[HN Gopher] FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers
___________________________________________________________________
FreeInk: Open ecosystem for e-readers
Author : FriedPickles
Score : 551 points
Date : 2026-07-21 18:39 UTC (14 hours ago)
HTML web link (freeink.org)
TEXT w3m dump (freeink.org)
| Krutonium wrote:
| Huh, this would be a fantastic option for my Kobo Touch. It
| freely flashes whatever firmware you give it, and it'll boot from
| an SD Card besides.
| Mr_Eri_Atlov wrote:
| Interesting to see XTEINK here; hopefully it means they will be
| more open to community software initiatives.
| jagged-chisel wrote:
| What are the limitations with XTEINK currently? I have an X3
| and an X4 and both simply use whatever firmware you give them.
| lachiflippi wrote:
| They disabled the ability to USB flash on every device not
| bought from their official store.
| slekker wrote:
| Is that true? I heard for the X3 the pogo pin cable they
| ship has 2 pins not 4 but you can buy one and it will
| transfer data and let you flash custom firmware.
| lachiflippi wrote:
| I own both an "old" X4 as well as a
| "new"/"domestic"/locked X3. The pogo cable transfers
| data, and the device shows up in dmesg when connected,
| but disappears shortly after. The cable itself works fine
| for transferring data, tested with a different device
| with the same connector.
| nosrepa wrote:
| There is a way to unlock it via the sd card at least.
| jagged-chisel wrote:
| How big of a problem is this? I did get my X4 from
| somewhere else, but I was still able to change firmware. I
| think it just adds a hurdle to make it less trivial for
| unscrupulous resellers to install crapware.
| lachiflippi wrote:
| It used to be more of a problem back when not every
| popular firmware had a way to reflash from SD/via OTA,
| because you could get stuck on a firmware with no way to
| flash out of it. The current solutions work pretty well,
| though I still stay far away from non-stable releases,
| just in case.
| gnatman wrote:
| Not true. I just bought an x4 on amazon and flashed
| crosspoint with no issues.
| johanyc wrote:
| I think it's just the Chinese market ones
| imzadi wrote:
| I got an Xteink X4 a few weeks ago and love it. I've tried out a
| few different firmwares but haven't settled on one yet. I love
| the screen and how simple the interface is. It's kind of a pain
| in the butt getting my Kindle books on there, but worth the
| effort. It's also encouraging me to buy books outside of the
| Amazon ecosystem. I've been getting more stuff from Humble
| lately.
| mootdentures wrote:
| I also got one a few weeks ago! I love how pocketable it is.
|
| I tried different firmwares too and ended up settling on
| CrossPoint. So far it's been the most stable and the UI feels
| more intuitive than the others (for me at least)
| fastball wrote:
| Did you try FreeInk? I was debating which (between CrossPoint
| and this) to flash my new X3 with.
| mirrir wrote:
| from what i understand this is CrossPoint.
| fastball wrote:
| Oh yeah, indeed. Which is the rebrand haha
| sushid wrote:
| Not parent commenter but I've been loving CrossInk after
| trying CrossPoint for a few days
| timw4mail wrote:
| My favorite at this point is Witch reader
| (https://github.com/jpirnay/witchhunt-reader). All the features
| of Cross-point, with better book rendering, and more features.
| I've tried a lot of the various alternatives, and keep coming
| back.
|
| If you want all your book series displayed together, AALU
| (https://github.com/dawsonfi/aalu) might be worth a look.
|
| And Crosspoint OS itself is still really nice.
| Rebelgecko wrote:
| Is there a non-annoying way to get Libby books onto it? It's a
| step or two with a Kindle, but it would be cool to have them on
| a more portable device
| timw4mail wrote:
| I have not seen any support on the mini readers.
| Infiniti20 wrote:
| It's just ACSM files. You can crack it using calibre to get
| epub which all these readers support
| colordrops wrote:
| How do you get your kindle books on it?
