retweaks

This is a collection of simple tweaks I find useful for remarkable2 tablets.

Recurrent Customizations

Required after each firmware upgrade unless noted otherwise:

Change hostname via /etc/hostname. Takes effect after reboot.
Change time zone (to prevent some potential issues due to clock mismatch between host and device):
- To find out your timezone, run date +%Z on the host. For example, this prints out CET (or CEST during DST) for me.
- Set the timezone on the tablet: timedatectl set-timezone CET
  During DST you also need to set the standard timezone (i.e. CET, not CEST).

One-time Customizations

The following tweaks seem to remain intact during firmware upgrades:

Simplify SSH access (for more details refer to the remarkablewiki).
- The SSH password is shown on the device via Settings > Help > Copyrights and Licenses
- The SSH password can be changed via ~/.config/remarkable/xochitl.conf, editing the DeveloperPassword setting.
- Add public key for passwordless login - use ssh-keygen if no public key is available (standard RSA should work fine):
```
$ cat ~/.ssh/<KEYNAME>.pub | ssh root@<IP-ADDRESS> 'mkdir -p ~/.ssh && cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys'
```
- Edit ~/.ssh/config on the host to use the key and prefer the Ethernet-over-USB connection over WIFI:
```
Match host <HOSTNAME> exec "nc -z 10.11.99.1 -w 1 %p"
    HostName 10.11.99.1
    ConnectTimeout 1
Match host <HOSTNAME>
    HostName <WIFI-IP-ADDRESS>
    ConnectTimeout 3
Host <HOSTNAME>
    User root
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/<KEYNAME>
```

Install Custom Templates

TODO TODO move and adjust doc TODO Each upgrade overwrites the custom templates.
In order to reinstall them:

cd host/template-scripting
# If templates haven't been build so far:
./build_templates.sh

# This downloads the template configuration from the tablet, modifies it and re-syncs it with the tablet:
./install_templates.sh

External Tweaks

ddvk's binary patches add useful gestures & settings (pen styles, recently opened doc list, etc.)
Check the patch availability before firmware upgrade if you got used to these features!
bordaigorl's rmview is an easy to use & efficient screen share possibility.
Note: firmware 2.6+ includes a system library incompatible with rmview, see this issue on the rmview github
Note: firmware 2.10 leverages the official ScreenShare functionality on the tablet
- Set up a virtualenv, then pip install https://github.com/bordaigorl/rmview/archive/refs/heads/vnc.zip
- Add a launcher item on the host venv/.../python -m rmview
```
[Desktop Entry]
Name=rmview
Comment=remarkable liveview
Exec=<PATH/TO/VIRTUALENV>/bin/python -m rmview
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Icon=<PATH/TO/RETWEAKS/REPO>/host/whiteboard/launcher.svg
Categories=Education;
StartupWMClass=rmview
```
- Edit ~/.config/rmview.json if needed, see exemplary config

Native Printing

Install the remarkable-printer to be able to print directly to the device, without accessing the rM cloud.
This step is needed after every firmware upgrade.
```
ssh <HOSTNAME>
wget -O - http://raw.githubusercontent.com/Evidlo/remarkable_printer/master/install.sh | sh
```
Then add the device as AppSocket printer on the host:
- System > Printers > Add Printer
- Add a network printer: AppSocket/HP JetDirect (hostname/IP and default port number 9100).
- Provide PPD file (my custom PPD defines a media size of 157x210 mm instead of evidlo's 155x205)
Caveats:
- No authentication - anyone on the network could print (if IP/hostname is known and they can find a suitable PPD).
- PDF titles aren't working in my setup - all printed files are entitled "printed" on the remarkable
- The application is active listening on the 9100 socket - should use socket activation instead.
- Useful extensions (TODOs):
  - (Requires Go proficiency) Specify output directory (inbox or similar) and save there - just requires adjusting the template.
    However, the inbox directory must exist. Thus, we would need to parse the .metadata files, build the internal file structure and then check if the "folder" exists (and create if needed).
  - Include date/time string in default title.

