Related
I would like to pare down my Nook a bit.
I do like the native reader app and I borrow library books.
Yes, I could use the OverDrive reader, but the native reader is much better.
The first thing that went was Shop.apk
It was kind of annoying to search for stuff on my Nook and come up with 50,000 suggestions of books that I could buy.
Social.apk seems to go away painlessly too.
Deleting (or renaming) Home.apk breaks the "Last Read" icon on the desktop.
You can still get there by Library and hitting the top of most recent.
It gets you to the right page.
It probably would not be hard to write an app to do the last read function.
Moreover, you'd have a system icon to do with what you will.
(It sends an intent that is not handled. I'll have to make a receiver and see what it is.)
Okay, deleting Home.apk also breaks additions to Library.
But, you can still borrow books on Adobe Digital Editions and read them by clicking them in a file browser.
Oh, well, might as well delete Library.apk
Hmm, I guess that Library.apk is a search content provider.
Books no longer show up in global search.
I guess that I'll have to roll my own.
Re-enable Home.apk, disable Reader.apk and see what intent goes.
(Last page read is kept in /data/data/com.bn.nook.reader.activities/databases/lastreadingpoint.db
Select ean from lastreadingpoint order by lastupdated
I'm not trying to get around the DRM or anything. I just want to get rid of all the cruft.
I see what you're trying to do here
I've been playing with this some more.
Reader.apk keeps track itself of last page read.
If you just use a file manager to open your books you'll get the right page.
If you are a big library user and use Adobe Digital Editions,
then the info that ADE dumps on your Nook could be integrated nicely.
You could have your books listed and show the return date.
Hmm, do you think it could be possible to fully debrand the device and have it running a normal, common Eclair, but using the actual ROM as base? like, deleting the B&N apps and creating custom providers & intent receivers to avoid FCs and such?
Well, if you delete (or rename) Home.apk and Library.apk but still like to use Reader.apk (the native epub reader),
then you might need a convenient way to get to your last read book.
It's not rocket science and I haven't figured out the little book icon on the status bar yet,
but if you want to get back to your book here is a little app to go to last read.
Put the icon on your desktop and click the "L" to go to last read.
Did you replace library, or just completely delete it?
darkguy2008 said:
Hmm, do you think it could be possible to fully debrand the device and have it running a normal, common Eclair, but using the actual ROM as base? like, deleting the B&N apps and creating custom providers & intent receivers to avoid FCs and such?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've also wondered this, I use my nook for Kindle more than I do B&N lol. It would be great if we could get a ROM to flash that removes everything from the device and just makes it run stock Android then use Kindle and B&N apps, as well as whatever other apps for reading epubs to read our books. Don't know if this is possible but it would be nice, then we could fully repurpose all the buttons on the device purely for Android OS
And make a custom e-ink friendly version of the android homescreen, possibly including no-refresh?
Right now I've got the following apps deleted:
DemoMode.apk
Home.apk
Library.apk
Shop.apk
Social.apk
I will be working on a replacement library app.
I don't use the Kindle app. Do people who do also use the Nook native reader?
At the lowest level, all you need is a file manager.
I presume that each of the readers keep track of last page.
(Regarding the Nook lastreadingpoint:
Going straight to the database is the wrong approach, using the content provider is the right way.
LastRead.apk uses that.)
Ok, it's a neat hack to watch video on the Nook, but you really wouldn't want your Nook in A2 mode all the time.
As I've said before, the best uses of A2 is when an app knows when to use it, when dragging, scrolling, zooming.
If you have the source code to a browser/viewer/whatever, putting wrappers around the dragging/scrolling/zooming operation would be an improvement.
Personally, I have no problem with my ADW Launcher.
That it blurs and trails when parking an app on the desktop is no big deal.
I've got the little book icon on the status bar to open the last book in the native Nook reader.
That is, if you don't have Home.apk or (B&N) Library.apk
Here is a stop-gap release.
