Manualslib – Database of More Than 2.6M Manuals(manualslib.com)
manualslib.com
Manualslib – Database of More Than 2.6M Manuals
https://www.manualslib.com/
67 comments
I can't see how taking a site like this down would in any way benefit a manufacturer whose manual is available.
Companies like John Deere exist, who don't even want you to repair your own equipment...
Companies like John Deere exist, who don't even want you to repair your own equipment...
I feel like I experience your point 2 more and more often last years. I cannot fathom how Google serve so much spam for a lot of searches lately.
To go one step further, we had created the site https://www.allthingsmine.com and the ios/android app
which basically auto looks up the manual in online manual sites. In addition, it points to youtube videos for the product, provides specs if the product is available in our database.
Also users can also store their purchase receipts, price etc and get notified of price changes and view the trend if the product is sold by retailers such as Amazon, BestBuy, Walmart etc.
Will point to manualslib.com if it is comprehensive.
Will point to manualslib.com if it is comprehensive.
Looks neat but you ask for a massive amount of permissions.
Yes.
For known products we provide manufacturer support phone numbers, hence ability to make a call from the app.
For adding recipts we need file system/camera access.
If you would like to connect with friends to share reviews/recommendations then contacts.
Hence the long list...
Best practice is to ask for those permissions as they come up, rather than asking a user to trust your app with the world up front. https://developer.android.com/training/permissions/requestin...
Your website breaks the back button.
you should improve the UX if manuals is the focus of your app
it sounded interesting so i downloaded it. there was a prompt to add items to a wishlist after starting it... i was only able to monitor the price of the added item afterwards. there was no mention about any user feedback, youtube videos or manuals anywhere i could find after a cursory look.
it sounded interesting so i downloaded it. there was a prompt to add items to a wishlist after starting it... i was only able to monitor the price of the added item afterwards. there was no mention about any user feedback, youtube videos or manuals anywhere i could find after a cursory look.
Yes. You are right. We ran into the issue of user adoption for the post-purchase usecase.
So we added the price monitoring as more users wanted prepurchase options but there are lots of players there.
very understandable. while a user manual database with additional youtube videos or other comments would be values to ... some, it wouldn't be many people, as most never look at any manuals, no matter how many problems they've got with their devices.
sorry for the ninja edit on my previous comment. i didn't see your response before i rewrote it. i kept the meaning, just clarified my point a little.
sorry for the ninja edit on my previous comment. i didn't see your response before i rewrote it. i kept the meaning, just clarified my point a little.
filetype:pdf product-name manual
has worked every time for me
has worked every time for me
Really? I get tons of "files.wordpress.com/obviousspamblog/exact-search-term-you-entered.pdf" garbage PDFs that are just 80 pages of the same text with "CLICK HERE FOR MANUAL ----->>> totallynotmalware.biz.mx.cc.info.site/bulwarkmulgrove".
-site:wordpress.com
Not that hard
Don't know if that's the exact syntax but I've definitely done it before somehow, on mobile rn
Not that hard
Don't know if that's the exact syntax but I've definitely done it before somehow, on mobile rn
There are some more specialised enterprises, e.g. for T&M there is artekmanuals and some others ("The" Schaltungsdienst comes to mind). There are a bunch of other sites like manualslib, usually with a narrower focus, and there are almost always private collections as well.
Interesting. Did you try to find the manuals on Amazon or eBay (e.g. sold as used books)? Just an idea.
I've started saving electronic copies of manuals, assembly instructions, etc for anything that I purchase. If there's no electronic copy available, I'll scan the paper manual. In all cases, I'm putting the documents into an instance of Mayan EDMS[0]. Mayan also automatically does OCR on everything that comes in, so even if the PDFs are non-OCR'd scans they're still searchable.
This is part of a larger project to significantly reduce the amount of paper that I'm keeping, which is why I'm using a document management system as opposed to a Dropbox folder. My goal is to divide the mounds of paper into things I need to keep for a long time (e.g., tax documents), and things that I can shred after a year (e.g., bills, receipts, etc). In all cases, I want the documents searchable and backed up.
[0] http://mayan-edms.org/
This is part of a larger project to significantly reduce the amount of paper that I'm keeping, which is why I'm using a document management system as opposed to a Dropbox folder. My goal is to divide the mounds of paper into things I need to keep for a long time (e.g., tax documents), and things that I can shred after a year (e.g., bills, receipts, etc). In all cases, I want the documents searchable and backed up.
