PRS-500 An idea so crazy, it just might work

Nate the great · 10-23-2007, 02:32 PM

I've always wanted wifi on my PRS500, now it might be possible. Check out the links:

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/wireless/...val-313713.php
http://www.eye.fi/news.htm

Igorsk, if this is ever actually released, I will raise funds to buy you a couple on the condition that you get it working with the 500/505.

Nate the great · 10-23-2007, 09:06 PM

So does the lack of response mean no one cares, or no one thinks it will work?

I think it's worth a shot.

gmanacsa · 10-23-2007, 09:34 PM

It seems like the usefulness would be pretty limited unless you also ported over a browser and/or a newsreader, along with the required networking infrastructure to make it work.

RWood · 10-23-2007, 10:24 PM

Its a nice concept designed in the reverse from what you seem to want it to do. It was designed to be a sender of data to be installed in a creation device such as a camera. You seem to want to go the other way and have it receive data.

It would be simpler to get an iLiad iRex or perhaps the infamous Kindle (if we are to believe the FCC release.)

Nate the great · 10-23-2007, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWood

Its a nice concept designed in the reverse from what you seem to want it to do. It was designed to be a sender of data to be installed in a creation device such as a camera. You seem to want to go the other way and have it receive data.

It would be simpler to get an iLiad iRex or perhaps the infamous Kindle (if we are to believe the FCC release.)

It would be simpler, but not as cool.

yvanleterrible · 10-24-2007, 09:37 AM

I can see it work but with a drawback. When you put a card in a reader, it reads it and writes a summary to the card of what it will display in the reader's menu. Once this is done it will not read the content again but the summary it wrote to the card. If you change anything to the card, the reader will not know until you reset the card in or that you restart the reader.

yvanleterrible · 10-24-2007, 10:07 AM

But then again, I don't see the advantage of using the system. All you're doing is replacing a USB wire with something more expensive. If they make this a feature of the Kindle it's that they expect the device to reach a special shopping site by itself without a computer. There would be no such dealings with a PRS.
If you used it only to get files from your computer to the reader, the computer is the master and the reader still the slave. The system is only useful if the reader becomes the master and the computer the slave, meaning that you could remotely take files from the computer wherever you are with the reader. As it is a reader is totally dumb, you can't even erase a book with it. Unless the whole device is redone, chips and all, there is no software that can make it work this way.
Sorry if I burst you bubble but your idea seemed nice for a while.

Nate the great · 10-30-2007, 10:01 AM

The card is now available. It costs $99 on Amazon. It seems likely that it can provide Wifi capability to the Sony Reader. So I will make the offer again:

Does anyone want to try to hack this card so it will work on the Sony Reader? I will raise the funds to buy the card.

This offer is also good for anyone who writes a basic browser for the Reader.

igorsk · 10-30-2007, 05:30 PM

It seems the card doesn't actually offer any interface to the device, just the basic file storage. I guess you could try to make a "http over filesystem" wrapper by writing and reading the files but that's not really a great solution.
A better approach would be to try an SDIO Wi-Fi card working. But I don't know if the Reader's SD contoller supports SDIO.

Nate the great · 11-02-2007, 07:32 PM

Forget the idea. I can't even get the company to respond to my emails.

thegrendel · 11-03-2007, 03:02 PM

You recall that the Sony reader runs a 2.4 Linux kernel. Plugging in a wifi card would require
a driver. The 2.4 kernel might not support that driver, even if a Linux driver is available and that is by no means a certainty. And, even if there is a Linux driver, it might not work on Sony reader hardware with SD wifi card. And, even if driver is available and would work,
how would you hack the Sony reader in order to install it?

Sorry, too many hurdles to jump over.

nerys · 11-30-2007, 02:56 AM

What would be neat is if it has enough firmware capability you used it as a RSS reader.

IE the wifi card as its own little computer would download RSS feeds for me and "save them" as txt files on the memory card in the right location so when I turned on the READER it would now see these new TXT files.

IE a passive live blog reader of sorts. THAT would be pretty slick :-)

IF this worked well enough it would even permit LIVE RSS downloads of PODCASTS for your mp3 player or PDA if they could accept SD cards. this would be a really killer app if it could be hacked this way IE if its complicated enough to perform tasks of this nature.

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

mdhuang · 11-30-2007, 10:13 AM

Just go get a kindle which has wireless built in.

nerys · 11-30-2007, 10:56 AM

Except if this eye fi could be hacked so many OTHER possibilities become possible :-)

10-23-2007, 02:32 PM	#1
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	An idea so crazy, it just might work I've always wanted wifi on my PRS500, now it might be possible. Check out the links: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/wireless/...val-313713.php http://www.eye.fi/news.htm Igorsk, if this is ever actually released, I will raise funds to buy you a couple on the condition that you get it working with the 500/505.

