A tool for using PocketBook Pro/Touch E-Ink reader as a computer monitor on Linux

RemoteInk is an experimental application designed:

• For people whose eyes are straining when they use typical monitors
• For people who like to read using E-Ink, but don't want to upload texts to the reader every time
• For reading books, articles and web pages, writing texts, programming, etc.
• For people who don't really need color monitor and who can accept low monitor reaction time
• For people who want to exploit all reader's screen advantages, but faced hardware and software restrictions of the reader

Photo: Using Geany on Linux Mint with RemoteInk

You can:

• Connect a reader to a computer using Wi-Fi or USB
• Configure connection parameters in UI on the reader
• Change the reader's screen orientation (portrait or landscape)
• Select which part of the monitor is visible or zoom it
• Track windows (active window is always visible) and save its own scale for each of them
• Easily switch between windows
• Adjust active window's size to dimensions of the reader's screen
• See a cursor and restrict its movements to the area visible on the reader
• Invert screen colors
• Customize keyboard shortcuts for most of the actions above
• Set a password for a connection
• Use the application with a typical computer (with i686/amd64 architecture) or Raspberry Pi

Client application is compatible with readers from Pocketbook Pro/Touch series (most of modern Pocketbook models with E-Ink screen). Testing was performed on Pocketbook Touch and Touch 2.

Server is compatible with computers with Linux and X11 window system.

Of course, list of supported devices and OS may be extended in the future.

Note that this program is experimental. Readers' screens are not intended to update so frequently, so using the program can lead to malfunction of the screen or reduce its lifetime. Developer of the program is not responsible for possible damage to your device.

1. Install required dependencies:

   • Debian and its derivatives (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc.):

       $ sudo apt-get install git build-essential libfontconfig1-dev libimlib2-dev libxcb1-dev libX11-dev libxcb-keysyms1-dev libxcb-shm0-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev fonts-freefont-ttf
     

   • Fedora:

       $ sudo yum install git gcc make imlib2-devel fontconfig-devel libxcb-devel libX11-devel xcb-util-keysyms-devel gnu-free-sans-fonts
     

   • Arch Linux:

       $ sudo pacman -S git base-devel fontconfig imlib2 libxcb libx11 xcb-util-keysyms ttf-freefont
     

   If neither of these commands suits you, you can try to find similar packages in repositories of your system.

2. Clone the repository and build the daemon:

    $ git clone https://github.com/borzunov/remoteink.git
    $ cd remoteink/server
    $ make
   

3. Install binaries:

    $ sudo make install
   

   Note that uninstall command is also available:

    $ sudo make uninstall
   

4. Check shortcuts scheme. Default scheme is designed for keyboards with numpad (see full description). If you don't have numpad or this scheme will be uncomfortable for you, you can change it as described here.

   Note that this shortcuts must not overlap with another system-wide shortcuts.

5. Set up a password to the server:

    $ sudo remoteinkd passwd
   

Extract executable file from this archive (it's for v0.2) and place it into applications/ folder in your reader's memory (the folder may be hidden on some devices).

It's not required, but if you want to build the client by yourself, you can install Pocketbook Pro SDK and compile the client using the following commands:

$ cd remoteink/client
$ make BUILD=arm_gnueabi

Then executable obj_arm_gnueabi/remoteink.app will be created.

1. Set up a wireless network, connect to it on computer and find out its IP address. If you know corresponding network interface (wlan0 in this example), it can be done using the following command:

    $ ifconfig
    [...]
    wlan0     Link encap:Ethernet  HWaddr aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff  
    		  inet addr:192.168.0.101  Bcast:192.168.0.255  Mask:255.255.255.0
    		  inet6 addr: xxxx::xxx:xxxx:xxxx:xxxx/64 Scope:Link
    		  UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST  MTU:1500  Metric:1
    [...]
    

2. Run the server using command:

    $ sudo remoteinkd start
   

   You can check that the server is started using command:

    $ sudo remoteinkd status
    RemoteInk v0.2 - Server
    [*] remoteinkd is running (PID 1234)
    

   If command doesn't show that server is running, go to Troubleshooting section.

3. Open remoteink application on the reader. Use an interface (it supports control via touchscreen or physical keys) to enter server's IP and password and press "Connect" button. Select your network if you weren't connected to it yet.

   If you don't see monitor contents, go to Troubleshooting.

