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Ize Compose v1.1.1

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@Dievesa Dievesa released this 31 May 11:36
IzeCompose_v1.1.1
21cf3dd

Ize Compose

Multilingual writing firmware for the Zerowriter Ink (Inkplate 5 V2). Started as a Korean-input firmware, now supports 92 keyboard layouts across dozens of scripts.

Supported Device

  • Zerowriter Ink (Inkplate 5 V2)
    • ESP32, 800×600 monochrome e-ink display
    • Requires SD card for non-Latin fonts and document storage

Features

Writing

  • Plain-text editing with cursor navigation
  • Phonetic Korean composition (cho/jung/jong jamo assembly)
  • Latin accent cycling (e.g., a → á → â → ã → ...)
  • Right-to-left (RTL) text mode for Arabic-script layouts
  • Text search (Ctrl+F)
  • Copy / paste (Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V)
  • Word and character count (3 display modes)

Keyboard & Language

  • 92 keyboard layouts selectable from the system menu
  • Two independent layout slots: one for English (QWERTY or Dvorak), one for a second language
  • 12 script composition engines: Korean, Arabic, Indic scripts, Thai, Myanmar, Khmer, Lao, Tibetan, Sinhala, Ethiopic, Japanese, Hebrew
  • RTL layout support: Arabic, Hebrew, Kurdish (Arabic), Pashto, Persian, Urdu

Files

  • Saves and loads .txt files on SD card (/ize_compose/)
  • File browser (up to 65 files)
  • WiFi (AP mode) for uploading/downloading text and firmware OTA via browser

Display

  • Partial screen update for fast typing feedback
  • Configurable full-refresh threshold
  • Boot/sleep image loaded from /ize_compose/initial.png on SD card
  • Sleep mode: Ctrl+L or sleep button; wake with wake button

Settings (system menu)

  • Line spacing
  • Typing speed (key repeat delay)
  • Screen refresh limit
  • Keyboard layout selection
  • Font slot

Keyboard Layouts (92)

Dvorak, QWERTY, 한국어, Shqip, العربية, Հայերեն, Deutsch (AT/DE/CH), Azərbaycanca, Беларуская, Nederlands (BE/NL), বাংলা, Bosanski / Босански, Português (BR/PT), Български, Français (CA/FR/CH), Català, Hrvatski, Čeština, Dansk, देवनागरी, Eesti, ኢትዮጵያ, Føroyskt, Suomi, Georgian, Ελληνικά, ગુજરાતી, Hausa, עברית, Magyar, Íslenska, Gaeilge, Italiano, 日本語, ಕನ್ನಡ, Qazaq / Қазақ, ខ្មែរ, Kurdî / کوردی, Кыргызча, ລາວ, Español América, Latviešu, Lietuvių, Lëtzebuergesch, മലയാളം, Malti, Māori, Română (MD) / Молдовеняскэ, Монгол, Crnogorski / Црногорски, မြန်မာ, नेपाली, Македонски, Norsk, پښتو, فارسی, Polski, ਪੰਜਾਬੀ, Română, Русский, Srpski / Српски, සිංහල, Slovenčina, Slovenščina, Español, Kiswahili, Svenska, Тоҷикӣ, தமிழ், తెలుగు, ไทย, བོད་སྐད, Türkçe, Українська, English UK, اردو, Oʻzbek / Ўзбек, Tiếng Việt, Cymraeg

Font Files

Latin is embedded in the firmware. All other scripts are loaded from SD card at boot.

Place the following files in /ize_compose/hwalja/ on the SD card:

File Scripts covered
hwalja_hangul.bin Korean (Hangul syllables)
hwalja_jamo.bin Korean (Jamo, composition glyphs)
hwalja_jp.bin Japanese (Hiragana, Katakana)
hwalja_greek_cyrillic.bin Greek, Cyrillic
hwalja_arabic.bin Arabic, Persian, Urdu
hwalja_indic.bin Devanagari, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Sinhala
hwalja_sea.bin Thai, Khmer, Lao, Myanmar, Tibetan
hwalja_misc.bin Ethiopic, Georgian, Armenian, and others

Without these files the device still works, but only Latin text is displayed correctly.

