Asus Eee Note, a peek within....

Hey pb, (and everyone else),

I've been trying to keep track of many of the dvt_check scripts and have been pushing them onto the github repository. Please feel free to clone and push changes at your leisure.

Joshua

 

You know, there are a few weird things in the /etc/profile, but my embedded Linux experience doesn't involve much in the way of graphics and UI.

Why does it try to make a link for the /usr/share/fonts from a non-existent 4.5.3 Qt version? The one installed on the Eee Note is 4.6.

 

Hi all,

I've discovered some interesting information about the GIF images contained in the notes.

When you create a note, it appears that there are 2 images created in each GIF file.

The first image's header information states that it is a 256 color image with a greyscale palette, but the image data only contains the colors black and white.

The image data then contains a custom GIF "Application Extension Block" having a signature of "ENOTGIFE001". The extension block contains the LZW compressed data for the second, hidden image.

The second image is a true 256 color, greyscale image that has been inverted so the drawn area is white and the background is black. The inverted image is also has much smoother lines than the primary image data.

I suspect that the two images are used to retain both stroke and pressure data while keeping that data encapsulated in the GIF image. When we view the image on the EeeNote, the two sets of image data are combined using an internal algorithm to provide a resulting image that looks a lot nicer on our tablets than it does on our computer monitors.

I don't know how the image combination is performed at this point, but I'll try to investigate that further.

What I also found is that images inserted into a note have a slightly different image format.

With an inserted image, the primary image data is retained in full 256 color greyscale, while the secondary image is pure white.

This means that we can create our own .NTE files from our own images and import them as notes using the Sync software.

An NTE file is actually a Microsoft CAB file which contains the GIF images and a "noteinfo.xml" file. The noteinfo file identifies the note name, it's last access time, each image in the note, the page number of that image, the creation time of the page, and the background template used for the note.

If you create a 768x888, 256 color GIF image with a standard greyscale palette, you can strip the GIF end tag, then append the application extension block data, then append LZW compressed data for a 768x888 all white GIF, then append the GIF end tag.

Next, you build a "noteinfo.xml" file that contains the image name.

Finally, take that processed GIF file and the "noteinfo.xml" file and package it into a MS CAB file with an extension of ".nte".

Import the .nte as a note using the Sync software and you have a new, custom note.

I've created a .NET console program that will fix your existing GIFs, create the XML file and package it all into a .NTE file that is importable with the Sync software. The program still needs some polishing. I need to add a check on the image files to ensure that the palette data is correct and the image dimensions and color depths are correct.

Once I have the program a bit more polished, I'll post a link and instructions.

pb

 

Yamda is Japanese EA800 user, he created python script.
This script got a content file from EA800.

I'm captured packet between Eee note EA800 and Eee Note Sync (2) (this url is written by Japanese language)

ea800_downloader.py

Usage: python ea800_downloader.py FOLDER_ID OUT_DIR

FOLDER_ID:
0 : book
2 : photo
4 : note
8 : temp(empty?)
12: DB file
14: template file
31: all file?
32: resource file
33: setting files
34: annotation file
35: library
37: bookreader



If you can get note file, please execute following command.

python ea800_downloader.py 4 C:\tmp\eeenote

 

Hi all,

This ea800_downloader.py script is very interesting.

The dvt_check trick requires a external microSD card. Also, if ASUS somehow want to disable this trick in subsequent updates, mods based on dvt_check script will be broken.

However, this python script can download many files, including /eTablet/etc/launcher/Config.xml and others in /eTablet folder. Modification of the script should therefore enable another route to mods (though maybe limited) by uploading modified config files.

 

Hi osakanataro and everyone else,

Using "dvt_check" script here, I found the relationship between FOLDER_ID above and directory path in EA800.

0: /eTablet/var/ebook
2: /eTablet/var/photos
4: /eTablet/var/enotes
8: ?
12: /eTablet/etc/db
14: /eTablet/etc/template
31: /eTablet
32: /usr/local/eTablet/bin
33: /eTablet/etc
34: /eTablet/var
35: /usr/local/eTablet/lib
37: /usr/local/eTablet/bin/ebookreader

So we can download (and also upload maybe) files in /eTablet and /usr/local/eTablet/{bin,lib} through TCP/IP connection over USB.

For example, we can download /eTablet/* to local directory C:\tmp\eeenote by executing the following command:
python ea800_downloader.py 31 C:\tmp\eeenote

I also found that Eee Note Sync uses "uploadfile" and "noteimportbook" command when it imports the .nte files to EA800.
And there are also other commands "restoreadd" and "restoredel" for restoring files. They may also be useful to upload files.

 

isn't the idea with these devices is to take the battery as far as possible? wouldn't regular linux burn power much quicker? as of now i'm being told that the battery lasts about 10hrs (?)

 

Hi all,

The EeeNote GIF fixer and note builder program is available here:
http://www.peterbarrette.com/EeeNote/EeeNoteGif.zip

The program will take your original image files, modify them to work as EeeNote note pages, then package those images into ".nte" files that can be imported using the sync software.

Please note, this program requires the .NET 3.5 Framework.

Also note the image format requirements:
- One or more GIF, JPG, PNG, or BMP files.
- Animated GIFs have not been tested.

To use the program, just drag and drop one or more images onto the exe file. It will perform some basic checks on the image, make corrections where needed and build a ".nte" file that you can then import.

If you drag multiple images onto the exe at the same time, the note will be created with as many pages as are dropped. I have tested up to 27, but it should handle more.

- The program no longer modifies your images. It creates copies in your temp directory, modifies those, then deletes the copies once they have been packaged into the .NTE file.
- The ".nte" file will be created in the same directory as your images and will have a filename that is based on the first image in your drag-drop selection.
- The note file's title will also have a name based on your image names.

There is a README file included in the zip file and I suggest you read it before you create and import a note.

Please let me know via PM if you have any problems and I will try to help.
Also PM me if you have any suggestions, or would like the C# source code. The code is mostly uncommented and very ugly.

pb

 

Tried the GIF Fixer. Like pbarette mentioned, when all the requirements are satisfied, there were no problems with the conversion. Editing with Eee Note works as well.





This is what happens when I resized the image, but let it remain as a color GIF. Editing still works though....



Note that on both images, 'TESTING' was written using the eraser, not the pens. So the default canvas isn't white...if it's mentioned before, my bad...

 

I love all the stuff you guys are finding out . I really wish I knew more so I could help out.