It works fine for the "Currently reading" but there is not yet other functionality in it.
I left it as a complete application so that you can easily see if you have it installed.
The actual "application" part of it is a blank screen.
No need to run it or put it on your desktop.
Just install it and click the little book on the status bar.
Renate NST said:
I've got the little book icon on the status bar to open the last book in the native Nook reader.
That is, if you don't have Home.apk or (B&N) Library.apk
Here is a stop-gap release.
It works fine for the "Currently reading" but there is not yet other functionality in it.
I left it as a complete application so that you can easily see if you have it installed.
The actual "application" part of it is a blank screen.
No need to run it or put it on your desktop.
Just install it and click the little book on the status bar.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hm, looks interesting, seems like you've managed to already wrap some events to dummy workers we can attach to in the future and mod this thing up . Awesome!
I'll be testing it somewhere between today and tomorrow. Right now I'm trying to replace the stock keyboard. LatinIME.apk is deleteable but there isn't any working keyboard for it yet (I've tried GO Keyboard, GB Keyboard for Froyo/Eclair and HTC IME with no avail) and it's one of the biggest annoyances I have with it since I need more of a PC-keyboard-lookalike rather than an ebook keyboard
Although I am not getting the point of your mission :-D try Hacker's keyboard. It is possible to google out android 2.1 version. It is the best I have found so far although it is quite dark.
Just thought I'd drop this link here for hacker's keyboard.
http://code.google.com/p/hackerskeyboard/issues/detail?id=57
Also, make sure that after you install it you move it to /system/app
Googie2149 said:
Just thought I'd drop this link here for hacker's keyboard.
http://code.google.com/p/hackerskeyboard/issues/detail?id=57
Also, make sure that after you install it you move it to /system/app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, you rock! I've wanted that keyboard to work specifically. Thanks a lot!!
I've had some progress on the Library replacement.
It's not ready for prime time, but it is cute.
It will list the expiration date of your library books.
It's nice to be able to fit over 10 titles on the screen.
Renate NST said:
I've had some progress on the Library replacement.
It's not ready for prime time, but it is cute.
It will list the expiration date of your library books.
It's nice to be able to fit over 10 titles on the screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's awesome!
When will you release it?
I've been working on two different approaches.
One is to use the Android native mediastore.
There are some bugs with this and it can get out of sync.
The other is to do all the searching for books myself.
That works ok as long as the books are found in the usual places:
/system/media/books
/data/media/B&N Downloads/Books
/media/My Files/Books
/media/Digital Editions
/sdcard/My Files/Books
Are there any other locations that I am missing?
darkguy2008 said:
When will you release it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really don't know if it suits anyone's needs besides my own.
Because the stock Home.apk, Library.apk and Shop.apk are all tied together,
to have my app work correctly you have to rename or delete the three of them.
As far as I know it should allow books bought from B&N to still work correctly,
but I don't know because I don't own any. I only get library books or Gutenberg.
Is it important for people to be able to buy B&N books directly on their Nook?
Renate NST said:
Is it important for people to be able to buy B&N books directly on their Nook?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why not if it's free?
Naturally, I speak for myself only.
You need credit card added to buy B&N free books still...
From another hand you can get same free books somewhere else, right?
Apokrifx is right, also, that app would suit me too. I need a credit card to buy B&N books, which I don't have -and- I'm not interested at all in using it as a reader. If I want to read something I'll download it and slam it through a PDF reader installed on it.
My main use for it is to take out ALL of the B&N stuff and use it as an android tablet, so, to me, it's really useful
I'm using the stock nook reader and renate's Library.apk. How can you make sure the last read icon on the top bar corresponds to the last read file in the library?
I am not sure where this icon gets its link. It doesn't seem to always open the last read file.
