Libra 2 New Kobo owner: Need help changing system font

[h_nara]

Hi fellow readers, I discovered this forum after searching online how to make my reading experience on Kobo better.

I read in Chinese for majority of my reading and Kobo doesn't have good support for it out of the box so the first thing i did was downloading Noto Serif SC here https://fonts.google.com/noto/specimen/Noto+Serif+SC and put those under the 'fonts' folder and that enabled Chinese characters to be displayed nicely for reading books. But for the book list view, the book titles are still not displayed properly. So now I need to change the system font. Let me list out things I've tried so far:

I came across this thread first
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=313923
which is a 'custom patch' in kobopatch, well I didn't try the exact patch but I found an existing patch for setting header/footer font-family so i tried that first, but it didn't work;
then I found this thread:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=323350
in the #63 summary,
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...6&postcount=63
the Part 2 suggests that kobopatch patches doesn't work anymore, no wonder my first attempt didn't work.
then I saw #91 and #96, which utilizes the `files` option in kobopatch.yaml, I tried this but sadly it didn't work still, but I believe this is the way to go and maybe it's because I did set up everything correctly. Here is what I did:
1. Put the font files under src/adds/Fonts/ of kobopatch directory;
2. In kobopatch.yaml, change the `files` section to this:
## ADDITIONAL FILES ##
# Uncomment the following to add additional files to the tgz (like init scripts or hyphen dicts)
# The files will be root-owned, and world readable, writable, and executable (0777)
files:
# Fonts
src/adds/Fonts/NotoSerifSC-Black.otf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/Avenir-Bold.ttf
src/adds/Fonts/NotoSerifSC-Bold.otf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/Avenir-BoldItalic.ttf
src/adds/Fonts/NotoSerifSC-ExtraLight.otf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/Avenir-Italic.ttf
src/adds/Fonts/NotoSerifSC-Light.otf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/Avenir.ttf
src/adds/Fonts/NotoSerifSC-Medium.otf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/georgia.ttf
src/adds/Fonts/NotoSerifSC-Regular.otf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/georgiab.ttf
src/adds/Fonts/NotoSerifSC-SemiBold.otf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/georgiai.ttf
src/adds/Fonts/NotoSerifTC-Medium.otf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/georgiaz.ttf

3. and then just follow the normal kobopatch installation process, generate the .tgz file by running the script and put it under .kobo folder, etc.

I have a few questions that I think I need the answers to make this work:
Do I need to rename my font files to the same as the system default ones?
Do I need to use fontforge to 'deeply' rename the font files?

I guess I'll likely have more questions later and if anyone have good Chinese font they recommend for Kobo, I greatly appreciate it.

[jackie_w]

I have a few comments/questions:

1. Your first image looks like you have set your locale to English in Settings > Language and Dictionaries > Select your Language. Is this true? The reason I ask is that if you set locale to one of the Chinese options then I believe the Kobo GUI (e.g. the main Book list) uses one of its built-in CJK fonts rather than Georgia/Avenir.
   
2. Regarding the NotoSerifSC font files. It's not enough for the external filenames to be "disguised" to look like Georgia and Avenir Next, the *internal* font names also need to be "disguised". So, yes, you will need a font editor to do that.
   
3. I notice that the NotoSerifSC files are all .otf, not .ttf like the built-in fonts you're replacing. Is a simple filename change enough to "convert" an otf to a ttf?
   
4. The 8 built-in ttfs you're replacing are roughly 400K in total. Your proposed 8 replacements are almost 90mb. That's quite a big difference.

For items 3 & 4 I don't know for certain that those are problematic, but if I was trying what you're planning I think I'd be doing my experiments on an expendable old Kobo rather than my shiniest newest device

[h_nara]

Thanks for your reply.
>1: I didn't realize this could make a difference, thanks for pointing it out. I changed the system language to chinese and interestingly, footer now displays book titles with no problem but the main book list view still can not.
>3: Probably not. These fonts were the only fonts that worked for me when I sideloaded first and they happens to be in otf format.

Anyway, I tried to 'rename' the fonts last night with fontforge and the process didn't go very well. The software keeps giving alerts and errors and when I tried to 'generate fonts' after editing the font names, I got a dialog box on encoding problems that I know nothing about.
At this point, I feel like I've invested too much time and effort into this. I guess it will just be a minor annoyance that I will live with.

[mimosavj]

This is the process I follow to replace the Avenir and Georgia system fonts with unicode versions that support Vietnamese

1. Download the latest firmware from https://pgaskin.net/KoboStuff/kobofirmware.html
The firmware will look like "kobo-update-4.33.19759.zip"
2. Unzip the firmware to the folder "kobo-update-4.33.19759"
The folder will contain an "upgrade" folder, a KoboRoot.tgz and a md5sum file
3. Right click KoboRoot.tgz, Open with 7zip (or other unzip program)
4. IN the zip window, double click on KoboRoot.tar
5. Navigate to .\usr\local\Trolltech\QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm\lib\fonts\
6. Copy your prepared Unicode Avenir and Georgia font files to replace the stock fonts Avenir and Georgia in .\usr\local\Trolltech\QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm\lib\fonts\. You have to search on "How to prepare the unicode font files"
7. Save and close the tgz file
8. Select the 3 items (included the updated tgz) in kobo-update-4.33.19759 and zip them into kobo-update-4.33.19759.zip
9. Connect the kobo libra to the PC and copy the updated kobo-update-4.33.19759.zip to ".kobo" folder in the Kobo ereader
10. unzip the kobo-update-4.33.19759.zip in the .kobo (these 3 items have to appear in .kobo, not in a subfolder)
Note: somehow copy the 3 items directly from the PC to the Ereader .kobo won't work. I have to zip them first, then copy the zip file across and unzip the zip file, then it works.
11. Eject the Ereader and restart the Ereader, it should go through the update firmware cycle.
12. Done.

