[GUI Plugin] Marvin XD

[Neil]

Well, I am sorry to say but given that there seems to be (am I wrong?) no developer support for the Plugin at this time I think it may be time for myself and other Mac users to say goodbye to using Marvin. The advice given here to downgrade your IOS is simply not acceptable. There are many bug fixes in this version and if you want to keep compatibility with texting (new emojis) with other users.... I have always wanted to use Marvin more than the Kindle app or iBooks. Marvin has some wonderful features. But in the past year or two it has led myself and other Mac users on a wild chase trying to update, or downgrade, or work around or whatever. I suppose the usual Apple haters will simply blame Apple for breaking everything. But, in point of fact, I have no other apps that simply stop working so often and take so long to be fixed. I truly appreciate all of the past work of the various developers. And, as I say, Marvin when working beats everything else. But unless the situation changes quickly from "you should downgrade your operating system" to "here is the new plugin" I think it's time to call it a day. Just IMHO.

[Philantrop]

Originally Posted by Neil

Well, I am sorry to say but given that there seems to be (am I wrong?) no developer support for the Plugin at this time

I have been ill for five months, still haven't recovered fully and I don't have much time for the plugins, yes.

Originally Posted by Neil

I think it may be time for myself and other Mac users to say goodbye to using Marvin.

What does Marvin (as in: the iOS ebook reader) have to do with this plugin? This plugin adds some convenience functionality. It's certainly not vital to using Marvin itself.

Originally Posted by Neil

The advice given here to downgrade your IOS is simply not acceptable.

Indeed. Please take note that it wasn't me, the plugin's developer, suggesting that.

Originally Posted by Neil

I suppose the usual Apple haters will simply blame Apple for breaking everything.

No, this new issue is likely to be yet another problem with libimobiledevice itself.

Originally Posted by Neil

But, in point of fact, I have no other apps that simply stop working so often and take so long to be fixed.

Again, it's NOT Marvin that doesn't work. If you want to blame anyone, blame me.

[Montana Harper]

Originally Posted by Philantrop

Again, it's NOT Marvin that doesn't work. If you want to blame anyone, blame me.

Well, I have seen the suggestion bandied about that Apple is actually purposely breaking a certain aspect of the functionality of things like this because they don't want iOS accessed in the way that this plugin accesses it (to prevent or curtail jailbreaking? I'm not sure).

Anyway, unlike the person to whom you're responding, I value my easy access to Calibre via this plugin more than I value the bleeding edge of iOS updates (even the new emojis), so I'm just going to hang around and see what happens. Of course I'm a Windows user, so Mac users who disagree with me can feel free to use that fact in whatever fashion they desire: to explain my stupidity or my willingness to deal with broken software or whatever. ;-)

Thanks for taking this over when the original developer asked for volunteers, and I hope you regain your health soon!

[chilady1]

@Philantrop - first THANK YOU for taking over and VOLUTEERING to keep this plug-in going. Second as much as I love Marvin and would like to see it work I think the more important thing here is your health. I am hoping that you are getting better and will return to good health.

[ShellShock]

Originally Posted by Neil

But unless the situation changes quickly from "you should downgrade your operating system" to "here is the new plugin" I think it's time to call it a day. Just IMHO.

You have only paid for the Marvin app itself. There is a lot of other software in the Marvin/Calibre interface:

libimobiledevice
Marvin plugins
IOSRA plugin
Calibre

This is all written and maintained by unpaid volunteers, who have given hundreds (thousands for Calibre) of their hours to do so. More volunteers are always welcome, and I would be delighted if you spent some time fixing the code so you could say to me "here is the new plugin".

[Neil]

Hi Philantrop, I am sorry but I don't closely follow the threads here and was unaware that you have been ill. I do thank you deeply for your volunteerism and my original message was not at all meant as an attack on you or anyone else. Rather because the plugin works so well I consider it and Marvin as being almost a unit of functionality to depend upon. Feel better and I will go into patient mode here. Again my main impetus on the original note was to find out if there was developer support rather than to criticize anyone. I am sorry if it came off a bit more than I had intended. Thanks again!

