yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] :
Hi,

I just installed this on my OC'ed wizard(@235).

This release runs sluggishly, i.e. page turns are not instantaneous. It almost rivals ebook readers in that aspect. Is there anything I'm missing here?

Otherwise, its a great release.

Is it just my aging hardware, since the previous one ran fine.

AFTER 2 HOURS READING:

Ok. Now after reading a fair bit I must re-comment. After a page loads it seems that Freda precaches the next page since, after I read a page and then click "next" (yeah, the touch equivalent but you get it :P ) it instantly goes to the next page. But, if I try to continuously keep clicking next, it 'empties' its cache and after around 5-6 pages it crawls down to the kindle speeds. Granted, there's not practical application of rapid scrolling, but since I lost my book position settings I decided to give the fast-scrolling a spin.

I'd like to know if anyone else is facing the same issues that I'm facing on Freda v2.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
Yes, I get this behaviour too. Page-rendering in v2.0 is slower than in v1.1, for reasons that I have not entirely got to the bottom of. There is indeed a cache of pages, to make it quick to get to the next/previous page, but once that cache is empty, it will slow down.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
Freda on Windows Mobile Marketplace

I have published Freda on Windows Mobile Marketplace, which may be of benefit to people who don't feel comfortable with CAB installs.

It's not free (because submitting it to Marketplace has cost me a significant amount of cash, and I need to recoup that). But it is competitively priced :)

Anyone who wants to do me a favour, and doesn't mind paying $0.99 (or local equivalent) to do so, please download it from there and post your (positive, I hope!) experiences in a review on the Marketplace site. Freda is listed for the US English platform, under Books/Readers. I'll add it to the other English locations as time permits (it is a distressingly slow process).

Anyone who just wants to pay me $0.99 (or any other sum) please use the PayPal 'donate' link on my website, since that avoids giving 30% to Microsoft.

Thanks
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] alonroz:
Regional Settings problem

Hi Jim,

The new version is great! Really enjoying it.

One problem that stuck from v1 though:

The device locale has to be set to English (or anything similar) for Freda to load.

If I set the locale to "Hebrew", even when using Gregorian English date format, Freda crashes on startup with this error message:

Specified argument was out of the range of valid values.
Parameter name: value

If I click on Details, this is what I get:

Freda.exe
ArgumentOutOfRangeException
Specified argument was out of the range of valid values.
Parameter name: value

at System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo.set_Calendar(Calendar value)
at System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo..ctor(CultureTableRecord cultureTable, Int32 cultureID, Calendar cal)
at System.Globalization.CultureInfo.get_DateTimeFormat()
at System.Globalization.CultureInfo.GetFormat(Type formatType)
at System.Globalization.DateTimeFormatInfo.get_CurrentInfo()
at System.DateTime.ToShortDateString()
at Freda2.Program.LogMessage(String s)
at Freda2.Program.HandleUnexpectedError(String context, Exception e, Boolean exitIfUndiagnosed)
at Freda2.FredaBook.DoSomeWork()
at Freda2.FredaBook.DoWork()

It's no biggie, as I just change the locale to English every time I want to read, but it's still a hassle. Any way to fix this?

Thank you!!! Expect a donation quite soon.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] mino_gb:
Great app

Thanks for your great app.

I just have 1 comment. After I used Rotate function and exit, my mobile screen could not return the correct position automatically. I had to open Freda and rotate again.

The app will be more comfortable if any change it made with the phone can disappear when it exits.

Anyway, I love your app very much.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
It's actually a rather complicated thing to do (I tried to make it work in v1.1, but it caused all manner of problems).

The first difficulty is that it's hard for a Windows Mobile application to know when it gets 'minimised' (which is what happens when another application is launched or brought to the foreground).

Then there's the problem of all the special cases. The application behaviour should be something along the lines of:

If Freda changes the screen orientation, then when Freda is minimised or exited, Freda should restore the state to what it was before the change that Freda made.​

But, even once you've cracked the problem of detecting 'minimise' events, you need answers for:

- what to do if Freda changes orientation twice in succession: What is the correct orientation to restore now (presumably 'prior to the first change')? What if there was an intervening 'minimise' event? (presumably it's now 'prior to the second change').

- what to do if the orientation is changed while Freda is minimised, and Freda is then brought back to the foreground: Should Freda respect the orientation that's now in force, or attempt to revert to the orientation that was in force before Freda was minimised?

- repeat the previous two questions, but read 'exited' instead of 'minimised'.

- do we want to treat 'open dictionary' and 'open image' exactly the same as the general 'minimise' case? (they both involve launching another application - in one case the dictionary program, in the other, the image viewer).

- there are other even fiddlier cases, but I guess you now have the flavour of the problem.

