NickelMenu: An integrated launcher for Kobo eReaders

[Shohreh]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

Can you please give an example of that? I don't really understand what you want.

Simple enough: List all the EPUBs I ever copied into the Kobo.

What about the Event column in the KoboReader.sqlite file, once someone figures out how to fix the "Runtime error: database disk image is malformed" error?

>sqlite3 KoboReader.sqlite

sqlite> .schema Event
CREATE TABLE Event (
        EventType INTEGER NOT NULL,
        FirstOccurrence TEXT,
        LastOccurrence TEXT,
        EventCount INTEGER DEFAULT 0,
        ContentID TEXT,
        ExtraData BLOB, Checksum TEXT,
        PRIMARY KEY (EventType, ContentID) );

sqlite> SELECT LastOccurrence, ContentID, ExtraData FROM Event LIMIT 10;

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by Shohreh

Simple enough: List all the EPUBs I ever copied into the Kobo.

The list is not persistent. It's deleted when you remove the book.

[Shohreh]

Odd. This returns 4,214, and I can see books I long read and removed:

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT ContentID) FROM Event ;
SELECT DISTINCT ContentID FROM Event ORDER BY LastOccurrence LIMIT 10;

import sqlite3, re

conn = sqlite3.connect("KoboReader.sqlite")
cur = conn.cursor()

pattern  = re.compile("^file:///mnt/onboard/(.+)$")

cur.execute("SELECT DISTINCT ContentID FROM Event WHERE ContentID IS NOT '' ORDER BY LastOccurrence LIMIT 10")
for row in cur.fetchall():
	book = m.group(1) if (m := pattern.search(row[0])) else "(not found)"
	print(book)

conn.close()

Is a third-party application required to see a reliable list of books ever copied into the Kobo?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Shohreh

Simple enough: List all the EPUBs I ever copied into the Kobo.

What about the Event column in the KoboReader.sqlite file, once someone figures out how to fix the "Runtime error: database disk image is malformed" error?

That error means exactly what it says, Your database on disk copy is damaged. Unless you have a backup copy of the database, the fastest way to fix the error is to sign out/sign in to generate a new database but you will lose all reading stats, annotations, etc.

That error is generally caused by not safely ejecting your Kobo before disconnecting from the computer. Most of the other times has been the user mucking with the database.

My habit before trying data manipulation on a Kobo's database is to copy the database to my computer, make a backup copy and then experiment on that copy. Once the modified copy has been validated, I copy it back to the Kobo.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Shohreh

Before I install NickelMenu… can it keep track of side-loaded books I ever uploaded, read, and removed, so I have a list of books I read on the Kobo?

No. That is not part of NickelMenu's intended uses. I use calibre to manage that functionality.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

The list is not persistent. It's deleted when you remove the book.

And the deleted entry is removed when the database is vacuumed.

[JSWolf]

Will NickelMenu eventually work with the v5 firmware?

[Encolpius]

Originally Posted by Freewheelin

I’m trying to get a config to take with NM, but I’m running into errors. I’d be very appreciative if anyone much more knowledgeable than myself were able to have a look.

The config is titled config and though I edited it in TextEdit, I renamed the file to remove the file extension, so it’s a blank file. The file contains:

experimental :menu_main_15505_0_enabled: 0

The NickelMenu tab gives me ‘config error’ and ‘uninstall’. The error reads:
parse config files: file /mnt/onboard/.adds/ nm/config: line 1: field 1: unknown type (\rtf1 \ansilansicpg1252\cocoartf2639' (src/
config.c:327) (src/config.c:944)

I’m totally confused here. Thank you if you are able to offer any assistance.

Hello everyone,
I am having the same issue as above and not sure how to get around it.
I have been using a previous NM version from about 4 years ago that was installed with no issues via Windows but due to an unexpected recent Kobo update had to reinstall it, now via Mac. Can't get the right config file it seems, as I do not see any instructions in KOBOeReader/.adds/nm/doc to configure NickelMenu.
Really hoping someone can help me here!
Thank you so much

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Encolpius

Hello everyone,
I am having the same issue as above and not sure how to get around it.
I have been using a previous NM version from about 4 years ago that was installed with no issues via Windows but due to an unexpected recent Kobo update had to reinstall it, now via Mac. Can't get the right config file it seems, as I do not see any instructions in KOBOeReader/.adds/nm/doc to configure NickelMenu.
Really hoping someone can help me here!
Thank you so much

Have you ever backed up your Kobo? If you have then you should have a copy of your NM config file which you can just copy to your Kobo in the same place it previously was.

If you no longer have a copy of your config file, you'll have to build it again from scratch using a text editor on your computer. NM has no way to create a config file. You have to do it.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Have you ever backed up your Kobo? If you have then you should have a copy of your NM config file which you can just copy to your Kobo in the same place it previously was.

At a wild eyed guess, the config file created by Freewheelin from the message quoted by Encolpius was an RTF format file, not a plain text file as required by NickelMenu.

Other possibilities are that the old version of NickelMenu does not support the feature the Freewheelin was trying to use. If I remember correctly, experimental:menu_main_15505_icon and experimental:menu_main_15505_icon_active were introduced in NickelMenu V5.0 and required firmware 4.23.15505 or higher.

As for the instruction in the doc file? It seems rather clear to me as a list of options and a sample config, all of which are commented by the #s in the first column.

[Shohreh]

Originally Posted by DNSB

That error means exactly what it says, Your database on disk copy is damaged. Unless you have a backup copy of the database, the fastest way to fix the error is to sign out/sign in to generate a new database but you will lose all reading stats, annotations, etc.

That error is generally caused by not safely ejecting your Kobo before disconnecting from the computer. Most of the other times has been the user mucking with the database.

My habit before trying data manipulation on a Kobo's database is to copy the database to my computer, make a backup copy and then experiment on that copy. Once the modified copy has been validated, I copy it back to the Kobo.

I always right-click > Eject before disconnecting the USB cable, but I sometimes put the computer to sleep without ejecting the device, assuming it does the same thing. Maybe it's a wrong assumption.

Regardless, rebooting the Kobo and copy+reading a fresh copy fixes the error.

Originally Posted by DNSB

And the deleted entry is removed when the database is vacuumed.

Originally Posted by DNSB

No. That is not part of NickelMenu's intended uses. I use calibre to manage that functionality.

I'll use Calibre if experience shows reading the Event table is just not reliable. Thanks.

[JSWolf]

The event table is not reliable.

[Shohreh]

Too bad.Looks like I'll have to bite the bullet and upload books with Calibre :-/

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Shohreh

Too bad.Looks like I'll have to bite the bullet and upload books with Calibre :-/

Too bad? It's a very good solution. It's works rather well.