iLiad FBReader 0.8.2b for the iLiad released

[bedwere]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Not all .pdb files are e-books, and not all e-book pdb files are readable with FBReader. The Linux file command will tell you what kind of pdb file you have.

You're right. "file" says it's data and not a Plucker PalmOS document.
So I switched to chm format. I tried to open this file written in Polytonic Greek. It appears just fine with gnochm (see attachment) and it is recognized as MS Windows HtmlHelp Data, but doesn't work with Fbreader on the Iliad.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by bedwere

So I switched to chm format. I tried to open this file written in Polytonic Greek.

It works in the Desktop Linux version (on my Pepper Pad 3), provided (a) under the book info icon the encoding set is Unicode and the encoding is UTF-8 and (b) under the preferences (tools) icon and styles tab the font is Arial Unicode. With the Windows XP version the only font I found that works is Microsoft Sans Serif.

Note that FBReader does not do tables, but at least the table here is in a sensible linear text order (so the table based TOC is legible).

[bedwere]

Many thanks, Wallcraft! On the ILiad it works with the Unicode, UTF-8, and DejaVu Sans combination.

[narve]

Using my new CF-card, I finally got fbreader working properly. The new install system is great - I love it!!

I have one small usage question, though: When I open a book, the page is displayed with fbreader tool bars and the page flipper doesn't work - I didn't find any way to move between pages. Is this the way it should be? And when I press the "select" button (on the iLiad, between up and down arrows) the page is displayed full-screen and then the page flip bar works properly. But then I don't know how to return to normal mode to e.g. change book - I have to restart fbreader. Is this the way it is/should be, or am I missing something?

[wallcraft]

Usually in FBReader a key is bound to "toggle full screen", so hitting the same key again should take it out of full screen mode. At one time the iLiad FBReader was missing the "keys" tab under the Preferences (tools) icon. If it is there now, use it to rebind any key to any of the available options. As you have found, FBReader is light on documentation - but you can discover what default key bindings it has (for example) by selecting each key in turn under the keys tab.

I think it is likely that the "select" button is bound to the action "switch to fullscreen mode", it should be bound to "toggle fullscreen mode" instead.

An earlier version of Linux Desktop FBReader had these predefined keys (found by exploring the key tab for existing settings):

D toggle position indicator
R rotate
A add book
F search
Z show recent books
C table of contents
I book info
O options
P find previous
L show library
N find next
- decrease font size
= increase font size
ESC cancel
RET toggle full screen

[templario]

Thanks it works great, and i like this idea of installing the programs, hopefully you´ll agree on that and release the programs in this way.
I found a "little bug", when i´m in full screen and i want to go back to normal mode (with the same button) the light starts blinking and nothing happens.

Thanks again for the effort of all the developers,

Jose

[palafox]

Nice piece of software! I am very interested in getting it installed on my iLiad, since I have lots of manuals and docs in chm format, and converting them into pdf either doesn't renders a satisfactory output or takes a long time to complete.
Nevertheless I'm hesitating to install because of it supports Mobipocket docs, but not DRM ones. Yesterday I connected to iDS and, among other components, it installed the new Mobipocket viewer. I wonder if I install now FBReader, it will become the viewer for this format. Is there any way to get the best of two worlds, ie, get FBReader installed in order to browse chm files and let the mobipocket stuff untouched?

Thanks in advance,
JAMM

[Adam B.]

Currently, FBReader does not associate itself with any formats. You will need to open FBReader, go to the library, and add the books you would like to read in it. It will only open documents directly from the content lister if you change your er_registry.txt.

[palafox]

Originally Posted by Adam B.

Currently, FBReader does not associate itself with any formats. You will need to open FBReader, go to the library, and add the books you would like to read in it. It will only open documents directly from the content lister if you change your er_registry.txt.

Hi, Adam!

Many thanks for the quick answer. Is there any straightforward way to get this association done (automatically open chm files with FBReader). I am used to work under *ix environments so I'd dare to do some risky work, but I am just a newcomer to iLiad, so I don't know even how to connect to it via telnet/ssh/etc (dunno whether this is possible or not). Maybe I could write and execute a shell script in order to get this done?

Thanks in advance,

JAMM

[Adam B.]

Before you start working with the internals of the device, I reccomend you install the Unbrickable iLiad package: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10225 . It installs an SSH client and starts networking on startup. This way when you modify files needed to start the iLiad's programs, you won't have to worry about bricking it.

To allow opening of the programs from the conent lister, see the FBReader wiki article: https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/ILia...e_Installation . It outlines the details of the install. You'll need to install the FBReader package, and then make the necessary /mnt/settings/er_registry.txt changes. Be sure to change the execpath for fbreader to /usr/local/bin/FBReader as the wiki hasn't been updated to reflect changes to this package.

[jls]

I have the same problems with moving within FBeader. I'd like to change the key bindings but I cannot find the keys button under the preferences (tools) icon. Where can I find the version of the reader ? The one I have installed is the 8.2b iliad 01

[Adam B.]

Soon I'll release another version with a working settings screen. I need to either remove one of the current tabs, or change the text on them so they can fit the others in.

[jls]

Thanks Adam,

one more thing to make the iliad more usable: The content lister which comes with the device is really lousy. I have something like 200 pdf-articles on my memory card, more to come. To browse them is a nightmare. One option would be to compile a file-manager like 'Mini Gtk+ File Manager', Nautilus, Rox-filer or Xfe etc. They could run the FBReader or ipdf etc. Another option would be to include some sort of spawning a different handler from the FBReader since it organizes the files nicely. Then FBReader would be a our allround platform.

What are the thoughts of the others here? I found some file managers at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari..._file_managers
and there are some more on my Debian box. None of them seems to be specifically good for systematically browsing through a long alphabetic list with practically no scrolling option. Any ideas?

[nekokami]

I got fbReader installed after my 2.9.5 update this week. I love it! I can finally read part of an HTML document and be able to come back where I left off.

One comment/question, though: are there alternate 1-bit monchrome icons for the menu bar at the top? I find the grayscale icons somewhat difficult to see, especially as they tend to be in the shadow of the top of the bezel.

[rincewind]

Originally Posted by jls

What are the thoughts of the others here? I found some file managers at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compari..._file_managers
and there are some more on my Debian box. None of them seems to be specifically good for systematically browsing through a long alphabetic list with practically no scrolling option. Any ideas?

I've been playing around to create a new file manager from scratch, one that utilizes the eInk readability and the stylus for input. I've however used some time getting Python with pygtk and glade to run, and it does not perform too well at the moment... However, I guess a new, custom and fairly easy piece of software would do the trick (if iRex had released the source, we might have been able to make something usable of it - but that's not going to happen soon). I believe all those Midnight Commander style things to be utterly horrible on an iLiad, but then again, I have always found those ugly. :-)

Nautilus is nice though, but I guess running it would bring the iLiad to it's knees in no time.

/R