AM

AFAK, if I can send correct command string to displayMgr, I guess GTK+ for DR800 can be applied to iLiad. Before it's done, normal applications won't be able to update the eink screen.

I saw your post about FBReader 0.10.7 for DR800, but I am not sure about the slowness that you mentioned about 0.12.x. Do you mean it's slow when flipping page for 0.12.x or it's slow when starting FBReader? If you mean the later case, maybe it's because 0.12.x will do some sqlite database conversion (or initialization). It only happens once. If you mean 0.12.x is slow when flipping page, then I have no clue about how this could happen. I am using FBReader 0.12.6 on my iLiad, with some preloading mechanism. I can get page-flip in 2 secs (at most 3 secs). IIRC, I got similiar speed of page-flips on 0.10.x and 0.12.x without the preloading code.

BTW, if not bothering, would you make some video of DR800 page-flips? I am curious about the speed of DR800, especially on FBReader. There is no such video available.

Added:
I forgot to mention one thing about the possible cause to slowness. On iLiad, I have to modify registry.xml to make FBReader registered to certain IPC channel, or it will be extreme slow to start FBReader. It's also the case for other applications.

ericshliao · 03-13-2010, 05:30 AM

I guess I only have to modify one line to make DR800 GTK+ ported to iLiad. In "gdkwindow.c":

Quote:

sprintf(msg,"!I,%d,%d,%d,%d,%d,%d,%d,%d,%s,%d",
irex_pid,
x, y, width, height,
irex_dump_ignore,
irex_dump_is_window,
irex_dump_window_type,
irex_dump_widget_type,
irex_dump_focus);

to
sprintf(msg, "!0,1,0");

Iñigo · 03-13-2010, 05:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericshliao

AFAK, if I can send correct command string to displayMgr, I guess GTK+ for DR800 can be applied to iLiad. Before it's done, normal applications won't be able to update the eink screen.

I saw your post about FBReader 0.10.7 for DR800, but I am not sure about the slowness that you mentioned about 0.12.x. Do you mean it's slow when flipping page for 0.12.x or it's slow when starting FBReader? If you mean the later case, maybe it's because 0.12.x will do some sqlite database conversion (or initialization). It only happens once. If you mean 0.12.x is slow when flipping page, then I have no clue about how this could happen. I am using FBReader 0.12.6 on my iLiad, with some preloading mechanism. I can get page-flip in 2 secs (at most 3 secs). IIRC, I got similiar speed of page-flips on 0.10.x and 0.12.x without the preloading code.
[...]
Added:
I forgot to mention one thing about the possible cause to slowness. On iLiad, I have to modify registry.xml to make FBReader registered to certain IPC channel, or it will be extreme slow to start FBReader. It's also the case for other applications.

The slowness in v0.12.x is general, starting fbreader, loading a new book, flipping pages... Anyway v0.10.x is quite good, I'm converting .prc books to .epub format (I just discovered calibre includes a CLI command for that!) and I'll only use FBReader for .chm files.
My guess is that the few problems I've detected with 0.10.x are due to device running out of memory.

Quote:

BTW, if not bothering, would you make some video of DR800 page-flips? I am curious about the speed of DR800, especially on FBReader. There is no such video available.

I've attached a video. The book is a 4 page .prc (Jan Neruda's Vampire if want to know

). As you can see, page flipping is over 1 sec (btw, similar than pdf or epub files with iRex document viewer). I observe identical performance with more complex and bigger documents.
Excuse the bad quality, I've recorded it with the mobile phone.

ericshliao · 03-13-2010, 05:57 AM

Iñigo, thanx for the video.

And...
I have succeeded in porting DR800 GTK+ lib to iLiad. Totally successful. The screen just update without xepdmgr. And the speed is even more fast.

Iñigo · 03-13-2010, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericshliao

Iñigo, thanx for the video.

And...
I have succeeded in porting DR800 GTK+ lib to iLiad. Totally successful. The screen just update without xepdmgr. And the speed is even more fast.

wow, you are the fast one!!!

can you try some lua program to check the performance, please?

ericshliao · 03-13-2010, 06:06 AM

Sure. But I have to go to bed now. I will try lua tomorrow.

Iñigo · 03-13-2010, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ericshliao

Sure. But I have to go to bed now. I will try lua tomorrow.

Good night.
It's time to lunch here.

X. Trapnel · 03-13-2010, 11:57 AM

Wow, awesome! Once I get my darn screen fixed I'll be very grateful for this!

ericshliao · 03-13-2010, 02:21 PM

Just tried some lua app. It works without hansel's xx.

To be honest, I must admit the improvement is not significat. Besideds, sometimes screen-update does not appear as desired. I think xepdmgr or xx can provide more sophisicated screen-update control, since my current mod can only do full-update.

ericshliao · 03-14-2010, 12:35 AM

Iñigo, some info for you.

I use FBReader to read epub. Comparing 0.10.x and 0.12.x, the later is slower apparently, roughly 1/3 more time to load a book and flip a page.

It seems that FBReader is slower processing epub than prc (that's reasonable). But there seems no difference between 0.10.x and 0.12.x when processing prc ebook.

