Touch Hacking into the Kobo Touch

[GoingDown]

Originally Posted by notimetoread

with the line not commented out, I get

$ telnet 192.168.1.6
Trying 192.168.1.6...
Connected to 192.168.1.6.
Escape character is '^]'.
Connection closed by foreign host.

where the connection gets closed immediately. Anyone have any idea? Firmware version is 1.9.14.

Kobo 1.9.14 doesn't mount /dev/pts by default anymore, and telnet needs it. I got it working by adding following to my /etc/init/rcS file (this is the whole addition I have done to the stock rcS file, add 5 first lines...).

# /dev/pts must be mounted after the tmpfs on /dev/ is mounted
# and after udev is started. /dev/pts is only required if you want
# to use telnet to talk to your Kobo.
mkdir -p /dev/pts
mount -t devpts devpts /dev/pts

# If you want syslogd to write system messages to .kobo/syslog on the
# onboard flash partition (handy during debugging) just uncomment
# this line:
#/sbin/syslogd -O /mnt/onboard/.kobo/syslog -b 50 -D 
 
#
# If you want your own script to be run from the user flash partition at
# every boot, uncomment these lines and put it in .kobo/rc.sh . Its output
# will be written to .kobo/rc.out
#
if [ -e /mnt/onboard/.kobo/rc.sh ]; then 
       sh /mnt/onboard/.kobo/rc.sh >& /mnt/onboard/.kobo/rc.out
fi
  
# Start inetd to support telnet and ftpd services
# There is **NO** **PASSWORD** on these services.
/usr/sbin/inetd /etc/inetd.conf

I found it out from somewhere via Google, where they talked about telnetd for Kobo wifi. So credit for them.

Edit. The hacking Kobo Touch page seems to also include this information about necessity to mount /dev/pts. But anyway, within these, I got it working

[notimetoread]

GoingDown, thank you for the hint. This could very well be the problem. I won't have the opportunity to test it before next weekend, but I will report back then.

[The Terminator]

Is there any hack for removing the ads?

[r.bares]

Originally Posted by The Terminator

Is there any hack for removing the ads?

sounds a bit too much like theft, certainly breach of any license agreement you accepted

[spindlegirl]

Originally Posted by The Terminator

Is there any hack for removing the ads?

The ads are what made the device cost less than the one without ads.
I don't own one but aren't the ads only there when the device is sleeping or powered off?

In that event the quickest way to "remove" the ads is to close the cover or flip it so the back is showing during those occasions.

[notimetoread]

@GoingDown
thank you so much, I now got it working
I had already put the 2 lines in rcS2, but somehow they weren't executed. They are in rcS now and it works perfectly.

[notimetoread]

Originally Posted by The Terminator

Is there any hack for removing the ads?

can't you just install the standard firmware? As long as you don't sync with the desktop application, you should be fine.

[taming]

Originally Posted by notimetoread

can't you just install the standard firmware? As long as you don't sync with the desktop application, you should be fine.

I do not believe this is true. Do you have inside knowledge, a source you can point to?

[notimetoread]

Originally Posted by taming

I do not believe this is true. Do you have inside knowledge, a source you can point to?

no, I haven't tried it, I only guessed.
I was able to install the normal firmware on my fnac branded french kobo touch without any problems, so I assumed this would be possible for differently branded kobo touches as well.

Why should it not work?

[taming]

The ad display is not in the reading firmware. the reading firmware is designed to be replaced based on locale.

[notimetoread]

Originally Posted by taming

The ad display is not in the reading firmware. the reading firmware is designed to be replaced based on locale.

sounds interesting. I'd love to have one of those ad kobos to play with it. Unfortunately I have no idea where to get one.

[rashkae]

Originally Posted by notimetoread

no, I haven't tried it, I only guessed.
I was able to install the normal firmware on my fnac branded french kobo touch without any problems, so I assumed this would be possible for differently branded kobo touches as well.

Why should it not work?

It migh work if you the kobo you buy still has an old firware version. You can update up to .12. However, the new Kobo firmware (.14) disables the kobo until you sync with the desktop app.

Do you have a link to where the Fnac firmware can be downloaded? If they have their own custom firmware, I would be interested in testing it on my KT, (even if it is in French)

[notimetoread]

I don't know where to download the fnac firmware. My girlfriend installed it once by syncing using the desktop application.
I have since replaced it by the standard .14 firmware. It is possible to use the kobo without syncing by adding a database entry (I don't remember exactly which one, but I found it in some other thread here in the forum).

On bypassing the registration/setup in 1.9.14:

It looks like the Kobo looks for two records in the user table of the SQLite database (one for you and one for their preview books). The actual data in those records can be complete and utter nonsense.

[Bilestoad]

Is there a way to hack the Kobo Touch so that I can change the crappy default dictionary to the Oxford?