Stuck with a brick.

jotheman · 12-29-2007, 05:26 AM

Hi everyone,

when I started thinking about buying a dedicated ebook reader some while ago, I found a lot of the info I needed in these forums, so I'll give it a try and post about the problems I now have with my new iRex Iliad here.

Biggest Problem: it's not really bricked, but I am stuck with the original software that came on it. Since I bought it in China, I seemingly cannot install any third-party software. In the quick guide that came with it, I was referred to the english MyIrex site, but I had to find out myself (a very lengthy process) that my Iliad will actually contact a special chinese iDS service - no wonder I always got an error message and could not connect. Even worse, I found out that in China, the developer's package is not offered. I tried the manual shell hack posted here a long time ago, but it doesn't seem to work with the newer firmware versions. Is there any newer hack that does the trick?

What makes things worse is that i am a Mac user. I counted on the Third Party software to get my Newsfeeds directly to the Iliad without the "companion software". Now I can only do the most basic things with it. I bought it for reading, of course, but it's not all about the display (which is pretty greyish, BTW), but also about the content, if you know what i mean. I like reading stuff on it, really feels quite natural. But what do you need WiFi for if you can only use it to have the device "call home" once in a while an not to update RSS-newsfeeds or download content right onto the device?

So what you get when you buy a chinese Iliad is an expensive yet very basic ebook reader which doesn't even support txt files. I could have bought a Jinke or one of the even cheaper devices on the market here, but the Iliad seemed more flexible and expandable. How wrong i was. Devices like the Archos 705 Wi-Fi or similar media players now come in cheaper than the Iliad and, although not specially designed for reading, wouldn't have me feel like being stuck with an out-of-date gadget from 2 years ago. How am I not to regret having invested 5800 RMB (about 570 €) in a device that doesn't even have a USB 2.0 interface?

To say someting positive about the chinese version: it comes with a chinese handwriting recognition feature that works flawlessly. There is no real use for it, though, since there are no applications on it where i could enter any chinese text, except for the names of the network profies...

I hope the ingenious people in this forum might know hot to "unbrick" my not-really-bricked-but-feeling-like-it Iliad and have some suggestions on how to get the most out of it using it with a Mac.

Thanks and a Happy New Year to everyone!

jo.

jotheman · 01-03-2008, 12:00 AM

Anyone?

-Thomas- · 01-03-2008, 10:36 AM

Hi,

in this thread someone had a similar problem, just "the other way round": He simply sent an email to iRex with his MAC address and his (european) iLiad was activated for the chinese iDS. Maybe this works for your problem too.

nairbv · 01-06-2008, 09:09 AM

hmm..... I'm in China too and am starting to think about one of these chinese iliads... Did you have any luck with it? What exactly couldn't you do? The other thread seems to suggest that they are the same software, one just gets access to this IDS thing... getting access to the IDS means you can't access other network stuff?

jotheman · 01-15-2008, 08:50 AM

Hi.

I have to admit that I didn't do any further testing on this. I tried to connect to IDS via cable and wireless and always got a message telling me that there was an error with my username/password. I had long before registered at myiliad.com and at the chinese page (even though the manual (chinese and english) points to the site above and the chinese one actually is just a forum, I think), both with the same username/e-mail.

There is no Developer Package for China, so I am considering the possibility mentioned above (thanks!). On the other hand, I don't wanna loose support for Chinese and/or the Chinese HWR...

So right now, the wireless function is of no use to me. But still, I use the Iliad quite a lot for reading all kinds of stuff. It feels very natural.

If you are in Shanghai, mobread.com is a good address. They carry all other available devices, too.

Cheers,

jo.

carandol · 01-15-2008, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jotheman

What makes things worse is that i am a Mac user. I counted on the Third Party software to get my Newsfeeds directly to the Iliad without the "companion software". jo.

It's not quite the perfect solution, but you could use the free service at Feedbooks to create a newsfeed as a PDF, download it to your Mac and transfer it via USB.

nekokami · 01-17-2008, 02:35 PM

If you get your iLiad converted to the non-Chinese version, you won't be able to read Chinese txt files, and you'll only be able to read Chinese PDF files if they have the font embedded. And you'll lose the Chinese HWR. But you'll gain the ability to install 3rd party apps. I guess you have to decide which is more important to you. I wish iRex hadn't made this decision to split development, but that's what we've got to work with.