[0] http://mayan-edms.org/
Which scanner are you using? I've been trying to eliminate paper for a while now. I keep digital copies of everything I can download, but using a traditional flatbed/all-in-one scanner to digitize things that I on have on paper would take forever.
I'm terrible at organizing paper, and it's like a plague.
I'm terrible at organizing paper, and it's like a plague.
I'm just starting out, so I'm using an all-in-one flatbed scanner because I have one available. It's really slow, especially when I up the resolution enough that OCR works usefully.
My plan is to step up to something like a Brother ADS-1000W[0] or ADS-1500W[1]. I also hear good things about Fujitsu ScanSnap scanners, but those are USB only. If you step up to Fujitsu's fi series you can get a network interface, but I think they're more expensive than the Brother models I'm looking at.
Regardless of the brand and model, the required features are that it has a document feeder, scans both sides of the page, and that it can save the output to a server without needing a computer to mediate it. The Brother scanners have WiFi and can save directly to an FTP server - Mayan can pick up PDFs from a filesystem directory, so it would be pretty easy to have stuff go right from the scanner into Mayan.
[0] https://www.brother.ca/en-CA/Scanners/11/ProductDetail/ADS10...
[1] https://www.brother.ca/en-CA/Scanners/11/ProductDetail/ADS15...
My plan is to step up to something like a Brother ADS-1000W[0] or ADS-1500W[1]. I also hear good things about Fujitsu ScanSnap scanners, but those are USB only. If you step up to Fujitsu's fi series you can get a network interface, but I think they're more expensive than the Brother models I'm looking at.
Regardless of the brand and model, the required features are that it has a document feeder, scans both sides of the page, and that it can save the output to a server without needing a computer to mediate it. The Brother scanners have WiFi and can save directly to an FTP server - Mayan can pick up PDFs from a filesystem directory, so it would be pretty easy to have stuff go right from the scanner into Mayan.
[0] https://www.brother.ca/en-CA/Scanners/11/ProductDetail/ADS10...
[1] https://www.brother.ca/en-CA/Scanners/11/ProductDetail/ADS15...
Thanks, those were the models I was thinking about as well. Double-sided seems like a necessity, and a relatively fast scan seems important, but the only other thing I know I care about is durability.
I hadn't thought about using WiFi --> FTP. That's a pretty handy feature. I run Linux, and there is a lot of great hardware that is barely functional on Linux, especially from the likes of Brother.
I've thought about bringing paper to a staples to scan, or paying a scanning service to scan everything. The benefit of the latter is that they'll preserve your filing system and name your files for you. We went paperless at work, and they can be pretty expensive per document unless you have a ton of paper for them to scan.
I hadn't thought about using WiFi --> FTP. That's a pretty handy feature. I run Linux, and there is a lot of great hardware that is barely functional on Linux, especially from the likes of Brother.
I've thought about bringing paper to a staples to scan, or paying a scanning service to scan everything. The benefit of the latter is that they'll preserve your filing system and name your files for you. We went paperless at work, and they can be pretty expensive per document unless you have a ton of paper for them to scan.
Is 600x600 enough resolution?
Thanks for that though - I'm hoping it's available in Australia. I was previously looking at the Fuji Xerox DM4440 series which are much more expensive.
Thanks for that though - I'm hoping it's available in Australia. I was previously looking at the Fuji Xerox DM4440 series which are much more expensive.
I use Fujitsu ScanSnap ix500. It's great: fast, reliable, just works. It has nice features like automatically orienting the document and built-in OCR.
That's a project I have too. A few things I struggled with, would be curious to know how you solved them?
- backups. I plan on using it to go paperless and keep tax returns etc. I can't afford to lose that info, but I can't come up with a robust enough backup plan. How are you doing it?
- concurrency. It runs on a 8 years old home server, and when I scan multiple pages documents, the ocr slows down to a crawl. Have you run into this?
- backups. I plan on using it to go paperless and keep tax returns etc. I can't afford to lose that info, but I can't come up with a robust enough backup plan. How are you doing it?
- concurrency. It runs on a 8 years old home server, and when I scan multiple pages documents, the ocr slows down to a crawl. Have you run into this?
Backups are one of those things that I don't do well at the moment. Fortunately, Mayan doesn't have any special requirements - basically back up the database and back up its media directory[0].
My ideal solution is to have everything backed up "in the cloud" plus have a backup at home. So far I've got the home backup happening - every machine uses 'attic' to back up onto my NAS. I'm still figuring out what the "in the cloud" side looks like.
