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The PineNote is an e-ink notebook that runs Linux

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Re: The PineNote is an e-ink notebook that runs Linux

#71

Post by Buttons840 »

eloeffler wrote: post #57
Buttons840 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm scared by that link warning about how easy it is to brick your device. Should I be?

Especially: Write down your root password and DO NOT factory reset the device if you want to go back to the original state. If you follow these steps and you know a bit about linux you'll be fine. Factory reset on the rM2 will mess with the community framebuffer service and reset your root password, effectively locking you out unless you go the fiddly way over the external port. The rM1 is very resilient as you can d…

So they provide a factory reset feature, and what that feature does is brick your device? (Or nearly so.)

Why do you say connecting over the external port is "finicky"?

Re: The PineNote is an e-ink notebook that runs Linux

#72

Post by AshamedCaptain »

eloeffler wrote: post #61
AshamedCaptain wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do note that Remarkable is not as rosy as it looks like. Due to the fact that most of the builtin software is proprietary, actually modifying it to run anything other than the stock features requires binary monkey patching the main executable. It's as fragile as it sounds. If they were to add a simple plugin system, that would take them 0 effort with Qml, it would be significantly better.

Actually, it's better than you describe it, I think. Most components are FOSS. The default GUI and the framebuffer driver are proprietary closed source. However, the framebuffer driver has been extracted from the GUI service by github user ddvk and faciliates the development of independent interfaces (look for "launchers") that can launch further independent programs, e.g. harmony https://rmkit.dev/apps/harmony There…

> However, the framebuffer driver has been extracted from the GUI service

Extracted? Last time I look at it, they were inserting a patch in the main (and only) binary of the proprietary GUI via LD_PRELOAD, and then all other programs which wanted to draw _anything_ to the screen would basically _directly alter the memory_ of the proprietary GUI binary in order to modify its internal framebuffer. You have to do that whether you want to integrate with the main GUI or not -- since you need this hack to draw anything to the screen.

Literally every other Remarkable update so far has killed all of this.

> Most components are FOSS.

The usual thing: most 3rd party components which they are forced to open anyway are FOSS. Anything that may even be remotely interesting is NOT FOSS. I do not understand why people try to claim this as a positive, cause it isn't.

Re: The PineNote is an e-ink notebook that runs Linux

#73

Post by e12e »

marvindanig wrote: post #29
Enginerrrd wrote: post #6

Let me just say that the Remarkable also runs linux. Not only that, but I've been blown away by the ongoing results from the team at Remarkable. I only have the Remarkable 1 but they continue to ship updates for it, and these updates are often really substantive with sometimes profound new features. Their cloud service is free, no aggravating subscription stuff and even though they have the remarkable 2 now, they con…

How is the web browser experience on the ReMarkable? It kinda sucks on the Kindle and forces me to consider an iPad to make up for open access.

There's no web browser, but in theory there's a "send to remarkable" plug-in for other browsers (basically print to pdf;sync to remarkable). It's not really usable, for various reasons imnho.

Re: The PineNote is an e-ink notebook that runs Linux

#74

Post by hiciu »

jxdxbx wrote: post #26

I have a Boox Note Air--it runs Android, and can do cool stuff to apps to make them work better on e-ink (mostly tweaking the contrast). It's still kind of slow in practice, like all e-ink. Page turns will take longer than a tablet or of course a book. It comes with a stylus, but the only note-taking app that works well with it is the built-in one, which is not great though at least it can sync your notes off the dev…

I have Boox Note Air too, it is being used 70/30 as a note-taking device and tablet. It runs fastmail, k9mail, kindle app, firefox and wallabag just fine.

I wasn't trying to replace built-in note taking app, I think I may have gotten used to it? Honestly at this point I quite like it; it's fast (seriously, there is 0 lag when talking notes), it's capable and it honestly works just fine. I love the UI. I totally understand why you would want to replace it with one note or something like that - I'm just saying that current version works for me :).

I don't trust it yet however - I am using Onyx's sync servers, so my content is backed up without encryption to someone's else servers... Since we are talking about syncing - it also works with syncthing without any special integration; my notes are backed up immediately as pdfs on my other devices.

It is slow, if you think of it as a tablet. There are few options in "app optimizations" menu that allows you to switch between ghosting and page refresh speed.

I'm not sure if you can root it / if the bootloader is unlocked.

I'm using it with different stylus - the one from boox max - it doesn't have that magnetic lock, but it's larger and it feels like stylus tip has lower friction on the display.

Re: The PineNote is an e-ink notebook that runs Linux

#75

Post by codezero »

p_l wrote: post #40
Buttons840 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm scared by that link warning about how easy it is to brick your device. Should I be?

Remarkable 1 is recoverable without many tricks. Remarkable 2 requires a bit of parts and possibly soldering (but not required, just might make things easier if you don't have pogo pins with handles available). Both are fully recoverable unless you do something really impressive.

