Any recommended OCR software for Linux?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...=340167&page=2

Here's the link to the end user trying to get Calibre working on his Chromebook. Poor guy. Get package via command line, install (and even compile? ) from command line, get and install missing libraries from command line And at the end of all that...Calibre can't see the attached e-reader because Crostini is no good with USB...

I've run into that on a couple applications in Crostini. The easy fix is to run...

sudo apt --fix-broken install

That will find and install the missing dependencies. I think the poster could also install Synaptics, which is a GUI install utility which automatically takes care of dependencies.

But no fix for the USB issue that I can find.

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

This comment doesn't reflect on the general discussion in this thread. But it's not for me. I think some people want to play around with this stuff, which is cool. For me, it's a hair-ripping-out-experience because I want to use my device to do tasks quickly, as opposed to tinkering with linux on a chromebook.

A google search on "crostini chromebook sucks" yielded a number of fun reads (for me, at least) that confirmed to me that I got out at the right speed (i.e. lightning fast) (i was in the game before crostini). Again, fun if you want to try and get a chromebook to run Linux, but not so much if you just want to just get a job done. I personally don't really see the point if you can get a cheap refurb Lenovo with more hardware resources, is well supported by drivers etc, and you can install full open Linux, instead of not-as-good (dare i say crappy?) google linux. But chromebooks are light-weight and very very shiny, I'll give them that.

Crostini is definitely a work in progress but it's been able to handle most everything I've thrown at it. I have better luck with it now that I've enabled the beta version of ChromeOS. (which is 92.something whereas the stable version is 91.something). The main draw for me is still the Chromebook's battery life. If Crostini is "good enough" to do what I want to do on it, "good enough" is all it really needs to be.

[leebase]

@rcentros - I'm writing this from the Samsung Chromebook ($129 at Walmart) that you told me about. First impression - it's not bad

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by rcentros

But no fix for the USB issue that I can find.

Apparently this is because the google team's priority is security. Crostini sits behind a lot of security. Functioning with ports and external storage will come later. Crostini will probably be pretty cool at some point in the future. It looks like chromebooks are improving. I don't know if it will ever suit me; that's probably just me. I will wait until they can do everything I want without having to spend too much time tinkering.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by leebase

@rcentros - I'm writing this from the Samsung Chromebook ($129 at Walmart) that you told me about. First impression - it's not bad

Good to hear. I hope it proves to be at least a little useful. I use mine quite a bit now.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Apparently this is because the google team's priority is security. Crostini sits behind a lot of security. Functioning with ports and external storage will come later. Crostini will probably be pretty cool at some point in the future. It looks like chromebooks are improving. I don't know if it will ever suit me; that's probably just me. I will wait until they can do everything I want without having to spend too much time tinkering.

I think it's more than security. I think Crostini is basically a virtual machine running in ChromeOS. It's kind of weird because ChromeOS is a modified Linux distribution also (Gentoo), but Crostini is Debian. At any rate, accessing USB ports via a VM has always been a little tricky. It has two layers to get through.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Good to hear. I hope it proves to be at least a little useful. I use mine quite a bit now.

Fun to learn how "the other half" lives. I was able to remote into my Windows machine...so I can use this as a thin client. If I end up liking it, I may just buy a nicer one with a larger, nicer screen.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I think it's more than security. I think Crostini is basically a virtual machine running in ChromeOS. It's kind of weird because ChromeOS is a modified Linux distribution also (Gentoo), but Crostini is Debian. At any rate, accessing USB ports via a VM has always been a little tricky. It has two layers to get through.

I can't find the link now. On reddit a google chrome developer basically says as much, off the record. Security first. And they have limited resources.

Edit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Crostini/co...ul_as_crouton/

Lot's there about the USB etc issue. The developer states that Chromebook and Crostini is not designed for tinkerers; it's for corporations and academia etc. That is it's target, and it will be hard to make it do anything else, by design.

(An Aside: As such, Crouton will allow more freedom, but carries it's own work and risks, and is a totally different route. It will require a lot of resources, minimum 32 GB device, and if it's not dual boot, it's possible to brick the device. This might be the better option for someone like me, at least at the moment--and then there is the issue of drivers etc...Sounds like work. I would only go this route was well trod for the device I was doing it on. But I might do this if I could pick up a device dirt cheap. And then I'd lose other functionality, like remote desktop. So, it's not for me either.)

