MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - advboot: a new approach to launch nickel or koreader at startup

shadoooo · 02-04-2014, 08:00 PM

Hello,
I realized a modified boot procedure for KOBO devices that allows the user to execute custom scripts at startup.
This boot procedure is based on original boot script of KOBO devices,
with minor modifications; it can be installed once forever (until system is upgraded), while custom scripts are in .kobo/advboot subfolders, thus accessible via USB without the need to use KoboRoot.tgz installation procedure for further modifications.
Custom scripts are launched at three stages of the boot process, in a name sorted sequence (details on included readme).
The new boot procedure is available here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ytpa3sfe85..._v1.0.zip?dl=0 for firmware 2.10 - 3.10
https://www.dropbox.com/s/8z4roh6i1k..._3.20.zip?dl=0 for firmware 3.20 and up
https://www.dropbox.com/s/d685p7k2bg..._3.30.zip?dl=0 for firmware 3.30
https://www.dropbox.com/s/edkarwprr0..._3.31.zip?dl=0 for firmware 3.31 and 3.41
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ouss4l2j91..._3.50.zip?dl=0 for firmware 3.50

******************************
THANKS TO OTHER USERS FOR SUPPORTING ADVBOOT, later files are only a backup of files from other users, with version numbering and changelog updated.
******************************

and can be installed simply putting the included KoboRoot.tgz file in .kobo folder, as usual. The procedure itself prepares the system to execute custom scripts, but does nothing more.

I prepared a set of custom scripts that show a simple menu at startup,
allowing the user to choose between KOBO nickel application (standard boot)
and koreader (it must be installed separately).
There's no need to install fmon or other launchers in this way.
This script uses only binary applications already included in KOBO firmware to show the graphical interface, while the bitmaps are included in the images subfolder.
The main advantage over the common fmon (PNG file access monitoring) method
is that it doesn't require nickel to be running at all, so system resources can be dedicated
exclusively to koreader. Furthermore, it doesn't require installation of any file monitor launcher, thus sparing again some extra cpu time for this purpose.
It's available here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/e7wt6u08it..._v1.3.zip?dl=0

As somebody used to modify the rcS for other purposes, I'm including also an example script to start telnet server service during boot.
It can be used as exampled, and can be easily modified if different network configurations are required.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/smhgg5vthj...ample.zip?dl=0

I hope this will be useful.
Comments are welcome.
Andrea

02-04-2014, 08:00 PM	#1
shadoooo Member Posts: 18 Karma: 19 Join Date: Nov 2013 Device: Kobo AURA HD	advboot: a new approach to launch nickel or koreader at startup Hello, I realized a modified boot procedure for KOBO devices that allows the user to execute custom scripts at startup. This boot procedure is based on original boot script of KOBO devices, with minor modifications; it can be installed once forever (until system is upgraded), while custom scripts are in .kobo/advboot subfolders, thus accessible via USB without the need to use KoboRoot.tgz installation procedure for further modifications. Custom scripts are launched at three stages of the boot process, in a name sorted sequence (details on included readme). The new boot procedure is available here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ytpa3sfe85..._v1.0.zip?dl=0 for firmware 2.10 - 3.10 https://www.dropbox.com/s/8z4roh6i1k..._3.20.zip?dl=0 for firmware 3.20 and up https://www.dropbox.com/s/d685p7k2bg..._3.30.zip?dl=0 for firmware 3.30 https://www.dropbox.com/s/edkarwprr0..._3.31.zip?dl=0 for firmware 3.31 and 3.41 https://www.dropbox.com/s/ouss4l2j91..._3.50.zip?dl=0 for firmware 3.50 **************************** THANKS TO OTHER USERS FOR SUPPORTING ADVBOOT, later files are only a backup of files from other users, with version numbering and changelog updated. **************************** and can be installed simply putting the included KoboRoot.tgz file in .kobo folder, as usual. The procedure itself prepares the system to execute custom scripts, but does nothing more. I prepared a set of custom scripts that show a simple menu at startup, allowing the user to choose between KOBO nickel application (standard boot) and koreader (it must be installed separately). There's no need to install fmon or other launchers in this way. This script uses only binary applications already included in KOBO firmware to show the graphical interface, while the bitmaps are included in the images subfolder. The main advantage over the common fmon (PNG file access monitoring) method is that it doesn't require nickel to be running at all, so system resources can be dedicated exclusively to koreader. Furthermore, it doesn't require installation of any file monitor launcher, thus sparing again some extra cpu time for this purpose. It's available here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/e7wt6u08it..._v1.3.zip?dl=0 As somebody used to modify the rcS for other purposes, I'm including also an example script to start telnet server service during boot. It can be used as exampled, and can be easily modified if different network configurations are required. https://www.dropbox.com/s/smhgg5vthj...ample.zip?dl=0 I hope this will be useful. Comments are welcome. Andrea Last edited by shadoooo; 05-01-2015 at 11:54 AM.