Database Users

Wanted - help beta testing my browser game

Hello fellow XDAers!
I have ported a WinMobile game to Silverlight and I am really desperate for some beta testers – having been immersed in the project now for over 500 hours it's getting hard to see the wood for the trees.
If you're keen, the URL is www.squarepeggame.com
As an (attempt at an) incentive, I will reward useful beta testers with free copies of the game when it's released. Currently, things I would really like to know are:
- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
- Are you able to create an account, and is your level position saved when you re-start?
- The Level Designer (this'll be the first time anybody has used it, go easy on me) what do you think?
- Comments on useability and interface.
- General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)
- Anyone have access to an Intel-based Mac? Does it run on that?
There are separate forums on the game site to post any questions/bugs, I am of course happy to reply here in this thread too, providing it doesn't get too cluttered.
Thank you in advance!
Carlos
PS: I'll soon be on the look out for paid level designers as well, if this is something that interests you, just sign up in-game as a developer (see the website for more info)
PPS: You might need Silverlight 2, but it only takes 30secs to download & install the plugin

- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
Yes
- Are you able to create an account,
haven't tried (was not required
and is your level position saved when you re-start?
When I clicked the x i restarted, but when I clicked the x again the screen stayed white, nothing happened
- Comments on useability and interface.
I though the pregame pointers (in training mode) disapeared a bit too quickly
- General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)
see my 2nd comment

Mr_Gee said:
- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
Yes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there
Thanks very much for this, I'm nearly ready to release it - anybody else fancy giving it a go? http://www.squarepeggame.com
What would be very helpful would be if somebody wanted to use the level designer to make their own level for the game - doesn't have to be anything complex - and let me know how you get on?
C

I will try right now

hmm seems like ppc has a new level to achieve ... will try
quite heavy on my memory eats up a lot of ram; was nice to play it and as been said was able to play without using my email address

Frickin' level 7....AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! Now you have done it. I'll be at this for hours.http://forum.xda-developers.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Runs well on Firefox 3 with Silverlight 2 for me. It allowed me to create an account and login. Haven't tested saving yet. Will do in a moment. Likewise with the level designer. The only thing that could do with altering is that on my 1920 x 1200 monitor (24 inch) the game is as far to the left of the browser as it will go. Would be better in the middle.

Yes, it did save my level when I went back. Just had the signup email. Might be worth obscuring some of the password in it . And volume controls for SFX and music would be good rather than just on or off. Level 9 of the tutorial has a spelling error, Giong instead of Going.

- Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
It runs, I am using my bro's core2duo laptop with firefox 3.0.5
- Are you able to create an account, and is your level position saved when you re-start?
Yes, I used red_hanks also and it says I am logged in with that name. Still waiting for the game to start for 15minutes now, it says "please wait" with a square spinning around. It is not my internet connection because I have a high-speed broadband. Silverlight was installed also and system is up to date with Windows Update.
- The Level Designer (this'll be the first time anybody has used it, go easy on me) what do you think?
Looks clean, like in nurserys... (just the first page where it says START, INSTRUCTIONS...)
- Comments on useability and interface.
None at the moment
- General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)
It is not loading???
Oh it's loading now...Playing it...nice game...hit thr back arrow button and it went back to the first page...playing again...hit the x button and nothin happens..hit it again and everything just went white...

Hmmm... the level editor crashes Firefox for me as soon as I click in the email box. Also happens in IEtab and Internet Explorer 7. My machine is Vista Ultimate with a Core 2 Duo E6600 with 2gb RAM. I've also had it go to a blank screen in the menus but I see this is a listed bug on your forum.

character said:
eats up a lot of ram.. was nice to play it and as been said was able to play without using my email address
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll look into any ways of further minimising RAM usage, although could be a browser thing too. Lots of sounds and pics to cache too, but will definitely investigate.
ahuskins said:
Frickin' level 7....AAARRRGGGHHH!!!! Now you have done it. I'll be at this for hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Level 7, really??! The one on the tutorial is really easy, so maybe you're talking about the actual "first hundred" playlist? Hope you cracked it! Let me know if you can't get there and want me to developer-enable your account so that you can try out the level designer.
Prof. Yaffle said:
The only thing that could do with altering is that on my 1920 x 1200 monitor (24 inch) the game is as far to the left of the browser as it will go. Would be better in the middle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is an interesting comment - I will try to get it to centre in the browser rather than left-aligning. It's funny as I had just assumed that people would move or resize the window rather than maximising it! But I want it to be as helpful as possible to the user so you're right, it should align to the middle of large browser windows.
Prof. Yaffle said:
Yes, it did save my level when I went back. Just had the signup email. Might be worth obscuring some of the password in it . And volume controls for SFX and music would be good rather than just on or off. Level 9 of the tutorial has a spelling error, Giong instead of Going.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These are all excellent suggestions, thank you - and typo now fixed. (the joy of all the levels coming from a SQL server is that this was a relatively trivial thing to do - if you've ever tried deploying and staging an Azure server site you'll know how long it can take...)
The volume controls might not make it into the beta release but will definitely be added later.
red_hanks said:
Hit the x button and nothin happens..hit it again and everything just went white...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this, red_hanks. Can't replicate the error but could easily have been the webserver being down. Calls to WCF services from Silverlight are a little tricky and I think I need more error handling for when they don't work. I don't think you have tested the level designer by the way, just the game, in answer to your comment.
Thanks everyone! As I said before, if anyone fancies trying to design their own level using the level designer and wants to let me know the name, etc, I'd be interested to (1) play your level and (2) hear how you got on with the level designer!
There's forums over at www.squarepeggame.com too if you need help, tutorials still being made but some are there.
Carlos

Any idea what could cause the level editor to crash in IE7 and Firefox? I've tried Run As Administrator as well but still the same. As soon as I click any of the boxes (including the tickbox) it crashes.

Prof. Yaffle said:
Any idea what could cause the level editor to crash in IE7 and Firefox? I've tried Run As Administrator as well but still the same. As soon as I click any of the boxes (including the tickbox) it crashes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm okay it would certainly be good to get this solved!
When it crashes, does it just white-screen or is there an error message? Can you try (in Firefox), after it's crashed, going to Tools -> Error Console and seeing if there were any error messages?
C
PS: I'm assuming you're running Silverlight v2 and not some earlier beta or something. Perhaps you could try uninstalling and re-installing Silverlight for me as well, making sure of course that all browsers are closed during installation.