I think, if crostini does what you need out of the box, then yeah, it's an excellent option, and that day may one day come, even for me. But it is "limited" by design. A buyer should carefully consider whether they fit within those boundaries.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by leebase

Fun to learn how "the other half" lives. I was able to remote into my Windows machine...so I can use this as a thin client. If I end up liking it, I may just buy a nicer one with a larger, nicer screen.

You already know more than me. I have no idea how to set up a thin client. As for a bigger screen, the HP 14" came in today (after going round and round my town for a couple days, getting "mis-sent" as they say on the Postal tracking service). It's much easier on my eyes — and this one, specifically built for Walmart — has 64 GBs of storage and a Pentium Quad Core, low wattage CPU (N5030). It's supposed to have a 13.5 hour battery life (under ideal conditions, I'm sure) and weighs about 3.3 pounds. This is actually the fastest computer I own. For some reason, some guy on eBay had a couple new ones he sold for $159 + tax (he had several Walmart branded items, so I'm guessing these were cleared out from store closing or something). The screen is still not high-end but it's not bad. It's also got pretty good speakers for a laptop. They've got the Bose name on them, but Bose seems to sell their name for just about anything now.

I've installed my favorite Linux applications under Crostini and they seem to work fine. The built-in Chrome browser loads faster, but I like Firefox and Thunderbird (using Firefox in Crostini now). This will be my main laptop.

This is the model...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-14-Pen...duid=__aduid__

Best Buy and others have similar models, but they're usually 32 GB instead of 64 GB — though some of the others have backlit keyboards and better, higher resolution, screens. Like this one...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-14-c...?skuId=6460274

What's odd is that these are using the same CPU that's in your Samsung 4 (Celeron N4000) instead of the Quad-Core Pentium "Silver." So I guess (if you stick with an HP lower-end 14" Chromebook) you have to compromise on something.

Rambling again, sorry.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

I think, if crostini does what you need out of the box, then yeah, it's an excellent option, and that day may one day come, even for me. But it is "limited" by design. A buyer should carefully consider whether they fit within those boundaries.

I've looked into Crouton. In some ways I think it might be better, but when I see stuff like the top keys don't operate unless you install a work-around — it makes me hesitant. There's also the option to install Gallium Linux on Chromebooks but there seems to be some kebyoard and driver issues there as well (I guess depending on the hardware). I may look into these other options later, but (for now) Crostini is working pretty well for what I need. Though I almost exclusively use Linux applications in Crostini when at the Chromebook(s), it's nice to have the ChromeOS available for stuff like streaming on VuDu. For some reason Vudu won't stream on Linux, but it works on ChromeOS. Most other streaming services work fine in Linux.

At any rate, I've pretty much worn this issue out. I'm happy with Crostini on the Chromebook (more so than I thought I would be).

[leebase]

Using a Chromebook as a Chromebook - it's a thin client. At $129 it was certainly a good deal. Most of the nicer ones are $250 and up and that price makes me think before buying. My wife liked the $129 one so much she had me buy another one just so we'd have it as a backup "computer" for the kids (who are adults now).

I have many computers, including a highly kitted out MacBook Pro 16". Yet this Chrome book is vying against my ipad mini for "Couch surfer". For reading? No. Not the right form factor for me. My poor iPad mini is getting jealous with the Kindle Paperwhite for reader and now the Chromebook for "watch tv and talk on Internet forums". I think ultimately the iPad mini will win out. But I'd much rather loan out the Chromebook or the Kindle PW than my iPad mini. I bought 2 Chromebook and the PW for less than the iPad mini.

I did enable the Linux feature in the Chrome OS. Verified that I could install nano and edit a file. I'm not planning on installing linux software, but it will be nice to use this device to ssh into a linux server

[PeterT]

I have a Chromebook in the living room and use it on a daily basis; email, web surfing, remote desktop to my windows PC ssh or web access to my QNAP NAS.

Great little device! Very happy with it

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[rcentros]

Sorry to dredge up this old thread, but I've discovered that Chromebooks can run Calibre AND connect to eBook readers. I've successfully set up Calibre on three Chromebooks, all work with DeACSM and DeDRM with Kindles and DRM'd ePubs. I don't know if changes in ChromeOS allow this, or if was just my ignorance in the original posts.

