Changing graphics
To see how things work, let’s start with a very simple customisation. At the top left of the kBookAssets.png image is the word ‘Reader’ which appears on the main screen. Although you can put your name and other information on the About screen, people will have to hunt for it. So, we’ll replace the Reader logo with some contact details.
You need to create an image that’s 210 pixels across, and 70 high, with a black background.
The new logo should be 210 x 70 pixels, with a black background and white text, to match the existing screens
We’ve put the name of the reader, and a PO Box address, in case it’s found and someone wants to post it back. You can put whatever you want in there, but remember there’s limited space. Now, open kBookAssets.png, and paste the new image into the top left, over the word ‘Reader’. Save the file and then copy it into the appropriate place for your reader’s model and firmware, in the folder where you extracted the Universal Flasher.
For a UK 505 with the latest firmware that’s:
files.505.1.2.00.18050/opt/sony/ebook/application/resources/scripts.
Paste the new image into the top left of kBookAssets.png
Now, find a blank SD card and copy everything in the Universal Flasher folder to the root directory of the card, then slot it into the Sony Reader. When the display appears, press 5 to create an image from the files on the SD card. Once the image has been created, press 6 to flash it to the Reader; after a pause, it will reboot, and you’ll see the new logo at the top of the main screen. Replacing the icons and fonts is done in a similar way – files you put on the card replace those already on the Reader.
After flashing, our Reader has a return address visible on the main screen.
COMMENTS
Yep, temptation won in the end.
I bought one of the Sony readers recently because it clearly now does a little more than when first released and there is so much material to read. And it seems there are people dedicated to removing the defective-by-design DRM from protected books so many of those can be had free too. But of course if the publishers would make eBooks a little cheaper then buying them would feel less of a rip-off.
Now, all I need is to find time to live, work and sleep in between reading and I'm all set!
@ Well, pretty much everybody
I've had a PRS505 ever since they went on sale in the UK, being both a book buff (whatever one of those is) and a lover of gadgetry in all its forms.
Several points spring to mind:
1) As has been said, when travelling, one PRS505 is way more portable than even a couple of paperbacks. Compared to the 5 or 6 paperbacks I used to carry, it's no contest, and the electronic version allows even more variety. Battery life is good for 2 week trips without a recharge, even when spending hours every evening in hotel rooms reading.
2) The price. I paid £200 for mine. However, I have read well over 100 free books on it, there's a huge amount of copyright free classic stuff out there for free download. As these are all out of copyright, they would normally retail at £2-3 in paperback, so the device has paid for itself and more, and has expended my reading as a bonus.
3) The scope. There's a load of stuff out there for download that is out of print, or never made it into print in the first place. I've found loads of stuff from the golden age of Science Fiction, for example, all out of copyright and freely available. One day I might buy a book for download, but I doubt it will happen any time soon.
The lack of depreciation despite there being no stock shortage should be the clue. These are deeply gorgeous machines (let down, as ever, by the shite supporting software - pull your finger out, Sony....).
GJC
Uh-oh!
Auto-executed JavaScript on removable SD cards?! Uh-oh! Here come the viruses...
@Gerard Krupa: re PDFs
If your reader isn't rendering PDFs well, make sure you're running the latest firmware. I agree that the firmware that shipped with my 505 was hopeless on PDFs, but since getting the new firmware I read quite a bit in PDFs and it's totally fine.
Since PDF is a page-description format, it's really not suitable for ebooks, and it's foolish for people to publish ebooks as PDFs, but if that's all you have, then reflowing like the new firmware does is about the best that can be done.
@ dima..
home insurance clain? or some such similar insurance prod to replace rather than repair?
i wouldn't mind one of these but i'm a habitual late-adopter.. mostly due to financial constraints.. and i might never put the thing down if i had one and that might be a bad thing.
i liked the article and it's light approach as an intro on how-to etc. well written, more of this please Monsenior El Vulture.. this is much better than the bash-the-government-for-yet-another-software-snafu stuff.. :)