Great, but a few issues
It runs along fine with very few issues on my Sony Laptop (Model VGN-CR240E with Windows Vista/7 partitions, 2 gb RAM, 2 gigahertz Centrino Duo, and a 1280x800 LCD screen. I have not actually tried it on Vista, only on Windows 7 and it works wonderfully except when you enter a level and hit the "X" button in the top corner, which crashes IE8 Beta It doesn't crash under those circumstances on FireFox (Windows 7) though. However, these issues could also be attributed to the fact it is a beta OS running a beta Browser. The game seems more stable on FireFox. I will try it on Vista later, and see if that makes a difference using IE7. As for the UI, it's fine but if you added a way to go back to the main menu after you choose the green "Start" button, that would make it even better. Accounts work fine as far as I've used them. And I have not noticed any RAM issues with the game, according to Process Explorer. The game is amazing overall, and you'll have yourself a real winner when this is done. Good luck with the game
Dave

Does it load and run on your machine / browser?
It works fine on my HP laptop. I'm running Windows 7 Beta Build 7000 and using IE 8 Beta 2
Are you able to create an account, and is your level position saved when you re-start?
Yes. I created an account and the level position was saved
The Level Designer (this'll be the first time anybody has used it, go easy on me) what do you think?
I haven't been able to login to it.
Comments on useability and interface.
Nice UI. It's simple and intuitive
General bug reports (please be as specific as possible)
Problem logging into the level designer. It says I need to complete the tutorial though I've finished it.
How did it run on an Intel iMac?
Once I get to my newspaper class 2 days from now, I'll update my post.
Since I couldn't login to the dev portal, I'm just saying: I'm a Silverlight developer and I would be interested in designing levels/improving the code of the game.

Hello,
The game runs well on my Mac Book Pro with Firefox.
I was able to create an account with no issues.
UI is simple. Makes the games easy to learn.
Crashed to a white screen on level 9 of the tutorial after several moves. Was able to restart from the beginning. This was prior to creating a login. After creating a login and then finishing level 8 of the tutorial I got a pleas wait icon. It then crashed to a white screen after about 30 seconds.
Do you want us to post in the squarepeg forum instead of here?

carlosp_uk said:
Hmm okay it would certainly be good to get this solved!
When it crashes, does it just white-screen or is there an error message? Can you try (in Firefox), after it's crashed, going to Tools -> Error Console and seeing if there were any error messages?
C
PS: I'm assuming you're running Silverlight v2 and not some earlier beta or something. Perhaps you could try uninstalling and re-installing Silverlight for me as well, making sure of course that all browsers are closed during installation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When it crashes it actually kills Firefox and I get the Mozilla Crash Reporter asking if I wish to report details of what I was doing. I've tried several times looking in the Error Console and there's nothing other than a couple of dead RSS feeds. If I clear it still nothing at all related. I have V2 of Silverlight installed but have just tried rebooting, removing it, rebooting again, re-installing it and still the same.

Had to d/l silverlight- plays just fine
Created account and didnt have to log in as it remembered me and where I was
Nice game, looks good and is easy to use, though the levels get tough
No bugs that I have found
Using this on my HP 17" laptop running Windows XP
Thanks for this

Everything works perfectly using Silverlight 2 on an (intel) Macbook. The levels are tough, most definitely.

DaveTheTytnIIGuy said:
On Windows 7 and it works wonderfully except when you enter a level and hit the "X" button in the top corner, which crashes IE8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Dave, and also for your kind comments / feeback on the game - all noted. I have not been able to reproduce this bug (IE8 beta 1 or 2?) so I'm going to put it down as a win7/ie8 quirk for now, unless I get multiple reports. How did you get on with Vista?
ND4SPD said:
Problem logging into the level designer. It says I need to complete the tutorial though I've finished it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks this worries me as if the game is not correctly developer-enabling accounts at all times we're in trouble. Did anything happen when you completed the tutorial? Any sort of message at all? I cannot reproduce the error as when I complete the tutorial on my machine a message box appears telling me "Congratulations!..." and my account is upgraded to developer status.
ND4SPD said:
Since I couldn't login to the dev portal, I'm just saying: I'm a Silverlight developer and I would be interested in designing levels/improving the code of the game.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, that sounds very interesting, if we can't get this problem sorted quickly let me know and I can manually developer-enable your account so you can have a crack at the level designer. In the next phase of the launch, we (ie me) will be paying out cash for levels as well.
blazingwolf said:
Crashed to a white screen on level 9 of the tutorial after several moves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this - this sounds like an error in code rather than comms. Can you remember what moves you made in the level? If you're able to reproduce this error and then (in firefox) go to Tools -> Error Console, hopefully there will be an error message that could help me to fix this bug. The other error you mention is a known comms exception that I'll be looking at.
Prof. Yaffle said:
When it crashes it actually kills Firefox
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seriously? Whoa! And this happens when you click anything in the login screen of the level designer, right? (I'm assuming you got the logo and login textboxes appearing with no issues) Does the Mozilla crash reporter give you any additional info that you could send me about the crash?
Thanks so much for re-installing, by the way, sorry this didn't help. This doesn't sound like it's something that's going to be easy to diagnose, in fact I already have a headache just thinking about it. Possibly a silverlight bug, a browser bug, or both. Do you have javascript enabled in Firefox, by the way? And have you tried logging in with Internet Explorer, does that work?
blazingwolf said:
Do you want us to post in the squarepeg forum instead of here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know people, as we're now discussing multiple issues, and I don't want to abuse the charity of xda-developers for hosting this discussion, it might actually be better to gradually move things to the squarepeg forums. (http://forums.squarepeggame.com) I'll disable email account activation for a few days to make it quicker for you to set up accounts.
Of course if people would prefer to post here, that's understandable, I'll still gladly answer posts in this thread.
On a general note, thanks for all the testing so far (eg stanglifemike) - and I'm really pleased that the general impression of the game itself seems to be a good one... ...oh, and @elazullizard - thanks for the feedback... are the levels really that tough? Are you talking about "The First Hundred" or the tutorial?.. ..if it's the tutorial I'm now worried that I've made it too hard!
Carlos

[Q] How to install Google eBooks (Google Play Books)

I have read that it's possible to use google books on the NST (or NTG) but i can't find it in the market place. and every time i try and side load the apk i get INSTALL_FAILED_OLDER_SDK. I downloaded google play books 2.3.5 apk which is supposably built for 2.1. I thought the NST/NTG was on 2.1 (or is it 2.2?) so im curious why this doesn't work... anyone care to comment?
If i just have the wrong version please let me know the correct version to use.

You can try apktool-ing the apk and see what version it specs in AndroidManifest.xml.
You could modify the version and see if it crashes.
We're running Eclair, 2.1, API level 7 on the Nook Touch.

Any luck OP?
EDIT:
Tried this one: http://www.iapktop.com/google-play-books-2-4-3.html since it said compatible with 2.1, but I had no luck.
Then I tried this one: http://www.iapktop.com/google-books-1-4-5.html and it looks to be working! I saw my library in the window and I have it downloading one of my books now for reading to test.
EDIT2: AAaaaaand... works. Perfectly I might add. The only thing that doesn't work is the side buttons don't switch pages. I think because they are bound to PAGE_NEXT or something. Changing them to Right and Left arrow should do it.
EDIT3: Yep. A quick change to the keylayout lets me page with the right hand buttons. It does break the ability to page in the stock reading app though with those buttons. For now I'm leaving it with paging in Google books with right side buttons and paging in Nook with left side buttons. I'll probably go all in later.
What I did was edit /system/usr/keylayout/TWL4030_Keypad.kl and switch RIGHT_NEXTPAGE to DPAD_RIGHT and then switched RIGHT_PREVPAGE to DPAD_LEFT.
Hopefully that makes sense. If not I can probably make it easier for you by pulling the file itself, but I figure I'd try to "teach a man to fish."

