Syncthing for Kobo?

[loviedovie]

Hi

I use Syncthing on my Android and Linux devices and it works well as open source alternative sync tool.

There is already an arm build and I am wondering if anyone is skilled and willing enough to port Syncthing to Kobo. Syncthing does not require an interface because it runs a small web server for the interface so all we need is a working binary.


Having ST running on Kobo means that we could have an alternative way of sharing and syncing our books, settings etc.

Naturally running a sync app all the time is no good option for an erader due to battery concerns. However the user can run and quit as she wishes, or it can run as a service that starts only when there is wifi around.

Anyway it is an idea.

https://syncthing.net/

[eschwartz]

What's wrong with the ARM build they publish?

For an embedded device you want a static build, which is exactly what they provide. And it's armv5, so it should work on any devices out there.

[Ken Maltby]

If it has advantages over the current "Progress Sync" and/or "Zsync" plugins, or if it might be a useful addition, you should consider contacting the GitHub Koreader team.

Luck;
Ken

P.S.; Koreader runs on, and can sync with, Kindle, Kobo, Pocketbook, and an expanding number of Android devices. (There is no actual "list", as far as I know.)

[NiLuJe]

Also, what's wrong with rsync? (I know, I'm repeating myself here, but rsync is great ;D).

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

Also, what's wrong with rsync? (I know, I'm repeating myself here, but rsync is great ;D).

rsync is amazing... as long as you are willing to spend the time to set it up.

Which isn't very difficult or long, but doesn't allow one to optimize their laziness.
Also, GUIs are shiny.

[loviedovie]

@eschwartz

How can I run it on Kobo?

Rsync and Unison are good but Syncthing is bidirectional(nodes can publish their own changes which triggers scans and delivery on nodes) and can find nodes by its own(through discovery server).

Probably the web browser on Kobo is sufficient to use Syncthing's web interface.

@Ken

ST is a general purpose sync tool, it can sync anything. As far as I understand KR syncs only metadata. I use Zsync already and I love it.

[eschwartz]

I would assume so, certainly.

It doesn't need to be "ported", it already runs (or certainly should, though I can't testify in court to it ) on Kobo devices.

Since it runs a web server for it's GUI, it is even less likely that it will do anything weird with the window manager (can't think why it would anyway, but who knows?)


So... have you tried it?

[loviedovie]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

I would assume so, certainly.

It doesn't need to be "ported", it already runs (or certainly should, though I can't testify in court to it ) on Kobo devices.

Since it runs a web server for it's GUI, it is even less likely that it will do anything weird with the window manager (can't think why it would anyway, but who knows?)


So... have you tried it?

If I knew how to run binaries on Kobo, I could try

[eschwartz]

Um, then why do you expect porting things to help?
Or why not just say in the first place -- how can I run this on a Kobo?

On my Kindle, it is easy to create a KUAL menu extension which runs a shell command -- already used for several GUI apps.

I assume the Kobo world has some similar functionality, though having never owned a Kobo, I haven't got a clue what the specific implementation details are.

[loviedovie]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Um, then why do you expect porting things to help?
Or why not just say in the first place -- how can I run this on a Kobo?

I assumed that porting to Kobo meant integrating it with Kobo.

[frostschutz]

Since you're interested in it you should make it :-)

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by loviedovie

I assumed that porting to Kobo meant integrating it with Kobo.

"porting" traditionally means modifying the source code to compile on another platform.

You don't need to "port" an application just to wrap it in an integration launcher.


If I wanted to use Syncthing on a Kindle, I'd wrap it in a KUAL (Kindle Unified Application Launcher) extension, just some basic JSON describing the shell commands available. I would imagine it works as-is.
Perhaps it would be necessary to modify some iptables rules.


Why don't you investigate what it takes to create a graphical launcher for an application on the Kindle?
Maybe the "Kobo Start Menu" could help, sounds like it does a similar job to KUAL.

[PeterT]

I will admit I'm not sure what purpose this would serve unless the user was using an alternate reader program on the Kobo. Yes one could sync DRM free epubs to a different device but with the Kobo reader (Nickel) settings, bookmarks etc are stored in a database, not in files in the filesystem.

[gummihuhn]

Here are some instructions for setting up Syncthing on a Kindle Touch:
Setup Syncthing on Kindle Touch.

I exclusively use KOReader/KSM on my Kobo Glo, and am a heavy user of KOReader on my Nexus 7. I use Syncthing to sync my books and pdfs (among other things) between the Nexus 7 and a laptop and a desktop. I would find it very useful to sync the Kobo in this way as well.

I am busy with other projects at the moment but this idea seems worth looking into to me.

[gummihuhn]

I still hope to eventually try to get Syncthing working natively on the Kobo for true automatic wireless syncing. (Though if someone gets to this sooner than I let us know!) For now, though, I thought I'd point out that it is relatively easy to use Syncthing to automatically sync a Kobo with the books (and news, pdfs, etc) on a computer whenever they are connected via a USB cable.

[As I side note, I use a simple script to automatically download to my laptop (from http://fivefilters.org) an epub of news stories and other web pages that I want to read. I know Calibre has similar functionality but I prefer to have the stories/pages in individual epubs rather than all of them together in one document. These downloaded epubs get synced in the same way as my books, to a separate folder, using Syncthing. The end result is that I get a feature similar to Pocket (which is built in to the stock Kobo software) synced to all devices, but I never have to leave Koreader to use it.]

The key to getting Syncthing set up for the Kobo is to run two separate sync profiles on the same computer, one for your computer (in my case my laptop) and one for your Kobo. Simply install Syncthing for your operating system and generate the two configurations from the command line:

syncthing -generate=<dir>

where <dir> is the path to the directory you want to use for each profile.
for example on BSD or Linux:

syncthing -generate /home/username/.config/syncthing-laptop
syncthing -generate /home/username/.config/syncthing-kobo

Now add the two instances of syncthing to your startup items (still using example profile locations above):

syncthing -no-browser -home="/home/username/.config/syncthing-laptop" 
syncthing -no-browser -home="/home/username/.config/syncthing-kobo"

See http://docs.syncthing.net/users/syncthing.html for further documentation.

Now you can configure what should be synced via a web browser interface. You just need to know the GUI interface port. The default is 8384, so if you open your web browser to http://127.0.0.1:8384 or http://localhost:8384 you should see the first profile that you generated above. To find the other port, look in the folder you specified above and look at the second config.xml file that was generated, eg, /home/username/.config/syncthing-kobo/config.xml

In the browser, for each of the profiles, add the directories you'd like to sync between your computer and your Kobo. If you've set it up properly, when you connect your computer to the Kobo via a USB cable, the specified directories will sync automatically-- no manual intervention required. It just works.

As mentioned, I'd eventually like to get Syncthing working directly on the Kobo so that this can be done wirelessly, but the above approach has made life much simpler for me. I just connect the Kobo to my computer once a day, and all my news (and books, pdfs, etc) are there for me without me having to leave Koreader or mess with a third-party service like Pocket.

I have only tried this approach with my Kobo Glo, but it should work with any device that supports file transfers via USB. Of course Android devices can just use the Syncthing app and sync wirelessly.