| Brian_K_White wrote:
| Same way you get your ios apps on it.
| jerojero wrote:
| you'd have to take the DRM out of the books, convert them to
| epubs and then transfer them.
|
| its an involved process but that's always going to be that
| way on any e-reader that's not a kindle (or android based,
| where you can install the kindle app).
| andrewmutz wrote:
| Is the only way to use it to break the DRM? I wish there was a
| path to being able to use all these devices with kindle ebooks
| legally
| jwrallie wrote:
| You need Android in that case, but that defeats the
| simplicity of these devices.
| Brian_K_White wrote:
| What are you suggesting exactly? That the maker of this
| hardware should do whatever it takes so that there is some
| official Kindle app like on Android?
|
| I want to access my books on random devices too, which is why
| I never bought a frikkn Kindle book.
|
| I did buy a bunch of Audible books, starting way back when
| there was nothing else, and I knew the deal when buying, so I
| simply went through the grief on my end to strip them (easy
| these days) and don't care about the legality (or rather, am
| willing to fight and defend the legality).
|
| But buying something from Amazon and then complaining to
| anyone but Amazon that you want something Amazon doesn't
| provide or even allow, I don't get that.
|
| This wish for this thing that you want should be directed at
| Amazon, and if you recognize that that would be pointless,
| well, correct, that's why you shouldn't buy a book from
| Amazon in the first place.
|
| Or you should decide you don't recognize any legal conflict
| and help write software to uncrappify your property.
| andrewmutz wrote:
| This issue isn't specific to the Kindle, you can go and buy
| books on Apple or Google or Kobo or Barnes and Noble and
| its the same story.
|
| Many books can only be bought this way. Publishers don't
| want to sell books through platforms that don't have DRM,
| because they are scared of piracy.
|
| It would be great if we could have open ebook reader
| software that could display these books.
|
| eReaders like the Xteink X4 are beautiful but lots of books
| are impossible to legally read on it. Yes, I know that I
| can break the DRM, but I think its sad that this is the
| only path for legitimate purchases.
| wwweston wrote:
| If you're not redistributing ebooks you bought, it's hard to
| imagine what legal claim someone could make against you, and
| even harder to establish the ethics of that claim.
|
| To say nothing of Amazon's ethics.
| agnishom wrote:
| Some publishers such as Tor will occasionally publish DRM
| free ebooks.
|
| I have very little respect for DRM, though. Personally, if
| the author has a patreon, I suggest donating the $20 to the
| Patreon and pirating the book
| sdoering wrote:
| Speaking of Tor, there is currently a massive and great
| Bundle for Scalzi books over at Humble by Tor. Just bought
| it, even if I already own a few of those, because the 4
| books I don't yet have would be more expensive to buy
| separately.
| crossroadsguy wrote:
| Love the idea and goal being all this but what an interesting
| time to be in. Phones are becoming bigger and bigger while the
| palm, neck, eye, head, etc sizes haven't really buzzed. Digital
| book readers are getting smaller and smaller while the book
| sizes... argh... I give up. It's pointless to try and make
| sense of digital/device trends at this point, or any modern
| trend for that matter.
| kapsteur wrote:
| Please port this OS to older Kindles that Amazon no longer
| supports.
| joshuakelleyds wrote:
| Winterbreak covers most of them >2012,
| https://kindlemodding.org/kindle-models.html
| KennyBlanken wrote:
| Or Kobo, given how shit the stock firmware is and how little
| the hardware has changed over a considerable period of time.
| Should be easy-peasy.
| themadturk wrote:
| Nickel, the stock firmware on Kobo, is pretty decent.
| KOReader is better, though. The Kobo is a pretty hackable
| device. I pair my Kobo Clara BW with BookFusion, which gives
| me portability between any KOReader device, Mac, Windows,
| iOS, and Android.