Dynamic button remapping; getting rid of page-turn animation
(Interested lurker speaking. I don't have a NST, but a rooted Sony PRS-T1, which is similar, but running Android 2.2. Please take what I say with a grain of salt.)
The latest version of Google Play Books that does not require 3D hardware (for its carousel view and its page-turn animation) and that is available for older Android versions appears to be version 1.5.4.
I'm using that version on the PRS-T1, but was annoyed by its flickering slide animation when turning pages. If you're comfortable with the Android SDK and apktool, here's a hack I did to remove that animation:
mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187741
The problem of different Left/Right key bindings for different apps plagues the PRS-T1 as well. This led me to look for a solution to remap these buttons dynamically, depending on which app was currently running in the foreground. Here's my hack for the PRS-T1, which a semi-experienced developer could port over to the NST. I'd be happy to accept patches.
mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187054
github.com/altruizine/pgdn
(Sorry for not posting direct links – I'm not allowed to post links yet.)

altruizine said:
(Interested lurker speaking. I don't have a NST, but a rooted Sony PRS-T1, which is similar, but running Android 2.2. Please take what I say with a grain of salt.)
The latest version of Google Play Books that does not require 3D hardware (for its carousel view and it page-turn animation) and that it available for older Android versions appears to be version 1.5.4.
I'm using that version on the PRS-T1, but was annoyed by its flickering slide animation when turning pages. If you're comfortable with the Android SDK and apktool, here's a hack I did to remove that animation:
mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187741
The problem of different Left/Right key bindings for different apps plagues the PRS-T1 as well. This led me to look for a solution to remap these buttons dynamically, depending on which app was currently running in the foreground. Here's my hack for the PRS-T1, which a semi-experienced developer could port over to the NST. I'd be happy to accept patches.
mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=187054
github.com/altruizine/pgdn
(Sorry for not posting direct links – I'm not allowed to post links yet.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's awesome! I only just got this device last night so haven't got too far into hacking it, but I have plenty of other Android experience. I'll see if I can replicate.
Sent from my HTC One S using xda premium

So close!
ViViDboarder said:
Then I tried this one: .iapktop.com/google-books-1-4-5 and it looks to be working! I saw my library in the window and I have it downloading one of my books now for reading to test.
EDIT2: AAaaaaand... works. Perfectly I might add. The only thing that doesn't work is the side buttons don't switch pages. I think because they are bound to PAGE_NEXT or something. Changing them to Right and Left arrow should do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you so much for posting this!
I installed the1-4-5 apk without incident and all my books synced beautifully, including where I left off in them. I was pretty sure I was home free at this point but I've found that the actual content of the books never loads. I get the spinning loading icon off into infinity.
This is the way for all my books. Looks for all the world like it should work fine but just never loads the actual content.
I've tried a system reboot, scanning around between pages, fussing with text size/line spacing and same outcome.
I tried the 2-4-3 apk and got a parsing error when i tried to open the package.
This is so close I can taste it. Any ideas anyone?
Thank you
Update:
I found that if I toggled on "Original pages" in the book options the content would load. After I did that once I could switch back to "flowing text" and adjust as needed.
Update 2:
I still intermittently have issues with book content loading. Probably once per day the loading icon displays indefinitely. The flowing text/original pages workaround I listed before was likely a flook, I haven't been able to find a way to reliably get around this problem. It's terribly annoying.
Update 3:
I tried using the refresh option on the library view prior to loading my book this time and it popped up immediately afterward. I'll continue to experiment with this to see if it works consistently.
Update 4:
That's unreliable as well. There doesn't seem to be any good way to prompt my book to actually load the content of the book. Super annoying.

Version 1.0.16
jorgenric said:
Thank you so much for posting this!
I installed the1-4-5 apk without incident and all my books synced beautifully, including where I left off in them. I was pretty sure I was home free at this point but I've found that the actual content of the books never loads. I get the spinning loading icon off into infinity.
This is the way for all my books. Looks for all the world like it should work fine but just never loads the actual content.
I've tried a system reboot, scanning around between pages, fussing with text size/line spacing and same outcome.
I tried the 2-4-3 apk and got a parsing error when i tried to open the package.
This is so close I can taste it. Any ideas anyone?
Thank you
Update:
I found that if I toggled on "Original pages" in the book options the content would load. After I did that once I could switch back to "flowing text" and adjust as needed.
Update 2:
I still intermittently have issues with book content loading. Probably once per day the loading icon displays indefinitely. The flowing text/original pages workaround I listed before was likely a flook, I haven't been able to find a way to reliably get around this problem. It's terribly annoying.
Update 3:
I tried using the refresh option on the library view prior to loading my book this time and it popped up immediately afterward. I'll continue to experiment with this to see if it works consistently.
Update 4:
That's unreliable as well. There doesn't seem to be any good way to prompt my book to actually load the content of the book. Super annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is an older version that I found somewhere on the web. It is version 1.0.16...I installed it and it seems to work excellently so far. The bug where version 1.5.4 often never loads the book doesn't seem to be present. :cyclops:

finitary said:
Here is an older version that I found somewhere on the web. It is version 1.0.16...I installed it and it seems to work excellently so far. The bug where version 1.5.4 often never loads the book doesn't seem to be present. :cyclops:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I may have to give this a shot. I am frequently annoyed with this bug. Thankfully the books I'm reading actually fit perfectly on the screen when viewing the scanned versions.

Just wanted to bump and see if you're still getting good results with that version of Google Books. I haven't switched yet (started reading something on Kindle) but I'm about to start a new book on Google Play.

Seems to work!
finitary said:
Here is an older version that I found somewhere on the web. It is version 1.0.16...I installed it and it seems to work excellently so far. The bug where version 1.5.4 often never loads the book doesn't seem to be present. :cyclops:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just loaded up the 1.0.16 version and the book loaded right up where as 10 minutes ago it stubbornly refused. I'm not going to get my hopes up yet but I'll try and remember to give an update after some more use. Thanks for the post!

goodereader.com has version 1.5.2 for download. Worth a try.

Success!
jorgenric said:
I just loaded up the 1.0.16 version and the book loaded right up where as 10 minutes ago it stubbornly refused. I'm not going to get my hopes up yet but I'll try and remember to give an update after some more use. Thanks for the post!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to be working consistently with this version of reader.

jorgenric said:
Seems to be working consistently with this version of reader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! Thanks for the update.

