One-Click Install Packages for KOReader & Plato

[NiLuJe]

As @DNSB said, basically, KOReader & Plato are document reader apps that implement a subset and/or a superset of what Nickel also happens to be doing, while KFMon is a launcher that piggybacks on Nickel to launch those.

Unlike on Kindle, where we keep the underlying system alive, Nickel is killed in the process when such a non-trivial app is launched. But we do rely to some extent on the Kobo software stack for simplicity's sake.

TL;DR: While it is doable (and has been done in the past, c.f., okreader), you'd effectively gain nothing except shaving a few seconds off a cold boot by switching to a custom barebones system. As no-one in their right mind should ever turn off an eReader that's seeing active use, that's pretty much a moot point for 99.9% of the population.

[Alan_S]

Originally Posted by nikosmonaut

Is it possible to just install Koreader on barebone kobo hardware and to not keep any software from kobo ?

Koreader is ebook reading software.

But, closest you can go to "independence" from Kobo software is with KSM+Koreader (or some other reader, as there are Plato and Vlasoft's package). In this case, from your perspective, you don't (visibly) use any of Kobo software. Of course, if you use it in that way to avoid nickel.

[NiLuJe]

If you *really* don't need anything else, a viable approach would be with an advboot-like tool like what @pazos came up with on Cervantes.

You'd still have to plug that somewhere in rcS to short-circuit the boot-process, so, again, this falls in the "fragile & intrusive" side of things .

(Also, you'd first have to adapt the tool to Kobo devices, which shouldn't be too hard, as the hardware is fairly similar ).

[nikosmonaut]

Thank you for your responses.

I think I will use nickel for now since I figured out how to connect without entering an account and removing fnac logo.
My forma is just brand new I'm kind of scary to mess with something to going this path for now.

KOReader is an application that runs on top of the Kobo Linux OS. It replaces most of the functionality of the Kobo GUI but depends on the same hardware interface. Would you think that launching ImageMagick on a Linux box is running a VM? Or perhaps, better, launching an alternative GUI -- ghod knows, Linux has enough choice there.

I agree with you. But I thought that maybe it was possible to at least separate kobo OS and desktop GUI. On Linux if I launch an alternative GUI (for example) XFCE I choose to launch it instead of GNOME, not inside GNOME to then replace it.

Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to tell that koreader is bad or something. Just asking.

[NiLuJe]

It's an app. It just happens to be full-screen.

[Alan_S]

Originally Posted by nikosmonaut

I agree with you. But I thought that maybe it was possible to at least separate kobo OS and desktop GUI. On Linux if I launch an alternative GUI (for example) XFCE I choose to launch it instead of GNOME, not inside GNOME to then replace it.

As I said, the closest to that you come by using KSM and koreader (or some other reader).

[LAzenha]

Thanks!

[ernieh]

When I first got a kobo touch I noticed that the operating system could not access books on the external SD card unless they were on the root directory and when there were too many there it was unreliable. Installed the one touch KO reader and the operating system now accesses books on the SD card under directories and sub directories. Is this because I now have KO reader on it or is it due to system changes that I did not notice being installed. The KO reader works fine but am not sure why it makes much difference if the main system now uses the SD card fully. Any fundi with a short answer as this thread was getting complicated and way above my head!

[NiLuJe]

@ernieh: If this only happens *after* launching KOReader in a specific power cycle, then, possibly, since we do remount it RW on startup, and never reset it back to RO on exit (which could arguably be considered a bug ;p).

That said, I'm extremely unfamiliar with the potential intricacies of how Nickel handles SD cards, so, take that with a grain of salt .

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by ernieh

When I first got a kobo touch I noticed that the operating system could not access books on the external SD card unless they were on the root directory and when there were too many there it was unreliable. Installed the one touch KO reader and the operating system now accesses books on the SD card under directories and sub directories. Is this because I now have KO reader on it or is it due to system changes that I did not notice being installed. The KO reader works fine but am not sure why it makes much difference if the main system now uses the SD card fully. Any fundi with a short answer as this thread was getting complicated and way above my head!

From my experience, there has never been a real problem accessing books in subdirectories on the card with my Touch. The only issue is that the card isn't recognised properly after restarting the device. I need to eject it and reinsert it for it to be seen. There have been a couple of firmware version specific things, but, they tended to block all books or trigger a reimport each time the card was inserted.

I think the only other issue I have had with it was that I had a card formatted as FAT16 rather than FAT32. That didn't like a lot of books in the root directory. Reformatting the card fixed that.

Unless you are starting KOReader each time you reboot the device before using nickel, it is more likely that a firmware change fixed whatever the issue was.

[fitzhugh]

I just got my Clara HD (1st ereader since I stepped on my 1st gen Nook ST) and this worked perfectly to install KOReader and Plato. It looks like KSM isn't hard to install, but I needed a super easy and quick way to get a decent PDF reader, for now, and this was perfect.

Am I overlooking a way to view a list of titles and open them in KOReader? As it stands, I see the author name folders (created by Calibre) in the KOReader file browser, so it takes a bit of guesswork and tapping to switch between books.

If not, I'll just move the books to the same level instead of on folders, at least until I switch to KSM when I've got through this coming week. (I gather it provides more integration). I'm just not sure if I've overlooked something obvious.



Also:
I also ran into the "still processing" mesaage. It went away after a second restart, but I'm curious... is there something we don't want to interrupt that is running when that is visible

Huge thanks for creating this!

[NiLuJe]

@fitzhugh: The file manager in KOReader is just that, a file manager. Which means it will honor the directory structure, and will not care about the metadata of stuff that isn't in the current folder. Except in very specific views, like the History menu/page, that's the main way in which content is exposed. If you prefer a flat view, you'll indeed need a flat directory structure (with the caveat that you'll have a harder time navigating it, because it's flat and there's not a truckload of quick filtering methods). KSM won't change that (we're not on Kindle, there's no way to integrate third-party readers *directly* into the base UI, an UI which is indeed flat, because it's purely based on metadata, not directory structure).

Plato does have a metadata based flat UI, if that's your main interest .

And, no, there's nothing to worry about the messages on a first install, they're just a confirmation that KFMon did its job of not letting stuff go awry because of various FW quirks .

[fitzhugh]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

...
Plato does have a metadata based flat UI, if that's your main interest .

And, no, there's nothing to worry about the messages on a first install, they're just a confirmation that KFMon did its job of not letting stuff go awry because of various FW quirks .

Thanks,
Yeah, I had misunderstood the functionality of KSM, but I've already fallen in love with KOReader enough to forgive the file manager stuff, will just have to change how Calibre loads books.

[LisaReader]

Thank you so much, @NiLuJe, this worked great for my Aura One! I tried installing KOReader the old-fashioned way last summer, failed, and just didn't feel like trying again. I was ready to try again because I have a new clump of PDF novels I need to read, so was grateful to find this post.

[amin021023]

I have a rebranded boyue t63 (rk3026), I have rooted it though, I'm new to all this, could I use this method to install Koreader? And could you tell me the exact adb push command appropriate for this one click installation?