Glo change hardware screen resolution

valentyn · 05-25-2018, 02:22 AM

Hi all,

I had a Kobo Glo HD with a broken screen - and, without too much background info, ordered a new screen. Which is the wrong resolution :-/
Anyway, the ED060XG1 works nicely, but the screen resolution is all wrong (because a ED060KG1 is what was needed), so I only get to see the upper right corner of my Kobo display.

I'm looking around a bit on the SD card, even tried to change ntx_config to set another resolution, but this does not seem to help much.

What I did was: mv ntx_hwconfig ntx_hwconfig_orig; then a small script "ntx_hwconfig" would call "ntx_hwconfig_orig | sed 's/1072x1448/758x1024/'. This does not work: I'm still getting my right upper corner. I did make a mistake though and made ntx_hwconfig out of reach - which produced a totally garbled display, so it must do something for the screen driver, I guess...

Now I know I've been a bit silly to buy the wrong screen, but I'm still thinking: it must be possible to change the screen resolution and be back in business. Am I right? If so, how should I proceed?

valentyn · 05-25-2018, 08:22 AM

I have found arch/arm/mach-mx6/board-mx6sl_ntx.c where various screen resolutions are defined. But the link with the actual hardware setup escapes me - is this hard wired? Or based on the config block in /dev/mmcblk0?

GeoffR · 05-25-2018, 04:35 PM

There are many places throughout the firmware where the code checks which class of device it is running on to decide all kinds of things about the display, not just the screen resolution but what font size to use for a particular piece of text, what size to make a particular image, how wide to make margins around a particular widget, etc.

I think you will need to somehow make the firmware think it is running on a different device, such as an Aura 2nd edition, rather than just change the screen resolution.

Namenlos · 05-25-2018, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoffR

…I think you will need to somehow make the firmware think it is running on a different device, such as an Aura 2nd edition, rather than just change the screen resolution.

This could lead to other things brake, depending on how different the sysfs interfaces are.

Probably getting something like KSM9 running first, then Koreader would be a better start. I am sure the creators of KSM9 and Koreader are happy to point you to the right directions for changing their resolution.

What exactly is your screen showing in the top right corner? Maybe there is something electrically different.

valentyn · 05-28-2018, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Namenlos

What exactly is your screen showing in the top right corner? Maybe there is something electrically different.

The screen is fully working - and it is showing a sort of enlarged reader screen, as if you had a sort of magnifying glass on the upper right corner. So it's a resolution problem, not an electrical.

Thanks for the help.

cramoisi · 05-30-2018, 07:16 AM

random thoughts : did you try installing the aura 2 firmware ? (will probably brick but you got a backup don't you ?)

valentyn · 06-24-2018, 09:46 AM

drivers/video/mxc/mxc_epdc_fake_s1d13522.c has information about the video resolution. Unfortunately, changing the bVideoResolution char in the setup structure of the SD card does not set the screen to the right resolution. It *does* change the resolution - but not the way I want it.

Here's what to do on a Linux machine:
Insert the SD card of your Kobo. Let's call it /dev/sdX for now (here it is /dev/sdb, but if I use the memory card reader, it is /dev/mmcblk0). Anyway:
dd if=/dev/sdX bs=512 skip=1024 count=1 |xxd > /tmp/original-config
See below what this file means.
Anyway, now you can edit it with your favourite editor. Change, for example, the resolution from 06 to 01, like I did. This is the last byte on the third line.
Now use "xxd" again to make it a binary blob again:
xxd -r /tmp/original-config > /tmp/newconfig.blob
And use DD to put it on disk:
dd if=/tmp/newconfig.blob bs=512 seek=1024 count=1 of=/dev/sdX

Eject your disk and reboot your Kobo with it.

A config file looks like:
00000000: 4857 2043 4f4e 4649 4720 7632 2e34 0034 HW CONFIG v2.4.4
00000010: 2e0c 0000 0700 000b 0407 0200 0209 0105 ................
00000020: 0300 0002 0200 6800 e400 0005 0105 0001 ......h.........
00000030: 0b00 0100 0411 0000 0010 0000 0100 0100 ................

You can find what it all means at https://github.com/pazos/linux-3.0.3...ntx_hwconfig.h in the tagNTXHWCFG_VAL struct.

Your screen resolution is in bDisplayResolution which is the last byte of the third line. You can see I changed it to "01", in order to look like https://github.com/pazos/linux-3.0.3...ake_s1d13522.c suggests it to (1024x758).

As said, this does not help - i.e. it does change things, but I do not end up with a working Kobo Glo HD with downgraded screen.

I tried to change other settings, like the bDisplayPanel and even the bootup progress bar location, to no avail. I will order a proper ED060KG1. But if anyone wants to change their setup, please feel free to do so.

