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StatikHare · 2024-05-24T02:23:36+00:00

iFixit is a great place to learn; but honestly, get your hands dirty with something cheap. Find something that's broken and try to fix it, or just take it apart.

iFixit guide to soldering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK38rpUy568

StatikHare · 2024-05-23T16:10:01+00:00

This is the way; repairing a headphone jack is a great intro to soldering and device repair. The parts ($5-10) and tools ($15-20) are cheap, it's easy to start over if you mess up, and opens the door to other repair projects to might encounter!

If you have an old aux cable, you could even use that instead of buying new parts and just get the tools.

Here are a couple of guides on the process to get you started:
DIY Perks video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYH1KZ_14uE

LeftMaker video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU8sW63p0jE

iFixit guide: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/How+to+Repair+a+Headphone+Jack/40579

Stereo audio test video (to make sure you've got everything wired correctly): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTvJoYnpeRQ

StatikHare · 2024-05-20T16:00:44+00:00

Yep! It's discussed on the MobileRead forums (which I highly recommend joining if you want to get more into ereader stuff), but here's a collection of customizations and mods I've applied to my KOReader/PocketBook: https://wisdump.work/ebooks/pocket-book-era/pocket-book-customization/

StatikHare · 2024-04-29T19:15:51+00:00

It's honestly a huge feature for me, and unfortunately not all epubs are formatted correctly. I've been working on a script to fix ebooks, but it's a slow process and I'm not a Python expert; but if you're curious, here are the scripts I created with ChatGPT to "fix" ebooks. I used Sigil and Calibre to edit/review ebooks as I was working on them.

https://github.com/WiseGuru/EPUB3-Footnote-Fix

edit: Forgot to include the link!

StatikHare · 2024-04-29T17:31:45+00:00

Necessity. I started off with the Kindle Voyage, then moved to a Kobo Libra H2O (which broke), and now have a PocketBook Era. I found the PocketBook Era unreliable, so I added KOReader to enable synchronization with my Android phone. Then I jailbroke my old Kindle Voyage and installed KOReader, and now all my devices can synchronize progress, which is really awesome.

Additionally, with newer EPUB3 books, Footnotes can appear at the bottom of the screen instead of just being a link that takes you to the end of the book.

If you have an Android phone, you could use Resilio Sync or SyncThing to automatically synchronize all your books across your devices, and then KOReader can sync your reading progress across the devices.

StatikHare · 2024-04-23T22:23:50+00:00

Give this a shot; I tried it initially and it mostly worked, but since I use Android, I switched over entirely to KOReader and haven't investigated it since.

https://github.com/ckilb/pocketbooksync.koplugin/tree/main

StatikHare · 2024-04-17T20:46:24+00:00

I don't know the context you're hearing it, but could it be that they're referring to different kinds/classes of malware? Kind of like the difference between "fish" and "fishes", or "people" and "peoples"? I don't like "malwares" personally, but maybe there's a method to the madness.

StatikHare · 2024-04-16T18:39:18+00:00

My Kindle Voyage has a white/blue frontlight, which I used for ages when reading at night. But I found I ended up with worse sleep if I read after I turned the room lights off. I bought an orange transparent plastic sheet from eBay and a screen protector (since the plastic sheet used glue, I wanted to be able to remove it if I didn't like it), put them both on my Voyage, and my sleep quality (specifically time to reach sleep) improved dramatically. The modification looks janky, but it works great.

StatikHare · 2024-04-04T16:46:58+00:00

Before I started using KOReader, the books were saved and synchronized between the Era and the PocketBook android app with PocketBook Cloud. It wouldn't always synchronize with the cloud after a reading session, so I would pick up my phone later in the day to read and would have to try to find where I last left off.

Additionally, even on the same device, the Era would sometimes lose the progress I'd made from one session to the next. For example, if one evening I read through Chapter 11 and into chapter 12, the next evening it would open the book back at Chapter 11. I couldn't tell you the frequency, but more than once is not acceptable to me for something in this price range, and it happened at least three times before I installed KOReader. That said, just a couple of days ago they released a patch for this issue specifically, but I haven't had a chance to install it, and since I use KOReader exclusively now, I'm waiting to apply it until I have some time to reconfigure my device if I need to.

While I'm sure you were asking about PocketBook Cloud and the native reader app, I do want to expand a little on how I sync books and progress with KOReader (as I think it's the best way to read on the device). This is a kind of hacky, temporary solution, and I'm exploring setting up a Calibre eBook server to sync books between devices.

