I need a beginner's guide to setup Joplin in koreader

[eddierm]

Hi everyone!

I have been using koreader for some years now and found it very useful for my academic work. I used to export all my highlights to evernote but since September 2020 this plugin is broken. I know there is a Joplin plugin right now but found the help section confusing and I could not configure it properly.

I have been using Joplin on android and windows and even I could setup a Joplin server in my raspberry pi and connected from my cell phone and laptop.

I would like to ask you for a beginner's guide to configure my kobo Libra H2O with koreader...

Thanks in advance!

[Ken Maltby]

Perhaps the evernote plugin developer/s at the KOReader project on Github, would be able to provide the most help, might even be willing to tweak their code to make a hand off to "Joplin" easier. (Not a Note taking guy, myself.)

Luck;
Ken

[NiLuJe]

That would be a wash, as the Evernote plugin has been unmaintained for years .

[eddierm]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

That would be a wash, as the Evernote plugin has been unmaintained for years .

Thanks for answering... I know Evernote is almost dead in koreader (for not saying completely dead jajaja) but I would like to use Joplin for my highlights ... I am not savvy but not entirely a newbie ... it's just I don't understand the joplin's "help" section: I don't understand how to set it up on koreader, nor how to connect my kobo to a joplin's server...

That's what I am asking for: one easy guide to setup properly Joplin... can anybody help me?

[pazos]

Originally Posted by eddierm

Thanks for answering... I know Evernote is almost dead in koreader (for not saying completely dead jajaja) but I would like to use Joplin for my highlights ... I am not savvy but not entirely a newbie ... it's just I don't understand the joplin's "help" section: I don't understand how to set it up on koreader, nor how to connect my kobo to a joplin's server...

That's what I am asking for: one easy guide to setup properly Joplin... can anybody help me?

You need to run an instance of Joplin on your computer (and eventually in other devices). The communication between your devices can be done with dropbox or any other cloud service that Joplin supports.

But, for transferring notes between KOReader and your main instance at your computer you'll need to set up a relay on your computer that listen in a specific port for incomming notes.

That's the technical part and what confuses most users. It is basically a single command (OS dependant). From the in-app instructions:

To export to Joplin, you must forward the IP and port used by this plugin to the localhost:port on which Joplin is listening. This can be done with socat or a similar program. For example:
For Windows: netsh interface portproxy add listeningaddress:0.0.0.0 listeningport:41185 connectaddress:localhost connectport:41184
For Linux: $socat tcp-listen:41185,reuseaddr,fork tcp:localhost:41184

The info there is a bit generic. But (always assuming Windows) , if you assign an static IP to your ereader you can use the command

netsh interface portproxy add listeningaddress:DEVICE_IP listeningport:41185 connectaddress:localhost connectport:41184

Or if you know the subnet of your home and only want to relay notes from your LAN:

netsh interface portproxy add listeningaddress:HOME_SUBNET listeningport:41185 connectaddress:localhost connectport:41184

And make sure there's no rules on your firewall blocking incomming connections. It shouldn't be an issue when using one of these commands, but aaanyway.

Frankly, these instructions are not ok for most users, so users that are not willing to run these commands should use another methods for syncing their notes, like KoHighlights or exporting them to JSON/text/html and importing them in their liked notes program.

[eddierm]

Hello again and thanks for your answer @pazos

I am still stucked here but I will try to be more especific in what I am doing and my questions.

netsh interface portproxy add listeningaddressEVICE_IP listeningport:41185 connectaddress:localhost connectport:41184

I have installed Joplin on my windows 10 laptop. I have entered in PowerShell and the correct command was not the one in the help section... itwas this that worked for me:

netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listeningaddress:192.168.0.199 listeningport:41185 connectaddress:localhost connectport:41184

Then I disabled my firewall an ping to my kobo address (here 192.168.0.199)

everything ok ...

I went to my kobo with koreader and tried to configure in the joplin's section of evernote plugin... there, I had to put 3 values: my IP (I put my computer's IP, here 192.168.0.190), then the port: 41185 (default) and finally the authentication key that I built as a master pass in Joplin app in my PC... Restarted koreader and tried to export notes... my kobo gets crashed:

Colossal image deleted. It was too big for the forum software to reduce. Please reduce the image and repost, but read the Guidelines regarding photo size first.

Idon't know if I am doing anything wrong, but tried to change the porto to 41184 and to change the ip address to my kob's but nothing seems to work...

Once again thanks for your help!

[pazos]

I think you need to enable the server part on your joplin client (on your pc). No idea how it works as I don't use that feature.

Anyways, the crash is a bug. If the client isn't listening a message should be enough. There's no need to crash the whole program

[eddierm]

Hi again!

Originally Posted by pazos

I think you need to enable the server part on your joplin client (on your pc). No idea how it works as I don't use that feature.

Anyways, the crash is a bug. If the client isn't listening a message should be enough. There's no need to crash the whole program

I don't find a way to activate some kind of joplin server... I activated the web clipper (listenning in port 41184) but can't find anything else!

I was looking into the joplin's github webpage, but there don't mention the server as a plugin or something like that...

