Help me with Pandigital Novel reader?

[a]

I bought a cheap Pandigital Novel PRD06E20WWH8 reader a while back
because I though my invalid wife would use it, but she refused. Now
she seems half-interested. So I have charged up the reader's battery,
and now I want to download something from my desktop as an
experiment. I know nothing about these readers. I sought a user
manual on Google, but did not find any. Can I get help?

I have downloaded and saved a .epub short book, called it
'test.epub'.
I have made a USB connection 'tween the reader and the desktop.
I have the Pandigital reader turned on.
No entry comes up in Windows Explorer as I expected it would.

There is a site:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/download-music-onto-pandigital-novel-26968.html
for downloading music, and it says an entry should come up in
desktop windows explorer when I connect the reader when the reader
is turned on.. Should 'PD_Novel' show in windows explorer?

As a side issue, I have downloaded and installed a 'Adobe Digital
Editions' version 2.0.67..... and have established an Adobe ID with
my email address and a password thinking that would help.

BTW, I am using XP SP3.

Grandpa

 

[Pen]

I bought a cheap Pandigital Novel PRD06E20WWH8 reader a while back
because I though my invalid wife would use it, but she refused. Now
she seems half-interested. So I have charged up the reader's battery,
and now I want to download something from my desktop as an
experiment. I know nothing about these readers. I sought a user
manual on Google, but did not find any. Can I get help?

I have downloaded and saved a .epub short book, called it
'test.epub'.
I have made a USB connection 'tween the reader and the desktop.
I have the Pandigital reader turned on.
No entry comes up in Windows Explorer as I expected it would.

There is a site:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/download-music-onto-pandigital-novel-26968.html
for downloading music, and it says an entry should come up in
desktop windows explorer when I connect the reader when the reader
is turned on.. Should 'PD_Novel' show in windows explorer?

As a side issue, I have downloaded and installed a 'Adobe Digital
Editions' version 2.0.67..... and have established an Adobe ID with
my email address and a password thinking that would help.

BTW, I am using XP SP3.

Grandpa

The web site is here. http://pandigital.net/
On the support section of the site downloads of user guides
are available. http://www.pandigital.net/?PageID=391

 

[Chris S.]

The web site is here. http://pandigital.net/
On the support section of the site downloads of user guides
are available. http://www.pandigital.net/?PageID=391

My Pandigital 9" Novel was rather sensitive to USB port selection.
Make sure you're using one of the rear panel "direct to the motherboard"
ports.
Front panel ports are often flakey.

Chris

 

[a]

The web site is here. http://pandigital.net/
On the support section of the site downloads of user guides
are available. http://www.pandigital.net/?PageID=391

I have the 6" model, probably the cheapo. I did not, and still do
not, see any manual or quick start guide on this site. Maybe I am
blind?

Thanks for your response.

Grandpa

 

[a]

My Pandigital 9" Novel was rather sensitive to USB port selection.
Make sure you're using one of the rear panel "direct to the motherboard"
ports.
Front panel ports are often flakey.

Chris

Thanks Chris -

I tried a rear USB and voila! it worked. The desktop recognized the
reader in its XP windows explorer. I then was able to do the familiar
copy/paste to get the ebook over into the reader. But I still can't
operate the reader to do much. I cannot even find said ebook on the
reader, although I will bet it is there. I really need a user manual
or some such. None seems to be available. I think I will next look
for such a manual for some of the more modern versions of this reader
to see if anything useful is forthcoming.

Thanks again

Grandpa

 

[Paul]

I bought a cheap Pandigital Novel PRD06E20WWH8 reader a while back
because I though my invalid wife would use it, but she refused. Now
she seems half-interested. So I have charged up the reader's battery,
and now I want to download something from my desktop as an
experiment. I know nothing about these readers. I sought a user
manual on Google, but did not find any. Can I get help?

I have downloaded and saved a .epub short book, called it
'test.epub'.
I have made a USB connection 'tween the reader and the desktop.
I have the Pandigital reader turned on.
No entry comes up in Windows Explorer as I expected it would.

There is a site:
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/download-music-onto-pandigital-novel-26968.html
for downloading music, and it says an entry should come up in
desktop windows explorer when I connect the reader when the reader
is turned on.. Should 'PD_Novel' show in windows explorer?

As a side issue, I have downloaded and installed a 'Adobe Digital
Editions' version 2.0.67..... and have established an Adobe ID with
my email address and a password thinking that would help.

BTW, I am using XP SP3.

Grandpa

Their documentation is delightfully devoid of "product identification".
While their web site list several different devices of this type, I
can't tell whether this manual is for you device or not.

http://www.pandigital.net/userfiles/file/Downloads/UG_PRD07T20WBL1OP2_v1_4_09-27-10.pdf

In any case, on page 54 and 55:

"Connect to Windows PC

Windows Explorer opens with the list all drives
connected to your computer; the pandigital novel
drive is listed as "PD_Novel".

To copy files into your pandigital novel, select and drag the desired
files into the appropriate pre-assigned folder based on file type.

Disconnect

It is important to always perform a "Safely Remove" [on the PC end]
before disconnecting the USB cable from the pandigital novel and computer.

After disconnecting the USB cable from your pandigital novel, the
device shuts down and automatically restarts, which may take up
to 20 seconds. Please wait and allow the Home screen to be
displayed again."

To me, these behavioral quirks are indicative of "USB Mass Storage Mode",
which requires no special driver. The alternative protocol is MTP,
which requires a Windows Media Player update, to get the required driver.
So as near as I can tell, there is nothing to prevent the USB method
from working - by using the bog standard Mass Storage Class, I expect
fewest problems.

To test, get a copy of UVCView. See "UVCView.x86.exe" on the right,
for the 32 bit Windows version.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070817...com/whdc/device/stream/vidcap/UVCViewdwn.mspx

Plug the Novel, into the computer directly, not a hub. This is purely
so the device can be viewed in UVCView. UVCView shows a display of
all the motherboard ports.

Run UVCView.x86.exe. Then, plug in the Novel. Note whether a new
entry appears in UVCView. That should be the Novel, and you will see
a display of config information. Just seeing the device appear in
that tool, is enough for now.

If you know where to find the VID and PID, you can look up USB device
identification into here. This database is not the official
one - people "donate" identifications to it, so not every possible
device is listed. Only one significant entry is present for
Pandigital (in the Google Android section).

http://www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids

If no change occurs in UVCView, then for some reason the Novel
isn't responding from its end of the cable. Make sure the cable
is not damaged, that the Novel is charged sufficiently, that
sort of thing.

And "Chris" is right, in that the "best" ports are the ones
on the back of the computer, in the I/O plate area. Due to the
quality of cabling, and front adapters, sometimes the front
USB connectors are a bit on the flaky side. The rear ports don't
use cables, while the front ports do. The rear ports use
controlled impedance tracks in the motherboard itself.
Everything is high quality, in that electrical path.
And that's why, when items don't work, you're directed
to that I/O plate area.

Paul