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The author seems to have missed KoReader (http://koreader.rocks http://koreader.rocks) and Plato (https://github.com/baskerville/plato https://github.com/basker

The author seems to have missed KoReader (http://koreader.rocks http://koreader.rocks) and Plato (https://github.com/baskerville/plato https://github.com/baskerville/plato), both of which are not user-hostile and work on Kobo and ReMarkable.

dont__panic 5y ago
KOReader is my weapon of choice on my Boox Nova 3. This article does a good job of explaining the sins of Onyx Boox, but unfortunately there isn't much competition in the Android e-ink space and this was the best hardware I could get.
- sydd 5y ago
  Same. I just made a new Google account for it, I'm afraid to give my real details. But AFAIK its bootloader is unlocked, so one can root it and remove the chinese spyware/viruses
  - dont__panic 5y ago
    While losing the e-ink screen optimizations and drivers that handle refreshes/OS control over those refreshes. It would be really awesome to see Lineage, Graphene, or Calyx support Boox devices in the future. But I wonder if the drivers are proprietary and not reasonably reverse-engineerable.
    - robinsoh 5y ago
      > I wonder if the drivers are proprietary and not reasonably reverse-engineerable. They are not. They are typically open source. https://gitlab.indel.ch/thirdparty/linux-indel/-/blob/41ef0dd13b7b52588e5353180a9127f08f2b9aba/drivers/video/fbdev/mxc/mxc_epdc_v2_fb.c https://gitlab.indel.ch/thirdparty/linux-indel/-/blob/41ef0d...
tokamak-teapot 5y ago
Yep, using KoReader on a kobo here. It’s wonderful.
AdmiralAsshat 5y ago
I think it's more a comment on the general ecosystem and the vendors. You could have completely FOSS hardware and FOSS software, but if all of the books you want to read are owned by publishers that refuse to sell them without DRM, what's the point? You'll basically be limited to self-published, DRM free stuff and Public Domain books.
- Syonyk 5y ago
  Nah, you keep a VM around to strip DRM from your legally purchased content and then toss it on the Kobo. I've got a Win10 VM that exists to strip DRM from Adobe Digital Editions or whatever the current name for that abomination is. Similar VMs exist to strip Amazon DRM.
  - AdmiralAsshat 5y ago
    Dude, I know. But it's a pain in the ass. In fact I got so tired of trying to make the Kindle for PC app play nice under WINE after it inexplicably broke that I just bought an old Kindle off eBay for about 20 bucks, and am using the hardware key from that to both download the books from Amazon in .azw form, and decrypt them with DeDRM/Calibre. But it's still a pain in the ass. And you know what's even worse? Now that it's tied to a physical hardware key, Amazon knows that this particular Kindle is older than dirt, and so it won't even give me the option of downloading some of my newer books like graphic novels or cookbooks, because it detects that those wouldn't work on it. So I can't get those to break the DRM from them. Things are only marginally better in the Kobo world, insofar as nothing downloaded directly to my Kobo has yet posed a problem for DeDRM and OBOK. But lord help us if they ever update the ADE encryption used for the on-device books.
  - throwaway705132 5y ago
    I used to have a means for stripping Digital Editions and B&N DRM, but they're now lost to time. Fortunately, the Kindle version can be simplified greatly and doesn't quite require the complexity of the other means.
- zozbot234 5y ago
black_puppydog 5y ago
OMG thank you for posting this! The last thing I knew about open firmwares for e-readers was OpenInkpot, and that seems to be dead for a long time. Now I can finally revive my kobo without having it nag me for full internet access all the time. The only way it would let me transfer my local files there without some full online sync detour was opening its browser and downloading them from a python3 -m http.server :D
- captn3m0 5y ago
  The latest Kobo firmware added support for true side-loading, so you don’t even have to login. https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2022/01/21/kobo-software-update-4-31-released-adds-sideloaded-mode/ https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2022/01/21/kobo-software-u...
- Syonyk 5y ago
  What? You should be able to mount the Kobo as a USB device and stuff ebooks into the root filesystem. What weird version of them doesn't support that?
  - black_puppydog 5y ago
    Hmmm... my Nia never registered as a mass storage device... maybe I'm holding it wrong? :D
    - webmaven 5y ago
      > Hmmm... my Nia never registered as a mass storage device... maybe I'm holding it wrong? :D I've occasionally struggled with getting devices mounted where it turned out to be the USB cable's fault. Sometimes they're just for charging.
- jjkaczor 5y ago
  I have owned several Kobo's over the last 10-years, WiFi is always off and I never get nagged. Have always side-loaded books via direct USB mounting - or Calibre.
Ftuuky 5y ago
I was not aware of those, they look just lie what I needed for my Kobo. Which one would you recommend?
captn3m0 5y ago
KOReader also supports jailbroken Kindles.

