Getting rid of the Header in 2.5.2 epubs

[ewphoenix123]

With the patch 2.5.2 Kobo decided to "kobo-fy" the epub rendering engine, by adding a permanent title-line on top of the screen.

I was not really happy with the prospect of not upgrading the Kobo from now on, only to get rid of the bar, so I started to experiment a bit.

The quick and dirty solution I found atm is to just patch the 2.5.1 reader *.so back in after applying the 2.5.2 patch.
After a few hours of reading it seems to work without any problem.

I also tried older reader versions (2.2.1, 2.3.0, 2.4.0) but they don't work, so some dependencies probably have changed with the big 2.5.0 update.

Would be nice to figure out a way to make the older versions work again, to get a version that had working italics for certain fonts, or the back to library function.

The attached file includes the readerapp file from 2.5.1 and from 2.5.2.

Installation procedure is as usual, rename the files to koboroot.tgz and put them in the .kobo folder.

[ShellShock]

Great work. I'll give this a go later.

[Wingman4l7]

I just bought a Kobo Mini and udpated it yesterday; I'm running firmware version 2.5.1 (4/22/2013). Thanks for the warning not to update! That header would have been really irritating. >.<

[ZipMaker]

I have 2.5.2, and don't want the title but I don't understand how to install. Can you help?

Originally Posted by ewphoenix123

Installation procedure is as usual, rename the files to koboroot.tgz and put them in the .kobo folder.

[Wingman4l7]

Originally Posted by ZipMaker

I have 2.5.2, and don't want the title but I don't understand how to install. Can you help?

It should be pretty straightfoward. Download the provided file, and uncompress the KoboRoot - epubnoheader2.5.1.tgz file from it (the 2.5.2 was included as a backup). Rename that file to KoboRoot.tgz.

Then, hook the Kobo up to your computer. The internal memory should show up as removable storage, like a USB thumbdrive does. Navigate to the .kobo/ directory and copy the KoboRoot.tgz file into it.

After that I am not sure what the next step is but the Kobo Touch Hacking wiki page on MobileRead says:

The method used by the Kobo Touch to upgrade its firmware is quite simple: If the file .kobo/KoboRoot.tgz is found in the Kobo's public partition, then the .tgz file is extracted to the root of the internal system partition.

So, I am guessing you just run an [offline?] update and it will install the older firmware version.

[Quexos]

Please Kobo give us a full screen option where both header and bottom can be used for text. Even with the header used for text there is this "gap" at the bottom that is a bit annoying. The page count could be on the lowest line making it the very last line of the screen or something like that.
Thank you

[Danger]

Works great so far. Just remember it's KoboRoot.tgz. I made the mistake of using all lower case letters first time around and the Kobo wouldn't take the update.

[ZipMaker]

Originally Posted by Wingman4l7

It should be pretty straightfoward. Download the provided file, and uncompress the KoboRoot - epubnoheader2.5.1.tgz file from it (the 2.5.2 was included as a backup). Rename that file to KoboRoot.tgz.

Then, hook the Kobo up to your computer. The internal memory should show up as removable storage, like a USB thumbdrive does. Navigate to the .kobo/ directory and copy the KoboRoot.tgz file into it.

Hello, thank you. I installed 2.5.1 update again and everything is fine. What do you suggest? 2.5.1 or 2.5.2 with your hack?

[marlowe310]

Just wanted to say THANKS. Worked like a dream, and it was really a pretty huge frustration for a giant baby like me!

[auspex]

Originally Posted by Wingman4l7

I just bought a Kobo Mini and udpated it yesterday; I'm running firmware version 2.5.1 (4/22/2013). Thanks for the warning not to update! That header would have been really irritating. >.<

You think? It's a small font title-line. It doesn't so much "koboify" the device as "bookify" it; there's a title line on every book you read, after all.

Now that I've read this, it's probably going to drive me nuts (and really, this should be an option just like page numbers), but honestly I hadn't even noticed it changed until reading this thread!

[Anak]

Originally Posted by auspex

You think? It's a small font title-line. It doesn't so much "koboify" the device as "bookify" it; there's a title line on every book you read, after all.

Now that I've read this, it's probably going to drive me nuts (and really, this should be an option just like page numbers), but honestly I hadn't even noticed it changed until reading this thread!

Maybe there is a title line / bar on every book page in English language books, but in many languages there is no title /chapter line or bar on every book page.
At least not in general fiction or non-fiction books: German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish.
Books that sometimes do have the mentioned title/chapter bar in books are educational text books.

[BeeTee-Ess]

Originally Posted by Quexos

Please Kobo give us a full screen option where both header and bottom can be used for text. Even with the header used for text there is this "gap" at the bottom that is a bit annoying. The page count could be on the lowest line making it the very last line of the screen or something like that.
Thank you

Hear, hear!
Note the word option. You don't have to use it if you don't want to. I do.
+1

[paola]

Originally Posted by BeeTee-Ess

Hear, hear!
Note the word option. You don't have to use it if you don't want to. I do.
+1

guys, why not put a request in
https://getsatisfaction.com/kobo/ideas/popular
then link it back to the forum, so that we can +1 it? Things seem to move slowly over there, but with a linkback on MR we should get to be noticed in no time.

[Tiburscyo]

Thank you ewphoenix123
In my kobo glo worked very well

One more question: is there a way to remove also the number of pages in the bottom of the screen? That way the text appears in full screen.

[ewphoenix123]

Originally Posted by Tiburscyo

Thank you ewphoenix123
In my kobo glo worked very well

One more question: is there a way to remove also the number of pages in the bottom of the screen? That way the text appears in full screen.

Koreader has an amazing fullpage-view (try the scrollmode view), and it works pretty good already on Glo, mini and touch. A new version can be found at the end of the thread-
Sadly it won't work on the aura atm.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=203622