Kobo Start Menu

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by jshzh

Thank you, Ken. I think I will get a fresh start then since I need to learn the whole process from scratch anyways.

As to Koreader on Pocketbook, does the font darkness adjustment work? I always think the software on Pocketbook is perfect except one thing - the font color can't be changed - which may be a problem for some scanned PDF books.

I don't have a PocketBook, so I can only go by what is posted here and at Github. This thread shows how this kind of project develops over time and mentions a font darkness adjustment that is working well. This port is new and it may be awhile before all the kinks are worked out. It can be a lot of fun following the rapid development this project enjoys.

Luck;
Ken

[guomian]

Originally Posted by tshering

Edit the file .kobo\kbmenu\usersettings.txt
Change

#kobomenuFontsize=35

to

kobomenuFontsize=55

Instead of 55 set a value according to your wishes. The currently used value for H20 is 40. I know this is rather small. If you tell me what is a reasonable size for H2O I will preset it in the next version.

Use a unix-style editor!

Thank you so much!~
I only have aura HD, sorry I can not tell the reasonable size for H2O.

[tshering]

Originally Posted by guomian

Thank you so much!~
I only have aura HD, sorry I can not tell the reasonable size for H2O.

You are most welcome!

[tshering]

Would any H2O or HD user like to test, whether these devices can switch between nickel and koreader and return back to a working KSM with the changes I did?

Requirements: KSM 06, working nickel and koreader

Preparation

• Copy koreadernickelloop.sh and nickelkoreaderloop.sh (which you can find in the uploaded library) to .kobo\kbmenu\onstart (this will overwrite the original versions of these files)
• (If you disabled the nickel-koreader loop options in usersettings.txt, enable them again)
• Eject the reader and disable usb

Test 1

• select from the KSM home: "koreader additions > start nickel koreader switch"
• select in nickel the png file switchtokoreader in order to call koreader
• select in koreader exit (house icon) in order to call nickel
• (switch between the two applications as often as you like)
• finally select in nickel the png file exit_nickel in order to reboot into KSM

Test 2

• select from the KSM home: "koreader additions > start koreader nickel switch"
• select in koreader exit (house icon) in order to call nickel
• select in nickel the png file switchtokoreader in order to call koreader
• (switch between the two applications as often as you like)
• finally select in nickel the png file exit_nickel in order to reboot into KSM

If the device becomes unresponsive or shows some other strange behaviour, force the it to power down (by keeping the power slider in the off position for 20 seconds), and then power on again.

[boriar]

Hi.
I want to test it but the menu "koreader additions" has desappeared from main menu. I don't know way.
Instead now I have "find and open" option.

[boriar]

Don't worry. Like i have did some experiments, i will do a fresh install. I tell you something later

[tshering]

Originally Posted by boriar

Don't worry. Like i have did some experiments, i will do a fresh install. I tell you something later

If all that happened is that the settings in usersettings.txt got screwed up, you can just delete this file. It will be recreated next time when you power on.

[jshzh]

Aura HD tests:

Test 1

-selected from the KSM home: "koreader additions > start nickel koreader switch"
did,nickle started automatically

-select in nickel the png file switchtokoreader in order to call koreader
Opened "books", saw the png, didn't select anything, went back to menu right away.

-select in koreader exit (house icon) in order to call nickel
(switch between the two applications as often as you like)
did, went back to menu instead of switching

- finally select in nickel the png file exit_nickel in order to return to KSM
selected "start nickle", started but flashed screen, desktop display order changed, opened "books", had to go to the last page of book list to find the png, nothing selected, went back to menu automatically
then nickle started again automatically, screen flashes "processing content... complete" notice - probably quickly re-indexed the books.
If I quickly click the exit, it didn't response either and one second later went to menu automatically - 5 second later - nickle automatically started again.

Test 2

-select from the KSM home: "koreader additions > start koreader nickel switch"
did, koreader started
-select in koreader exit (house icon) in order to call nickel
did, nickle started
-select in nickel the png file switchtokoreader in order to call koreader
(switch between the two applications as often as you like)
desktop display flashed and changed, opened "books" to look for the png, right after "books" was clicked, went back to menu automatically

-finally select in nickel the png file exit_nickel in order to return to KSM
clicked nickle in the menu, started, "processing contents", desktop display changed, not same as original, opened "books", had to go to the last page to find the png, when the last page opened, went to the menu automatically without selecting "exit", a few seconds later, nickle started again automatically, "processing contents", desktop display went back to the original kobo order.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

The Firmware update would have removed the KSM startup code, if you did the full update. The partial update option keeps the KSM code in place while the rest of the firmware update is applied. So you could follow the instructions at the KSM6 page to uninstall what is there now and install KSM6.

Both Koreader and KSM have been greatly improved since Aug 2014. There is KSM6 and Koreader has many improvements (it also just now has been ported to run on PocketBook). If I were in your position, I would first make sure my library was backed up to my PC, then do a factory reset and start over clean.

I don't know if the Android Koreader apk runs on any of the Android hacks/mods for the Kobo AuraHD.

Luck;
Ken

Is there some sort of manual for Koreader?

[tshering]

@jshzh
Thank you for testing! I am sorry for the trouble but unfortunately some things went wrong.

