OpenInkpot - free/open source firmware for HanLin v3 (and eventually other devices)

[dottedmag]

OpenInkpot, the project for creating free/open source firmware for Hanlin/lBook eReader v3 just started: project page. Future similar hardware, such as v9 will probably also be suported.

We're currently in early stage of development, making the working kernel, kdrive (X.org) and base libraries and welcome any volunteers - hardware/kernel/unix/X hackers at the moment, application developers a bit later, when the infrastructure will be more mature.

[hakim]

Seems like a great project. Hope eventually you'll get all the source code you need from jinke. Keep up the good work!
PS: There are already few comments on your project at the end of this thread

[dottedmag]

Originally Posted by hakim

Seems like a great project. Hope eventually you'll get all the source code you need from jinke. Keep up the good work!

Seems that we will have all necessary drivers by looking at device, reading datasheets and reverse-engineering earlier than Jinke/gpl-violations will come to agreement

[armkbdotcom]

Nice start, I'm just going to buy Hanlin V3 soon and being developer myself this project is very interesting to me.

[dottedmag]

Originally Posted by armkbdotcom

Nice start, I'm just going to buy Hanlin V3 soon and being developer myself this project is very interesting to me.

Welcome!

[armkbdotcom]

A quick question before I buy it - can I flash lBook firmware files on original chinese Hanlin?

[dottedmag]

Originally Posted by armkbdotcom

A quick question before I buy it - can I flash lBook firmware files on original chinese Hanlin?

Should be possible: books' hardware is identical, and several people flashed chinese firmware on lBook.

However, we did not see anyone with Hanlin v3 who tried to flash lBook's firmware, so we have no either positive nor negative experience.

[mvoosten]

Originally Posted by dottedmag

Should be possible: books' hardware is identical, and several people flashed chinese firmware on lBook.

However, we did not see anyone with Hanlin v3 who tried to flash lBook's firmware, so we have no either positive nor negative experience.

What are actually the difference between the firmwares?

[dottedmag]

Originally Posted by mvoosten

What are actually the difference between the firmwares?

I don't know for sure, but it seems that fixes in Russian/Ukraininan support and in .fb2 handling appear in lBook firmware first and only then ported back to the Hanlin.

[nairbv]

is this actually a functioning OS that can be put on a hanlin and used to read books? or still in early development?

[mrdini]

Originally Posted by nairbv

is this actually a functioning OS that can be put on a hanlin and used to read books? or still in early development?

It's in early development, but even with very little information from Jinke, a lot of progress has been made already - http://openinkpot.org/wiki/ComponentsStatus so it looks pretty likely they will have a functioning OS eventually...

[dottedmag]

We've got firmware for nfsboot, so you can flash it and run actual system from the NFS share on your computer.

Mail with instructions and links is here: http://groups.google.com/group/openi...195215c5bf3d6f

[dottedmag]

We've got a blog: http://blog.openinkpot.org/

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by dottedmag

We've got a blog: http://blog.openinkpot.org/

Looks like you are making great progress. X11 running is a great accomplishment. Looks like you are still focused on underpinnings but an interesting side trip would be to get a reader functioning on the device.

Dale

[dottedmag]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

Looks like you are making great progress. X11 running is a great accomplishment. Looks like you are still focused on underpinnings but an interesting side trip would be to get a reader functioning on the device.
Dale

Well, actually after getting the correct framebuffer kernel driver, X11 just started without any hassle. We're going to build some suitable X11 toolkit soon, so it will be possible to write/port graphical applications.