In actuality there are several forks, and the original Crosspoint Reader really got the ball rolling, but now seems to get stuck in discussions. The forks (especially the one I linked) has progressed much further and has better KOReader sync (as in actually syncs to the correct XPath position instead of some close-enough position), bionic reading, streamlined UI, etc. Give that one a shot!
Be aware that Xteink is locking down devices sold for the Chinese market (which includes those being sold on e.g. Taobao). If you want to run crosspoint, you should probably order your reader direct from Xteink.
Whoa that's a surprise. They even call out support for CrossPoint by name, too.
Moreover, it's a bit of a crazy looking hack too, by doing a MITM attack.
I'm curious to see what exactly is the seam between the Xteink brand and its upstream supplier(s).
It's like the brand company was against the firmware lockdown in the first place. It would be neat to better understand the Chinese consumer devices ecosystem.
50-70 dollars? A Kobo Clara is about 100 and has a bigger screen, an adjustable front light and you can easily load DRM free ebooks via USB mass storage or custom firmware like koreader. If you just want to read books you should probably just get a Kobo.
$45 on ali. I've been looking for an affordable open phone-sized e-reader for years, but unfortunately this one doesn't have a backlight which is a hard requirement for me.
The Kobo Clara doesn't fit in my pocket while the X4 does. An e-reader that I actually have on-hand beats one that I leave in a drawer at home so it was an instant purchase for me the moment I saw one.
I ordered the Xteink X4 not knowing about CrossPoint and I was so disappointed with the included firmware:
- Almost no formatting on the ebooks you upload (no bold text, missing glyphs, no images/cover art)
- The book had to be rendered before being uploaded. I suspect they were uploading series of bitmaps.
- This meant if you wanted to change portrait/landscape or change font size/type you had to re-render the book
- Bitmap fonts were very ugly.
Overall it was barely workable. More of a proof of concept. The CrossPoint firmware on the other hand:
- Actually renders books as you would expect, in a pleasing manner, formatting and all
- Much more reader configuration on device: font settings, margin, spacing, alignment, progress display
- Update via USB or OTA
- Multiple ways to get your books: Connect to your Calibre library to push or pull books (thanks for introducing me to Calibre!), USB, Wireless file transfer
- Sync progress via KOReader
It's the best gift the community could give to the manufacturer. With only the default firmware my X4 would have been in the junk drawer within a week, but now I carry it every day, I've shown it to so many people. It's a marvel. With the news about them attempting to lock it down I can't recommend it anymore. Why would they do that?
PINE64 were trying with the PineNote[0], sort of. It's quite a large device (10.3"), in the same size class as reMarkable/Boox devices. It's cost-competitive with those products, but it's way too big and too expensive to compare to traditional ~7" e-readers.
Seed studio sells some. reTerminal is the more polished one, it has a metal case, nice buttons, and a 2Ah battery. The Xiao screen is more diy, but also has more potential options
I used a reTerminal as a bedside weather station UI recently, works rather nice
Not exactly reading devices, yes, but they are open hardware
supernote's tablets are designed to have replaceable motherboards/batteries although it's still to be seen whether they will actually be able to support that long-term.
I’m running Crosspoint on the X3, and am quite pleased with both the software and hardware. It even supports reading progress via Koreader sync, which I use on my main eInk devices.
Front light would make it the perfect device. I use it on the go everywhere now, to limit the distractions inherent with trying to read from my phone. But in bed having to pull out a book light or a headlight is an annoying step that risks disturbing my partner.
I bought the book lights that they sell along with the device and they're perfect for it. They include an adapter so they magnetically attach to the back, or they can clip to the folio.
Ah yes but that one is probably going to be much more expensive as it runs android and more powerful hardware. It won't support crosspoint-reader then either :'( Though you could install KOReader then, which is a good alternative. It also seems to lack page turn buttons.
I'm quite frustrated to hear that Xteink have decided to block firmwware being changed on some devices. I can only imagine the reason would be consumers who look for support after something went wrong but it's frustrating for those of us who just want an open eink device.
