902 how do I sync PB902 with calibre library via WiFi?

[Euclid]

Hello. I just got my PocketBook pro 902 this week and, by reading posts here on MobileReads, I've gotten it to behave just like it should for how I use it. You guys are amazing. There is just one thing I can't figure out...

WHAT I AM TRYING TO DO:
I am using calibre to manage my eBook library and news feeds. Calibre works great with PB902 via USB cable. However, I got the PB902 because it has both configurability and WiFi, so I'd like to take advantage of this and figure out a way to get rid of the USB cable and make my PB902 work with calibre over my WiFi network.

WHAT I AM USING:
-PocketBook Pro 902 with firmware 2.0.4 (I'm not using 2.0.5 or 2.0.6 because both of these cause a page-forward-button-goes-to-next-chapter bug in fbreader180) and a manually-assigned (i.e., fixed) IP address on my network
-Windows XP Pro SP3
-calibre 0.7.59

WHAT I ENVISION:
-Wirelessly mapping my PB902's microSD as a network drive on my computer (à la "AirSharing"), then using a batch file to keep the SD contents identical to the calibre library folder on my computer (e.g., xxcopy)
Problem: My computer cannot find my device.
OR
-Using a Dropbox folder with calibre and pointing my PB902 to that folder for content.
Problem: No Dropbox app for PB902.

I've tried rsh.app with nc11nt, webdown.app, and calibre's "content server" features, but (assuming one of these might hold the key) I guess I didn't have enough know-how to make it work for me.

Is is possible to sync PB902 with calibre wirelessly via WiFi, or am I stuck with the cable?

[paola]

Hi Euclid,
this is not exactly what you want, but while we wait for somebody more expert than me to give you advice, one way around it is to use Calibre2OPDS with Dropbox. You put your Calibrelibrary on your dropbox account, you generate a catalogue of your Calibre library with Calibre2OPDS, you access the catalogue from your internet connection, and download the book you want.
The problem is that Dropbox cannot be on a mobile media. However there is an application for that (which I have not tested yet) that should allow you to put dropbox on the SD card: one is here (but I suspect that it would also install teh programme), the other one here.
Should you feel like using Dropbox, you can use the link in my signature

[Euclid]

Thank you, Paola. That is an interesting solution. Would this involve me taking out the SD card from my reader and putting it into my computer? If so, then syncing the calibre folder on the computer to the SD card via a batch file would be simpler.

Ideally, I'm looking for something that would automatically keep the pb902 synced to my calibre folder over wifi...this way, for instance, if I keep my computer on running calibre overnight and it downloads news in the morning, the news would be in my pb902 when I pick it up from my nightstand and turn it (and its wifi) on.

I know the Kindle can do this kind of thing, but I wanted to be able to configure everything exactly my way. Perhaps expecting something like this from the PB902 is premature

[paola]

Originally Posted by Euclid

Ideally, I'm looking for something that would automatically keep the pb902 synced to my calibre folder over wifi...this way, for instance, if I keep my computer on running calibre overnight and it downloads news in the morning, the news would be in my pb902 when I pick it up from my nightstand and turn it (and its wifi) on.

thanks Euclid, you were prefectly clear in your first message, and I did get the gist, but I do not know if this can be done and how.
All the things I can think of have a manual component, however you may want to have a look at the Calibre plugins - there is one on Book sync that might do for you if you use a SD card: since you can get Calibre to connect to any folder on your computer by clicking on the "connect/share" button in Calibre and selecting "connect to folder", you can then browse any folder on your PC, so select the SD card (which must be in the slot, obviously). It will appear on Calibre as a "device", though of course it is just your SD card, and the plugin should sync.

There is a wireless sync plugin using SSH/RSH, but here I am totally out of my depth but if you check the top message in this thread there is how to get remote shell access, but in my deep ignorance I am not sure this is of any help

to "automatic management" the "send to device" tab in the "preferences", I think Calibre should send the updated books to your card as soon as it "connects" - this would achieve your objective, but you'd better double check on the Calibre forum - unless of course somebody else here can give you a hand.

[Euclid]

Thank you, Paola. Some of this is a bit over my head, but I'll give these methods a try. I'll report back if I have success. If no success, I'll use a batch file to keep my card identical to my calibre folder until a "vanilla" way of syncing wirelessly comes around.

[Euclid]

I found a wonderful solution to this problem.

1. On my PB902, I set my home wireless network as the preferred network (need to do this only first time around).

2. I copied the "get_root" app to my device (also only need to do this only once, obviously).

3. At device's main screen, go into "Applications" then click on the "get_root" app to run it. It connects the PB902 to the network and makes it "findable" from my laptop by ftp or telnet.

4. After get_root finishes running (it takes about 10 seconds) and I see that the PB is connected to the wireless network, I run a bash script on my laptop (Ubuntu 11.04) that mounts the device as a curlftpfs volume, deletes all files on the device's SD card (at /mnt/ext2 on the device), wirelessly copies all ebooks in my Calibre folder to the SD card, then unmounts the device.

Then I can just go off and read my updated content to my heart's content It works like a charm every time.

You can get the get_root app and read about it here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=130772
I'm at work now, but when I get home I'll post the text of my curlftps script. Hope this helps someone out there.

[paola]

Thanks!

Originally Posted by Euclid

I'm at work now, but when I get home I'll post the text of my curlftps script. Hope this helps someone out there.

yes please do: could it also be made to work with windows users?

[Euclid]

Hi, Paola. Here's the simple script I wrote:

#!/bin/sh
sudo curlftpfs -o allow_other ftp://root:-@192.168.1.79 ~/pocketbook/
rm -r ~/pocketbook/mnt/ext2/calibre/
cp -r /mnt/cellar/media/ebooks/calibre/ ~/pocketbook/mnt/ext2/
sudo umount ~/pocketbook/

I suspect this wouldn't work in windows, but I'm sure that the same thing could be accomplished in windows with a batch (.bat) file that would be very similar to this, with only slight modifications.

::: If you are using Linux, do the following :::
1-Install curlftpfs

2-Make sure that when you set up the preferred wireless connection on the PB902, you give it a static ip address. This part is easy but if you haven't done it before, let me know and I will walk you through it.

2-The get_root app can be run without modifications. When run, it will put the PB902 on the network and ip address designated in step 1. There is no installation required. Just put the "get_root.app" file at the root folder of the device. Follow the link above to get the app.

3-Run my script with the following modifications:
-substitute "192.168.1.79" with the ip address that you assigned to your PB902
-substitute all instances of "~/pocketbook" with the path to an empty folder on your computer of your choosing--any empty folder will do (note: ~/pocketbook is Linux shorthand for /home/Euclid/pocketbook)
-the "/mnt/ext2/calibre/" part can be left alone if you are using an SD card like me (path to SD card on device is /mnt/ext2/)
-substitute "/mnt/cellar/media/ebooks/calibre/" with the path to the calibre folder on your computer

That should be it! Once it's all setup, it's really easy to periodically "sync" your entire Calibre library wirelessly onto your device: run the get_root app on PB902, wait until the wireless icon shows up on the bottom of the device, then run your modified version of my script on your computer. When the script is done running, turn the pocketbook off and then back on so that the wifi and bluetooth disconnect. All your Calibre books and news will be in your device's library.

[paola]

thanks!

[Nightwish]

Nevermind, probably doesn't work.