yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Oops, I meant getprop ro.product.model

So, in short, the GL4 as compared to GL3:

Is 7.8" instead of 6"

Has 1G DRAM instead of 512M

Has Bluetooth

Has audio and headphone jack

VID/PID is 2080/000c

Everything else is exactly the same.

I can see that the 7.8" would be useful for PDFs, but why not go overboard and get an expensive 10" or something?

And I really hate the Neonode zForce IR touch sensing.

In ambient light the bezel creates annoying shadows and it's a dust catcher.
[Nook Touch General] RyogoNA:
Better this than poorly implemented elan touch like in GLP. Also, higher image clarity.
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Huh? You mean the metal cased, white GL2? That's Elan and the display is fine.

Isn't that the only Nook eInk with capacitive?
[Nook Touch General] RyogoNA:
I mean Glowlight Plus, so yeah.

I have GLP, GL3 and Tolino Shine 2 (IR sensor) - image is perceivable sharper on both GL3 and Shine 2 than on GLP.

Also, GLP have one very annoying issue - it registers false touches very often and this issue is not related to nook fw, I'm using GLP with tolino fw currently and issue is still there.
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Do you mean "Home" touches? That is a known problem (with a known cure: https://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=79438405&postcount=614 )

I've never found the screen itself to have problems with false touches.
[Nook Touch General] RyogoNA:
I've read your solution regarding "home" button, but no, it is not about it.

It is actually a false touches in random places and they occur mostly when there is some animation on screen (like sliding left panel, or sliding keyboard) - I can record a video if you're curious. I heard that few other people was also suffering from this issue, but afaik it is not a wide-spread issue.
[Nook Touch General] spedinfargo:
Bluetooth doesn't seem to work, at least with a keyboard or remote (the remote I have is just an emulated keyboard I think). When I turn on the BT in the standard Nook settings screen, I get an icon spinning (which I assume means it's i pairing mode) but it doesn't seem to detect any devices... I guess I could take it out to my car and try to pair to my stereo - maybe the BT is only intended as an output device for speakers/headphones (because of the audiobook capability).

All in all it probably won't be the best $200 I've ever spent, but by far not the worst either...
[Nook Touch General] spedinfargo:
I was able to pair the Nook to an audio device - in this case the stereo in my car. So that seems to confirm that the BT is meant for audio output.

I don't know enough about BT and Android to know if there is another secret setting somewhere that can be exposed to see if there is also input capability. It would be a shame if there wasn't some way to take advantage and have some sort of input capability (I'm thinking of Renate's remote page turner capability...)
[Nook Touch General] LavenderReign:
I just got the Nook GL 7.8 for my birthday but I've found that I don't have a screensaver setting like I did on my first GL (meaning the screensaver setting doesn't show up AT ALL). Anyone know how to fix that? My software is up to date.
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Just a heads up.

The case is a bit hard to split.

After you get there you'll see that everything is coated with a pesky conformal coating, much like Elmer's glue on your skin.

There is the standard root console available on 3.3V, 115200-8-n-1

Photos to follow.
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Here's a blog with some info and a teardown:

http://www.temblast.com/blogs/glow4/blog.htm
[Nook Touch General] case-sensitive:
Thanks for the info. Given that one has to apply voltage to trigger the OTG mode. does that mean e.g. we cannot hook up a flash drive to the glowlight plus?

Does the GL+ support A2 mode for e.g. web browsing? What about pitch-to-zoom -- for epub AND for pdf?

Could some who own a GL+ kindly sideload

* alreader and see if the eink mode works?

* vncviewer and see if it is usable? (for text/pdf, NOT graphics/videos)

I called/visited 5 BN stores within a 100 miles radius and I couldn't find a single one :( Either GL+ sells really well or BN messes up their supply chain...

THANKS for the info!
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
The actual trigger for OTG is the (disconnected) ID pin which we are sneakily manipulating.

The problem is that the Nooks apparently don't have the hardware to supply power.

The smallest solution for an external SD card would be a special USB Y cable, a thumb drive and a USB power pack.

There is the potential to wire in an SD card inside the Glow4.

There is not an actual SD socket footprint on the PCB but there are test points.

I'll check that out.

Still, as I've proven, you have to be very careful opening the case.
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
My BNRV700 has USB hardware problems so there's not a lot I can say.