| Larrikin wrote:
| You can already easily install koreader on the Kobo. You can
| even combine it with Tailscale to get your local opds server
| fudged71 wrote:
| I've used CrossPoint on X4. I'm not sure how this is related
| (CrossPoint is linked in the footer)
| VonGallifrey wrote:
| It reads to me like FreeInk is the e-book reader and e-Paper
| SDK, and CrossPoint is the firmware that uses FreeInk.
|
| I currently use CrossPoint, so I wanted to install this, but
| when I clicked the GitHub button, it just linked to the
| CrossPoint Firmware.
| foopod wrote:
| From my understanding this is the next iteration of OpenX4
| E-Paper Community SDK - an sdk made by some of the core
| contributors of CrossPoint that abstracts the hardware of eink
| devices.
|
| Huge props to the devs, that haven't just embraced people
| forking their repo - but have actually put in a lot effort to
| make it easier for anyone that wants to develop on these
| platforms.
| idle_zealot wrote:
| I got an Xteink X 4 a few weeks ago and it's a very cute device.
| While I'm a fan of the hardware what's been really fun is
| noodling around with building some custom firmware and sync
| architecture to optimize content for the device's extremely
| limited CPU and Memory. That's meant a custom format for images
| and metadata that match the device's hardware and interface needs
| and an automatic ingest pipeline for building these files from
| common book/comic formats. Maybe some day I'll even read a book
| on the thing!
| BeetleB wrote:
| It saddens me that most of the ebook world is leaning towards
| smaller screen sizes.
|
| My reader is 8", and I think that's just the right size. I like
| a decent sized font, and I don't like continually scrolling.
|
| Surprisingly, the original promise of "low battery use" isn't
| panning out. My ereader's battery doesn't last that long,
| although I can live with it. Once you switch to large size
| color eink screens, the battery life is poorer than tablets!
| embedding-shape wrote:
| > most of the ebook world is leaning towards smaller screen
| sizes
|
| Meanwhile, the smartphone world suffer from a lack of smaller
| screen sizes. Maybe we should just mandate the executives to
| switch industries with each other for a decade or so?
| WillAdams wrote:
| I rather liked my Sony PRS-505 and 600 for their 6.1" screen
| and that it would fit in a (large) shirtpocket.
|
| My Kindle Paperwhite and Scribe Coloursoft go weeks between
| charges.
| BeetleB wrote:
| Yes, I too had a Sony ereader for years, and it was nice
| fitting it in my jacket pocket.
|
| But the reality is that most book pages are larger than 6",
| and if I found myself preferring the book because of the
| size, what's the point of an ereader? I first switched to
| 7", which was better, but not good enough. 8" is great,
| though.
|
| > Scribe Coloursoft go weeks between charges
|
| How many hours will the battery last _while on_? And how
| does that compare to a similar sized tablet?
| WillAdams wrote:
| Page size isn't that big a deal when the text reflows and
| can be resized as desired, except for when one wants to
| view a map or diagram. Before I got my Scribe I'd fire up
| the Kindle app on my tablet (or convertible) for such
| usages at need.
|
| I can read and take notes and even web browse (insofar as
| browsing is supported on the Kindle browser) for hours on
| end and barely budge the battery percentage, while a
| tablet w/ an LCD screen would run through half or more of
| its charge for similar usage.
| BeetleB wrote:
| > Page size isn't that big a deal when the text reflows
|
| The pain is in how often I need to "flip" the page.
| Especially if you're reading something where you want to
| reference back a few paragraphs, etc.
|
| > I can read and take notes and even web browse (insofar
| as browsing is supported on the Kindle browser) for hours
| on end and barely budge the battery percentage, while a
| tablet w/ an LCD screen would run through half or more of
| its charge for similar usage.
|
| Fair enough. I've seen large size color ereaders that run
| out after about 8 hours of use.