Build Environment

Platform / Board / Framework

Item Value
Platform espressif32
Board esp32dev + Inkplate 5 V2 build flags
Framework Arduino
CPU clock 240 MHz
Upload / monitor speed 921600 baud

board = esp32dev is used with manual build flags rather than a dedicated Inkplate board definition. This firmware will not work on a generic ESP32 dev board — the flags and PSRAM are specific to the Inkplate 5 V2 hardware.

Libraries

Library Version Source
InkplateLibrary 11.0.0 lib/ (local, no separate install needed)
SdFat 2.3.1 PlatformIO registry
U8g2_for_Adafruit_GFX 1.8.0 PlatformIO registry
ESP32 BLE Keyboard 0.3.2 PlatformIO registry
Adafruit GFX Library 1.12.6 PlatformIO registry
Adafruit BusIO — PlatformIO registry

Build flags

Flag Purpose
-DARDUINO_INKPLATE5V2 Board identification
-DINKPLATE_5V2 Enables correct code path inside InkplateLibrary
-DBOARD_HAS_PSRAM Declares PSRAM presence to ESP-IDF
-mfix-esp32-psram-cache-issue Workaround for ESP32 PSRAM cache bug (older silicon)
-DSCREEN_WIDTH=800 / -DSCREEN_HEIGHT=600 Display resolution constants
-O2 + build_unflags = -Os Speed optimization; overrides PlatformIO's default size optimization
-D CORE_DEBUG_LEVEL=0 Suppresses all serial debug output

Flash / partition settings

Item Value
Partition table huge_app.csv (maximizes app partition)
Flash speed 80 MHz
Flash mode QIO (quad I/O)

huge_app.csv is a built-in partition table provided by the PlatformIO espressif32 platform. No manual file is needed.

Installation

Requirements

  • PlatformIO (VS Code extension or CLI)
  • Zerowriter Ink (Inkplate 5 V2) with SD card

Build and flash

git clone <this repo>
cd <repo>
pio run --target upload

SD card setup

  1. Format SD card as FAT32.
  2. Create the folder /ize_compose/hwalja/.
  3. Copy the hwalja_*.bin font files into /ize_compose/hwalja/.
  4. (Optional) Place initial.png (800×600 PNG) in /ize_compose/ for the sleep/boot image.

Firmware OTA update (WiFi)

  1. Open the system menu → Network → WiFi.
  2. Connect to the IZE_COMPOSE access point from a PC or phone.
  3. Navigate to 192.168.4.1 in a browser.
  4. Upload a new .bin firmware file.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut Action
Ctrl+Space Toggle Korean / English mode
Ctrl+L Sleep (shows boot image)
Ctrl+F Text search
Ctrl+C Copy all text to clipboard
Ctrl+V Paste clipboard
Space (accent cycling) Cycle diacritic variants for last character

Repository Structure

src/
  IZEcompose.ino        — main firmware
  jado.h                — keyboard layout definitions and keymaps (92 layouts)
  jeong_eum.h           — Korean composition engine and script engine types
  insoe.h               — text rendering, font selection
  EmbeddedLatinFont.h   — Latin font baked into firmware
  PsramAssets.h         — PSRAM asset loading helpers
  hwalja_*.bin          — font binary files (copy to SD card, not compiled in)

lib/
  InkplateLibrary/      — Inkplate driver (local copy)

tools/
  make_fonts.py         — script used to build hwalja_*.bin from BDF sources
  u8g2/bdfconv.exe      — BDF font converter (used by make_fonts.py)

build/
  fontbuild*/           — intermediate font build artifacts
  noto_fonts/           — source Noto font TTFs used for font building

platformio.ini          — PlatformIO build config

Current Limitations

  • Supports only Inkplate 5 V2 (800×600). Other Inkplate boards are not tested.
  • Korean cursor movement during mid-syllable composition is not supported.
  • Only .txt files; no formatting.
  • Single document open at a time.
  • WiFi and BLE cannot be active simultaneously.
  • The sleep image must be exactly 800×600 pixels; other sizes are not handled.

Credits

Assets 4
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