Finally got around to rooting my Nook Touch, as I wanted to utilize the syncing feature of Google Play Books. They now let you upload your own epub files to your library, and I have been reading mainly on my phone or Nexus 7 as a result.
Unfortunately it looks like the 1.0.16 version does not support user uploaded books. All of my purchased books appear, but none of the many I uploaded. 1.5.2 and 1.5.4 both have the book not loading issue.
Anyone have any thoughts or other versions to try? Would love to get this working.

urinsane said:
Finally got around to rooting my Nook Touch, as I wanted to utilize the syncing feature of Google Play Books. They now let you upload your own epub files to your library, and I have been reading mainly on my phone or Nexus 7 as a result.
Unfortunately it looks like the 1.0.16 version does not support user uploaded books. All of my purchased books appear, but none of the many I uploaded. 1.5.2 and 1.5.4 both have the book not loading issue.
Anyone have any thoughts or other versions to try? Would love to get this working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the same boat. I can see my uploaded library in play but it's not loading the book. I think it has loaded the book but it's not ending the load part of the function. Just guessing.
Hope we can get this worked out.. This would help me tremendously being able to read on the N2T and sync across my computer and Nexus.
*update For some strange reason this started working for about a minute. Book I'm reading synced right to the exact page. Exited and went back in to see if it would still work and it went back to the looping circle page. It's so close I can taste it.
*update Managed to get 1.5.2 working but only in offline mode only. I've noticed the more pages the book has the slower it is to load, but it's loading none the less 9/10 times. Progress, so it is possible to get this working.

ForSquirel said:
I'm in the same boat. I can see my uploaded library in play but it's not loading the book. I think it has loaded the book but it's not ending the load part of the function. Just guessing.
Hope we can get this worked out.. This would help me tremendously being able to read on the N2T and sync across my computer and Nexus.
*update For some strange reason this started working for about a minute. Book I'm reading synced right to the exact page. Exited and went back in to see if it would still work and it went back to the looping circle page. It's so close I can taste it.
*update Managed to get 1.5.2 working but only in offline mode only. I've noticed the more pages the book has the slower it is to load, but it's loading none the less 9/10 times. Progress, so it is possible to get this working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not really sure what version I am using now but it loaded once on my NST. However, the next time I tried loading a book it took forever to load (and I eventually closed the app). It might have to do with memory... Who knows... The funny thing is that once it has loaded the book it works like a charm. Really fast (I would say as fast as the native app). The only thing that don't work are the hardware buttons but it was quite expectable.

enekomh said:
I'm not really sure what version I am using now but it loaded once on my NST. However, the next time I tried loading a book it took forever to load (and I eventually closed the app). It might have to do with memory... Who knows... The funny thing is that once it has loaded the book it works like a charm. Really fast (I would say as fast as the native app). The only thing that don't work are the hardware buttons but it was quite expectable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any updates? Looks promising....

Here's a link to an old version that worked for me (I later uninstalled it,finding better sources for books).

nmyshkin said:
Here's a link to an old version that worked for me (I later uninstalled it,finding better sources for books).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry meant the 1.5.2 or up version. I have uploaded books on Google Play that I hope to read.

I'm also searching for this solution. I have tried the older versions, but there doesn't seem to be a solution. Best I've got is installing an old Google Drive apk, and downloading from there. Box also works, but it's Drive for me.

[Q] Nook STG NookManager Overdrive apk

I successfully rooted my new Nook STG with NookManager. Thanks for developing such an easy root.
I was able to load apps from Amazon App Store. I was also able to install apks using my dropbox app on the nook as well as using Android Commander on my PC.
But my main purpose for rooting was to install the Overdrive app so that I can load books directly from our public/work libraries on the nook and read. I tried installing the apk from overdrive site but it doesnt work.
Does anyone have an APK that works with 1.2 and NookManager root? I also tried a version that said (2.4.2.2) of the apk that I found on another site but it doesnt work.
Also the aldiko apk (2.1.0) installed fine but crashes with the SD card in the nook. It opens fine when the SD card is not loaded in the nook. So am unable to load books as I cannot access the acsm file that I download from the library to load the ADE books.
Thanks.

That's the same reason I rooted. Its really silly that you can easily check out books on your smartphone and not your e-reader. Once you get it going on the Nook its great. I looked a little for an Overdrive that works but ended up with Aldiko version 2 instead. To get Aldiko working with an library once you've installed it:
Open Aldiko
Open the menu | Settings | Adobe DRM and enter your Adobe Id & password to authorize your Nook then exit Settings
Click on the shopping cart icon at the upper right
Open the menu | My catalogs.
Click on the + at the upper right and enter a name for your library and the Overdrive URL then click OK.
Now you can click on the library in My catalogs to go to the Overdrive site and check out books and they will open in Aldiko. I reassigned the search button on the quicknav to Aldiko with the Nook Touch Mods Manager that NookManager installs and now it works like every e-reader should out of the box.
UPDATE: Just noticed you had tried Aldiko before. My link is for an older version that works on the Nook just fine. I haven't had any reader app work with the browser downloading the .acsm then clicking on it. For some reason they don't get hooked up with the automatic open when you click on .acsm files. But with Aldiko you browse from inside the Aldiko app and it works fine. I believe this version of Aldiko will open without the SD card inserted but needs it inserted to download books.

Thanks for the detailed steps, will give that a try. By the overdrive url, you mean the library overdrive url?

realdeewana said:
Thanks for the detailed steps, will give that a try. By the overdrive url, you mean the library overdrive url?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. Like http://brevard.lib.overdrive.com for my local Brevard County library.

Cool. that worked just right. With dropsync everything else also seems to fall in place.
Wondering if its possible to use the side buttons to navigate a book within the aldiko app?

realdeewana said:
Wondering if its possible to use the side buttons to navigate a book within the aldiko app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a hack to the system key layout to remap the side buttons to volume control keys and Aldiko can use the volume controls to scroll. But the B&N reader doesn't use the volume control keys to scroll. So some people map two of the side keys to volume controls and leave the others as normal or don't use the B&N reader and use all four as volume controls. I really didn't like that idea so I spent the last week playing with Nook Touch Mod Manager / Nook Touch Patches and modifying them to be able to remap the side buttons to screen taps so they work with the B&N reader, Aldiko and just about any other reader you choose to install. Plus you can map long presses to open apps, bring up the menu, go back and any other NTMM action. I have a PM out to jeff_z the NTMM / NookTouchPatches developer (thanks a whole bunch for NTMM, NookTouchPatches and NookManager Jeff!) to see if he would like to merge my changes into NTMM. Keep an eye on the NTMM thread and one way or another I'll make the changes available in the next week or so.

Cool. That worked. Thanks
I used Android Commander.
First do a chmod 777 on the file in the shell,
then pull the file to c:
modify using notepad++ in admin mode
then a push on the nook with the modified file.
Reboot the Nook and voila! Works on the kindle app as well.