I've been thinking about asking this question (although I am using the stock reader AND library apps). My "reading now" button is getting really cranky of late. It often just goes to the first page (cover) or sometimes it goes to the first page AND displays a two-option message about the different current reading positions in two Nook readers (!) and which one do I want (generally neither is correct). Right now the only sure way to get to the correct page is to go to the Library screen and select the book from there. So the Nook does remember, but the Reading Now button is not functioning properly.
For a time I had a number of B&N apps disabled (renamed ".bak") and gradually discovered the imponderable connections that seemed to render little things inoperable. I've had to restore quite a few of the apps to running to keep everything functioning except Nook Community (because the constant "nagifications" drove me crazy) but this button behavior has me baffled (as does the reference to two Nook readers!)
I wonder, are you using any sort of "cleaning" app? I am using Clean Master and find it helpful in freeing up memory but I'm beginning to think that some of the data it is throwing out might just contain the info that the button needs to function properly. It certainly messes with Tasker.
The "Last Read" icon on the status bar sends out the intent com.bn.nook.launch.LAST_BOOK
This would normally be handled by Home.apk
If you deleted Home.apk and are using my Library.apk it has its own receiver for that.
Depending on which version Nook software you have it will query
content://com.bn.nook.reader.providers.lastreadingpointprovider/
content://com.bn.nook.reader.common.providers.lastreadingpointprovider/
The LRP database is maintained by the Reader(RMSDK).apk.
Checking for the latest modification gives you the last book read.
My Library.apk sends an intent out to open that book.
Currently Library.apk does not update the order of books displayed in "Last read" unless the refresh button is hit.
Two things to look for if you are having problems:
If you let the battery die and the WiFi is always off the clock time will be wrong.
If you crash or shutdown improperly Reader(RMSDK).apk will not get a chance to update the LRP.
P.S. I just noticed a possible anomaly if you read PDF's in the reader too.
Oh! It just occurred to me one thing.
I remember opening a book that you have been reading already and it opens at page 1.
This was tied to opening the book in different ways.
There are different ways to open a book:
Through the "Last Read" icon and stock Home.apk
Through the stock Library.apk
Through my Library.apk
Through a file manager application
The LRP database is /data/data/com.bn.nook.reader.activities/databases/lastreadingpoint.db
Code:
CREATE TABLE lastreadingpoint
(_id integer primary key autoincrement,
ean text, // file URI
luid text,
offsetrmsdk text, // subfile path fragment
lastupdated long, // Unix milliseconds last read
bookdna int, // always 1?
sync_status int // always 1?
);
ean (which normally might stand for European Article Number, i.e. "UPC") is a URI, not a path.
Code:
sqlite> select ean from lastreadingpoint;
file:///sdcard/Books/aboveall.epub
...
There may be cases where a single book gets different ean's.
If you could look at LRP and see if this is so?
I actually managed to locate that db file on my own (!) and what seemed to be a companion with related information (readerlocal.db). They seemed to be full of junk info (books that had since been removed, etc.) although there were no duplicate entries, which is what I had suspected.
Anyway, I got a little "brave" (i.e., foolhardy) and decided to clean up both files in a parallel way. Then I pushed them back, reset the permissions and rebooted.
Yikes. My Nook is set to go to the B&N Home screen only on reboot. That screen flickered and flashed, never filling in any of the images. I could still use the "N" button to access other parts of the system and they were working fine, but any return to the Home screen via the Back button showed it was still in distress.
So....restore from backup...again.
It seems OK for now. I have noticed that the little "refresh" button in the Library does sometimes seem to go on and on and on without any accomplishment. I have suspected the issue was how I accessed the book-in-progress as you described. Since I sometimes read more than one book at a time, I'm all over the place with how I do things (including a Library icon in my App home screen). I'm going to try being more disciplined for a while and see how it behaves.
nmyshkin said:
I actually managed to locate that db file on my own (!) and what seemed to be a companion with related information (readerlocal.db). They seemed to be full of junk info (books that had since been removed, etc.) although there were no duplicate entries, which is what I had suspected.