At any rate, if you have an Intel-based Chromebook and it's new enough to run Linux (most do now) you can install Calibre in Linux and it's completely functional. I still use Debian 10, which doesn't support the newest libraries so I can't run the 6.0.x Calibre versions on the Chromebook. So I installed 5.44.0 instead. Fortunately 5.44 supports the newest versions of DeDRM and DeACSM — so I'm not losing anything (that I know of).

To install Calibre 5.44 in in Linux in a Chromebook, just copy the following into terminal and ENTER... sudo wget -nv -O- https://download.calibre-ebook.com/linux-installer.sh | sudo sh /dev/stdin version=5.44.0

I cut out the sudo -v part of the command (which prompts for a password) because Linux in ChromeOS doesn't understand sudo passwords. I don't know any other way around it.

Once installed, an icon will be set up for Calibre and for each of its companion programs. It can be pinned to the shelf if you want.

De-DRM and DeASCM work normally. It's connecting to the eReader that takes a little bit more work, especially when hooking up the eReader for the first time. It has to go through two layers (which is my way of visualizing it, anyhow).

This is what you do the first time only (much easier the second time)...

1. Start Calibre
2. Plug In the eReader
3. When you get the Connection Notice, Click link to go into the File Manger
4. Right-click on the Reader (or double finger click) and choose "Share with Linux"
5. In Calibre, click on the Connect/share icon and choose "Connect to folder."
6. Click on "Other locations"
7. Click on "Computer"
8. Click on "mnt"
9. Click on "chromeos"
10. Click on "removable"
11. Click on your Reader and click "OK"
12. The device will come up. Click on "Device" and wait
13. Use as normal to transfer files
14. Eject the device when done, but do NOT remove the USB cable until...
15. You go to the File Manger and Eject it there also

The second time (and following), these are the steps...

1. Start Calibre
2. Plug in the Reader (wait for the connection notification)
3. Click on the "Connect/share" icon and choose "Connect to folder"
4. You Reader should already be highlighted, just Click OK
5. Transfer files, etc. as normal
6. Eject in Calibre
7. Eject in the File Manger

Sorry I didn't get this right the first time. A cheap Chromebook might be the answer for people who are having trouble connecting eReaders to newer Macs or Windows 7 machines. The only issue I can see is that many of the newer Chromebooks only have USB-C ports, so you might have to look for an older one that still has at least one USBmicro port. Otherwise you'll have the same problems newer laptops have. (Or maybe adapters can take care of this?)

[Quoth]

USB-C host to Micro-USB cable works, if wired correct, on DELL optiplex.
32 bit Intel/AMD cpu: Linux Mint 19.3 & Calibre 5.44
64bit Intel/AMD cpu: Current Linux and Calibre.

Old HW with win7 might be 32 bit or 64 and can run Linux.
Some PCs have 64 bit CPU but a 32bit UEFI, so only 32 bits Windows can install (usually Atom). However possible to copy 32bit Grub / EFI Linux files from 32 bit Mint 19.3 or suitable 32bit Linux to mounted 64 bit install ISO copied so be R/W, then make new ISO.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Quoth

USB-C host to Micro-USB cable works, if wired correct, on DELL optiplex.
32 bit Intel/AMD cpu: Linux Mint 19.3 & Calibre 5.44
64bit Intel/AMD cpu: Current Linux and Calibre.

Old HW with win7 might be 32 bit or 64 and can run Linux.
Some PCs have 64 bit CPU but a 32bit UEFI, so only 32 bits Windows can install (usually Atom). However possible to copy 32bit Grub / EFI Linux files from 32 bit Mint 19.3 or suitable 32bit Linux to mounted 64 bit install ISO copied so be R/W, then make new ISO.

I like Linux (and I'm experimenting with UNIX — Nomad FreeBSD). Nomad BSD is a persistent, live USB. It's what I'm using now. Just installed Calibre 5.44 with the DeDRM and DeACSM plugins (they port Linux applications over). De-ACSM was missing a crypto library but I was able to find it and once installed both plugins worked fine.

The reason I bring up Chromebooks is that (with the older ones, at least) you can get them really cheaply. And it's possible folks already have Chromebooks and Calibre would be a good way to use them.

[Quoth]

If they are very cheap it's an option. They are about 1/20th price of a S/H MacBook in CEX (Irish stores, don't know about UK prices) and about 1/10th to 1/5th price of S/H Windows laptop there. But you have to look up the model to find CPU, RAM, storage and screen pixels. No details in the shop. Some have too small a screen, or too little storage etc.