Overdrive and Nook Glowlight
Just in case you still wanted to put Overdrive on your rooted Nook Glow: I also successfully rooted with NookManager. (So simple! Thanks!) Found an older version of Overdrive 2.3.0.1 which works fine. Sorry I can't post the link, but go to freeware4android.net and search "android 2.1 overdrive media console". It should be about the fifth or sixth result down the list ending with "overdrive-media-console-download- 127505.html." I just downloaded the file to SD card in my nook, clicked open and it installed fine. Haven't tried Aldiko, but I like the one-click convenience of having Overdrive automatically open the .ascm library files.
Incidentally, when I registered my device, I also unchecked the "automatic updates" box in Overdrive settings, to prevent Overdrive from trying to update to a newer version that's not compatible with the device. Happy reading!

c1gum said:
Just in case you still wanted to put Overdrive on your rooted Nook Glow: I also successfully rooted with NookManager. (So simple! Thanks!) Found an older version of Overdrive 2.3.0.1 which works fine. Sorry I can't post the link, but go to freeware4android.net and search "android 2.1 overdrive media console". It should be about the fifth or sixth result down the list ending with "overdrive-media-console-download- 127505.html." I just downloaded the file to SD card in my nook, clicked open and it installed fine. Haven't tried Aldiko, but I like the one-click convenience of having Overdrive automatically open the .ascm library files.
Incidentally, when I registered my device, I also unchecked the "automatic updates" box in Overdrive settings, to prevent Overdrive from trying to update to a newer version that's not compatible with the device. Happy reading!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for posting. Aldiko will also automatically open the library files but I like the Overdrive app a lot better.

straygecko said:
Thanks for posting. Aldiko will also automatically open the library files but I like the Overdrive app a lot better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looks like you cannot use the stock reader to open Overdrive books that you have downloaded. Is that correct? I would think that the reader app itself should handle the copy protection (since you can side load books using the Adobe app on your computer) but it doesn't seem to work that way...
I haven't tried the Aldiko reader yet - I don't find the Overdrive reader itself to be very usable for reading...

spedinfargo said:
It looks like you cannot use the stock reader to open Overdrive books that you have downloaded. Is that correct? I would think that the reader app itself should handle the copy protection (since you can side load books using the Adobe app on your computer) but it doesn't seem to work that way...
I haven't tried the Aldiko reader yet - I don't find the Overdrive reader itself to be very usable for reading...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does seem to make sense if you've downloaded a book using Overdrive you should be able to open it with the built in reader. Never tried it though as I'm happy enough with the OD reader.

Hey does anybody still have that older version of the Overdrive apk lying around? That freeware4android site looks like it's infested with malware these days.

jptiger said:
Hey does anybody still have that older version of the Overdrive apk lying around? That freeware4android site looks like it's infested with malware these days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This one (attached) works for me on the NST.

Rooted Nook ST Glow and new Overdrive site
Not sure if this is the right thread to post this question: Has anyone else been unable to sign into their library from rooted nook ST after the library has updated to the new overdrive? Main reason I rooted my nook was so I could download library books directly. Now, I can see the main page fine and get to the sign in page, but after entering my information I get a generic error message. I have a nook simple touch with glowlight rooted with Nook Manager and using Opera mobile to get to library site. I'm thinking the new overdrive site just isn't compatible with android 2.1, but hoping someone out there has a solution.

c1gum said:
Not sure if this is the right thread to post this question: Has anyone else been unable to sign into their library from rooted nook ST after the library has updated to the new overdrive? Main reason I rooted my nook was so I could download library books directly. Now, I can see the main page fine and get to the sign in page, but after entering my information I get a generic error message. I have a nook simple touch with glowlight rooted with Nook Manager and using Opera mobile to get to library site. I'm thinking the new overdrive site just isn't compatible with android 2.1, but hoping someone out there has a solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried this and came away without success. I don't have an Overdrive login and so tried to use my library card number and got the error message you describe. But there's no problem with the display of my local portal using Opera Mobile, as far as I can tell--other than being painfully slow. I should add that I am using the old Overdrive app that seems to work best with the NST, not an updated version. Just out of curiosity I tried to start from the Opera itself and my library site. When I had selected a book I had to sign in, of course, and was met with the same error. This leads me to suspect a security certificate problem.
I also have a little non-registered KitKat phone which I use as a media player and it has the new Overdrive app on it so I tried again. This time everything went fine and I got my ebook. I couldn't see that book on my NST, not even sure if that's supposed to work but it seemed like the new version of the app was claiming it would if you set up your account properly so I set about doing that on the device. But when I tried to sign in with my library card number I got that same error!
So....maybe it's an issue right now with Overdrive--or the app--that will go away. It may also be that the security certificates needed to negotiate a book checkout have expired on the NST. I am using the updated certs. file discussed elsewhere on the forum, but it may not include whatever is needed for Overdrive. I know the app worked the last time I tried it, but don't recall when that was.
In general, I do not find it helpful to allow apps on the NST/G to autoupdate from the Market. I have turned off autoupdate on all of them. The chances are great that "improvements" will break functionality or severely hobble performance. Of course, log-in issues are complicated. I guess a logcat might reveal something but since the app interacts with the browser and the actual checkout of the book is done via the browser, I'm not sure what you'd learn.

Thanks for looking into this. Yes, I also have the older version of Overdrive on my nook st, and am using my library card sign in. The Overdrive app takes me to Opera mobile, and the library home page shows up no problem. It's the sign in page where I enter my library card number that has the problem. I tried signing in to a different library that has not updated their website yet, and no problem - was able to sign in and download a book and open it on the nook as usual. Security certs seems like a good point, or is it possible the older version of opera mobile might not be compatible with the new overdrive website? Since opera mobile displays the library home page just fine, maybe the sign in problem is something that will resolve itself later. Here's hoping!

c1gum said:
Thanks for looking into this. Yes, I also have the older version of Overdrive on my nook st, and am using my library card sign in. The Overdrive app takes me to Opera mobile, and the library home page shows up no problem. It's the sign in page where I enter my library card number that has the problem. I tried signing in to a different library that has not updated their website yet, and no problem - was able to sign in and download a book and open it on the nook as usual. Security certs seems like a good point, or is it possible the older version of opera mobile might not be compatible with the new overdrive website? Since opera mobile displays the library home page just fine, maybe the sign in problem is something that will resolve itself later. Here's hoping!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So here's what I've tried so far:
1. Installed a more modern browser, Opera Mini. It's the last version that "works" on the NST (7.6.40234). I don't use it because there is no multi-touch zoom and it often has issues loading new pages in the same screen. Anyway, it gives exactly the same error for a log-in attempt, starting from the Overdrive app and proceeding as you describe. So it's less likely a old browser issue.
2. I asked member @tshoulihane to take a look at the possibility of a security certificate issue here (and his response follows that post). I do think it's odd that neither browser is throwing up a security error. I could track down a few more browsers, but I'm reluctant to put a bunch more junk on my NST.
3. I checked out a book on my PC and downloaded the acsm file. Then I transferred that to my NST and accessed the file through a file manager. The Overdrive app opened immediately and the download commenced without any problem. The book was readable. I don't know what the app does if you're working through it and the resident browser, but I didn't see any obvious place to put the acsm file and it didn't seem to matter. Once the book is downloaded you don't need the acsm file any more.
So...the app "works", or can work, given the requisite tools.
I've got a support ticket open with Overdrive regarding this issue. The initial response is not promising ("clear the browser cache, blah-blah-blah..."). I'm going to take a few screen shots and write a very basic reply to go with them, including most of what I've described here, but I'm not holding out much hope from that quarter.
Edit: after I sent the email to Overdrive I thought about another experiment that might be illuminating. I installed both Opera Mobile and Opera Mini (the versions for the NST) on my little KitKat "phone". They seemed to work OK accessing my local library, but Mobile crashed and closed once the Overdrive "sign in" icon was touched, and Mini gave the same error we are discussing. Hmm. I also tried accessing Overdrive from the browsers on my Nook Tablet (Dolphin and the native CM 12 browser) and the native KitKat browser on my "phone". Those worked just fine. So it's looking like some new requirement in the Overdrive web update may have left our NST browsers in the dust.
I tracked down a Dolphin 10.x browser which is the last of the series that sort of runs on the NST. Surprise, surprise! It threw up all kinds of security certificate messages as soon as I got to the Overdrive section, didn't even have to try to log in. I'll pass this along to @tshoulihane.