I think I would have to resign!

[faet.snopp]

Hey,
don't give up yet!

I went on the same quest as you today and figured it out in the end, so I'll try to share my insights.

I'll also try to highlight the roles of the different components first, so that it may become clear what's to do and why:

Things involved:

1. The Ko-Reader (I only have a Kindle PW, so I don't know how its implemented elsewhere) with the Evernote/Joplin Plugin

2. A Joplin instance, that is listening on an open port 41184 on localhost (127.0.0.1)

3. A program (netsh or socat) that is forwarding incoming traffic (from hostport) on the Joplin host to the Joplin port (41184)
- this is because Joplin is only listening on localhost:41184, so that it can not be reached directly from outside
- the host port (port that is listening on an outbound interface on the host, for example "eth0" with your local ip (f.e. 192.168.23.42)) can have an arbitrary port but lets say it will be 41185 as its the default
- I'm on linux so I'm using socat, Windows might be netsh

These components then should work in this fashion:
- Ko-Reader sends notes to Joplin host IP on port 41185

- On the Joplin host the intermediary programm (socat or netsh) is listening on 41185 and forwards to

- Joplin, which is listening on localhost:41184

So, now for the guide:

1. First install Joplin Desktop. (There is also a server package here but I have not looked into it so far.)

1.1 Launch it and go to Options -- Web-Clipper and activate
- this will make Joplin listen on localhost:41184

(As I understood this is originally an interface for a browser-extension which is why it only needs to listen locally.

1.2 In the Web-Clipper menu, a token will appear once it is activated - it'll be important later

Joplin is ready to receive like that.

2. Set up the intermediary:
- Now the bride must be build between the interface that can talk to the world (your wifi) and to Joplin.


Since I am on Linux I'll do it like this:

$ socat tcp-listen:41185,reuseaddr,fork tcp:localhost:41184

Windows (not tested by me, default from docs):

netsh interface portproxy add listeningaddress:0.0.0.0 listeningport:41185 connectaddress:localhost connectport:41184

This will forward traffic that is coming to port 41185 (your networkinterface) to localhost:41184 (Joplins interface)

You can check if your programs are listening (using) on the ports:

Linux:

$ ss -tlpn

Windows:

netstat -aof

The ports should be in the list in the following fashion (or windows similar) including an indication which programm is using the ports:

State               Recv-Q              Send-Q                           Local Address:Port                              Peer Address:Port              Process                                                    
LISTEN              0                   511                                  127.0.0.1:41184                                  0.0.0.0:*                  users:(("@joplinapp-desk",pid=175283,fd=71))              
LISTEN              0                   5                                      0.0.0.0:41185                                  0.0.0.0:*                  users:(("socat",pid=176574,fd=5))

Like this, only the reader is left to be configured.

3. Configure Ko-reader
3.1 My ko-reader has an Evernot-Plugin, which then has the Joplin-Plugin included.
- In the Joplin-Plugin I can enter an IP-address and a port:

The IP-address should be the one of the host from your Joplin instance (the address you are using in your wifi)

the port is the one defined in the intermediary (socat or netsh), so here 41185

- check the "export to Joplin" Box
- also, there is an option for the token, which is mentioned in 1.2.
The token has to be inserted. This can be done by typing on the readers interface but since it's really long this would be quite dull.

- On the kindle I can access the configuration directly, once the device is connected to my computer, giving me the chance to copy+paste

1. connect the reader (kindle in my case but I presume it's similar on other devices)
2. open the (koreader/)settings.reader.lua (make a backup copy of the file first) in an editor
3. find the entry evernote
4. insert the option ["joplin_token"] = "", with your token as value

In the end, the evernote-section should look like this (it's just the menuentries with values):

    ["evernote"] = {
        ["html_export"] = false,
        ["joplin_IP"] = "192.168.23.42",
        ["joplin_export"] = true,
        ["joplin_notebook_guid"] = "d50d5af85bb64b189ea16808c88c15e1",
        ["joplin_port"] = 41185,
        ["joplin_token"] = "255f85babc8e8341b2ba5d4088d655df7f59c77904ec23400c71e818c1efd649c40b68b3bc60fea3b605a09730784b41d04fc659ed181118f8c9a19ab95ad25f",
        ["json_export"] = false,
        ["txt_export"] = false,
        ["username"] = "",
    },

Thats it, now, when you hit "export notes", your reader sends the notes to the Joplins-Host-address (joplin_IP in the koreader config) on the port 41185 where they are forwarded by the intermediary (socat, netsh) to the localport localhost:41184 and finaly received by Joplin.

Troubleshooting:
- If the configuration in ko-reader is not reaching the Joplin interface (ko-reader not set up correctly, intermediary not reachable, Joplin not reachable, ...) it will crash each time you hit sync
- make sure there are no firewalls on the Joplin-host preventing the reception of packets on the intermediary port (41185)

I hope this helps!

