Instructions for patching firmware 3.3.x, 3.4.x, 3.5.x

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by wikiped

On AuraHD In 3.5.0 the search dialog was changed and location of where to search for (Store / Library) is now a dropbox menu on the right from search line.

Is this the reason why there is no patch for changing default search location to library?

Yes. From what I can tell the patch for earlier firmware versions intercepts a call to a function controlling the radio buttons, so to update the patch I just looked for this function call. But in 3.5.0 the radio buttons are gone, so I don't know how to update the patch.

[Nick_1964]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Yes. From what I can tell the patch for earlier firmware versions intercepts a call to a function controlling the radio buttons, so to update the patch I just looked for this function call. But in 3.5.0 the radio buttons are gone, so I don't know how to update the patch.

You can't do it all my friend, you do more then enough, and the whole idea is stupid, they make almost 2 monthly updates, and every update should fix something, but need to be patched again, and sometimes I get the feeling they only update to disable some patches because they change whole sections but don't address the real bugs that they must be aware of to..
They advert with the Aura HD that it has so much bigger screen,..but if you don't use 20% of that screen... there is a marges setting, so let me deside how to use the screen,but without the patch the gain to a glow is maybe 3 lines of txt extra.. but the weight is more,and it is at the edge of what you can handle in bed..what do you have to do with a bigger screen that,when you don't patch it,doesn't give you the benefit of the whole inch more...

[violent23]

Originally Posted by Nick_1964

You can't do it all my friend, you do more then enough, and the whole idea is stupid, they make almost 2 monthly updates, and every update should fix something, but need to be patched again, and sometimes I get the feeling they only update to disable some patches because they change whole sections but don't address the real bugs that they must be aware of to..
They advert with the Aura HD that it has so much bigger screen,..but if you don't use 20% of that screen... there is a marges setting, so let me deside how to use the screen,but without the patch the gain to a glow is maybe 3 lines of txt extra.. but the weight is more,and it is at the edge of what you can handle in bed..what do you have to do with a bigger screen that,when you don't patch it,doesn't give you the benefit of the whole inch more...

Exactly, I don't know what I would be doing without these patches. Using Kepub, while having some nice features wastes way too much screen real estate. Using epub and these patches gives me back the control I purchased an epub reading device for in the first place. Frankly if I wanted to convert away from epub (kepub) I could have just purchased another kindle as epub to azw3 is just as easy as epub to kepub. Granted having a uniform epub reading experience on the Kobo takes a bit of editing but now that I have gleaned how to edit the css (to remove any hard coded justification settings) and use Calibre (to auto remove the line height and font settings) it normally only takes me about fifteen minutes to get an epub fully functional with Kobo's built in controls. Sure it may not be as easy as just converting to kepub but the advantage of using the devices screen to fit more text is worth it.

I just wish that Kobo would finally get off their behinds and actually create a firmware that isn't filled with bugs and allowed us to use the device as we wished, whether we use epub or kepub. They have been making eReaders for too long now to have software that is this bad.

[booklover6]

Well, some of us like kepubs.

And some of us don't upgrade every time they send out a new update. None of mine are on 3.5.0. I see no need for it. Once I have things where I want them, with the patches I want, why change it? I only do so if I see a real reason, that would benefit me.

[Nick_1964]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Well, some of us like kepubs.

And some of us don't upgrade every time they send out a new update. None of mine are on 3.5.0. I see no need for it. Once I have things where I want them, with the patches I want, why change it? I only do so if I see a real reason, that would benefit me.

Yes and no.. they don't put a changelist at it what is really changed so you can make a choice for yourself wheater you update or not, I do have the old patched files so I can revert .... but if they send an update,you just get it,or you have to patch it not to have check the updates... I find it a scary idea that they can push something,without asking,into your device.
Like Samsung desides to make a radio of my tv and I can't revert it...
I buy the device,let me control how to use it.
in my country, only the koboshop use kepubs but the prices are much to high and they don't have all the titles, all the big bookstores in the Netherlands,including Google Books, use epub, and it always have to be sideloaded... The only way to get a kepub is by making one with calibre.
The Kindle you can't officially buy here, so it is a Kobo or a Sony and some LCD things they call itself e-readers.
Sony just warn you there is an update, but if Kobo finds a way,it updates your device without warning, so you can't sync without patch, I uninstall the software on my computer, just to keep Kobo out

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by Nick_1964

. but if they send an update,you just get it,or you have to patch it not to have check the updates... I find it a scary idea that they can push something,without asking,into your device.

I don't like that, either! That is why I never turn on the wifi on any of my Kobo devices. I don't use Pocket, however, so I can see how that would be a problem for those who do. When I do decide to use an update, I side load it. I hate Kobo's "syncing" so don't use that either.

