A homebrewed program for viewing image archives (cbz, cbr,...)

[rkomar]

You probably need to modify the extensions.cfg file. See the first post in this thread for some instructions.

You should also download and install the files in device_cfg.zip (also available in the first post). I added configuration files for some of the newer devices (Touch HD 3 (632), Aqua 2 (641), Touch Lux 4 (627), Basic Lux 2 (616), Basic Touch 2 (625)).

[mooms]

Hi rkomar, one question: which version is more up-to-date, the one attached in the OP, or the one found here ?

Regards.

[rkomar]

I always update them at the same time, so you can get the latest from either location.

[mooms]

The file in the zip in the OP seems older than the one on the site though:


And in the changelog you have wrote:

Bumped the version number to 1.2.9.

However it's version 1.2.8 in the OP.

[rkomar]

Okay, you are right about the two not being in sync. I now vaguely remember that I added some changes to help with the ghosting @el-sahef was seeing, but after further testing it wasn't clear whether the new changes made any difference or not. So, I pushed the changes to my website, but left the unchanged version here because I wasn't sure whether anyone here should bother updating. As far as I'm concerned, both versions are more or less the same. If anyone has troubles with ghosting, they can download the version from the website and enable FineUpdate() in the configuration. Maybe there's a small chance that it will help.

[mooms]

I suspected it was for such reasons, but at least now I'm sure.
I have tried FineUpdate(), it's useless for me.

Thanks, have a nice day.

[porga]

Which one is the latest version recommended for Pocketbook 912?

I downloaded last one and it does not work? I did not use cfg file (should I copy it anyway)?

[rkomar]

You need the Pro-360+ version. I still run the program on my 902, so I know that it works on those devices.

You can edit your existing config file by hand and add the entries for pbimageviewer. That way, you can keep the settings you had for other types of ebooks. You need the config file if you want to open the CBZ/CBR/... files with the Library tab.

[inkreader2]

awesome reader, probably the best one for my InkPad 3 right now.
But I've wondered if there's an option for the display configuration to apply on every image archive/file? I have checked every setting and even went as far to check the configuration files on the system with no luck.

Is there any possibility that you could include an option so I don't have to change the settings every 30 pages again?

thanks!

[rkomar]

I never included that option because I figured that each archive would be different. If you are reading mostly series, then if you enable the automatic starting of the next archive at the end of the last, the same display settings will be used when the next one is loaded. That might save you some effort.

[el-sahef]

A new firmware v.5.20.706 for the inkpad 1 and inkpad 2 was released last year. With this firmware, the cover that is shown when the device is powered off is almost always the one from the previous cbz instead of the current cbz.

I made some tests and the only case where the correct cover is shown is if the application is closed bevor the device is powered off.

Assuming one cbz for every manga chapter:

cover page 1 chapter 8 --> on via powerbutton --> open chapter 8 ----> end of chapter 8 --> continue with chapter 9 ? --> yes --> page 1 chapter 9 --> off via powerbutton --> cover page 1 chapter 8 (should be cover page 1 chapter 9)

on via powerbutton --> page 1 chapter 9 --> off via powerbutton --> cover page 1 chapter 9

cover page 1 chapter 8 --> on via powerbutton --> open chapter 8 ----> end of chapter 8 --> continue with chapter 9 ? --> yes --> page 1 chapter 9 --> off via timeout --> cover page 1 chapter 8 (should be cover page 1 chapter 9)

on via powerbutton --> page 1 chapter 9 --> off via powerbutton --> cover page 1 chapter 9

cover page 1 chapter 8 --> on via powerbutton --> open chapter 8 ----> end of chapter 8 --> continue with chapter 9 ? --> yes --> page 1 chapter 9 --> off via timeout --> cover page 1 chapter 8 (should be cover page 1 chapter 9)

on via powerbutton --> page 1 chapter 9 --> off via timeout --> cover page 1 chapter 9

cover page 1 chapter 8 --> on via powerbutton --> open chapter 9 --> page 1 chapter 9 --> off via powerbutton --> cover page 1 chapter 8 (should be cover page 1 chapter 9)

cover page 1 chapter 8 --> on via powerbutton --> open chapter 9 --> page 1 chapter 9 --> exit application --> off via powerbutton --> cover page 1 chapter 9 (correct)

cover page 1 chapter 8 --> on via powerbutton --> open chapter 8 ----> end of chapter 8 --> continue with chapter 9 ? --> yes --> page 1 chapter 9 ----> end of chapter 9 --> continue with chapter 10 ? --> yes --> page 1 chapter 10 --> off via powerbutton --> cover page 1 chapter 9 (should be cover page 1 chapter 10)

on via powerbutton --> page 1 chapter 10 --> off via powerbutton --> cover page 1 chapter 10

Of course this is only a minor issue but nonetheless it would be nice if it gets fixed.