[Neil]

Trust me, ShellShock, if I started to program you would be FAR from delighted at the results. LOL

[svenlind]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

You have only paid for the Marvin app itself. There is a lot of other software in the Marvin/Calibre interface:

libimobiledevice
Marvin plugins
IOSRA plugin
Calibre

This is all written and maintained by unpaid volunteers, who have given hundreds (thousands for Calibre) of their hours to do so. More volunteers are always welcome, and I would be delighted if you spent some time fixing the code so you could say to me "here is the new plugin".

There is indeed a lot of software in Calibre and Marvin.

You can transfer books from Calibre to Marvin like this:

In Marvin use Get books > OPDS > Search local network > Calibre library.

You must previously have started the Calibre Server to do this:

In Calibre Connect/Share > Start Content Server.

It also works in 8.3. It will even transfer metadata from Calibre to Marvin.

The only disadvantage is that you can't see those books that are already in Marvin.

[ChristopherTD]

Thanks @svenlind for the reminder that you can do this. I knew it was possible but had completely forgotten!

[incumbent]

Originally Posted by Montana Harper

Well, I have seen the suggestion bandied about that Apple is actually purposely breaking a certain aspect of the functionality of things like this because they don't want iOS accessed in the way that this plugin accesses it (to prevent or curtail jailbreaking? I'm not sure).

That is tinfoil nonsense at best -- the most likely conclusion to come to is that Apple doesn't have to take into consideration hacks and unsupported opensource toolkits and libraries, and doesn't even pay attention to them at all because they're completely irrelevant to their development efforts.

Apple has zero incentive or obligation to ensure any OS updates they are working on will be done within the confines of the capabilities of said third-party library and developers.

[truth1ness]

Originally Posted by svenlind

There is indeed a lot of software in Calibre and Marvin.

You can transfer books from Calibre to Marvin like this:

In Marvin use Get books > OPDS > Search local network > Calibre library.

You must previously have started the Calibre Server to do this:

In Calibre Connect/Share > Start Content Server.

It also works in 8.3. It will even transfer metadata from Calibre to Marvin.

The only disadvantage is that you can't see those books that are already in Marvin.

I can't seem to get this to work. My Calibre Content Server works fine in the browser, it shows up in Marvin OPDS's local network search, but when I connect to it in Marvin it just shows a "Searching" dialog with a cloud icon that never finishes. I thought it was because my library was too large but I created a new one with just a few books and it's doing the same thing.

Is there something else I'm supposed to do to get this working? Do I need to download calibre2opds or something? What is that software for if Calibre already does opds?

[eschwartz]

calibre2opds is just a third-party tool to archive an HTML+opds catalog which can be stored on a file server, that way you do not need to have calibre-server.exe running.
For instance, keeping a calibre2opds catalog in Dropbox, which doesn't allow you to install and run custom software in their cloud.


For your purposes it is irrelevant. Dunno why Marvin is having issues with the Content Server though.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by truth1ness

I can't seem to get this to work. My Calibre Content Server works fine in the browser, it shows up in Marvin OPDS's local network search, but when I connect to it in Marvin it just shows a "Searching" dialog with a cloud icon that never finishes. I thought it was because my library was too large but I created a new one with just a few books and it's doing the same thing.

First, I don't have an iDevice so these two ideas could be utter noise.

Some programs cannot handle calibre's authentication (digest). Do you have a password set for content server access? If so, try it with the password removed.

Another thing to try is to enter the connection information into Marvin, bypassing its local network search. If you do this, be sure to put /opds at the end of the URL, assuming that Marvin accepts a URL.

[truth1ness]

I don't have a password set, but your second suggestion to manually add the server worked.

It may possibly be because I'm not using the default 8080 port, but I assumed that since Marvin was finding Calibre that means it was finding the custom port, so I'm not sure. But it's working now either way. Thanks!

[Gurvan]

Originally Posted by svenlind

There is indeed a lot of software in Calibre and Marvin.

You can transfer books from Calibre to Marvin like this:

In Marvin use Get books > OPDS > Search local network > Calibre library.

You must previously have started the Calibre Server to do this:

In Calibre Connect/Share > Start Content Server.

It also works in 8.3. It will even transfer metadata from Calibre to Marvin.

The only disadvantage is that you can't see those books that are already in Marvin.

Thank you for that precious reminder ! Really, I should have found it a few hours ago ! But, I won't forget it again !