12-29-2007, 05:26 AM	#1
jotheman Sleeper. Posts: 109 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Boox Max2, Kinde Voyage, reMarkable, Dasung Paperlike Pro	Stuck with a brick. Hi everyone, when I started thinking about buying a dedicated ebook reader some while ago, I found a lot of the info I needed in these forums, so I'll give it a try and post about the problems I now have with my new iRex Iliad here. Biggest Problem: it's not really bricked, but I am stuck with the original software that came on it. Since I bought it in China, I seemingly cannot install any third-party software. In the quick guide that came with it, I was referred to the english MyIrex site, but I had to find out myself (a very lengthy process) that my Iliad will actually contact a special chinese iDS service - no wonder I always got an error message and could not connect. Even worse, I found out that in China, the developer's package is not offered. I tried the manual shell hack posted here a long time ago, but it doesn't seem to work with the newer firmware versions. Is there any newer hack that does the trick? What makes things worse is that i am a Mac user. I counted on the Third Party software to get my Newsfeeds directly to the Iliad without the "companion software". Now I can only do the most basic things with it. I bought it for reading, of course, but it's not all about the display (which is pretty greyish, BTW), but also about the content, if you know what i mean. I like reading stuff on it, really feels quite natural. But what do you need WiFi for if you can only use it to have the device "call home" once in a while an not to update RSS-newsfeeds or download content right onto the device? So what you get when you buy a chinese Iliad is an expensive yet very basic ebook reader which doesn't even support txt files. I could have bought a Jinke or one of the even cheaper devices on the market here, but the Iliad seemed more flexible and expandable. How wrong i was. Devices like the Archos 705 Wi-Fi or similar media players now come in cheaper than the Iliad and, although not specially designed for reading, wouldn't have me feel like being stuck with an out-of-date gadget from 2 years ago. How am I not to regret having invested 5800 RMB (about 570 €) in a device that doesn't even have a USB 2.0 interface? To say someting positive about the chinese version: it comes with a chinese handwriting recognition feature that works flawlessly. There is no real use for it, though, since there are no applications on it where i could enter any chinese text, except for the names of the network profies... I hope the ingenious people in this forum might know hot to "unbrick" my not-really-bricked-but-feeling-like-it Iliad and have some suggestions on how to get the most out of it using it with a Mac. Thanks and a Happy New Year to everyone! jo.

01-03-2008, 12:00 AM	#2
jotheman Sleeper. Posts: 109 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Boox Max2, Kinde Voyage, reMarkable, Dasung Paperlike Pro	? Anyone?

01-15-2008, 08:50 AM	#5
jotheman Sleeper. Posts: 109 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Boox Max2, Kinde Voyage, reMarkable, Dasung Paperlike Pro	no news Hi. I have to admit that I didn't do any further testing on this. I tried to connect to IDS via cable and wireless and always got a message telling me that there was an error with my username/password. I had long before registered at myiliad.com and at the chinese page (even though the manual (chinese and english) points to the site above and the chinese one actually is just a forum, I think), both with the same username/e-mail. There is no Developer Package for China, so I am considering the possibility mentioned above (thanks!). On the other hand, I don't wanna loose support for Chinese and/or the Chinese HWR... So right now, the wireless function is of no use to me. But still, I use the Iliad quite a lot for reading all kinds of stuff. It feels very natural. If you are in Shanghai, mobread.com is a good address. They carry all other available devices, too. Cheers, jo.

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01-03-2008, 10:36 AM	#3
-Thomas- Addict Posts: 325 Karma: 1725 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Münster, Germany Device: iRex iLiad v2	Hi, in this thread someone had a similar problem, just "the other way round": He simply sent an email to iRex with his MAC address and his (european) iLiad was activated for the chinese iDS. Maybe this works for your problem too.

01-06-2008, 09:09 AM	#4
nairbv Connoisseur Posts: 88 Karma: 15 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: still looking for an ebook reader device	hmm..... I'm in China too and am starting to think about one of these chinese iliads... Did you have any luck with it? What exactly couldn't you do? The other thread seems to suggest that they are the same software, one just gets access to this IDS thing... getting access to the IDS means you can't access other network stuff?

01-17-2008, 02:35 PM	#7
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	If you get your iLiad converted to the non-Chinese version, you won't be able to read Chinese txt files, and you'll only be able to read Chinese PDF files if they have the font embedded. And you'll lose the Chinese HWR. But you'll gain the ability to install 3rd party apps. I guess you have to decide which is more important to you. I wish iRex hadn't made this decision to split development, but that's what we've got to work with.

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