So I have 2 nooks, one with updated certificates, one with the original setup still. Both are happy with digicert (the old nook still has a couple f non-expired root certificates). I have UC browser installed - With that, https://overdrive.com shows a 'broken padlock' on the old nook, but no explicit warnings. If i try to sign-in from that page, I get a 'certificate expired'. However, I think the site is using google to provide login management (maybe only as an option), and it is the https://google.com certificate which is failing. So i an explain the old nook failing, but not the one with updated certificates (so long as you're using the 2nd certificates file which I uploaded).

tshoulihane said:
So I have 2 nooks, one with updated certificates, one with the original setup still. Both are happy with digicert (the old nook still has a couple f non-expired root certificates). I have UC browser installed - With that, https://overdrive.com shows a 'broken padlock' on the old nook, but no explicit warnings. If i try to sign-in from that page, I get a 'certificate expired'. However, I think the site is using google to provide login management (maybe only as an option), and it is the https://google.com certificate which is failing. So i an explain the old nook failing, but not the one with updated certificates (so long as you're using the 2nd certificates file which I uploaded).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for taking a look at this. Yes, I am using the second file (the "more complete"), and everything else from Kindle to Google Books is fine. If @c1gum hadn't brought up the Overdrive issue I would not have noticed it for awhile. So...a puzzle.
I guess I'll wait to see what the support tech at Overdrive has to say, although he doesn't yet have the information about the certificate panic with Dolphin. More likely than not it will be the standard line about updating the devices/apps/OS. I guess I'd better get screen caps of those certificate error details.

A workaround for now
OK, so this discussion has taken place in two different threads. Time to bring it back where it belongs so people can find the info.
Thanks to member @cjpicc, we now know that the UC Browser Mini 10.6.8 (copy attached below) can negotiate the Overdrive login at your local library branch and allow you to check out and download books all on your NST/G.
So far, no other common browsers used successfully on the NST/G for general purposes seem to be able to deal with the revamped Overdrive sites.
You can, of course, check out and download books on a PC, transfer the acsm file to your NST/G and access it with a file manager. That will open Overdrive and --if you're connected to Wi-Fi--download the full book to your device.
Edit: OK, not the best experience with UC browser. You can sign in, but the search bar does not show up so you have to go to the main library catalog and search there. At least that was my experience with the two libraries I tried.

Can Glowlight 3 ROM be modified to work on original NST?

I've been thinking about how all these new apps are out now that would work great on my old NST if only it ran a more recent version of Android. I saw on the old l337 thread that the NST is confirmed to be able to run more adavanced versions, but that we'd have to pull the files from a phone or other, much more powerful device, rendering the resulting ROM pretty much unusable.
Until, that is, the Nook Glowlight Plus and 3 came along. The NG+ and NG3 run Android 4.4.2. 4.4 Android could mean being able to run apps like Overdrive and Libby, without workarounds. And that would be pretty sweet.
Now these are two different devices. I'm having a hard time finding data on the difference between the guts beyond the fact that the newer models have a higher DPI screen. I'd guess they have similar amount of processing speed to preserve battery life, though maybe more RAM.
I did a little googling, and I found this CM11 Mod but it looks like it it fizzled out after getting pretty close.
Do we think this can be done?

Was wondering about this the other day. There are an awful lot of NSTs floating around ebay for US$15 now. It would be fun to be able to breathe a little life into them, if only to use them for displays of calendars, to-do lists, or anything else you can do with more modern android apps

jptiger said:
There are an awful lot of NSTs floating around ebay for US$15 now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The NST, NSTG and the first Glowlight used TI OMAP3621 processors.
The Glow2, 3, 4 use Freescale (now NXP) iMX6SL processors.
That's quite a difference.
I don't think that anything would be compatible.

jptiger said:
Was wondering about this the other day. There are an awful lot of NSTs floating around ebay for US$15 now. It would be fun to be able to breathe a little life into them, if only to use them for displays of calendars, to-do lists, or anything else you can do with more modern android apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, I'm going to promise not to look at ebay!!! Three devices are enough, even at that price. But it's very tempting. Too bad the NSTGs are rare as hens teeth and always high priced. Then there is a screen artifact issue. The one I finally got has three, but it's not too bad, I guess.
Other than watching movies or live TV (both of which, admittedly, are actually possible with the NST if you can stand it), it seems to me these devices are still wonderfully versatile. With a minimal installation of GApps you can have all the calendar displays you want, to-do-lists, etc. For some of these applications, there are still apps that work fine. For other uses (you dream it up) it's amazing what can be done with Tasker to create an app that looks like "the real thing". And while the learning curve for Tasker is a little steep, baby steps and lots of online help and examples are available.
The one clear drawback is almost anything that requires a login. The fact that Overdrive has not yet been hacked to address this issue is probably due to a lack of interest from a person with the proper expertise (not me). But really, selecting a library book on Opera Mobile from your local library? I'd sooner slit my wrists. Books can still be downloaded to a PC and then transferred to the NST via Adobe's software (or you can get around the whole DRM issue if you wish). And, you can get mobi format books from most libraries now and they will still magically appear in your Kindle app
That said, having flashed a Nook Tablet with CM 11 (KitKat), I can attest that there are still issues with that less-old Android version. For example, you can't view XDA properly in any browser. You have to go back to an earlier skin which has tiny print and is most annoying. In fact you can't get to some sites at all with any browser. And the OS returns SSL errors for some operations with other apps. So KitKat is no panacea. Even so, I like my Nook Tablet running CM 11. It's an 8 GB version and so has limited RAM and storage. Therefore I have scaled down my usual apps to some essentials and things it is really good at. In fact, it has fewer apps on it than my NST!
Every one of those NSTs on ebay is a treasure. But I'm not going to look!!!!