One thing you can do is keep copies of important documents elsewhere - like Dropbox, a USB drive in a safe deposit box, etc. It all depends on what technologies you trust and how much you trust them.
For OCR, I can't say I've had much trouble with it. Mayan breaks the PDFs into pages, then feeds each page to tesseract. All of that happens in a worker process and I haven't found that it has a significant impact on the use of Mayan. The OCR section for the document will be incomplete for a while though.
[0] http://mayan.readthedocs.io/en/v2.1.4/topics/backups.html
My ideal solution is to have everything backed up "in the cloud" plus have a backup at home. So far I've got the home backup happening - every machine uses 'attic' to back up onto my NAS. I'm still figuring out what the "in the cloud" side looks like.
One thing you can do is keep copies of important documents elsewhere - like Dropbox, a USB drive in a safe deposit box, etc. It all depends on what technologies you trust and how much you trust them.
For OCR, I can't say I've had much trouble with it. Mayan breaks the PDFs into pages, then feeds each page to tesseract. All of that happens in a worker process and I haven't found that it has a significant impact on the use of Mayan. The OCR section for the document will be incomplete for a while though.
[0] http://mayan.readthedocs.io/en/v2.1.4/topics/backups.html
I don't trust dropbox, at all. I'd like to store encrypted backups online for the Mayan db and every document.
For the OCR, my issue is that if I import several documents Mayan will feed them all to tesseract in parallel. Then I have two available cores, but 40 tesseract workers and the system comes down because it runs out of RAM and CPU. How did you set up your OCR?
For the OCR, my issue is that if I import several documents Mayan will feed them all to tesseract in parallel. Then I have two available cores, but 40 tesseract workers and the system comes down because it runs out of RAM and CPU. How did you set up your OCR?
I just used the instructions here[0], with some minor changes (pathnames, db server, etc). I've never seen more than two tesseract processes running on my two-core VM, no matter how many documents I give it.
Maybe something changed at some point to limit the active workers to the number of cores.
[0] http://mayan.readthedocs.io/en/stable/topics/deploying.html
Maybe something changed at some point to limit the active workers to the number of cores.
[0] http://mayan.readthedocs.io/en/stable/topics/deploying.html
Mayan EDMS issue to add rate limit support to the OCR backend. https://gitlab.com/mayan-edms/mayan-edms/issues/287
I wonder if there was a change in celery that limits the number of active workers to the number of cores. This is the behavior I see on my instance.
That could explain it, it would be a nice addition
It runs on a 8 years old home server, and when I scan multiple pages documents, the ocr slows down to a crawl. Have you run into this?
OCR is going to be CPU bound, so the solution seems obvious.
OCR is going to be CPU bound, so the solution seems obvious.
The manuals have a big watermark right through the center of each page, which isn't even translucent; it completely obscures the content behind it. See https://www.manualslib.com/manual/464698/Honda-Civic.html?pa... for a random example, where the watermark completely obscures the model number of the Honda Civic's automatic transmission.
Is there some way to pay to remove the watermark? Is that how this works, these manuals are effectively just free previews?
Is there some way to pay to remove the watermark? Is that how this works, these manuals are effectively just free previews?
I just downloaded the pdf for free and there was no watermark. Looks like this only exists in the web preview.
there is still a watermark at the bottom left corner of the downloaded content, so they do modify the original documents. Not good.
The magnifying glass in the upper right bypasses the watermark.
Copyright worries notwithstanding, it is a great resource. The first thing I do unpacking anything new is searching the internet for a manual (usually PDF) and saving it to my Dropbox. I keep paper manuals around for a while but recycle them after the end of warranty period to reduce clutter.
I wish every manual was mandated to come with QR-code or at least short URL to its own electronic version.
I wish every manual was mandated to come with QR-code or at least short URL to its own electronic version.
As long as that QR code or short URL points to the digital version in the Internet Archive.
Even better. Or IPFS hash. Though modern goods rarely live much longer than a typical URL
Incredible.. I was literally yesterday looking for a manual for my 80's boat motor of unknown model. A quick lookup and visual approximation allowed me to match the model on the manufacturer's site and download the series user's manual from here.
The PDF has been OCR scanned and allows searching. This is way easier than ordering the manual from a reseller. Copy to cloud, and now I have online copy of the manual always in my pocket..
I understand it is copyright infringement, but still super-useful. And I might still order a physical copy if the digital copy proves helpful.
The PDF has been OCR scanned and allows searching. This is way easier than ordering the manual from a reseller. Copy to cloud, and now I have online copy of the manual always in my pocket..
