My Experiences with the DR1000S

Jürgen Hubert · 09-08-2009, 02:47 PM

I have collected a series of posts about my experiences with the iRex 1000S on my LiveJournal. You can find the initial posts here:

- Part One
- Part Two
- Part Three

Others here might find these interesting.

Jürgen Hubert · 09-09-2009, 06:41 AM

Out of curiosity, who else has experienced that problem with opening large PDFs I described in this post? How did you deal with it?

olis · 09-10-2009, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

Out of curiosity, who else has experienced that problem with opening large PDFs I described in this post? How did you deal with it?

You can try to split the pdf into smaller parts and open them individually.
I had a big pdf ebook (about 200MB), the dr1000 began to load it but then it returned to the home screen without opening the file.
I made 10 smaller files from the original pdf, each one corresponding to a chapter of the book, the dr opened these smaller pdfs without any problem.

Vadrus · 09-10-2009, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

Out of curiosity, who else has experienced that problem with opening large PDFs I described in this post? How did you deal with it?

I gave up on using it is the short answer. File size wasn't usually the problem it was more to do with the complexity of the page I found, 100meg simple format pdfs opened fine, small 8 meg complex pdfs failed utterly.

I went back to reading them on the PC or laptop and haven't charged the Dr1000 up for several weeks now.

Vadrus

Mackx · 09-10-2009, 11:33 AM

Lets hope that pdf stability improves when iRex switches from poppler to the Adobe-code for reading/rendering pdf-files.

animedude01 · 09-10-2009, 12:02 PM

Like all readers, the DR1000 is resource constrained so complex documents will be problematic. Like anything else, there are trade-offs. I haven't had any problems with my DR1000, but again, I read the more complex documents on my PC because they are frequently color, I need to skim back and forth quickly, and/or they just look better there. There are plenty of PDFs I read on the DR1000 and I haven't had any problems with them.

spuggy · 09-12-2009, 04:31 AM

Few days ago, I converted a lot of Complex Chinese PDF to JPEG,
the PDFs almost hang by the resource issue or bug, sometimes the main menu can not work, or can not switch to another page. So I converted it, but the JPEG files count, if many, in one folder still has resource problem. I use 1.6ver, the V1.7 is more unstable for this.

How I convert it, I have written down in this , but it is too bad, you can not print the sample pdf file which you provide, Is it protected?

By the way, the drawback is
you cannot search in JPEG.
less DPI setting will result some Zigzag, if large DPI will limit the resource,too.

The advantage are
I put the Jpeg's filenames in page sequence, then you can reach by page index dialog or tag.
Good cropping save Zoom operation, if you use zoom operation the resource will hang, too.
Dilation Image Processing enhances the contrast of text.
page flipping speed is more quick.
and more you still can use stylus in JPEG.

junkyardwillie · 09-14-2009, 01:24 PM

One problem I had when looking at large documents was it would only refresh a part of the page if I had it in landscape mode so when I turned the page, half the page would be the new page and the other half would be the previous page. I'd have to switch pages back and forth to get it to fully recognize, I just stopped using it for large PDF files now. The majority of my files are small so it hasn't been a big issue but that was quite annoying. I think it was about a 40mb file

devant · 09-18-2009, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vadrus

I gave up on using it is the short answer. File size wasn't usually the problem it was more to do with the complexity of the page I found, 100meg simple format pdfs opened fine, small 8 meg complex pdfs failed utterly.

I went back to reading them on the PC or laptop and haven't charged the Dr1000 up for several weeks now.

Vadrus

If you are not using it, can I make an offer?

PhishStyx · 09-23-2009, 03:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jürgen Hubert

Out of curiosity, who else has experienced that problem with opening large PDFs I described in this post? How did you deal with it?

I just bought Eclipse Phase and am having difficulty opening it, but I don't believe it's the size causing problems but some of the fonts used in the book. For example, I also have Shadowrun 4th 20th Anniversary core rule book, which is a considerably larger file, but I've had no problems at all opening or using it. Likewise, I also had difficulty with a very much smaller book, and the fine techs at iRex advised me to install CutePDF and print the book to that. I put that new file on my DR and had no problems with it afterward.

Kent Walters · 09-23-2009, 11:36 PM

Jürgen,

I make my own PDF’s, and never have problems opening them, even big ones, with lots of graphics.

I’m wondering if your PDFs use embedded fonts; I always do (I use 14 point Times, as a favor for my old eyes), and I think the DR might be getting confused by font substitution. I don’t know, but it might be worth a try.

Good luck,
Kent Walters

Mackx · 09-24-2009, 05:34 AM

The problems with pdf seem to be in the poppler library that is used to render pdfs. I have a pdf-file of a magazine that crashes on the same page in the native pdf viewer of iRex and in Xournal (I am experimenting with pdf support :-) both on the DR and on the qemu (emulator). It seems to be spinning in a loop in poppler (Splash::fillWithPattern).
So the new firmware with Adobe PDF support will probably increase the stability w.r.t. pdfs.

