Is there documentation on the fields in "Kobo eReader.conf"?

[SomeGuy58439]

So elsewhere I expressed my annoyance that Kobo keeps trying to sync audiobooks to my Kobo despite me only wanting to use my phone for that purpose (amidst a few other things).

Then I began to wonder if I could accomplish this myself so I went poking around the Clara BW's filesystem. In "/.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf" I found the following fields (in different sections) that seem relevant:

IntroduceAudiobooksShown=true + kobo_audiobooks_enabled=True

I suspect that the latter is what I want to disable, but I'm not quite sure what the former is for. I also noticed that while one is set to "true" the other is instead set to "True" - are these fields case-sensitive?

In the event that I were to save the file but accidentally insert an error, am I at significant risk of bricking my eReader, or will it just adopt some default settings if it can't parse the config correctly?

(On a semi-related note, since it seems possible to enable Google Drive and Dropbox on the Clara BW by tweaking the config is it possible similarly to enable Overdrive support even if I'm not in a country in which is currently supported (even though the local public library does offer books through overdrive/libby)?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by SomeGuy58439

IntroduceAudiobooksShown=true + kobo_audiobooks_enabled=True

I suspect that the latter is what I want to disable, but I'm not quite sure what the former is for. I also noticed that while one is set to "true" the other is instead set to "True" - are these fields case-sensitive?

In the event that I were to save the file but accidentally insert an error, am I at significant risk of bricking my eReader, or will it just adopt some default settings if it can't parse the config correctly?

The first item says that you were shown the AudioBooks blurb screen. The second does seem like you want.

And no, I don't think you can brick your Kobo by changing the settings in the Kobo eReader.conf file. Bad settings will be disregarded and the default used.

As for the case sensitivity, I think at one time, the true/false settings were case sensitive but that seems to have changed several firmware revisions back. In any case, I would suggest setting the True to False.

Overdrive support seems to be based on the country.

[SomeGuy58439]

Thanks. So I updated kobo_audiobooks_enabled from True to False, ejected the device, powered it down, then powered it up again to try to ensure that it would reload the config.

After doing that and adding a free audiobook to my library I hit sync on the device ... and it proceeded to download the audiobook that I'd just added to my library to my device despite that changed setting that I was hoping would prevent it from doing so.

If that had worked was planning to reactivate Kobo Plus, but no such luck. (I really wonder what fraction of their userbase listens to audiobooks on an eink device - a phone seems much, much better for that purpose. Using Audible + Kindle filesizes as a rule of thumb comparison it seems that the stuff I don't want on my device sucks up at least 100x the space of the stuff that I do want on there).

Ebooks are great and so are audiobooks - I just don't want the latter on my Clara BW!

[SomeGuy58439]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Overdrive support seems to be based on the country.

That's at least how it officially works, but since it seemed that Google Drive / Dropbox support can be activated on devices that it isn't officially offered on I was hoping that the same would apply to onedrive support.

[Aleron Ives]

One workaround would be to buy audiobooks on a separate account. You could then sync only e-books to your Clara and only audiobooks to your phone.

[sre3]

There is some info in the wiki, but nothing about audiobooks or Overdrive config. I do, however, remember seeing an Overdrive config section when browsing through my Kobo eReader.conf. I can send those sections over if you're interested.

[SomeGuy58439]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

One workaround would be to buy audiobooks on a separate account. You could then sync only e-books to your Clara and only audiobooks to your phone.

Think I'd wind up getting most of the audiobooks via a Kobo Plus Read + Listen subscription, so having separate accounts isn't going to work (or would be a lot more expensive).

[SomeGuy58439]

Originally Posted by sre3

There is some info in the wiki, but nothing about audiobooks or Overdrive config. I do, however, remember seeing an Overdrive config section when browsing through my Kobo eReader.conf. I can send those sections over if you're interested.

I'd be curious to see what's in there (though be sure not to share your credentials) - thanks!

No overdrive reference in mine though I do see a kobo_nativeborrow_enabled=False. I wonder if that's overdrive-related.

