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Polydwarf · 02-26-2010, 01:38 AM

To necro a thread, I was about to write about the process I use to read novels/etc on a psp (This technique is probably not great for technical pdf's). But, since this thread is here, I'll tack it onto the end.

If you want to read PDF's directly, there's bookr... It requires hacked firmware, though, so it may or may not be an option for you.

There's also the pdf converter listed here, that outputs everything as jpegs. That works, but personally, it seems way overkill, and jpegs are pretty big and will eat your memory stick's space.

Here's what I do...

The PSP has a little web browser on it. I have never used it for web surfing, but it does have the ability to browse html files locally. Nifty. The problem, though, is that the browser doesn't do very well if the html file is too large. It seems like the tipping point is that if the html file is 150kB or larger, it tends to start having problems (slow loading/scrolling). Regular novels will be way over this limit.

The magic comes in a little open source utility called pdftohtml (imaginative name, but so it goes).. You can get it at http://pdftohtml.sourceforge.net/ It can take a pdf and convert it either into a single html file, or a framed set of documents (an index, a page that consists of a bunch of page links on the left, and the content on the right). The second mode of operation is the preferred one for large docs on a psp because none of the pages are very big, so the psp won't choke.

A quick set of steps:

1. Get a pdf file that you want to read. If need be, convert whatever you want to pdf using calibre, a pdf printer, or whatever. (I'll use blah.pdf for this example)
2. Drop it in a directory (I'll use c:\books for this example) where you already have the pdftohtml files
3. Open up a command prompt and navigate to the directory

Code:

cd c:\books

4. Run pdftohtml

Code:

pdftohtml.exe -c -i blah.pdf

The -c option tells it to generate the complex doc (the framed out version). The -i tells it to ignore images in the pdf. After it's done running, you'll have a bunch of html files in the directory:

blah.html
blah-1.html
blah-2.html
<etc.. one file per page in the pdf>
blah_ind.html

You can get an idea what it'll look/work like if you open blah.html in your desktop's web browser. You'll see the frame on the left and content on the right. Click a page link on the left, that page will pop in on the right.

5. Now you need to get it onto your PSP. Plug a mini-usb cable into your PSP, and the other end into a USB port on your computer.

6. On your PSP, navigate to the USB Connection item and select it; on mine, it's on the left most menu (where all the settings are), near the top of the list; ymmv. It'll think about it for a few seconds, then you should see your computer finding it.

7. Mount it up however your OS tells you to. It should mount as just some external storage like a usb key or whatever. The directory structure will look something like:

Code:

ISO
MP_ROOT
MUSIC
PICTURE
<etc>

7. Make a directory for your new book next to those (ie, in the root of the memory stick). Copy the html files from the directory on your computer into the newly created directory on your memory stick.

At this point, you can go read your book, but it will kind of suck

I'll outline how you would do so :

1. Disconnect your psp from the computer.
2. Scroll over to the network section, and choose WWW Internet Browser. It'll bring up a blank browser window.
3. Hit Up on the direction arrows; that should bring you into the address bar (If it doesn't, navigate around until you get the address bar flashing). Hit the X button to enter in a URL
4. The URL will be :

Code:

file:/blah/blah.html

5. That should load up your converted book in the browser

Here comes the part that sucks.. If you're like me, you're going to hate typing in different urls all the time into the PSP's address bar. What I did was create a simple html file in the root directory of the psp; I called it book.html.. This file just has some links out to the books I've got on the PSP. I've set up a bookmark in the psp's browser to the book.html file, so I can go straight to the book.html file without having to use the text entry on the keypad, and then click the links in that file to get to the individual books. Here's a sample file:

Code:

<table>
<tr><td><a href="./blah/blah.html">The Blah Wars</a></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="./blah2/blah2.html">The Blah Strikes Back</a></td></tr>
<tr><td><a href="./blah3/blah3.html">Return of the Blah</a></td></tr>
</table>

It doesn't need to be properly formatted html (ie, no <head>, <html>, etc tags). I just see a page with three links ("The Blah Wars", "The Blah Strikes Back", and "Return of the Blah"). When I put a new book on, I edit the file and add a new line for the new book. When I'm removing a book, I remove the line for that book. That way, my browser bookmark always works to essentially take me to my library. The browser also has a few text sizes/flow patterns to choose from.

Anyways, it seems like a complicated 37 step process, but it's not as hard as it seems and you should get it after the first time or two. Admittedly, it's not as easy as calibre or whatever, but if someone has a psp, but no e-readers, it's an option.

