Instructions for patching firmware 3.19.5761

[344a]

Not yet patch my device. Does the patch apply to both epub and kepub the same ways?
Thx for sharing.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by 344a

Not yet patch my device. Does the patch apply to both epub and kepub the same ways?

Not really. Some of the patches have separate ePub and a KePub versions, but they might work slightly differently. There are a few patches apply to both ePub and KePub, but even those can have slightly different effects in each.

For example the `My 15 line spacing values` patch changes the line spacings that are selected with the line spacing slider, which is used by both ePub and KePub readers. But while the ePub reader works correctly with any line spacing value you choose, the KePub reader has problems with the narrower spacings that can result in the first and last line of text on the page being clipped. This means that you might want to customise the patch differently depending on which format you mainly read, perhaps leaving out the narrower settings and including more wide settings if you mainly read KePubs.

[344a]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

Not really. Some of the patches have separate ePub and a KePub versions, but they might work slightly differently. There are a few patches apply to both ePub and KePub, but even those can have slightly different effects in each.

For example the `My 15 line spacing values` patch changes the line spacings that are selected with the line spacing slider, which is used by both ePub and KePub readers. But while the ePub reader works correctly with any line spacing value you choose, the KePub reader has problems with the narrower spacings that can result in the first and last line of text on the page being clipped. This means that you might want to customise the patch differently depending on which format you mainly read, perhaps leaving out the narrower settings and including more wide settings if you mainly read KePubs.

Thanks GeoffR.

[hounddog]

Question. How does patching relate to the mods on this sub-forum? Is patching necessary to use them?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by hounddog

Question. How does patching relate to the mods on this sub-forum? Is patching necessary to use them?

It depends on the mod. Some mods require particular patches, other require that particular patches are not done. But, mostly they are independent. If there are dependencies, it should be mentioned in the thread for the mod.

[superjoefly]

In Step 3 of the patching process it says: "Read and edit all the *.patch files in the 3.19.5761_source/ subdirectory in order to: choose which patches to enable (patch_enable=`yes`) or disable (patch_enable=`no`); and to change some of the replacement values to suit your device and preferences."

How do I read and edit these patches? Do I need a certain program? I keep getting the "Windows can't open this file" message.

In Step 4 of the patching process it says: "In Windows double-click 3.19.5761.bat; For Linux/Mac open a terminal, change to the patch_kobo_3195761/ subdirectory, and run ./3.19.5761.sh from the command line."

I don't see a ".bat" file anywhere. Where is this file supposed to be located?

Thanks for your help :-)

[oren64]

You can use Notpade++ to edit .patch file, https://notepad-plus-plus.org/download/v6.9.2.html

Also you can use Kobo Patch GUI, to enable/disable patchs.

I don't see a ".bat" file anywhere. Where is this file supposed to be located?

The bat file is in the zip file in post #1 "patch_kobo_3195761.zip", see Step 1 again.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by superjoefly

In Step 3 of the patching process it says: "Read and edit all the *.patch files in the 3.19.5761_source/ subdirectory in order to: choose which patches to enable (patch_enable=`yes`) or disable (patch_enable=`no`); and to change some of the replacement values to suit your device and preferences."

How do I read and edit these patches? Do I need a certain program? I keep getting the "Windows can't open this file" message.

Any text editor should do to edit the .patch files, e.g. Notepad.

In Step 4 of the patching process it says: "In Windows double-click 3.19.5761.bat; For Linux/Mac open a terminal, change to the patch_kobo_3195761/ subdirectory, and run ./3.19.5761.sh from the command line."

I don't see a ".bat" file anywhere. Where is this file supposed to be located?

It is located in the patch_kobo_3195761/ directory, same place as the .sh file. Maybe Windows is not displaying the file extension but using an icon to indicate that it is a .bat file?

[tshering]

Originally Posted by superjoefly

How do I read and edit these patches? Do I need a certain program? I keep getting the "Windows can't open this file" message.

You can use any program that can edit simple text files.

Originally Posted by superjoefly

I don't see a ".bat" file anywhere. Where is this file supposed to be located?

It is in the patch_kobo_3195761 directory. If the file explorer shows two files as "3.19.5761", then you have "show file extensions" disabled (this is unfortunately the default setting). The .bat file should however be identifiable by the 'executable'-icon and by the identification as 'windows batch file' in the column 'type.'

Edit: I was to slow it seems!

