Kobo Start Menu 09

[Alan_S]

Originally Posted by jshzh

2. As a result of the direct launching of Koreader, Kobo will never get a chance to "import contents", i.e. “process” changes on the external sd card. It usually takes a long time for kobo to categorize a new card and sometimes a few times if there are fils errors.

Nickel doesn't see books in hidden folders, so, you can create hidden folder(s) (folders that start with dot "." are hidden) and keep your books there. Nickel won't process them.

To create hidden folder in windows, create it with dot at start and end of file name, something like this .folder_name. and you'll get it with only first dot (windows will omit last dot), thus making it hidden.

[jshzh]

Thank you a lot, Alan_S, for the tip. Do you think I need to remove the index file in Nickle? I have over 100G books on the external MicroSD card. I wonder the index file will slow down the device under Nickle even after I moved all books to a hidden folder on the card.

For those who don't know how to set the Koreader to show hidden folders:
1. Click the top of the Koreader File Browser (not inside a book) after Koreader is launched
2. Click Tools and then Advanced Settings (may on the second page)
3. Scroll or turn pages to find DSHOWHIDDENFILES
4. Click it and change the value to "true"
5. Reboot Koreader, a pop-up window will ask you to save the unsaved default setting
6. Reboot the device to launch Koreader, reset the home directory if needed, clear history of deleted files (not really deleted) by long pressing any book.

[Alan_S]

I don't use nickel at all, so I can't help you how to work with it. I guess you can remove index file if you don't want to use nickel at all, but I really don't know.

[jshzh]

Thanks. I don't use Nickle either so I guess the index file is irrelevant.

Update: but if one wants to use USB cable to add or organize books, instead of taking the card out, it has to be done in Nickle, right? PC does not recognize Kobo and its cards when Koreader is running. The USB and WIFI to server function in KSM 09, according to the screen shot, will only allow users to control the KSM interface not to manage books via PC.

[djspinacz]

Hi,
I am new to this forum and to KSM.
Could you please tell me, if it is possible to:
-change screen orientation in KSM,
-change screen orientation in nickel,
-download a file from the internet directly to kobo, using kobo only ?
thanks in advance.
cheers
Lucas

EDIT:
also, is there a possibility to integrate ftp server support to ksm directly? I am using Kobo Glo as gliding computer (navigation for sailplanes using LK8000 to be more precise).
When I install telnet&ftp support, it is not possible to launch LK8000, as the kobo starts directly to ksm instead of LK8000.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by jshzh

Thank you a lot, Alan_S, for the tip. Do you think I need to remove the index file in Nickle? I have over 100G books on the external MicroSD card. I wonder the index file will slow down the device under Nickle even after I moved all books to a hidden folder on the card.

If you never use nickel, then it doesn't matter. If you do use it for some books, then hide the books, leave the database as is and start nickel. It will do a cleanup and remove the hidden books. The database will probably need to be compressed. Nickel will do that eventually (don't know the timing) but it is an SQLite database, so you can use SQLite tools to do it.

Originally Posted by jshzh

Thanks. I don't use Nickle either so I guess the index file is irrelevant.

Update: but if one wants to use USB cable to add or organize books, instead of taking the card out, it has to be done in Nickle, right? PC does not recognize Kobo and its cards when Koreader is running. The USB and WIFI to server function in KSM 09, according to the screen shot, will only allow users to control the KSM interface not to manage books via PC.

I don't use KSM, but it has a way to mount the device to the PC. And if you use calibre and are never going to use nickel, I recommend disabling the KoboTouch driver and using either the Folder Device or User Defined device. Both will scan the directories on the device rather than reading the database as the KoboTouch driver does.

[jshzh]

Originally Posted by davidfor

If you never use nickel, then it doesn't matter. If you do use it for some books, then hide the books, leave the database as is and start nickel. It will do a cleanup and remove the hidden books. The database will probably need to be compressed. Nickel will do that eventually (don't know the timing) but it is an SQLite database, so you can use SQLite tools to do it.


I don't use KSM, but it has a way to mount the device to the PC. And if you use calibre and are never going to use nickel, I recommend disabling the KoboTouch driver and using either the Folder Device or User Defined device. Both will scan the directories on the device rather than reading the database as the KoboTouch driver does.

Thank you, David.