[hengyu]

Originally Posted by mimosavj

6. Copy your prepared Unicode Avenir and Georgia font files to replace the stock fonts Avenir and Georgia in .\usr\local\Trolltech\QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm\lib\fonts\. You have to search on "How to prepare the unicode font files"

I Googled a fair bit but cannot find anything on preparing a Unicode font file, any tips?

[DNSB]

You may want to check the Permanently fix unicode fonts in firmware of Kobo - Including 4.32 thread for some discussion and a link to the font files.

Personally, I would use the extra files option in KoboPatcher to add the font files without needing the unzip and modify used by @mimosavj.

At the end of the kobopatch.yaml files simply add the following lines (replace the <path to font file> with the location of your font files):

<path to font file>\Georgia\georgia.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/georgia.ttf
<path to font file>\Georgia\georgiab.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/georgiab.ttf
<path to font file>\Georgia\Georgia\georgiai.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/georgiai.ttf
<path to font file>\Georgia\georgiaz.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/georgiaz.ttf
<path to font file>\Avenir\Avenir.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/Avenir.ttf
<path to font file>\Avenir\Avenir-Bold.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/Avenir-Bold.ttf
<path to font file>\Avenir\Avenir-BoldItalic.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/Avenir-BoldItalic.ttf
<path to font file>\Avenir\Avemir-Italic.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/Avenir-Italic.ttf

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Personally, I would use the extra files option in KoboPatcher to add the font files without needing the unzip and modify used by @mimosavj.

At the end of the kobopatch.yaml files simply add the following lines (replace the <path to font file> with the location of your font files):

<path to font file>\Georgia\georgia.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/georgia.ttf
<path to font file>\Georgia\georgiab.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/georgiab.ttf
<path to font file>\Georgia\Georgia\georgiai.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/georgiai.ttf
<path to font file>\Georgia\georgiaz.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/georgiaz.ttf
<path to font file>\Avenir\Avenir.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/Avenir.ttf
<path to font file>\Avenir\Avenir-Bold.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/Avenir-Bold.ttf
<path to font file>\Avenir\Avenir-BoldItalic.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/Avenir-BoldItalic.ttf
<path to font file>\Avenir\Avemir-Italic.ttf: usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/Avenir-Italic.ttf

It looks like @hengyu has a Libra Colour, presumably using fw v4.41.23145. If so, Georgia and Avenir are no longer included in the firmware. The default GUI serif and sans-serif fonts are now 'Rakuten Serif' and 'Rakuten Sans', respectively.

To use the 'files' section of kobopatch.yaml you would need something like this:

files:
    # customise GUI serif
    <path_to_local_serif>-Regular.ttf:      usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/RakutenSerifApp-Regular.ttf
    <path_to_local_serif>-Bold.ttf:         usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/RakutenSerifApp-Bold.ttf
    <path_to_local_serif>-Italic.ttf:       usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/RakutenSerifApp-Italic.ttf
    <path_to_local_serif>-BoldItalic.ttf:   usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/RakutenSerifApp-BoldItalic.ttf

    # customise GUI sans-serif
    <path_to_local_sans-serif>-Regular.ttf:       usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/RakutenSansUIApp-Regular.ttf
    <path_to_local_sans-serif>-Bold.ttf:          usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/RakutenSansUIApp-Bold.ttf
    <path_to_local_sans-serif>-Italic.ttf:        usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/RakutenSansUIApp-Italic.ttf
    <path_to_local_sans-serif>-BoldItalic.ttf:    usr/local/Trolltech/QtEmbedded-4.6.2-arm/lib/fonts/RakutenSansUIApp-BoldItalic.ttf

Important Notes:

• It's also important to reiterate that *before* copying them to the Libra Colour that you must use a font editor (e.g. FontForge) to change the *internal* fontnames to exactly match the internal fontnames of the files you're replacing, namely 'Rakuten Serif' and 'Rakuten Sans'.
  
• @hengyu doesn't mention which locale their Kobo is set to. I don't think replacing 'Rakuten Serif' and 'Rakuten Sans' will help if locale is set to Japanese or Chinese, which use different system GUI fonts.

[hengyu]

Thank you for the responses!

I just moved over from Kindle, and I am indeed using Kobo Libra Colour on v4.41.23145, and the issue I'm running into is that a Chinese dictionary is straight up not displaying certain words (I had just posted a thread about this https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=364904), whether I change to the Chinese locale or not. I'm normally on English, but I've been curious to see if system fonts is the issue.

I'm not familiar with KoboPatch as a concept at all, what's a good place to start?