[superjoefly]

Thank you for the quick reply!

I had to change "Opens with:" settings in file properties so that it would open with Notepad. The .bat file did have an icon and I was able to find it.

I took a look at the .patch files and they seem to me to be somewhat complicated. Are the patches already set up to make certain adjustments without having to edit them? I see that some of them are already enabled, and I don't want to mess anything up.

Thanks :-)

[PeterT]

Its often easier just to open your text editor (Notepad or Notepadd++), select it's file p-epen menu, and then find the file you want to edit.

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by superjoefly

I took a look at the .patch files and they seem to me to be somewhat complicated. Are the patches already set up to make certain adjustments without having to edit them? I see that some of them are already enabled, and I don't want to mess anything up.

The patches that are enabled by default are just ones that are most popular but that also don't cause too many bad side-effects. It is fine to disable any of these that you don't want, none of them are necessary.

For most of the patches that are not enabled by default you can just enable them to make them take effect, but some will also need to be adjusted to suit a particular device or preference. An example is the `Custom reading footer style` patch where there doesn't seem to be any agreed ideal for size or style, and any particular setting will have different results on different devices depending on screen size/resolution/DPI.

A popular patch that is not enabled by default is the `Freedom to advanced font controls`, as it might cause problems for some users who read Japanses books. (I don't know exactly what the side-effects would be though, since I never read Japanese, I just see that the patch can cause a garbage value to be passed to a subroutine if Japanese is selected.)

Beware that many patches do things that most people would not want, so it is best not to enable them unless they do something you know you want and you can live with the side-effects (if any). I suggest starting by asking yourself what is it about the stock firmware that you want to change, and then see if there is a patch for that. If the stock firmware already does what you want then no need to patch it.

[superjoefly]

Great reply and thanks for your help!

I notice that the footer patch, by default, on lines 62, 63, and 64 (Example replacement footer height values: Glo/Aura), that there is no '#'sign. However, I am doing this patch for the Glo HD. Should I comment out the above mentioned lines and uncomment (remove the '#' sign) lines 66, 67, and 68 in order to apply it to the Glo HD?

Just want to check if I've got the right idea.

I'm also wondering if anyone has a picture of how this particular patch would appear once completed.

Thanks for your help :-)

[GeoffR]

Originally Posted by superjoefly

I notice that the footer patch, by default, on lines 62, 63, and 64 (Example replacement footer height values: Glo/Aura), that there is no '#'sign. However, I am doing this patch for the Glo HD. Should I comment out the above mentioned lines and uncomment (remove the '#' sign) lines 66, 67, and 68 in order to apply it to the Glo HD?

Yes uncomment the lines for the GloHD, but for this patch you also need to comment out the lines for the Glo/Aura. I.e. afterwards it should look like this:

# Example replacement footer height values: Touch/Mini
#replace_string = 001A, `footerMargin: 105;`, `footerMargin: 105;`
#replace_string = 002D, `min-height: 70px;`, `min-height: 32px;`
#replace_string = 003F, `max-height: 70px;`, `max-height: 32px;`
# Example replacement footer height values: Glo/Aura
#replace_string = 001A, `footerMargin: 105;`, `footerMargin: 105;`
#replace_string = 002D, `min-height: 70px;`, `min-height: 40px;`
#replace_string = 003F, `max-height: 70px;`, `max-height: 40px;`
# Example replacement footer height values: AuraHD/H2O/GloHD
replace_string = 001A, `footerMargin: 105;`, `footerMargin: 170;`
replace_string = 002D, `min-height: 70px;`, `min-height: 52px;`
replace_string = 003F, `max-height: 70px;`, `max-height: 52px;`

I'm also wondering if anyone has a picture of how this particular patch would appear once completed.

This post has a screenshot with and ePub from my Glo, if you use the settings for the GloHD then it should be similar on that device. But things are complicated because while the patch controls the size of the footer itself there are a lot of other factors that affect the amount of space between the footer and the last line of text on the page, such as the font face, font size, line spacing selected as well as page margins in the book itself. Also the same footer is used for ePub and KePub books, but KePub books have a non-adjustable header which can make the proportions look wrong in KePubs if you change the footer.

[superjoefly]

Excellent, thank you!

I only have one more question at the moment, and that is...do updates to the Kobo firmware interrupt the patches?

Thank you so much for your assistance...you've been very helpful :-)