Any RCA Reb 1100 users around?

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by 250 Coupe

It's taking a little bit less than forever to load right now but you can find the original librarian program here,
http://web.archive.org/web/200011100...k-gemstar.com/

Michael

Nice find Michael!

Here's a direct link to the Rocket Librarian software page you mentioned above; it cuts down on that wait time

[250 Coupe]

Originally Posted by nrapallo

Nice find Michael!

Here's a direct link to the Rocket Librarian software page you mentioned above; it cuts down on that wait time

The Way Back Machine as it's called, is pretty dang cool. From the main page, notice the links across the top. Moving images, Text, Audio and so on. All public domain. There's 10,000's of movies alone.

Michael

[MoonPuppy]

Originally Posted by nrapallo

So you actually did the screen swap with Gemstar to turn the B&W REB1100 into a 16 grayscale GEB1150? And later got stung when they did a firmware upgrade to shut down the "load your own content" avenue!!!! A real old-timer then... Welcome aboard!

::shakes cane in everyone's general direction::

You kids get off my lawn!!

By the way, is your converted REB1100 (actually the 1150) using the latest firmware from www.ebooktechnologies.com ?

This, I do not know. I'ma have to find the &*$&# thing and charge it up. I suppose I could start using it if my 1100 ever dies. Heh, I'll prolly just steal the battery and throw the rest away.

Just to preface the whole issue - I'm using Vista Ultimate Edition.

Okay. Software issues. I have the original CD for eBook Librarian, but what it installs is the User Guide(!) I have multiple versions of Rocket Librarian - this is the software that imports files and converts them to .rb format. (I'm stating this for my use, also. I really get confused. Old, ya know.) When you first start this program, it wants you to tell it which com port the 1100 is using. Since I've always used a USB port, I just cancel this screen, and go ahead and import and then convert my files.

Then, I close this program out and start ::insert missing program name here::. I honest to FSM cannot remember the name of the program. Is this eBook Librarian? It shows (with an icon) whether it detects the 1100 or not. To move files to the 1100, I just hit the insert key, pick the file and open. It sends the files to the 1100. I can read them. Enjoy them. Remove them. Do whatever the ::bleep:: I want to with them. THIS is the software I need.

[emonti8384]

Where do u buy books for the 1100 at? I was thinking about helping out my friend's daughter and found one of these but I don't want to give it to her w/o knowing where she can go for books. I've only ever had Sony's, so I have no idea...

Yeah, picked it up at a garage sale for $7 (!) but it didn't come with the software, manual, charger-nothing. A few tips on how to get it going would be awesome

I appreciate any help!

[250 Coupe]

Hello and welcome,

You can find current books for sale at www.fictionwise.com, scroll down and click the Gemstar/Rocket eBook link under formats. This is a good way to get content without needing to convert it but I'm way too cheap to pay for my books so I read public domain stuff and most if not all requires conversion.

The Baen Free Library has SciFi books in .RB format. You can download ISO's of quite a few (30 at this writing) Baen cds here

This link give links to different versions of the librarian software.

The USB cable is standard but it would be a good idea to take the ebook with you to try out cables.

This link gives you info on the charger.

Michael

[livrerouge]

Hi everyone: I just bought a used REB 1100 at a very good price. I love the touch screen, backlight, size, weight and ease of use. But...I DO NOT understand any of the articles concerning getting new books on it. I am not very computer-literate, so much of the language just goes over my head. Can anyone point me in the direction of some simple, plain, easy to follow information? I would really love to be able to use it! Thanks livrerouge

[ronin688]

Originally Posted by livrerouge

Hi everyone: I just bought a used REB 1100 at a very good price. I love the touch screen, backlight, size, weight and ease of use. But...I DO NOT understand any of the articles concerning getting new books on it. I am not very computer-literate, so much of the language just goes over my head. Can anyone point me in the direction of some simple, plain, easy to follow information? I would really love to be able to use it! Thanks livrerouge

A big issue will be getting the drivers to work for it depending on which operating system you use on your home computer. If you're on Vista or Windows 7 I don't know if there is a working driver for it.

Did it come with the installation disc? That has the driver that I believe will work with Windows XP/98 and it has the program 'E-Book Librarian' that you use to transfer the books to it.

Once you have that program installed, and the device recognized by the OS when you plug it in with the USB, you can transfer books in .rb format.

To create .rb books you'll need a conversion program. I used 'RocketWriter' and "EBW-Librarian' and even then it was hit and miss on formatting. I know there are other tools that may work better though, maybe someone will reply about that.

Post back and I'll hit the subscribe button and see if I can help you get it going. If it comes down to it I have the contents of the REB-1100 disk in a folder somewhere on my PC and I could upload it for you.

It's honestly not very user friendly. I was also pretty PC illiterate when I got my first REB-1100 in 2001 ( I think? I seem to remember having one pre-2000 but it could just be my memory going hehe. ) and getting books on there properly formatted was something that actually led me to become very proficient on pc's.

[Meadowreader]

Originally Posted by paulnjean

Hey all you 1100 owners, and there must be a few, are ya'll still using it or have you gone to one of the new e-ink non-back lit readers. If there are any more 1100 owners and more importantly "users" , I sure would like to hear from you. I would hate to know that I was one of the few still enjoying my 1100. I don't want this to be a poll or anything, I would just like to hear from other users.