Anyway, I got a little "brave" (i.e., foolhardy) and decided to clean up both files in a parallel way. Then I pushed them back, reset the permissions and rebooted.
Yikes. My Nook is set to go to the B&N Home screen only on reboot. That screen flickered and flashed, never filling in any of the images. I could still use the "N" button to access other parts of the system and they were working fine, but any return to the Home screen via the Back button showed it was still in distress.
So....restore from backup...again.
It seems OK for now. I have noticed that the little "refresh" button in the Library does sometimes seem to go on and on and on without any accomplishment. I have suspected the issue was how I accessed the book-in-progress as you described. Since I sometimes read more than one book at a time, I'm all over the place with how I do things (including a Library icon in my App home screen). I'm going to try being more disciplined for a while and see how it behaves.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would it be possible to write an app that simulates opening the last read book from only one of the Library apps and then map that to the last read icon to simplify this whole system?
mergen3107 said:
Guys, if you are concerned about why sometimes the last read option goes to the 1st page, then it was already fixed by our forum users somewhere here. (I could hardly remember and trace where it all started but finally it was successfully solved)
Just install a file this package (internal.db deep in the 'data' folder. You could delete 'system' folder - this is hyphenations dictionary for Russian) through cwm or replace it manually (the zip contains detailed path) and here you go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that was an interesting trip! Once I had Google do some translating there were a number of really interesting posts that were (mostly) intelligible. I'd want to compare that modified internal.db file with what's already on my Nook before I did any replacing. A lot of the work from that site is "russified" (not surprisingly) and there may be other changes there not really needed/wanted, but it's a good start.
I noticed in another posting there that someone said there is a related issue with in what state the Nook is connected via USB. Apparently the hypothesis is that if you don't connect while in the Library you stand a good chance of scrambling the "reading now" database entry. I've certainly been hooking up with my Nook in all kinds of states, so if that's correct, no wonder my database file was so messed up!
Installation of the internal.db file from the Russian source will not work. I've tried a side-by-side comparison of the file with the one from my Nook (FW 1.21) and there are differences (beyond the region identifier, which is easily changed). It's not at all clear what changes have been made or from what firmware the modified file came. In any case, it causes havoc when exchanged for the native internal.db
The Russian discussion points to this thread on XDA which approaches (and apparently solves) the problem another way. I'm going to give it a try.
nmyshkin said:
Installation of the internal.db file from the Russian source will not work. I've tried a side-by-side comparison of the file with the one from my Nook (FW 1.21) and there are differences (beyond the region identifier, which is easily changed). It's not at all clear what changes have been made or from what firmware the modified file came. In any case, it causes havoc when exchanged for the native internal.db
The Russian discussion points to this thread on XDA which approaches (and apparently solves) the problem another way. I'm going to give it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do I read this correctly, http://bit.ly/Q7MytN from that thread there should be no problem if renates Library.apk is used exclusively and the stock Library.apk has the bug?
So I was thinking of writing a replacement home for my nook touch, as I have a little bit of android development experience under my belt from my previous smartphone. I like the design of the stock home screen, because i mostly use my nook for reading. I never use the B&N store to get books though, so the "popular books" (top 5 of the BN top 100 or whatever) and "new" book sections mean nothing to me...
I'd replace the "new book" part with a random book from the library (in a "pick from a hat" fashion) each time the home is viewed, and replace the "popular books" area with books from a "to read" list the user can determine.
Is this something anyone else would be interested in too, and is there somewhere I can find nook-specific stuff for programming it? (the B&N development page is offline as of discontinuation of the nook color)
tinferbrains said:
So I was thinking of writing a replacement home for my nook touch, as I have a little bit of android development experience under my belt from my previous smartphone. I like the design of the stock home screen, because i mostly use my nook for reading. I never use the B&N store to get books though, so the "popular books" (top 5 of the BN top 100 or whatever) and "new" book sections mean nothing to me...