With your device in NN, (and USB connected) try (on UART):

getprop | grep usb
cat /sys/class/android_usb/android0/enable
cat /sys/class/android_usb/android0/state
[Nook Touch General] dmc123:
# getprop | grep usb

[sys.usb.config]: [ums,adb]

[sys.usb.state]: [ums,adb]

# [get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

# cat /sys/class/android_usb/android0/enable

1

# [ricoh61x_displayed_work-2096] soca status 4

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work Full-Clear CC, PSWR(80)

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

cat /sys/class/android_usb/android0/state

DISCONNECTED

#

# cat /sys/class/android_usb/android0/state

DISCONNECTED

# [get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Well, I may not have solved your problem, but I figured out what the problem with mine is.

It will be tricky to fix.
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Hey, don't complain about my lousy soldering.

The eye of a sewing needle for comparison.

More to the point, it works.
[Nook Touch General] dmc123:
That's all you've got? Is that a problem?
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Well, that was my problem. NeoNoogie works great now.

Do this and see if you get the exact same sizes (but not identical speeds/times).

#4 takes 90 seconds. There's no fdisk on these things.

# cd /dev/block
# dd if=mmcblk0p1 of=/dev/null
12224+0 records in
12224+0 records out
6258688 bytes transferred in 0.112 secs (55881142 bytes/sec)
# dd if=mmcblk0p2 of=/dev/null
65536+0 records in
65536+0 records out
33554432 bytes transferred in 0.448 secs (74898285 bytes/sec)
# dd if=mmcblk0p3 of=/dev/null
2+0 records in
2+0 records out
1024 bytes transferred in 0.001 secs (1024000 bytes/sec)
# dd if=mmcblk0p4 of=/dev/null
13669401+0 records in
13669401+0 records out
6998733312 bytes transferred in 86.826 secs (80606423 bytes/sec)
# dd if=mmcblk0p5 of=/dev/null
737281+0 records in
737281+0 records out
377487872 bytes transferred in 5.595 secs (67468788 bytes/sec)
# dd if=mmcblk0p6 of=/dev/null
701441+0 records in
701441+0 records out
359137792 bytes transferred in 4.517 secs (79508034 bytes/sec)
# dd if=mmcblk0p7 of=/dev/null
8176+0 records in
8176+0 records out
4186112 bytes transferred in 0.075 secs (55814826 bytes/sec)
# dd if=mmcblk0p8 of=/dev/null
8176+0 records in
8176+0 records out
4186112 bytes transferred in 0.088 secs (47569454 bytes/sec)
[Nook Touch General] dmc123:
This one will wait. I found that I could access TWRP, but I couldn't mount anything in TWRP. I can run ADB terminals in TWRP. Is this an opportunity?
[Nook Touch General] dmc123:
in twrp ,

updating partition details...

failed to mount '/system' (invalid argument)

failed to mount '/data' (invalid argument)

failed to mount '/cache' (invalid argument)

failed to mount '/device' (invalid argument)

done

unable to mount storage
[Nook Touch General] dmc123:
If want to use TWRP normally, have to ROOT first？
[Nook Touch General] dmc123:
The console has been outputting additional information, and the final result has been highlighted in red. I notice the difference with you, and what does that mean?

/sbin/sh: cd: no home directory (HOME not set)

# [get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

cd block

# ls

loop0 loop3 loop6 mmcblk0p1 mmcblk1p1 ram1

loop1 loop4 loop7 mmcblk0p2 platform

loop2 loop5 mmcblk0 mmcblk1 ram0

# pwd

/dev/block

# dd if=mmcblk0p1 of=/dev/null

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

[ricoh61x_displayed_work-2096] soca status 6

[ricoh61x_displayed_work-2162] status 1, DSOC 9836

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work rrf= 1: cc_delta= 9: current_soc= -1065658796: rsoc_limit= 0: cc_delta_temp = 0:

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work rrf= 1: cc_delta= 9: current_soc= -1065658796: rsoc_limit= 0:

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work IBAT= 149: ibat_table[95%]= 150, ibat_table[96%]= 128: ibat_soc= 9454: ************

PMU: cc_delta= 9: ibat_soc= 9454: full_rate= 9: 30: dsoc_var= 2: 3: IBAT= 149: DSOC= 9839: RSOC= 9529:

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work Full-Clear CC, PSWR(98)

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

[ricoh61x_displayed_work-2096] soca status 6

[ricoh61x_displayed_work-2162] status 1, DSOC 9839

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work rrf= 1: cc_delta= 9: current_soc= -1065658796: rsoc_limit= 0: cc_delta_temp = 0:

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work rrf= 1: cc_delta= 9: current_soc= -1065658796: rsoc_limit= 0:

