FBReader on Maemo 5
Marius Gedminas
N900, but doesn't really work well.
Worst problems:
* the plus/minus keys on the top of the device change the sound
volume instead of turning pages
* tapping the screen doesn't scroll, unless you uncheck 'finger tap
only' in the preferences (but then again I could never get it to
work the other way on a n810 either)
* if you enable fullscreen mode from the menu, there's no way back,
since there are no more hardware Escape nor Fullscreen keys
* some of the controls in the preferences dialog do not fit on screen
(e.g. first line indent)
Everything else appears to work, except when compared to native Maemo 5
apps the controls are rather tiny and inconvenient (e.g. no kinetic
scrolling).
I was wondering --- do any of FBReader developers have access to a Nokia
N900? Are there any plans to make a native Maemo 5 version? I'm afraid
that it would mean a separate port from Maemo 4, since the user
interface design principles and APIs are different.
(To clarify: Maemo 5 *can* run Maemo 4 apps no sweat, but they look and
feel like Maemo 4 apps: tiny finger-unfriendly controls etc.)
Marius Gedminas
--
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mathematics and those who don't.
craig-g
2 devices ive liked the HTC hero and the one im leaning towards the
Nokia N900 , it would appear that the best ebook reader (mostly for
DRM free mobi pocket) is the FBreader. Ive installed it on my Linux Pc
and it looks quite good (though i never read on the PC, only on my
PDA)
So im after a little more info, as id say 70% of the use of what ever
device i get will be for reading (i only read ebooks now)
The problem of getting back from fullscreen mode. Can that be overcome
by reasigning the Space key as toggle?
simelarly can the +- keys not be reasined as large scroll forward back
can you expand on the scrolling not working with "finger tap only"
set.
as im not sure what that option is
cheers Craig
> < 1KViewDownload
Marius Gedminas
> Hi, im new here as im currently looking ro replace my Dell Axim , the
> 2 devices ive liked the HTC hero and the one im leaning towards the
> Nokia N900 , it would appear that the best ebook reader (mostly for
> DRM free mobi pocket) is the FBreader. Ive installed it on my Linux Pc
> and it looks quite good (though i never read on the PC, only on my
> PDA)
I've been reading ebooks on my 770, my N800 and my N810, and am very
happy with them, especially the N810.
I have my N900 for less than a week, so it's still early to say. I am
reading a book currently, and I'm mostly missing the ability to turn
pages using the hardware +/- keys; the rest works although looks a bit
"foreign" and not as pleasant as native, finger-friendly apps.
> So im after a little more info, as id say 70% of the use of what ever
> device i get will be for reading (i only read ebooks now)
>
> The problem of getting back from fullscreen mode. Can that be overcome
> by reasigning the Space key as toggle?
Yes (I bound 'f' to fullscreen).
> simelarly can the +- keys not be reasined as large scroll forward back
No, the Maemo 5 platform requires the application to do special setup
if it wants to get key events for the hardware +/- keys, and currently
FBReader doesn't do that.
Here's what it should do:
http://wiki.maemo.org/Documentation/Maemo_5_Developer_Guide/Porting_Software/Porting_Existing_GTK%2B_Application_to_Maemo_5#Remapping_volume_keys
> can you expand on the scrolling not working with "finger tap only"
> set. as im not sure what that option is
Maemo 4 had the idea of distinguishing touchscreen taps with a stylus
from touchscreen presses with a finger, by looking at the pressure value
of the event. It never worked reliably, at least for me: finger touches
were often detected as stylus taps. In Maemo 5 they abandoned that
idea and all taps are just taps.
FBReader has a couple of options for this:
* Preferences -> Scrolling -> Options for: Tap Scrollings -> [x] Scroll
on Finger Tap Only.
* Preferences -> Selection -> [x] Enable Text Selection.
I found that disabling both of those options works best for me. It's
not as much a bug in FBReader on Maemo 5, more of a "working as
designed" misfeature from my perspective. In retrospect I shouldn't
even have mentioned it in my original email.
Marius Gedminas
--
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geometer
There is noone inside our team who works on maemo5 version at the
moment: we just have no time for this branch.
However there is a good news: AFAIK there exists a semi-official ;)
port; we plan to include this port into our tree when it will be
available. I've asked the author of this port to write a message to
this thread. :)
Best,
-- Nikolay
craig-g
Thanks for the extra info guys
Victor Kropp
I'm the guy Nikolay is talking about.
Currently I'm working on adopting FBReader interface to new Maemo
interface guidelines.
There are a lot of work, because Maemo 5 interface was changed
significantly if compared to OS2008.
Stay tuned, I'll report my progress here.
Regards,
Victor Kropp.
Marius Gedminas
On Thu, Oct 22, 2009 at 01:15:52PM -0700, Victor Kropp wrote:
> Hi Marius, Craig and all interested in FBReader on N900!
>
> I'm the guy Nikolay is talking about.
>
> Currently I'm working on adopting FBReader interface to new Maemo
> interface guidelines.
That is awesome news!
> There are a lot of work, because Maemo 5 interface was changed
> significantly if compared to OS2008.
Are you working in a publicly-accessible source repository?
Can I help in any way? (C++ was my favourite programming language
between 1998 and 2002. I've dabbled a bit with Gtk+, well, PyGtk+
actually. I've got Scratchbox with the Maemo 5 SDK installed on my
laptop.)
Marius Gedminas
--
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-- Markus Kuhn provides an example of a locale
geometer
the official repository:
https://only.mawhrin.net/repos/stuff/branches/experimental
(This is a branch for 0.11.*.)
> Can I help in any way? (C++ was my favourite programming language
> between 1998 and 2002. I've dabbled a bit with Gtk+, well, PyGtk+
> actually. I've got Scratchbox with the Maemo 5 SDK installed on my
> laptop.)
keep in mind our contribution guidelines: http://www.fbreader.org/docs/contributions.php
-- Nikolay
rsperberg
>
> Stay tuned, I'll report my progress here.
>
> Regards,
> Victor Kropp.
>
front. What kinds of things are you adjusting?
I've made some user adjustments that have helped me a lot.
Marius' tip to uncheck 'enable text selection' and 'scroll on finger
tap only' made sense to me, since I haven't been able to reliably
navigate a book-length text in FBReader on the N900 just using taps.
I have found it simplest to set the Shift key to 'Large scroll
forward' on the 90-degree counterclockwise rotation. The device is
comfortably held in the leffthand then and my thumb is resting in the
right spot to advance the page.
I set the right-arrow key to advance a page,and left-arrow to go back
a page in all orientations, which makes it easy to advance a page when
holding the device in my right hand and with the screen rotated 90
clockwise.
For convenience and also following POTS [the principle of least
surprise], I additionally set spacebar to advance a page.
I found that I needed also to set convenient keys for rotate the same
in all orientations, so I could easily switch reading directions. Some
actions (full-screen) I had put on more than one key — one for all
rotations so I don't get confused and opposite-keyboard ends for
clockwise and counterclockwise orientation.
I absolutely would prefer to use the rocker keys (zoom +/zoom -) for
page turning, but these keyboard settings have gone a long way toward
improving my reading in FBReader on this new device.
Roger S