I'd replace the "new book" part with a random book from the library (in a "pick from a hat" fashion) each time the home is viewed, and replace the "popular books" area with books from a "to read" list the user can determine.
Is this something anyone else would be interested in too, and is there somewhere I can find nook-specific stuff for programming it? (the B&N development page is offline as of discontinuation of the nook color)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm intrigued by this idea. Right now I only see the B&N home screen when I reboot unless I do a long-press of the "n" button. I can foresee the day when those two areas you mention will both be out of luck. In fact, I can foresee the day when just about any app that will run on the NST, but needs to access information from a remote server, will no longer be able to do so.
I have a different suggestion for the "new reads" section. It's probably impractical but what about displaying meta data for the current book there? Of course, the print would have to be on the small side--maybe you'd need to be able to scroll. I've always missed the ability to display this info in the library for side-loaded books (by double-tap). Books from Calibre can have the data as part of the epub file already, there's just no way to access it.
For me, the "what to read next" section could just be a random selection of what's in the library. Or maybe that's a better place for the meta data display.
Just some thoughts. Sounds like an interesting project.
Edit: the more I thought about it, the sillier my suggestion seemed! Your idea is best. I look forward to seeing how it develops.
nmyshkin said:
I'm intrigued by this idea. Right now I only see the B&N home screen when I reboot unless I do a long-press of the "n" button. I can foresee the day when those two areas you mention will both be out of luck. In fact, I can foresee the day when just about any app that will run on the NST, but needs to access information from a remote server, will no longer be able to do so.
I have a different suggestion for the "new reads" section. It's probably impractical but what about displaying meta data for the current book there? Of course, the print would have to be on the small side--maybe you'd need to be able to scroll. I've always missed the ability to display this info in the library for side-loaded books (by double-tap). Books from Calibre can have the data as part of the epub file already, there's just no way to access it.
For me, the "what to read next" section could just be a random selection of what's in the library. Or maybe that's a better place for the meta data display.
Just some thoughts. Sounds like an interesting project.
Edit: the more I thought about it, the sillier my suggestion seemed! Your idea is best. I look forward to seeing how it develops.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like your ideas. Pulling the metadata into the new reads spot might be cool, and random books may be easier than the user-determined list... who knows?
Hi All
Recently want to read some books on my Nook with non-english (simplified chinese) characters, but it fails to display them, only shows squares.
I then search for solution and people say i should root the device replace some fonts.
I then use NookManager to root it, and when I go to /system/fonts, I actually see the fonts that I want to use, but when I go to read the book, the font is not available for me to choose.
What is the solution now please?
luckyvictor said:
I then search for solution and people say i should root the device replace some fonts.
I then use NookManager to root it, and when I go to /system/fonts, I actually see the fonts that I want to use, but when I go to read the book, the font is not available for me to choose.
What is the solution now please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The NST can only use the set fonts that it comes with (without a lot of tinkering). If you just place different fonts in /system/fonts they will be ignored. The trick is to rename your new font so it has the same name as one of the stock fonts (preferably one you don't want to use). So that means you have to rename the stock font you are replacing first (change ttf to bak or something like that) and then rename your new font. Reboot.
Theoretically that should work if your font is compatible.
i cant rename it, do i need a special app to do it? if so, how may I install apps on NST please?
luckyvictor said:
i cant rename it, do i need a special app to do it? if so, how may I install apps on NST please?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you get the font onto the NST in the first place? If you could do that you should be able to rename a file.
i didn't, i just discover it is there after i root the device.
luckyvictor said:
i didn't, i just discover it is there after i root the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's kind of difficult to help because you are giving so little information. It comes out in very slow drips. So let me guess a little and see if we can get this figured out.
You're talking about DroidSansFallback.ttf?
My understanding of that font is that the system uses it when there are characters to display that are out of range (standard or extended ASCII) for the other fonts. So you can't actually select it yourself in the Reader (as you probably found out). Any font you select will "fall back" to DroidSansFallback if characters are encountered beyond extended ASCII (or so).
