How to add physical page turn buttons to Kobo Clara Colour?

RayOfMoonshine · 12-23-2024, 12:33 AM

My goal is as follows: I would like to build a case that turns my Kobo Clara Colour into a sort of chimera'd Kobo Libra, as far as the physical page turn buttons go. Preferably without adding a second battery or modifying the device hardware directly. I have a 3D printer and a case that I can build off of.
This can alternatively be phrased as "How to use a USB keyboard to control page turning in KOReader on a Kobo Clara Colour," because my initial plan was to use a microcontroller to send keyboard button presses via USB when the page turning keys get pressed. However, I could not find any information about any wired keyboard based solution existing for Kobo devices.

The KOReader github mentions keyboard input is only available for SDL targets, but I'm unsure whether the Kobo is one: https://github.com/koreader/koreader...ard-navigation
Connecting a keyboard via a powered USB hub didn't do much in the default Kobo ebook reader, KOReader or Plato. I used a powered hub since the kobo doesn't supply power via USB host - another problem I'm unsure of how to solve.

Does anyone know of such a solution, or a reasonable alternative I've overlooked? It would be a stretch to say I'm comfortable with hacking together anything but small microcontroller projects, but I'm happy to learn.

If it is impossible (or implausible) to coerce power out of the USB port, there's a KOReader plugin that instead uses bluetooth: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=362986
The main reasons I would rather avoid this is because of not wanting to add a secondary battery, or generally deal with bluetooth shenanigans.

First time posting on a forum like this one, please redirect me if there's a more appropriate place to ask.

Aleron Ives · 12-23-2024, 01:58 AM

A more plausible approach would be to use Bluetooth to interface with a remote clicker. The battery life would be worse by keeping Bluetooth on all the time, but it it has the virtue of actually being possible.

RayOfMoonshine · 12-23-2024, 02:28 AM

I'd do this to be able to just lay on my side in bed and tap some buttons on the device rather than poking the screen, I always did the same when reading manga on my phone - Tachiyomi (or, well, Mihon) has the option to use the phone's volume buttons for page switching, and I'd love controls like that on my e-reader too, to go with Rakuyomi in KOReader. I considered using an external clicker, but it'd be awkward to both support the e-reader somehow and click the buttons on a clicker, I don't think it would work too well. And if it's cramming a bluetooth clicker in a case, that's pretty much the fallback I considered if USB won't work.

12-23-2024, 12:33 AM	#1
RayOfMoonshine Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2024 Location: United States Device: Kobo Clara Colour	How to add physical page turn buttons to Kobo Clara Colour? My goal is as follows: I would like to build a case that turns my Kobo Clara Colour into a sort of chimera'd Kobo Libra, as far as the physical page turn buttons go. Preferably without adding a second battery or modifying the device hardware directly. I have a 3D printer and a case that I can build off of. This can alternatively be phrased as "How to use a USB keyboard to control page turning in KOReader on a Kobo Clara Colour," because my initial plan was to use a microcontroller to send keyboard button presses via USB when the page turning keys get pressed. However, I could not find any information about any wired keyboard based solution existing for Kobo devices. The KOReader github mentions keyboard input is only available for SDL targets, but I'm unsure whether the Kobo is one: https://github.com/koreader/koreader...ard-navigation Connecting a keyboard via a powered USB hub didn't do much in the default Kobo ebook reader, KOReader or Plato. I used a powered hub since the kobo doesn't supply power via USB host - another problem I'm unsure of how to solve. Does anyone know of such a solution, or a reasonable alternative I've overlooked? It would be a stretch to say I'm comfortable with hacking together anything but small microcontroller projects, but I'm happy to learn. If it is impossible (or implausible) to coerce power out of the USB port, there's a KOReader plugin that instead uses bluetooth: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=362986 The main reasons I would rather avoid this is because of not wanting to add a secondary battery, or generally deal with bluetooth shenanigans. First time posting on a forum like this one, please redirect me if there's a more appropriate place to ask.

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12-23-2024, 01:58 AM	#2
Aleron Ives Wizard Posts: 1,644 Karma: 16302664 Join Date: Sep 2022 Device: Kobo Libra 2	A more plausible approach would be to use Bluetooth to interface with a remote clicker. The battery life would be worse by keeping Bluetooth on all the time, but it it has the virtue of actually being possible.

12-23-2024, 02:28 AM	#3
RayOfMoonshine Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2024 Location: United States Device: Kobo Clara Colour	I'd do this to be able to just lay on my side in bed and tap some buttons on the device rather than poking the screen, I always did the same when reading manga on my phone - Tachiyomi (or, well, Mihon) has the option to use the phone's volume buttons for page switching, and I'd love controls like that on my e-reader too, to go with Rakuyomi in KOReader. I considered using an external clicker, but it'd be awkward to both support the e-reader somehow and click the buttons on a clicker, I don't think it would work too well. And if it's cramming a bluetooth clicker in a case, that's pretty much the fallback I considered if USB won't work.