iLiad The iLiad OS Project - Page 7

emulti · 03-27-2009, 05:49 AM

This is a very interesting thread!

If one was looking for PIM functions, and handwriting recognition, a piece of software that would be very interesting to port would be Paul Guyot's OpenEinstein, an emulator for Apple Newton that allows licensed users of the Newton ROM (i.e. those that bought one).

Newton was one of the first ebook readers (1993), though display technology of the time was nothing like as good as it is now.

This is an emulator at present, and requires a dump of the Newton ROM to run. These can be acquired legally by buying a device for a few dollars on eBay or similar. It runs at acceptable to good speed on a PC like my 1.6Ghz Pentium laptop, but as yet slowly on PDAs (so far- Sharp Zaurus, Nokia 770/800/810). Work was being done last year to remove speed bottlenecks by rewriting some functions in C or C++.

Since the UI uses animation, these would have to be removed to make it suitable for an e-ink display, I guess. Is anyone interested in making a port of Einstein to Iliad? There are still thousands of Newton users out there who are looking for a new hardware platform for their favourite device...

OpenEinstein is at http://code.google.com/p/einstein/ if anyone wants to take a look.

Emulti

nekokami · 03-27-2009, 08:35 AM

We've talked about this idea several times. The ROM is the bottleneck. (Though I actually have one....)

Sonist · 03-27-2009, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam B.

Right now, I'm more concerned with the "how" and "why". It may have just been a fluke, but I want to confirm that.

This sucks.

For the record, iRex sucks as a company, probably more than any other I can think of right now. I like the screen of the iLiad BE I bought, a lot. But if it was not for the hope, that people like Adam B. would make the iLiad into a finished product, I would have probably returned my iLiad.

I don't know if anyone from iRex reads this forum (they should, although I really doubt it.)

But, IMO, iRex really owes a new iLiad to Adam B, since he and a few others like him are the only thing that kept me from returning my iLiad, or from totally trashing iRex to anyone who'd listen. And I don't think I am the only one who feels this way.

I hope this gets fixed or resolved. Good luck and sincere thanks for the effort.

Adam B. · 03-27-2009, 03:20 PM

I'm sure the situation will be resolved. No need to worry or be upset with iRex.

They've done a lot for me and the community already, so for that I'm very grateful.

Antartica · 03-28-2009, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam B.

I'm sure the situation will be resolved. No need to worry or be upset with iRex.

They've done a lot for me and the community already, so for that I'm very grateful.

Anyway, good luck with it. I lament this situation :-/. Hope it is resolved quickly and you have your iliad in working condition soon.

OTOH, it could be the right time to try to address the problem of installing the devel. package on the donated iliads, as now both you and Kumar are affected by that (are the Open Inkpot devs also affected?). Is it neccessary to resurrect Hudson's hack or do you have had some response from irex that they can fix that? [the inability of the donated iliads to get the devel. package].

Adam B. · 03-28-2009, 10:33 AM

It appears that all the donated iLiad's are having issues getting the dev kit installed. It might be a good time to find a hack to get that setup.

I can download the files/scripts necessary to flash the alternate boot loader and kernel, the problem is getting that to execute on a stock iLiad.

nekokami · 03-28-2009, 11:19 AM

I take it you can't get the dev kit installed in the usual way due to the ownership status of the iLiads in question?

Yeah, we need a way around this. We can't have people dependent on iRex to be able to run a new OS (or any other software) on the iLiad. What if they're not around anymore?

jboardman · 03-28-2009, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jharker

With the highly anticipated upcoming release of the remaining iLiad source code, I've created the iLiad OS project at the MobileRead Dev Hub.

I thought those of us in the developer community could use this as a sort of clearinghouse for code changes and improvements. I had three primary goals in mind:

Prevent splintering of the iLiad code base (as happened with the iPDF viewer).
Preserve and integrate community-generated features and patches.
Provide a single comprehensive resource for iLiad software upgrades.

Perhaps most important, I wanted a place where we could do some planning and organization for future improvements and releases, as well as handle bug reports and feature requests. We could even set out some timelines... kind of like a real OS project!

Now, I don't want to step on anyone's toes, so I want to emphasize that this is intended to be a clearinghouse, much like other linux OS projects (Ubuntu, etc.). For example, we might make an unofficial v2.20 OS release that includes an integrated FBReader as well as the community iPDF improvements. In this example, Adam B.'s FBReader would be considered an upstream source in much the same was as OpenOffice.org is an upstream source for Ubuntu. On the other hand, since iPDF currently doesn't have its own project, it would be maintained as part of iLiad OS for now.

As with other open-source projects, I envision having a few volunteer project administrators, who will be in charge of reviewing community patches and integrating them into the main code base. I plan to start off as an administrator and as the first project coordinator, at least to get the ball rolling.

If you have any patches for already-released source code, especially for the iPDF viewer, please feel free to open a suggestion ticket with your patch attached. If you want to suggest new features for iPDF or any other aspect of the iLiad OS, go ahead and make tickets for those too. Bear in mind that we're just starting up, so it'll take a while before we start implementing new features.

This is my first time trying something like this, so if you have any suggestions, comments, or critiques I'd LOVE to hear them. If anyone is interested in taking an administrative role (Adam B., I'm looking at YOU!), please let me know.

Thanks!

I am considering an Iliad 2nd edition but worry that the company will fail to continue its support. I use my Kindle 1 for reading, novels and non-fiction, and also the NY Times. I like the idea of a larger screen of the Iliad, and the idea that it has wireless capability. What do you think?

Thanks

Adam B. · 04-01-2009, 08:30 AM

I've got the donated iLiad's to work (with iRex's help), and I have a script working that will automatically backup the restricted files to compactflash, download the new firmware, reflash the iLiad, then restore the files on boot.