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work IBAT= 149: ibat_table[95%]= 150, ibat_table[96%]= 128: ibat_soc= 9454: ************

PMU: cc_delta= 9: ibat_soc= 9454: full_rate= 8: 30: dsoc_var= 2: 3: IBAT= 149: DSOC= 9842: RSOC= 9536:

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work Full-Clear CC, PSWR(98)

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

[ricoh61x_displayed_work-2096] soca status 6

[ricoh61x_displayed_work-2162] status 1, DSOC 9842

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work rrf= 1: cc_delta= 8: current_soc= -1065658796: rsoc_limit= 0: cc_delta_temp = 0:

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work rrf= 1: cc_delta= 8: current_soc= -1065658796: rsoc_limit= 0:

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work IBAT= 148: ibat_table[95%]= 150, ibat_table[96%]= 128: ibat_soc= 9459: ************

PMU: cc_delta= 8: ibat_soc= 9459: full_rate= 8: 30: dsoc_var= 2: 3: IBAT= 148: DSOC= 9845: RSOC= 9543:

PMU: ricoh61x_displayed_work Full-Clear CC, PSWR(98)

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

12063769+0 records in

12063769+0 records out

6176649728 bytes (5.8GB) copied, 93.573838 seconds, 63.0MB/s

#
[Nook Touch General] dmc123:
# dd if=mmcblk0p2 of=/dev/null

[get_power_supply_status-4397] chg 3, supply 2 ,stat1 0

1605633+0 records in

1605633+0 records out

822084096 bytes (784.0MB) copied, 12.509343 seconds, 62.7MB/s
[Nook Touch General] dmc123:
# dd if=mmcblk0p3 of=/dev/null

dd: can't open 'mmcblk0p3': No such file or directory
[Nook Touch General] dmc123:
cd block

# ls

loop0 loop3 loop6 mmcblk0p1 mmcblk1p1 ram1

loop1 loop4 loop7 mmcblk0p2 platform

loop2 loop5 mmcblk0 mmcblk1 ram0

# pwd

/dev/block

Obviously, some directories and files are not available, so they are not tried

# dd if=mmcblk0p4 of=/dev/null

dd: can't open 'mmcblk0p4': No such file or directory

#

mmcblk1p1 is my TF card :cry:

dd if=mmcblk1p1 of=/dev/null

30588928+0 records in

30588928+0 records out

15661531136 bytes (14.6GB) copied, 676.665602 seconds, 22.1MB/s
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
So you trashed your partitioning.
[Nook Touch General] dmc123:
What then? Can I replace the entire system by backing up the necessary information, just like the KINDLE replace EMMC?
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
I don't know anything about Kindles.

I make out the partitioning to be so:

# Id Start End Size Label
── ── ───────── ───────── ───────── ────────────────
1 83 2048 14271 12224
2 83 38912 104447 65536
05 104448 1567714 1463267
4 83 1567715 15237115 13669401
5 83 106496 843776 737281 system
05 845809 1547265 701457
6 83 845825 1547265 701441
05 1549298 1557489 8192
7 83 1549314 1557489 8176 vendor
05 1559522 1567713 8192
8 83 1559538 1567713 8176 misc
15237116 15269887 32772

How you are going to get your device back to this, I don't know.
[Nook Touch General] rexjoe:
I know what he's doing. He buyed a board just like in thread https://xdaforums.com/t/please-tell...ank-you-nook-glowlight-plus-7-8-2019.4665844/. and want to flash it to normal machine. this board comes with manufactur's system image and the system partition is like what he said. it's not trashed.
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Oh, thanks for the tip.

Still, his partitioning seems to be missing lots of partitions.

A big shout out to @dmc123 for wasting my time with a dozen posts without mentioning that this is an engineering sample.
[Nook Touch General] rexjoe:
Yes, those missing partitons can be automatically created by the MFG tools provied in the board's rootfs parition.
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
You could also do it with mmc utilities in u-boot, but it would probably be worth your while to write a desktop utility to spit out commands and data.
[Nook Touch General] dmc123:
1
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Yes, I just wired this up and it works fine.

I soldered wires to a micro SD to standard SD converter.

The only gotcha is that you have to wire the /CD on the PCB to ground.

# busybox fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk1
...
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1 * 1 38 77808 c Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
# mount
...
/dev/block/mmcblk1p1 /foo vfat rw,relatime,fmask=0077,dmask=0077,codepage=cp437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro 0 0

Do you really need more than 8GB storage?
[Nook Touch General] case-sensitive:
THANKS!