dont__panic 5y ago

KOReader is my weapon of choice on my Boox Nova 3. This article does a good job of explaining the sins of Onyx Boox, but unfortunately there isn't much competition in the Android e-ink space and this was the best hardware I could get.

sydd 5y ago
Same. I just made a new Google account for it, I'm afraid to give my real details. But AFAIK its bootloader is unlocked, so one can root it and remove the chinese spyware/viruses
- dont__panic 5y ago
  While losing the e-ink screen optimizations and drivers that handle refreshes/OS control over those refreshes. It would be really awesome to see Lineage, Graphene, or Calyx support Boox devices in the future. But I wonder if the drivers are proprietary and not reasonably reverse-engineerable.
  - robinsoh 5y ago
    > I wonder if the drivers are proprietary and not reasonably reverse-engineerable. They are not. They are typically open source. https://gitlab.indel.ch/thirdparty/linux-indel/-/blob/41ef0dd13b7b52588e5353180a9127f08f2b9aba/drivers/video/fbdev/mxc/mxc_epdc_v2_fb.c https://gitlab.indel.ch/thirdparty/linux-indel/-/blob/41ef0d...

tokamak-teapot 5y ago

Yep, using KoReader on a kobo here. It’s wonderful.

AdmiralAsshat 5y ago

I think it's more a comment on the general ecosystem and the vendors. You could have completely FOSS hardware and FOSS software, but if all of the books you want to read are owned by publishers that refuse to sell them without DRM, what's the point? You'll basically be limited to self-published, DRM free stuff and Public Domain books.

Syonyk 5y ago
Nah, you keep a VM around to strip DRM from your legally purchased content and then toss it on the Kobo. I've got a Win10 VM that exists to strip DRM from Adobe Digital Editions or whatever the current name for that abomination is. Similar VMs exist to strip Amazon DRM.
- AdmiralAsshat 5y ago
  Dude, I know. But it's a pain in the ass. In fact I got so tired of trying to make the Kindle for PC app play nice under WINE after it inexplicably broke that I just bought an old Kindle off eBay for about 20 bucks, and am using the hardware key from that to both download the books from Amazon in .azw form, and decrypt them with DeDRM/Calibre. But it's still a pain in the ass. And you know what's even worse? Now that it's tied to a physical hardware key, Amazon knows that this particular Kindle is older than dirt, and so it won't even give me the option of downloading some of my newer books like graphic novels or cookbooks, because it detects that those wouldn't work on it. So I can't get those to break the DRM from them. Things are only marginally better in the Kobo world, insofar as nothing downloaded directly to my Kobo has yet posed a problem for DeDRM and OBOK. But lord help us if they ever update the ADE encryption used for the on-device books.
- throwaway705132 5y ago
  I used to have a means for stripping Digital Editions and B&N DRM, but they're now lost to time. Fortunately, the Kindle version can be simplified greatly and doesn't quite require the complexity of the other means.
zozbot234 5y ago

black_puppydog 5y ago

OMG thank you for posting this! The last thing I knew about open firmwares for e-readers was OpenInkpot, and that seems to be dead for a long time. Now I can finally revive my kobo without having it nag me for full internet access all the time. The only way it would let me transfer my local files there without some full online sync detour was opening its browser and downloading them from a python3 -m http.server :D

captn3m0 5y ago
The latest Kobo firmware added support for true side-loading, so you don’t even have to login. https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2022/01/21/kobo-software-update-4-31-released-adds-sideloaded-mode/ https://blog.the-ebook-reader.com/2022/01/21/kobo-software-u...
Syonyk 5y ago
What? You should be able to mount the Kobo as a USB device and stuff ebooks into the root filesystem. What weird version of them doesn't support that?
- black_puppydog 5y ago
  Hmmm... my Nia never registered as a mass storage device... maybe I'm holding it wrong? :D
  - webmaven 5y ago
    > Hmmm... my Nia never registered as a mass storage device... maybe I'm holding it wrong? :D I've occasionally struggled with getting devices mounted where it turned out to be the USB cable's fault. Sometimes they're just for charging.
jjkaczor 5y ago
I have owned several Kobo's over the last 10-years, WiFi is always off and I never get nagged. Have always side-loaded books via direct USB mounting - or Calibre.

Ftuuky 5y ago

I was not aware of those, they look just lie what I needed for my Kobo. Which one would you recommend?

captn3m0 5y ago

KOReader also supports jailbroken Kindles.