Renate NST said:
I don't think that anything would be compatible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant as fas as kernel, various hardware libraries.

nmyshkin said:
Other than watching movies or live TV (both of which, admittedly, are actually possible with the NST if you can stand it), it seems to me these devices are still wonderfully versatile. With a minimal installation of GApps you can have all the calendar displays you want, to-do-lists, etc. For some of these applications, there are still apps that work fine. For other uses (you dream it up) it's amazing what can be done with Tasker to create an app that looks like "the real thing". And while the learning curve for Tasker is a little steep, baby steps and lots of online help and examples are available.
The one clear drawback is almost anything that requires a login. The fact that Overdrive has not yet been hacked to address this issue is probably due to a lack of interest from a person with the proper expertise (not me).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the thorough response! I didn't realize you could do so much! I was envisioning having three mounted on walls in various places in my apartment, one with an interactive Google calendar, one with my to-do list from Any.do, and one with a local transit app that shows if there are delays on specific trains etc. (though I guess that one might wait until we're all using public transit again...) I've never used Tasker before, do you have any suggestions of resources or guides on getting it to replicate any functionality like this on an NST?
nmyshkin said:
Every one of those NSTs on ebay is a treasure. But I'm not going to look!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck! Save your money and vicariously help me do stuff with them?

jptiger said:
Thanks for the thorough response! I didn't realize you could do so much! I was envisioning having three mounted on walls in various places in my apartment, one with an interactive Google calendar, one with my to-do list from Any.do, and one with a local transit app that shows if there are delays on specific trains etc. (though I guess that one might wait until we're all using public transit again...) I've never used Tasker before, do you have any suggestions of resources or guides on getting it to replicate any functionality like this on an NST?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is only one version of Tasker that will run on the NST/G (check your PM). It is designed to run in the background and execute tasks from shortcuts on the home screen or automatically start a series of tasks based on some trigger (time of day, opening a specific app, connection to WiFi, etc.). I originally used it to automatically start WiFi for apps that needed it. This is definitely a "baby step" idea. I don't use Tasker as a background service any longer. There is a companion app called AppFactory which takes your Tasker routines and converts them into stand-alone apps that anyone can run (with the caveat that either GApps must be installed or else two small Maps library files would need to be copied onto the device--actually this is a dependency for Tasker itself also). You can see many examples of "apps" I have created in this fashion in the last section of this forum. You design your own GUI to fit the NST/G screen. Tasks can vary from a simple activity call to website data scraping and massaging (definitely advanced) and more.
AppFactory will not run on the NST/G. It requires Android 2.2. I have a KitKat device which will run both the ancient version of Tasker and also AppFactory, so after I finish designing and testing the routines on the NST I move all the files over to the KitKat device and compile with AppFactory. The resulting app can be installed on the NST and behaves just like any other app (and does not require the presence of Tasker to run).
A lot of patience is required to get things right, especially if you want a full-screen GUI since Tasker seems to hate screen edges and when you edit a screen containing a near-full-screen image it tends to resize it a little smaller, throwing off other elements. Fixing this requires hand-editing the coordinates in the xml files which describe the scene elements. Also, because the file structure on the NST is not the same as on a KitKat device, references to images have to be edited by hand before (or after) moving files to the second device to compile. For example, "/media/" might need to be changed to "/storage/external_SD/Pictures/" or similar. Also, the touch screen on the NST is not always as responsive as we might like.
Finally, there is one one last fly in the ointment, so to speak. Tasker will not install on FW 1.2.2 for some reason unless it is resigned. When it is resigned, it ceases to interact properly with plugin apps (things like RotationLocker, or Minimalistic Text, as examples). The compiled apps will work properly, but testing on the NST is problematic if you are referencing plugins. On FW 1.2.1 everything works properly. Since I have three devices (gulp) I kept one on FW 1.2.1 to help me with this issue.
There is a Tasker Wiki with many examples, but just Googling will yield all kinds of things. There is a guy (Hollywood Frodo) who created all kinds of videos from the basic to the exotic and I found some of those very helpful. Finally, there is a Tasker Google group where--to judge by my personal experience--no question is too stupid!

Turn your old NST into an electric sign

While looking for something completely different, I stumbled across this and thought some people might find it interesting:
Turn an old eReader into an Information Screen (Nook STR) – Terence Eden’s Blog
shkspr.mobi

I wouldn't fixed NST to a wall and think that I have read here about app used here to do that job. Either someone is gonna fix TLS issue or maybe if we assume using NST as display it could be possible to use home Wi-Fi router or mobile phone as secure server or part of VPN that will negotiate TLS issue for NST. I always doubted slightly that NST can offer full internet browser experience but something in line of htttp web grab in reader mode might be good enough for some application. News (RSS), weather and I believe that maybe EPG TV guide are not impossible to accomplish. Only question about this remains will NST embedded HTML browser will be good for the job of showing the grab from web pages or is Opera in reader mode better for such job. Time to look up for a good web grabber...

SJT75 said:
I wouldn't fixed NST to a wall and think that I have read here about app used here to do that job. Either someone is gonna fix TLS issue or maybe if we assume using NST as display it could be possible to use home Wi-Fi router or mobile phone as secure server or part of VPN that will negotiate TLS issue for NST. I always doubted slightly that NST can offer full internet browser experience but something in line of htttp web grab in reader mode might be good enough for some application. News (RSS), weather and I believe that maybe EPG TV guide are not impossible to accomplish. Only question about this remains will NST embedded HTML browser will be good for the job of showing the grab from web pages or is Opera in reader mode better for such job. Time to look up for a good web grabber...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Curl can often bypass SSL checks and grab web content. It runs on the NST. I've used it in a few of my apps. Whether the data it gets can be used by the app the blogger mentions is something else.

@nmyshkin that is nice idea! And seems exactly in line of what I wrote. I do not know is curl accessible from Android layer. I pondered the same thought more in line of trying to use port of Lynx to Android I have seen someone did although who knows is that possible to do on this version of Android?

I've written a status app (that I never use).
It polls two different servers for JSON info and displays it using regular Android graphics stuff.
It uses Retrofit for polling.

And one more! (although this one uses a Sony PRS-T1)
Reusing my ebook reader – Fluffyelephant

Hmm, you got me thinking about this stuff.
There's the whole let the Nook poll some data service and display it on a web browser sort of thing.
I don't really need or want that.
I was thinking more of like as a status output device for a headless Raspberry Pi.
No, not as a terminal, more like status for a solar/home/whatever system.
The Nook doesn't poll anything, it just sits there waiting for text or graphics.
But here's the part I like, you don't use any WiFi.
You just plug your Nook into the Raspberry Pi.
Of course it has adb.
You can get adb for Raspberry Pi: sudo apt-get install android-tools-adb
Now you can set up port forwarding:
Code:
[email protected]:~ $ adb forward tcp:6666 tcp:6666
Then all you need is something on the RPi to connect to port 6666 and spit out stuff.
On the Nook you need an app to serve port 6666 and do display stuff.
I've already made a clock as proof of concept and it works fine.
You could just use text fields or compose a whole graphic frame on the RPi and send that over.
Heck, if you send whole frames you wouldn't even need to run the Android subsytem.
I could probably get that working on a Kobo.
A very sophisticated example follows.
It allows you to individually update separate fields.
These could be in tables with borders or labels or whatever.
Edit: Okay, a better screenshot.
You know, the thing I like about this is that the NST is the server.
It's a bit like running X11, but much more lightweight.
And if you want you can still run this over WiFi instead of ADB forwarding.

