iPads, comic books and network attached storage...

[bennyboy]

Hi all, new here so please be gentle...

I'm buying an iPad 32gb WiFi next week and was hoping one of you knowledgable gentleman/ladies can tell me if what I'm buying it for can actually be done.

I love comic books and have lots (about 400gb worth of cbr's and cbz's) on a NAS (Netgear Stora with a 2tb hard drive) shared over my home network. I'm planning on buying an iPad in order to read them around the house (and on the move by tthering it to a Nokia 5800, but that's a different and less important problem).

What I'd like to do is get the comics directly from my NAS without having to use my PC as a middleman.

I'm pretty sure that the iPad won't be able to open the files directly from the NAS and that I'll have to download them onto the iPad in order to read them.

Can I download content directly from my NAS to my iPad?

Can I 'load' the content into an app (Comic Zeal) using iTunes without having to plug the iPad into my computer?

If I can do this and I manage to tether the iPad to my phone for 3g and I set my NAS to have a static IP would I be able to do this anywhere I like?(hotel, on the road etc.)

And finally (and I'm pretty sure this can't be done) is there a way I can click a comic book on the NAS and read it on the iPad without downloading it? Kind of like opening a pdf in internet explorer (sorry for the PC-centric example, this is my first forray into Apple tech).

If it makes any difference, my PC is running the dreaded Windows 7 Home Premium, making life extraordinarily over-difficult for Microsoft's customers since 2009.

Thanks for your time guys and gals. Hope you can help.

 

[slimshotty]

Welcome to the forums. You might want to stop by the New Member section and introduce yourself.

I will try to answer most of your questions:

Can I download content directly from my NAS to my iPad?

Does your NAS support FTP, WebDAV or AFP? If not there is an application called FileBrowser which supports connecting to a NAS. I don't have personal experience with this application so I don't know how limited it's features are. You might want to do some research.

Can I 'load' the content into an app (Comic Zeal) using iTunes without having to plug the iPad into my computer?

You can import comics into ComicZeal over WiFi. Please follow this thread.

If I can do this and I manage to tether the iPad to my phone for 3g and I set my NAS to have a static IP would I be able to do this anywhere I like?(hotel, on the road etc.)

No. Even if you were able to give your NAS an external/public static IP, the steps listed for the WiFi sync would not work.

I hope this info helps. I am sure you can get this working remotely if you continue to use your PC as the middle-man.

 

[rrawb]

Back when I had a NAS, before it crapped out on me, I did the exact thing you wanted to do. I wanted to read comics on demand and had them all stored up on theree. My NAS supported FTP, so I used GoodReader to download straight from there. Then through document sharing, opened with ComicZeal.

Then after it crapped out, I used my Dropbox account to host some of the comics that I had intention of reading. Then after reading I would archive them in my external hard drive at home.to download them, I would say that Filer is the best performing app. Since it's universal, I can access those same comics on my iPhone and read when i don't have my iPad on hand.

Recently, logmein came out with an update that allows you to have access to any of your files on your computer. It also supports document sharing too. However I still like the Dropbox option because dropbox's bandwidth is way better than mine.

Let me know if you have questions.

 

[bennyboy]

Thanks guys. Its good to know I'm not alone in wanting my tech to do stuff I want it to do, rather than what it wants me to do.

Thanks for the top tips. As soon as the iPad arrives I'm sure I'll have aton more questions!

 

[rrawb]

No problem, I'll be glad to help out. Managing comics has been a project that I've been working on since the original iPad launched so I've explored many options. To refer to your last reply, I definitely made the iPad do what I wanted. I'm going to send you a pm though.

 

[jp0d009]

Hey! I am really thinking of getting the Ipad 2. and something I really badly want it to beable to do is read comics streaming from my computer. did anyone find a good solution to this matter? I got alot of comics and really don't want to have to actually put the comics on them.

 

[Techlifter]

SOLUTION:

So, since the topic may or may not have been abandoned without detailed instructions, I'll follow this up by describing what worked/works for me.

Apps Needed:
Filebrowser - $4.99
Cloudreaders - Free

I was originally hesitant to pick up Filebrowser because there was a known issue with its ability to connect to certain NAS boxes, my Drobo among them. Then, with a recent update, Stratospherix added a "Compatibility Mode" option that worked like a charm. If you want to make certain you can connect to your NAS *without* forking over for the app, download their free Lite version of NetPortal and give it a try. If it works there, it'll work on the full FileBrowser as well.

Steps:

Assuming you are on your iPhone/iPad/Touch, connected to your network's WiFi AND have the two apps installed...

