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https://github.com/picnoir/ultimate-writer

Open Digital Typewriter
https://github.com/picnoir/ultimate-writer

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Open Digital Typewriter

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README 

        
Ultimate Writer

========



![Picture of the Ultimate Writer Prototype](img/ultimate-writer.jpg)



Ultimate writer is an attempt to create the perfect digital writing device; it may also be a clickbaity name, who knows.



It was built upon the following principles:



- **Easily readable e-ink screen**. You can read it effortlessly even in sunlight.

- **Long lasting battery life**. You can have a 3 days writing retreat (~20 hours) without recharging it.

- **Easily serviceable design**. Your typewriter is 40 years old and works just fine. You don't want to change your writing device every 5 years. You want to be able to easily change the computer parts easily; and who knows, use something else than a raspberry pi.

- **Standard OS**. You want to use your favorite console-based text editor. You also want a shell access to tweak your setup without reprogramming the device.

- **Nice full-size mechanical keyboard**.



My ultimate writing device is probably not your ultimate writing device. However, I think we can share a common codebase.



This repo is hosting this codebase.



## Part List



- A Raspberry Pi. Tested on 3B but should work as well on previous iterations (~40€)

- A Raspberry Pi compatible E-Ink screen. We mainly targeted waveshare/good display 7.5" and 4.2" screens so far. (~40€) **/!\ We did not manage to implement partial refresh on the 7.5" screen so far. The refresh rate on this screen is REALLY slow.**

- A 61 keys Mechanical Keyboard. (Chinese bootlegs are ~70€)

- A generic 3.7V 2500mah phone battery. (~10€)

- Battery charger/regulator. We use the [Adafruit powerboost 500c](https://www.adafruit.com/product/1944). If you live in the EU, you should probably buy it from a local reseller to avoid import taxes. [Pimoroni](https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/powerboost-500-charger-rechargeable-5v-lipo-usb-boost-500ma) is quite nice (unpaid endorsement, plz Pimoroni, send free stuff!). You can probably find some cheaper Chinese bootlegs. (~15€)

- Materials to make the case. (Can't really say a price here, depends a lot of the kind of wood you'll use).

- Intense procrastination. (free)



Depending on where you buy those part and how much time you spend sourcing them, the final price tag will range between 100 and 200€ (half the price of a freewrite.



## Build and Install



First, [install raspbian](https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/) on your raspberrypi.



Then, install the necessary dependencies:



1. Download and install [bcm2835](http://www.airspayce.com/mikem/bcm2835/).

1. [Enable SPI](https://www.raspberrypi-spy.co.uk/2014/08/enabling-the-spi-interface-on-the-raspberry-pi/) on your raspberry pi.

1. Build and Install [logkeys](https://github.com/kernc/logkeys/blob/master/INSTALL).



Then, open a terminal on the raspberry pi and build ultimate writer:



```

sudo apt-get install build-essential git

git clone $GITHUB_URL && cd ultimate-writer

make

sudo make install

```



**Note:** The current master branch could be broken, please, use the latest release tag.



If, for some reason, you want to uninstall this software:



```

sudo make uninstall

```



You can then start the ultimate writer service. This service will display a root shell on the e-ink screen:



```

sudo systemctl start ultimatewriter

```



If you want the service to automatically start on boot:



```

sudo systemctl enable ultimatewriter

```



## Troubleshooting



Open an issue on this GitHub repo.



## Contributing



Contributions are more than welcome.



If you build one of these, it'll make me very happy to see your finished work, send me an e-mail :).



If enough people build this kind of device, we'll create a website listing the various case designs.



In order to contribute:



1. Open a GitHub issue.

1. Fork the project.

1. Send a PR to this repo's master branch.



## Roadmap



This project is not fully done yet, we would like to implement:



- UTF-8 support.

- 7.5" screen partial refresh.

- Get rid of Logkeys by parsing directly /dev/input events and applying the appropriate keymap.

- Run the terminal emulator in an unprivileged environment.

- Get a more reproducible case design (custom keyboard, integrated board design?).

- Build and sell a small batch of these?



## Special Thanks



- [Suckless team](https://suckless.org): we use a hacked version of [ST](https://st.suckless.org/) for terminal emulation. (Note: the Suckless team do not endorse nor is related to this project)

- [Freewrite](https://getfreewrite.com/): one of the major inspirations for this project. Almost perfect, too bad it is that closed and expensive.