NickelMenu: An integrated launcher for Kobo eReaders

[crisnoh]

I'm not having any success getting NickleMenu installed on my Libra 2. Software version is 4.35.20400 (73cfa09552, 12/8/22).

Here are the steps and outcomes:
- downloaded latest version of KoboRoot.tgz (v0.5.4) and dropped into KOBOeReader/.kobo
- ejected Kobo. Kobo updated and rebooted. NickleMenu item was not present after reboot
- reconnected Kobo to computer. Noted that KOBOeReader/.adds was not present.
- reattempted all previous steps. Same result
- manually created KOBOeReader/.adds/nm/config following documentation instructions
- ejected Kobo. Powered off and back on. NickleMenu item not present and the config file I manually created showed up as a document in My Books
- reattempted all previous steps. Same result

Please let me know if I missed something or followed the instructions incorrectly.

[Aleron Ives]

What was the exact link to KoboRoot.tgz that you used? You should have gotten NickelMenu 0.5.4 from here:

https://github.com/pgaskin/NickelMen...4/KoboRoot.tgz

What OS are you using? I just installed NIckelMenu on the Libra 2 myself, and the procedure you described worked fine for me. You should not create /mnt/onboard/.adds/nm/config until after you see the NickelMenu icon on the main menu, as NickelMenu is going to create the .adds/nm folder on its own during installation.

It's possible you have a faulty partial install. Try triggering the failsafe: turn your Kobo all the way off (long press of the power button), then turn it on and immediately hold the power button to turn it off again. If you turn the Kobo off within 20 seconds of turning it on, this will trigger a failsafe to uninstall NickelMenu the next time you turn the Kobo on again. You could also create a file named "uninstall" in .adds/nm/ and then reboot.

After you do this, try to install NickelMenu from the beginning.

[crisnoh]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

What was the exact link to KoboRoot.tgz that you used? You should have gotten NickelMenu 0.5.4 from here:

https://github.com/pgaskin/NickelMen...4/KoboRoot.tgz

What OS are you using? I just installed NIckelMenu on the Libra 2 myself, and the procedure you described worked fine for me. You should not create /mnt/onboard/.adds/nm/config until after you see the NickelMenu icon on the main menu, as NickelMenu is going to create the .adds/nm folder on its own during installation.

It's possible you have a faulty partial install. Try triggering the failsafe: turn your Kobo all the way off (long press of the power button), then turn it on and immediately hold the power button to turn it off again. If you turn the Kobo off within 20 seconds of turning it on, this will trigger a failsafe to uninstall NickelMenu the next time you turn the Kobo on again. You could also create a file named "uninstall" in .adds/nm/ and then reboot.

After you do this, try to install NickelMenu from the beginning.

My OS is macOS 13.3.1.

I followed the steps above to trigger the failsafe. Then I re-downloaded the NickelMenu from the link you provided above, changed the file extension to .tgz, and followed the install steps again from the beginning. The NickelMenu item is still not present.

I reconnected my Kobo and looked at the file system. It looks like the installer is being deleted at some point during the automatic reboot because it's not there anymore, and the .adds folder is still not present.

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by crisnoh

I re-downloaded the NickelMenu from the link you provided above, changed the file extension to .tgz, and followed the install steps again from the beginning.

That sounds like your problem. You don't rename the file, because it's already KoboRoot.tgz. Maybe you have file extensions hidden, so you're renaming it to KoboRoot.tgz.tgz? Having the wrong filename would probably prevent the installation. When it works properly, the Kobo doesn't just reboot; it also displays the "updating" screen for quite a while and then the power icon with the slash through it. If it just reboots, it's probably deleting KoboRoot.tgz.tgz and doing nothing else.

[crisnoh]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

That sounds like your problem. You don't rename the file, because it's already KoboRoot.tgz. Maybe you have file extensions hidden, so you're renaming it to KoboRoot.tgz.tgz? Having the wrong filename would probably prevent the installation. When it works properly, the Kobo doesn't just reboot; it also displays the "updating" screen for quite a while and then the power icon with the slash through it. If it just reboots, it's probably deleting KoboRoot.tgz.tgz and doing nothing else.

Ok, I tried downloading the installer through Firefox and it's working now.

Previously I was downloading with Safari and ending up with a .tar file in my downloads folder. I do have my system set to show file extensions. I was opening the GetInfo pane and thought I was correctly changing the extension there, but apparently not. I **would** get the "updating" and power icon screens, but clearly the install was failing.

[geek1011]

Ugh, Safari is getting too smart for its own good.

[Aleron Ives]

Ah, so Safari was "helpfully" decompressing the archive without asking you? That would definitely also break things. Gotta love modern browsers.

[DNSB]

Last time I ran into this, going into Safari's settings, under General there was a check box next to Open "safe" files after downloading. Unchecking that box kept Safari from unzipping .zip files and, I suspect, would keep it from unpacking other archives.

[acrobat]

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.

Great thank you so much

[just_jeepin]

I have a Kobo Libra 2 with 4.35.20400 firmware and have NickelMenu successfully installed HOWEVER I tried to install the NickelMenu icon hack and the script to fix Pocket images and no matter what I do they won't show up. Any idea what could be stopping any changes to the NickelMenu config file from working?

[Aleron Ives]

Did you reboot? Unlike the regular menu entries, the "experimental" items to change the menu text and icon don't always show up right away when you eject the e-reader.

[just_jeepin]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

Did you reboot? Unlike the regular menu entries, the "experimental" items to change the menu text and icon don't always show up right away when you eject the e-reader.

I've rebooted numerous times.

Worse case when I finish reading my current book, I'll do a hard reset, apply all hacks I want, then if it's all working add my books back.

[Aleron Ives]

Rebooting was all I had to do to get the new text and icon to show up, so maybe you should post your configuration file so one of us can check it.

[just_jeepin]

I'm not sure why but I had to reboot 3 or 4 times and it finally showed up.

[just_jeepin]

Here's a NickelMenu icon I created in the various sizes. Just download and unzip then follow the instructions in the text file.