From 01f410920fcb810365ac13193655245236804f1e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Kovid Goyal Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2012 10:16:04 +0530 Subject: [PATCH] Update the Android FAQ entry --- manual/faq.rst | 67 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++---------- 1 file changed, 54 insertions(+), 13 deletions(-) diff --git a/manual/faq.rst b/manual/faq.rst index 0c891767df..e97bbd6261 100644 --- a/manual/faq.rst +++ b/manual/faq.rst @@ -126,9 +126,11 @@ Device Integration What devices does |app| support? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -At the moment |app| has full support for the SONY PRS line, Barnes & Noble Nook line, Cybook Gen 3/Opus, Amazon Kindle line, Entourage Edge, Longshine ShineBook, Ectaco Jetbook, BeBook/BeBook Mini, Irex Illiad/DR1000, Foxit eSlick, PocketBook line, Italica, eClicto, Iriver Story, Airis dBook, Hanvon N515, Binatone Readme, Teclast K3 and clones, SpringDesign Alex, Kobo Reader, various Android phones and the iPhone/iPad. In addition, using the :guilabel:`Connect to folder` function you can use it with any ebook reader that exports itself as a USB disk. - -There is also a special ``User Defined`` device plugin that can be used to connect to arbitrary devices that present their memory as disk drives. See the device plugin ``Preferences -> Plugins -> Device Plugins -> User Defined`` and ``Preferences -> Miscelleaneous -> Get information to setup the user defined device`` for more information. +|app| can directly connect to all the major (and most of the minor) ebook reading devices, +smarthphones, tablets, etc. +In addition, using the :guilabel:`Connect to folder` function you can use it with any ebook reader that exports itself as a USB disk. +You can even connect to Apple devices (via iTunes), using the :guilabel:`Connect to iTunes` +function. .. _devsupport: @@ -159,8 +161,8 @@ Follow these steps to find the problem: * Make sure that you are connecting only a single device to your computer at a time. Do not have another |app| supported device like an iPhone/iPad etc. at the same time. * If you are connecting an Apple iDevice (iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone), use the 'Connect to iTunes' method in the 'Getting started' instructions in `Calibre + Apple iDevices: Start here `_. * Make sure you are running the latest version of |app|. The latest version can always be downloaded from `the calibre website `_. - * Ensure your operating system is seeing the device. That is, the device should be mounted as a disk, that you can access using Windows explorer or whatever the file management program on your computer is. On Windows your device **must have been assigned a drive letter**, like K:. - * In calibre, go to Preferences->Plugins->Device Interface plugin and make sure the plugin for your device is enabled, the plugin icon next to it should be green when it is enabled. + * Ensure your operating system is seeing the device. That is, the device should show up in Windows Explorer (in Windows) or Finder (in OS X). + * In |app|, go to Preferences->Plugins->Device Interface plugin and make sure the plugin for your device is enabled, the plugin icon next to it should be green when it is enabled. * If all the above steps fail, go to Preferences->Miscellaneous and click debug device detection with your device attached and post the output as a ticket on `the calibre bug tracker `_. My device is non-standard or unusual. What can I do to connect to it? @@ -285,20 +287,48 @@ This method only works on Windows XP and higher, and OS X 10.5 and higher. Linux How do I use |app| with my Android phone/tablet? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -There are two ways that you can connect your Android device to calibre. Using a USB cable-- or wirelessly, over the air. -**The USB cable method only works if your Android device can act as a USB disk, that means in windows it must have a drive letter, like K:**. Some devices may have a setting to put them in "disk mode" or "USB Transfer mode" that is needed before they act as USB disks. +There are two ways that you can connect your Android device to calibre. Using a USB cable -- or wirelessly, over the air. +The first step to using an Android device is installing an ebook reading +application on it. There are many free and paid ebook reading applications for +Android: Some examples (in no particular order): +`FBReader `_, +`Moon+ `_, +`Mantano `_, +`Aldiko `_, +`Kindle `_. Using a USB cable ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -First install either the WordPlayer or Aldiko ebook reading apps from the Android Marketplace onto your phone. Then simply plug your phone into the computer with a USB cable. |app| should automatically detect the phone and then you can transfer books to it by clicking the Send to Device button. |app| does not have support for every single android device out there, so if your device is not automatically detected, follow the instructions at :ref:`devsupport` to get your device supported in |app|. +.. note:: With newer Android devices, the USB connection is only supported on + Windows Vista and newer and Linux. If you are on Windows XP or OS X, + you should use one of the wireless connection methods. + +Simply plug your device into the computer with a USB cable. |app| should +automatically detect the phone and then you can transfer books to it by +clicking the Send to Device button. |app| does not have support for every +single android device out there, so if your device is not automatically +detected, follow the instructions at :ref:`devsupport` to get your device +supported in |app|. Over the air ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ -The easiest way to browse your |app| collection on your Android device is by using the calibre content server, which makes your collection available over the net. First perform the following steps in |app| +The easiest way to transfer books wirelessly to your Android device is to use +the `Calibre Companion +`_ +Android app. This app is maintained by a core calibre developer and allows +|app| to connect to your Android device wirelessly, just as though you +plugged in the device with a USB cable. You can browse files on the device +in |app| and use the :guilabel:`Send to device` button to transfer files to +your device wirelessly. - * Set the Preferred Output Format in |app| to EPUB (The output format can be set under :guilabel:`Preferences->Interface->Behavior`) +|app| also has a builtin web server, the :guilabel:`Content Server`. +You can browse your |app| collection on your Android device is by using the +calibre content server, which makes your collection available over the net. +First perform the following steps in |app| + + * Set the :guilabel:`Preferred Output Format` in |app| to EPUB (The output format can be set under :guilabel:`Preferences->Interface->Behavior`) * Set the output profile to Tablet (this will work for phones as well), under :guilabel:`Preferences->Conversion->Common Options->Page Setup` * Convert the books you want to read on your device to EPUB format by selecting them and clicking the Convert button. * Turn on the Content Server in |app|'s preferences and leave |app| running. @@ -307,11 +337,22 @@ Now on your Android device, open the browser and browse to http://192.168.1.2:8080/ -Replace ``192.168.1.2`` with the local IP address of the computer running |app|. If your local network supports the use of computer names, you can replace the IP address with the network name of the computer. If you have changed the port the |app| content server is running on, you will have to change ``8080`` as well to the new port. +Replace ``192.168.1.2`` with the local IP address of the computer running +|app|. If your local network supports the use of computer names, you can +replace the IP address with the network name of the computer. If you have +changed the port the |app| content server is running on, you will have to +change ``8080`` as well to the new port. -The local IP address is the IP address you computer is assigned on your home network. A quick Google search will tell you how to find out your local IP address. You can now browse your book collection and download books from |app| to your device to open with whatever ebook reading software you have on your android device. +The local IP address is the IP address you computer is assigned on your home +network. A quick Google search will tell you how to find out your local IP +address. You can now browse your book collection and download books from |app| +to your device to open with whatever ebook reading software you have on your +android device. -Some reading programs support browsing the Calibre library directly. For example, in Aldiko, click My Catalogs, then + to add a catalog, then give the catalog a title such as "Calibre" and provide the URL listed above. You can now browse the Calibre library and download directly into the reading software. +Some reading programs support browsing the Calibre library directly. For +example, in Aldiko, click My Catalogs, then + to add a catalog, then give the +catalog a title such as "Calibre" and provide the URL listed above. You can now +browse the Calibre library and download directly into the reading software. Can I access my |app| books using the web browser in my Kindle or other reading device? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~