I worked through all the use-cases, and concluded that any algorithm I could come up with would sometimes do something the user hadn't been expecting, and didn't want. Moreover, the code for detecting 'minimised' events was interacting badly with the HTC Manila framework.

So for Freda2, I opted to keep it simple. Freda just rotates the screen for you, if you tell it to. If you want to rotate the screen when Freda isn't running, you have to do it yourself using the device controls or one of those orientation-changer apps that are out there. At least that behaviour is easy to understand. Unlike this explanation ;)

Thanks for using Freda,

Jim
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
Thanks for the bug report. I will fix.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] jjollyroger:
I report that using a ROM that support "full Manila rotation" there is no problem in closing freda in landscape, at next opening freda will be in portrait mode.

I noticed that the library is not updated when loading the application, so if you have new books in your library folder you need to go to settings and reload manually the library folder to see them listed
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] jasonsf:
Donation on its way. Thanks for all your work!

Jason
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] jasonsf:
Those people can install OMarket from http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/

Um, well, I guess that involves installing one cab file. Oh well.

Jason
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] the0ne:
[youtube]ePISGYgBwt0[/youtube]

short video for the new version
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] tebaomang:
Thanks :D So sad I have no experience in programming :(
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Mirtma:
Samsung Omnia II i8000 & Freda

Still have memory problems.

- Trying to recover memory, then Sorry: Freda has run out of memory and cannot continue.

I reinstalled it to main memory. When I restart device it works (at first) then again error. Clean RAM doesn't help.

Device is new (5 days), no mods installed.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
I've had one report that suggests this problem can result from issues with the .NET Compact framework. Freda requires the .NET Compact Framework v3.5. Can you check whether that is installed on your device (if it is, it will be mentioned on the 'Settings->Remove Programs' list).

If necessary you can find it by searching on the Microsoft website for ".NET Compact Framework Redistributable".

Please let me know how you get on.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Mirtma:
Freda & Omnia II

I tried to install, but I get message, that a later version of Net Compact framework is already installed.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
Does it tell you what version is installed? Is it 3.7?

Anyhow, can you find Freda's log file (file name 'logfile.txt', located in the same folder as the Freda.exe program, so it may be "\program files\freda\logfile.txt").? If you could email that file to me at freda@turnipsoft.co.uk, I will take a look and see what I need to fix.

Thanks,

Jim
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Mirtma:
I've send you log file on Email.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] jandre:
If I add a new book to the folder where my books are, then program doesn't show it. I must delete folder in program and add it again.

In previous versions (before 2.0) no problem with that.

Regards.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
Actually, you don't have to delete the folder from the library - you can just tell it to re-scan the folder, and it will add to the library any new files that are now in the folder.

It works this way because in v2 I have redefined what 'library' means. In v1, the 'library' just meant 'all the books in a certain folder'. But that caused problems for people who had more than one folder of books, or who wanted to read books on-line. So in v2, the 'library' is a database of various different sources where books might come from, and it doesn't automatically refresh itself whenever a particular source changes.

Jim
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Mirtma:
Did you get my logfile?
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
Yes I have it, thankyou.

As for how to tell which .NetCF version you are running, you may be able to see that on the Settings>Remove Programs screen (you'll see ".Net Compact Framework" on the list of installed apps, and that should have a version number next to it.

From a quick look at your log file, I can see that Freda is very low on memory - which means that something else on the phone is using all the memory. It could be a problem with the DLLs loaded by other applications on the phone (or installed as part of the ROM). I'm doing work on a new version of the program that may work better in your situation (to be specific, it may depend on fewer DLLs) - so I will let you know when that is ready to test.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Mirtma:
I didn't find .net on list of programs. Will wait for new version.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] AT B-S:
I'am having the same issue as Mirtma but after using CleanRam i have the memory problem after a longer period.

Before using CleanRam (level3) i couldnt read more than 3 page's.

Also on my Blackstone (with Mikefficient ROM 13) i have no statusbar or menubar, freda covers all of the screen. Maybe that is normal with version 2.2 but on your homepage are screenshots showing an menubar and statusbar.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Raudi1:
Maybe you could add an option to monitor a folder. That would cause no additional problems and work for most of the people who have just one folder...

Maybe you could even recycle some code of v1 for it.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
The trouble is that if a folder holds a lot of books, reading it takes a long time. The operating system doesn't tell Freda when a folder has changed, so the only way to do what you suggest is to re-scan the folder every time you're looking at the library. That's what v1 does, and it produces nasty results (i.e. long periods of looking at a spinning ball and a blank screen) if you have a lot of books in your library.

On my phone, I have about 5,000 books. v1 was taking about 15 minutes to open the library screen if I pointed it at the folder containing all of them.