Obsolete UI Improvements

Install funkey's low pass filter to fix jagged lines.
- Note: Firmware version 2.6 reduced the jagged lines issue by a lot. Currently, I don't need the funkey fix any longer.
- For firmware version 2.5 and below, follow these installation steps:
```
$ # On host computer
$ git clone https://github.com/funkey/recept
$ cd recept
$ ./install.sh
```

Backup Important Locations

Important locations and files for backing up:

All personal content (notebooks, books/PDFs, etc.) is located at ~/.local/share/remarkable/xochitl/.
Backing up could take a while:
$ scp -r root@<HOSTNAME>:~/.local/share/remarkable/xochitl/ rm2-backup/xochitl-files/
The configuration file is located at ~/.config/remarkable/xochitl.conf.
To back up:
$ scp root@<HOSTNAME>:~/.config/remarkable/xochitl.conf rm2-backup/

Personalization

Splash Screens

Splash screens are located at /usr/share/remarkable.
Information about the initial files (as of firmware version 2.5) via file:

batteryempty.png: PNG image data, 1404 x 1872, 8-bit grayscale, non-interlaced
lowbattery.png: PNG image data, 512 x 512, 8-bit/color RGBA, non-interlaced
overheating.png: PNG image data, 1404 x 1872, 8-bit/color RGBA, non-interlaced
poweroff.png: PNG image data, 1404 x 1872, 8-bit grayscale, non-interlaced
rebooting.png: PNG image data, 1404 x 1872, 8-bit grayscale, non-interlaced
splash.png: PNG image data, 1404 x 1872, 8-bit/color RGBA, non-interlaced
starting.png: PNG image data, 1404 x 1872, 8-bit grayscale, non-interlaced
suspended.png: PNG image data, 1404 x 1872, 8-bit grayscale, non-interlaced

To back up these files (as of firmware version 2.5):
$ scp root@<HOSTNAME>:/usr/share/remarkable/\{batteryempty.png,overheating.png,rebooting.png,starting.png,lowbattery.png,poweroff.png,splash.png,suspended.png\} rm2-backup/splash-screens/

Templates

Templates are located at /usr/share/remarkable/templates. To back them up (as of firmware version 2.5):
scp -r root@<HOSTNAME>:/usr/share/remarkable/templates rm2-backup/templates/
Caveat: custom templates are not available on the rm cloud, you will see a unable to load document background watermark on the synchronized PDFs.

A template consists of:

A PNG file which is shown as the first layer of your notebook/sheet.
An SVG file which is used whenever you export your notebook/sheet.
A configuration entry to properly load the template. These are stored on the device within /usr/share/remarkable/templates/templates.json.

My custom templates:

Caveat: Printing these correctly takes a fair bit of trial and error with your printer driver and PDF viewer, unfortunately. In all my tests, the exported PDF had the correct size of 157x210 mm, but the printouts heavily varied (tested on Ubuntu 16/18/20 and Windows 10 - with Canon and Brother printers)
A 5mm grid. The squares are 5x5 mm on the e-ink display.
A 5mm grid with horizontal & vertical rulers - Same caveats (5x5 mm on the e-ink, but smaller when printed).

To automatically install these custom templates on the device:

(Optionally) Rebuild the templates via ./host/template-scripting/build_templates.sh

Run the install script (requires SSH access):

$ cd ./host/template-scripting
$ python3 install_templates.py --host <HOSTNAME>

The install script is also able to remove templates from the device's configuration. For this, check the available options via the command line help:
python3 install_templates.py -h
Do not use the install_templates.sh (shell script, unless you know what you're doing). It just wraps the invocation of the python script and adds my personal parametrization.

To manually install the templates on the device:

Copy the .png and .svg files to /usr/share/remarkable/templates.
Edit /usr/share/remarkable/templates/templates.json: add the corresponding entry from .inc.json.
Finally, reload the templates via restarting the UI: systemctl restart xochitl

Notes:

For a list of available icon codes, check the remarkablewiki.

snototter / retweaks