[Device Plugin] iOS reader applications

[paulaptr]

Hi There,

libimobiledevice says it is now compatable up to IOS 9 -- does this mean iOS reader now works with iOS 8.3 and above?

[ShellShock]

Perhaps, it depends what they mean by compatible, and whether they have done anything to get round the enhanced security added by Apple. libimobiledevice is a big library, and IOSRA only uses a small part of it. This is not a quick thing for me to test, as it requires rebuilding the library for Windows.

[jaxl1200]

Hey Shellshock.
will you be testing IOSRA again in that case.... the loss of this plugin to enable syncing a calibre library on Windows with Marvin on the iPad has been very annoying. It would be great to get that functionality back

[Wyndham]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

Perhaps, it depends what they mean by compatible, and whether they have done anything to get round the enhanced security added by Apple. libimobiledevice is a big library, and IOSRA only uses a small part of it. This is not a quick thing for me to test, as it requires rebuilding the library for Windows.

Thank you... Do let us know if we can help in any way (e.g. with simple testing).

[ShellShock]

I have been rebuilt the latest libimobiledevice source for Windows. However it no longer works with the latest Calibre 2.33:

calibre, version 2.33.0
ERROR: Startup error: There was an error during calibre startup. Parts of calibre may not function. Click Show details to learn more.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "D:\Users\ShellShock\Documents\GitHub\calibre\src\calibre\gui2\main.py", line 273, in initialize_db_stage2
  File "D:\Users\ShellShock\Documents\GitHub\calibre\src\calibre\gui2\main.py", line 213, in start_gui
  File "D:\Users\ShellShock\Documents\GitHub\calibre\src\calibre\gui2\ui.py", line 237, in initialize
  File "D:\Users\ShellShock\Documents\GitHub\calibre\src\calibre\gui2\layout.py", line 288, in init_main_window_mixin
  File "D:\Users\ShellShock\Documents\GitHub\calibre\src\calibre\gui2\actions\fetch_news.py", line 31, in init_scheduler
  File "D:\Users\ShellShock\Documents\GitHub\calibre\src\calibre\gui2\dialogs\scheduler.py", line 439, in __init__
  File "D:\Users\ShellShock\Documents\GitHub\calibre\src\calibre\web\feeds\recipes\model.py", line 144, in __init__
  File "D:\Users\ShellShock\Documents\GitHub\calibre\src\calibre\web\feeds\recipes\collection.py", line 99, in get_builtin_recipe_collection
  File "lxml.etree.pyx", line 3239, in lxml.etree.parse (src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:69970)
  File "parser.pxi", line 1749, in lxml.etree._parseDocument (src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:102081)
  File "parser.pxi", line 1775, in lxml.etree._parseDocumentFromURL (src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:102345)
  File "parser.pxi", line 1679, in lxml.etree._parseDocFromFile (src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:101380)
  File "parser.pxi", line 1110, in lxml.etree._BaseParser._parseDocFromFile (src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:96832)
  File "parser.pxi", line 582, in lxml.etree._ParserContext._handleParseResultDoc (src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:91290)
  File "parser.pxi", line 683, in lxml.etree._handleParseResult (src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:92476)
  File "parser.pxi", line 633, in lxml.etree._raiseParseError (src\lxml\lxml.etree.c:91939)
XMLSyntaxError: None

I suspect that the new libimobiledevice libplist has introduced breaking changes in respect to the Calibre lxml library (for which I don't have the source code). Note, this error occurs during Calibre startup, before it even gets as far as iosra.

Assuming we fix this problem (by making changes in Calibre), I cannot see anything in the latest libimobiledevice code to suggest it can get round the enhanced security introduced by Apple in IOS 8.3. In short, I am not hopeful, and debating whether it is even worth spending any more effort on this: first we would have to change the Calibre lxml library to work with the latest libplist (no idea how long that would take), with little prospect that we would then be able to circumvent the Apple security changes in IOS 8.3.

