Do most people mod/root their Kobos?

[KDawg]

MR says I haven't posted since 2011! I'll catch up.

I am less happy with Amazon and Jeff Bezos every day and am looking at Kindle alternatives. I was using Nooks before Kindles but I'm disappointed that the GL4 is not water resistant and the G+ seems to be discontinued.

I'm liking the look of the Libra2 the most. I am disappointed that I'd have to install NickelMenu to have Dropbox access. I'm trying to leave wired side loading behind, which is easy with Kindles, but rooting/modding via my Mac to make that happen, and then keeping up with mod software in addition to Kobo firmware seems to defeat the purpose.

I really like the Send To Kindle feature for freebie epubs (now) and pdfs and it looks like any change I make will be a compromise in terms of hassle at best.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

[Sirtel]

Kobos aren't rooted, because their OS is open already.

As to modding, I patch my Kobos, but I don't have NickelMenu installed. I sideload everything from my laptop via Calibre, because Calibre automatically manages the metadata on the device. I do have Dropbox on my Sage, but I seldom use it and haven't bothered to install it on my Libra 2.

If you don't use Calibre, then installing NickelMenu and Dropbox seems like a good option.

[RobertJSawyer]

I use the patches, Nickel Menu, and Nickel Clock.

https://pgaskin.net/kobopatch-patches/

[issybird]

Originally Posted by KDawg

I really like the Send To Kindle feature for freebie epubs (now) and pdfs and it looks like any change I make will be a compromise in terms of hassle at best.

Thoughts?

My guess would be that most here mod their Kobos, but that most Kobo owners don’t. I don’t myself; stock is fine. I hear you on the wired sideloading hassle. Before I got a Kindle I’d use the Kobo browser to download PD books to avoid having to sideload; however, with the Kindle it was easier to download and send from my tablet with the added advantage that it was then in my Kindle account and accessible across all Kindle platforms. But now that Send to Kindle from the tablet results in a file number for a title and no author, I’m rethinking. It’s a huge loss in functionality.

[MGlitch]

I patch, use nickelmenu, nickel series, and on occasion kobo uncaged which lets me load over WiFi.

Also I do this from an m1 iMac and as far as nickelmenu are kobo uncaged go you don’t need to worry about firmware updates breaking them for the most part. The patches would require upkeep but you don’t need them to enable wireless loading and Dropbox support.

[ps67]

Originally Posted by issybird

My guess would be that most here mod their Kobos, but that most Kobo owners don’t. ...

I agree: we aren't the average user of a Kobo (or Kindle etc.). Most people simply buy books and read them or, at most, use a Kobo for library books with Adobe Digital Edition.

I use patches, I Installed Nickel Menu to enable and disable wifi and to reboot, shutdown and sleep my Kobo, I have installed Koreader (that I launch trough Nickel Menu) and I use calibre for my collection in Kobo and for other things like modify css and some other.

[Nikoz]

I've modded my libra 2 but it's only cosmetic (bigger, covers on the home screen, reduced margins in books, etc.) and I could live without, it's perfectly fine out-of-the-box - a far cry from kindle where you have to jailbreak them to get basic functionalities (not to mention it's so much easier!)
(I've also installed Nickelmenu, but that was to play pbchess which doesn't work on libra 2 so I've never actually used it)

[Gone]

I used to patch my Kobo. But now I don’t feel the need with all the new stuff in the firmware updates since what? 2 years?

Yes, Send to my Kindle is (was?) cool. But Calibre really makes it easy to manage collections (by tags/genre, for me.) Metadata is simpler with Kobo and Calibre. No patch, just some plugins.

[the.Mtn.Man]

There are a couple of "quality of life" features available through the patches that I like, but the stock firmware has improved so much over the years that I no longer consider patching essential.

As far as getting books onto a Kobo, I've always used a USB cable and the Calibre software which works just fine. I don't frequently update my library, so it's not a hassle for me.

[Uncle Robin]

I do patch the stock Nickel reader on my both my Sage and my Libra H2O, but spend way more than 95% of my reading time in KOReader and have done for a couple of years now. My preference for KOReader is the reason I bought an ex-demo Libra H2O as my second reader rather than a Libra 2, because the latter doesn't play well with KOReader

[dpoirier]

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

I ... spend way more than 95% of my reading time in KOReader and have done for a couple of years now.

Same here! I never use the built-in reader at all, so no point in patching it. I use NickelMenu to launch KOReader.

[Aleron Ives]

Is there a full list somewhere of all the available patches and what they do?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Is there a full list somewhere of all the available patches and what they do?

It is all in the files (the .yaml files in the src folder). You can download the patch to your computer and read the descriptions with Notepad.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by KDawg

I'm trying to leave wired side loading behind, which is easy with Kindles, but rooting/modding via my Mac to make that happen, and then keeping up with mod software in addition to Kobo firmware seems to defeat the purpose.!

I've stopped patching, for the most part, since the firmware now allows weight customisation of sideloaded fonts. I plonked on a few patches a firmware or two back for finer margin and font size controls, but didn't bother to redo them after updating, and the reading experience is still pleasant.

Are you aware that you can grab books wirelessly via the Calibre Content Server without needing any mods at all? I prefer to sideload via cable, to get Calibre managing the collections etc, but it's not the only way. Personally I'm not at all bothered by connecting the cable, since if I'm putting new books on it it's probably due for a bit of a charge anyhow.

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

It is all in the files (the .yaml files in the src folder).

Thanks. I guess I should also ask for the sake of security... who is Patrick Gaskin, and how do we know the firmware files he provides are authentic and unmodified?