Roughly comparing with your video, FBReader for iLiad spent double time to flip a page.

03-12-2010, 07:26 PM	#1
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	Applying DR GTK+ patches to iLiad I guess that DR series gain much performance from patched GTK+. So, I am doing an experiement of applying the patch to GTK+2.14.7 and make it running on iLiad. Maybe I can improve the performance of iLiad.

03-12-2010, 09:34 PM	#2
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	Since the core part of eink-update is quite the same for DR800 and iLiad (with a brief review, I guess so), I think maybe the patched GTK+-2.12.7 for DR800 can be applied to iLiad directly. The problem for now is: There are many patch files in directory "patches". How to apply those patch files in some simple steps? Added: The source code from iRex is already patched. It's not necessary to patch it again. Last edited by ericshliao; 03-12-2010 at 09:51 PM.

03-13-2010, 03:55 AM	#6
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	AFAK, if I can send correct command string to displayMgr, I guess GTK+ for DR800 can be applied to iLiad. Before it's done, normal applications won't be able to update the eink screen. I saw your post about FBReader 0.10.7 for DR800, but I am not sure about the slowness that you mentioned about 0.12.x. Do you mean it's slow when flipping page for 0.12.x or it's slow when starting FBReader? If you mean the later case, maybe it's because 0.12.x will do some sqlite database conversion (or initialization). It only happens once. If you mean 0.12.x is slow when flipping page, then I have no clue about how this could happen. I am using FBReader 0.12.6 on my iLiad, with some preloading mechanism. I can get page-flip in 2 secs (at most 3 secs). IIRC, I got similiar speed of page-flips on 0.10.x and 0.12.x without the preloading code. BTW, if not bothering, would you make some video of DR800 page-flips? I am curious about the speed of DR800, especially on FBReader. There is no such video available. Added: I forgot to mention one thing about the possible cause to slowness. On iLiad, I have to modify registry.xml to make FBReader registered to certain IPC channel, or it will be extreme slow to start FBReader. It's also the case for other applications. Last edited by ericshliao; 03-13-2010 at 04:02 AM.

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03-12-2010, 10:00 PM	#3
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	Well, I got it compiled. Now, I need to deploy the patched GTK+2.12.7 to a bootable CF and see if it will conflict with ContetLister and ipdf.

03-13-2010, 02:20 AM	#4
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	The conclusion of my experiement is: 1. patched GTK+-2.12.7 for DR800 is also compatible with iLiad (re-compilation is required of course). 2. It's ok with ipdf and newLister since these two have their own e-ink update routines. But not for other applications, such as FBReader. 3.The protocol to displayMgr server of DR800 must be different from iLiad. If I can fix this problem, it's highly possible to have a GTK+ lib with eink-update ability on iLiad.

03-13-2010, 03:36 AM	#5
Iñigo Guru Posts: 730 Karma: 72743 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Here or there Device: iRex iLiad, iRex DR800S. K4NT. Kobo Aura, Aura One, Libra 2.	Hello ericshliao I'm afraid it should be too much work and not clear success. Afaik the refresh process is very different, with those patches to gtk+ sources and another refresh engine, so though you could get patched gtk+ working, I don't know if it would work for the normal apps. I got my DR800S a week ago. It's a nice device, and once iRex provide zoom and annotations, it will be far better than the Iliad. DR800S refresh is fast and porting apps is also easier as well. In fact I ported fbreader 0.10.7 in a few moments (ok, once I discovered the errors I got ;-) Btw, it's quite strange but fbreader 0.12.x is very slow on the DR800S, but not 0.10.x branch... did you note this same behaviour in your ports? Keep the good and hard work, Iñigo

03-13-2010, 05:57 AM	#9
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	Iñigo, thanx for the video. And... I have succeeded in porting DR800 GTK+ lib to iLiad. Totally successful. The screen just update without xepdmgr. And the speed is even more fast.

03-13-2010, 06:06 AM	#11
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	Sure. But I have to go to bed now. I will try lua tomorrow.

03-13-2010, 11:57 AM	#13
X. Trapnel Enthusiast Posts: 32 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2009 Location: Heidelberg, Germany Device: iLiad (broken screen! cry), x61t tablet	Wow, awesome! Once I get my darn screen fixed I'll be very grateful for this!

03-13-2010, 02:21 PM	#14
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	Just tried some lua app. It works without hansel's xx. To be honest, I must admit the improvement is not significat. Besideds, sometimes screen-update does not appear as desired. I think xepdmgr or xx can provide more sophisicated screen-update control, since my current mod can only do full-update.

03-14-2010, 12:35 AM	#15
ericshliao Guru Posts: 976 Karma: 687 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: Dell X51v; iLiad v2	Iñigo, some info for you. I use FBReader to read epub. Comparing 0.10.x and 0.12.x, the later is slower apparently, roughly 1/3 more time to load a book and flip a page. It seems that FBReader is slower processing epub than prc (that's reasonable). But there seems no difference between 0.10.x and 0.12.x when processing prc ebook. Roughly comparing with your video, FBReader for iLiad spent double time to flip a page.