| smith7018 wrote:
| > most of the ebook world is leaning towards smaller screen
| sizes
|
| These are seriously niche devices. They're currently trendy
| but the Kindles of the world probably have something like 98%
| of the market.
| BeetleB wrote:
| Yes, but except for the Scribe, even the Kindle readers are
| too small!
|
| Kobo had an 8" ereader. People loved it (except for the
| battery life). But there's no sign they'll make more of
| them.
| toomuchtodo wrote:
| Would love to see the Fulu Foundation start designing
| open hardware like this and producing it with
| CrowdSupply. Like if the Apache Foundation made hardware.
|
| https://www.fulu.org/
|
| https://www.crowdsupply.com/
| smeej wrote:
| Which reader do you have? I've been looking everywhere I can
| think of for a good 8-inch device, but I need it to run
| Android. Heck, I even tried looking into tablets with
| traditional screens and am having trouble turning up anything
| serviceable.
|
| I have a 6" screen and it's too small. I got a 10.3" one and
| it was too large. But I'm starting to suspect those of us who
| primarily want to read are the only ones who want 8 inches,
| and we're a rare bread.
| BeetleB wrote:
| Kobo Forma. Probably not easy to run Android on it.
| frio wrote:
| I love my Forma. The only thing about it that makes me
| sad is the micro-USB port. I skipped the Sage because it
| was a side-grade (USB-C but worse battery), and now
| they've discontinued it with no clear future for the
| format.
|
| I really hope they bring back a similar format ereader in
| the future, I don't really want to go back to a smaller
| scale device when this one dies.
| hollandheese wrote:
| Viwoods AI Paper mini and Supernote Nomad if you want 8"
| Android. They're primarily focused on the writing
| experience but they will run most Android apps and
| Koreader.
|
| The downsides are that they are expensive and the Nomad
| does not have a front light.
| IshKebab wrote:
| The Remarkable tablets are pretty big and have a large
| community.
| BeetleB wrote:
| Fair point.
|
| I was looking into them recently, and can't recall why I
| ruled them out.
|
| I think it may have been because of the size of their color
| tablets - either too small or too large.
| tecleandor wrote:
| I finally swapped mine for Super otw, being Android and
| also you don't need to pay a subscription to sync your
| computer and device through "the cloud".
| BeetleB wrote:
| Super doesn't yet come in color. I already have a B/W
| ereader that serves my needs.
|
| To be honest, I just need a decent ereader that supports
| Koreader. I definitely don't want to run apps, etc. I
| don't want to use it for note taking unless I can find a
| way to migrate the notes to my PC in my preferred format
| (which I may well be able to hack quickly with LLM
| support).
| IshKebab wrote:
| Do you mean Supernote? How do they compare to the
| Remarkable tablets?
| Kehvarl wrote:
| I have a few e-ink based readers, and I just picked up an x4.
| Honestly, it's kind of fun. It fits in my pocket with my
| phone, it has clear and readable text, it has fairly
| comfortable buttons. Will it ever be my sole e-reader? Nope.
| Do I see myself continuing to use it to grab a book from the
| Project Gutenberg OPDS feed, to read whenever I'm in decent
| light and not doing something? Sure.
| dominotw wrote:
| xteink seems to be everywhere these days. Did it really "kill
| doomscrolling" for anyone?
| loremm wrote:
| it is pretty fun I was surprised. It's just nice it's so
| pocketable. I thought it'd be too small but I turn the font up
| so I am constantly flipping and I don't seem to notice. The
| page flips are fast
|
| But also, I didn't understand how much the lightness is
| amazing. A kindle is light and one handable but it's noticable,
| this is so light I just can hold it up. I've heard in the
| ultralight mouse (for gaming), there's a point you just feel
| like you're moving your hand and don't notice the mouse. This
| is how I feel for this and it's worth something
| jjice wrote:
| Maybe, but I feel like those are all just overwhelming
| trend/clickbait nonsense videos/articles. E-readers are
| awesome, but I bet the amount of people that have truly
| replaced their social media habits with ebooks out of nowhere
| is near zero.
