Jetbook's Hourglass of Death [Orig. & Lite]

[infi]

Originally Posted by gr8npwrfl

I would like people that experience this problem to post here the directory structure they are using on their SD cards so we can see if we can nail down the problems.

Good suggestion. My directory structure:

Kingston 4Gb Class 4 SDHC card: ---
\testfile.txt
\Books
\Books\testfile.txt
\Books\Last, First
\Books\Last, First\Title1 (year1).fmt .. TitleN (yearN).fmt
\Books\Last2, First2\Title1 (year1).fmt .. TitleN (yearN).fmt
... etc.
\Pre-Installed
\Pre-Installed\Detectives\author#book1.txt .. author#bookN.txt
\Pre-Installed\History\author#book1.txt .. author#bookN.txt
... etc.

• testfile.txt are all copies of the same 1-line plaintext file I use to test file opening when this happens.
• \Pre-Installed\ comes from the Jetbook English pack.
• Maximum depth 2 levels for all books.

It's going well right now as I haven't had to change files for a while, but next time, I may move everything from \Books\ to right off root into a \Last, First\book1..N.fmt layout.

[infi]

A bit more information I've just dug up. There is another thread here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65048

... where sobkas has extracted the firmware for 0.33g, which relies upon FBReader (a multi-platform ebook reader) for book support for a number of formats (I think all except PDF).

It's possible that the caching issue might be in FBReader itself, rather than the system, so I pursued that a bit. I installed FBReader on my linux machine, and played around with it a bit. I noticed that the Recent Readings seems to be kept in FBReader itself, as it behaves the same (opening the most recently read book at the current page upon restarting FBReader), and even uses the same "Recent Readings" terminology.

Looking through FBReader's config files, it (currently) stores recent readings and some other details in ~/.FBReader/state.db, a SQLite database file, with fields for file, paragraph, character, etc. So it is perhaps entirely a bug with FBReader not restarting or going into a loop upon trying to reload files from cache.

It seems unlikely that the version on the JetBook is a recent version, so I did a bit of searching to find similar bugs with FBReader, instead of the JB, and ran across this:
http://groups.google.com/group/fbrea...4e7dc71ebdb669

And here are some previously fixed bugs which sound very similar to our freezes:
http://www.fbreader.org/obsolete/index.php

• FBReader 0.10.5 is released (March 20, 2009).
  An FBReader freeze has been fixed. -- process freeze on some book formats, must manually kill process
• FBReader 0.10.4 is released (March 19, 2009).
  Multiple fixes in the epub format support.
• FBReader 0.8.17 is released (March 23, 2008).
  # Fixed crash after removing a book from library.
• FBReader 0.10.1 is released (January 16, 2009).
  # Fixed an infinite loop in library building code.

So, my hypothesis is that JB's version of FBReader is an older version with some caching bugs. So far, on the newest FBReader version, I haven't been able to reproduce it, so I'm still working on setting up some tests of older versions, (if they will indeed show up on another platform), but it's difficult as FBReader relies upon several libraries, so I have to go mucking with LD_LIBRARY_PATH and so forth to get it to use the correct (old) ones.

Will report back if I find anything.

---

Tentatively, I think the FBReader version on 0.33g is 0.10.4. 0.12.2 is the newest (though newer doesn't always mean better, of course).

[gr8npwrfl]

I had never seen that post. I will look into that. If I was going to keep the linux on the jetbook I would try to install a new version of FBReader.

MY Android project is going well, working on writing a compatible button driver. Since android is a super power manager and user interface on top of a regular linux, I am more interested in that right now. I can always put a newer FBReader in Android.

[wackywalt]

Originally Posted by gr8npwrfl

It seems the more complex your directory structure is the more prevalent the problem.

And it only appears to happen to certain people.

I would like people that experience this problem to post here the directory structure they are using on their SD cards so we can see if we can nail down the problems.

I get this "Hourglass of Death" everyone once in awhile. JBL with a 2Gig SD Card.
I have a Fiction Folder, Author Folders, Book Folders, and finally the actual book itself.

Occasionally, it would correct itself if I remove the SD Card. Thank you gr8npwrfl!!
If the problem is not corrected, I would remove the SD Card again. After reinserting the SD Card, I would open up a ".txt" file, close it, and open the book that initially gave me the problem.

I never get the hourglass on a ".txt" file.

[Ken Maltby]

[QUOTE=gr8npwrfl;771111]If I was going to keep the linux on the jetbook I would try to install a new version of FBReader.QUOTE]

I have speculated that the built-in "Patch" function might be for
updating embedded program components within the embedded OS
environment. What do you think? or Do you know what it is there
for?

Luck;
Ken

[infi]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

I have speculated that the built-in "Patch" function might be for updating embedded program components within the embedded OS environment. What do you think? or Do you know what it is there for?

I've dug through and searched the filesystem for references to /patch/i, but I haven't been able to find a specific, coherent answer. 0.33g seems to require >= "Patch 13", judging by the strings in "/bin/peripheral_self_test", which is being run during bootup, and appears to handle the patching/upgrading itself.

My device is 0.34c, and it reads as "Patch 15" in my settings menu; I'm not sure if that has changed between them. If it has, they may just be using that as a nickname for released firmware updates.

