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Posted by FriedPickles 3 hours ago

FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers(freeink.org)
266 points | 62 comments
imzadi 2 hours ago|
I got an Xteink X4 a few weeks ago and love it. I've tried out a few different firmwares but haven't settled on one yet. I love the screen and how simple the interface is. It's kind of a pain in the butt getting my Kindle books on there, but worth the effort. It's also encouraging me to buy books outside of the Amazon ecosystem. I've been getting more stuff from Humble lately.
Rebelgecko 12 minutes ago||
Is there a non-annoying way to get Libby books onto it? It's a step or two with a Kindle, but it would be cool to have them on a more portable device
timw4mail 1 hour ago|||
My favorite at this point is Witch reader (https://github.com/jpirnay/witchhunt-reader). All the features of Cross-point, with better book rendering, and more features. I've tried a lot of the various alternatives, and keep coming back.

If you want all your book series displayed together, AALU (https://github.com/dawsonfi/aalu) might be worth a look.

And Crosspoint OS itself is still really nice.

mootdentures 2 hours ago|||
I also got one a few weeks ago! I love how pocketable it is.

I tried different firmwares too and ended up settling on CrossPoint. So far it's been the most stable and the UI feels more intuitive than the others (for me at least)

fastball 2 hours ago||
Did you try FreeInk? I was debating which (between CrossPoint and this) to flash my new X3 with.
mirrir 2 hours ago||
from what i understand this is CrossPoint.
monocularvision 1 hour ago||
I searched for each of the supported eInk devices and they were all tiny. Anyone know if there is a larger reader (maybe Paperwhite size-ish) that might run this?
chb 1 hour ago||
The "Hardware" link indicates that the BoM specifies a "24-pin SPI e-paper for GoodDisplay panels (3.97″, 4.26″, 7.5″ and up)." A search turns up this: https://www.good-display.com/product/516.html
mikepurvis 1 hour ago|||
I've never heard of any of them; I guess it's geared toward build-it-yourself or kit-type devices? I can't imagine a serious aftermarket FW not supporting a single Kindle or Kobo device.
IshKebab 54 minutes ago||
ESP32-S3 is really too underpowered for larger e-ink devices.
wernerb 1 hour ago||
A Kobo ereader is as open as I need it with koreader installed. The Kobo Libra 2 black and white is the best ereader I have ever had. (not the color version,,unfortunately a step back in reading quality for normal reading)
mholm 1 hour ago||
These are not competing with Kobo. These are micro-ereaders, often much smaller than a phone. They're characterized by extremely weak processors and minimal hardware. 'Apps' are not a concept here yet.
renlo 34 minutes ago||
remarkable / remarkable2 also work with KOReader. KOReader provides a very good ereader experience - can import dictionaries, export word lists (ie it tracks words you look up), and supports numerous ebook formats and lets you modify the padding/margins/layout. A very good piece of open source software
wolvoleo 18 minutes ago||
It is very good except the UI could really use some love IMO. I use it on all my kindles but it really took some doing to get there in terms of getting comfortable with using it.
t1234s 1 hour ago||
Are there any instances from the closed e-book system (kindle, nook, etc..) where you paid for a book and the book was either updated to a revised version or just removed from the device because of the content in the book?
simcop2387 1 hour ago||
Yep, first instance I know of was from back in 2009, https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/jul/17/amazon-ki... and the kind of thing keeps happening over the years. It'll continue to happen since you aren't paying for a book. You're paying for a license to read the book for as long as the publisher/owner allows you to do so and they can revoke the permission at any time.

I still find it hilariously ironic that the first instance that was widely reported (as far as I know) was it happening to 1984.

recursivegirth 26 minutes ago||
Pay respect to Aaron Swartz, and go download whatever you need. I hear Anna's got an archive, or there is some Z Lib somewhere. If buying isn't ownership, downloading isn't stealing.
pnw 17 minutes ago|||
Kindle regularly removes sideloaded books if it decides you didn't purchase them from Amazon. Allegedly it's due to an incompatibility between the Kindle DRM and the way Calibre tricks the Kindle into displaying book covers for sideloaded files, but it's still annoying. The solution is to leave the device in airplane mode.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=340936

ebiester 36 minutes ago|||
It's fairly rare - like when 1984 was deleted from amazon when the seller didn't have the rights (and customer was refunded), but https://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/oct/22/amazon-wipes-c... shows an example where someone's account was deleted and they lost all licenses of books they bought.
jjice 1 hour ago|||
Yep. The infamous case in my mind were the Roald Dahl updates. I believe there were a few more cases that got news coverage a few years back, but I don't recall, so don't quote me.

https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/ronald-dahl-...

