Aura HD Need help ignoring broken area of display.

[iKaroliina]

Hello,

I recently dropped my dear Kobo. Now the screen is broken in one place. (Thread here)

Someone told me that maybe there is a way to fool the software to make it ignore the broken place of the display.

Can it be done? Can I modify maybe KOReader for this?

I'm a IT student and I've looked at KOReader source code but Lua is unfamiliar language and I have no idea how to do it yet.

[GeoffR]

It is possible to patch the firmware to add a large top or bottom margin when reading ePub books, at least one other person has used that to avoid an area of screen damage near the top of the screen.

But from your photo the problem is in the centre of the screen, so you would have to add a very large margin and would only have the use of about half the screen for reading. That might cause some problems with displaying images because the usable area of screen would be wider than it is tall.

Edit: If you are sideloading ePubs with Calibre, i.e. they are DRM-free, then you can add a margin by modifying the book's stylesheet instead of patching the firmware. This is something that can be set up to be done automatically for books sent to that specific device, without affecting books sent to another device. You might want to try it this way before patching to see what it will be like.

Does that sounds like something that would be useful?

[iKaroliina]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

It is possible to patch the firmware to add a large top or bottom margin when reading ePub books, at least one other person has used that to avoid an area of screen damage near the top of the screen.

But from your photo the problem is in the centre of the screen, so you would have to add a very large margin and would only have the use of about half the screen for reading. That might cause some problems with displaying images because the usable area of screen would be wider than it is tall.

Edit: If you are sideloading ePubs with Calibre, i.e. they are DRM-free, then you can add a margin by modifying the book's stylesheet instead of patching the firmware. This is something that can be set up to be done automatically for books sent to that specific device, without affecting books sent to another device. You might want to try it this way before patching to see what it will be like.

Does that sounds like something that would be useful?

I had been thinking about modifying stylesheet. I did try it but the result wasnt good. Right now I'm reading with large line spacing. My margins, font size and font are choosen to get the broken area into the line spacing. In both cases there isn't much text on the screen.

[tshering]

If you are prepared to loose the complete upper part of the screen, you can

1) try to modify in koreader\frontend\device\kobo\device.lua this part:

-- Kobo Aura HD:
local KoboDragon = Kobo:new{
    model = "Kobo_dragon",
    hasFrontlight = yes,
    display_dpi = 265,
}

Add under the line "display_dpi = 265,"

viewport = Geom:new{x=0, y=400, w=1080, h=1040},

Change the values of y and h as you see fit (y+h=1440).

I did not try this myself.

2) Or you can modify vlasovsoft\cr3.sh (for Coolreader). I tried it on a Kobo Touch (w=600, h=800). As an example (see the attached image), I use only the lower halve of the screen. You would of course have to adjust the values for Aura HD.

#!/bin/sh

#exec cr3/cr3 -stylesheet $STYLESHEET
exec cr3/cr3 -stylesheet $STYLESHEET -geometry 600x400+0+400

You could do the same thing in launcher.sh too, but the button to launch Coolreader will be available anyway.

[JSWolf]

Your Aura HD doesn't look like it has a broken screen. It looks like a screen controller issue or a loose cable issue. I suggest contacting Kobo and seeing if there is anything they can do for you as long as you don't have any noticeable damage from the drop.

If Kobo won't do anything for you, you could open up the Aura HD and see if you can reseat any look cable(s) or check the screen controller and see if that is not sitting correctly.

[mkeles84]

I have this Kobo Aura, all touch screen works properly but some part of screen isn't being read even touch works. Is there any script to use this device like 5", I see some codes but they are for Aura HD, I think.
It takes 90$ new touch screen.

And I am sorry about ghosting this topic but I didn't want to create new one.
Thanks.

[tshering]

Originally Posted by mkeles84

I have this Kobo Aura, all touch screen works properly but some part of screen isn't being read even touch works. Is there any script to use this device like 5", I see some codes but they are for Aura HD, I think.

I guess you are aware of the fact that the above codes work only for "alternative readers". The first is for Koreader, the second for Coolreader. I do not know whether you are willing to use one of these, and if which one. If you would like to try and you do not have any preference, I would suggest using Coolreader in this case, since the modification seems to be easier to do (and I have tested that it works).
As for the values I would propose you try

exec cr3/cr3 -stylesheet $STYLESHEET -geometry 758x760+0+254

This would skip roughly the top quarter of the screen.

Be aware that using alternative software and doing modifications might brick your device. Since the Aura has no exchangeable internal memory, it is even more dangerous.