Bluetooth page turning for Kobo eReaders

[NoGoNearKobo]

Originally Posted by silvern0va

I can't believe it was as simple as changing a 1 to a 0. This works perfectly. Welp. Thank you! Now I don't have to use the mini controller I guess!

Could you confirm which device you were able to get the D01 Pro ring working with? There are many users struggling to use the popular 'tiktok' ring with the Libra 2.

[remlap]

Originally Posted by Thena

A number of users on the Kobo subreddit have reported the 8bitdo micro work through mapping on the map in k mode without any config on the kobo. Using the app, I mapped it to page forward and back, homepage, and sleep. I'd be interested to know what other keyboard functions could map to the navigation screen or between chapters or even editing font settings. Other than that, I am liking the small size and the fact I don't need to use the clip on margins.

What is the prevPage equivalent for homepage and sleep?

[remlap]

prevChapter and nextChapter do not work so is there any other commands I can use?

[Quoth]

Is there a way to sync two Kobos at the start (even manually) and turn two pages at a time on the two Kobos (identical page settings) so the BT page turner makes two same size screen (or same model) Kobos act like an open paper book? They then can be each other's screen protector when closed.

Since eink power consumption is page refresh, this could save power and almost double reading time, if front lights are off.

[sage-01]

Has anyone had any success using methods other than changing pages and chapters? It would be great to put the screen to sleep, open settings, and refresh the screen. But idk where to find methods for stuff like this

[remlap]

Originally Posted by sage-01

Has anyone had any success using methods other than changing pages and chapters? It would be great to put the screen to sleep, open settings, and refresh the screen. But idk where to find methods for stuff like this

Chapters don't even work for me.

[sage-01]

Originally Posted by DrBrrl

I only know these names from trawling through this forum and from the original documentation, as i explained in my post just above yours.


This sounds like a somewhat promising way to find the names i don't know. Do you know how to extract the reading executable from the Kobo? Is that actually something that can be done?

And if you don't know, that's fine! Perhaps someone else does. That's why i keep trying to explain my questions again and again.

So once more, in case anyone with Kobo experience knows the answers:
1. Where do the "ReadingView method" codes come from? How did tsowell who originally posted this find them out?
2. Are there only these four codes? It seems unlikely, as there are more actions possible when in "ReadingView", and Thena provided us with an example of the bluetooth device going back to the home page and putting the device to sleep.
3. How would one go about finding codes for things that are possible to do in ReadingView? Like e.g. when you slide your finger up and down the left side of the screen, that changes the backlight brightness. It's possible to toggle night mode on and off. It's possible to change font size. Do these events have codes attached to them?

Did you make any progress on this? I'm looking for something similar

[sage-01]

Originally Posted by Renate

The easiest would be the standard way. Extract the reading executable and look for strings then try them. That's much simpler than a full disassembly. You already know a few of these names, the others should probably be found in the vicinity.

what's the best way to get into the reading executable? I assume that's the KoboReader SQLite file in .kobo. I'm just not familiar with sqlite to open it

[Hasdrubal_Lector]

Originally Posted by sage-01

Has anyone had any success using methods other than changing pages and chapters? It would be great to put the screen to sleep, open settings, and refresh the screen. But idk where to find methods for stuff like this

I use an 8bitdo Micro for the page turning. In keyboard mode, If you map some of its buttons to certain keys you can get a button to put the kobo to sleep. the 'esc' key will do. To open the home screen, map a button to the 'home' key. I don't think there is a current way to refresh the screen. Keyboard mapping is done through an app. It's a nice device because it will also work with reading apps on my ipad and my Samsung tablet.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by sage-01

what's the best way to get into the reading executable? I assume that's the KoboReader SQLite file in .kobo. I'm just not familiar with sqlite to open it

No, the SQLite files (*.db) are something else. We're talking about the executables, which normally have no file extension.

Kobo is not my thing, but in the Linux world the "strings" command tries to make sense of text in binary files. You say "strings some-file".

You can map keys in multiple places from your fingers to the application itself, but I like to keep it sane. If your remote device is using some reasonable key then you can also use a normal BT or USB keyboard or another remote without jumping through hoops.

On my own custom keyfob, I use PgDn, PgUp, Menu and "Last Channel". Err, that last one needs a bit of justification considering what I just said. I use that to swap between text and notes. It seems the most logical key to use.

[byrhias]

Originally Posted by WaveEquation

Hello people, I'm wondering if there is a software similar to evtest for Mac to capture keycodes from a cheap bluetooth page turner device. (Got from Aliexpress. Image below.)

