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ReMarkable tablet open source tools and hacks

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Re: ReMarkable tablet open source tools and hacks

#72

Post by Multicomp »

dheera wrote: post #49
jason_slack wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ReMarkable is sort of astonishingly expensive, I have been contemplating buying a ReMarkable 2 as I prefer to handwrite everything/annotate/. The price tag is a bit hefty given the cost of an iPad and pencil and the zillion other things it does. I'm curious if you are indeed going to buy one?

I ended up going with a Boox tablet, mainly because it can run arbitrary Android apps. This means that among other things, installing the Kindle app turns it into a Kindle, and I can also install Dropbox, Google Drive, and Slack on it to transfer PDF sheet music and papers, among other things.

i bought a likebook mars for this same app reason. has an sd card and can run syncthing too so i can read pdfs without fuss

Re: ReMarkable tablet open source tools and hacks

#73

Post by jron »

I'd love it if the reMarkable team focused more on eReader functionality. Unfortunately nothing has really been pushed since the initial release of the first reMarkable. Less than 7GB usable storage hurts as well.

I'm hoping KoReader can salvage what the reMarkable team has ignored.

Re: ReMarkable tablet open source tools and hacks

#74

Post by minimalist »

zmk_ wrote: post #57
calebkaiser wrote: post #46

I wish so badly that color e-ink was further along. I'd love a tablet that could replace my notebooks, but for some reason, needing a second screen to read my textbooks (color is nonnegotiable for diagram-heavy some textbooks, in my experience) makes me reticent. The ReMarkable 2 looks fantastic, and I love the idea of a distraction-free, dedicated writing/reading tablet, but $450 feels just a touch too far for a dev…

Boox Note Air is similar price and you can comfortably read PDFs on it. Onyx's PDF reader is very good.

Please do not support Onyx or buy any Boox tablets! I'm reproducing an earlier comment[0] below:

They're a lousy company that does not respect the GPL and ships intentionally insecure software (ancient linux kernel with SELinux disabled for starters) that phones home to Chinese servers. The bootloader is locked, so putting pmOS is out of the question and their update files are intentionally obfuscated.

I explain it all in this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21041543

This received some attention in the re--it community last month--the company still does not care [1]. It's a tragedy because their hardware is good, otherwise and they can compete on that.

In other news, I am now a happy owner of a ReMarkable 2 and the first day I was able to SSH in, set up rsync on my local network and customize the hosts file to disable their cloud services. We should not tolerate the inability to run software on computers that we own, especially for devices that are as trusted as notebooks and personal computers, which this tablet is.

I'm not sure if I should sell my Boox Note or relegate it to use as signage. The only problem is that if the battery dies, it refreshes the display to a "battery depleted" screen, instead of leaving up the last image. But you can't customize that because the bootloader is locked.

Edit: Another note about Onyx. At least my Note does not support proper C2C charging. In other words, you can't charge from a Type-C charger, you have to use a type-A charger. My rM2 works just fine with all of my C2C chargers.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24237328

[1]: https://old.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/hl09g7/onyx_boox_chi...

Re: ReMarkable tablet open source tools and hacks

#75

Post by _underfl0w_ »

diggan wrote: post #36
a1011 wrote: post #32

I've thought about getting one of these. Even though I type about as fast as I write, I think better when I write in a notebook with drawings to organize my ideas. Can anyone who has one tell me how accurate the handwriting recognition is? And how responsive is the pen-tablet interface? Does it actually feel like writing on paper (responsiveness-wise)?

I have very bad handwriting, especially when not taking care to write carefully, which when making notes, I don't. Here is an example on how it parses my terrible handwriting: https://websites.instantwebsite.app/wPhkwSStQvStUrzPC9jW5Kw/... (no, I'm not a doctor) According to the licenses on the device, the handwriting is "partially powered by MyScript" which seems to be this service: https://www.myscript.com/

Oh wow! I'm in a similar boat - type a million MPH but have to take care to avoid scribbling chickenscratch when I write. I preordered the rM2 (not yet shipped) but was pretty worried about how it would fare against the formidable foe of my illegible hieroglyphs. This side-by-side has given me hope. Thank you for sharing!

Re: ReMarkable tablet open source tools and hacks

#76

Post by lovelyviking »

runeks wrote: post #15

Does anyone know if it's possible to use a ReMarkable tablet as an external laptop monitor? In the summer I like to sit outside coding, but the sunlight outshines my laptops LCD display. So I'd like to use an eInk display as an external monitor. And I gather ReMarkable is the best bet because of their hackability.

Among other VNC clients I've checked the only one that realy worked for me and I've managed to compile was this one:

https://github.com/matteodelabre/vnsee

The author is also very nice and responsive to bug reports.

I've managed to make it work as second monitor for linux virtual machine.

I wish I could use it as second monitor for Mac and was unable to make it work with MacOS so far.

Anyone made it work with Mac? Who knows how to make it work with MacOS ?

Re: ReMarkable tablet open source tools and hacks

#77

Post by smt88 »

diggan wrote: post #47
smt88 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The refresh rate on e-ink is so low that coding on one would probably be excruciating. You should think of it as a replacement for paper, not a replacement for a monitor. If your laptop isn't very bright, you're mostly out of luck. You can work in the shade, try polarized glasses, buy a brighter laptop, or find a portable monitor that is brighter than your built-in panel.

> If your laptop isn't very bright ... buy a brighter laptop ... and a portable monitor that is brighter As someone who works with my laptop outside in the sun a lot, the trick is not to have a brighter laptop but to have one with a matte display instead of glossy, and use bright backgrounds for everything. Even when I'm in direct sunlight, matte display and light themes make me able to see my code without any squint…

I was under the impression that matte displays are uncommon these days, but I agree that's a good option if they're buying a new laptop.

Re: ReMarkable tablet open source tools and hacks

#78

Post by greggman3 »

Is there any move to get a Kindle app on this? I suspect the market is not big enough for Amazon to care but maybe they'd be open to some partnership where someone else does the work?

I mean they ship readers on Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS, and Web so it's not like they care that you buy a Kindle.

Re: ReMarkable tablet open source tools and hacks

#79

Post by devindotcom »

teek_xyz wrote: post #60
myself248 wrote: post #16

I've been looking for an e-ink tablet that I can bend to my will, but the Kindle hacking scene seems to have peaked around 2012 and it's a desolate wasteland of dead links now. That's a shame, because the hardware is really cheap. ReMarkable is sort of astonishingly expensive, but that would be justified if these "hacks" were officially supported or at least acknowledged enough that some future firmware update wouldn…

I’ve been happy with my Boox Nova 2, which is smaller and more portable. It’s an Android tablet so you can enable developer options.

The Boox devices are pretty nice. The Note Air is a bit larger and close to the reMarkable 2 in form factor.
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