1.) Start FileBrowser
2.) tap the "+" sign to create a new location/server connection
3.) Enter the local address of the NAS on your network. This can either be in the format of the unit's ip address (Ex. 192.168.0.181) or DNS name (\\Droboshare)
4.) Tap the "Show More Settings" switch to ON.
5.) By default, my Droboshare unit takes "Blank" for both username and password. Enter your own user/pass if any, but remember that blank may be an option.
6.) Tap the "Advanced Settings" switch to ON
7.) For this to work for me, I had to turn the "Compatability Mode" switch to ON. Do not do this unless you cannot connect, otherwise
8.) Save the new connection by tapping Save/Done
9.) Open the new connection by tapping it
10.) Navigate to the folder(s) on your NAS where you keep your comics
11.) Select a comic (.cbr or .cbz file extension) by tapping the blue wedge/arrow on the right
12.) Select the "Open in..." button
13.) The file will immediately being transferring to your device.
14.) Once complete, tap the "CloudReaders" button and the comic will be opened automatically for your reading pleasure

The comic will remain on the CloudReaders "bookshelf" until you delete it and it will automatically bookmark where you left off if you have to come back to it, later.

 

[totoro]

Read on a Go comicbooks (pdf,cbr,rar ...) from NAS

Hi

I'm a newbie, I've got a synology NAS (webdav,smb, afp) and an ipad . . . and I want to stream not transfer but read on the go my cbr,cbz,zip,rar, pdf files from my nas by webdav sharing files or else . . .

I'm going to try filebrowser and cloudreader but I'm afraid when you say (step 12) : "Select the "Open in..." button", then you use cloud reader, the comic will be transfered into the ipad and not read or stream on the GO ?

I want badly the ability to read seamlessly my comicbook from my NAS

SOLUTION:

So, since the topic may or may not have been abandoned without detailed instructions, I'll follow this up by describing what worked/works for me.

Apps Needed:
Filebrowser - $4.99
Cloudreaders - Free

I was originally hesitant to pick up Filebrowser because there was a known issue with its ability to connect to certain NAS boxes, my Drobo among them. Then, with a recent update, Stratospherix added a "Compatibility Mode" option that worked like a charm. If you want to make certain you can connect to your NAS *without* forking over for the app, download their free Lite version of NetPortal and give it a try. If it works there, it'll work on the full FileBrowser as well.

Steps:

Assuming you are on your iPhone/iPad/Touch, connected to your network's WiFi AND have the two apps installed...

1.) Start FileBrowser
2.) tap the "+" sign to create a new location/server connection
3.) Enter the local address of the NAS on your network. This can either be in the format of the unit's ip address (Ex. 192.168.0.181) or DNS name (\\Droboshare)
4.) Tap the "Show More Settings" switch to ON.
5.) By default, my Droboshare unit takes "Blank" for both username and password. Enter your own user/pass if any, but remember that blank may be an option.
6.) Tap the "Advanced Settings" switch to ON
7.) For this to work for me, I had to turn the "Compatability Mode" switch to ON. Do not do this unless you cannot connect, otherwise
8.) Save the new connection by tapping Save/Done
9.) Open the new connection by tapping it
10.) Navigate to the folder(s) on your NAS where you keep your comics
11.) Select a comic (.cbr or .cbz file extension) by tapping the blue wedge/arrow on the right
12.) Select the "Open in..." button
13.) The file will immediately being transferring to your device.
14.) Once complete, tap the "CloudReaders" button and the comic will be opened automatically for your reading pleasure

The comic will remain on the CloudReaders "bookshelf" until you delete it and it will automatically bookmark where you left off if you have to come back to it, later.

 

[iJamesH]

I love comic books and have lots (about 400gb worth of cbr's and cbz's) on a NAS (Netgear Stora with a 2tb hard drive) shared over my home network

LOL far cry from when I was a youngin when the only room my comics were taking up was my closet space

 

[totoro]

Hi

First happy new year to you and your family, best wishes.

I found the solution to read "on the air" my comicbooks, without downloading anything :

I uncompress all my comics file included, pdf files converted to zip files ( with calibre or comicrack software ).

I use file browser or the same kind of app to browse my nas and read the jpg files.

I would like to find an an app which is ready for file browser and the "open with app" or in app ability : when I open and read the first jpg files into the folder, I could use the "Open with" menu to select an app like Cloudreader or Comiczeal or any kind of comicbook app ( count the number of pages, bookmark features . . . )

Thanks for all your support.

Hi

I'm a newbie, I've got a synology NAS (webdav,smb, afp) and an ipad . . . and I want to stream not transfer but read on the go my cbr,cbz,zip,rar, pdf files from my nas by webdav sharing files or else . . .

I'm going to try filebrowser and cloudreader but I'm afraid when you say (step 12) : "Select the "Open in..." button", then you use cloud reader, the comic will be transfered into the ipad and not read or stream on the GO ?

I want badly the ability to read seamlessly my comicbook from my NAS

 

[Banshe]

The best solution would be to do something like XBMC. Connect the comic book reader to a server(for example SMB), let it index the content and keep track of what I have read and not read. Then When reading a new issue it will be downloaded, read and then removed when it is finished.

That would be a really good solution and it should not be that hard to develop but I can´t find any comic reader that allows this? I Suspect that iOS stiffness is contagious .