How good is Koreader working with PocketBook Touch HD ?

[johndoe57]

Hi guys,

I'm thinking of buying a PocketBook Touch HD because of what I've read so far.
The device itself seems to be quite hackable/extendable and the original software doesn't seem that bad.

What's important to me is proper PDF support, so I want to get Koreader running.
Does anyone use Koreader with this device, how stable is it, and is it easy to integrate ?
I read something about an "Open with menu" so can I just open documents from the standard ui with Koreader instead of the native reading app then ?

Is there anything else what I should know about this device, that's negative in terms of privacy, silent auto firmware updates in the background that I can't block etc...

Thank you!

[nhedgehog]

Since there is not answer from the PB Touch HD users, some comments here:
1) I don't own a PB Touch HD but have a PB Lux 3.
2) I'm not aware that the "Open with menu" working with newer firmwares but selector is helping there (with some pdf adobe viewer doesn't start, don't know why yet).
3) I did try Koreader quite exensively but found no reason to keep using it. The integrated pdf-reader of the device seemed to me superior. For epubs I use Coolreader.
4) Privacy: all those things can be switched off but are enabled at the beginning. No need to register the device.

[johndoe57]

Thx for your answer. I already bought the device and was already trying to get koreader running on it with a few edits. Got it working, but with a few segfaults though...

One thing I miss with the official pdf reader is the continous reading mode.
The problem is when you have an A4 pdf page zoomed in landscape, and you press down you have a very high chance that the next line you want to read is not on the top of the screen.

On koreader there is something called, i think "scroll mode", pdf pages are placed continuously under another, so if there is no lower third on the actual pdf page it just shows the first third of the next one under it. So when pressing page down I can always expect the next line to read is on the top of the screen. If no scroll mode is enabled, like the official reader it just goes down a bit if there are only three lines or so available on the actual page. That disturbs my reading flow quite a bit...

[iBurger2]

@ Johndoe57

I am considering buy the Inkpad 2, specifically for reading academic papers. (2 column layout). Given your experience, would you still recommend me getting the Pocketbook?

Is Koreader good enough?

[mobama]

Originally Posted by iBurger2

@ Johndoe57

I am considering buy the Inkpad 2, specifically for reading academic papers. (2 column layout). Given your experience, would you still recommend me getting the Pocketbook?

Is Koreader good enough?

Even the inbuilt PDF reader is good enough. Koreader is better for some purposes, but not with multi column text.

[mobama]

Originally Posted by johndoe57

What's important to me is proper PDF support, so I want to get Koreader running.
Does anyone use Koreader with this device, how stable is it, and is it easy to integrate ?
I read something about an "Open with menu" so can I just open documents from the standard ui with Koreader instead of the native reading app then ?

Koreader is tricky to install on Touch HD, but runs fine currently on my Touch HD after a little bit of hacking. Read this https://github.com/koreader/koreader/issues/2276

It doesn't show up in Open with. It. shows up in the general app tray. Koreader has its own file manager and everything you do with it remains separate and unnoticed by the main software.

Originally Posted by johndoe57

Is there anything else what I should know about this device, that's negative in terms of privacy, silent auto firmware updates in the background that I can't block etc...

Thank you!

No silent firmware updates. No sneaky connecting to the internet.

[church mouse]

[QUOTE=mobama;3569644]Koreader is tricky to install on Touch HD, but runs fine currently on my Touch HD after a little bit of hacking. Read this https://github.com/koreader/koreader/issues/2276
/QUOTE]

I can get Koreader to run, even from Open With, but every time I go in to settings it crashes when I try to set something. (Crash log just says segment fault).

Are you able to use settings?

[mobama]

Originally Posted by church mouse

I can get Koreader to run, even from Open With, but every time I go in to settings it crashes when I try to set something. (Crash log just says segment fault).

Are you able to use settings?

Yes, I can. Koreader occasionally crashes on me too, but it's with extra heavy pdf files. I can change the settings within the app pretty reliably.

If you mean crashes when you open up advanced settings, then those can be set by modifying a file in a text editor when the device is connected to the computer. And I am not sure if I have the latest version.

[church mouse]

@mobama - thank you for the reply.

Sadly, seeking to change anything in the normal settings menu just results in an immediate crash. I have tried several different nightly versions but all do the same on my TD.

I don't have any pdfs, so I will stick with Coolreader.

[mobama]

For epubs on e-ink devices, Coolreader beats Koreader because in Coolreader you can configure tap areas more extensively. But my e-library overwhelmingly consists of pdf's and djvu's, so I am lucky to have Koreader working on my devices.

The only feature I really appreciate and use in Koreader is nightmode (invert colors, along with the excellent fit-to-width and scroll mode). Otherwise, particularly with multi-column pdf files, the inbuilt reading app in Pocketbooks is better than Koreader.

[mobama]

The latest nightly of Koreader is considerably more stable on Touch HD, at least on my end https://github.com/koreader/koreader...2-gabaa699.zip

[church mouse]

Originally Posted by mobama

The latest nightly of Koreader is considerably more stable on Touch HD, at least on my end https://github.com/koreader/koreader...2-gabaa699.zip

Curious, because for me this version is worse - whereas before I could get in to settings but it would crash if I sought to change anything, this latest version crashes simply trying to open settings. I have no idea why this should be. I even tried a completely fresh installation (instead of a merge), but with no improvement.

The last relatively stable version I have found is the last marked "stable" of v2015.11-stable. Everything in that version works, including settings, though it has frequent issues working with screen refresh (resulting in a black screen or two pages showing simultaneously) and is not really useable.

Fortunately, as you say, Pocketbook is functionally better for Epubs anyway, and that is working near flawlessly at the moment.

[mobama]

@church mouse

My procedure for Touch HD:

Fresh installation to applications/ only. I don't merge the system/ directory.

After that, I changed
koreader/frontend/device/pocketbook/device.lua

There is the line

    emu_events_dev = "/var/dev/shm/emu_events",

It should be

    emu_events_dev = "/dev/shm/emu_events",

That's it. And the refresh problems that used to be there in the previous version I had installed are drastically reduced now.

Edit: Oops, I remembered that I saved the history file also from the previous installation. But that's really it, nothing else.

Pocketbook's inbuilt software is adequate for everything. I only have one quibble: Invert colors are missing. I wish invert colors worked across the whole device.

Coolreader fixes this for epubs. Koreader is very good for reading pdf's and djvu's where text is in a single column. For multiple columns, Pocketbook's inbuilt multi-column mode with common-sense tap-forward is better again.

[church mouse]

@mobama

The device.lua is properly amended - else KOReader will not open at all. I can open books perfectly well with KOReader, but, for me, these recently nightlies crash every time on Settings.

[mobama]

I guess every unit has its own personality then.

One more thing, I have not updated the firmware here. It's U631.5.16.371 20170127_131146
but firmware should not make any difference anyway.