KUAL: Kindle Unified Application Launcher (v2.7)

[jbaumann]

Thank you for that pointer, it might be interesting. But to use it I need to be able to start KUAL.
KUAL seems to be installed (there is a KUAL.kual in /documents), but I cannot start it, because when I search for it, the reader does not find it.

Cheers, Joachim

[jbaumann]

Solved it, finally.

I tried to fix KUAL using the "Update_KUALBooklet_5b5d1d2_install.bin", when I should instead have used the hotfix version in "Update_KUALBooklet_hotfix_5b5d1d2_install.bin "

Thank you all for the help

Cheers, Joachim

[jbaumann]

Ok, next potential problem. KOReader crashed, and afterwards, the icon was gone again.

Using the hotfix on its own didn't help, as didn't the normal install. The combination, first the normal install and then the hotfix, one after the other in mrpackages/ did work.

EDIT: The second time I simply exited KOReader and the same happened. This time a normal install sufficed...

I'm very far from understanding this...

Cheers, Joachim
PS: Using the hotfix as a firmware update (placing it in / and UYK) wasn't possible, UYK was greyed out.

[NiLuJe]

That smells either like a trivial date/time issue (which is a trivial fix, phone home or settz + setdate), or a less trivial database/filesystem integrity issue (which means either checking the ccdb & varlocal manually over SSH, or a factory reset).

Or a giant obvious PEBCAK somewhere along the way ;o).

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by jbaumann

Thank you for that pointer, it might be interesting. But to use it I need to be able to start KUAL.
KUAL seems to be installed (there is a KUAL.kual in /documents), but I cannot start it, because when I search for it, the reader does not find it.

You could look at the script and run it or parts of it manually.

Alternatively, you could read this thread to understand the details
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...31#post4220331

Also, it sounds like launching KoReader is leaving KUAL in some bad state. I don't think the image is being affected, but maybe the last access time of KUAL. That access time controls where and if a document is listed. If it is "too old" or "in the future" it will not show at all.

If you are not comfortable with SQL, you might have some difficulties.

[jbaumann]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

That smells either like a trivial date/time issue (which is a trivial fix, phone home or settz + setdate), or a less trivial database/filesystem integrity issue (which means either checking the ccdb & varlocal manually over SSH, or a factory reset).

Or a giant obvious PEBCAK somewhere along the way ;o).

The first point I tested, the difference in the time was maybe 15-30s, and I let the reader phone home to sync that.

Is there a tutorial that I can use to check the ccdb & /var/local?

I wouldn‘t like to do a factory reset, afterwards I would have to re-register, update the firmware again and apply the hotfix before starting from a clean slate, right?

And I definitely wouldn‘t rule out that I am the problem, which is why I try to be as detailed as possible without being too boring.

I have some CS skills, know a bit about Linux variants, but have no real idea how the reader firmware manages all of its details. This automatically leads me to „educated guesses“ which might be very, very wrong…

So, if there are documents about the inner workings, I would be happy about some pointers.

Cheers, Joachim

[jbaumann]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

You could look at the script and run it or parts of it manually.

Alternatively, you could read this thread to understand the details
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...31#post4220331

Also, it sounds like launching KoReader is leaving KUAL in some bad state. I don't think the image is being affected, but maybe the last access time of KUAL. That access time controls where and if a document is listed. If it is "too old" or "in the future" it will not show at all.

If you are not comfortable with SQL, you might have some difficulties.

Thanks for the pointer, I will read through it.

Regarding the time stamps: Why in the world would a developer do something like this? Is there any added value for the user that I‘m not seeing?

Regarding SQL: I have some slight understanding :-)

Cheers, Joachim

[jbaumann]

And now it gets interesting…

I removed all books from the Kindle in preparation for trying to find out what actually happens. And directly afterwards the KUAL icon was there (and still is), even though before deleting the books it wasn‘t findable.

