I'm releasing the current, developement version of this custom Kobo Sync Server.
Just unzip it to c:\, but unzipping it to any folder may work also.
There are two config files, in KoboSync\config:
send2kobo.conf
This is the config file of the send2kobo utility.
The contents are self-explaining, I'll later write some more on this, if needed.
KoboSync.conf
This is the configuration file for the Sync Server. Change $KoboUpdateFile to 'kobo-update.zip' to experiment with the zip method. You can also set the $UpdateType, as described in the file.
What is this and how to use it
The 'core' is basicly EasyPHP-DevServer-13.1VC11 (
www.easyphp.org), with everything unneccessary removed, to keep the file size as low as possible. This webserver hosts the custom Kobo Sync Server, which is currently 2 php files, found in \localweb\1.0
This can be easily started by executing "EasyPHP-KoboSyncServer.exe". On first run, if you put the whole thing to anything other than c:\KoboSync, it will ask you if you want to re-generate the config files. Make sure you click "Yes". The indicator next to "Apache" should turn green and the label next to it "Started". If not, you can try manually starting by clicking on "Apache", or try restarting the application. If you minimize this window, it will hide in the tray.
Also make sure you allow Apache in the firewall, if it pops up.
Important: the webserver uses port 88 instead of 80!
You can test if it works by opening
http://localhost:88/1.0/UpgradeCheck/test in your browser. It should show you some text between { and }, containing the update url, etc. If the page fails to load
Next, you should install synchack to Kobo by executing:
c:\KoboSync\send2kobo\install-synchack.bat
This will patch your Kobo's firmware file if possible, by changing the UpdateCheck URL to your PC's hostname. As the warning say, this is a potentially dangerous task. So
be sure to make a backup of your Kobo device before executing the install script!
It will ask you to plug Kobo in, then unplug (it will safely unmount it, but you will have to unplug it manually), plug it again after it reboots, then unplug it again.
This will also install "Send to Kobo" into the Send To right click menu.
This right-click menu plug-in will prepare a KoboRoot.tgz for the sync server with the neccessary scripts to add epubs to Kobo by the virtua SD card method. It works with 3.19.5761, maybe with 4.2.8432, but needs more testing as I killed my time with the zip issue.
If everything was OK, then if you tap "Sync" on the Kobo device, it will search for updates on your PC.
Can be used this now to try which zip method works...
I used code from GeoffR's firmware patch, and some found online mostly on stackoverflow. I hope it does not violate any license.
EDIT1+EDIT2: I just realised that I left some code which now prevents the update to work, during the bug-hunting. The download link is presented without the port number, and therefor Kobo can't download the update file, as the webserver is not running on port 80.
Also modified the files as some failed to work.
So if you downloaded before, please download it again.
The following files have changed:
KoboSync\localweb\1.0\UpgradeCheck
KoboSync\config\KoboSync.conf
KoboSync\localweb\1.0\firmwares
Thank you and sorry for the inconvenience.