Scripts

I have written a few scripts to work with the reMarkable tablet, and after the "new tablet smell" wears off, chances are I'll be working on others in the future. This section of the book is where I'll share them with the world.

microsoft windows

I don't use windows anymore. The only windows machine I own is an old laptop infected with windows 7, that I keep around for programming an older ham radio. Since then, CHIRP has added support for those older radios and I can program them from a Mac, so I probably don't even need it anymore.

I've heard that there are ways to run Linux-ish things on windows these days, but other than running Linux in a VM (using something like VirtualBox) and making sure the USB device for the tablet is passed through to the guess, I can't really tell you how to do it.

SSH Access

Some of these scripts will need access to SSH into the tablet. In addition, the scripts will run more smoothly if you set up an SSH key.

The SSH Access page contains information about how to set this up.

Perl

I write many of my scripts in Perl, mostly because it's what I'm most familiar (and comfortable) with. For the most part, they are designed to run on a macOS or Linux computer, while the reMarkable tablet is connected via USB.

Because of this, you'll need Perl installed on the computer.

Luckily, Perl comes pre-installed on macOS and some Linux systems, and can be installed fairly easily on most others.

$ perl --version

This is perl 5, version 30, subversion 3 (v5.30.3) built for darwin-thread-multi-2level
(with 2 registered patches, see perl -V for more detail)
...

If it's not there, use your system's package manager to install it. This will generally involve a command line "yum install" or "apt install", depending on which Linux distribution you're using.

Perl JSON module

The reMarkable software uses a lot of JSON files, and some of the scripts need to read them. This means you will also need the Perl JSON module.

Again, it may already be installed. To check, run this command: (The last character is "digit ONE", not "lowercase L".)

$ perl -MJSON -e1

If it shows the next command prompt without printing anything, it is installed.

If it shows a message like this ...

$ perl -MJSON -e1
Can't locate JSON.pm in @INC (you may need to install the JSON module) ...

... then you need to install the module.

If your system's package manager has a package for it, you should install it that way, so it can also keep the package up to date with the rest of your system's packages.

• Debian: apt install libjson-perl
• CentOS: yum install perl-JSON

If not, you can install it using CPAN.

$ cpan install JSON

Golang

I'm trying to teach myself the Go language (aka "Golang") in my spare time. As part of this, I'm thinking about creating Golang versions of some of these scripts.

Golang allows you to compile a program to run on a different platform than where you're compiling it. For example, I can write and compile a program on macOS and produce executables for a wide assortment of operating systems and CPU types (including windows, if you're into that sort of thing), all without having to figure out a bunch of "cross compilers" and different versions of libraries.

Specifically, I have found that a simple "hello world" program written in Go, compiled with the following settings, can be uploaded and executed as-is on the reMarkable 2 tablet.

• GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm GOARM=7 go build ...

The reMarkable tablets are running a 32-bit kernel.

Be sure to use GOARCH=arm rather than GOARCH=arm64.

I mention this because when I get some time, I plan to re-write these Perl scripts in Golang, so people don't have to deal with installing Perl or CPAN modules. Instead, they'll be able to download and use a single binary.

Note that when/if I do this, the Perl versions of the scripts won't be going away - both versions will be available from the scripts' pages.