Alternative firmware for Kobo - Plato only, Nickel (Rakuten terminal) removed

[tt0]

I recently bought a Kobo Clara - my first eInk device and I have to say the technology is brilliant - however I don't want to have a device that is effectively a terminal to a cloud service (whether Amazon or Rakuten or whatever) I want to ..... read books. I just load an ebook on the device and then read the book, I don't need nor want anything else from the eink reader.

I knew this would be a problem even before being the ebook reader so I did some research and chose Kobo because they make it very easy to load an alternative firmware and there is a big community with various mods and several mature alternative reader apps.

However, I was not happy with the "hacks" like the start menu, or using inotify to start an alternative reader app. Afterall, I don't want to use Nickel at all.

So I simply took the latest official firmware, added Plato and modified the start script not to start Nickel but start Plato.

Use this firmware on your own risk and of course you should be familiar with emergency hardware factory reset procedure before trying alternative firmwares (I had to use it quite a few times when doing my mods).

To load the firmware just do the usual - copy the KoboRoot.tgz to .kobo, unplug and restart (this can be done even before activating your Kobo - just click on "Setup without Wifi" and your Kobo can be accessed as usb drive - this way you don't need neither a Windows/OS X computer nor connect your Kobo to wifi to start using it).

Also, so you don't have to trust me, I will attach the complete scripts and instructions how I created this firmware later today (this could be even more useful for some as a starting point of their desired mod).

The firmware is tested only on my device - Kobo Clara HD.

[tt0]

The firmware file is too big to attach here. It can be downloaded from https://filebin.net/nip6w99tu8tw9q43

I will try to find a better way to share it (not sure why just 100MB KoboRoot.tgz can't be attached here).

[Quoth]

There is no need for this, neither Amazon Kindle nor Kobo is a Cloud reader. WiFi is never needed once it's registered (and Kobo doesn't need payment details, nor do they use the email address. Kindle can be registered with a US Amazon gift voucher sent to the email address).

The stock firmware is fine. Even KOReader is really only needed for PDFs.

[JSWolf]

If you want to change the firmware, how do you do it?

[clisboa]

Hi, have you looked into the new sideload mode available in the latest kobo firmware?
It basically removes the need to have an account.

[tt0]

I uploaded the Plato-based firmware to other file sharing services as well:

https://files.im/3u68zhxnyqf0
https://www.mediafire.com/file/2f6v1...oRoot.tgz/file
https://gofile.io/d/XMOm9m

Please check the checksum when downloading from a third party:

md5sum 568042f4b3ed9419a2d1493b0f6fd809
sha1sum 06f12fc61766806abab2940d0a81a3d695c66245
sha256sum 01edad313b70b1945e6f39d7d387a8dc27dd79ad4551f083b9 f423a144aa80bc


Installation instruction

1. Verify checksum
2. Connect Kobo device to a computer so it can be accessed as an usb drive (with a new, not-registered device, connect to usb and tap on "setup without wifi")
3. Copy KoboRoot.tgz to .kobo/ directory on your Kobo device
4. Umount Kobo
5. Restart Kobo

[tt0]

Originally Posted by Quoth

There is no need for this, neither Amazon Kindle nor Kobo is a Cloud reader. WiFi is never needed once it's registered (and Kobo doesn't need payment details, nor do they use the email address. Kindle can be registered with a US Amazon gift voucher sent to the email address).

The stock firmware is fine. Even KOReader is really only needed for PDFs.

Indeed, if you are happy with the stock firmware, this firmware is not for you, what can I say. I will just add that you don't even need to register the Kobo device, you can just change user-id (and device-id) records in user table in .kobo/KoboReader.sqlite and you can use the default Nickel app. Many of us prefer the alternative apps, with Nickel I would consider giving the device back, with Plato it works exactly as I want. Different folks, different strokes.

[patrik]

I love these kind of projects. No matter if it is for me or not, it always increases our knowledge and understanding of the Kobo platform, which may give someone else an idea and create something which may suit me perfectly.

