Kobo as a Linux tablet - sample image

[WS64]

Okay, WLAN works now after starting it once in Nickel.

Which /etc/init.d/rcS are we talking about?
NIckel or Debian?
The Debian one is nearly empty:

#! /bin/sh
#
# rcS
#
# Call all S??* scripts in /etc/rcS.d/ in numerical/alphabetical order
#

exec /etc/init.d/rcS

The Nickel one does not have eink_enable_autoupdate in it neither. Not does Debian's rc.

[dancol90]

Originally Posted by WS64

The Nickel one does not have eink_enable_autoupdate in it neither. Not does Debian's rc.

It's the nickel one. After selecting wifi in the selection menu at boot, the right rcS is in /etc/init.d (together with on-animator.sh, upgrade-generic.sh and other scripts), not the one in /debian/etc/init.d.

The line number where to add the commands should be 111 or near there.

Try posting the file here.

[WS64]

Yes, found it, sorry for that, not sure why I did not see it first.

but...
Now nothing works anymore.
After inseting these lines this SD card does not boot anymore, I just get a short blue light, a black screen for a second, then again a white screen and just the green blinking lights.
I have the card now in my computer and try to undo or at least to read the file once more to see what is in now, but so far no success, I don't know how to access this partion.
I could just play the changed Debian file back, or do you know any way to access the card and undo anything there from my windows machine?

[Aydan]

If you plan on playing around with linux filesystems it might be time to set up a linux virtual machine. That's the easiest way to gain access to you SD-card.
I have several VirtualBox machines flying around on my Win7 machine.

[WS64]

I have Ubunut here in VMWARE.
Unfortunately VMWARE does not recognize my SDcard reader.

[Aydan]

is it a usb one? I don't have any problems with USB passthrough with VirtualBox.

[WS64]

Originally Posted by KevinShort

The green light blinks on my Glo too. I think you should be able to stop the blinking with the following command (but I haven't tested it):

echo 0 > /sys/class/leds/pmic_ledsg/brightness

=> Permission denied

[WS64]

Originally Posted by Aydan

is it a usb one? I don't have any problems with USB passthrough with VirtualBox.

No, it is an internal one.

[WS64]

Is the following one Mini related? Is there a solution, since this is actually a no-go for me (and unfortunately, it happens exactly like this on my Mini too)...

Originally Posted by dancol90

Everything work like a charm! The only thing I've noticed is when I boot in nickel and put the device on standy it power off with a blank screen and the serial console shows this message:

msp430_write: write reg error : Reg 0x90 = 0xff00

Oh, and can I update the Kobo firmware to 2.8.1 or will it damage the whole thing because of the changed mmcblk0p2/3 thing?

[dancol90]

Originally Posted by WS64

Is the following one Mini related? Is there a solution, since this is actually a no-go for me (and unfortunately, it happens exactly like this on my Mini too)...

I think that Marek changed something in kernel's code breaking compatibility with Mini hardware...but he hasn't released the source code so he's the only one who can fix this.

Originally Posted by WS64

Oh, and can I update the Kobo firmware to 2.8.1 or will it damage the whole thing because of the changed mmcblk0p2/3 thing?

It won't work, unless you change every reference to mmcblk0p3 to p2...

[Aydan]

Originally Posted by MarekGibek

Warning! This image was tested only with Kobo Touch model N905C. Probably it will NOT WORK with OTHER devices.

I tried your image on my KT model N905B and it boots up to the selection screen but doesn't respond to touch input.
After connecting the serial console I saw a lot of I2C errors and also that the mouse driver didn't load.
This was kind of expected because the N905B has a netronix SoC and not the freescale one of the later models.
It would be nice if you could tell me what you modified in the kernel and the filesystem except the obvious debian root folder, so I can compile a kernel for my KT and modify the startup scripts accordingly.

Thanks
Aydan

[Fabry]

Originally Posted by MarekGibek

Hi!

I was able to make all required changes in the kernel sources to be able to install Linux inside and configure everything to be more or less usable on such small device.

Here you can find sample SD card image and test it yourself:
https://sites.google.com/site/gibekm...kobo-as-tablet

Have you evaluated the idea to use kexec and to load new kernel without writing nothing to internal SD ?
I don't know if original kernel have kexec support, but if yes could be an important option, more useful if used with an image for external sd slot (for kobo reader with it).
Nothing to open, no risk (internal sd will remain like original apart some scripts), more simple for newbie users (with pre-made scripts and images)

[freekobo]

Originally Posted by Fabry

Have you evaluated the idea to use kexec and to load new kernel without writing nothing to internal SD ?
I don't know if original kernel have kexec support, but if yes could be an important option, more useful if used with an image for external sd slot (for kobo reader with it).
Nothing to open, no risk (internal sd will remain like original apart some scripts), more simple for newbie users (with pre-made scripts and images)

I like this idea...too bad I dont know how to program or I would help. It would be awesome for single custom images for linux apps like say...chrome...with multi-touch support.

[MarekGibek]

Sorry for being silent for last two weeks. I was on vacation. But you guys are great at solving problems yourself!! I've just published source codes here:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=2619066

Let's do something amazing with our e-book readers!!!

[Fabry]

Originally Posted by MarekGibek

I chose Debian because it's the only decent distrubution that supports armel architecture and I needed armel architecture to run mono 3.2.1 (also java runtime is compiled for armel too).

Newest ubuntu is compiled for armhf (that means faster float operations). But mono packet is unusable there - there is unsucessful hack for armhf - if you ask it for 2^10 it answers 0.078 Armhf is great if you want faster audio and video processing - but I think that's doesn't matter on Kobo at all.

Today Oracle has released Java 7.0 Update 40 (normal and embedded version) which now supports perfectly HardFP (two distinct versions for SoftFP or HardFP systems).
So now Oracle's java jvm can be also used on HardFP systems like Ubuntu or Kobo with firmware 2.6.1 or greater.