Kobo Start Menu 08

[tshering]

Originally Posted by refj

Thanks again tshering.

I've been working on these changes for koreader and noticed a couple of problems with $dontTamperwithFrontlight in KSM. (a) The meaning was inverted: The code changes the value of the frontlight when this variable is set to "true" and (b) it wasn't used everywhere I believe it should.

For this reason I've put together a patch that (a) fixes this and also (b) allows koreader to be aware of and delete "onstart/nickelkoreaderloop.sh" to end the koreader-nickel / nickel-koreader loop. https://gist.github.com/dset0x/a02f4ef0ff1897608e15

(Edit: By the way: why are "trilogy" and "pixie" excluded from this?)

Please let me know if you see any issues with it. It would be great if it could made it to the next KSM release.

Thank you for your interest in KSM. In response to your posts #68 an #72, I will introduce running user scripts before and after starting nickel. So that users can easily use scripts like that posted in #72 without having to do modifications after each KSM update.

As for your suggestions in #74, I am currently a little under time pressure and cannot carefully go through it now. Therefore I might misunderstand some points and will only make some quick remarks

One point, I think, is that we differ in our understanding what the expression "dontTamperwithFrontlight" is meant to convey. I meant it to express that KSM should restore the original state of the light intensity (as it was after powering on and before KSM might have changed it, that means "0") before passing control to another application , since otherwise I would have to make changes to the configuration files of nickel and older versions of koreader. If you can live with this understanding of "dontTamperwithFrontlight", there is not need to change all "false" to "true" and vice versa.
Currently, with the default setting (dontTamperwithFrontlight=true), KSM switches off the light before passing control to nickel or koreader, and these applications set the light intensity according to the settings of their configuration files (if there are those settings). Therefore, if you decide to make koreader read and change the light settings of Kobo eReader.conf, it should still work as you intend without changing the KSM files, and this would not create problems with older versions of koreader (which do not change the setting in Kobo eReader.conf). Before returning control back to KSM, I think it is better to restore (as it is now done) the light intensity according to the KSM settings independent of the value of dontTamperwithFrontlight, since otherwise you would have to inform KSM about the current light intensity by writing to a config file, and KSM would have to continually read this config file.

By the way, how can I get the concerned modified lua files for testing?

[algernonramone]

Hi, just installed this on my new Aura H2O, like it so far, but a couple small issues. Running KSM08 stable, and for some reason, I don't have a sleep option on my menu, and the sleep button doesn't work. Did a search on the forum, didn't find anyone else who mentioned this, is this a known issue?

[boriar]

The sleep button was eliminated in KSM07. You have only poweroff, but can use koreader or coolreader which have sleep funtion

[refj]

Oh, thanks davidfor. That makes sense.

Originally Posted by tshering

Thank you for your interest in KSM. In response to your posts #68 an #72, I will introduce running user scripts before and after starting nickel. So that users can easily use scripts like that posted in #72 without having to do modifications after each KSM update.

Hello. That would be pretty cool.

Originally Posted by tshering

As for your suggestions in #74, I am currently a little under time pressure and cannot carefully go through it now. Therefore I might misunderstand some points and will only make some quick remarks

One point, I think, is that we differ in our understanding what the expression "dontTamperwithFrontlight" is meant to convey. I meant it to express that KSM should restore the original state of the light intensity (as it was after powering on and before KSM might have changed it, that means "0") before passing control to another application , since otherwise I would have to make changes to the configuration files of nickel and older versions of koreader. If you can live with this understanding of "dontTamperwithFrontlight", there is not need to change all "false" to "true" and vice versa.
Currently, with the default setting (dontTamperwithFrontlight=true), KSM switches off the light before passing control to nickel or koreader, and these applications set the light intensity according to the settings of their configuration files (if there are those settings). Therefore, if you decide to make koreader read and change the light settings of Kobo eReader.conf, it should still work as you intend without changing the KSM files, and this would not create problems with older versions of koreader (which do not change the setting in Kobo eReader.conf). Before returning control back to KSM, I think it is better to restore (as it is now done) the light intensity according to the KSM settings independent of the value of dontTamperwithFrontlight, since otherwise you would have to inform KSM about the current light intensity by writing to a config file, and KSM would have to continually read this config file.

I understand now. You are right in that with this interpretation of `dontTamperwithFrontlight=true`both applications should still be able to apply their settings. I must had been doing something wrong in my code in koreader that tricked me into thinking that KSM changing the value of the frontlight being the problem. My KOreader modifications work fine now without patching KSM.

This leaves the `nkloopfifo` checking bits from my link above as a potential patch. (this and this)

Originally Posted by tshering

By the way, how can I get the concerned modified lua files for testing?

They're in unified diff format so you should be able to apply my patches with `patch` under UNIX-like systems. Under Windows there must be some tool, but I can't help you there.

---------


I have a few more things that bugged me while testing and I'll just note them down for reference before I forget them:

* First of all, related to the above: It's trivial to make KSM write to Nickel's config. To me it's important to be able to switch my device on in the night and for that I need brightness=1. We could have a feature that forces Nickel conf to be at least 1. For reference here's how I get and set the brightness value from the shell:

grep '^FrontLightLevel=' '/mnt/onboard/.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf' | cut -d= -f2 | tr -d '\n'

brightness="$1"

if [ "$brightness" -ge 0 -a "$brightness" -le 100 ]; then
    sed -i -r 's/^(FrontLightLevel=)[0-9]+/\1'$brightness'/' '/mnt/onboard/.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf'
else
    exit 1
fi

* It would be nice to have these two by default in `ksm_ini_options.txt`'s [general]:

ksmAutoselectoption=start_nickel_koreader_switch
ksmAutoselectoption=start_koreader_nickel_switch

* The "Info: Wifi is enabled!" message when returning to KSM is useful, but you still need to go into the wifi settings to switch it off. If it was a dialog with options "Switch it off"/"Leave it on" it would be even more useful.