I agree I could make it into an 'optional' behaviour, though to be honest I suspect this will just provide another source of confusion ;) . Certainly, it is not logical to implement 'monitor this source continuously' behaviour only for folder sources; it would only make sense if the feature was available for all source types. Actually OPDS sources is the case where it would be really useful behaviour (since it would give you a neat way to monitor on-line sources for 'newly added' books). It is on the list for future developments.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
I'd expect the status & menu bars to be invisible when you're looking at pages of a book, but to be visible on the shorcuts screen and all the settings/options/search/bookshelf/library etc. screens. That is as shown on the screenshots on the homepages.

If you're not getting that behaviour, something odd is happening; please send me a screenshot (to freda@turnipsoft.co.uk) and I will investigate.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Mirtma:
I didn't try with level3 CleanRam (Only lvl2. I don't know why, perhaps I've forgot it has 3 lvls :rolleyes:). Will do that and see.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Mirtma:
No, CleanRam lvl3 doesn't help me. :(
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] IngoBN:
Same Error, same device (Samsung Omnia II).

NetCF 3.5 is installed. Free memory: about 46 MB.

Same Error after softreset: Free memory: about 65 MB...

CU, Ingo
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] jandre:
Where's the option of re-scan? I've got build 104 and I can't find this option in Library icon.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Mirtma:
I found version of .netCF in registry: 3.5.9198.00.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Kossiak:
"Freda has run out of memory and cannot continue" pops up after 3-10 pages.

Samsung Omnia II and Freda don't seem to be compatible. I really hope Jim will eventually find a way to fix this as the software itself looks very promising.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Fif23:
JC, Superb application ! Probably the best ebook solution for WM at the moment.

Could you possibly work with a UI guy and make this thing look more like Stanza or GoodReader in the near future ? You've already done the hard part.

This is exactly what this app needs and I see bright future for it on WP7

I am willing to help arrange the required donations so that Freda 3 will be a proper touch-multi touch UI ebook reader.

Let me know how it works, if it's possible, etc.. Maybe I can help find guys.

Thanks !
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] IngoBN:
1+

very good idea...
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
Freda Windows Phone 7

I'm hard at work now on the Windows Phone 7 (WP7) port, which will have a much more touch-oriented UI, and will use WP7 animation, multi-touch, etc. As you surmised, quite a lot of the internals (rendering engine, settings management etc.) have ported across quite easily - but the UI is a pretty fundamental change.

I've actually got a commercial partner (an on-line ebook publishing/sharing firm) for the WP7 port, so - in addition to a general-use WP7 Freda program - there will also be a version that is tied to that firm's site and community. So you can all be confident that that development will actually happen :)

At this stage, I'm not sure whether I'll be back-porting any of the WP7 UI features into the WinMo 6.x/5/2003/WinCE code-line. I guess it will depend partly on whether those platforms fade away, or whether they co-exist with WP7 - because any back-port would be:

- a significant job (WP7 and WM6/... are radically different)

- limited to only a few devices (WM6/... do not provide a standard way to handle touch & multi-touch, so anything I built would depend on device-specific libraries).

The reason why the WM6.x GUI is so clunky is that it uses the standard GUI elements (Winforms, .NetCF) provided by the operating system. This was a deliberate design choice; as it's a spare time project for me, Freda is never going to get the number of developer-hours that a major commercial venture could offer ... so I opted to prioritise function over form, and use exisiting built-in GUI functionality rather than rolling my own. Even so, more than 50% of Freda's coding time has gone on GUI-building. WP7 will have a better GUI simply because the OS provides infinitely better GUI components out of the box.

There will, in any case, be at least one more 2.x release for WM6.x/5/2003/WinCE, to fix assorted bugs and to improve the integration with on-line book sources. Beyond that, my plans aren't clear - but as they evolve, I will keep the forum updated.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
Memory Issues (Omnia II etc.)

I'm working on a Freda build that uses memory differently - and this may work better for people who are having 'out of memory' problems. That seems to be particularly the case for Omnia II devices.

I've had email contacts from various people reporting problems, and I will send you a test build when done (may be some time in the next week, depending on my other commitments). Anyone who wants to be sure of receiving that test build, you can email me (home@jim-chapman.net or freda@turnipsoft.co.uk) and I will include you in the mail-out.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
Sorry - rescan is just reload. Just 'load' the source again, and any new EPUBS will be added (existing ones will be left alone).
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] bluenote73:
EDIT: Darn it, I hate to give bad info, but it turns out this one is my fault. Apparently I can't distinguish between .pdb and .epub ...

Hey Jim

Adding again doesn't seem to work for me, no result.

thanks for your work

Cory

ps. but adding a single file specifically does work, although with no browse, very awkwardly
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] jjollyroger:
usually any app that lock the backlight on should prevent the stand by, but also the only use of auto scroll should maintain the cpu active and prevent stand by.