02-26-2010, 01:38 AM	#7
Polydwarf Enthusiast Posts: 28 Karma: 24 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: SmartQ V7, Cybook Opus	To necro a thread, I was about to write about the process I use to read novels/etc on a psp (This technique is probably not great for technical pdf's). But, since this thread is here, I'll tack it onto the end. If you want to read PDF's directly, there's bookr... It requires hacked firmware, though, so it may or may not be an option for you. There's also the pdf converter listed here, that outputs everything as jpegs. That works, but personally, it seems way overkill, and jpegs are pretty big and will eat your memory stick's space. Here's what I do... The PSP has a little web browser on it. I have never used it for web surfing, but it does have the ability to browse html files locally. Nifty. The problem, though, is that the browser doesn't do very well if the html file is too large. It seems like the tipping point is that if the html file is 150kB or larger, it tends to start having problems (slow loading/scrolling). Regular novels will be way over this limit. The magic comes in a little open source utility called pdftohtml (imaginative name, but so it goes).. You can get it at http://pdftohtml.sourceforge.net/ It can take a pdf and convert it either into a single html file, or a framed set of documents (an index, a page that consists of a bunch of page links on the left, and the content on the right). The second mode of operation is the preferred one for large docs on a psp because none of the pages are very big, so the psp won't choke. A quick set of steps: 1. Get a pdf file that you want to read. If need be, convert whatever you want to pdf using calibre, a pdf printer, or whatever. (I'll use blah.pdf for this example) 2. Drop it in a directory (I'll use c:\books for this example) where you already have the pdftohtml files 3. Open up a command prompt and navigate to the directory Code: cd c:\books 4. Run pdftohtml Code: pdftohtml.exe -c -i blah.pdf The -c option tells it to generate the complex doc (the framed out version). The -i tells it to ignore images in the pdf. After it's done running, you'll have a bunch of html files in the directory: blah.html blah-1.html blah-2.html <etc.. one file per page in the pdf> blah_ind.html You can get an idea what it'll look/work like if you open blah.html in your desktop's web browser. You'll see the frame on the left and content on the right. Click a page link on the left, that page will pop in on the right. 5. Now you need to get it onto your PSP. Plug a mini-usb cable into your PSP, and the other end into a USB port on your computer. 6. On your PSP, navigate to the USB Connection item and select it; on mine, it's on the left most menu (where all the settings are), near the top of the list; ymmv. It'll think about it for a few seconds, then you should see your computer finding it. 7. Mount it up however your OS tells you to. It should mount as just some external storage like a usb key or whatever. The directory structure will look something like: Code: ISO MP_ROOT MUSIC PICTURE <etc> 7. Make a directory for your new book next to those (ie, in the root of the memory stick). Copy the html files from the directory on your computer into the newly created directory on your memory stick. At this point, you can go read your book, but it will kind of suck I'll outline how you would do so : 1. Disconnect your psp from the computer. 2. Scroll over to the network section, and choose WWW Internet Browser. It'll bring up a blank browser window. 3. Hit Up on the direction arrows; that should bring you into the address bar (If it doesn't, navigate around until you get the address bar flashing). Hit the X button to enter in a URL 4. The URL will be : Code: file:/blah/blah.html 5. That should load up your converted book in the browser Here comes the part that sucks.. If you're like me, you're going to hate typing in different urls all the time into the PSP's address bar. What I did was create a simple html file in the root directory of the psp; I called it book.html.. This file just has some links out to the books I've got on the PSP. I've set up a bookmark in the psp's browser to the book.html file, so I can go straight to the book.html file without having to use the text entry on the keypad, and then click the links in that file to get to the individual books. Here's a sample file: Code: <table> <tr><td><a href="./blah/blah.html">The Blah Wars</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="./blah2/blah2.html">The Blah Strikes Back</a></td></tr> <tr><td><a href="./blah3/blah3.html">Return of the Blah</a></td></tr> </table> It doesn't need to be properly formatted html (ie, no <head>, <html>, etc tags). I just see a page with three links ("The Blah Wars", "The Blah Strikes Back", and "Return of the Blah"). When I put a new book on, I edit the file and add a new line for the new book. When I'm removing a book, I remove the line for that book. That way, my browser bookmark always works to essentially take me to my library. The browser also has a few text sizes/flow patterns to choose from. Anyways, it seems like a complicated 37 step process, but it's not as hard as it seems and you should get it after the first time or two. Admittedly, it's not as easy as calibre or whatever, but if someone has a psp, but no e-readers, it's an option. Last edited by Polydwarf; 02-26-2010 at 01:44 AM.