I rooted my 2 and not my 1 without knowing the risk! Turned out fine but I wasn’t too adventurous.

Re: The PineNote is an e-ink notebook that runs Linux

#76

Post by blihp »

xrd wrote: post #38

I own several of the Pine devices. They are all alpha in different ways but that's fine, I'm paying for the future. The thing that worries me is that they are launching a lot of products. They are all adjacent in some ways. But, should I as a customer, or Pine as a company, be worried about the cost of supporting all these different kinds of devices? I recall reading a long time ago that Google intentionally offers p…

Don't worry about Pine getting spread so thin that they can't support these devices. The reason being that they don't support them (from a software standpoint) currently! The brilliance of their business model is they are very up front about only producing and supporting the hardware. The software support is entirely on the open source community.

As far as the hardware, their support generally only extends as far as defective hardware. Think DOA battery/display/etc. If a particular revision of a device has a hardware bug, but is otherwise functional, they will tend to fix the bug in a future revision. Customers bothered by a given bug typically have to buy a future revision if it really bothers them. For example, I got the first public version of the Pinephone which has a USB-C bug that only works with dumb chargers. The next revision of the Pinephone fixed that bug and they offered a discounted board replacement for those bothered by the bug.

Their main target customers are (hardware and software) hackers who should understand what they're signing up for.

Re: The PineNote is an e-ink notebook that runs Linux

#77

Post by aidenn0 »

Youden wrote: post #21
Enginerrrd wrote: post #6

Let me just say that the Remarkable also runs linux. Not only that, but I've been blown away by the ongoing results from the team at Remarkable. I only have the Remarkable 1 but they continue to ship updates for it, and these updates are often really substantive with sometimes profound new features. Their cloud service is free, no aggravating subscription stuff and even though they have the remarkable 2 now, they con…

I like the idea of Remarkable but the thing that bothers me a lot is that it doesn't have a backlight. I'd really like to use it to read at night and no backlight kinda kills that. Do you not use it at night or do you use some other solution for nighttime lighting (like bright ceiling lights)?

I would also already own a remarkable-2 if it had a builtin light. I do about 20% of my reading with the lights off, and while I can (and do) use a booklight, there's considerable light-spillage compared to most builtin lights and the lights I've tried all either have arms so short as to be hard to position right, or arms so long that the weight of the light overcomes the elasticity of the arm.

Re: The PineNote is an e-ink notebook that runs Linux

#78

Post by blihp »

kayodelycaon wrote: post #8
whoisburbansky wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don’t take any notes, yet. This is pretty much how all Pine devices ship, and they’re up front about it. They’ve always been very explicitly that the Pine devices aren’t meant to be fully formed consumer devices and that it’ll take quite a bit of elbow grease and community effort to make the most out of the hardware.

Not everyone follows Pine devices closely. I was quite surprised to see someone announce a device and call it a notebook, when it lacks the all of the software that defines the category.

This is probably a persistent enough problem that Pine64 probably does need to put a bit more effort into communicating who they cater to. They should be making it clear that nothing they sell is appropriate for a typical consumer looking for a 'just works' experience. Their products are geared toward hardware and software hackers.

Re: The PineNote is an e-ink notebook that runs Linux

#79

Post by kayodelycaon »

Buttons840 wrote: post #71
eloeffler wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially: Write down your root password and DO NOT factory reset the device if you want to go back to the original state. If you follow these steps and you know a bit about linux you'll be fine. Factory reset on the rM2 will mess with the community framebuffer service and reset your root password, effectively locking you out unless you go the fiddly way over the external port. The rM1 is very resilient as you can d…

So they provide a factory reset feature, and what that feature does is brick your device? (Or nearly so.) Why do you say connecting over the external port is "finicky"?

The factory reset feature clears personal data off the device and resets the root password. So... it's not a factory reset.

Re: The PineNote is an e-ink notebook that runs Linux

#80

Post by eloeffler »

AshamedCaptain wrote: post #72
eloeffler wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, it's better than you describe it, I think. Most components are FOSS. The default GUI and the framebuffer driver are proprietary closed source. However, the framebuffer driver has been extracted from the GUI service by github user ddvk and faciliates the development of independent interfaces (look for "launchers") that can launch further independent programs, e.g. harmony https://rmkit.dev/apps/harmony There…

> However, the framebuffer driver has been extracted from the GUI service Extracted? Last time I look at it, they were inserting a patch in the main (and only) binary of the proprietary GUI via LD_PRELOAD, and then all other programs which wanted to draw _anything_ to the screen would basically _directly alter the memory_ of the proprietary GUI binary in order to modify its internal framebuffer. You have to do that w…

xochitl (the rM GUI) doesn't need to be run when other GUI programs are running. I don't fully understand the way this works but for anyone interested, here is the link for the framebuffer workaround: https://github.com/ddvk/remarkable2-framebuffer

On rM1 it was possible to write to the framebuffer directly, on rM2 it is not exposed as a device file directly.

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