I go this device out of curiosity and with my config (based on educated guess) all the buttons just turn the page back. Without evtest I'm at a disadvantage here.

Things I've tested and confirmed working:
1. The bt remote works on my mac and Android phone flawlessly
2. My BT mouse works perfectly on my Kobo

Interestingly, I did see a post on this thread that led me to a blog post with the exact device as mine but it's a couple years old and the config no longer works.

The device appears as "Beauty-R1". I have a raspberrypi but I could never get the BT device connect with it. (Connection drops soon after it's paired.) So I want to give it one more shot before I buy a 8bitdo Micro.

My current config (which turns the page back for all the buttons)



Config from the blog post that worked for the author:


Mugshot:
Attachment 212020

I'm not well versed with the BT lore in Kobo parlance, but is there any hope for me?

I just bought a bluetooth remote with the name Beauty-R1 as well (looks slightly different but I'm assuming it's set up the same) and tried to set it up to no avail for the past few days but I finally figured out a configuration that works.

nextPage EV_KEY KEY_VOLUMEUP 1
prevPage EV_KEY KEY_VOLUMEDOWN 1

To turn the page, just long press the up and down buttons on the remote. Sharing it here in case anyone bought a similar device and was struggling to get the code working like I was.

[sios00]

I also have a device whose Bluetooth name is Beauty-R1, but the model number is DY10 and it has 9 buttons in total. I've attached what it looks like to this comment.

The arrow buttons work as a mouse on my Android phone (there's a icon and it can swipe).

My Kobo Libra 2 can connect to it via Bluetooth, but it doesn't appear in my Kobo's /dev/input folder.

Can anyone give any advice or suggestions on things to try? Thank you!

# Building KO

I thought maybe I would need to build more .ko files for the kernel, based on this link https://github.com/tylpk1216/kobo-libra2-uhid-module, but I can't seem to be able to insmod any of the .ko files I have built on my own. The uhid.ko file from the GitHub link can be insmod though.

I am using Ubuntu WSL on Windows to do the building.

This is what happens if I try to load a .ko file that I have built:

[root@kobo kobo-libra2-uhid-module]# insmod uhid.ko
insmod: can't insert 'uhid.ko': invalid module format
[root@kobo kobo-libra2-uhid-module]#

This is the details of my Kobo Libra 2:

[root@kobo kobo-libra2-uhid-module]# uname -a
Linux kobo 4.1.15-00867-gf1ef3c8 #103 SMP PREEMPT Tue Oct 1 06:24:23 Asia 2024 armv7l GNU/Linux

[root@kobo kobo-libra2-uhid-module]# cat /proc/version
Linux version 4.1.15-00867-gf1ef3c8 (gallen@c0812810309b) (gcc version 5.3.0 (GCC) ) #103 SMP PREEMPT Tue Oct 1 06:24:23 Asia 2024

I tried building using linux-4.1.15.tar.gz, gcc-linaro-4.9.4-2017.01-x86_64_arm-linux-gnueabihf.tar.xz, and gcc-linaro-5.3-2016.02-x86_64_arm-linux-gnueabihf.tar.xz but the files built using all those all show "insmod: can't insert 'uhid.ko': invalid module format".

# Evtest output

I've uploaded some evtest output for the various buttons, sorry it's an image as I had to boot Ubuntu from USB in order for the Bluetooth Beauty-R1 to be detected (VM didn't work!)

I also uploaded an image of the udevadm info of the device.

[sios00]

Originally Posted by byrhias

I just bought a bluetooth remote with the name Beauty-R1 as well (looks slightly different but I'm assuming it's set up the same) and tried to set it up to no avail for the past few days but I finally figured out a configuration that works.

nextPage EV_KEY KEY_VOLUMEUP 1
prevPage EV_KEY KEY_VOLUMEDOWN 1

To turn the page, just long press the up and down buttons on the remote. Sharing it here in case anyone bought a similar device and was struggling to get the code working like I was.

Can I ask what does your Beauty-R1 look like and did you have to install any drivers or modules into your Kobo? Thank you

[Renate]

Originally Posted by byrhias

To turn the page, just long press the up and down buttons on the remote.

My religious principles prevent me from long-pressing anything.
If a short press does not work there is no need to persist.

[byrhias]

Originally Posted by sios00

Can I ask what does your Beauty-R1 look like and did you have to install any drivers or modules into your Kobo? Thank you

My Beauty R-1 device looks like this:


Nope, all I did was follow the instructions in OP's post and instead of the example config posted in GitHub, just use the config I posted above. Hope that helps!