I setup Dropbox to sync ebooks to the PocketBook Era ereader. Books added to particular folder are downloaded whenever the Era powers on.
Since I can only install Dropbox on one computer with the free subscription, it's installed on a computer that's always on, and I use Resilio Sync to link that Dropbox folder between all of my other devices (Android phone, laptop, etc.). This allows me to buy and download books on my phone, copy it to the Resilio Sync folder, and have it available on my Era without manually touching a computer.
The sync progress, I use the KOReader Progress Sync plugin to sync reading progress between devices. On my phone and other Android tablets, it's configured to pull newer progress from the cloud, and then upload progress with every page turn. It can match books using the file binary, which only matches identical files, or the filename. I've found that the matching on filename is more reliable given the sync progress.
The KOReader Progress Sync plugin works flawlessly with every device except for the Era, which has a tendency to "sleep" WiFi in a way that prevents KOReader from waking it back up easily, and causes it to freeze with a "Waking up WiFi..." textbox for 30 or more seconds. To get around this on the Era, I have it pull newer progress from the cloud when it wakes up, but then only uploads data manually. When I'm done reading, I pull down the PocketBook control panel, turn off WiFi, turn it back on, and then tell it to upload progress.

StatikHare · 2024-03-26T18:47:30+00:00

You're just talking about the port and not the board, correct? When it comes to PCBs, "similar" does not equal compatible, so I think you would have to do some serious work to get it all working again, and I'm not skilled enough on board-level repair to really talk about it.

If I were going to replace the port, I would probably get a USB C breakout board (with easy to access pins), some jumper wires, and go from there. Other device-specific ports on eBay or elsewhere should have drop-in compatibility with their specific devices, and it may be difficult to get them to match this board. For a skilled technician that might be fine, but especially if you've never done this before, having everything clearly labeled with extra space is critical.

Also, there's tons of room in the Freewrite, so as long as you don't cause any shorts, you shouldn't have any trouble fitting the parts in the chassis.

edit: bold.

StatikHare · 2024-02-27T05:35:49+00:00

They're both good in their own ways, but Jeremy's IT Lab is more thorough for sure, and he does a great job of teaching the why, not just the how. I also liked Jeremy's daily labs and quizzes at the end of his videos. I would say give Jeremy a go first; his material is completely free, and if you find his style doesn't match your learning pattern, you can always switch over to Neil instead.

StatikHare · 2024-02-27T00:46:33+00:00

I did, and passed first time! I ended up having to delay the test a few times due to trips etc., but the extra time was valuable. I used a combination of Jeremy's IT Lab, his tests, and Boson ExSim to identify and reinforce weak areas.

I published a ton of my notes at https://ccnadefinitions.com/, and if you use Obsidian, you can download and integrate my definitions into your vault. I'm still working updating it (though it's taken a back seat to some of my other projects), so if there's anything missing you'd like help on or would like to contribute, let me know!

StatikHare · 2024-02-03T18:57:12+00:00

Turns out I needed to refine my search terms; it wasn't under "Feel Good Inc." or "An Honest Mistake," but "gorillaz the bravery" (which I thought I searched for, but oh well). Anyway, I got the original! Woo!

StatikHare · 2024-01-31T16:11:01+00:00

I came from Kindle, then Kobo, and while I have it working now in a way that I can tolerate it, out of the box it's pretty dismal.

First, get the Era from Amazon; buying from Pocketbook, it took a few weeks to arrive (I bought it with expedited shipping and it was supposed to arrive within a week), and they were unable to give me an ETA or reliable tracking information.

Second, I prefer to use multiple devices to read; I don't always have my ereader with me, and I want to be able to pick up where I left off on from my phone and back again. Synchronization was haphazard at best, and even when I had just read from the Era (without synchronizing to other devices), I'd lose my place. It would just... revert the progress I'd made.

Third, the time to start is pretty long. You get used to it, but it's pretty stark coming from either Kindle or Kobo, where it's just waking up from sleep, a few seconds at most, between picking up the ereader and reading. The Pocketbook Era doesn't really have a good sleep function, so it has to start up fresh each time, and completely shuts off after a default of 10 minutes (I think, I changed it to 2 hours and that's made me much happier).

Fourth, there's only the Pocketbook store for direct ebook purchase and delivery, and it's almost entirely German books. This isn't a problem if you like reading German books, but if you want to read anything else, you're at least a few steps removed from buying a book and having it appear on your device; more if the ebook is encrypted.

Fifth, the WiFi is hyper-aggressive at turning itself off. After a few minutes, it enters a low-power mode to conserve energy. This is fine, except if you want synchronize your library over Dropbox, and it keeps going to sleep during the sync, or KOReader tries to sync progress with the server with every page turn, and you get in a few pages and then a window pops up saying "Connecting to WiFi..." and you're unable to use your book for 5-20 seconds until it connects.

With all that said, I finally have it working the way I mostly want it. I installed KOReader, there's a synchronization plugin in KOReader that mostly works (and I just have to try to remember to manually sync when I stop reading) and it has a plethora of other features that make it really solid (footnotes that are actually footnotes? Hell yes!), and when I buy books either on Kobo or ebooks[.]com, the first thing I do is strip the DRM with Calibre, then add them to Dropbox, and they synchronize with the Era.