criddell 48 minutes ago|||
Are there any serious legislative efforts to fix the ebook market? I know getting rid of DRM entirely isn't likely to happen, but at this point I'd be happy with just vendor-neutral DRM.
the_gastropod 1 hour ago||
There was that famous 2009 case of Amazon remote deleting George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from Kindles.
boznz 1 hour ago||
Lots of the comments here are about porting to older kindles or eReaders, but the firmware is currently for the ESP32 chipset which none of these use.
idle_zealot 2 hours ago||
I got an Xteink X 4 a few weeks ago and it's a very cute device. While I'm a fan of the hardware what's been really fun is noodling around with building some custom firmware and sync architecture to optimize content for the device's extremely limited CPU and Memory. That's meant a custom format for images and metadata that match the device's hardware and interface needs and an automatic ingest pipeline for building these files from common book/comic formats. Maybe some day I'll even read a book on the thing!
BeetleB 2 hours ago|
It saddens me that most of the ebook world is leaning towards smaller screen sizes.

My reader is 8", and I think that's just the right size. I like a decent sized font, and I don't like continually scrolling.

Surprisingly, the original promise of "low battery use" isn't panning out. My ereader's battery doesn't last that long, although I can live with it. Once you switch to large size color eink screens, the battery life is poorer than tablets!

smith7018 1 hour ago|||
> most of the ebook world is leaning towards smaller screen sizes

These are seriously niche devices. They're currently trendy but the Kindles of the world probably have something like 98% of the market.

BeetleB 1 hour ago||
Yes, but except for the Scribe, even the Kindle readers are too small!

Kobo had an 8" ereader. People loved it (except for the battery life). But there's no sign they'll make more of them.

embedding-shape 1 hour ago||||
> most of the ebook world is leaning towards smaller screen sizes

Meanwhile, the smartphone world suffer from a lack of smaller screen sizes. Maybe we should just mandate the executives to switch industries with each other for a decade or so?

smeej 59 minutes ago||||
Which reader do you have? I've been looking everywhere I can think of for a good 8-inch device, but I need it to run Android. Heck, I even tried looking into tablets with traditional screens and am having trouble turning up anything serviceable.

I have a 6" screen and it's too small. I got a 10.3" one and it was too large. But I'm starting to suspect those of us who primarily want to read are the only ones who want 8 inches, and we're a rare bread.

BeetleB 35 minutes ago||
Kobo Forma. Probably not easy to run Android on it.
WillAdams 1 hour ago||||
I rather liked my Sony PRS-505 and 600 for their 6.1" screen and that it would fit in a (large) shirtpocket.

My Kindle Paperwhite and Scribe Coloursoft go weeks between charges.

BeetleB 1 hour ago||
Yes, I too had a Sony ereader for years, and it was nice fitting it in my jacket pocket.

But the reality is that most book pages are larger than 6", and if I found myself preferring the book because of the size, what's the point of an ereader? I first switched to 7", which was better, but not good enough. 8" is great, though.

> Scribe Coloursoft go weeks between charges

How many hours will the battery last while on? And how does that compare to a similar sized tablet?

IshKebab 53 minutes ago|||
The Remarkable tablets are pretty big and have a large community.
BeetleB 31 minutes ago||
Fair point.

I was looking into them recently, and can't recall why I ruled them out.

I think it may have been because of the size of their color tablets - either too small or too large.

tcoff91 1 hour ago||
I really like my Boox e-reader because I can install any android app on it. I run Storyteller on it and it syncs position to my storyteller server. So i can listen to the audiobook on my iPhone and then pick up reading on my Boox from where I was listening.
kapsteur 2 hours ago||
Please port this OS to older Kindles that Amazon no longer supports.
joshuakelleyds 2 hours ago||
Winterbreak covers most of them >2012, https://kindlemodding.org/kindle-models.html
KennyBlanken 1 hour ago||
Or Kobo, given how shit the stock firmware is and how little the hardware has changed over a considerable period of time. Should be easy-peasy.
themadturk 1 hour ago|||
Nickel, the stock firmware on Kobo, is pretty decent. KOReader is better, though. The Kobo is a pretty hackable device. I pair my Kobo Clara BW with BookFusion, which gives me portability between any KOReader device, Mac, Windows, iOS, and Android.
Larrikin 1 hour ago|||
You can already easily install koreader on the Kobo. You can even combine it with Tailscale to get your local opds server
Krutonium 2 hours ago||
Huh, this would be a fantastic option for my Kobo Touch. It freely flashes whatever firmware you give it, and it'll boot from an SD Card besides.
Varelion 1 hour ago|
Perfect -- this is exactly the kind of project I was hoping to see gain some traction as of late.
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