I understand it is copyright infringement, but still super-useful. And I might still order a physical copy if the digital copy proves helpful.
Uh, I hate to be that guy, but isn't this just one big copyright lawsuit waiting to happen?
I think you can find most of these online in their respective manufacturer's sites for free, but I'm not entirely sure they would be cool with people lifting them and slapping them on another site.
IANAL, of course.
I think you can find most of these online in their respective manufacturer's sites for free, but I'm not entirely sure they would be cool with people lifting them and slapping them on another site.
IANAL, of course.
Appears to be hosted in the Netherlands. Assuming US companies are the most litigious, probably reduces that risk.
They've got it covered:
https://www.manualslib.com/dmca.html and https://www.manualslib.com/abs/
Just wondering, why would vendors do this? I mean, I'd be looking for a manual here if I owned a product made by them. Why would vendors willfully screw their own customers (and nobody else)?
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know where they source their manuals? The "about" page describes them as developers, not hardcore collectors or warezy types.
I mean, most sites like this are about sharing, but this one just provides content freely and that's it. I couldn't find an "upload" button. Great for us though, but I'm still curious :-)
I mean, most sites like this are about sharing, but this one just provides content freely and that's it. I couldn't find an "upload" button. Great for us though, but I'm still curious :-)
> I couldn't find an "upload" button.
There's an upload button on the top right of the page for me. Clicking it asks me to login / signup. It's not exactly hidden.
There's an upload button on the top right of the page for me. Clicking it asks me to login / signup. It's not exactly hidden.
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Quite a bit of it looks scraped. I searched for a manual I have been after for a while and found the same PDF (which I found on google) which appears to be a manual but isn't.
What a phenomenal resource. I'm really surprised at how comprehensive and fast it is.
Anyone know how they support something like this? There's got to be a bit of cost associated with the hosting and processing. Are they selling a commercial version of their software platform?
Anyone know how they support something like this? There's got to be a bit of cost associated with the hosting and processing. Are they selling a commercial version of their software platform?
I love you. You are a good person. A wonderful person.
This is a problem I've had for ages when buying old hardware. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.
This is a problem I've had for ages when buying old hardware. Thank you, thank you, and thank you.
ManualsLib watermark plastered over every page is distracting - however I understand the purpose.
PDF rendering looks crippled from quick check on some pages.
Otherwise - looks like promising repository.
PDF rendering looks crippled from quick check on some pages.
Otherwise - looks like promising repository.
I made something like this for car manuals but got scared of a lawsuit and shut it down. It was really popular anyway but I learned a lot about cars in the process.
I can see some in French and Spanish. Is there a way to sort by language? I think this would be a good data source of bilingual text for my Chinese translator app.
i just used this for a new washing machine. the Electrolux support site requires one to provide the exact model number to search manuals--no browse, no index. rather than go downstairs to read the number off the machine i searched the web and found manualslib.
so to the point besides being annoyed by crappy manufacturer websites: should i be worried about exploits buried in pdfs? isnt it possible to hide rootkit attacks in a pdf?
so to the point besides being annoyed by crappy manufacturer websites: should i be worried about exploits buried in pdfs? isnt it possible to hide rootkit attacks in a pdf?
> should i be worried about exploits buried in pdfs? isnt it possible to hide rootkit attacks in a pdf?
Just open it on a Safari or Chrome browser instead of a native pdf viewer.
Just open it on a Safari or Chrome browser instead of a native pdf viewer.
https://manualsbrain.com/ looks better. What do you think guys?
I just checked, whether I can find a service manual for my SONY BDVN-7100WB, but only user guides, nothing for technicians. :-(
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It's perfect!
good job!
Bookmarked!
1. Go to the manufacturer's web site, if they still exist, and see if they have a manual there
2. Search Google for "MODEL# pdf". Wade through pages of pond scum search engine spam and paid sites for a half hour. Apparently, enough people search for manuals to make this profitable.
3. Do some web research to find similar product model numbers (maybe 8029A manual would cover 8029B too?) and repeat 1-2 above.
4. Start searching through forums and other hard-to-index parts of the web.
5. Check torrent sites? (now I'm getting desperate!)
It's crazy how tough it can be to find a user manual. In many cases, I end up finding one scanned by another end-user and posted online to be helpful. It's also a shame that 1/2 the comments here are about copyright. I can't see how taking a site like this down would in any way benefit a manufacturer whose manual is available. Unless the manufacturer is trying to make money selling their user manual, in which case to hell with that shitty company.