Quote:
Originally Posted by AJ Starr
Yes...I understand the concept (I've been in the computer world since the 70's, prior to IBM PC), but I still live in the world of the Operating System staying and just applications changing. So, essentially, we could have a eink device and take the new Cybook update and "cross-flash" it onto it?
I was playing with the idea of something like that for a very old Sharp Wizard PDA I have. Would love to turn it into a ebook reader.
Thanks for the explanation.
Alyson  |
Well, the way these e-ink readers are set up, the hardware involved is a major issue to "cross-flashing". As is the fact that some require one type of firmware update file(s) and another might require a different file or file set. To give you an example, the older STAReBOOK STK-101 required an ELF file called update_kernel, a cramfs compressed filesystem called newebr.cramfs and a series of bitmap files used to display the progress of the firmware update process. On the other hand, the Cybook Gen3 simply requires an ELF file called update_kernel. But the ExPlay requires all that the STK-101 does *and* a file called NewOpen.cmd. Yet they're all the same basic hardware.
One could, I suppose, open one of these devices in console mode as a serial device and then copy the filesystem out of it and then, using the same method, into another device from a different supplier, but that requires cracking the case, building a ttl-level cable and attaching same to solder points on the motherboard... Not something a typical user might wish to attempt on a $300+ device.
Derek