Kobo Start Menu

[serdar0020]

After updating to FW 3.5.0 I tried for the first time to install koreader via kobo start menu, but failed, panicked because of all those warnings, and went back to the usual fmon path, still working, thank God

[Ken Maltby]

If you have Koreader installed, however you do it, you can use the Kobo Start Menu to launch it. The same for the Vlasovsoft launcher with pbchess and Coolreader. One thing to keep in mind is that using the Start Menu you can launch the programs without having all the Kobo background programs running.

This guide and some of the posts that follow it might be of some help.

Luck;
Ken

[tshering]

I just installed FW 3.5.0 on my mark 4 Touch. There seems to be no problem with the Kobo Start Menu.

[roger64]

@tshering

Thanks for the info.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by tshering

I just installed FW 3.5.0 on my mark 4 Touch. There seems to be no problem with the Kobo Start Menu.

So you used "partial update"? Did you copy over the "upgrade" folder as well as the KoboRoot.tgz ?

Luck;
Ken

[tshering]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

So you used "partial update"? Did you copy over the "upgrade" folder as well as the KoboRoot.tgz ?

Luck;
Ken

Yes to both questions. And, of course, I copied the manifest.md5sum too.

[uboot]

JFYK: I just upgraded to kobostart04 on my Mini and then upgraded from FW 2.8.1 to FW 3.4.1 via partial update -> seems to work!

(I haven't installed 01a update nor preventfreeze.zip yet....)

[trekk]

Originally Posted by tshering

Yes to both questions. And, of course, I copied the manifest.md5sum too.

Worked great on my Aura, too. Thank you, tshering.

[Jellby]

Could the Start Menu take into account the reduced effective screen size, as discussed here (and as done in koreader)?

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by Jellby

Could the Start Menu take into account the reduced effective screen size, as discussed here (and as done in koreader)?

Where in the Start Menu are you finding this a concern? The menus themselves should be configurable, in terms of their size on the screen, by adjusting the font size settings in the "usersettings.txt" file. In terms of image display, tshering has provided scripts to find the correct/wanted size to match your display and with that info there is a setting for the "browse" function.

tshering sent me
Here to look at the fourth spoiler.

Luck;
Ken

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

Where in the Start Menu are you finding this a concern?

Not really a cause of concern, simply a nitpick. I don't like to see the buttons at the bottom cut off by the bezel, and I would like to make it look right if possible

tshering has provided scripts to find the correct/wanted size to match your display and with that info there is a setting for the "browse" function.

I'll try, but I'm not sure it addresses the same problem. I'd like the software to behave as if only a part of the total screen was accessible. It's not only a matter of setting the size, but also the offset. Besides, that script seems to affect only the image viewer, not the frame around it.

[tshering]

Originally Posted by Jellby

Could the Start Menu take into account the reduced effective screen size, as discussed here (and as done in koreader)?

I see your problem and I will try to take care of it. However, it might take some time, since I am a little busy now.

[tshering]

@uboot, @trekk thank you for the confirmation.

[tshering]

After installing this package you can change the size and offset of (most) Kobo Start Menu screens. You can set the values in usersettings.txt by adding a line of the following pattern for each orientation:

ksmGeometryValues[N|S|E|W]=<width>x<height>+<Xoffset>+<Yoffset>

Example (for Touch, which has a resolution of 600x800):

ksmGeometryValuesN=550x750+0+24
ksmGeometryValuesS=550x750+48+24
ksmGeometryValuesE=750x550+24+0
ksmGeometryValuesW=750x550+48+0

The values in this example are not particular useful, apart from clearly demonstrating their effect if you compare them with the results on the screen.


For Aura, I set the default values to

ksmGeometryValuesN=748x1014+5+5
ksmGeometryValuesS=748x1014+5+5
ksmGeometryValuesE=1014x748+5+5
ksmGeometryValuesW=1014x748+5+5

For the other models, I left everything at its original state.

Take care to choose reasonable values! Take care for instance not to place the menu outside of the physical screen. The start menu applies them without checking.

Do not install this package without having KBStartMenu_04_update01a.zip installed.
As always: USE THIS PACKAGE AT YOUR OWN RISK! Back up any irreplaceable data of your reader.
Note: Be aware that some of the following posts refer to a previous version of this package.

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by tshering

After installing this package

Which package? Did you forget to attach the file?