[GUI Plugin] Copy book covers as Standby images (Sony/PocketBook/Kindle/Nook)

[bverspeiser]

Hm, for me this plugin never worked: When selecting the cover it shows a message: "not supported bmp". I helped myself by inserting a

os.system("/usr/bin/convert - colors 8 %s %s" % (dest, dest))

after the save_cover_data_to at copy_to_pocketbook in ui.py. But this does not work anymore in the actual version (dialogs.py now) either (the plugin does not show up in the menues). I do not know the difference between the PIM-image and the ImageMagick-image but the IM-one worked with older versions.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by bverspeiser

Hm, for me this plugin never worked: When selecting the cover it shows a message: "not supported bmp". I helped myself by inserting a

os.system("/usr/bin/convert - colors 8 %s %s" % (dest, dest))

after the save_cover_data_to at copy_to_pocketbook in ui.py. But this does not work anymore in the actual version (dialogs.py now) either (the plugin does not show up in the menues). I do not know the difference between the PIM-image and the ImageMagick-image but the IM-one worked with older versions.

Whilst I'm very sorry this has never worked on your PB603, I do wonder why you didn't bother to report it at the time. The only feedback I've had from any PocketBook user is a grand total of 1 post (#9) in March 2011, from a PB602 owner who said it worked fine. I'm not a mind-reader you know

I have no objection to you customising the plugin in whatever way you like, it's freely shared after all, but it would have been nice if you'd freely shared your solution for the benefit of others.

Nevermind, we're here now. In the absence of feedback from other PB owners, I only have my own PB360 for testing. I can confirm the current release v1.6.0 works OK on that.

To move forward we need to do 2 things:

1. Find out the how the image requirements of a PB603 are different from a 602.
2. Find a way of the plugin detecting that a PB603 is connected rather than a 602. This will not be totally straightforward because, as far as I can see, Calibre uses the same driver for all PocketBook 602/603/902/903

I'm now going to PM you for some more detailed chat.

[NiLuJe]

@jackie_w: Here's the patch promised in here to fix the autoreboot on Kindle 2/3/4 when users have both my screensavers & fonts hack installed .

I'm in a bit of a hurry so I haven't tested anything, but it's more or less what we did in the Kindle Collections plugin, so hopefully I didn't break anything .

EDIT: Killed the attachments, merged in latest release ;-)

[jackie_w]

• Added support to send 16-colour greyscale bmps for Pocketbook devices PB602/603/902/903 and newer. Devices PB360 (original) and PB301 will continue to receive 8-colour greyscale bmps.
  
• Added option to randomise the order in which covers are sent to device. More likely to be useful for devices (e.g. Kindle Touch with Simple Screensaver) which do not already have some kind of on-device 'shuffle' or 'random' option.
  
• Fix for correctly setting auto reboot option on Kindles with Custom Screensaver which are also using NiLuJe's Custom Fonts mod (fix courtesy of NiLuJe).

If there are any problems after upgrade, please post here.

Thanks to paola (Pocketbook 903) and Akirainblack(Kindle Touch) for beta-testing and to NiLuJe for the Kindle patch.

[preempalver]

Hi jackie_w,
First of all thanks for your efforts and for this calibre plugin.

I have a problem on my PB603. When I've used the test images you posted on Pocketbook forum section, your 600x800_16.bmp worked fine. Now the plugin transfers images like the attachment below, and PB says "bmp format not supported." My plugin configuration is on the other image.
I'm running Calibre 0.8.66 on Ubuntu 10.04 up-to-date, Hope this helps.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by preempalver

I have a problem on my PB603. When I've used the test images you posted on Pocketbook forum section, your 600x800_16.bmp worked fine. Now the plugin transfers images like the attachment below, and PB says "bmp format not supported." My plugin configuration is on the other image.
I'm running Calibre 0.8.66 on Ubuntu 10.04 up-to-date, Hope this helps.

Aah! This looks like this may be the same problem bverspeiser reported in post #106 above. The reason your attached bmp doesn't work (and presumably all bmps created by this plugin) is because it is 24BPP -- the Pocketbook requires 4BPP. When I use the plugin on my own WinXP PC, the bmps are produced as 4BPP - hence Pocketbook is OK with them. When paola beta-tested the plugin on her PB903 she also had no problems. I'm not sure whether she is also a Windows user, I suspect she is, but I need to ask her.

If so the question to be resolved is - why does the calibre routine which converts to greyscale produce 4BPP bmps on Windows but 24BPP bmps on some (all?) Linux machines, and is there something I can add to the plugin to force 4BPP for everyone?

Unfortunately, bverspeiser stopped responding to my PMs mid-investigation so I was unable to pursue the problem. I do not have access to Ubuntu (or any other Linux flavour) myself. Maybe, with your help, I can finally get to the bottom of it

The next step is for me to re-examine the convert-to-greyscale routine and ask for specific advice from the Calibre gurus. Maybe there is a better method of doing it than the one I'm currently using.

I'll continue this conversation via PM. I need to dig around a bit more. So please bear with me.

[jackie_w]

• Fix for problem encountered by Pocketbook users using Linux.
  Plugin should now always create greyscale bmps with the correct depth of 4BPP.

If there are any problems after upgrade, please post here.

Thanks to preempalver for beta-testing with a PB603 on Ubuntu.
Thanks to Kovid for the moment of how to fix it.

[jackie_w]

• Added support for non-ad-supported Kindle Paperwhite and Touch which are using NiLuJe's latest Custom Screensaver mod.
• All Kindle models: covers which are copied with aspect ratio kept will be padded with white bars so that the screen is fully filled, i.e. previous screen no longer visible behind screensaver.

If there are any problems after upgrade, please post here.

Thanks to Akirainblack for beta-testing on Kindle Touch (FW v5.1.2) and Paperwhite (FW 5.2.0) - both UK 3G models and to NiLuJe for all Kindle-related matters .