I want to have a bigger eink reader for technical pdf (in landscape mode). I have around 10G of those. I also want to store my music on the same device. So yes, the more storage the better! I am fine with leave the sdcard inside the device as long as I can mount it from my desktop and update as needed.

How much battery would this consume? With your current setup, would it be possible to put in a tiny switch so I can power off the sdcard as needed? I'll remember to umount it before turning it off.

I'm moderately okay with a soldering iron. Dissembling cases is a different story :( Tip/instructions/photos are mostly welcome.

But first I have to get my hands on a GL+7.8 !
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Well, than this seems like a sensible thing for you to do.

You can place it in the empty area below the battery.

File a notch in the metal wall to lead the wires.

When you do this, make sure that you have all the wires connected correctly (and that you're not using a one bit interface).

Connect up a hardware terminal (temporarily at least) to the UART pins.

Stop the bootloading at the uboot command line with a spacebar when it starts scrolling.

eBR-1A # mmc dev 1
mmc1 is current device
eBR-1A # mmcinfo
Device: FSL_USDHC
Manufacturer ID: 2
OEM: 544d
Name: SA04G
Tran Speed: 25000000
Rd Block Len: 512
SD version 3.0
Clock: 50000000
High Capacity: Yes
Capacity: 3904897024 Bytes
[b]Bus Width: 4-bit[/b] [color=red]<-- 4 bit is good, 1 bit is bad[/color]
Boot Partition for boot: No boot partition available
[Nook Touch General] case-sensitive:
Thanks! Question related to the wiring (I've marked two places on your photo, please see my attachment):

1) Could you confirm that you soldered together the two solder points marked on the left side of the attached photo?

2) On your photo you connect eight solder points to the eight strips on the SD cards. I can see that

TP397 --> first strip on the sdcard (counted from the left)

TP393 --> second strip

but I couldn't make out the rest (esp the last three strips, see the arrow on my attached photo). If you could spell out the wiring correspondence I'd be most appreciative.

3) In the second teardown photo on your website, under "Console UART" you added "jack added". I assume that you mean you added the white connector to the PCB, i.e. it's does not come with the GL7.8?

Thanks for your patience and help!
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Yes, that is a sloppy grounding of TP398 after I discovered it needed it.

It's updated: http://www.temblast.com/blogs/glow4/blog.htm#sdcard

Yes, I soldered that in myself.

If you only have a slight or temporary need to use that you can just put a header in the holes (without soldering).

If you put some angle on it the contact should be good enough.

However, the conformal coating is a problem.

I started out just scraping the conformal coating off with a knife.

Now I think that a better way is to scrub it off with a Q-tip dampened with acetone.

It does take a bunch of scrubbing, it doesn't really dissolve.

Maybe a nastier solvent would work better, but I prefer solvents that just barely work as being less dangerous to everything else.

I'd be interested to know the chemical composition of the coating and what the best solvent for it is.
[Nook Touch General] case-sensitive:
THANKS SO MUCH!

1) Regarding the UART console: Could you still close the cover after you add the jack, or maybe there are "low-profile" ones that I could use?

2) I see that you hotglued (?) the sdcard onto the battery. But the first teardown picture on your website seems to show a big empty space right above the battery. Would the heat from the battery affect the sdcard? What about hotgluing the sdcard in that space instead? (or maybe there are stuff from the cover that goes on top of that blank space?)

3) On your website you said that

In a standard android device, under setting->storage we can mount the external sdcard. Would that do the trick for GL7.8, or do I need to mount it using terminal emulator (wouldn't that require su?) or adb? If it's the latter (terminator emulator/adb), would I have to repeat this each time I reboot the device?

--------

I have never used uart before so a couple of newbie questions:

4) Would e.g. something like this work?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/CP2102-USB...993754&hash=item59209aaa80:g:wvoAAOSwaP5cbee8

Could the cable showed in the picture of this item be inserted into the jack? Or should I insert the pins from the adapter's PCB directly into the jack and/or the solder holes? (sorry if I used the wrong terms)

5) After I setup the uart adapter and connect it my linux box, I should then boot up the GL7.8 and watch the booting from an xterm (and hit space to stop it)? Or do I need to install a program to monitor the output?

Thanks!
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
No, I cut a rectangular hole in the back of the cover. I have a Glow2, a Glow3, a Kobo Aura like this.

I wouldn't recommend this unless you're the type to constantly futz with low level stuff.

It's not even really required to get the SD card working.