|
| Also, for anyone that wants to cut doom scrolling, just delete
| your accounts and delete the apps for the services you're not
| using in a way you like. In many cases, it's that simple.
|
| Love e-readers though. I've carried one with me (when I had a
| reason to expect at least 30 minutes of downtime) for a few
| years now and it's a lot more convenient than the paperbacks I
| used to lug around.
| tapvt wrote:
| It has certainly made it easier for me to put down my phone in
| bed and read something else. So, doomscrolling is gone for that
| part of my day.
|
| The biggest win is not caring if I get the reader back on the
| charger before I drift off, which is a thing I need to do with
| my phone.
| mahimai wrote:
| Does this can be installed kindle, like for very old versions?
| t1234s wrote:
| Are there any instances from the closed e-book system (kindle,
| nook, etc..) where you paid for a book and the book was either
| updated to a revised version or just removed from the device
| because of the content in the book?
| jjice wrote:
| Yep. The infamous case in my mind were the Roald Dahl updates.
| I believe there were a few more cases that got news coverage a
| few years back, but I don't recall, so don't quote me.
|
| https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/ronald-dahl-...
| the_gastropod wrote:
| There was that famous 2009 case of Amazon remote deleting
| George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from Kindles.
| simcop2387 wrote:
| Yep, first instance I know of was from back in 2009,
| https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/jul/17/amazon-ki...
| and the kind of thing keeps happening over the years. It'll
| continue to happen since you aren't paying for a book. You're
| paying for a license to read the book for as long as the
| publisher/owner allows you to do so and they can revoke the
| permission at any time.
|
| I still find it hilariously ironic that the first instance that
| was widely reported (as far as I know) was it happening to
| 1984.
| recursivegirth wrote:
| Pay respect to Aaron Swartz, and go download whatever you
| need. I hear Anna's got an archive, or there is some Z Lib
| somewhere. If buying isn't ownership, downloading isn't
| stealing.
| criddell wrote:
| Are there any serious legislative efforts to fix the ebook
| market? I know getting rid of DRM entirely isn't likely to
| happen, but at this point I'd be happy with just vendor-neutral
| DRM.
| tren wrote:
| We're using LCP from EDRLab which is an open standard. Other
| vendors are starting to adopt it and I think Kobo intend to
| this year too. Basically the LCPL files you download can be
| opened on any compatible LCP reader.
| ebiester wrote:
| It's fairly rare - like when 1984 was deleted from amazon when
| the seller didn't have the rights (and customer was refunded),
| but https://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/oct/22/amazon-
| wipes-c... shows an example where someone's account was deleted
| and they lost all licenses of books they bought.
| pnw wrote:
| Kindle regularly removes sideloaded books if it decides you
| didn't purchase them from Amazon. Allegedly it's due to an
| incompatibility between the Kindle DRM and the way Calibre
| tricks the Kindle into displaying book covers for sideloaded
| files, but it's still annoying. The solution is to leave the
| device in airplane mode.
|
| https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=340936
| qingcharles wrote:
| It also strips off all the covers from your sideloaded books
| if you give it Internet access. Mine's had the radio off
| since I got it, for this reason.
| monocularvision wrote:
| I searched for each of the supported eInk devices and they were
| all tiny. Anyone know if there is a larger reader (maybe
| Paperwhite size-ish) that might run this?
| chb wrote:
| The "Hardware" link indicates that the BoM specifies a "24-pin
| SPI e-paper for GoodDisplay panels (3.97'', 4.26'', 7.5'' and
| up)." A search turns up this: https://www.good-
| display.com/product/516.html
| mikepurvis wrote:
| I've never heard of any of them; I guess it's geared toward
| build-it-yourself or kit-type devices? I can't imagine a
| serious aftermarket FW not supporting a single Kindle or Kobo
| device.