Kent Walters · 09-25-2009, 12:42 AM

Mackx,

Yes, but what is it about that page that is different? Could it be that poppler doesn't know how to substitute, or where to find the font? In years past, I've had problems with font substitution, on other machines, that caused me to give up, and, at first, use only Ariel and Times (because most machines had them), and then, when memory, storage space, and transmission speeds allowed, just to embed fonts.

Kent Walters

PS: Check to see if your mag uses embedded fonts?

Mackx · 09-25-2009, 02:40 AM

Hi Kent,

I do not have any PDF-tooling (apart from viewers), and my knowledge of the format is also very limited. The magazine is here, bottom of the page, click on 'free sample' and then Save as PDF (page 26 has the problem), in case anyone wants to take a look at it (Not sure if this works on linux). (@Kent its about software testing so probably not that interesting for you

). There are new versions of the poppler library, I assume this issue is already fixed. If I find the time I can have a look at newer versions of the library.

Kent Walters · 09-25-2009, 08:01 PM

Mackx,

For ref: the sample magazine I downloaded was named ‘sqe_bettersoftware_0909.pdf’ (just insuring we are talking about the same doc).

The magazine does have embedded fonts, Acrobat shows Hundreds of font subsets in it, in fact. While I don’t care for the idea of that many (my limit is five), it doesn’t seem to me that it should cause any problem other than slowing things down.

I looked at page 26, and couldn’t find anything different (PDF element wise) than on page 20, so ya got me stumped, Bud.

A copy and paste of the front cover’s ALL CAPS diagonal banner (FIND THE BUG INSIDE & WIN AN AMAZON GIFT CARD), is rendered as: “Find the Bug inside & win an aMaZOn giFt CaRd!”, which my word processor says is in the Impact font, and one of the embedded subsets is Impact, so something is happening with fonts. The cap changes occur elsewhere, too.

Do you have other mags/PDFs that behave this way, or could it be that you have won the Gift Card?

This PDF is way, way too complicated, in my view; it doesn’t offer anything that couldn’t be presented in a flat PDF--not even a functional table of contents--and unnecessary complications are bound to cause problems for somebody. I suggest contacting the publisher(s) about the problem, and seeing if they offer a text or ‘print’ version. I could offer a workaround, but nothing that would be practicle for a ‘read and toss’ mag, or that you’d want to do often.

I’m sorry, Mackx, but I don’t really have time to help you much.

BTW, I’ve been testing software for years, in fact, one of the things that I like about Adobe is that they seem to do most of their testing themselves--before they release--and not make me pay for the honor of testing it for them.

Kent Walters

09-08-2009, 02:47 PM	#1
Jürgen Hubert Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 548 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: iRex 1000S	My Experiences with the DR1000S I have collected a series of posts about my experiences with the iRex 1000S on my LiveJournal. You can find the initial posts here: - Part One - Part Two - Part Three Others here might find these interesting.

09-12-2009, 04:31 AM	#7
spuggy Member Posts: 12 Karma: 52 Join Date: Aug 2009 Device: iRex DR1000s	Few days ago, I converted a lot of Complex Chinese PDF to JPEG, the PDFs almost hang by the resource issue or bug, sometimes the main menu can not work, or can not switch to another page. So I converted it, but the JPEG files count, if many, in one folder still has resource problem. I use 1.6ver, the V1.7 is more unstable for this. How I convert it, I have written down in this , but it is too bad, you can not print the sample pdf file which you provide, Is it protected? By the way, the drawback is you cannot search in JPEG. less DPI setting will result some Zigzag, if large DPI will limit the resource,too. The advantage are I put the Jpeg's filenames in page sequence, then you can reach by page index dialog or tag. Good cropping save Zoom operation, if you use zoom operation the resource will hang, too. Dilation Image Processing enhances the contrast of text. page flipping speed is more quick. and more you still can use stylus in JPEG. Last edited by spuggy; 09-13-2009 at 02:50 AM.

09-25-2009, 12:42 AM	#13
Kent Walters Connoisseur Posts: 79 Karma: 92 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern California, USA Device: iRex DR1000S, Astak EZreader (Hanlin V3)	Mackx, Yes, but what is it about that page that is different? Could it be that poppler doesn't know how to substitute, or where to find the font? In years past, I've had problems with font substitution, on other machines, that caused me to give up, and, at first, use only Ariel and Times (because most machines had them), and then, when memory, storage space, and transmission speeds allowed, just to embed fonts. Kent Walters PS: Check to see if your mag uses embedded fonts? Last edited by Kent Walters; 09-25-2009 at 12:49 AM. Reason: Added PS

