NickelMenu: An integrated launcher for Kobo eReaders

[ownedbycats]

Did you accidentally change the power button to take a screenshot instead?

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by isarl

This is how NickelClock does it.

After some tinkering with telnet, I figured out how to make an ugly but functional battery status option with NickelMenu.

menu_item :main :Battery :cmd_output :500 :cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/capacity /sys/class/power_supply/battery/voltage_now /sys/class/power_supply/battery/voltage_min /sys/class/power_supply/battery/voltage_max /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charge_now /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charge_full /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charge_full_design

This will generate a pop-up window containing:

• The current charge as a percentage
• The current voltage
• The minimum voltage
• The maximum voltage
• The current capacity (mAh)
• The maximum capacity
• The maximum design capacity

The pop-up window will look like this (but without the key):

39
3707800 (3.71 V)
3520000 (3.52 V)
4200000 (4.20 V)
590000  (590 mAh)
1429000 (1429 mAh)
1430000 (1430 mAh)

You may be able to guess that this output is from my Libra 2 by the battery capacity.

You can track the decline in the voltage as the battery discharges, and you can track the health of your battery by comparing the maximum capacity against the design capacity. You can also double check the calculated percentage by dividing (current capacity / maximum capacity). In this example, the capacity indicates 41%, but the battery meter claims 39%.

Of course, this assumes that sysfs actually produces reliable numbers, but at least it's more information than the default battery meter gives us.

If any Linux gurus out there can tell me how I could intercept the output of cat and format it nicely instead of displaying the raw numbers, I'd be interested to try that.

[isarl]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

If any Linux gurus out there can tell me how I could intercept the output of cat and format it nicely instead of displaying the raw numbers, I'd be interested to try that.

Depends on what's available. If units is available then something like:

# Example just echoing a number to test the concept.
# Use 'units' --terse mode.
# Convert from uV to V.
# Then echo it along with a literal V.
echo $(units -t "$(echo 3707800) uV" V) V
# result: 3.7078 V

# Replacing the call to echo with your call to cat:
echo $(units -t "$(cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/voltage_now) uV" V) V

If units is not available but sed is available, and we are just dividing by 1e6 or 1e3 (which seems to be the case) then perhaps something like:

# The idea is to look for 6 or 7 digits, and insert a dot before the final 6 digits.
# If it was 6 digits then a leading 0 is inserted before the decimal.
# Trailing zeroes in the fractional part are stripped.
# If this results in a number like "3." then a single trailing zero is added, e.g. "3.0".
# Finally the line has the units appended on.
# Example using echo:
echo 3707800 | sed -E -e 's/([0-9]?)([0-9]{6})/\1.\2/; s/^\./0./; s/\.([0-9]*[1-9])?0+/.\1/; s/\.$/.0/; s/$/ V/'
# result: 3.7078 V

# With the actual file:
cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/voltage_now | sed -E -e 's/([0-9]?)([0-9]{6})/\1.\2/; s/^\./0./; s/\.([0-9]*[1-9])?0+/.\1/; s/\.$/.0/; s/$/ V/'

Dividing by 10e3 is similar:

# Here if the result has no fractional part it is omitted instead of shown as ".0".
# Example using echo:
echo 1429000 | sed -E -e 's/([0-9]{3,4})([0-9]{3})/\1.\2/; s/^\./0./; s/\.([0-9]*[1-9])?0+/.\1/; s/\.$//; s/$/ mAh/'
# result: 1429 mAh

# With the actual file:
cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charge_now | sed -E -e 's/([0-9]{3,4})([0-9]{3})/\1.\2/; s/^\./0./; s/\.([0-9]*[1-9])?0+/.\1/; s/\.$//; s/$/ mAh/'

[Aleron Ives]

Sadly, the units command is not available. Is it possible to run commands and store the output in variables the way you can if you're directly interacting with the shell, or are you required to perform every operation in one line? If I use one cat and one sed at a time, then it seems like I'd have to generate multiple pop-up windows to display all the information. I don't see any mention in the documentation of being able to pass the output of one command as the input for a chain_success command, either.

Alternatively, could I put everything into a shell script inside /mnt/onboard/.adds/ and then execute that with cmd_output?

[acrobat]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Did you accidentally change the power button to take a screenshot instead?

Where i can show this ?

[isarl]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Alternatively, could I put everything into a shell script inside /mnt/onboard/.adds/ and then execute that with cmd_output?