05-25-2018, 02:22 AM	#1
valentyn Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2018 Device: Kobo Glo HD	change hardware screen resolution Hi all, I had a Kobo Glo HD with a broken screen - and, without too much background info, ordered a new screen. Which is the wrong resolution :-/ Anyway, the ED060XG1 works nicely, but the screen resolution is all wrong (because a ED060KG1 is what was needed), so I only get to see the upper right corner of my Kobo display. I'm looking around a bit on the SD card, even tried to change ntx_config to set another resolution, but this does not seem to help much. What I did was: mv ntx_hwconfig ntx_hwconfig_orig; then a small script "ntx_hwconfig" would call "ntx_hwconfig_orig \| sed 's/1072x1448/758x1024/'. This does not work: I'm still getting my right upper corner. I did make a mistake though and made ntx_hwconfig out of reach - which produced a totally garbled display, so it must do something for the screen driver, I guess... Now I know I've been a bit silly to buy the wrong screen, but I'm still thinking: it must be possible to change the screen resolution and be back in business. Am I right? If so, how should I proceed? Last edited by valentyn; 05-25-2018 at 02:43 AM. Reason: typo

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Glo Screen resolution bad	krisdne	Kobo Reader	3	10-17-2017 11:32 AM
Vertical margins / Change resolution / Letterbox?	asdfffdsa	Kindle Developer's Corner	16	01-22-2013 10:42 AM
Screen Resolution	Hoods7070	Kobo Reader	2	05-10-2012 07:22 AM
Screen Resolution	lustyd	Sony Reader	4	12-25-2010 03:51 AM
PRS-600 Resolution for '6' inch screen	var89	Sony Reader	5	02-12-2010 07:09 AM

05-25-2018, 08:22 AM	#2
valentyn Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2018 Device: Kobo Glo HD	I have found arch/arm/mach-mx6/board-mx6sl_ntx.c where various screen resolutions are defined. But the link with the actual hardware setup escapes me - is this hard wired? Or based on the config block in /dev/mmcblk0?

05-25-2018, 04:35 PM	#3
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	There are many places throughout the firmware where the code checks which class of device it is running on to decide all kinds of things about the display, not just the screen resolution but what font size to use for a particular piece of text, what size to make a particular image, how wide to make margins around a particular widget, etc. I think you will need to somehow make the firmware think it is running on a different device, such as an Aura 2nd edition, rather than just change the screen resolution.

05-30-2018, 07:16 AM	#6
cramoisi Librarian Posts: 346 Karma: 72225 Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Liège - Belgium Device: kobo gloHD - KA1	random thoughts : did you try installing the aura 2 firmware ? (will probably brick but you got a backup don't you ?)

06-24-2018, 09:46 AM	#7
valentyn Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2018 Device: Kobo Glo HD	drivers/video/mxc/mxc_epdc_fake_s1d13522.c has information about the video resolution. Unfortunately, changing the bVideoResolution char in the setup structure of the SD card does not set the screen to the right resolution. It does change the resolution - but not the way I want it. Here's what to do on a Linux machine: Insert the SD card of your Kobo. Let's call it /dev/sdX for now (here it is /dev/sdb, but if I use the memory card reader, it is /dev/mmcblk0). Anyway: dd if=/dev/sdX bs=512 skip=1024 count=1 \|xxd > /tmp/original-config See below what this file means. Anyway, now you can edit it with your favourite editor. Change, for example, the resolution from 06 to 01, like I did. This is the last byte on the third line. Now use "xxd" again to make it a binary blob again: xxd -r /tmp/original-config > /tmp/newconfig.blob And use DD to put it on disk: dd if=/tmp/newconfig.blob bs=512 seek=1024 count=1 of=/dev/sdX Eject your disk and reboot your Kobo with it. A config file looks like: 00000000: 4857 2043 4f4e 4649 4720 7632 2e34 0034 HW CONFIG v2.4.4 00000010: 2e0c 0000 0700 000b 0407 0200 0209 0105 ................ 00000020: 0300 0002 0200 6800 e400 0005 0105 0001 ......h......... 00000030: 0b00 0100 0411 0000 0010 0000 0100 0100 ................ You can find what it all means at https://github.com/pazos/linux-3.0.3...ntx_hwconfig.h in the tagNTXHWCFG_VAL struct. Your screen resolution is in bDisplayResolution which is the last byte of the third line. You can see I changed it to "01", in order to look like https://github.com/pazos/linux-3.0.3...ake_s1d13522.c suggests it to (1024x758). As said, this does not help - i.e. it does change things, but I do not end up with a working Kobo Glo HD with downgraded screen. I tried to change other settings, like the bDisplayPanel and even the bootup progress bar location, to no avail. I will order a proper ED060KG1. But if anyone wants to change their setup, please feel free to do so.

Advert

Advert