[Nick_1964]

I neither do use pocket, so it is just reading, don't use the browser, I don't play games with it and I have converted the books with Calibre already so the Kobo software doesn't have to do much for me, I don't use the "gifts" or reccomendation, and I don't quote things on Facebook.. a normal book can't so my Kobo doesn't have to do that, I just sideloaded already converted books,that have ripped out the fonts I don't use, align everything on the left, have the fontsize I like, have the margins set already,have the linehight already, I only use the patch to fill all the pages till the bottom, and by doing it this way I know they look the same on another reader to.
The only thing I miss is a button that add the smell of old books to it so maybe thats why I don't have all this problems others have, I adapt the books to the reader and not the other way around.
If I want to surf, or use Facebook, I use my tablet, if I want to play cardgames in bed, (the only place I read execpt when I have to travel or fly a long period) it is time to put out the light and go to sleep.
That doesn't mean that I accept the mistakes in the reader, but if the mountain doesn't come to...

[Cecell3000]

tested: kobo glo

# libnickel.so.1.0.0 in firmware 3.5.0 (1ad1188b51)

<Patch>
patch_name = `Search in Library by default`
patch_enable = `yes`
replace_bytes = A0ABE0, 00 21, 01 21
</Patch>

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by Cecell3000

tested: kobo glo

# libnickel.so.1.0.0 in firmware 3.5.0 (1ad1188b51)

<Patch>
patch_name = `Search in Library by default`
patch_enable = `yes`
replace_bytes = A0ABE0, 00 21, 01 21
</Patch>

Well done! I've updated the files in post #1 and #2 to include this patch.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Cecell3000

tested: kobo glo

# libnickel.so.1.0.0 in firmware 3.5.0 (1ad1188b51)

<Patch>
patch_name = `Search in Library by default`
patch_enable = `yes`
replace_bytes = A0ABE0, 00 21, 01 21
</Patch>

Tested on an Aura HD and works nicely! Unlike the previous firmware patch, this one shows Library as the selected search zone.

Regards,
David

[erikssenmar867]

Are there no possibilities to see again the great patch to avoid redundant cover images of previous firmwares?
Thanks again for your jobs

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by erikssenmar867

Are there no possibilities to see again the great patch to avoid redundant cover images of previous firmwares?
Thanks again for your jobs

I can't find how to make this patch work with the current firmware, but I'll describe the problem so maybe someone else can work it out:

When you longpress on a book in the device's library and select view details, a page is shown with a cover image and other info. The root problem is that the device doesn't use the existing cover image with filename ending in "N3_LIBRARY_FULL.parsed" but instead tries to use an identical one with a filename ending in "AndroidBookLoadTablet_Aspect.parsed", and if it is missing will try to download it for synced books or generate it for sideloaded books. This means that no cover image is shown for synced books unless WiFi is on, but it is also a waste of battery to download the cover image each time and a waste of storage space to generate one, when a saved image is already on the device.

Up to firmware 3.2.0 the problem was solved by a patch that simply changed the "AndroidBookLoadTablet_Aspect" string in libnickel to "N3_LIBRARY_FULL". But since 3.3.0 that doesn't work anymore.

However making a copy of the "N3_LIBRARY_FULL.parsed" image file with the name changed to end in "AndroidBookLoadTablet_Aspect.parsed" still works fine, albeit a waste of storage space. (Calibre sends the extra copy of the file automatically if you have the "send covers" option selected)

Edit: I hoped that Kobo would fix this problem quickly because the worst affects are for books bought and synced from Kobo. If you buy your books somewhere else and sideload then thanks to Calibre it is not a big problem, so this acts as a disincentive to buy from Kobo.

Edit2: This is fixed in firmware 3.8.0, so no patch needed.

[Ripplinger]

Now that I finally found this patch, it's fantastic, thank you for the work you've put in on it.

One question though about the advanced setting for added fonts. A few of them will not change when you set the weight, even though in the small sample box it does show the change. Is there something contained within a font that causes it, or anything I can do to make it work on all fonts?

This patch certainly makes reading with newer firmware a much better experience.

Now if we had a patch to get rid of homescreen tiles... it's bad enough how ugly they are but they constantly change position so you can't instinctively "click here" for a particular action. You always have to read where everything got shuffled to after the last thing you did.

[booklover6]

Is there any way to make a patch to remove the kepub header, but keep the rest of the kepub features? I love the "hours to go" that shows on the book tile on the main page. That doesn't get displayed with epub books. It's especially nice on the Kobo Aura HD, every tile shows how much time is left!

Or, conversely, a way to enable epubs to show the time left on tiles?