I noticed that using backlight locked (also using autoscroll+backlight locked) does not prevent the device from going in stand by after a while, it seems that it doesn't recognize freda as an active running application also if listed in task manager :confused:
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
The way that I intend Freda to work is:

When you have backlight locked on, the backlight will stay locked on (and the device will not go into standby). But if you do nothing for ten minutes, it will allow the backlight to turn off and will allow standby. 'Doing nothing' means not touching the screen or controls.

It behaves this way whether or not you have autoscroll enabled.

I implemented this behaviour because, without this ten minute time-out, Freda becomes a real battery-killer.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] jjollyroger:
my hd2 goes in standby after 5 min ( time I setted in power saving options) ,it seems that freda can't bypass this setting .

Anyway on my device the battery draining when using freda is not high , I think 5-7% each hour (using black bacground)
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] pox67:
Hi Jim, have used version 1 for a while now and just bought version 2 off the Marketplace. It looks great, really love the time in the bottom corner.

I am surprised to hear that you are developing for WP7. I had thought most XDA forumers would be moving to Android as WP7 is a locked down system much like the iphone.

I intend to go to Android, hopefully using my HTC HD2 so I can keep WM6.5 as well.

Will you do an Android version of Freda?
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
Not much point really - Aldiko already fills that niche pretty well, as far as I am aware.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Dragon Whisperer:
Hi,

My first XDA post! On to business...

I just put Freda on my HD2. I'm trying to add epub (DRM-free) files as it describes in the online manual (Library -> Actions -> Add books -> Add folder) but none of the books are appearing in the library when I add them (so I can't open any of them in Freda)... any clue why this might be so?

Thanks in advance!
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
The user interface for adding a folder is not ideal (I know, I wrote it!) - so can I just check: are you making sure you select the folder name (i.e. you tap on the folder name itself)? If you've managed to select the folder, then the white box at the top of the screen will contain the folder name.

From there, you should tap OK, to add the books to the library.

Another possible problem could be the book file names. They will only be added to Freda's library if they end in one of:

epub

zip

html

htm

.txt

You can check the file names by using a file explorer on the phone, or using ActiveSync.

Another possible problem is that for some reason you are trying to tell Freda to add its temporary folder to the library. Freda won't let you do this, because it is a dangerous thing to do. Freda's temp folder ("\program files\freda\temp", unless you changed that setting) is for temporary files and folders only, and you shouldn't keep any other files in it. The risks:

1) You may confuse Freda by overwriting one of its working files

2) As/when Freda decides to clean up its temporary folder, your precious files will get wiped out.

Please let me know how you get on.
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Dragon Whisperer:
Thanks Jim!! That solved it. :)
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] alienex:
Hi Jim - I'm having a memory problem - I have a Touch HD and using Energy ROM. After about 3-4 pages it says about recovering memory and then after another 3-4 it says freda has to close due to memory.

I have tried cleaning memory whilst Freda is running and it doesnt seem to help.

I'll email you for a test build if that's ok?
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] hosamn:
More About Dictionary integration Please!!

:)Great work!! Thank you very much...

:rolleyes:Um... I think I need little favor here..:rolleyes:

In the help pages I found this

would you explain the ""|lookup='{0}'"" part a little more....

I have tried very hard but I can NOT force my slovoed to get the word I'm trying to lookup, Freda was able to start the dictionary engine but no matter what arguments I try to pass, The dictionary doesn't "paste" the word.

and by the way do you have any idea how to start the 'resident' module or pass anything to it??!!
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Hundera:
Hi,

at first, thanks for great application. I'm using it every day. I have only 2 nice to have features, that makes freda really perfect for me.

1, In my case, most used feature (except turn page ;-)) is changing presets. At least twice a day switching day/night preset. Is possible to put icon for presets change into main menu? Now it's not very comfortable to change it (settings/actions/use preset...)

2, I was using auto-scroll function on others book readers, but I don't like how it is implemented in freda. Page is not moving continuously, but line by line. It makes reading difficult (every time it moves, I loose line that I'm reading). And reading box on bottom of page is even worse.

Is possible to add another type of auto-scroll? I think the best one is in alreader.

There is moving line which is redrawing page. This redrawing could be line by line, because page itself doesn't move and can be easily read.

But even without these features it's really great application.

thanks
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] kamerunka:
it's nice, my main complain, it's terribly slow, compared to alreader it is like a snail
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] hosamn:
Hey Jim an answer would be nice, thank you!!
[Windows Mobile Apps and Games] Jim Chapman:
What dictionary program are you using? Is it SlovoEd?

In that case, the right dictionary command string on the settings screen is "\Program Files\SlovoEd 7\SlovoEd.exe|res" (without the quote marks).

If Freda finds SlovoEd on your phone, it should create that setting automatically. (If it isn't there, try doing Load Preset->Restore Factory Settings). If SlovoEd is installed but to a different program folder, that setting will be different, in the obvious way.