Reviving a four year old reMarkable 2

This is pretty refreshing to read. "Its just linux", seems to ship with SSH/root terminal enabled (over USB at least, with a simple way to enable networked access), built in webserver, just uses systemd for service control, etc.

They even list it in the user guide https://remarkable.guide/guide/access/ssh.html along with an "developing software" guide https://remarkable.guide/devel/index.html.

Maybe other tablets are like that too, to be honest I'm too poor to swing the 700-1000$ for what I can cover with an paper note pad (with the bonus of being able to comfortably sit my coffee cup on it, use any pen or pencil, rip pages out, drop it, forget it somewhere, etc etc) to buy one but at least it seems like a product I would support.

I did not update my ReMarkable 2 for years either and had probably the same clock issue. There was an article on the FAQ website from remarkable, if I remember correctly, that took me to a step-by-step process by which I could update it. Don't remember exactly how (I think I had to use the cable and connect to PC; which normally is not needed) but let's just say even if at first it seems like it doesn't work anymore and you have to hack it yourself, it is not actually needed. Nonetheless, this hackabality is the main reason I got mine (although I don't hack it, the optionality and thus probable longevity made the difference in my buying decision. I do not regret.).

Manually updating a config file to enable the web server was a wholly unnecessary step as that's just a toggle in the "Storage" section of settings.

reMarkable software has its faults, but I keep coming back to them for the best-in-class hardware, developer-friendly platform, which itself spawned an active developer community. Could it be an easier platform to develop on? Sure. But that hasn't stopped a huge number of supported mods being made available

What a dismal idea that a four-year-old device is non-functional and in need of "reviving."

There's a project called codexctl that can help you run an offline update to the latest firmware https://github.com/Jayy001/codexctl

I'm still using my remarkable from 2020. Has been receiving updates since AFAIK. Happy customer.

I still have my remarkable 1 and love it. RM 2 didn’t have a backlight so there was no upgrade reason.

I actually like that the RM 1 is plastic, it feels durable and light.

Several of my notes got lost in the ReMarkable cloud. I don’t think you are missing much.

I bought a Remarkable 2 tablet a while back. I quickly realised two things -

1. Remarkable's own software is a steaming pile of poo. Their inbuilt web server for uploading files is extremely buggy and unusable. It's dog slow. You can't try to drag many files in one go, or it crashes. You can't try to upload a large file, or it crashes. There is also a hard limit on the file size you can upload (something like 100MB) which makes it unusable for some heavy PDF files I have. They push you towards paying for their cloud service subscription, which I will never do, just to be able to sync files. There is also no way to just ssh files over because their pdf reader will refuse to read them. All I want is to connect the remarkable every day for a few minutes to my computer and have it sync my files, and there is no way to do that.

2. Most of the "hacks" online are written assuming that you can install toolchains like Toltec on the device, and they are NOT updated for the newer firmware. My remarkable came with 3.15 and while there are some instructions on how to downgrade the firmware before installing the toolchain, they never worked for me. So I stuck with the subpar software and reading experience...

... until I discovered [ReManager](https://github.com/rmitchellscott/reManager). It just worked out of the box, did not require a firmware update, and I was able to install KoReader and other goodies (such as some launcher improvements). It can also transfer large files easily. What's ironic is that KoReader can read djvu files, which removes my need to use large PDFs in the first place. Equivalent djvu files are much much smaller.

Thanks to everyone in the remarkable community who contributed to ReManager and other assorted remarkable hacking!

EDIT: Also must point out a cool thing that I discovered recently - ReManager comes with a one click installer for the Zig toolchain on the Remarkable 2! It is slow, but I was able to compile and run zig programs on the tablet.

This is the achilles heel of modern tech. Devices are just so brittle and if it is not online 24/7 on returning back online, you need to perform incantations to get things working.

Long shell life is a taboo in the tech world where 5 years is a long time.

Is part of the article missing? It ends abruptly.

Really sad the official lack of proper support for using it as a general purpose device for the ones that would like time because otherwise the hardware is really great.

I like mine very much except the limitation that I can't do too much with it.

Why not use paper and pencil?

Maybe this will restore my faith in digital tablets.

I made notes, saved them. Only for the next morning to find my device out of battery and the notes missing. I don't get it, feels like I was zapped by some evil overlord that didn't want me recalling what I had written for the next part of my cartoon.

Now just use good ole paper and pen.

woah 4 years is considered obsolete?

My kids still using thinkpad 430 from 2013