iLiad Bionic ipdf: better, faster, stronger than Sony Reader!

[firekat]

Quick question:

I installed the shell script for 2.7.0. Prior to connecting up to the ids to get updated to get the 2.8.0 update is there anything I should do before performing this?

I did use the deinstall script to remove scotty's viewer already.

Thanx everyone for all your help

[CommanderROR]

I think you should be safe.
Just connect to the iDs and download the update.

[yokos]

Originally Posted by firekat

Quick question:
I installed the shell script for 2.7.0. Prior to connecting up to the ids to get updated to get the 2.8.0 update is there anything I should do before performing this?
I did use the deinstall script to remove scotty's viewer already.
Thanx everyone for all your help

Hi, let iRex know here that you want the shell execution rights, so that you can download it after the 2.8 update.
iRex can't know 2.7 users who installed the [SHELL] hack.

[firekat]

Thanx!

[firekat]

One quick question. How long does it take iRex to get back to you regarding the shell execution rights? It has been about 12 hours since I applied. I was expecting an automated system with a generated email sent forthwith. Oh well.

[scotty1024]

The 2.8 update process will completely wipe your 2.7.X user filesystem. No matter what hacks you've installed, with one very important caveat: /mnt/protected

They need /mnt/protected to have enough free space to conduct the upgrade. If you've been stashing goodies there you'll need to clean it up (time for a 4GB CF card perhaps?)

Personally I would have a preferred a downloadable upgrade tar file but re-installing all my ported goodies will be a good thing, help make sure I still know how to install them.

I believe M is still hand building the shell hack into user accounts, for which everyone with it owes him a big "Thank you!" as otherwise everyone would still be waiting for iRex to finish MyIrex to get the patch configuration ability.

[mtas]

Originally Posted by yokos

latest ipdfx installation scripts for firmware 2.8

I remvoved scripts, because I found a bug. I have published scripts before I tested them [I took some time to get the shell exececution download after updating to 2.8], this was not a good idea.

Hi Yokos, here you have an updated version of your earlier install/deinstall scripts. I've made some changes to the scripts themselves, the biggest changes are:

1. Renaming of the original ipdf file to ipdf.orig
2. The new ipdf version is not copied to /usr/bin. Instead a symlink is used.

The use of .orig instead of .o is to avoid mistaking it for an object file and the reason for use of mv and symlinks are to minimise writes and space usage on the file system.

[henkvdg]

Originally Posted by mtas

Hi Yokos, here you have an updated version of your earlier install/deinstall scripts. I've made some changes to the scripts themselves, the biggest changes are:

1. Renaming of the original ipdf file to ipdf.orig
2. The new ipdf version is not copied to /usr/bin. Instead a symlink is used.

The use of .orig instead of .o is to avoid mistaking it for an object file and the reason for use of mv and symlinks are to minimise writes and space usage on the file system.

I doubt this is a good idea. What happens when the new ipdf is on removable media and that is removed? You will have no viewer then.

[mtas]

Originally Posted by henkvdg

I doubt this is a good idea. What happens when the new ipdf is on removable media and that is removed? You will have no viewer then.

Well, you do have the possibility to use two removable media at the same time. What was concerning me was that the size of the internal file system is limited and that the amount of times you can write to a block on it is also limited.

[yokos]

mtas, thanks.
deinstall_ipdf.sh needs a firmware check too, otherwise we could move after a firmware update an older ipdf to pdf viewer address [this was k2r's point]

Yes, set tab keys help to get more readable code.

What was concerning me was that the size of the internal file system is limited and that the amount of times you can write to a block on it is also limited.

I see, you use only move commands, because move changes address of data not data itself. Your moving manifest.xml forward/backward is efficient.

Removing CF or MMC when not needed is active powersaving. If you use iLiad's USB drive linking will be ok.

[mtas]

Originally Posted by yokos

mtas, thanks.
deinstall_ipdf.sh needs a firmware check too, otherwise we could move after a firmware update an older ipdf to pdf viewer address [this was k2r's point]

Well, I though that the file system was totally overwritten during an upgrade. But you're right, there's a lot more sanity checks that needs to be done.

Yes, set tab keys help to get more readable code.

I see, you use only move commands, because move changes address of data not data itself. Your moving manifest.xml forward/backward is efficient.

Thank you, what I think is more important is the removal of the unneeded export statements and the correct quoting of variables (i.e. ${scriptdir} instead of just $scriptdir). Regarding the move instead of copy, that means that you just update the inode entry instead of re-writing the whole binary once again.

Removing CF or MMC when not needed is active powersaving. If you use iLiad's USB drive linking will be ok.

USB drive linking? Could you elaborate on that? Beginning on Thursday I'll be taking the rest of the year off so hopefully I can use that time for some more serious thinking about how to do this.

[scotty1024]

Originally Posted by mtas

Well, you do have the possibility to use two removable media at the same time. What was concerning me was that the size of the internal file system is limited and that the amount of times you can write to a block on it is also limited.

Endurance for the FLASH memory devices is measured in millions of cycles. The Sandisk Disk on Chip inside the iLiad rotates writes across all of the available blocks inside it to keep the writes spread out over the entire chip instead of hammering away on the same "hot blocks" over and over again.

My understanding is that most CF cards have similar technology.

I created an ext2 4GB Sandisk Ultra III CF card and use that as my "primary" storage on my iLiad. The ext2 filesystem provides all the Unix filesystem goodies: hard links, symbolic links, upper/lower case sensitivity...

I use the internal iLiad storage to hold symbolic links to the CF card.

In my testing the MMC card slot is far slower than the CF slot. I use it to hold my interchange media MMC card and carry a Zio! MMC to USB convertor to turn the MMC card into a USB drive to exchange files with PC's while on the go.

I actually turn off the iLiad's USB port and mass storage daemon to get back memory and power. In my testing the performance is so low that it isn't worth bothering with. The Zio! is tiny and gives USB 2 performance (2 to 20MBps depending upon the MMC card) whereas the iLiad's mass storage mode requires the huge travel hub and yields roughly 1X CD-ROM performance: 153KBps.

[arivero]

Originally Posted by scotty1024

Endurance for the FLASH memory devices is measured in millions of cycles. The Sandisk Disk on Chip inside the iLiad rotates writes across all of the available blocks inside it to keep the writes spread out over the entire chip instead of hammering away on the same "hot blocks" over and over again.

Actually it also rotates in the no available blocks, according the specifications. It seems that randomly one free block is exchanged with a used block or some subtle trick.

[scotty1024]

Originally Posted by arivero

Actually it also rotates in the no available blocks, according the specifications. It seems that randomly one free block is exchanged with a used block or some subtle trick.

Sorry by available I meant "all blocks that have not been marked as defective", it also keeps track of dead blocks and doesn't use them.

[Paethon]

Should this script work now to actually install scottys viewer?
I just tried it, and the text changes to "status quo: Scotty's pdf viewer V8 is installed." but I still get the usual iRex-PDF-Viewer when I want to view a pdf-file.