   

4. After work you can stop the daemon:

    $ sudo remoteinkd stop
   

   Or kick current client (it's also possible to disconnect using "Back" reader's key):

    $ sudo remoteinkd kick
   

Working via USB is implemented using g_ether.ko Linux kernel module. It is supported by most of models of the compatible readers and must present on the server-side.

1. On the reader open menu Settings -> Connectivity -> USB Mode and select Network over USB.

   

2. Connect the reader via USB cable. If the described kernel module is present, a new network interface will appear. Then you can find out its IP address and follow instruction for Wi-Fi network above.

• Try to disable cursor blinking when editing texts. It may reduce the reader's screen updates count.

A reader's screen is smaller than a computer's monitor, so we can see only part of the monitor on the reader (let's call it "the frame"). Shortcuts are introduced to comfortably move the frame during work with windows on the computer. This section describes purposes of each shortcut and keys corresponding to it in default scheme.

There are two modes in the application: when window tracking is enabled and when not (default mode can be changed in a config file). If window tracking is enabled, switching between windows causes moving the frame in such a way that active window stays in the center of the reader's screen. If the window doesn't fit into the screen, initially only its left top part is visible. Nevertheless, you can move the frame relative to the active window.

Ctrl+Alt+Num 0 – Toggle window tracking

Alt+Tab – Switch active window (DE's shortcut)

Ctrl+Alt+D – Show desktop (DE's shortcut)

Ctrl+Alt+Num 2/4/6/8 – Move the frame

Ctrl+Alt+Num 5 – Reset frame relative position to default

Also you can zoom visible image. Scale is stored separately for each window and different modes (default scale for each mode can be changed in the config). Default scale for mode with disabled window tracking is so small that you can see entire desktop. So this mode can be used if you want to switch between windows using mouse, move windows, look on a desktop panels or a system tray.

Ctrl+Alt+Num 3/9 – Zoom

Ctrl+Alt+Num 1 – Reset scale to default for this mode

If an opened window doesn't fit into the reader's screen, you can adjust window size to this.

Ctrl+Alt+Num 7 – Adjust window size (if possible)

Some additional opportunities are available. Generally using mouse via slow reader's screen is inconvinient, but there is a cursor capturing mode when the cursor becomes visible and its movement is bounded in the captured frame.

Ctrl+Alt+Num Del – Toggle cursor capturing

Also there is opportinity to invert screen colors, but shorcut for it is disabled by default.

Different settings (such as shortcuts scheme, server's port or maximal FPS value) can be changed in /etc/remoteinkd/config.ini. The config has comments that help you to understand purpose and format of each option.

The password's hash is stored in /etc/remoteinkd/passwd and can be changed using command:

$ sudo remoteinkd passwd

Note that you should restart the daemon so as to it uses new configuration and password.

Error messages can be displayed on starting the daemon or controlling it via terminal (don't forget to use sudo during this operations). Some connection errors can be displayed in the client-side.

Also, at the time of the daemon is running it uses syslog to log information and error messages. You can check the log file to find out a reason of occured errors, for example:

$ grep remoteinkd /var/log/syslog | tail
[...]
Feb 13 19:54:22 hostname remoteinkd: Unknown modifier in shortcut "Ctrk+Alt+KP_8"

In this case the daemon informs that one of shortcut's modifiers is incorrect. You should check the correctness of defined shortcuts in the config (actually, there's a typo in a modifier name - Ctrk instead of Ctrl).

If you don't find the error's reason in the logs, the connection can be blocked by a firewall. You should add rule that allows connections to remoteinkd (default port is 9312/tcp) or temporarily disables the firewall.

Only 24-bit color depth is supported yet. You can reconfigure your distribution to use this depth. For example, in Raspbian running on Raspberry Pi you can add the following lines to /boot/config.txt (and restart the system):

framebuffer_depth=32
framebuffer_ignore_alpha=1

Shortcuts are tested only in classic window managers yet. Disabling tiling mode or using more common WM may be helpful.

It is possible on machines with weak processors (including Raspberry Pi). Try to halve value of MaxFPS parameter in the config.

• You can prefer VNC client for Pocketbook created by othb08me09zp (and slightly modified by me). It uses well-known protocol, but may be less convenient for managing windows during daily work.

  Download | Discussion (on Russian)

• Scrolling or pressing mouse keys using reader's touchscreen
• Client and server can be ported to other platforms

• Support different screen depths (only 24-bit depth is supported yet)
• Use xcb-damage (it can reduce CPU usage)
• In some cases, resources should be released more accurately