I've placed much of the output from my searches here, in case anybody can catch something that I missed.

I notice with some delight that there's a lot of references to wifi support, many drivers, related libraries, and parts of the custom programs that were written for the JB seem to have it in mind. I remember seeing that someone had taken theirs apart before, wonder if there is a wifi NIC inside...

[gr8npwrfl]

I posted all the internal pics of the jetbook as I have one taken apart and put in a holder so I can work on a new operating system.

There is no wifi chip on the board at this time.

All jetbooks and variations there of are manufactured by one company in China. The jetbook is based on the M2118+ design.

The same company has an M2118C that has wifi built into it.
The linux kernel that is on the jetbook and all these other variations are the same.That is why you see references to wifi in the code and some other features that are not available on the jetbook. There are even some threads of code that refer to a touchscreen.

I have attempted to get the information to open the OS to open source from both the Chinese manufacturer and from Ectaco. The people at Ectaco responded and said they would see what they could do. It has been over a month with no word.

Since there are many version of linux kernels that are configured for the Strongarm processor the jetbook is based on, that is why I have been impatient and working on an Android variant for the jetbook.

Most of the peripherals that make the jetbook function are built into the CPU, so changes in the hardware do not effect the operating system that much.
Even the display interface is built into the CPU.

Just how the individual switches and buttons are mapped into the system are what matter. That is what I am working on the drivers for linux for.

As this is a non profit venture, I have to relegate unused time to this project. I have 3 other projects that I am working on. One of them is very complex involving calculating the position of the sun at any given time, on any given day of the year. Taking into account the latitude / longitude and the refraction of the sun through the atmosphere during sunrise and sunset and all done with a processor chip that sells for $.25.

I am working on documentation on everything we have found out about the jetbook internals and OS. I will create an entry on Wikipedia so it will be a single location that people can reference. It will also allow others to update that information as they discover it.

[LuBiB]

Havent encountered the hourglass effect yet, and havent spoken to too many people who have seen it either but definitely good info just in case.

[scarab1]

Seems to happen with txt files in internal memory or one directory down from root on SD card. (I don't go more than one directory deep on the SD card.)

I've never had the eject/re-insert SD card suggestion fix the issue. I get the card ejected/re-inserted messages behind the hourglass animation, but I'm still hung.

Seems I will frequently (though not always) get the hourglass when I go into the main Settings menu (from the start-up screen, where you can select Books, Audio Books, Pictures, Settings) and make a change.

I've had a reset get me out of the hourglass sometimes. Other times, I go right back into the hourglass when I try to open a book after the reset.

Reseting and going into diagnostics mode, then reset again also didn't break me out of the hourglass loop.

This has happened with various txt files.

Connecting the jetBook to my laptop via the USB cable, does break it out of the hourglass loop.

I'm running v0.33g, upgraded from v0.30 that came with the jetBook. I didn't use the jetBook much on v0.30 so I don't know if the issue started happening after the upgrade.

[steven522]

So far I have had one lock up that required a reset. I am pretty sure I know what happened:
I had my SD card naming pretty standard "Novels", "Comics" with sub folders named "Verne, Jules" and "Battlestar Galactica". I got tired of scrolling through screens to get to my SD card folders, so I connected the jetbook to the PC through the USB cable and made a folder on the SD card called "!SD" (so it would appear first) and dropped my other folders into it.
After that, when trying to reopen the book I was reading (from the SD card), I got the hourglass lockup and had to reset.
Now, when planning on doing any major re-arranging, I pop the card out and put it into my card reader on the PC. After putting it back, the jetbook refreshes and everything works fine.

Oh, and I also took the folders out of "!SD" and just made a "!Novels" and "!Comics" and other "!whatever" folders. This way they show up first on the list and I know they are the files from the SD card.

[Ron46]

I had a similar files related problem where accessing the JBL on my Linux machine showed most of my files and folders locked. I tried everything (list too long) then decided to go into Windows as a last effort. I unintentionally left the JBL hooked up to the usb, and before Windows 2k fully booted, it found errors on the usb and ran an automatic chkdsk with repair.

Problems resolved. Windows left a "found.0000" folder and a "bootex.log" on the JBL and the log indicated some "cross linked files". Since the reader was fixed, I removed the 2 extra files Windows added.

Linux fsck might have done the same as Windows chkdsk, but I never thought to use it. My tentative conclusion: If the Jetbook cannot properly manage its file system, let your computer's operating system do it instead. In Windows, just connect up the JBL, right click the volume in My Computer, select properties and run check/repair file system (menu terminology not exact, I'm on Linux right now).

[gr8npwrfl]

I will do some testing to see if the hourglass is caused by file system corruption errors.

[Ron46]

I once had some issues I could not resolve (recent readings that kept coming back after deletion for one), so I took a chance and reformatted the reader memory (FAT16), almost expecting to lose critical operational files. I then reinstalled the firmware and all was OK. It took the reader a few seconds to recreate the two top directories, Books and Pictures.

I left both of these directories empty and put all my books and pictures (mixed) on the SD card. The Jetbook still sorts them out so the books and pictures are still classified correctly in the main menu. My SD card is a Kingston 133x and the reader performs very well with all files on SD and none in reader memory- rapid page transitions etc. And with all your data on SD, you can use utilities to whip the reader in line without losing any books.