What seems to be happening is that you have books (PDF? EPUB? It would help to know...) which do not display the simplified Chinese characters. So if you are trying to read EPUBs we need to see if DroidSansFallback includes these characters. If not, then you need to find a different DroidSansFallback that does. If it does have those characters and you are trying to look at an EPUB, there is something about the encoding in the EPUB that is preventing the Nook from interpreting the font characters correctly.
If your books are PDFs it's maybe more complicated.
In your original post it sounds like you read about doing this (i.e., reading Chinese books on the NST) somewhere. Can you refer me to the source and would you be willing to share one of the books here (attach to your next post) so that I can see what you are describing?
Edit: OK, I tracked down a Chinese language epub. The titles displayed OK (I think) in the Library but when I opened the book I just got a bunch of boxes, most with question marks. This seems to be what you described.
I tapped on the screen to bring up the font/size, etc. options. I noticed that "publisher's defaults" was unchecked. When I checked that, I instantly had Chinese characters! See screenshot below. I didn't have to do anything else.
Because it had embedded fonts in the EPUB?
Renate said:
Because it had embedded fonts in the EPUB?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe, but I don't think so. I opened it up with Sigil and there is nothing in the Fonts folder.
sorry i was being inactive because of easter holiday with kids.
yes i am trying to read a epub book and the front page display the chinese correctly.
and I did try publisher default, when it is unchecked, I got empty square box displayed, when it is checked, it display square box with question mark inside.
and for the font, i got only options of Caecilia, malabar, amasis, gill sans, helvetica heue and trebuchet, cant; scroll up or down to see more options.
btw, when i tap to show the menu of content/find/go to/text/more, the chinese title of the book displayed correctly at the top left corner together with the time at top right corner.
luckyvictor said:
sorry i was being inactive because of easter holiday with kids.
yes i am trying to read a epub book and the front page display the chinese correctly.
and I did try publisher default, when it is unchecked, I got empty square box displayed, when it is checked, it display square box with question mark inside.
and for the font, i got only options of Caecilia, malabar, amasis, gill sans, helvetica heue and trebuchet, cant; scroll up or down to see more options.
btw, when i tap to show the menu of content/find/go to/text/more, the chinese title of the book displayed correctly at the top left corner together with the time at top right corner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So could you post a copy of an epub here (or pm me and attach a copy if you prefer) so that I can see what is the difference?
nmyshkin said:
So could you post a copy of an epub here (or pm me and attach a copy if you prefer) so that I can see what is the difference?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. I think I have a "fix" for you. I can't take credit for it. I found it in a Mobilread forum posting from 2012. It has worked for me with the book you provided as well as others I have downloaded myself from various places.
The short explanation is that you need to choose a reader font you don't much like (I do not care for either Caecilia or Trebuchet) and rename each version of the font in /system/fonts something like Trebuchet.ttf.bak, etc. Each variety of the font, bold, italic, etc., needs to be similarly renamed.
Then you download this font and rename it to Trebuchet.ttf (or Caecilia.ttf or whichever you have chosen) and copy it into /system/fonts.
Then you reboot.
When you open your book, select the "new" Trebuchet or whichever as the font. You should see Chinese characters. You can still change size, line spacing, etc.
Thankfully I have found the solution to this issue in post #11. I like my BOOK and don't want to buy a new one. It is a present from my mother, which means a lot to me, and I got used to it. It helped me to understand the importance of reading. I wasn't enjoying reading books, The NOOK made reading books extremely comfortable, and I started to read whenever I had some free time. It is compact, so I can carry it wherever, so I always read it while on the bus, taking lunch at my office or home before going to sleep.
NancyPollard said:
Have you found a solution to this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try what's in post #11?
I must have a unique way of using my devices because I've never seen this issue reported on the forum.
