Possible to secure the settings on Iliad?

poveyjo · 04-29-2008, 07:59 PM

Hi,

I work for a library and we are investigating the purchase of some iliads to loan out to our patrons. I have seen a iliad in a demo, but we have not purchased one yet, so have not had a good play to find out what is possible.

My main question at this stage is how we could manage it in a multi-user environment like a library. That is, if we loan our iliads to our patrons, is there any way to secure the settings so that it is not 'broken' for the next user?

Ideally, we ant to make sure the iliad is clean, ready, and working for the next user. This can either be done my locking down the settings so people cannot fiddle, or somehow reverting all the settings back to a default configuration once the unit comes back into the desk.

Does anyone have any ideas about this this could be achieved? As it is based on linux, I imagine there must be something we can do? I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, but I'm not a huge linux expert either.

Any thoughts appreciated... even if just to say you don't think it can be done!

many thanks, Jon

axel77 · 04-30-2008, 06:33 AM

One Idea might be, to use "reflash" feature of the iLiad.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...hlight=unbrick

That is everytime you get an iLiad back, put in one of your CompactFlash cards, hold the connect button while powering on and you got the iLiad factory fresh again.

If you want to auto change settings to different defaults, maybe the gurus here will help you to create a script to add to this CF cards..

We are doing this with notebooks, we created a special autoinstaller DVD, evertime a notebook comes back, we just put in that DVD and powerup the device, some minutes later its at our default settings again, independant on how much bad software the student installed...

Also don't forget to register all you iLiads MAC adresses at http://www.irextechnologies.com/ so no user "takes" it to be "his" device.

Adam B. · 04-30-2008, 01:14 PM

Given the delicate nature of the e-ink screen, I'd be worried about lending out the iLiad...

But, it may be possible to secure the iLiad through the terminal.

I'd reccomend:

Request Shell Access from iRex
Setup Dropbear on the iLiad, edit the registry, change the extension used for shell scripts to something other than sh (for a bit of security through obscurity)
Change the permissions on the registry.xml to disallow writing (not sure what problems, if any, this would cause with the contentlister)
Remove dropbear

That should effectively prevent anyone from changing the settings on the iLiad.

poveyjo · 04-30-2008, 09:00 PM

Thanks, both of these methods sound like options.

Is the screen quite easily damaged?

Adam B. · 05-01-2008, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poveyjo

Is the screen quite easily damaged?

If you search the forums, you'll hear stories that go both ways. I've had my iLiad for over a year and a half without issues. It seems to be more easily damaged with "twisting" motions, and items laying on the screen.

This is common with most (all?) e-ink devices, not just the iLiad. The iLiad may be slightly more vulnerable because of the larger screen.

DaleDe · 05-01-2008, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poveyjo

Thanks, both of these methods sound like options.

Is the screen quite easily damaged?

I would suggest you have a case for the iLiad to help protect the screen and attach a set of care instructions to the case to indicate how to take care of the unit to avoid any problems. It is breakable.

Dale

axel77 · 05-01-2008, 05:58 PM

I don't know how much it compares to the a laptop screen... or standard LCD displays. I had to buy 6 HP48 calculators in my life. 3 times broke the screen, one time threw lemonde over it, 1 borrowed a girl suddendly never to haven seen again, 1 still in possesion today

-Thomas- · 05-01-2008, 07:26 PM

Axel, did you include this one in your calculation?

axel77 · 05-02-2008, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -Thomas-

Axel, did you include this one in your calculation?

No, got it installed already :-) But its just isn't as handy as hitting the buttons on the real calculator.

For the iliad I'd wish for a "paper style" calculator... one where I can scribble in the left side of a line "(3 + 2) * 7 =" and it will write 42 to the right side of it...

I guess one-man-year in development :-)

DaleDe · 05-02-2008, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by axel77

No, got it installed already :-) But its just isn't as handy as hitting the buttons on the real calculator.

For the iliad I'd wish for a "paper style" calculator... one where I can scribble in the left side of a line "(3 + 2) * 7 =" and it will write 42 to the right side of it...

I guess one-man-year in development :-)

I have seen those. I even wrote one in Basic many years ago. It is pretty simple really. How about expr?

Dale

axel77 · 05-02-2008, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaleDe

I have seen those. I even wrote one in Basic many years ago. It is pretty simple really. How about expr?

Dale

Note that this calculaor should understand your *scribbled* input..

04-29-2008, 07:59 PM	#1
poveyjo Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: iliad	Possible to secure the settings on Iliad? Hi, I work for a library and we are investigating the purchase of some iliads to loan out to our patrons. I have seen a iliad in a demo, but we have not purchased one yet, so have not had a good play to find out what is possible. My main question at this stage is how we could manage it in a multi-user environment like a library. That is, if we loan our iliads to our patrons, is there any way to secure the settings so that it is not 'broken' for the next user? Ideally, we ant to make sure the iliad is clean, ready, and working for the next user. This can either be done my locking down the settings so people cannot fiddle, or somehow reverting all the settings back to a default configuration once the unit comes back into the desk. Does anyone have any ideas about this this could be achieved? As it is based on linux, I imagine there must be something we can do? I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty, but I'm not a huge linux expert either. Any thoughts appreciated... even if just to say you don't think it can be done! many thanks, Jon

04-30-2008, 06:33 AM	#2
axel77 Fanatic Posts: 584 Karma: 914 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: iliad	One Idea might be, to use "reflash" feature of the iLiad. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...hlight=unbrick That is everytime you get an iLiad back, put in one of your CompactFlash cards, hold the connect button while powering on and you got the iLiad factory fresh again. If you want to auto change settings to different defaults, maybe the gurus here will help you to create a script to add to this CF cards.. We are doing this with notebooks, we created a special autoinstaller DVD, evertime a notebook comes back, we just put in that DVD and powerup the device, some minutes later its at our default settings again, independant on how much bad software the student installed... Also don't forget to register all you iLiads MAC adresses at http://www.irextechnologies.com/ so no user "takes" it to be "his" device. Last edited by axel77; 04-30-2008 at 06:36 AM.

04-30-2008, 01:14 PM	#3
Adam B. Addicted to Porting Posts: 1,697 Karma: 7194 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Indianapolis, IN Device: iRex iLiad, Nokia 770, Samsung i760	Given the delicate nature of the e-ink screen, I'd be worried about lending out the iLiad... But, it may be possible to secure the iLiad through the terminal. I'd reccomend: Request Shell Access from iRex Setup Dropbear on the iLiad, edit the registry, change the extension used for shell scripts to something other than sh (for a bit of security through obscurity) Change the permissions on the registry.xml to disallow writing (not sure what problems, if any, this would cause with the contentlister) Remove dropbear That should effectively prevent anyone from changing the settings on the iLiad.

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04-30-2008, 09:00 PM	#4
poveyjo Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: iliad	Thanks, both of these methods sound like options. Is the screen quite easily damaged?

05-01-2008, 05:58 PM	#7
axel77 Fanatic Posts: 584 Karma: 914 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: iliad	I don't know how much it compares to the a laptop screen... or standard LCD displays. I had to buy 6 HP48 calculators in my life. 3 times broke the screen, one time threw lemonde over it, 1 borrowed a girl suddendly never to haven seen again, 1 still in possesion today

05-01-2008, 07:26 PM	#8
-Thomas- Addict Posts: 325 Karma: 1725 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Münster, Germany Device: iRex iLiad v2	Axel, did you include this one in your calculation?

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