I've searched all through the patches that I have and the only thing I see regarding the header is changing the font. (And I admit to failure at trying to change the footer size on my Aura with the patch fw 3.5.0)

[Nick_1964]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Is there any way to make a patch to remove the kepub header, but keep the rest of the kepub features? I love the "hours to go" that shows on the book tile on the main page. That doesn't get displayed with epub books. It's especially nice on the Kobo Aura HD, every tile shows how much time is left!

Or, conversely, a way to enable epubs to show the time left on tiles?

I've searched all through the patches that I have and the only thing I see regarding the header is changing the font. (And I admit to failure at trying to change the footer size on my Aura with the patch fw 3.5.0)

Footer size change only when you go into the epub,but possible allso with kepub, it looks like there is nothing change whatever you do, open the menu where u can set the margins sliders,the linehight sliders.. when you change one of them,and return to the book, then you see it visible ( when you applied the patch. )
In my case, this works fine for me,

Spoiler:

<Patch>
patch_name = `Custom reading footer style`
patch_enable = `yes`
replace_string = DE449C, `ReadingFooter {\n\tmin-height: 70px;\n\tmax-height: 70px;\n\tqproperty-footerMargin: 40;\n}\n\nReadingFooter[qApp_deviceCodeName="phoenix"] {\n\tmin-height: 82px;\n\tmax-height: 82px;\n\tqproperty-footerMargin: 15;\n}\n\nReadingFooter[qApp_deviceCodeName="dragon"] {\n\tmin-height: 120px;\n\tmax-height: 120px;\n\tqproperty-footerMargin: 20;\n}\n\n* {\n\tfont-size: 16px;\n}\n\n[qApp_deviceCodeName="phoenix"] {\n\tfont-size: 20px;\n}\n\n[qApp_deviceCodeName="dragon"] {\n\tfont-size: 26px;\n}\n\n[qApp_localeName="ja_JP"] {\n\tfont-family: A-OTF Gothic MB101 Pr6N;\n}`, `ReadingFooter {\n\tmin-height: 70px;\n\tmax-height: 70px;\n\tqproperty-footerMargin: 40;\n}\n\n* {\n\tfont-size: 16px;\n\tpadding-bottom: 0px;\n\tmargin-top: 0px;\n\t/*font-family:none;*/\n}\n\n[qApp_localeName="ja_JP"] {\n\tfont-family: A-OTF Gothic MB101 Pr6N;\n}`
#
# Uncomment the replace_string lines of one of the examples below, comment out
# the rest. If you choose to make further changes to the examples, BE CAREFUL
# NOT TO ALTER THE LENGTH OF THE REPLACEMENT STRINGS! (Add or remove spaces if
# necessary to keep the total length the same.)
#
# Example for Touch/Mini:
#replace_string = DE44AD, `min-height: 70px;`, `min-height: 32px;`
#replace_string = DE44C0, `max-height: 70px;`, `max-height: 32px;`
#replace_string = DE44DD, `footerMargin: 40;`, `footerMargin: 40;`
#replace_string = DE44F7, `font-size: 16px;`, `font-size: 16px;`
#replace_string = DE4509, `padding-bottom: 0px;`, `padding-bottom: 4px;`
#replace_string = DE451F, `margin-top: 0px;`, `margin-top: 0px;`
#
# Example for Glo/Aura:
#replace_string = DE44AD, `min-height: 70px;`, `min-height: 40px;`
#replace_string = DE44C0, `max-height: 70px;`, `max-height: 40px;`
#replace_string = DE44DD, `footerMargin: 40;`, `footerMargin: 15;`
#replace_string = DE44F7, `font-size: 16px;`, `font-size: 20px;`
#replace_string = DE4509, `padding-bottom: 0px;`, `padding-bottom: 5px;`
#replace_string = DE451F, `margin-top: 0px;`, `margin-top: 0px;`
#
# Example for Nick's Aura HD:
replace_string = DE44AD, `min-height: 70px;`, `min-height: 70px;`
replace_string = DE44C0, `max-height: 70px;`, `max-height: 70px;`
replace_string = DE44DD, `footerMargin: 40;`, `footerMargin: 20;`
replace_string = DE44F7, `font-size: 16px;`, `font-size: 31px;`
replace_string = DE4509, `padding-bottom: 0px;`, `padding-bottom: 0px;`
replace_string = DE451F, `margin-top: 0px;`, `margin-top: 0px;`
#
#
# Uncomment one of the following if you wish the footer to use a fixed font.
# (And enable the Custom header style patch below using the same font.)
#
replace_string = DE4531, `/*font-family:none;*/`, `font-family: Amasis;`
#replace_string = DE4531, `/*font-family:none;*/`, `font-family: Avenir;`
#replace_string = DE4531, `/*font-family:none;*/`, `font-family: Georgia;`
#
</Patch>

But the bottom line only becomes at the richt place when I change one of the sliders once... after that it hasn't have to be done until the next patch.
Custom made for me by the famous GeoffR !!!