Thanks for sharing tt0. :-)

[tt0]

And finally the scripts and instructions how to build Plato-based firmware from the original firmware:

1. Make sure you know your hardware emergency restart procedure to avoid bricking your reader should something go wrong!
2. (optional) First do a factory reset of your Kobo (on my Clara this is done by plugging in charger and holding power button for 30 seconds when the device is off)
3. Download attachment firmware_plato_mod_scripts.zip attached here - this contains 2 files: cripple_network.sh and replace_with_plato.sh (both these scripts are very simple - just few 'cp', 'rm' and 'sed' commands)
4. Download original firmware - I used kobo-update-4.31.19086.zip from here, thanks to geek1011 for the link.
5. Unzip and extract KoboRoot.tgz
   
   

   mkdir firmware-mod/
   cp kobo-update-4.31.19086.zip firmware-mod/
   cd firmware-mod
   unzip kobo-update-4.31.19086.zip
   mkdir root
   mv KoboRoot.tgz root
   tar xf KoboRoot.tgz

6. Download plato reader from github.com/baskerville/plato (I used version 0.9.25) and extract the zip file
   
7. Optional, if you want to make sure the device will be completely offline, you can run cripple_network.sh:
   

   cripple_network.sh firmware-mod/root

8. Now the most important step - run the script to copy Plato to $KOBOROOT/opt/plato and mod the start script
   

   ./replace_with_plato.sh firmware-mod/root plato-root

9. Done. Just create your KoboRoot.tgz and copy to .kobo/
   
   

   cd firmware-mod/root
   rm -f KoboRoot.tgz
   tar cfz KoboRoot.tgz *
   mv KoboRoot.tgz ..
   cd ..
   cp KoboRoot.tgz /media/...../your-kobo-device/.kobo
   sync

10. Umount and unplug the Kobo device, restart.
    

[Quoth]

As it's very simple to add Plato or KoReader, or both via the 1 step installs and there is ZERO issues with Kobo "spying" or "terminal", I'd avoid this as a totally pointless project.

I've used many makes and models of ereader and I see zero value to this.

[frostschutz]

Deleting files from the firmware update (as your cripple network seems to be doing) means that these files won't be updated. It doesn't mean that these files will be deleted from your Kobo.

So if you actually want to delete them, you'd either have to run a script on the Kobo to that effect, or perhaps put 0-byte files in the KoboRoot.tgz so the files will be replaced with duds instead.

You seem to be using the 0-byte method already in your plato script for the on-animator.

[JSWolf]

So once this firmware is installed, how the heck do you go back if you want to go back? IMHO, this is not for anyone except the OP.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by tt0

The firmware file is too big to attach here. It can be downloaded from https://filebin.net/nip6w99tu8tw9q43

I will try to find a better way to share it (not sure why just 100MB KoboRoot.tgz can't be attached here).

Have you gotten permission from Kobo to host this file? It is contains pretty much the fill Kobo firmware package. That means it contains proprietary software and hosting it anywhere without permission is illegal.

And, as you are using the full update package, what's the point? When I saw the first post, I assumed you had removed all of the Kobo specific stuff, but, you haven't. Because of that, and the issues with posting the file, it would make more sense to build a package that only contains the files you are adding or changing. Or even one that works with an already installed Plato to make changes to start it instead of nickel.

I do also have issues with some things you say. Calling these devices a "terminal to a cloud service" is a bit absurd. They can work perfectly well without any network connection after the initial setup. And the current firmware doesn't even need that. And personally, I just load books on the device and read them. I don't need anything else, but, find some of them handy.

[MGlitch]

Even the boot to Plato option is a bit silly given how rarely you need to power off any modern Kobo.

Nifty project sure, but it’s a bit like using a bazooka to kill a fly. And opens the door to using the wrong firmware file for your device though just how much that matters for this specific use case may be nil.

[geek1011]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So once this firmware is installed, how the heck do you go back if you want to go back? IMHO, this is not for anyone except the OP.

From a quick skim, it appears a hard reset will still work. I don't recommend using this mod though, unless you know what you are doing.