Hi, Paul:

Still a fan! Just bought a used one on ebay after I had gifted my originals to my sister and her husband. I loved how it could download a website and it would navigate as though still online. Still have my old files including converters. Excellent device!

Meadow

[250 Coupe]

Originally Posted by Meadowreader

Hi, Paul:

Still a fan! Just bought a used one on ebay after I had gifted my originals to my sister and her husband. I loved how it could download a website and it would navigate as though still online. Still have my old files including converters. Excellent device!

Meadow

Welcome to the forum!

I still have 2, my original and one I must have bought off eBay years ago. I use one almost daily at home. I have a Kindle I use at work since it's thinner and fits in my back pack but I much prefer the form factor of the 1100. I have a back log of Analog magazines in PDF that I plan to read on the 1100.

Michael

[bart_simpson]

I just bought a broken one on eBay and rebuilt the battery pack. (Which, by the way is just two 18650 lipos. This is the RCA-branded thing with the smartmedia slot, not the older NuvoMedia thing which uses six NiMH.) Now it works. So how do I put some books on this? I've got a few smartmedia cards...but I'm not sure how to convert txt to rb files.

[250 Coupe]

Originally Posted by bart_simpson

I just bought a broken one on eBay and rebuilt the battery pack. (Which, by the way is just two 18650 lipos. This is the RCA-branded thing with the smartmedia slot, not the older NuvoMedia thing which uses six NiMH.) Now it works. So how do I put some books on this? I've got a few smartmedia cards...but I'm not sure how to convert txt to rb files.

Hello and welcome!

Calibre can convert txt files to rb. What I don't remember is if the actual file that is written to the reader is an rb or if it's an imp file.
https://calibre-ebook.com/

If it's an imp file, you will probably need a copy of Ebookwise librarian which can be found here, http://www.chromakinetics.com/REB1200/REB1100.htm

This wiki has a lot of listings if you can't get Librarian installed, I have not tried to install it on Windows 11 so I don't know if it will even run. I last installed it on Windows 10 32 bit and it ran fine.
https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/IMP_software

You will also need a card reader for the smartmedia cards, they can be tricky to find but it sounds like you may have one. I'm pretty sure Calibre will write the imp file to the card using the save to disc function and I also think that Librarian can write to a card. I doubt you will be able to get USB transfer working, I was unable to the last time I tried.

Michael

[bart_simpson]

Wow. This is pretty easy. I already had a 64MB smartmedia card and a reader. I just used calibre to convert to rb and copied the rb files to the card. I have a few Y2K era PC and Mac laptops around, but I didn't need to install Librarian. Copying rb files to the card works fine.

The only thing I might want to tweak is the font. It has just two choices: slighly too light and way too big. Is there any way to install fonts without special software? I have the large compilation of stuff from Brazil (found elsewhere on this forum) but I'm not even sure what the font files are called. Could be there are some in there.

[250 Coupe]

Wow that was quick! Glad it worked for you. I also have a pile of older computers around and have a virtual machine running Windows 10 32 bit on my main PC to be able to use my laser engraver.

I have not looked into font size or type, I'm pretty near sighted and typically use the smaller size without my glasses to reduce page turns. It does mean I need to hold the reader about 8" away from my face.

Be aware that Smartmedia cards are said to be be fragile electronically, meaning I've heard that they become corrupted fairly easily. For instance, there should be a sticker near the card slot that warns you to not remove the card with power on. If you end up needing a card, give me a holler. I have a few NIB 128M cards here.

I probably still have ebooks saved from when I used the phone line to connect to the fictionwise servers back in the day. Currently, I have maybe 45 books on the reader and just keep cycling through them but that's getting pretty repetitive. I need to load some new content!

Michael

[bart_simpson]

Does the old Nuvomedia Rocket eBook device support the same firmware as the REB1100?

I also have one of these and it says it has "Rocket Engine" 1.3.74. It also has the 32MB expansion card which is kind of neat. (I managed to squeeze a 7.2V NiMH battery into it from an RC car, hacking off and reusing the connector from the old rocketbook battery.)

Anyway the REB1100 has 2.0.305 which has a lot more nice features like the ability to change the contrast.

I have a serial cradle and I'm using a 12V regulated power supply.

I had a bit of trouble connecting the old thing to my windows 2k laptop (Compaq Armada 1700): any rb I tried to upload with Rocket Librarian 1.3.something got corrupted and the device stopped responding.

Tried the same thing on my Windows XP laptop (Dell CPx) and the my test rb book uploaded perfectly.

I think everything is stable on XP so I am tempted to try an upgrade. But I don't want to destroy the device with the wrong firmware rb file.

[250 Coupe]

The RCA and Rocket eBooks are different. I don't think the firmware is at all compatible. As you note, the Rocket eBook had the serial dock while the RCA used either a USB port or a telephone line to add content. I think the Rocket eBook even has a speaker and will play audio if you still have Alice in Wonderland on the device. While the eBookwise has a head pone jack, it was never implemented that I know of.

I had 4 of the Rocket eBook's but probably gave them away years ago. I really liked the form factor but couldn't be bothered with getting content onto them. I also had a couple of the bigger color readers. I don't remember the model number, it might have been the 1200? They were just a tad too big to read in bed with. Maybe if I commuted via public transport they would have seen more use.

Currently, I have a Kindle and two of the RCA/eBookwise/eBook Technologies ETI 2 readers. eBook Technologies was the OEM, several different vendors rebranded the readers.

Michael