Turn your Kobo into a Debian Linux tablet

[2bits]

[LightWeight2 ... etc ...if available could be interesting]

The browser is not really the problem.

* If rendering text -as well as possible- is the desired result *

Dillo introduced in 1999 is the browser to use.
It has just added css rendering under user control
(6 months ago v 3.0.3)

So as Dillo is 10-20x smaller than "modern" conventional browsers
- image/text only rendering

- Dillo renders web pages -instantly- on the kobo-mini in perfect "black on white text. (Probably faster than full featured browsers on very fast machines we are used to ...)

and it requires only a few user lines of css to sweep out the color info.

In fact you can forget all requirements/problems due to: flash, video, audio, streaming etc get instant response, stability and ideal visibility with Dillo combined with EInk display.

Tip:
1) Install Dillo 3.0.3 on your machine
2) run your fastest browser and Dillo together
3) cut an address from your browser and paste it into Dillo

Notice ... the page appears before your finger leaves the return key

&
The layout is better than the -Mobile- versions of most websites yet available.
Dillo "mobilizes" the whole internet for text and did it 14 years ago.

The only reason I can think of that you -might- want any javascript
(Which Dillo does NOT and will never support)
is that currently the best 1 click - web article > epub solution uses it.

http://dotepub.com/

so some -good- method of going from Dillo > epub needs to be found.

[... I guess it is possible to use calibre to convert a webpage to an epub]

Calibre, as it is now, is a beast on the small screen but the functionality is clearly possible.

[... chromewith that plugin ...]

Would have to be 100x faster (and 20x smaller) to top Dillo for text/image rendering and offer no advantages that EInk can render well or benefit from ...

[... too heavy for the kobo]

If your purpose is * ideal text rendering *
- size, speed, cpu use, swap files etc ... are not factors.

All could be done in the 4gb (kobo-mini supplied chip) with room to spare for books.

[Will you be able to share your kobo mini image ?]

Marek has shown that linux can be ported to the kobo-mini.

I found that starting with his image you could use xfce4 desktop etc.

In any case CSS user control is needed to ensure legible browser/web surfing ...

but for reasons I am not skilled/motivated enough to determine

- the virtual keyboard and/or the touch screen functions failed
and I feel an ideal solution should fit in 4gb and be usable by all recent mini production users.

User input function failure renders the device - unusable.

As my goal is adding (internet) *text* content to the kobo-mini
I'm unsure what is the -best- way for me to proceed.

Those who hope to see how far an EInk device might mimic a tablet etc will follow other methods.

For me, my mini is more fun to read from than to modify.

I'm happy I was able to show some of what -might- be done
but ...

"When all is said and done,
more will be said than done."


g-luck

Later

2bits

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by 2bits

Kobo-Mini lacks a web browser with

2) Ability to download ebooks
3) method to convert web articles to epub
4) automatically drop 2) & 3) into kobo library

Sorry, but the browser will download epubs and add them to the library. If it isn't, it probably is an error on the site not identifying the epub correctly.

And Pocket will hopefully be coming to the Mini soon as a way of handling web articles. When it gets out, the browser will have a button to add the current page to Pocket.

[2bits]

Operator error

[2bits]

Noted.

Thank you David
from the land of
Barry Kauler
&
Puppy Linux

(and so much more of course)

[paola]

Originally Posted by davidfor

And Pocket will hopefully be coming to the Mini soon as a way of handling web articles. When it gets out, the browser will have a button to add the current page to Pocket.

can't wait, thanks for the update!

[allw]

Originally Posted by 2bits

[LightWeight2 ... etc ...if available could be interesting]
[Will you be able to share your kobo mini image ?]

Marek has shown that linux can be ported to the kobo-mini.

I found that starting with his image you could use xfce4 desktop etc.

In any case CSS user control is needed to ensure legible browser/web surfing ...

Your image was really good looking, that would have been great to share it so that we can try to start with it.

I tested dillo, and it is true that it starts really fast

Thanks

[PereX]

Hi, this thread is extremely intriguing, and I'd like to try a Kobo Linux tablet.
Two questions:
1) There seem to be a number of different Kobo devices with different capabilities. Is there a list of devices where this is known to work? (even if it is incomplete!)
2) With tested devices, can the Debian/Kobo device mount a USB drive as a device for reading/writing? With some tablets, the capability to use the USB port to mount a USB stick is called "OTG" (on the go). It is the reverse of the more common activity, which is to use the USB port to connect to a PC, making the tablet the "slave" device.
Thanks for any guidance on this!
-Peter

[KevinShort]

Originally Posted by PereX

Hi, this thread is extremely intriguing, and I'd like to try a Kobo Linux tablet.
Two questions:
1) There seem to be a number of different Kobo devices with different capabilities. Is there a list of devices where this is known to work? (even if it is incomplete!)
2) With tested devices, can the Debian/Kobo device mount a USB drive as a device for reading/writing? With some tablets, the capability to use the USB port to mount a USB stick is called "OTG" (on the go). It is the reverse of the more common activity, which is to use the USB port to connect to a PC, making the tablet the "slave" device.
Thanks for any guidance on this!
-Peter

It will work on the Touch, Mini, Glo, and Aura HD (probably). Though with any device besides the Touch you may have to edit the image file such as is described in this post.