11-03-2007, 03:02 PM	#11
thegrendel Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2007 Device: Sony PRS-500	Probably won't work You recall that the Sony reader runs a 2.4 Linux kernel. Plugging in a wifi card would require a driver. The 2.4 kernel might not support that driver, even if a Linux driver is available and that is by no means a certainty. And, even if there is a Linux driver, it might not work on Sony reader hardware with SD wifi card. And, even if driver is available and would work, how would you hack the Sony reader in order to install it? Sorry, too many hurdles to jump over.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
My "read" tag idea enhancement for Calibre idea	rcuadro	Calibre	10	01-20-2011 04:23 PM
Am I crazy???	SangYuP	Sony Reader	15	10-12-2010 04:32 PM
Crazy Idea -- Photo Frame as Book Reader	Polydwarf	Alternative Devices	14	02-27-2010 03:53 PM
I think I'm going crazy!	lilac_jive	Reading Recommendations	2	01-01-2010 08:18 PM
Crazy idea - search?	atesta	Sony Reader Dev Corner	12	08-23-2008 05:33 PM

10-23-2007, 09:06 PM	#2
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	So does the lack of response mean no one cares, or no one thinks it will work? I think it's worth a shot.

10-23-2007, 09:34 PM	#3
gmanacsa Enthusiast Posts: 36 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2007 Device: Sony Reader PRS-500, X61T Tablet, iPhone, OLPC XO-1	It seems like the usefulness would be pretty limited unless you also ported over a browser and/or a newsreader, along with the required networking infrastructure to make it work.

10-23-2007, 10:24 PM	#4
RWood Technogeezer Posts: 7,233 Karma: 1601464 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Virginia, USA Device: Sony PRS-500	Its a nice concept designed in the reverse from what you seem to want it to do. It was designed to be a sender of data to be installed in a creation device such as a camera. You seem to want to go the other way and have it receive data. It would be simpler to get an iLiad iRex or perhaps the infamous Kindle (if we are to believe the FCC release.)

10-24-2007, 09:37 AM	#6
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	I can see it work but with a drawback. When you put a card in a reader, it reads it and writes a summary to the card of what it will display in the reader's menu. Once this is done it will not read the content again but the summary it wrote to the card. If you change anything to the card, the reader will not know until you reset the card in or that you restart the reader.

10-24-2007, 10:07 AM	#7
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	But then again, I don't see the advantage of using the system. All you're doing is replacing a USB wire with something more expensive. If they make this a feature of the Kindle it's that they expect the device to reach a special shopping site by itself without a computer. There would be no such dealings with a PRS. If you used it only to get files from your computer to the reader, the computer is the master and the reader still the slave. The system is only useful if the reader becomes the master and the computer the slave, meaning that you could remotely take files from the computer wherever you are with the reader. As it is a reader is totally dumb, you can't even erase a book with it. Unless the whole device is redone, chips and all, there is no software that can make it work this way. Sorry if I burst you bubble but your idea seemed nice for a while.

10-30-2007, 10:01 AM	#8
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	The card is now available. It costs $99 on Amazon. It seems likely that it can provide Wifi capability to the Sony Reader. So I will make the offer again: Does anyone want to try to hack this card so it will work on the Sony Reader? I will raise the funds to buy the card. This offer is also good for anyone who writes a basic browser for the Reader.

10-30-2007, 05:30 PM	#9
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	It seems the card doesn't actually offer any interface to the device, just the basic file storage. I guess you could try to make a "http over filesystem" wrapper by writing and reading the files but that's not really a great solution. A better approach would be to try an SDIO Wi-Fi card working. But I don't know if the Reader's SD contoller supports SDIO.

11-02-2007, 07:32 PM	#10
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	Forget the idea. I can't even get the company to respond to my emails.

11-30-2007, 02:56 AM	#12
nerys Addict Posts: 243 Karma: 48 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: PRS 500 - REB 1200	What would be neat is if it has enough firmware capability you used it as a RSS reader. IE the wifi card as its own little computer would download RSS feeds for me and "save them" as txt files on the memory card in the right location so when I turned on the READER it would now see these new TXT files. IE a passive live blog reader of sorts. THAT would be pretty slick :-) IF this worked well enough it would even permit LIVE RSS downloads of PODCASTS for your mp3 player or PDA if they could accept SD cards. this would be a really killer app if it could be hacked this way IE if its complicated enough to perform tasks of this nature. Chris Taylor http://www.nerys.com/

11-30-2007, 10:13 AM	#13
mdhuang Bookworm Posts: 113 Karma: 154 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Sony CLIE NX80V, PRS-500	Just go get a kindle which has wireless built in.

Advert

Advert

11-30-2007, 10:56 AM	#14
nerys Addict Posts: 243 Karma: 48 Join Date: Dec 2006 Device: PRS 500 - REB 1200	Except if this eye fi could be hacked so many OTHER possibilities become possible :-)