[kovidgoyal]

lxml does not use libplist, that error indicates the file resources/builtin_recipes.xml is corrupted in your source checkout.

[ShellShock]

Thanks Kovid. I think I have introduced a bug somewhere in porting the latest changes to my Windows build of libplist: my previous build of libimobiledevice.dll, libusbmuxd.dll and libplist.dll all work OK (this is the build that matches Calibre 2.33) with IOS 8.2. My new build of libimobiledevice.dll and libusbmuxd.dll (from the IOS 9 compatible source) also work OK with Calibre 2.33 and IOS 8.2 (using the old libplist). I only get the above error when I put in the new libplist build.

I think this is bit irrelevant anyway. I tried my new build of libimobiledevice.dll and libusbmuxd.dll (from the IOS 9 compatible source) with Calibre 2.33 and IOS 8.3, which resulted in the same errors as with previous versions of libimobiledevice, e.g.,

DEBUG:    0.9 libiMobileDevice:_house_arrest_client_new() 
DEBUG:    0.9 libiMobileDevice:_house_arrest_send_command(command=u'VendContainer' appid='com.appstafarian.MarvinIP') 
DEBUG:    0.9 libiMobileDevice:_house_arrest_get_result() 
DEBUG:    0.9             ERROR: InstallationLookupFailed

This error occurs because IOSRA is trying to get access to an area (Marvin's application files) that Apple locked down in IOS 8.3. It is very unlikely that getting the new build of libplist working as well will make any difference to this problem. So, the situation has not really changed from my previous post in May: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...&postcount=488.

[Montana Harper]

Thanks for the effort, ShellShock. I guess I'm just sticking with iOS 8.2 for the foreseeable future.

[Pinecone]

OK now.

I used the methods listed here, using the Calibre content server to move books to Marvin. Then there was a recent update to Marvin. Now, I cannot seem to connect.

If I start the Content Server and try to use Marvin OPDS connection, it searches, but never seems to find the server.

If I try to go into the server from Safari, it does not connect, saying that the server stopped responding.

So now what???????

[Montana Harper]

Originally Posted by Pinecone

If I try to go into the server from Safari, it does not connect, saying that the server stopped responding.

Well, if Safari isn't letting you connect, that sounds to me like a Calibre server problem, not anything to do with Marvin or iOS reader. You should be posting in the main Calibre thread, I think.

[Pinecone]

I will try there.

[wwoelbel]

(Newbie Here)

I am not using this driver at the moment as I won't work with my version of iOS but I have no problems getting my books into Marvin thru the iTunes interface - simply dragging the epubs into the app. The part that I miss is the ability to work with Marvin extended metadata using the marvin extended driver such as the ability to lock books in larger chunks. Does anyone know of a way to access this type of functionality without the extended driver coupled with this driver?

Bill

[LuCouto]

Hi,
Today I've tried to connect a new iPad Mini 4 with Calibre using Marvin and Calibre just doesn't recognize the device. I've reported a bug to Calibre developers but it seems that it's a plugin issue.

[Montana Harper]

Originally Posted by LuCouto

Hi,
Today I've tried to connect a new iPad Mini 4 with Calibre using Marvin and Calibre just doesn't recognize the device. I've reported a bug to Calibre developers but it seems that it's a plugin issue.

If you look at the very first post of this thread, which contains all the information about this plugin, you'll see in giant red letters the fact that Apple broke certain functionality starting in iOS 8.3. There is currently no fix, at least not until the developer of Marvin rewrites portions of his code.

[LuCouto]

Originally Posted by Montana Harper

If you look at the very first post of this thread, which contains all the information about this plugin, you'll see in giant red letters the fact that Apple broke certain functionality starting in iOS 8.3. There is currently no fix, at least not until the developer of Marvin rewrites portions of his code.

Now this is very strange because I have an iPad Mini 2 (retina) with iOS 9 and it's working just fine with Calibre and Marvin