Firstly, I just want to say that lastreadingpoint.db seems to be something of a garbage bin. I'm working with one of my older devices right now (formerly my principal reader) and the db is filled with books that were deleted long ago. Now, perhaps, cleanup of this file is supposed to happen when books are removed via UMS since that's the only provision B&N made for removing side-loaded content, but I doubt it. Since I just use a file manager, I may be frustrating some grand design that would keep the db file tidy. NOT.
But I digress. My real beef is the unpredictability of the button. When I select a new book from the library and move along a few pages to the first chapter, I often return to the home page to deal with some other things and then set the device aside until I'm ready to start my new book. But when I do return and tap that button, I generally get the last book I just finished (at the last page....). If I have deleted that book already then I'll get some other book, maybe an anthology I frequent, wherever I left off.
Inspection of lastreadingpoint.db shows no indication that I ever selected a new book.
I have struggled with this for a long time and realize that without knowing exactly when and under what circumstances the db would actually be updated, this is really difficult to run down. I just tried another experiment and put the device to sleep manually after starting a new book (book still displayed). Then I woke it up and returned to the home screen (i.e., my launcher, not the B&N Home). The "now reading" button worked correctly! And repeatedly.
BUT...A look at lastreadingpoint.db still did not show that the new book had been opened! This helps explain why my overtures with sqlite were not having much effect.
It's a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, enclosed in a B&N box.
I just want the #$%&*% button to do what you would expect it to do without a lot of nonsense. It's easier to get it to consistently open a current Kindle book then to open an epub in the stock reader.
Why?
Edit: The next day: I accessed the book one more time this morning without any problem and copied out the database again. This time it finally showed an entry for the book with the correct access time.
Edit: 9-12-22 Nothing seems to work consistently except for one change. I have installed on my devices a little app called "NookReader". It's buried deep in the old posts of the forum and its purpose is to allow epubs to be opened via a file manager (which I never do). In effect it creates a "listener" which the stock system lacks.
Well, it seems the stock system doesn't like eavesdropping. When I uninstalled the app from the device I had been experimenting with the effect was immediate and I was able to move from selection to selection, each time returning to the most recent book correctly using the "now reading" button. Another device required an uninstall as well as a reboot in order to start behaving properly.
Moral: if you're not using it, get rid of it!
nmyshkin said:
I have struggled with this for a long time and realize that without knowing exactly when and under what circumstances the db would actually be updated, this is really difficult to run down. I just tried another experiment and put the device to sleep manually after starting a new book (book still displayed). Then I woke it up and returned to the home screen (i.e., my launcher, not the B&N Home). The "now reading" button worked correctly! And repeatedly.
BUT...A look at lastreadingpoint.db still did not show that the new book had been opened! This helps explain why my overtures with sqlite were not having much effect.
It's a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, enclosed in a B&N box.
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@nmyshkin ... even i've struggled with something like this ... inconsistencies of the last reading point actions ...
nmyshkin said:
Edit: 9-12-22 Nothing seems to work consistently except for one change. I have installed on my devices a little app called "NookReader". It's buried deep in the old posts of the forum and its purpose is to allow epubs to be opened via a file manager (which I never do). In effect it creates a "listener" which the stock system lacks.
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Click to collapse
are you referring to the app that goes by 'dev.nookreader.apk' ? ... for now i've just renamed it to 'dev.nookreader.apk.bkp' so its as good as removed ...
some database problems i think i can report, one that i've annoyingly encountered, in this I've sometimes found the order of the books in the default library aren't displayed as they should have ... Iam referring to the 'Most Recent' sorting option where the last opened/accessed book should ideally show up at the top most ... BUT SADLY IT DOESN'T !!! ...
Most annoying is when i search a book open and read it and expect it to show up on the top or at least in the first few pages of the library ... but they don't ... search is the only option to reopen such a book ...
Aren't the books that are opened using the 'Search' option of the library not supposed to show high up the library ?