It should be a very fast/simple process.

jharker · 04-01-2009, 09:03 AM

Excellent! That's great work, Adam, really fantastic.

How did you fix the image size problem?

Adam B. · 04-01-2009, 09:16 AM

See this thread: http://forum.irexnet.com/viewtopic.php?t=3691

It seems you have to create a clean ext2 image and copy the files onto it from scratch so everything is contiguous.

Sonist · 04-01-2009, 02:23 PM

Happy to hear this:-)

iRex just went up a notch in my eyes, thanks to you.

bertold · 04-10-2009, 04:04 AM

Hello,

I have recently bought an iLiad and am researching possibilities
of enhancing its usefulness. So my question is - is the iLiad OS
project alive?

Thanks,
bertold

hansel · 04-10-2009, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bertold

I have recently bought an iLiad

Good choice

welcome!

Quote:

is the iLiad OS project alive?

It is. But since only few developers are involved, and meaningful improvements require lots of free time, its development will probably be slow.
Personally I believe in small steps that are useful for lots of users. Steps that are not too scary to install...

bertold · 04-10-2009, 09:09 AM

Thank you for the update, hansel. And I quite agree with you. Small, but sure steps.

03-27-2009, 05:49 AM	#91
emulti Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: Undecided- Iliad?	PIM functionality This is a very interesting thread! If one was looking for PIM functions, and handwriting recognition, a piece of software that would be very interesting to port would be Paul Guyot's OpenEinstein, an emulator for Apple Newton that allows licensed users of the Newton ROM (i.e. those that bought one). Newton was one of the first ebook readers (1993), though display technology of the time was nothing like as good as it is now. This is an emulator at present, and requires a dump of the Newton ROM to run. These can be acquired legally by buying a device for a few dollars on eBay or similar. It runs at acceptable to good speed on a PC like my 1.6Ghz Pentium laptop, but as yet slowly on PDAs (so far- Sharp Zaurus, Nokia 770/800/810). Work was being done last year to remove speed bottlenecks by rewriting some functions in C or C++. Since the UI uses animation, these would have to be removed to make it suitable for an e-ink display, I guess. Is anyone interested in making a port of Einstein to Iliad? There are still thousands of Newton users out there who are looking for a new hardware platform for their favourite device... OpenEinstein is at http://code.google.com/p/einstein/ if anyone wants to take a look. Emulti

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03-27-2009, 08:35 AM	#92
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	We've talked about this idea several times. The ROM is the bottleneck. (Though I actually have one....)

03-27-2009, 03:20 PM	#94
Adam B. Addicted to Porting Posts: 1,697 Karma: 7194 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Indianapolis, IN Device: iRex iLiad, Nokia 770, Samsung i760	I'm sure the situation will be resolved. No need to worry or be upset with iRex. They've done a lot for me and the community already, so for that I'm very grateful.

03-28-2009, 10:33 AM	#96
Adam B. Addicted to Porting Posts: 1,697 Karma: 7194 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Indianapolis, IN Device: iRex iLiad, Nokia 770, Samsung i760	It appears that all the donated iLiad's are having issues getting the dev kit installed. It might be a good time to find a hack to get that setup. I can download the files/scripts necessary to flash the alternate boot loader and kernel, the problem is getting that to execute on a stock iLiad.

03-28-2009, 11:19 AM	#97
nekokami fruminous edugeek Posts: 6,745 Karma: 551260 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Northeast US Device: iPad, eBw 1150	I take it you can't get the dev kit installed in the usual way due to the ownership status of the iLiads in question? Yeah, we need a way around this. We can't have people dependent on iRex to be able to run a new OS (or any other software) on the iLiad. What if they're not around anymore?

04-01-2009, 08:30 AM	#99
Adam B. Addicted to Porting Posts: 1,697 Karma: 7194 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Indianapolis, IN Device: iRex iLiad, Nokia 770, Samsung i760	I've got the donated iLiad's to work (with iRex's help), and I have a script working that will automatically backup the restricted files to compactflash, download the new firmware, reflash the iLiad, then restore the files on boot. It should be a very fast/simple process.

04-01-2009, 09:03 AM	#100
jharker Developer Posts: 345 Karma: 3473 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Brooklyn, NY, USA Device: iRex iLiad v1, Blackberry Tour, Kindle DX, iPad.	Excellent! That's great work, Adam, really fantastic. How did you fix the image size problem?

04-01-2009, 09:16 AM	#101
Adam B. Addicted to Porting Posts: 1,697 Karma: 7194 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Indianapolis, IN Device: iRex iLiad, Nokia 770, Samsung i760	See this thread: http://forum.irexnet.com/viewtopic.php?t=3691 It seems you have to create a clean ext2 image and copy the files onto it from scratch so everything is contiguous.

04-01-2009, 02:23 PM	#102
Sonist Apeist Posts: 2,126 Karma: 381090 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: The sunny part of California Device: Generic virtual reality story-experiential device	Happy to hear this:-) iRex just went up a notch in my eyes, thanks to you.

04-10-2009, 04:04 AM	#103
bertold Connoisseur Posts: 79 Karma: 2135 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: iRex iLiad v2, Onyx Boox Note 3	Hello, I have recently bought an iLiad and am researching possibilities of enhancing its usefulness. So my question is - is the iLiad OS project alive? Thanks, bertold

04-10-2009, 09:09 AM	#105
bertold Connoisseur Posts: 79 Karma: 2135 Join Date: Apr 2009 Device: iRex iLiad v2, Onyx Boox Note 3	Thank you for the update, hansel. And I quite agree with you. Small, but sure steps.