I wonder, how difficult would it be to do something similar for "Onyx Boox Tab X C 13.3" ?
Btw, did Onyx publish sources as required by GPLv3 for that device? AFAIK there are no sources in the open (if I am not mistaken ) and I have no idea what can push them toward publishing them.
Crosspoint and KOReader are fascinating to me.
The lack of consensus on what features are essential in an e-reader must be hard to manage. Surprisingly exotic features sometimes.
- No deal, this e-reader doesn't let me play chess.
- No deal, this e-reader doesn't support bluetooth page-turning.
- No deal, I don't actually look at the screen I use text-to-speech.
There is a much more advanced fork of this project: https://github.com/jpirnay/crosspoint-reader
In actuality there are several forks, and the original Crosspoint Reader really got the ball rolling, but now seems to get stuck in discussions. The forks (especially the one I linked) has progressed much further and has better KOReader sync (as in actually syncs to the correct XPath position instead of some close-enough position), bionic reading, streamlined UI, etc. Give that one a shot!
Ah I just switched to using https://github.com/uxjulia/crossink-reader
Not sure what KOReader is but the fonts included in this one and the overall reading experience is solid.
KOReader is the defacto Android ereader app for eink screens, and many consider it the best Android ereader for regular screens too.
Worth mentioning it's not limited to Android! It also runs on Kobos, Kindles, Pocketbooks, etc.
agreed and they support non android devices too!
Be aware that Xteink is locking down devices sold for the Chinese market (which includes those being sold on e.g. Taobao). If you want to run crosspoint, you should probably order your reader direct from Xteink.
https://liliputing.com/xteink-blocks-installation-of-custom-...
I bought one yesterday from AliExpress. I hope I'm able to install new firmwares on it.
There's already an OTA unlocker https://crosspointreader.com/#unlock-tool
Whoa that's a surprise. They even call out support for CrossPoint by name, too.
Moreover, it's a bit of a crazy looking hack too, by doing a MITM attack.
I'm curious to see what exactly is the seam between the Xteink brand and its upstream supplier(s).
It's like the brand company was against the firmware lockdown in the first place. It would be neat to better understand the Chinese consumer devices ecosystem.
Interesting - I ordered mine from AliExpress in February and it was really easy to flash. Shane if they start blocking it.
I guess they don't like people buying their product.
For those unfamiliar with these devices I stumbled upon this cool write-up:
https://aftermath.site/xteink-x4-cheap-hackable-ereader-cros...
These things are teeny-tiny.
50-70 dollars? A Kobo Clara is about 100 and has a bigger screen, an adjustable front light and you can easily load DRM free ebooks via USB mass storage or custom firmware like koreader. If you just want to read books you should probably just get a Kobo.
Yeah, but can you affix a Kobo device to the back of your phone as a signal of your superior taste in how you consume your digital literature?
$45 on ali. I've been looking for an affordable open phone-sized e-reader for years, but unfortunately this one doesn't have a backlight which is a hard requirement for me.
(I do have a kobo, it's too big.)
The Kobo Clara doesn't fit in my pocket while the X4 does. An e-reader that I actually have on-hand beats one that I leave in a drawer at home so it was an instant purchase for me the moment I saw one.
I ordered the Xteink X4 not knowing about CrossPoint and I was so disappointed with the included firmware:
- Almost no formatting on the ebooks you upload (no bold text, missing glyphs, no images/cover art) - The book had to be rendered before being uploaded. I suspect they were uploading series of bitmaps. - This meant if you wanted to change portrait/landscape or change font size/type you had to re-render the book - Bitmap fonts were very ugly.
