[Release] KoboOPDS – OPDS catalogs and wireless downloads in Nickel

[eBookLuke]

KoboOPDS 0.7.13

Hi everyone,

I created KoboOPDS for Kobo owners who want to browse OPDS catalogs and download books wirelessly while continuing to use the standard Nickel interface.

It is intended for public catalogs, personal Calibre libraries, Calibre-Web/Kavita-style servers, and other conventional OPDS 1.x/Atom sources. It does not replace Nickel or the Kobo reader: the catalog is displayed using Kobo's built-in browser, and downloaded books are imported into the normal Kobo library.

Main features

• Browse OPDS 1.x/Atom catalogs directly on the Kobo
• Multiple saved OPDS sources
• HTTP Basic authentication
• Server-specific OPDS/OpenSearch discovery, including Calibre title:, author: and series: expressions
• Compact first/previous/next/last pagination using the links advertised by each OPDS server
• Book details, covers, metadata and expandable descriptions
• Explicit choice between available acquisition formats
• Safe UTF-8 download filenames
• Automatic Nickel library import after closing the browser
• Manual import fallback through NickelMenu
• Italian, English, French, German and Spanish interface
• Local diagnostics and clearer network/authentication errors
• Bundled Project Gutenberg and Feedbooks test sources, including working Gutenberg search
• Saved sources, credentials and language are preserved when updating

How it works

KoboOPDS starts a small local BusyBox HTTP/CGI service bound only to 127.0.0.1 and opens it in Nickel Browser. The service fetches and renders the remote catalog. It does not write directly to the Kobo database.

Requirements

• A Kobo running firmware 4.x
• NickelMenu already installed
• Wi-Fi access

The first development and testing device is a Kobo Libra Colour running firmware 4.45.23684. The package is designed to use standard firmware 4.x and NickelMenu components, but testing reports from other Kobo models are very welcome.

Installation

1. Install NickelMenu first and verify that it appears under More.
2. Download the attached KoboOPDS-0.7.13-release.zip.
3. Extract the ZIP on your computer and read INSTALL.md.
4. Connect the Kobo by USB.
5. Copy the enclosed KoboRoot.tgz, without extracting it, into the hidden .kobo directory.
6. Safely eject the device and allow it to install and restart.
7. Open More > NickelMenu > Kobo OPDS.

NickelMenu and KoboOPDS installers are both called KoboRoot.tgz. Install them one at a time. The attached ZIP contains the KoboOPDS package and the complete English installation guide.

New installations open with Project Gutenberg selected and also include the Feedbooks OPDS test catalog. Search is discovered from each server through its OPDS/OpenSearch declaration, with a compatibility fallback for older Calibre catalogs.

Current limitations

• OPDS 1.x/Atom only; OPDS 2 JSON is not currently parsed.
• The deliberately small parser targets conventional Calibre-style feeds rather than every possible XML variation.
• HTTP Basic authentication is supported; custom CA certificates are not.
• Firmware 5.x is not currently supported because NickelMenu itself does not support it.

This is an early public release, so I would especially appreciate reports about:

• Kobo model and firmware version
• OPDS server software
• navigation, search and pagination
• authentication
• covers and metadata
• download and automatic library import

Please remove passwords and private server addresses before posting diagnostics.

KoboOPDS was created by Luca Calcinai (Effecta.it), with development assistance from CiccioAI.

I hope it can be useful to other Kobo users who prefer Nickel but miss convenient OPDS access.