NickelMenu: An integrated launcher for Kobo eReaders

[lordeagle]

Originally Posted by DNSB

You will need to update your version of NickelMenu. You can download it by clicking the Download button in the first message in this thread.

Yes, indeed. Just copying the latest version of KoboRoot.tgz from NickelMenu/releases did the update.

Now I can use the 'toggle:dark_mode' as documented.

The only sad thing is, that I liked the old "invert" much better. As the reader-menu and main-screen was dark too. Not only the books contents. Is there a cure to get the full-dark e-reader experience back?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by lordeagle

Yes, indeed. Just copying the latest version of KoboRoot.tgz from NickelMenu/releases did the update.

Now I can use the 'toggle:dark_mode' as documented.

The only sad thing is, that I liked the old "invert" much better. As the reader-menu and main-screen was dark too. Not only the books contents. Is there a cure to get the full-dark e-reader experience back?

You can still use the old invert, it just takes a restart to enable it. Substitute where you want to see the menu item for <location>, i.e., main, library, reader, etc.

menu_item :<locatiopn>     : Invert & Reboot    : nickel_setting :toggle: invert
     chain_success         : power              : reboot

[shadowsong]

Hi everyone !

Just got a Kobo Libra 2 few weeks ago.
Firmware is currently at version 4.33.19611 (last update 08.06.2022).

Tried to install NickelMenu (as explained on the website) : kobo indeed reboots, but no menu ; tried multiple times, the NickelMenu is not appearing.

Is it related to the latest version of the firmware ? Should i reinitialize the Kobo and try again ?

Thank you in advance

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by shadowsong

Hi everyone !

Just got a Kobo Libra 2 few weeks ago.
Firmware is currently at version 4.33.19611 (last update 08.06.2022).

Tried to install NickelMenu (as explained on the website) : kobo indeed reboots, but no menu ; tried multiple times, the NickelMenu is not appearing.

Is it related to the latest version of the firmware ? Should i reinitialize the Kobo and try again ?

Thank you in advance

NickelMenu has no configuration file when you install it. You have to create one for NickelMenu to appear in the UI.

[shadowsong]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

NickelMenu has no configuration file when you install it. You have to create one for NickelMenu to appear in the UI.

Hi !

Thank you for your answer. I followed the instruction, and they didn't specify anything else then : drop the dowloaded file on the .kobo folder, wait for reboot and "tada".

What i mean by that is that point 4. is not happening : "Ensure there is a new menu item in the top-left main menu entitled NickelMenu (it will appear in the bottom-right on firmware 4.23.15505+)."

Could you kindly explain to me how to do it or where to find the information ?

Thank you in advance.

[Comma6521]

Hi all, I'm running into the same issue as shadowsong. I have a new Kobo Libra 2, running on firmware version 4.33.19759.

I've untarred the KoboRoot.tar file. I've then copied it to the .kobo directory. First, only the contents of the KoboRoot directory, namely the mnt and usr directories. Thus I've ended up with a .kobo\mnt and a .kobo\usr directory. I've then ejected the Kobo, rebooted it and checked if there was a new item in the menu, per the instructions. There is none.

Then I tried copying over the KoboRoot directory in its entirety, thus ending up with a .kobo\KoboRoot\mnt and .kobo\KoboRoot\usr directory. I've then ejected the Kobo, rebooted it and checked if there was a new item in the menu, per the instructions. There is none.

Am I/are we doing something wrong?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Comma6521

Hi all, I'm running into the same issue as shadowsong. I have a new Kobo Libra 2, running on firmware version 4.33.19759.

I've untarred the KoboRoot.tar file. I've then copied it to the .kobo directory. First, only the contents of the KoboRoot directory, namely the mnt and usr directories. Thus I've ended up with a .kobo\mnt and a .kobo\usr directory. I've then ejected the Kobo, rebooted it and checked if there was a new item in the menu, per the instructions. There is none.

Then I tried copying over the KoboRoot directory in its entirety, thus ending up with a .kobo\KoboRoot\mnt and .kobo\KoboRoot\usr directory. I've then ejected the Kobo, rebooted it and checked if there was a new item in the menu, per the instructions. There is none.