I only suggested it if you happened to have a USB serial converter hanging around.

On my Glow2 it allows me to connect a wired "clicker" to turn pages.

(It uses a uP to spit out "echo 1 > /dev/inject" which feeds a key injector daemon.

This is much faster than "input keyevent".)

Yes, I just did that to keep the wires from breaking.

That is not the way to do it!

The thing to do is to use longer wires and put the SD card in the open area near the USB connector.

If you have a good eye and a good hand and feel brave you could even solder directly to the micro SD card.

I might try that with a $5 SD card.

I used the adapter method because I have a bunch of them.

Hmm, I don't know about that. I'll have to see.

Androids with both "sdcard" and a removable SD card seem arbitrary in how this is supported.

If the plan is to put a single SD card permanently inside the Nook then you don't need any of the removable mechanism.

I'd just put a mkdir for your mount directory in init.rc and an entry for your partitions in fstab.E70Q50

Both of those are in the ramdisk in the image in mmcblk0p1

In short: dd /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 to /sdcard/p1, adb pull it, imgutil /x the two files, edit them, imgutil /r the two files, adb push it, dd /sdcard/p1 to /dev/block/mmcblk0p1

The exact USB serial converter you linked seemed to be a 5V one

(They show a voltage divider on the TX to a 3.3V device.)

Look for one that has 3.3V logic levels.

Double check the TX with a voltmeter.

You could use the cables with the socket on each end.

You'd need to scavenge some single, loose pins from a header, stick them halfway into the socket, then stick the other half into the PCB.

You only want to connect each TX to an RX (two wires) plus ground.

If you have the Nook plugged into USB on the same system that has the USB serial converter you don't even need to connect ground.

But, as I said, if getting the console working is a big deal you don't even have to do that.

https://www.putty.org/
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Oh! I never noticed this before but you can probably do the same trick of adding an SD card on the Glow2 & the Glow3.

I'd like to continue all things to do with adding SD cards to Glow2, Glow3, Glow4 on a separate thread.

https://xdaforums.com/nook-touch/general/adding-sd-card-to-glowlights-2-3-4-t3944830
[Nook Touch General] vladimirmiff:
sideload app

considering this device as it seems worth the price

but can we sideload apps to this device as everyone did with older ones?

I'd like to read tech papers on it, but I had to install other pdf reader on my old simple touch just because built-in reflow ruins everything...

so basically I'd like to add an orientation control and a pdf reader, a ftp client will be a plus:o
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Yes, there are no major changes from the previous Glowlights.

The old rooting methods should work fine, the only difference being the 2080/000C VID/PID that you may have to change in the scripts.
[Nook Touch General] andrewed:
I am still most interested in touch-typing with a USB keyboard. Two questions:

Is installation basically the same as in 2012 when we started this?

How is screen responsiveness? When I typed on my NST, a cloud of pixels followed the cursor till a second after I stopped typing. It also made using arrow keys during editing difficult. So I wonder how much faster and cleaner it is now with regal/A2 integrated into the chip.

I have checked in over the years. It's great to see your work on the project, Renate. Thank you.
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
Why USB? You should use a Bluetooth keyboard.

The Glow4 uses an eInk display with 16 bit interface (vs. 8 bit for the previous Glows).

That should make things a bit faster.
[Nook Touch General] andrewed:
I feel wireless radiation in my hands. It's unpleasant. It is the whole reason I started the NST USB host project. There were already epaper devices that connected to Bluetooth keyboards.

Hmm. Twice as fast. That would definitely help. Would you mind making a test and telling me what you see? I type 100wpm. The cloud or blur following the cursor was 5-10 characters long.

But moving the cursor with the arrows was probably hardest. Stopping to see where it was before continuing was a drag. I'm a fiend when I edit. I may have to get the Dasung Paperlike, which has 6fps refresh rate. But maybe double speed with a larger display would be enough.

Thank you.
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
None of the Glowlights can source USB power.

If you want to use a USB keyboard on a Glowlight you'll have to use a back-powering hub or a powered Y cable.

Shifting into USB host mode is a bit problematical right now.

I have a newer version of UsbMode and a daemon that needs to be installed in init.rc

You can shift into USB host mode but not out of it without a reboot.
[Nook Touch General] andrewed:
Ok. One needs an external power source for much typing anyway. And I like having a power bank. So that part is no problem.

If USBmode is on but unused, with no cables plugged in, does it drain power significantly?
[Nook Touch General] Renate:
It shouldn't use any extra power.

I'll check the current at some point.