I looked into the code and the cover image file seems to be written in the write_cover() method. According to a comment in the source it is called when the application is closed or if the SIGINT signal is received. Because the cover image is correct when the application is closed I suspect the SIGINT signal is not received anymore with the new firmware or they changed something about it.

A possible fix might be to call write_cover() immediately when the application or a new chapter / cbz is opened.

[rkomar]

If the EVT_EXIT event is not received, then the settings won't be saved either on shutdown. Do you see the application starting up with the correct or wrong page number when you power the device back up?

If you automatically start the next archive, can you see if the old application might still be running? Perhaps it never gets the EVT_EXIT event until the device is powering down, and it overwrites the cover from the later application?

I'm a little suspicious of the device behaviour with the latest firmware. On my Inkpad 1, the internal SD card was destroyed by the new firmware, and I started seeing problems with the cover image because it was not being saved to the filesystem. Eventually, not even the files I copied over or deleted survived power cycles. So, please check that everything else with the internal filesystem is working correctly.

[el-sahef]

When the device is powered back on it starts with the correct page number. Only the cover image is wrong.

When the next archive is automatically started and I quit the application after that (via menu ---> exit) the taskmanager shows no other running instance of pbimageviewer. I hope that I tested this the right way.

The internal SD card works fine, I can do everything without any issues.

I don't think that it is the firmware that damages the internal SD cards but that they are just of very poor quality and fail often after some time.

I have three inkpad 1 devices in total, two working ones and one with some cracks in the touch layer (for parts). Two of them were bought as defective on ebay, one as used but working. Of the two defective ones, the first one just had a completely discharged battery (easy fix) and the other one had a failed internal SD card with corrupted firmware that did not boot anymore and the card did not accept any writes. I could not simply take an image (taken with dd on linux) of a working card with working firmware and transfer it to another card and use that. The firmware image of a card is tied to the card ID and the ID of the card to which you write the image must match the ID of the original card from which the firmware image was taken. As long as firmware image and card ID match you can swap cards between devices. Because I only need two working devices at once I did not care at first as I had two working cards with valid firmware.

Normally this card ID is not changeable by the user because it is also used in some copyright protection schemes, e. g. car navigation map updates, but some older samsung evo SD cards have a bug that allows to change this card ID to any value with a tool you can find on the internet. So I bought a bunch of these cards. They are increasingly hard to find but if you know what to look for and are a little patient you can still get them on ebay.
Last year the next device had the problem that the internal SD card changed to read-only mode (but the firmware on it is still bootable, sounds like your case). I took one of the samsung evo cards, changed the card ID to the same ID as the internal card that changed to read-only mode, put the image from this card with dd on the samsung evo card and swapped the cards. No more problems, everything working again.

The two internal cards that failed were 4 GB cards and had no brand name on them. The third one that is still working is also 4 GB and has the brand name "Gigastone" on it. If this fails too it is no problem as I have bought enough samsung evo cards with changeable card ID.

I suspect that your internal card failed just because there were many writes to it when you updated the firmware. I never use the internal SD card to store anything, just external cards and I still had one of the internal SD cards fail. So if you use the internal storage to store anything, the internal card will probably fail even faster.

[rkomar]

With some help by others here in this forum, I was able to get my Inkpad 1 working with a new SD card. Within a week, the new card started to fail, as well. Others have also reported failing cards soon after installing the latest firmware update. Perhaps it doesn't happen on all devices, but it seems like the latest firmware is a problem for some.

Anyway, if the device is booting up and starting at the correct page, then it looks like the settings were saved at shutdown. If so, the cover page should also have been saved at the same time. The only explanation I have for the difference is that some writes to the filesystem are failing. To be sure the settings are being saved correctly, shutdown the device while viewing a higher page number. The default is page one for a new archive, so it's hard to know if the settings were saved when the application restarts at page one later.

[el-sahef]

My problems with the failing cards were all still on the old firmware.

I tested what you said and when powering on it opens the correct page:

cover page 1 chapter 8 --> on via powerbutton --> open chapter 8 ----> end of chapter 8 --> continue with chapter 9 ? --> yes --> page 1 chapter 9 ---> page 10 chapter 9 --> off via power button --> cover page 1 chapter 8 (should be cover page 1 chapter 9)

on via powerbutton --> page 10 chapter 9 (correct) --> off via powerbutton --> cover page 1 chapter 9 (now correct) --> on via powerbutton --> page 10 chapter 9

I like the new firmware because of its fast startup time, so I will most likely not go back unless the new samsung evo card also fails within the next year or so.