Suggested workaround for libimobiledevice detecting wifi idevices

[ShellShock]

I suspect quite a few idevice owners are having problems when trying to get IOSRA/Marvin plugins working because of a known problem in the libimobiledevice library.

Please see here for an instance of the problem: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=255105.

I actually use a private build of libimobiledevice in which I have added a small workaround so that wifi detected idevices are ignored. I raised this issue (with my suggested workaround/fix) some time ago on GitHub: https://github.com/libimobiledevice/...muxd/issues/22, where it is acknowledged that there is a problem, but the issue is still open.

One option would be to just add my existing fix to the Calibre libimobiledevice source, so at least plugin users will get the benefit of it, whilst we await an official fix.

[kovidgoyal]

Does this require patching of libimobiledevice.py or the actual usbmuxd library?

[ShellShock]

The usbmuxd library (Windows & Linux).

In libusbmuxd.c, usbmuxd_get_device_list, add a check for product_id != 0, e.g., in the Windows version (Linux should be very similar):

got_device_list:

	// explicitly close connection
	UNLOCK;
	socket_close(sfd);

	// create copy of device info entries from collection
	newlist = (usbmuxd_device_info_t*)malloc(sizeof(usbmuxd_device_info_t) * (collection_count(&tmpdevs) + 1));
	dev_cnt = 0;
	FOREACH(usbmuxd_device_info_t *di, &tmpdevs, usbmuxd_device_info_t *) {
		/* Devices connected by WIFI or USB may be reported. Ignore any without a valid USB product_id, i.e., WIFI connected. */
		if (di && di->product_id != 0) {
			memcpy(&newlist[dev_cnt], di, sizeof(usbmuxd_device_info_t));
			free(di);
			dev_cnt++;
		}
	} ENDFOREACH
	collection_free(&tmpdevs);

I did investigate changing the Python code instead, but that is a lot more complex to do, mainly because (as I recall) the product_id is not propagated back up into the Python code, so it would have probably meant changing the libimobiledevice API.

[kovidgoyal]

OK I will add that patch the next time I am working on the build system.

[kovidgoyal]

Done.

[ShellShock]

Great, thanks.

[ShellShock]

Excuse me for asking, but is this change meant to be in 2.19? Because I have just tried 2.19 and it is still detecting idevices via WIFI.

For my reference, to repro the bug:

Power up two idevices, both connected to the same WIFI network.
Do not connect either idevices via USB.
Run Calibre, get error: iOSRA plugin not installed.
Re-install plugin manually, to get the error:

calibre, version 2.19.0
ERROR: Plug-in installation failed: A problem occurred while installing this plug-in. This plug-in will now be uninstalled. Please post the error message from the details below into the forum thread for this plug-in and restart Calibre.

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\dialogs\plugin_updater.py", line 712, in _install_clicked
  File "site-packages\calibre\customize\ui.py", line 392, in add_plugin
  File "site-packages\calibre\customize\ui.py", line 559, in initialize_plugin
InvalidPlugin: Initialisation of plug-in Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "site-packages\calibre\customize\ui.py", line 553, in initialize_plugin
  File "calibre_plugins.ios_reader_apps.__init__", line 916, in initialize
  File "calibre_plugins.ios_reader_apps.__init__", line 1245, in _get_connected_device_info
InitialConnectionError: Unable to connect to iDevice
 failed with traceback:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "site-packages\calibre\customize\ui.py", line 553, in initialize_plugin
  File "calibre_plugins.ios_reader_apps.__init__", line 916, in initialize
  File "calibre_plugins.ios_reader_apps.__init__", line 1245, in _get_connected_device_info
InitialConnectionError: Unable to connect to iDevice

This bug occurs with the 2.19 libusbmuxd.dll; if I swap in my private build of this dll (which has the code fix) then I can install IOSRA OK, and when I connect my IPad and run the Marvin Calibre connector, it all works fine.

Thanks.

[kovidgoyal]

Yes it is supposed to be in 2.19. Unfortunately, I have no iDevices, so it is hard for me to test it. This is on windows 64 or 32bit?

[kovidgoyal]

Never mind, I realized the updated dlls are present on linux and os x but not windows, because the windows build system requires an extra manual step, which I forgot. Will be in next release.

[kovidgoyal]

Here are builds with the updated dlls included, let me know if they work:

http://download.calibre-ebook.com/betas/

[ShellShock]

I have tried the beta (Win 64 bit) and it is working fine now. Thanks a lot.