This electric sign app is really close to something I'm looking for. What I'd like to do is, instead of a screenshot of a URI, to take a screenshot of what I've got open in the device.
I'd like to use this with Google Calendar, and Opera Mini surprisingly seems to work with the HTML version. I think Opera Mini keeps the calendar updating with AJAX or something, so all I'd need an app like this to do would be to, when it's running, take a screenshot of what's on the screen right before sleeping and set that as wallpaper, then wake every X minutes, screencap what's there and go back to sleep with that as the new wallpaper. The end result should be an always-on, low power Google Calendar.
EDIT: For anyone looking later, I was wrong. Opera Mini does not keep updating Google Calendar, you have to refresh it manually, which makes this slightly more complicated...

jptiger said:
This electric sign app is really close to something I'm looking for. What I'd like to do is, instead of a screenshot of a URI, to take a screenshot of what I've got open in the device.
I'd like to use this with Google Calendar, and Opera Mini surprisingly seems to work with the HTML version. I think Opera Mini keeps the calendar updating with AJAX or something, so all I'd need an app like this to do would be to, when it's running, take a screenshot of what's on the screen right before sleeping and set that as wallpaper, then wake every X minutes, screencap what's there and go back to sleep with that as the new wallpaper. The end result should be an always-on, low power Google Calendar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Somewhere on the site there is a discussion of a setup that copies the current screen into a screensaver folder so that, for example, a map remains visible when the device sleeps. Search for it.
Edit: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/q-fridge-calendar.3057759/#post-59527882
Edit: https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...uestion-o-noob-friendly.2941262/post-57216860

Eh, I'm not fond of browser-based anything,
For plain HTML stuff you could throw something together with Webkit instead.
For the adventurous you could use the Google Calendar API

Renate said:
Eh, I'm not fond of browser-based anything,
For plain HTML stuff you could throw something together with Webkit instead.
For the adventurous you could use the Google Calendar API
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I tend to agree with you. As I already wrote above something akin to Pocket/ReadItLater and similar might be accomplished using simple web grab I presume and offline HTML browser. I have thought that it looks odd that beside "hidden" (and sadly for us practically unusable) browser NST have another HTML viewer. Reason for that might be it was intended to be used for B&N "browsing" through their shop that they periodically download to NST or maybe for presentation of e-book material of older type that was for all intents and purposes just web archived HTML page or perhaps for viewing magazines purchased through B&N.
In essence even epub use elements of CSS/HTML but that is another story. Maybe it could be possible to make some poor man Pocket like offline browser if we somehow find the way to cobble together parts of some RSS, bookmarks syncing, e-mail listing, forum/blog viewer and approach that me or nmyshkin proposed here. In my opinion hardest part if some web grab is possible would be to render it in usable form for this device. That mean turning of ads, flash/video, loading pictures only on demand (or better in on/off way) and show only text information. Now what "browser" is suitable for this is yet to determine. I know that very old Opera could turn off animation an pictures but as I remember it did that in such way that it didn't download them at all to save bandwidth. Maybe it could be somehow set to load web archives in such manner? Think about it as giving an command that some web page be "printed as epub". It might be to large task to accomplish. Pocket worked if I remember right in such way that selected page was sent to dedicated server which did the trimming part for user and allowing him/her to download that content on other device to be read later on. Here I think that if we could sync for example one of bookmark folders from a computer with NST and achieve web grab of those links in usable form we might have something. It is a matter for the debate isn't Opera mobile and style management already wrote on here in forum same or even better. Problem would be that page reformat/rendering would be tasked to NST itself and I am not sure if it is up to the task or am I capable to cobble such thing alone for that matter. Something flashed in my mind didn't Calibre had some news reader? If it does then I am inventing the wheel here. Still it would be nice to be able to have some even limited ability to open a link to a news story from RSS feed or a forum/blog we follow or e-mail listing etc.
For Calendar I hope that some kind of dedicated app combining Calendar, planner and to do list can be found to already exist for this device.

Did anyone inspected this option? https://greycoder.com/a-list-of-text-only-new-sites/ It might be interesting

SJT75 said:
Did anyone inspected this option? https://greycoder.com/a-list-of-text-only-new-sites/ It might be interesting
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Thanks for these! The ersatz Google News is amazing in that even the external links are text-only! It makes my Google News app obsolete! Great with Opera Mini. Many, many things to look at there

nmyshkin said:
Thanks for these! The ersatz Google News is amazing in that even the external links are text-only! It makes my Google News app obsolete! Great with Opera Mini. Many, many things to look at there
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I am glad that I have contributed with something useful. As have already guessed from mine posts in this thread I have contemplated heavily about what could be more useful for NST some text-only browser akin to old trusty Lynx or some rewrite/redefinition of working Opera. One thing lead to another and at first I thought to maybe open and disclosed source for firefox readability extension/addon ported for working version of Opera somehow is a way to go but as I always check all aspects of mine quirky ideas I stumbled upon this. It is poor man solution but as I remembered that you follow NPR and they have text mode only site felt obliged to mention it here.

In line with nmyshkin's idea of using curl if some information display akin to the one linked in the first post is needed does something like cron from Linux can be run on NST?

"Print as epub" exist as web form. Here is the result of that one. https://dotepub.com/ I tried to use online form there and results were mediocre but as I understand they also offer their API to developers etc. That I presume might draw attention from someone on xda.

In defense of the intended idea for using NST as info screen arguably touch technology it uses is best for those screens. Mine guess is that its deemed as such because it is most easily scalable from the currently available techniques. This also raise the question why B&N did not already made readers of much larger format like A4 paper size screen. Is the display cost really that high and prohibitive? On the other news rumors have spread that they have partnered with Lenovo not only for the new generation of tablets but also for new e-readers. Has anyone find some leek about possible specifications?

SJT75 said:
... rumors have spread ...
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Say, what? After my buying a Poke3?
Edit: See https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/no...ovo-barnes-noble/1139012795?ean=9780594080503
1200 x 800 for a 10" = 144 DPI, not drop dead impressive.

I agree. Cheap bastards! I can't say is that 149DPI good for LCD screen but is sub par for e-reader. They obviously targeted minimum resolution comparable to low resolution printing and hope to get away with it. Considered that I expressed criticism to level of development of current color e-ink technology being bellow resolution of NST by about 60% you can bet I find this to little question is does it comes to late for B&N. Still I am more interested about e-ink display device that rumor say is also planned but nothing is revealed so far.
Renate said:
Say, what? After my buying a Poke3?
Edit: See https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/no...ovo-barnes-noble/1139012795?ean=9780594080503
1200 x 800 for a 10" = 144 DPI, not drop dead impressive
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Nothing to report that is mine work now still in the spirit of this thread I want to post few links with things people did with e-ink screens that might be done with NST also.
1. Raspberry Pi powered news scrapper - something Renate might like as she as I understood work on something similar
https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/ksgomp
2. Weather display that I believe was made using software already mentioned somewhere on forum
https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/lcyos9
3. Something completely different! Device made as platform to enable development many things e-ink made. Link shows RSS implementation.
4. In the old days when e-readers were unobtainable on my location I was in desperation contemplating the idea to convert available photo frames to a e-reader. This is as you guess the other way around.
https://www.reddit.com/r/raspberry_pi/comments/liadda
5. Someone developed site for games for e-ink screen as I understood browser only
https://e-ink.club/index.php There is in my opinion plenty of room for some sort of games on e-ink and this is not comprehensive list but it is nice someone started a dedicated page/project for that.