MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Howto recompile opensource firmware for KOBO reader

fastrobot · 06-06-2015, 05:28 PM

Well, Peter....

Look here:
https://github.com/kobolabs/Kobo-Reader/issues/53

George closed the thread, for he apparently doesn't want to answer the question I actually asked; but wants to be 'seen' to answer it when he was being superficial ( or careless ? )

Note, he referenced me to: https://github.com/kobolabs

And if you look on that page, today, you will not find a repository for AuraHD -- but only ARC.
I already downloaded the generic kobo-reader archive, and proved it's out of date.
So -- AFAICT individual download, must mean gnu 'packages' and not 'device' repositories.

So to be fair to George, as I mentioned busybox to him explicitly -- check the third page of the repository, which has busybox: https://github.com/kobolabs/busybox but doesn't tell you which version it is.

Now, notice -- the repository is two years old, and never updated since then exactly the same as the repository I already downloaded. So, that's no better than the repository I downloaded before --eg: it's also an old one; and there is no way to tell if it is or isn't the version that is on the KoboAura or Glo, and worse -- there are no Aura or Glo configure scripts -- so I don't know which parts of busybox are used in the kobo AuraHD and which ones are not. The Kobo is not using all the busybox code, as I already know from hard won experience that a telnet host is not compiled in KoboAURAHD firmware update 3.12.1 or 3.15.1 ; and there are some patches in the archive, so it's not pure busybox -- either.

So if I naively try to compile that repository for the KOBO -- it's going to introduce bugs or break dependencies ; and there is no guarantee it's even the version that's on the Aura in the first place, as it's not labeled as being part of the Aura. Nor is there a readme file saying which version of what is for which reader.

So -- George just kicked me back down to doing everything the hard way. He didn't give me a chance to ask him how to tell which version is used on which reader, and how it needs to be compiled to be compatible with the reader. ( The ToDO's, readmes, etc. are 4 to 6 years old, so they obviously aren't going to accurately reflect a firmware update/release from a month ago. )

It's an attack on the purpose of open source code on the Aura to hide things like this, because it makes it very difficult for users to replicate what is already there -- and then fix only what is broken (the bugs).

Notice: I mentioned the scripts issue, regarding QT and George didn't bother to comment on that, either.

I can't replicate what is there, unless I know what it is and I think George likely knows that and chose to close the thread prematurely; I expect he likely knows (or ought to know better) that it's superficial to show a link to a giant source tree when there is no labeling of version numbers, or text files, or databases, telling you what is and is not used on a particular version of a KOBO reader.

He might as well just point me at the gnu software site, and say "it's on there somewhere..."
What he's doing is extremely evasive, whether done on purpose or not -- it looks bad.

Besides: It's not like I'm asking for the compiler flags for nickel, or anything proprietary. Just the open source stuff.

git is meant to do versions of software, and revision control. It's not like Talusan doesn't have the correct tool for the job -- he's just not using it, or else there should be individual firmware releases indicators of some kind. I'll play with git and see if I can get it to list any hidden branches or anything, but it's strange that the website says there were no commits in two years if he's actually using git while doing firmware maintenance of busybox.

06-06-2015, 05:28 PM	#21
fastrobot Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 11844 Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: All over the place... Device: KOBO AuraHD and GLO	Well, Peter.... Look here: https://github.com/kobolabs/Kobo-Reader/issues/53 George closed the thread, for he apparently doesn't want to answer the question I actually asked; but wants to be 'seen' to answer it when he was being superficial ( or careless ? ) Note, he referenced me to: https://github.com/kobolabs And if you look on that page, today, you will not find a repository for AuraHD -- but only ARC. I already downloaded the generic kobo-reader archive, and proved it's out of date. So -- AFAICT individual download, must mean gnu 'packages' and not 'device' repositories. So to be fair to George, as I mentioned busybox to him explicitly -- check the third page of the repository, which has busybox: https://github.com/kobolabs/busybox but doesn't tell you which version it is. Now, notice -- the repository is two years old, and never updated since then exactly the same as the repository I already downloaded. So, that's no better than the repository I downloaded before --eg: it's also an old one; and there is no way to tell if it is or isn't the version that is on the KoboAura or Glo, and worse -- there are no Aura or Glo configure scripts -- so I don't know which parts of busybox are used in the kobo AuraHD and which ones are not. The Kobo is not using all the busybox code, as I already know from hard won experience that a telnet host is not compiled in KoboAURAHD firmware update 3.12.1 or 3.15.1 ; and there are some patches in the archive, so it's not pure busybox -- either. So if I naively try to compile that repository for the KOBO -- it's going to introduce bugs or break dependencies ; and there is no guarantee it's even the version that's on the Aura in the first place, as it's not labeled as being part of the Aura. Nor is there a readme file saying which version of what is for which reader. So -- George just kicked me back down to doing everything the hard way. He didn't give me a chance to ask him how to tell which version is used on which reader, and how it needs to be compiled to be compatible with the reader. ( The ToDO's, readmes, etc. are 4 to 6 years old, so they obviously aren't going to accurately reflect a firmware update/release from a month ago. ) It's an attack on the purpose of open source code on the Aura to hide things like this, because it makes it very difficult for users to replicate what is already there -- and then fix only what is broken (the bugs). Notice: I mentioned the scripts issue, regarding QT and George didn't bother to comment on that, either. I can't replicate what is there, unless I know what it is and I think George likely knows that and chose to close the thread prematurely; I expect he likely knows (or ought to know better) that it's superficial to show a link to a giant source tree when there is no labeling of version numbers, or text files, or databases, telling you what is and is not used on a particular version of a KOBO reader. He might as well just point me at the gnu software site, and say "it's on there somewhere..." What he's doing is extremely evasive, whether done on purpose or not -- it looks bad. Besides: It's not like I'm asking for the compiler flags for nickel, or anything proprietary. Just the open source stuff. git is meant to do versions of software, and revision control. It's not like Talusan doesn't have the correct tool for the job -- he's just not using it, or else there should be individual firmware releases indicators of some kind. I'll play with git and see if I can get it to list any hidden branches or anything, but it's strange that the website says there were no commits in two years if he's actually using git while doing firmware maintenance of busybox. Last edited by fastrobot; 06-06-2015 at 07:32 PM.