Fun things for the future:

- Install the nextcloud plugin for Joplin to sync your notes between your different Joplin clients

- must be installed manually into the nextcloud

- needs composer (v. 1) install wtih option --ignore-platform-reqs to install dependencies
- must then be activated in the Nextcloud app-interface
- reachable under https://your.nextcloud.com/remote.php/webdav/joplin

- where joplin is a folder you have to create in the root-folder of your Nextcloud-user

- Links on this:

- Joplin Plugin for Nextcloud (must be renamed to joplin): https://github.com/laurent22/joplin-nextcloud
- on the root-folder: https://github.com/laurent22/joplin/...ment-373282608
- a discussion about the installation of the plugin: https://github.com/laurent22/joplin-nextcloud/issues/18

- Install the mentioned serverversion of Joplin to have a headless instance in the internetz and sync your notes from everywhere
- combine the headless server with a nextcloud instance

[huronhorn]

Originally Posted by faet.snopp

Hey,
don't give up yet!

I went on the same quest as you today and figured it out in the end, so I'll try to share my insights.

I'll also try to highlight the roles of the different components first, so that it may become clear what's to do and why:

Things involved:

1. The Ko-Reader (I only have a Kindle PW, so I don't know how its implemented elsewhere) with the Evernote/Joplin Plugin
...

Great instructions!,
I might be missing out here, but do i need to fire up joplin in my pc everytime i want to sync notes? If it is, can it be done without it? Seamless note syncing between devices sounds very appealing

[faet.snopp]

Hi there,

I might be missing out here, but do i need to fire up joplin in my pc everytime i want to sync notes?

with this described way this is correct. Joplin has to run on a computer in the local network and the intermediary has to forward the incoming traffic to the port 41184 on localhost. If the computer in the lan is not reachable for any reason (e.g. because joplin isn't running), KoReader will crash.

But once the notes are in Joplin, you can push them to your Nextcloud for example and then sync them from there to other Joplin instances. As I understood by now, this would also be the function of the Joplin server (being a central hub of sorts, though this might not be correct since I still only took a very superficial look on the server part.).

So:
1. Set up your computer with Joplin and socat/netsh to push your notes from KoReader to Joplin.
2. Push sync your notes between Joplin instances via a centralized component like Nextcloud (or probably the Joplin Server part).

Seamless note syncing between devices sounds very appealing

If you mean by "syncing between devices" syncing between KoReader Apps running on different devices I fear sharing is not possible, since the Joplin plugin only allows exporting but not importing if I'm not mistaken.

So far,
snoPp

[huronhorn]

Originally Posted by faet.snopp

If you mean by "syncing between devices" syncing between KoReader Apps running on different devices I fear sharing is not possible, since the Joplin plugin only allows exporting but not importing if I'm not mistaken.

i mean like sync, or i should say create a notes automatically on joplin with your booknotes in it without needing a pc. I had onyx boox nova before, and with its default reader (neoreader) it can automatically export your notes to evernote without needing a pc, so you can install evernote app on your phone and reviewing your exported booknotes later.

anyway, thank you!

[eddierm]

Hello Again!

After being diconnected from this forum, today I returned and finally got my koreader notes uploaded to Joplin!

Your guide is awesome and very clear in every step!

I only found one problem but could resolve it: I use windows and this order did not work for me:

Originally Posted by faet.snopp

Hey,

netsh interface portproxy add listeningaddress:0.0.0.0 listeningport:41185 connectaddress:localhost connectport:41184

I found this alternative in koreader's github webpage and it worked for me!:

netsh interface portproxy add v4tov4 listenaddress=0.0.0.0 listenport=41185 connectaddress=localhost connectport=41184

Now I can say goodbye to KOHighlights for a while! Please don't misunderstand me, I know it is a huge tool, but for my academic work it means a lot of steps more than the simply "export notes" click.

[eddierm]

Originally Posted by huronhorn

i mean like sync, or i should say create a notes automatically on joplin with your booknotes in it without needing a pc. I had onyx boox nova before, and with its default reader (neoreader) it can automatically export your notes to evernote without needing a pc, so you can install evernote app on your phone and reviewing your exported booknotes later.

anyway, thank you!

Hi there!

The behavior you describe is how the evernote plugin for koreader worked before it crashed one year ago. Unfortunately it appears like evernote programmers changed the authentication options and this koreader's plugin just died.

Anyway, I have Joplin on all my devices (PC, android phone and ipad) and keep them synchronized using a very simple webdav server in my raspberry pi. I am very careful (maybe paranoid) with my data, but you can synchronize joplin notes with other third party services like dropbox, onedrive and nextcloud and still having all your notes under control in markdown format.

[arooni]

I followed this guide (thanks!!)

But when I got to the export step I saw:

"Multiple errors occurred while trying to export notes from the book: bookname and 0 others"

No error in crash.log

Any other idea?

Not sure why you set the GID for the notebook explicitly either?

Is it enough to use a DDNS service for statichostname.provider.com then via my wireless router, map that port back to my local instance of joplin web clipper running?

Update: I was able to clip locally from Mac Brave browser to the joplin app running locally on the 41184 port;; just can't seem to connect from koreader because the error messages are pretty vague upon failure.

Update 2: Should I be able to telnet to that port? Not sure if it would reject any requests without the right key