09-25-2009, 08:01 PM	#15
Kent Walters Connoisseur Posts: 79 Karma: 92 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern California, USA Device: iRex DR1000S, Astak EZreader (Hanlin V3)	About the mag... Mackx, For ref: the sample magazine I downloaded was named ‘sqe_bettersoftware_0909.pdf’ (just insuring we are talking about the same doc). The magazine does have embedded fonts, Acrobat shows Hundreds of font subsets in it, in fact. While I don’t care for the idea of that many (my limit is five), it doesn’t seem to me that it should cause any problem other than slowing things down. I looked at page 26, and couldn’t find anything different (PDF element wise) than on page 20, so ya got me stumped, Bud. A copy and paste of the front cover’s ALL CAPS diagonal banner (FIND THE BUG INSIDE & WIN AN AMAZON GIFT CARD), is rendered as: “Find the Bug inside & win an aMaZOn giFt CaRd!”, which my word processor says is in the Impact font, and one of the embedded subsets is Impact, so something is happening with fonts. The cap changes occur elsewhere, too. Do you have other mags/PDFs that behave this way, or could it be that you have won the Gift Card? This PDF is way, way too complicated, in my view; it doesn’t offer anything that couldn’t be presented in a flat PDF--not even a functional table of contents--and unnecessary complications are bound to cause problems for somebody. I suggest contacting the publisher(s) about the problem, and seeing if they offer a text or ‘print’ version. I could offer a workaround, but nothing that would be practicle for a ‘read and toss’ mag, or that you’d want to do often. I’m sorry, Mackx, but I don’t really have time to help you much. BTW, I’ve been testing software for years, in fact, one of the things that I like about Adobe is that they seem to do most of their testing themselves--before they release--and not make me pay for the honor of testing it for them. Kent Walters Last edited by Kent Walters; 09-25-2009 at 08:04 PM.

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09-09-2009, 06:41 AM	#2
Jürgen Hubert Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 548 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: iRex 1000S	Out of curiosity, who else has experienced that problem with opening large PDFs I described in this post? How did you deal with it?

09-10-2009, 11:33 AM	#5
Mackx Guru Posts: 999 Karma: 19985 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Netherlands Device: iRex DR1000S	Lets hope that pdf stability improves when iRex switches from poppler to the Adobe-code for reading/rendering pdf-files.

09-10-2009, 12:02 PM	#6
animedude01 Addict Posts: 254 Karma: 1200 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Los Angeles Device: DR1000S, ILIAD2, Nokia n900, Kindle for PC, Astak EZReader Pro	Like all readers, the DR1000 is resource constrained so complex documents will be problematic. Like anything else, there are trade-offs. I haven't had any problems with my DR1000, but again, I read the more complex documents on my PC because they are frequently color, I need to skim back and forth quickly, and/or they just look better there. There are plenty of PDFs I read on the DR1000 and I haven't had any problems with them.

09-14-2009, 01:24 PM	#8
junkyardwillie Addict Posts: 316 Karma: 570 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Onyx Note Pro, Kobo H20 and iPad	One problem I had when looking at large documents was it would only refresh a part of the page if I had it in landscape mode so when I turned the page, half the page would be the new page and the other half would be the previous page. I'd have to switch pages back and forth to get it to fully recognize, I just stopped using it for large PDF files now. The majority of my files are small so it hasn't been a big issue but that was quite annoying. I think it was about a 40mb file

09-23-2009, 11:36 PM	#11
Kent Walters Connoisseur Posts: 79 Karma: 92 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Northern California, USA Device: iRex DR1000S, Astak EZreader (Hanlin V3)	Jürgen, I make my own PDF’s, and never have problems opening them, even big ones, with lots of graphics. I’m wondering if your PDFs use embedded fonts; I always do (I use 14 point Times, as a favor for my old eyes), and I think the DR might be getting confused by font substitution. I don’t know, but it might be worth a try. Good luck, Kent Walters

09-24-2009, 05:34 AM	#12
Mackx Guru Posts: 999 Karma: 19985 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Netherlands Device: iRex DR1000S	The problems with pdf seem to be in the poppler library that is used to render pdfs. I have a pdf-file of a magazine that crashes on the same page in the native pdf viewer of iRex and in Xournal (I am experimenting with pdf support :-) both on the DR and on the qemu (emulator). It seems to be spinning in a loop in poppler (Splash::fillWithPattern). So the new firmware with Adobe PDF support will probably increase the stability w.r.t. pdfs.

09-25-2009, 02:40 AM	#14
Mackx Guru Posts: 999 Karma: 19985 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Netherlands Device: iRex DR1000S	Hi Kent, I do not have any PDF-tooling (apart from viewers), and my knowledge of the format is also very limited. The magazine is here, bottom of the page, click on 'free sample' and then Save as PDF (page 26 has the problem), in case anyone wants to take a look at it (Not sure if this works on linux). (@Kent its about software testing so probably not that interesting for you ). There are new versions of the poppler library, I assume this issue is already fixed. If I find the time I can have a look at newer versions of the library.