Kobo - fullscreen

[mdp]

Hi All,
I am intrigued by Kobo devices because of the open enough access to the Linux layer, and I am intrigued by the new hardware with 1440x1080 resolution.

Only - apart from the non-convincing dictionary UI - one fault is blocking: the lack of a full-screen (or almost full-screen) option. The bottom bar (page numbers and static menu) should be at least halved; its internal font needs to be greatly reduced.

Did anyone manage to tweak the bottom area of the screen? Are there relevant editable files in the system, or are they compiled inside libadobe.so? In the latter case: can libadobe.so be recompiled? Is the source available?

Thank you

Originally Posted by mdp

Did anyone manage to tweak the bottom area of the screen? Are there relevant editable files in the system, or are they compiled inside libadobe.so? In the latter case: can libadobe.so be recompiled? Is the source available?

While the base system is open source and very accessible, the reader software is proprietary and the source code is not provided.

One comment on the bottom bar: it is possible to use the factory firmware (2.4.2) and have a smaller bottom bar. (Apparently the original firmware did not account for the increased DPI.) It is visually pleasing while reading, but it is problematic to use as a menu. The buttons are too small and too close to the edge to register touches in a consistent manner, particularly in the corners.

[mdp]

@BWinmill: Thanks, and thanks for the hint about firmware 2.4.2

Can anyone confirm whether such layout (eg, as I saw from screenshot on 600x800 devices, 48px for the page header and 64px for the page footer) is hardcoded in /usr/local/Kobo/libadobe.so , or whether it might be elsewhere?

By the way: I just read the long thread 'Kobo Firmware 2.6.1', and it appears that such layout details vary from version to version. This confirms my wish to be able to control them, and to that aim understand where such configurations are stored.

[mdp]

(Update) ...Because I may have found it in libnickel.so instead...

#footer[deviceCodeName="dragon"]{
	min-height: 120px;
	max-height: 120px;
}

[giorgio130]

Did you try changing it with an hex editor?

[mdp]

@BWinmill, @all: firmware 2.4.2 does not appear to be in the repository (as per https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=185660) - there is a gap between 2.4.0b and 2.5.0. Does anyone have it?

[mdp]

@Giorgio130: I do not have the device yet. First I am verifying the requirements (that I can actually modify it to my needs, or that there is an adequate chance that I can).

[mdp]

@Giorgio130: ...and it is early for "action" :-) : first I will compare the firmwares 2.5.1 ("3mm" top margin), 2.5.2 (header with title) and 2.6.1 ("5mm" top margin) and try to get a little understanding of it all...

[giorgio130]

I can do some tries as well, I'm too curious! After all, having an internal sd card means that the device is incredibly robust for this kind of hacks

[cgm999]

you can also hack/edit libnickel.so put it some other dir and use LD_LIBRARY_PATH to load it first from there (tests done from telnet/ssh). verify with cat /proc/$pid/maps that it loaded from your folder

[tshering]

In order to change the bottom area you can modify this part:

ReadingFooter {
min-height: 70px;
max-height: 70px;
qproperty-footerMargin: 40;
}

ReadingFooter[deviceCodeName="kraken"], 
ReadingFooter[deviceCodeName="phoenix"] {
min-height: 82px;
max-height: 82px;
qproperty-footerMargin: 110;
}

ReadingFooter[deviceCodeName="dragon"] {
min-height: 120px;
max-height: 120px;
qproperty-footerMargin: 20;
}

For the Touch I took 30px, 30px, 05.

[roger64]

This is the Salvation thread!!

As Kobo does not care, these hacks promise to be very useful!! Thanks for searching a solution!!

[giorgio130]

What is the footer margin? did you notice if the lines of text are more than before?

[giorgio130]

Mind that probably if you change anything in a library like that you should keep the number of characters the same, so simply changing "120" to "70" wouldn't work I guess. A possible solution would be to change "dragon" to "dragoe" or something like that
BTW, another clue that says the new phoenix will have a 6 inch screen...

[tshering]

Yes, there are more lines now. Here is a picture. The line number is a little bit large, but I am trying to prepare a version for special needs, cf. this.
The draw back is that now I am unable to extend a selection in the last line of a page. It is possible to select a word, but the ReadingMenuView opens, and then you can not extend the selection.