I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO GET THIS ANNOYANCE RID OF ... i would love to find all the last accessed books in the topmost sorting order as its supposed to work ...
I don't even know what database records the last accessed book information ... any and all help appreciated to identify and fix this annoyance.
PS : Are "New"' books(Lend Me) installed from the B&N store supposed to show up at the topmost ?
Update : strangely the searched book shows up in the B&N Home under 'READING Now' section but its not showing in the Library as the topmost book in it ... another inconsistent DB recording ???
aiamuzz said:
Update : strangely the searched book shows up in the B&N Home under 'READING Now' section but its not showing in the Library as the topmost book in it ... another inconsistent DB recording ???
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OK, well, I can't say that I know a lot more now than when I started this thread.
What I can say is that the device seems to work with a copy of the database in RAM or else keeps variables in RAM that are not written to the database until much, much later (like during or after a nap).
I began to think about how I use the device vs. how B&N intended it to be used so I made a few tests going from the B&N Home to the Library, to a book. Then, there is really only one way to get out of the book and that is through the QuickNav buttons. I thought that maybe the trigger to the database update was somewhere in there, but I saw the same inconsistent results and delayed updating of the file as with my own sequence.
This is why I eventually abandoned the database as a source of info for my SetCover app and started relying (at least partly) on my own data. All I can say for "sure" at this point is that a good nap on the open book seems to aid in the correct information making its way into the database. Not very technical, I know.
If you are getting really spurious behavior from your lastreadingpoint.db or you find that it is full of deadwood, you can clean out the entire thing as here. Of course you will lose absolutely everything in the database if you do that, so it's a "last gasp" scenario.
For me, things seem to have calmed down if I just leave an epub open in the stock reader for awhile. And after all, what's the rush to get back to the home screen? (in general). That's not how the reader was probably meant to be used.
aiamuzz said:
Update : strangely the searched book shows up in the B&N Home under 'READING Now' section but its not showing in the Library as the topmost book in it ... another inconsistent DB recording ???
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Click to collapse
Can you run this test ?
1. Open stock library.
2. Search for some book that is buried in the last pages of the Library.
3. Open that book from the search results.
4. Flip a few pages to emulate that you've read that book.
Ideally that book should be the Last Read (Reading Now) ... WHICH INDEED DOES WORK SO !!!
Having been a recent book that one has read ...
The Library app should also show that book on the very first page as its the most recent one ... BUT IT DOES NOT SHOW SO IN THE LIBRARY !!!
I would really like the searched and opened books to move to the front pages of the Library App and stay there and get moved down as and when other books are opened ... at worst it should be easily locatable in the first few pages of the Library App ... the 'recent' book sorting option in the Library and the place where this info is stored may have to be trouble shot ...
aiamuzz said:
Can you run this test ?
1. Open stock library.
2. Search for some book that is buried in the last pages of the Library.
3. Open that book from the search results.
4. Flip a few pages to emulate that you've read that book.
Ideally that book should be the Last Read (Reading Now) ... WHICH INDEED DOES WORK SO !!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, there you are. I've never used the "search" function on the NST for anything! But I did, just to humor you, and I see that it actually turns up a "hit".
I use the Library almost exclusively in shelf format. What I personally would like is for the @%W$#% Library to remember that. Of course, it will not, because then I would not see all the nifty new books I just purchased (NOT) from B&N as they are delivered.
Any "adjustments" to the Library behavior are beyond my pay grade and you won't get you-know-who interested in that either, as she has her own Library app. I've looked at a lot of Library alternatives. There were many promising looking ones in the early days but all seem to have been abandoned at some incomplete point by their developers (except for the one mentioned above).
I just live with it. I don't have hundreds of books on my device. When I finish a book I actually delete it (gasp!) [except for something like the Bible].
But it would be nice to understand the rules or thinking behind the "reading now" business. However, since the database doesn't seem to accept input (although you can read from it), it doesn't matter much I guess.