Additional information:
I copied a very large amount of books, both azw3 and epub, to the reader the day before I started to have the problems.
There are additional files that suggest that there was some kind of a core dump…

My motivation: I want to use the Kindle with both its native reader and KOReader, and want to switch between them whenever I like, to try and decide whether KOReader is my preferred reader app for the future.

Cheers, Joachim

[mergen3107]

Here is your first problem: when you copy a lot of books to documents folder, Kindle starts indexing them. Until this is done, many things might work slow or not work at all. To track the progress, search for a nonsense word, e.g., “123abc”, and tap where it says “Books not indexed yet (number)” (or something similar, don’t remember the exact wording). To help indexing, put Kindle on charging and just leave it until it is done. It might take minutes/hours/days depending on number of books.

[jbaumann]

I tried to find out what the indexing problem is. I started with an empty reader.

I copied EPUBs to a folder of their own (I use ".books", but I also had named it "books" at one time without a difference), the indexer seems to have no problems at all. I did this via "Save to Disk" in Calibre. (don't know whether that is relevant).

Next step was to copy all AZW3 to the reader using "Send to Device". This updates the metadata and I have no idea yet, what it actually does.

After a short while of indexing the reader is happy. KUAL is findable.

Now the interesting bit: I copy a few books as EPUB via "Send to Device". This places them directly adjacent to their AZW3 counterpart. Metadata gets updated.
And the KUAL icon is gone.
At the same time multiple crash files are created (KPPMainAppV2 and cvm).

Removing the books with EPUB format (both EPUB and AZW3 version) and only recopying the AZW3 versions with Calibre leads back to the stable state, and the KUAL icon is back again.

Next test: Copying EPUBs by hand into the documents/ directory. No crash, no error, but KUAL icon is gone.

Deleting the EPUB doesn't bring the KUAL icon back.
Recopying without first deleting doesn't bring KUAL back.
Deleting all the books with EPUB versions and then re-copying them as AZW3 doesn't brings the KUAL icon back.
Deleting all books brings the KUAL icon back.

My conclusion: The Kindle really doesn't like EPUBs and it is best to keep them in separate directories.

[shamanNS]

Kindle's stock software doesn't support epubs.
So just use a folder outside of "documents" folder for KOReader's home folder and everything should work fine?

[jbaumann]

My goal was to use Calibre's magic to sync the books on the reader with those in my library. When I use "Save to Disk" this doesn't work. The underlying idea was to use the same Kindle to experiment with look and feel of both KOReader and the native reading app. Instead I will now use KOReader on one reader and the native app on the other reader until I make my final decision.

My experiments seem to show that the approach you suggest (the one I actually use currently) is the only one working.

Cheers, Joachim

[shamanNS]

Use KOReader's implementation of Calibre's wireless device protocol and after connecting KOReader wirelessy to Calibre just send epub files using "Send to Device" as you would on other devices connected via USB cable?

https://github.com/koreader/koreader/wiki/calibre

[j.p.s]

This is the first I have heard about the kindle platform doing anything other than ignore EPUBs.

Does copying only a single EPUB manually make the KUAL icon vanish?

[jbaumann]

@shamanNS, I hadn't heard about that functionality and just tested it. It is a bit flaky, but exactly what I was searching for. Thanks a lot, this is the solution for my use case.

@j.p.s, yes, a single EPUB in the documents folder made the KUAL icon vanish, and the Kindle core-dumped a number of times.

I just tested the wireless transfer into the hidden directory ".books" that I'm now using for the EPUBs, and when I disconnect and leave KOReader after the transfer of around 2000 EPUBs the KUAL icon vanishes as well, but only for about 1-2 minutes until it is back again.

The Kindle firmware version is 5.16.2.1.1, the Calibre version is 7.2, and I'm using a Mac under OSX Sonoma.

Cheers, Joachim
PS: If there is anything that I could test to determine the cause I'm more than happy to help.