The Kobo does not support USB OTG, so attaching a USB stick wouldn't work. Adding OTG support to the kernel is theoretically possible, but it hasn't been done yet.

[2bits]

Greetings ...

Goodnews: The latest (3.0) kobo firmware update(s) contain

a -usable- web browser !

& are available now for manual updating
for kobo touch, mini (& others)


Background:

For the last week or so I have been using/testing
my hacked linux/kobo/mini/debo/dual boot system
and can report the following ...

===
Note:
POC & POGE
POC = Proof Of Concept
POGE = Principle Of Good Enough
===

a) POC

1)
a complete linux OS (debian) w/desktop (xfce4) and
a complete kobo system can reside on a 4gb SD memory chip
(as currently supplied with the mini) with free space for
300-400 books or thousands of web articles

2)
a touch will convert articles to epubs and
another will save these to the kobo for reading

3)
CSS can improve legibility by simply rendering text
fontcolor = black
background = white

4)
it is possible (if fiddly and frustrating) to render
application icons high contrast and
theme black & white for EInk screens

5)
Calibre will run well enough to filter/convert/format
web saved ebub articles before moving them to kobo library

6)
most (all?) applications will run but many are -too slow-
to be used on the mini except as a last resort and many (most?)
require extensive tweaking for the small EInk screen
(light weight browsers work well enough)

======
FYI - images below:
show hack ...

Panel - xfce menu / virtual kbd / file mngr / calibre ...
... load monitor for cpu-ram-swap / session duration / move epubs to kobo
/ delete all unrequired files / refresh screen (ghost removal)

Space/partition allocation

Sample Browser rendering of blog/news sites
======


b) POGE

The great news is the latest firmware upgrade -usable browser-
outperforms (by a wide margin) - the above hack

Try it you'll like it.

Q: Is it a real browser?
A: No. You can't use css to control it etc, etc

[I suspect the improved browser would never have appeared
if the "pocket" affiliation had not been made]


Q: What of future hackysacks?

A1: Who will make a script
- to convert kobo browser html to epub
- save epub articles to library
(without need to publish your reading list on the cloud/fog
for ??? to control)

A2: run the html through css before rendering
for those who are vision impaired (and provide user ad control)




Later

2bits

[MarekGibek]

Hi 2 bits!

You can also try new image with Android I've placed a second before in another thread. You an I put a huuuuuge amount of work in customizing the Linux desktop for this little device. I really like your work. But let's face the truth - web browsers on Android works the best. Ebook readers too. There are so many of them that for sure you will find fast and nice one, with perfect css support for your needs.

Just search for APK files in the internet and put on sd card before installation (included Google Play app hides the most interesting apps from you because it doesn't recognize the device).

[nevelaev]

I'm shy to quest, this androrom is suitable for Glo?))

[DermosOflask]

Nicely. Think I'll be trying this.... going to go buy one in order to do so. So..
Yet another 'Does it work with xxx?' Qn....

Anyone tried this with wine and 'compatible' windows applications?

To head off on a tangent, for people concerned with speed, efficiency, memory and so on, isn't debian a bit unwieldy for this? Might the approach to linux used here

http://www.slitaz.org/en/

be better?

Should these be stupid questions, thanks in advance for not biting my head off :P

[exachillus]

Hi


Does anyone have a working Debian image for Glo?

[alexskinner]

Hi,

I'm trying to turn my kobo touch into a wall mounted control point for a variety of things. at £29.99 they are so cheap.

I'm looking to be able to

1. Make sure its always on doesn't go to sleep or have a screen saver
2. Connects to wifi
3. Has a full screen browser.

I'm a web developer and limited by my knowledge of linux.

i tried the Android Image for the touch but have abandoned as it crashed continuously I'm now using the Debian linux image on a 16gb micro sd, it wouldn't fix on an 8gb one.

The issue i'm having is how to configure the wireless, it looks like it assumes the wireless is open but mine is password protected. I can't see a gui for it, is there a text file I need to edit ?

Also given my application what would be involved in running the UI in portrait mode and where could I configure that ?

Does the same debian image work on on the Mini or does it require manual tweaks, the minis are more readily available at low cost

Many thanks

Alex

[parubel]

i think someone asked, but i can't seem to find a satisfying answer: does using the debian or android consume more power? what's important is if it uses the battery when reading, wifi off. cool work here guys!