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Old 06-08-2010, 10:38 PM   #1
dweller
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Question Question: reading over Wifi possible (maybe using Stanza)?

Hi,

I've got a question for iPad owners. Currently I have a file server (NAS) on my network where I store all my books and media.

Is there any way to read data or books from the network (over wifi) without being forced to use iTunes to sync from a PC?

I understand the iBooks app may not support this but I heard Stanza is out for the iPad now - is there a way to use that to do what I'm after?

I currently have a kindle DX and really hate having to sync stuff over to my device to read it. Would be much nicer if I could just browse my network share and add things over wifi!

Cheers
D.
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Old 06-08-2010, 10:44 PM   #2
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Search and you'll find this has been discussed in a few threads. You can use Stanza and Calibre.
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Old 06-08-2010, 11:02 PM   #3
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Thanks for your reply. I've read the calibre + stanza method before that people used on the iphones.

Unfortunately that doesnt work for my use case since calibre requires a PC to be running and is not very NAS friendly in general.

Like I said, I'm just after a way to browse the network very simply and just select the books to read over wifi. Looks like the iPad could be able to do this technically, but I'm trying to confirm if any apps currently support this sort of behaviour before I spend money on it.
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Old 06-08-2010, 11:09 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dweller View Post
Thanks for your reply. I've read the calibre + stanza method before that people used on the iphones.

Unfortunately that doesnt work for my use case since calibre requires a PC to be running and is not very NAS friendly in general.

Like I said, I'm just after a way to browse the network very simply and just select the books to read over wifi. Looks like the iPad could be able to do this technically, but I'm trying to confirm if any apps currently support this sort of behaviour before I spend money on it.
You can read through a web browser but even Stanza like Calibre requires a computer in order to transfer books files. Files still need to be fed to Ipad through "file sharing" section of the "apps" tab in Itunes.
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Old 06-08-2010, 11:49 PM   #5
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sorry, i misunderstood. i thought you had a computer on your network and just didn't want to have to sync with a wire. no. the ipad doesn't have any NAS access at this point. i could use it myself with a server and a drobo in my house. some applications like good reader can access drop box or mobile me, but nothing will mount a smb, afp or NFS share on your local network on a stock ipad.

if you're willing to jailbreak, and mess around with a command line, you can do all sorts of hackery and might get a NAS share to mount, but you wouldn't have an easy time importing books into an ereader application.

hmm.. one other possibility is if you set up a WebDAV server, either on a computer, or on your NAS server if it supports it, i know good reader will mount any old WebDAV server. i have one running on my linux box and it works just fine. but probably not what you're looking for either.
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Old 06-09-2010, 12:21 AM   #6
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Which NAS? Some have the ability to run a limited apache server.
In which case a calibre created stanza web library might be possible.
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Old 06-09-2010, 01:13 AM   #7
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I have a QNAP 439-Pro II : http://www.qnap.com/pro_detail_feature.asp?p_id=148

Yes I should be able to install a WebDav server as well as apache (in fact it comes with apache out of the box).

I will look into those options with a friend's iphone for testing I think that might actually work for what I'm trying to do.
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Old 06-09-2010, 02:13 AM   #8
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Use drop box!

There is a thread on how to use drop box and calibre and stanza to set up an accessible library using drop box you would then be able to connect and put books into stanza with ALL of your computers AND your NAS turned off.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...calibre+stanza

This setup would also work from your NAS with no computer set up.

Last edited by stustaff; 06-09-2010 at 02:16 AM.
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Old 06-09-2010, 02:54 AM   #9
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Use drop box!

There is a thread on how to use drop box and calibre and stanza to set up an accessible library using drop box you would then be able to connect and put books into stanza with ALL of your computers AND your NAS turned off.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...calibre+stanza

This setup would also work from your NAS with no computer set up.
Dropbox is a bit of a hassle to get runing on a NAS - theres still no completely headless client for it. There is a way to do the install but it is dirty and requires lots of random libraries to be installed onto the NAS' linux environment.

Besides, syncing my 45G+ of ebooks and comics across all my dropboxed PCs sort of defeats the purpose of having a NAS and just connecting to it when I need to access something.
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Old 06-09-2010, 03:14 AM   #10
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Dropbox is a bit of a hassle to get runing on a NAS - theres still no completely headless client for it. There is a way to do the install but it is dirty and requires lots of random libraries to be installed onto the NAS' linux environment.

Besides, syncing my 45G+ of ebooks and comics across all my dropboxed PCs sort of defeats the purpose of having a NAS and just connecting to it when I need to access something.
Well you wouldnt have had drop box on your NAS that was the point dropbox is in 'the cloud' so you would send books and the library to your dropbox and then access it directly from your idevice to dropbox's server, your NAS becomes irrelevant.

however now we know the size of your library dropbox is a no go anyway.
BUT using the setup above directly on your NAS instead of on dropbox would work perfectly.
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Old 06-09-2010, 04:28 AM   #11
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Cool thanks for the help guys. I think scottjl's webdav idea sounds like it'll work the best for what I'm after because:
1. I can leave the NAS exactly how its organised now.
2. No duplication of data across devices.
2. I dont have to use calibre on my whole collection. I use it to convert but not as a library manager, since I find calibre to be extremely NAS unfriendly.

Just need to find a spare iphone to test this out with goodreader
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Old 06-09-2010, 07:33 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dweller View Post
Cool thanks for the help guys. I think scottjl's webdav idea sounds like it'll work the best for what I'm after because:
1. I can leave the NAS exactly how its organised now.
2. No duplication of data across devices.
2. I dont have to use calibre on my whole collection. I use it to convert but not as a library manager, since I find calibre to be extremely NAS unfriendly.

Just need to find a spare iphone to test this out with goodreader
GoodReader will also connect to FTP servers, which might be simpler to setup on the NAS.
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Old 06-09-2010, 07:35 AM   #13
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GoodReader will also connect to FTP servers, which might be simpler to setup on the NAS.
Ah awesome! Turns out my NAS does both FTP and WebDAV out of the box already so either options look like they'll work well
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Old 06-18-2010, 09:34 AM   #14
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Well I got the 64G iPad today and I'm loving it. The suggestion above for using GoodReader + webdav works perfectly for PDF files on my NAS.

Does anyone know if there is a way to tell GoodReader to open epub formatted files in Stanza (since GoodReader doesn't handle them itself)? I could then use it as a sort of file browser for my WebDav server / NAS and open files using other apps?

I tried a WebDAV client called OverTheAir but it also attempts to open the epub itself then complains about unrecognized format instead of allowing me to choose another app like Stanza to open the epub with.

Pity Stanza doesn't seem to allow adding a custom WebDav server itself!

Last edited by dweller; 06-18-2010 at 09:36 AM.
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Old 06-18-2010, 11:00 AM   #15
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stanza on the ipad seems to have some issues. i've given up on it. they do have an active support forum, doesn't hurt to request features you're looking for.

maybe the new version of ibooks will allow you to use "open with..." in goodreader. it's due out next week, guess we'll see.
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