| poulpy123 wrote:
| Ask amazon and Kobo to open their system if it's so important
| for you. The devs have probably more interesting things to do
| than playing wack-a-mole with a multi-billion organisation
| mikepurvis wrote:
| I'm not knocking the devs for the choice to target open
| hardware, only remarking that that choice signals the
| project is for hackers, not regular consumers.
| LamaOfRuin wrote:
| I would say that there is no such thing as firmware
| targeted for regular consumers. Regular consumers do not
| know what firmware is.
|
| I am still disappointed that there is no kindle sized
| hardware that this can run on, but I think that has to do
| with manufacturers rather than firmware developers.
| mkozlows wrote:
| I mean, a) regular consumers are just gonna buy a Kindle,
| do nothing with its software, and only buy books from
| Amazon. But also b) the way a lot of these hobby things
| expand is that if they get some market traction, someone
| starts making and selling pre-assembled, retail-friendly
| versions of the thing. Look at wacky keyboards, for
| instance: Used to be that you had to solder your own
| weird ergo split, now there are companies like ZSA and
| Keebio that'll make really nice versions as finished
| products.
| IshKebab wrote:
| ESP32-S3 is really too underpowered for larger e-ink devices.
| Varelion wrote:
| Perfect -- this is exactly the kind of project I was hoping to
| see gain some traction as of late.
| Ritewut wrote:
| I want this but for ePaper tablets like Remarkable.
| Andrex wrote:
| I had a similar thought but thinking it through, would probably
| lose the near-zero-lag stylus stuff. That's kinda rM's whole
| thing, not ebook reading.
| IshKebab wrote:
| This is for epaper tablets, just tiny ones.
|
| Remarkable looks like it has a pretty active hacking community:
| https://github.com/rehackable/awesome-remarkable#launchers
| a-dub wrote:
| i think i remember seeing an unlockable bootloader on the
| remarkable?
| wernerb wrote:
| A Kobo ereader is as open as I need it with koreader installed.
| The Kobo Libra 2 black and white is the best ereader I have ever
| had. (not the color version,,unfortunately a step back in reading
| quality for normal reading)
| mholm wrote:
| These are not competing with Kobo. These are micro-ereaders,
| often much smaller than a phone. They're characterized by
| extremely weak processors and minimal hardware. 'Apps' are not
| a concept here yet.
| renlo wrote:
| remarkable / remarkable2 also work with KOReader. KOReader
| provides a very good ereader experience - can import
| dictionaries, export word lists (ie it tracks words you look
| up), and supports numerous ebook formats and lets you modify
| the padding/margins/layout. A very good piece of open source
| software
| wolvoleo wrote:
| It is very good except the UI could really use some love IMO.
| I use it on all my kindles but it really took some doing to
| get there in terms of getting comfortable with using it.
| dugite-code wrote:
| Even without koreader a kobo is refreshingly open to tinkering.
| Getting root and ssh access is just a matter of renaming a file
| on the disk.
|
| I got the colour after being on an old paperwhite for many
| years so thankfully it's a big step up for me.
| hart_russell wrote:
| I'm scared of installing koreader on my kobo. Right now my kobo
| syncs to my calibre web server seamlessly. Does koreader have
| the ability to sync your library to a calibre web instance?
| Wolfbeta wrote:
| Yes, _if_ you upgrade to Calibre-Web-Automated
| https://github.com/crocodilestick/Calibre-Web-
| Automated#kore...
| pooploop64 wrote:
| On mine, koreader is an app that you launch, and the stock
| interface seems to unload completely until you exit koreader.
| Then the whole "OS" is still there untouched and you can get
| books from hell dimensions like Overdrive. Despite never
| using the stock interface anymore I've left it alone because
| it's not much of a bother to relaunch koreader or Plato on
| the rare occasions that I have to.
| fedeb95 wrote:
| this is about open hardware.