It may matter in some cases. I moved all books on the external sd card to a hidden folder then started nickel, waiting for the cleanup as Kobo did the indexing before the move. The cleanup went on - the number in My Books dropped one by one on the screen. It took more than an hour. But the problem is, I assume, the cleanup can never really finish because no kobo reboot can occur without first going to KSM (the device won't reboot automatically after cleanup, good thing), which renders it not a real reboot. So I ended up with the cleanup starting all over again every time I started Nickle via KSM. Luckily, when the cleanup goes or after it finishes, the device functions as usual, one can do an factory reset, which bypasses KSM. This time, I made sure I created a hidden folder on the internal sd card as well. Guess as long as I don't let kobo automatically download any books and put all my own books in hidden folders, I am out of trouble. Fingers crossed.

As to the tip regarding Calibre. I will certainly experiment with it soon. I have Calibre on PC for a long time but have never explored ways to take advantage of it except using it to open epub books.

Update 1: there is another occasion when one needs to start Nickle and let PC recognise the device: to put dictionary and OCR files into the holders. Calibre can't transfer non-book files, I assume.

Update 2: this time, after factory reset, I also first installed KSM, then Koreader following the instruction in the thread. Although I don't think installing Koreader (+KFmon) with the one-step method first then KSM caused the cleanup loop.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by jshzh

Thank you, David.

It may matter in some cases. I moved all books on the external sd card to a hidden folder then started nickel, waiting for the cleanup as Kobo did the indexing before the move. The cleanup went on - the number in My Books dropped one by one on the screen. It took more than an hour. But the problem is, I assume, the cleanup can never really finish because no kobo reboot can occur without first going to KSM (the device won't reboot automatically after cleanup, good thing), which renders it not a real reboot. So I ended up with the cleanup starting all over again every time I started Nickle via KSM. Luckily, when the cleanup goes or after it finishes, the device functions as usual, one can do an factory reset, which bypasses KSM. This time, I made sure I created a hidden folder on the internal sd card as well. Guess as long as I don't let kobo automatically download any books and put all my own books in hidden folders, I am out of trouble. Fingers crossed.

In the past, the removal of missing books happened before nickel was shown. Now, it is probably happening while the screen is shown, but, I don't think I've deleted enough books in one go to see more than a few seconds delay. I'll have to try it and see.

But, the removal of the missing books has no dependency on the device being restarted, or nickel being restarted. It should happen, and the database gets updated. If something interrupted that, then the database update might not happen, or it could corrupted. The former would mean the books would still be in the database and would need to be removed. The latter probably means the same, but the database in that situation is probably not useable. The only issue I can think of if you don't restart nickel is that I don't think the database will be compressed. I think this can happen during the start-up.

As to the tip regarding Calibre. I will certainly experiment with it soon. I have Calibre on PC for a long time but have never explored ways to take advantage of it except using it to open epub books.

Update 1: there is another occasion when one needs to start Nickle and let PC recognise the device: to put dictionary and OCR files into the holders. Calibre can't transfer non-book files, I assume.

I have no idea what you are talking about there. Nickel maintains its own dictionaries. It downloads them over WiFi. You can add others, but, I don't believe KOReader uses nickel's dictionaries. I don't know what the reference to "OCR files" is.

And you can get calibre to transfer non-book files. But, you need to add them to the calibre library. After that, calibre will treat them as a book, but won't be able to do things like convert them or modify metadata.

[Ken Maltby]

You don't need to use the USBnet in KSM. If you just USB enable you should be able to connect as a mass storage device.

Luck;
Ken

[jshzh]

Originally Posted by davidfor

In the past, the removal of missing books happened before nickel was shown. Now, it is probably happening while the screen is shown, but, I don't think I've deleted enough books in one go to see more than a few seconds delay. I'll have to try it and see.

But, the removal of the missing books has no dependency on the device being restarted, or nickel being restarted. It should happen, and the database gets updated. If something interrupted that, then the database update might not happen, or it could corrupted. The former would mean the books would still be in the database and would need to be removed. The latter probably means the same, but the database in that situation is probably not useable. The only issue I can think of if you don't restart nickel is that I don't think the database will be compressed. I think this can happen during the start-up.


I have no idea what you are talking about there. Nickel maintains its own dictionaries. It downloads them over WiFi. You can add others, but, I don't believe KOReader uses nickel's dictionaries. I don't know what the reference to "OCR files" is.