That should work. It doesn't have to be in .adds/ in particular, but that seems like a logical place.

[isarl]

Originally Posted by acrobat

Where i can show this ?

First off: if you have a NickelMenu entry to toggle screenshots, just try using that. It will be easier.

If you don't, then…

Look for the file Kobo eReader.conf, located in the .kobo/Kobo/ directory on your device.

This file contains a bunch of options organized into sections. Each option is given as a “key” (a setting name) and a “value” (the current setting for that option), like this:

[SectionHeader]
key1=value1
key2=value2

[NewSectionHeader]
anotherkey=anothervalue

You are looking for the “Screenshots” option in the [FeatureSettings] section. It might look like this:

[FeatureSettings]
Screenshots=true

I have an extra setting, and I also have screenshots disabled at the moment, so mine looks like this:

[FeatureSettings]
ExcludeSyncFolders=\\.kobo/screensaver_old
Screenshots=false

(My ExcludeSyncFolders option is not relevant to this discussion, but ask if you're curious.)

NB: Your [FeatureSettings] section, or the Screenshots line, may be absent. If they are, it is safe to add them in yourself, if you are careful to match the syntax in the rest of the file.

If it says “Screenshots=true” then that's why your power button won't put your device to sleep. Make sure to check your device storage to find all the screenshots you have inadvertently taken, which you may wish to delete. Changing it to “Screenshots=false”, saving, and disconnecting your Kobo should restore the expected functionality of your power button.

You may find the following NickelMenu entries, taken from the config I use on my own device, helpful. “Screenshot Status” displays a popup which simply informs you whether they are enabled or disabled. “Toggle Screenshots” does what it says: it turns them on if they're off, and it turns them off if they're on. Feel free to adjust the whitespacing if you like; these are what I find most readable in my own config file but your tastes may differ. If you rearrange them in your own config file, be sure to keep the chain_success and chain_failure lines as immediately following the Screenshot Status menu_item line.

menu_item : main    : Screenshot Status  : cmd_output         : 500 : quiet : grep -q '^Screenshots=true$' "/mnt/onboard/.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf"
      chain_success                      : dbg_toast          : Screenshots are enabled
      chain_failure                      : dbg_toast          : Screenshots are disabled
menu_item : main    : Toggle Screenshots : nickel_setting     : toggle : screenshots

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

After some tinkering with telnet, I figured out how to make an ugly but functional battery status option with NickelMenu.

menu_item :main :Battery :cmd_output :500 :cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/capacity /sys/class/power_supply/battery/voltage_now /sys/class/power_supply/battery/voltage_min /sys/class/power_supply/battery/voltage_max /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charge_now /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charge_full /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charge_full_design

This will generate a pop-up window containing:

• The current charge as a percentage
• The current voltage
• The minimum voltage
• The maximum voltage
• The current capacity (mAh)
• The maximum capacity
• The maximum design capacity

Before using this on a different Kobo ereader, check the contents of /sys/class/power_supply/battery/ since they are not the same on all models. A Sage for example only has the first two items listed.

[NiLuJe]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Before using this on a different Kobo ereader, check the contents of /sys/class/power_supply/battery/ since they are not the same on all models. A Sage for example only has the first two items listed.

Yup, see https://github.com/koreader/KoboUSBM...ms.h#L126-L128 .

I can also confirm the author's suspicions about the accuracy of the raw values: it's dogshit on most devices . (A pretty telling example of that is that you can get the same magical jumps of >25% of capacity by just plugging/unplugging a device; while on others, the values are simply plain nonsensical or frozen).

[acrobat]

Originally Posted by isarl

[FeatureSettings]
Screenshots=false

menu_item : reader    : Screenshot Status  : cmd_output         : 500 : quiet : grep -q '^Screenshots=true$' "/mnt/onboard/.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf"
      chain_success                      : dbg_toast          : Screenshots are enabled
      chain_failure                      : dbg_toast          : Screenshots are disabled
menu_item : reader    : Toggle Screenshots : nickel_setting     : toggle : screenshots

With this code is ok now, thank you

Please, could you explain this : ExcludeSyncFolders option

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by acrobat

Please, could you explain this : ExcludeSyncFolders option

ExcludeSyncFolders limits the directories in which Nickel searches for content. For example, if you installed KOReader, all the image files and supported book filetypes associated with it would appear in your library if they were not excluded.