|
| You really don't need to build a Kobo clone. By being open, you
| can fit your needs. If your needs are already covered by Kobo,
| that's fine.
| boznz wrote:
| Lots of the comments here are about porting to older kindles or
| eReaders, but the firmware is currently for the ESP32 chipset
| which none of these use.
| shevy-java wrote:
| Better than giving my money to Apple for sure.
| tcoff91 wrote:
| I really like my Boox e-reader because I can install any android
| app on it. I run Storyteller on it and it syncs position to my
| storyteller server. So i can listen to the audiobook on my iPhone
| and then pick up reading on my Boox from where I was listening.
| mattm wrote:
| I also really like Boox. I'm on my 2nd Boox product now having
| upgraded from my old Max Lumi so that I could get colours.
| robbiet480 wrote:
| I've always wanted something like Storyteller for non-Amazon
| devices. Thanks!
| jerojero wrote:
| I find the battery life on boox tablets to be pretty poor. At
| least with my usage.
|
| Its kind of annoying to have to be charging every other day.
|
| I think I've only had to charge the xteink x4 a couple times
| since I got it in March. But that's the case for any non-
| android ereader.
|
| I'd be happy if the boox lasted a week with 2-3ish hours of use
| a day.
| tcoff91 wrote:
| I think it's possible to use koreader and sync to storyteller
| with a plugin on that xteink but I've never set anything like
| that up.
| scratchyone wrote:
| I contribute to Storyteller in my free time and I absolutely
| love using my Boox with it, honestly my dream reading setup.
| gausswho wrote:
| Regard the Supported Devices table, where the last column
| declares all devices Full (in red). Firmware too chonky for any
| of them! Oh Claude.
| something98 wrote:
| Running Zotero (directly) is the big requirement for my next
| e-reader. Yeah, I can sync pdfs from my library with webdav or
| something else. But I want the full Zotero interface.
| easterncalculus wrote:
| Wasn't the efficacy of the focus/bionic reading stuff disproven
| awhile back? Are people still using it?
| Simboo wrote:
| Please add Gallery to your page :)
| replatformradar wrote:
| This is already dangerously cool. The second they add Kindle
| support, Free Ink is going from niche open-source project to "why
| is GitHub on fire?" territory.
| mkozlows wrote:
| The point of this seems to be building on open hardware. If you
| want open source software that builds on proprietary hardware,
| KOReader is what you want. (I use it, it's great.)
| stevage wrote:
| Are there any off the shelf e-readers which support this
| firmware? This site seems to be for people who want to solder
| together their own e-reader from components.
|
| Also, it does a bit misleading to say "Charging, battery
| protection, an optional frontlight and a 24-pin e-paper
| interface, all on one PCB you can build for around $60."
| According to their own parts lists, if you are build 5 of these,
| you're in for $63.74 (plus shipping?) So if you want just one
| (like a normal person), it's going to cost more. And that's still
| just the circuit board and components: no mention of the outer
| plastic casing. (I can't find any info on their site about how to
| get that - presumably 3D print, but haven't found plans.)
| inflam52 wrote:
| Xteink ereaders do (available on Amazon) but just make sure to
| get the "developer edition" and you can flash the hardware.
| stevage wrote:
| Hmm, I can't see any. Just cases. Maybe they don't ship to
| Australia.
| tacosalsa wrote:
| I got mine from AliExpress (sent to the Netherlands)
| meghprkh wrote:
| I would like such a project in Rust! There a bunch of embassy-
| based firmwares but none have the UX of the crosspoint forks yet.
| My favourite is inx (https://github.com/obijuankenobiii/inx)
| which is the only one that supports annotations afaik. It does
| crash sometimes though
| rayzia wrote:
| An open ecosystem for e-readers is such a refreshing concept.
| Tired of being locked into proprietary reading ecosystems, so
| seeing projects push for interoperability and open standards on
| e-ink devices is fantastic.
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