Overall it was barely workable. More of a proof of concept. The CrossPoint firmware on the other hand:
- Actually renders books as you would expect, in a pleasing manner, formatting and all - Much more reader configuration on device: font settings, margin, spacing, alignment, progress display - Update via USB or OTA - Multiple ways to get your books: Connect to your Calibre library to push or pull books (thanks for introducing me to Calibre!), USB, Wireless file transfer - Sync progress via KOReader
It's the best gift the community could give to the manufacturer. With only the default firmware my X4 would have been in the junk drawer within a week, but now I carry it every day, I've shown it to so many people. It's a marvel. With the news about them attempting to lock it down I can't recommend it anymore. Why would they do that?
There is also https://github.com/franssjz/cpr-vcodex which I use, which is one of the many forks of this project.
I contributed to this a little bit! The copyparty fileserver with opds enabled is a great companion to easily move books to the device.
In the next release I will fix a bug to enable file search for the copyparty opds as well.
I wish there was a framework style open e-ink device.
PINE64 were trying with the PineNote[0], sort of. It's quite a large device (10.3"), in the same size class as reMarkable/Boox devices. It's cost-competitive with those products, but it's way too big and too expensive to compare to traditional ~7" e-readers.
0: https://pine64.org/devices/pinenote/
Seed studio sells some. reTerminal is the more polished one, it has a metal case, nice buttons, and a 2Ah battery. The Xiao screen is more diy, but also has more potential options
I used a reTerminal as a bedside weather station UI recently, works rather nice
Not exactly reading devices, yes, but they are open hardware
TRMNL are kinda.
https://trmnl.com/
https://github.com/iandchasse/de-link
Someone is working on a more DIY device that can run this firmware.
What would that look like? A first thought would be a controller with storage that would 'dock' into various screen sizes and case molds?
What I mean is like the framework laptop - an open device that you can modify and buy parts for, but is actually well built.
Someone already said it, but what about TRMNL? https://trmnl.com/
I'd buy that in a second.
supernote's tablets are designed to have replaceable motherboards/batteries although it's still to be seen whether they will actually be able to support that long-term.
I’m running Crosspoint on the X3, and am quite pleased with both the software and hardware. It even supports reading progress via Koreader sync, which I use on my main eInk devices.
I'd like to use this as a multiplayer chess game on the fridge with my dad who lives 100KM away.
Anyone know if there is remote chess for this?
Really nice device, I'm just waiting for a version with front light.
Front light would make it the perfect device. I use it on the go everywhere now, to limit the distractions inherent with trying to read from my phone. But in bed having to pull out a book light or a headlight is an annoying step that risks disturbing my partner.
I bought the book lights that they sell along with the device and they're perfect for it. They include an adapter so they magnetically attach to the back, or they can clip to the folio.
Meh I used those with my old Kindle 2nd edition. It had a really nice leather case with a solder slide out light.
But it wasn't nearly as good as the front light ones that came later.
The S4 is the new version coming soon with a front light.
Ah yes but that one is probably going to be much more expensive as it runs android and more powerful hardware. It won't support crosspoint-reader then either :'( Though you could install KOReader then, which is a good alternative. It also seems to lack page turn buttons.
But I read there's also an "X4 v2 pro" coming with frontlight: https://www.joshualowcock.com/xteink/xteink-x4-v2-pro-xteink...
So I'm waiting to see which one will be the best price/quality in this regard.
This device would be an instant buy if it were backlit, replacing my kobo mini
I'm quite frustrated to hear that Xteink have decided to block firmwware being changed on some devices. I can only imagine the reason would be consumers who look for support after something went wrong but it's frustrating for those of us who just want an open eink device.
Supposedly already bypassed. But yes, moving entirely out of step with what seems to be making these devices popular! https://www.reddit.com/r/xteinkereader/comments/1t1wtya/dont...
Oh this is very cool. I've bought one and plan to use it to show some kind of status around the house.
I wonder, how difficult would it be to do something similar for "Onyx Boox Tab X C 13.3" ?
Btw, did Onyx publish sources as required by GPLv3 for that device? AFAIK there are no sources in the open (if I am not mistaken ) and I have no idea what can push them toward publishing them.