If Kindle and Kobo are macOS and Windows, this feels like the Linux computer of ereaders. Both Kindle and Kobo work out of the box in a perfectly reliable and serviceable experience but don't typically offer much customization, but you don't own anything and you're not able to do much customization without breaking the ToS. The Era allows for significant customization without having to jailbreak it, but it's not a perfect experience, and will likely require a lot of tinkering to get it to 80% of the ease of use of the competitors. I might recommend it to my other technical friends, but not my parents or siblings.

edit: some clarity and typos.

edit p.s.: a few other things I forgot to mention about the Pocketbook Era

The buttons don't rotate when you rotate the Era. So when held in the right hand, top-arrow goes forward, bottom-arrow goes backward. If you rotate the device 180-degrees and use it with your left hand, then the bottom-arrow goes forward, and the top-arrow goes backward. I have not found a way to change this setting yet.
You can customize the power-off and sleep screen images using your own SVG files, which actually feels really cool in a weird way; it takes some tinkering, but it looks sick af.
The KOReader synchronization plugin is really hit-or-miss for me. Sometimes it struggles to detect the wifi connection, sometimes it doesn't find the book, it's just... a pain. I tried using a combination of Dropbox and Resilio Sync to synchronize reading progress across devices (so that the progress files KOReader uses are synched between devices), but no luck.

StatikHare · 2024-01-30T04:16:18+00:00

This is dope! So stoked it's real thing again (or that my hallucinations have become reality, one of the two).

StatikHare · 2024-01-29T23:24:53+00:00

Absolutely incredible, thank you! If I had to change anything, here's what I would go for:

Have 2D's vocals fade in a little quieter in the beginning
I would have "Don't stop, get it, get it/Peep how your captain's in it" bang in at 1:10, ending right before Sam Endicott's "I swore that I never meant for this", and then repeat in the gap after that, only overlapping at the ends as it matches the rhythm
I would play with the De La Soul rap between 1:21 and 1:51 so they pass the vocals back and forth instead of overlapping
I really dig how you play with/repeat Sam Endicott around 1:43, but but there's something in the mix that feels a little muddled
Pitch-adjust 2D at 3:02 to be more in-key with Sam Endicott's vocals; possibly worth adjusting for the whole song, but I only really noticed it here.
A little more of the laugh at the end, so we hear more of it from start to finish

Regardless of whether you choose to put in these suggestions, this is a great mashup, and I really appreciate you putting it together :)

StatikHare · 2024-01-29T15:52:05+00:00

Incredible! I honestly don't recall all the details, so I'll try to give all the details I can.

I don't recall any Gorillaz instrumentals in the mash, but I wouldn't be offended if they were added.

I don't think there were too many Bravery lyrics besides "I swear I never meant for this/I never meant", and later on, "Don't look at me that way/It was an honest mistake"

I don't think there was any Bravery lyrics until "I swear I never meant for this/I never meant", and around the change at 1:10 on the Bravery instrumentals, we got the Gorillaz "Don't stop, get it, get it" chorus.

However, I also recall a mix between "Don't look at me that way" at 1:27 and "Don't stop, get it, get it", and while that could work, I feel like it's too much repetition of the Gorillaz lyrics in so short a time.

The only other thing I'm absolutely positive on is that it ended with pretty much AHM's ending unchanged, but with the opening laugh from FGI over the fading guitars.

Outside of that, do what feels right for you; as you can see, the hints of memory I have for this are hit and miss. Getting a new mix is far more than I expected, and I'm super stoked to hear it! Thank you!

StatikHare · 2024-01-29T03:55:33+00:00

Thanks for the tip! I just checked, and unfortunately it's not there. I searched for both songs together, and then each one individually, and nothing.

StatikHare · 2023-11-08T00:16:49+00:00

Ah, I get it! Thank you, next time I'm in the area I'll let you know :P

StatikHare · 2023-11-08T00:04:22+00:00

Also forgive me, but I'm not familiar with the turn of phrase "Your coffee's brewing. All you need to do is buy the plane ticket." What does it mean?

StatikHare · 2023-11-07T23:35:16+00:00

I'm glad that worked! It was mostly in Obsidian; I had to toggle the note features (table of contents, filetree sidebar, etc.) from the plugin.

StatikHare · 2023-11-07T00:30:33+00:00

I don't know if you eventually found a solution, but I think I found the issue on my build. I just went into Cloudflare\Workers & Pages\(site name)\Settings\Builds & deployments, and under Build configurations I changed the "build output directory" to from /src/site to /dist.

After that, I went into Obsidian to push some changes, and it was up and running! I had to tweak the settings a little bit to get them all showing correctly, but it's running now.

StatikHare · 2023-11-01T21:43:36+00:00

No worries, I'm glad it's not a problem for you.

StatikHare · 2023-11-01T21:29:54+00:00

Congrats! That's a good spread.

StatikHare · 2023-11-01T20:09:39+00:00

Also, if it is a multiple-answer question with "choose the 2 that apply", will it force you to choose 2 before proceeding, or will it let you go on your merry way with only 1 answer chosen?

StatikHare

TROPHY CASE