From your description I take that the four KSM images were not yet completely processed (the thumbnails of the library view were not yet created) by nickel, when you installed KSM. Did you by any chance skip step 1.4 of the installation process (check that the four images (exit_nickel.png, run_test_script.png, simulate_usb_connection.png, switchtokoreader.png) are listed in the library and their thumbnails are displayed. Only then proceed to step two.)?
This will cause troubles each time you browse through the library books view. We can repair this.

• connect via usb to the PC (KSM: usb > usb enable.sh)
• rename .kobo\kbmenu\fmonsh to .kobo\kbmenu\_fmonsh in order to disable temporarily the scripts in this folder
• safely eject and disconnect the reader (after that select "usb disable.sh")
• start nickel, go into the library, find the four books and make sure their covers are displayed, open the books. (It might be a good idea to place them in a collection aaa_ksm_menu to have them easily available)
• power off the reader by using the power on/off slider
• connect the reader to pc, rename .kobo\kbmenu\_fmonsh back to .kobo\kbmenu\fmonsh
• safely eject and disconnect the reader.

If you like, please repeat the above test.

Note: I should have made in the description of the testing procedure one point more explicit: "finally select in nickel the png file exit_nickel in order to reboot into KSM" instead of "finally select in nickel the png file exit_nickel in order to return to KSM"

Note 2: After booting, KSM starts nickel automatically after 20 seconds if there was not user input. Therefore, you have to act quickly at this point. (You can change this behaviour in the user settings.)

Thank you again for testing!

[tshering]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Is there some sort of manual for Koreader?

I guess you already know https://github.com/koreader/koreader/wiki

[jshzh]

@Tshering.

Welcome. I will fix it and test again. However, the instructions didn't say anything about opening the library and checking if the pngs have been processed. Step 4 reads like this:

4. Now for tshering's "Kobo Start Menu" You can find the most recent version here (FW 2.6.0-3.11.0, all models including H2O). Do not use older versions, especially on H2O.
Copy the "kbmenupngs" folder into the root directory of your device (See 1. above). Then copy the "KoboRoot.tgz" file from the .zip file to the .kobo directory. (Be sure it is in the .kobo directory.) Then safely eject the Koboreader drive and disconnect the USB cable. You should then see the Updating message on your kobo.

Did I miss anything?

[tshering]

Originally Posted by jshzh

@Tshering.

Welcome. I will fix it and test again. However, the instructions didn't say anything about opening the library and checking if the pngs have been processed. Step 4 reads like this:

4. Now for tshering's "Kobo Start Menu" You can find the most recent version here (FW 2.6.0-3.11.0, all models including H2O). Do not use older versions, especially on H2O.
Copy the "kbmenupngs" folder into the root directory of your device (See 1. above). Then copy the "KoboRoot.tgz" file from the .zip file to the .kobo directory. (Be sure it is in the .kobo directory.) Then safely eject the Koboreader drive and disconnect the USB cable. You should then see the Updating message on your kobo.

Did I miss anything?

I was referring to the steps of "First time installation" of this post.

[boriar]

Originally Posted by tshering

Any proposals for the preset value of kobomenuFontsize for H2O?

Of course everybody can change the value in usersettings herself. But I would like to make it a better first time experience for new users, at least for the next version of KSM.

And any proposals for kobomenuMenuBarFontsize? Different from what the name suggests, this controls the font size of the small info text that appears on some screens.

I'm trying some numbers on kobomenuFontsize and i think that 55 or even 60 are enough big. I really like options in that size to be sure where i 'm touching.
But i don't know where to test kobomenuMenuBarFontsize. In which menu appear it?

Originally Posted by boriar

Hi.
I want to test it but the menu "koreader additions" has desappeared from main menu. I don't know way.
Instead now I have "find and open" option.

Originally Posted by tshering

If all that happened is that the settings in usersettings.txt got screwed up, you can just delete this file. It will be recreated next time when you power on.

I have did a fresh install of all programs and updates and i see that "koreader additions" option disappear when i install poweroff update and it's sustituted by "find and open" option that do nothing at all. How can i recover the "koreader additions" option? Without it i can access to the scripts you can test.

[jshzh]

Test 1

- select from the KSM home: "koreader additions > start nickel koreader switch"
did, flashed, same menu appeared with light up

- select in nickel the png file switchtokoreader in order to call koreader
selected "start nickle" to get into nickle -- back to menu with light off - again flashed (light on) then still menu with light off...repeated this circle. it is a loop, nickle never started by selecting "start nickle" in the menu. Couldn't proceed to the next steps:

select in koreader exit (house icon) in order to call nickel
(switch between the two applications as often as you like)
finally select in nickel the png file exit_nickel in order to reboot into KSM

Test 2

- select from the KSM home: "koreader additions > start koreader nickel switch"
did, directly went into koreader

- select in koreader exit (house icon) in order to call nickel
did, nickle was not recalled, back to menu with light on.

- select in nickel the png file switchtokoreader in order to call koreader
(switch between the two applications as often as you like)
finally select in nickel the png file exit_nickel in order to reboot into KSM
not able to test this because nickle couldn't be started by clicking "start nickle" in the menu as mentioned in Test 1 - a loop started and always back to the menu instead of starting the nickle.