I had seem that wiki page earlier but it seemed like the summary + status for almost all options there was currently set to unknown.

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by SomeGuy58439

Think I'd wind up getting most of the audiobooks via a Kobo Plus Read + Listen subscription, so having separate accounts isn't going to work (or would be a lot more expensive).

In that case, I don't think there's a solution to your problem. You'll have to let the audiobooks sync and then not listen to them on the Clara. You could stop syncing on the Clara and sideload all your books, but that doesn't work for Kobo Plus.

If you were buying audiobooks, you could sync your phone first, then archive your purchases on the Kobo website so that the Clara wouldn't sync them, but this strategy won't work for Kobo Plus audiobooks, AFAIK.

[SomeGuy58439]

Weirdly noticed that after plugging my Kobo back in again that the Kobo eReader conf was showing kobo_audiobooks_enabled=True despite me having toggled that off earlier.

Wonder if this means that it got automatically reenabled when I restarted the device.

[SomeGuy58439]

Did a bit more experimentation.

Set kobo_nativeborrow_enabled=True and kobo_audiobooks_enabled=False and disconnected.

Checked the book filters and the audiobook filter had disappeared and there was now an Overdrive page in settings - i.e. both these are what I want. Powered off the device and powered it back on and it stayed with audiobooks disabled and the overdrive menu option in place. i.e. everything good!

Then hit sync and the audiobook filter reappeared and the overdrive setting section disappeared. Basically it looks as though the changes work as desired, but doing a sync then sets them back to their default (undesired) settings

Very disappointing.

[rantanplan]

The option to sync to Overdrive is a server setting, probably due to licensing deals, and sadly will always deactivate any custom setting. The only way to permanently enable Overdrive on Kobo is to set a billing address for Kobo in a country that supports Overdrive. You can also get Kobo Plus this way.

[sre3]

Originally Posted by SomeGuy58439

I'd be curious to see what's in there (though be sure not to share your credentials) - thanks!

No overdrive reference in mine though I do see a kobo_nativeborrow_enabled=False. I wonder if that's overdrive-related.

I had seem that wiki page earlier but it seemed like the summary + status for almost all options there was currently set to unknown.

Though this is seemingly of no use, here are the fields, for curiosity's sake. No credentials, but {libraryKey} seems to be an environment variable of sorts.

[OverDrive]
overdrive_account=https://auth.overdrive.com/account
overdrive_library=https://{libraryKey}.auth.overdrive.com/library
overdrive_library_finder_host=https://libraryfinder.api.overdrive.com
overdrive_thunder_host=https://thunder.api.overdrive.com

[SomeGuy58439]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

The option to sync to Overdrive is a server setting, probably due to licensing deals

I'm a tad curious if there's actually any communication with Kobo servers involved in anything Overdrive-related. As the reply after you notes it seems like it's got a bunch of overdrive.com URLs listed - so it might actually only communicate with Overdrive itself for any Overdrive-related stuff. Honestly Kobo and Overdrive interoperability seems mutually beneficial to me - really annoyed that it can't be left on. (Unless Kobo added audiobook support to any devices after originally shipping it without, I wonder why a sync would force the audiobook support to be reenabled - disabling audiobook support doesn't seem like anything that would be impacted by licensing agreements).

Been hearing that it's possible to update the settings in that file such that Kobo syncs with Calibre-Web or some such thing instead of with Kobo. As long as I'd be willing to forgo access to titles in the Kobo store, I wonder a little it it might be possible to have whatever it syncs with instead not flip the Overdrive support back off. (Suppose if I'd lose Kobo store access whether or not it would keep audiobook support disabled would seem then to become irrelevant).

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by SomeGuy58439

I'm a tad curious if there's actually any communication with Kobo servers involved in anything Overdrive-related.

If I'm not mistaken, redeeming an OverDrive loan directly on your Kobo gets you the KEPUB file from the Kobo store, so Kobo servers are definitely involved. If you redeem your loan through ADE, you get the normal EPUB version.