[isarl]

Originally Posted by DNSB

ExcludeSyncFolders limits the directories in which Nickel searches for content. For example, if you installed KOReader, all the image files and supported book filetypes associated with it would appear in your library if they were not excluded.

To expand on this, I have mine set the way that I do because I have a folder of images to use as screensavers, but I don’t always have my screensaver enabled. This pattern hides all files in that folder from being scanned, so that these images do not show up in my library as “books”. See also my “Screensaver Status” and “Toggle Screensaver” items, which reference the folder listed in my ExcludeSyncFolders:

menu_item : main    : Screensaver Status : cmd_output         : 500 : quiet : test -e /mnt/onboard/.kobo/screensaver_old
      chain_success                      : dbg_toast          : Screensaver is off
      chain_failure                      : dbg_toast          : Screensaver is on
menu_item : main    : Toggle Screensaver : cmd_output         : 500 : quiet : test -e /mnt/onboard/.kobo/screensaver_old
      chain_failure : skip : 3
      chain_success                      : cmd_spawn          : quiet: mv /mnt/onboard/.kobo/screensaver_old /mnt/onboard/.kobo/screensaver
      chain_success                      : dbg_toast          : Screensaver on
      chain_always  : skip : -1
      chain_failure                      : cmd_spawn          : quiet: mv /mnt/onboard/.kobo/screensaver /mnt/onboard/.kobo/screensaver_old
      chain_success                      : dbg_toast          : Screensaver off

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by isarl

That should work. It doesn't have to be in .adds/ in particular, but that seems like a logical place.

Success! Thanks for all the help. If anyone's interested, here's the script:

# Battery Statistics Calculator 1.0 (2023-05-18) by Aleron Ives
#
# This script calculates battery statistics for the Kobo Libra 2.
# Check the contents of /sys/class/power_supply/ if you use a different
# model to ensure that the statistics you want to track are available.
#
# You can use NickelMenu to invoke this script like so:
# menu_item :main :Battery :cmd_output :500 :/mnt/onboard/.adds/battcalc.sh

# Gather the necessary statistics

meter=$(cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/capacity)
v_now=$(cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/voltage_now)
v_min=$(cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/voltage_min)
v_max=$(cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/voltage_max)
c_now=$(cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charge_now)
c_full=$(cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charge_full)
c_dfull=$(cat /sys/class/power_supply/battery/charge_full_design)

let v_now/=1000; let v_min/=1000; let v_max/=1000 # Convert to V
let c_now/=1000; let c_full/=1000; let c_dfull/=1000 # Convert to mAh
let v_nowr=$v_now%1000; let v_now/=1000 # Simulate floating-point arithmetic
let v_minr=$v_min%1000; let v_min/=1000 # "
let v_maxr=$v_max%1000; let v_max/=1000 # "
let charge=$c_now*100/$c_full # Calculate charge percentage from mAh
let c_health=$c_full*100/$c_dfull # Calculate health percentage from mAh

# Format and display the results

echo Capacity: $c_now mAh / $meter% / $charge%
echo Voltage: $v_min.$v_minr V / $v_now.$v_nowr V / $v_max.$v_maxr V
echo Health: $c_full mAh / $c_dfull mAh / $c_health%

Now you get lots of new inaccurate statistics! Kobo is using BusyBox with ash, so I had to do some research on how it works, but it seems to be mostly the same as bash. I've attached a picture of the output on the Kobo.

You get the current battery capacity in mAh, the current percentage that the battery icon reports, the current percentage as calculated by the current / maximum mAh, the minimum, current, and maximum battery voltage, and the battery health calculated from the maximum vs the design capacity.

[Katja_hbg]

Originally Posted by Katja_hbg

...#984...
The configuration from reading to home should work with this:
menu_item : reader :Home :nickel_orientation : portrait
chain_always :nickel_misc :home

But there is no way back to the reading view like:
menu_item : main :Reading :nickel_orientation :landscape
chain_always :nickel_open :CURRENT-last-open-BOOK

Will it be possible to add an option/argument to open the last-open-book?

May I ask again whether this option exist or whether there is a chance to make it possible?

[Aleron Ives]

The list of options is here:

https://github.com/pgaskin/NickelMen...v0.5.4/res/doc

There is no nickel_open for a specific book. It only allows you to open a specific menu.