Am I/are we doing something wrong?

Have a read of the first post in this thread, It gives the correct install directions.

[Comma6521]

BTW: also tried just copying the file as is into the .kobo directory. Without extracting.

@JSWolf: thanks. You are implying I did not read it, or am not following it correctly. You are probably right, however I'm not seeing what I'm doing that's not according the instructions. Would you be willing to point it out?

[xyclonei]

Originally Posted by Comma6521

Hi all, I'm running into the same issue as shadowsong. I have a new Kobo Libra 2, running on firmware version 4.33.19759.

I've untarred the KoboRoot.tar file. I've then copied it to the .kobo directory. First, only the contents of the KoboRoot directory, namely the mnt and usr directories. Thus I've ended up with a .kobo\mnt and a .kobo\usr directory. I've then ejected the Kobo, rebooted it and checked if there was a new item in the menu, per the instructions. There is none.

Then I tried copying over the KoboRoot directory in its entirety, thus ending up with a .kobo\KoboRoot\mnt and .kobo\KoboRoot\usr directory. I've then ejected the Kobo, rebooted it and checked if there was a new item in the menu, per the instructions. There is none.

Am I/are we doing something wrong?

There's no need to untar. You have to copy the KoboRoot.tgz file to the .kobo folder.

Once you unmount the reader, it should show an Updating screen.

[Comma6521]

Originally Posted by xyclonei

There's no need to untar. You have to copy the KoboRoot.tgz file to the .kobo folder.

Once you unmount the reader, it should show an Updating screen.

Thanks xyclonei, I've just tried that as well. It's not updating.

While typing this I've actually come a step further.

When downloading the file, I keep ending up with a .tar file, while the descriptions keep saying .tgz. Maybe it's something Safari does? I've renamed it to .tgz and now the Kobo did say "Updating." However, still no new menu item in the bottom menu.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Comma6521

Thanks xyclonei, I've just tried that as well. It's not updating.

While typing this I've actually come a step further.

When downloading the file, I keep ending up with a .tar file, while the descriptions keep saying .tgz. Maybe it's something Safari does? I've renamed it to .tgz and now the Kobo did say "Updating." However, still no new menu item in the bottom menu.

You will have to rename KoboRoot.tar to KoboRoot.tgz. Then you can copy that file to the Kobo in the .kobo directory.

You could install Firefox and see if that stops mangling files you download.

[Comma6521]

Thanks JSWolf, I've already tried that. Then I do end up with the "updating" screen, but not with a new menu item. When remounting the Kobo, the file is gone, so I'm guessing the failsafe triggered.

In other news, I've also only just found out (should've read more of the documentation upfront, I know) that NickelMenu doesn't support toggling the backlight (for good reasons), which would've been one of my main use cases. So, all in all, I'm quitting the experiment here.

Thanks for the help folks!

[xyclonei]

Quick Googling suggests Safari mangles downloads. I'm guessing that Safari is ungzipping the file and producing a tar file. Renaming might not help as the archive is now different.

As per this, disabling 'Open "safe" files after downloading' under Safari > Preferences > General might fix the download issue.

Or alternatively, I would also try downloading with Firefox as suggested by @JSWolf and give it a try.

[xyclonei]

Originally Posted by Comma6521

Thanks JSWolf, I've already tried that. Then I do end up with the "updating" screen, but not with a new menu item. When remounting the Kobo, the file is gone, so I'm guessing the failsafe triggered.

In other news, I've also only just found out (should've read more of the documentation upfront, I know) that NickelMenu doesn't support toggling the backlight (for good reasons), which would've been one of my main use cases. So, all in all, I'm quitting the experiment here.

Thanks for the help folks!

NickelMenu has a lot more use cases. I was a sceptic as first but now I swear by it.

I use it regularly to transfer books wirelessly (via FTP), toggle dark mode, rotate the screen, and even for Google Translate.

[Comma6521]

I might play around with it and convince myself, thanks