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171 lines
6.5 KiB
Markdown
171 lines
6.5 KiB
Markdown
# CrossPoint Reader
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Firmware for the **Xteink X4** e-paper display reader (unaffiliated with Xteink).
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Built using **PlatformIO** and targeting the **ESP32-C3** microcontroller.
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CrossPoint Reader is a purpose-built firmware designed to be a drop-in, fully open-source replacement for the official
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Xteink firmware. It aims to match or improve upon the standard EPUB reading experience.
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## Motivation
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E-paper devices are fantastic for reading, but most commercially available readers are closed systems with limited
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customisation. The **Xteink X4** is an affordable, e-paper device, however the official firmware remains closed.
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CrossPoint exists partly as a fun side-project and partly to open up the ecosystem and truely unlock the device's
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potential.
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CrossPoint Reader aims to:
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* Provide a **fully open-source alternative** to the official firmware.
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* Offer a **document reader** capable of handling EPUB content on constrained hardware.
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* Support **customisable font, layout, and display** options.
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* Run purely on the **Xteink X4 hardware**.
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This project is **not affiliated with Xteink**; it's built as a community project.
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## Features & Usage
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- [x] EPUB parsing and rendering (EPUB 2 and EPUB 3)
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- [ ] Image support within EPUB
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- [x] Saved reading position
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- [x] File explorer with file picker
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- [x] Basic EPUB picker from root directory
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- [x] Support nested folders
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- [ ] EPUB picker with cover art
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- [x] Custom sleep screen
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- [x] Cover sleep screen
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- [x] Wifi book upload
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- [x] Wifi OTA updates
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- [x] Configurable font, layout, and display options
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- [ ] User provided fonts
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- [ ] Full UTF support
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- [x] Screen rotation
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Multi-language support: Read EPUBs in various languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, [and more](./USER_GUIDE.md#supported-languages).
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See [the user guide](./USER_GUIDE.md) for instructions on operating CrossPoint.
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For more details about the scope of the project, see the [SCOPE.md](SCOPE.md) document.
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## Installing
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### Web (latest firmware)
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1. Connect your Xteink X4 to your computer via USB-C
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2. Go to https://xteink.dve.al/ and click "Flash CrossPoint firmware"
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To revert back to the official firmware, you can flash the latest official firmware from https://xteink.dve.al/, or swap
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back to the other partition using the "Swap boot partition" button here https://xteink.dve.al/debug.
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### Web (specific firmware version)
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1. Connect your Xteink X4 to your computer via USB-C
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2. Download the `firmware.bin` file from the release of your choice via the [releases page](https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader/releases)
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3. Go to https://xteink.dve.al/ and flash the firmware file using the "OTA fast flash controls" section
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To revert back to the official firmware, you can flash the latest official firmware from https://xteink.dve.al/, or swap
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back to the other partition using the "Swap boot partition" button here https://xteink.dve.al/debug.
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### Manual
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See [Development](#development) below.
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## Development
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### Prerequisites
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* **PlatformIO Core** (`pio`) or **VS Code + PlatformIO IDE**
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* Python 3.8+
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* USB-C cable for flashing the ESP32-C3
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* Xteink X4
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### Checking out the code
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CrossPoint uses PlatformIO for building and flashing the firmware. To get started, clone the repository:
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```
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git clone --recursive https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader
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# Or, if you've already cloned without --recursive:
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git submodule update --init --recursive
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```
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### Flashing your device
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Connect your Xteink X4 to your computer via USB-C and run the following command.
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```sh
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pio run --target upload
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```
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### Debugging
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After flashing the new features, it’s recommended to capture detailed logs from the serial port.
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First, make sure all required Python packages are installed:
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```python
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python3 -m pip install serial colorama matplotlib
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```
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after that run the script:
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```sh
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python3 scripts/debugging_monitor.py
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```
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This was tested on Debian and should work on most Linux systems. Minor adjustments may be required for Windows or macOS.
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## Internals
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CrossPoint Reader is pretty aggressive about caching data down to the SD card to minimise RAM usage. The ESP32-C3 only
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has ~380KB of usable RAM, so we have to be careful. A lot of the decisions made in the design of the firmware were based
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on this constraint.
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### Data caching
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The first time chapters of a book are loaded, they are cached to the SD card. Subsequent loads are served from the
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cache. This cache directory exists at `.crosspoint` on the SD card. The structure is as follows:
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```
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.crosspoint/
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├── epub_12471232/ # Each EPUB is cached to a subdirectory named `epub_<hash>`
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│ ├── progress.bin # Stores reading progress (chapter, page, etc.)
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│ ├── cover.bmp # Book cover image (once generated)
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│ ├── book.bin # Book metadata (title, author, spine, table of contents, etc.)
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│ └── sections/ # All chapter data is stored in the sections subdirectory
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│ ├── 0.bin # Chapter data (screen count, all text layout info, etc.)
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│ ├── 1.bin # files are named by their index in the spine
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│ └── ...
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│
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└── epub_189013891/
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```
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Deleting the `.crosspoint` directory will clear the entire cache.
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Due the way it's currently implemented, the cache is not automatically cleared when a book is deleted and moving a book
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file will use a new cache directory, resetting the reading progress.
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For more details on the internal file structures, see the [file formats document](./docs/file-formats.md).
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## Contributing
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Contributions are very welcome!
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If you're looking for a way to help out, take a look at the [ideas discussion board](https://github.com/crosspoint-reader/crosspoint-reader/discussions/categories/ideas).
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If there's something there you'd like to work on, leave a comment so that we can avoid duplicated effort.
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Everyone here is a volunteer, so please be respectful and patient. For more details on our goverance and community
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principles, please see [GOVERNANCE.md](GOVERNANCE.md).
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### To submit a contribution:
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1. Fork the repo
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2. Create a branch (`feature/dithering-improvement`)
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3. Make changes
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4. Submit a PR
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---
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CrossPoint Reader is **not affiliated with Xteink or any manufacturer of the X4 hardware**.
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Huge shoutout to [**diy-esp32-epub-reader** by atomic14](https://github.com/atomic14/diy-esp32-epub-reader), which was a project I took a lot of inspiration from as I
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was making CrossPoint.
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