And you can get calibre to transfer non-book files. But, you need to add them to the calibre library. After that, calibre will treat them as a book, but won't be able to do things like convert them or modify metadata.

I forgot to mention that, although the kobo interface functions as usual while the database update happens and after it "finishes", kobo device does not show up in Windows in either case when connected to PC. If an update does not need a restart as you said, the problem is apparently caused by other reasons.

I referred to the dictionaries and OCR files for scanned books in Koreader. Good to know Calibre can transfer non-book files. Thanks!

[jshzh]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

You don't need to use the USBnet in KSM. If you just USB enable you should be able to connect as a mass storage device.

Luck;
Ken

Hi Ken, Do you mean I need to USB enable Calibre? I checked Windows Registration, the USB start key value had been set to "3", which means "enabled" according to online sources. I guess if not, the external card wouldn't show up together with the KOBO in Windows.

[Alan_S]

Originally Posted by jshzh

kobo device does not show up in Windows in either case when connected to PC.

If you use KSM to control your device, and use USB to connect to PC, you should have access to your device and it functions just like any other (external) drive. You get letter and can use any file manager to manage your device.

That being said, there can be numerous problems, as I experienced with my first (H2O) device, where, for some reason, one USB port (on my notebook I had 4 at that time) wasn't working. But, others were working just fine.

Also, just to mention, I never was able to eject device successfully.

All of that has something to do with Kobo and its software (i.e. drivers), not with KSM, Koreader or anything else. It is something I accepted. It looks the problems continue to this day, but on my second device (KA1), I don't have this problems.

So, you can try different USB ports (it worked for me), or, try to contact Kobo for support, as this is problem with them somehow.

But, to just stress it out, with KSM you have normal USB access, you just need to activate it through menu. After that, you work normally, like with any drive.

[tshering]

Originally Posted by djspinacz

Hi,
I am new to this forum and to KSM.

Welcome to the forum!

Originally Posted by djspinacz

Could you please tell me, if it is possible to:
-change screen orientation in KSM,

It is possible. But it will affect only KSM (at least not nickel and koreader. I am not sure about LK8000).

Originally Posted by djspinacz

-change screen orientation in nickel,

In the most recent version you can. This will effect only nickel. I did not try landscape on a Glo. On a Touch it works as long as a book is open. When you go to the home or to the library the touch response is off.

Originally Posted by djspinacz

-download a file from the internet directly to kobo, using kobo only ?

With kobo only? You can download files with KSM, but it is very inflexible.

Originally Posted by djspinacz

also, is there a possibility to integrate ftp server support to ksm directly? I am using Kobo Glo as gliding computer (navigation for sailplanes using LK8000 to be more precise).
When I install telnet&ftp support, it is not possible to launch LK8000, as the kobo starts directly to ksm instead of LK8000.

Under KSM there would be two things involved:

• Starting the application. You would start it from within the KSM menu, as you start for instance nickel.
• Changing between the original and the otg enabled kernel. You would do this from a dedicated sub menu of KSM.

I had prepare this some time ago for xscor under KSM 8. Running the application and changing the kernel worked. Since I did not have the necessary hardware, I did no further testing. (And nobody seemed to be interested anyway.) I guess I could still find this stuff somewhere on a back up disk. It might need some modification for LK8000. How much could you do yourself? (I am progressively withdrawing from supporting KSM.)

[jshzh]

Originally Posted by Alan_S

But, to just stress it out, with KSM you have normal USB access, you just need to activate it through menu. After that, you work normally, like with any drive.

You are right. I thought "enable USB" means enable USBnet" for using KSM interface on computer. Yes, USB mass storage works in KSM, but not after Koreader is launched. To remove the device, first "eject" on PC - it works for me, then press "usb disable.sh", then disconnect the device. I tried not to press "usb disable.sh", hoping the setting will remain, but there is no way to launch Koreader in KSM without first disable usb. Tried "ksm diverse.msh" and set "auto enable USBnet auto on" but that seems only enable USBnet not USB mass storage.

[jshzh]

Another question. Is there a way to keep Wifi disabled in Koreader after reboot (auto select "disabled" at start)? I set "allowRmcViaWifi" to false but it doesn't help. Wifi will be off after launching Koreader if it is diabled in KSM ("wifi disable.sh") or within koreader but the setting is only good till the next reboot of the device.