Glo Controlling the Glo's Frontlight

[KevinShort]

I was looking at a strace of nickel today, and found that the Glo's frontlight is controlled by ioctl calls to /dev/ntx_io. I hacked together some quick C code to control the light:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <fcntl.h>
#include <sys/ioctl.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    if ( argc != 2 ) {
        printf("Usage: %s brightness \n", argv[0]);
        return 1;
    }
    
    int light;

    // Open the file for reading and writing
    if ((light = open("/dev/ntx_io", O_RDWR)) == -1) {
        printf("Error opening ntx_io device");	
    }

    int brightness = atoi ( (argv[1]) );
    ioctl(light, 241, brightness);

    return 0;
}

I've attached the source code and the compiled program below.

[PeterT]

Nicely done This would be an ideal addition to be built into the plugin

[Lynx-lynx]

Kevin Short are you saying that the zip file is ready to use?

[KevinShort]

Originally Posted by Lynx-lynx

Kevin Short are you saying that the zip file is ready to use?

It's ready to use in the sense that you can extract it and run the included "frontlight" program on the Glo.

[Lynx-lynx]

Thanks Kevin, I'll give it a burl.

I should add that it's pre 9am here, so I won't get to test it out properly until tonight.

[xor_]

Works fine here. Thanks.

Also works well with the plugin, using something like:

light0=Plugin::executeSystemCmd("/mnt/onboard/frontlight/frontlight 0")

[xuyn2003]

Originally Posted by xor_

Works fine here. Thanks.

Also works well with the plugin, using something like:

light0=Plugin::executeSystemCmd("/mnt/onboard/frontlight/frontlight 0")

Is the plugin suitable for firmware 2.3.1? Thanks！

[ikarus9999]

Yes it is.

[Rainer Zenz]

Hm. I put "frontlight" into the ".kobo" folder and the code from #6 into "koboplugins.ini"? Is that correct?

[KevinShort]

Originally Posted by Rainer Zenz

Hm. I put "frontlight" into the ".kobo" folder and the code from #6 into "koboplugins.ini"? Is that correct?

Yes on putting the code into koboplugins.ini, but you'll have to change the code if you put frontlight into the ".kobo" folder:

light0=Plugin::executeSystemCmd("/mnt/onboard/.kobo/frontlight 0")

The location "/mnt/onboard" is the root directory of the Kobo that you see when you connect your Kobo to your computer via USB. So if you put "frontlight" in the ".kobo" folder, the full path would be "/mnt/onboard/.kobo/frontlight", as you can see in the code above.

[xor_]

Originally Posted by Rainer Zenz

Hm. I put "frontlight" into the ".kobo" folder and the code from #6 into "koboplugins.ini"? Is that correct?

No, the code in #6 assumes that you create a subdirectory named frontlight in the root of the mount point, and copy it in there.

#6 is also only an example of how to turn the light off, i.e. set it to 0. You might want a corresponding line to turn it on in koboplugins.ini. In this case to 3, substitute your own desired light level.

Something like:

light3=Plugin::executeSystemCmd("/mnt/onboard/frontlight/frontlight 3")

Edit: Or do as Kev said for the path.

[Rainer Zenz]

Sorry, I'm not so familliar with all that.

When I do so, the frontlight is less bright in the lowest position?

[xor_]

Originally Posted by Rainer Zenz

When I do so, the frontlight is less bright in the lowest position?

Setting it to 3 would be just the standard light level 3.

[Rainer Zenz]

Okay, it works. I choosed

light1=Plugin::executeSystemCmd("/mnt/onboard/.kobo/frontlight 1")

But the effect ist very small. I guess, 0 means off.

[dimi5]

Can somebody explain, where the koboplugins.ini file can be found or should be placed?