* I use usbnet a lot and it would be heavenly if there was another way to change the desired IP address from the default 192.168.2.101 to something else from a configuration file / interactively instead of editing the script itself (I'm already on a 192.168.2.* network). This is probably a little too specific to developers.

* When the bouncer is vertical the keyboard is huge on my Kobo Glo HD.

* The bouncer can be vastly improved for security, including file security when the device is stolen. Since there is an `openssl` binary we can use that to decrypt encrypted files on boot, while at the same time verifying the password. This would have to be tweakable by the user somehow but I haven't worked on it at all. (Keep in mind that decrypting large files on these readers is slow, but if you're carrying work with you this can be very useful.)

[tshering]

@refj,
since your post is rather long, I will probably split my response up into serveral pieces.

Originally Posted by refj

They're in unified diff format so you should be able to apply my patches with `patch` under UNIX-like systems. Under Windows there must be some tool, but I can't help you there.

The problem I was having was that "patch" stopped with some error messages. I thought the reason might be that I tried to patch against the lua files of the last nightly build (koreader-nightly-20151213) and the patches concern newer versions. This is why I was asking for the already patched files. But since it was late at night, I maybe did some other mistake. But it does not matter so much now.

Originally Posted by refj

* First of all, related to the above: It's trivial to make KSM write to Nickel's config. To me it's important to be able to switch my device on in the night and for that I need brightness=1. ...

Actually, I was reluctant to make changes to config files of other applications, apart from offering the user to make changes (e.g. tools > nickel_diverse > edit_nickel_conf.sh).

If I were to give up this reluctance, I would think of something like this:
The basic idea is to have a file "currentlightlevel.txt" with the currently set/wished light level that we can read before starting an application, and write to after this application has exited. So I would give up dontTamperwithFrontlight and would replace it by syncLightBetweenApps (currently KSM, Koreader, Nickel).


in start_koreader.sh

• before launching koreader: read light level from "currentlightlevel.txt" and set KOBO_LIGHT_ON_START to this value in defaults.persistent.lua
• after koreader has exited: read the value of frontlight_intensity from settings.reader.lua and write it to "currentlightlevel.txt" (so that ksmhome.sh or (if we are in a switch-between-readers-mode) start_nickel.sh can read the light level)

Similar for start_nickel.sh

How do you think about this? (This idea does however not consider your recent proposals for koreader)
Edit: One problem is that in the koreader configuration files there is possibly nothing like nickel's FrontLightState.

Originally Posted by refj

* It would be nice to have these two by default in `ksm_ini_options.txt`'s [general]:

ksmAutoselectoption=start_nickel_koreader_switch
ksmAutoselectoption=start_koreader_nickel_switch

I take a note for the next update.

[tshering]

... continuing the previous post.

Originally Posted by refj

* The "Info: Wifi is enabled!" message when returning to KSM is useful, but you still need to go into the wifi settings to switch it off. If it was a dialog with options "Switch it off"/"Leave it on" it would be even more useful.

I thought of this, but was too lazy to implement it. I set it on my list for the next update.

Originally Posted by refj

* I use usbnet a lot and it would be heavenly if there was another way to change the desired IP address from the default 192.168.2.101 to something else from a configuration file / interactively instead of editing the script itself (I'm already on a 192.168.2.* network). This is probably a little too specific to developers.

Would it be sufficient if you could write a list of IP addresses to ksm_ini_options.txt, and select one of them with "configure"?
The other option I can think of now is to introduce a usbnet_toggle_2.sh that reads a list of addresses from a file and offers them for selection each time you try to enable usbnet. I think this might only be useful if you have to change repeatedly in a short time between different addresses.

Originally Posted by refj

* When the bouncer is vertical the keyboard is huge on my Kobo Glo HD.

You could reduce the size of the application window and see whether this fits you better (-geometry <width>x<height>+<Xoffset>+<Yoffset>)

Spoiler:

For instance to make the application window cover the upper half of the screen in portrait mode on a Glo HD, you would replace in (the original) kbbouncer90.sh

echo $($ksmroot/kbbouncer/kbbouncer $* -qws)

by

echo $($ksmroot/kbbouncer/kbbouncer $* -qws -geometry 1072x724+0+0)

I am not sure whether all elements of the application will scale nicely. Therefore, I would rather run this first in test mode. Be aware that /adds/kbmenu/scripts_intern/tools/activate/bouncer/test_the_bouncer.msh calls kbbouncer.sh rather than kbbouncer90.sh. So you have to do something there. Or you start the script by telnet after killing all KSM processes.

Originally Posted by refj

* The bouncer can be vastly improved for security, including file security when the device is stolen. Since there is an `openssl` binary we can use that to decrypt encrypted files on boot, while at the same time verifying the password. This would have to be tweakable by the user somehow but I haven't worked on it at all. (Keep in mind that decrypting large files on these readers is slow, but if you're carrying work with you this can be very useful.)

Nice idea. Maybe one could consider decrypting only on demand, in order not to increase boot time. And you will not necessarily need all your encrypted data at each session. Or do think of encrypting the nickel database and configuration file too because of email addresses and so on? In that case, one could still postpone decryption until one is actually going to start nickel the first time in a session. The weak point however is that the bouncer password is not encrypted. It can only protect against harmless, but nosy people.

[tshering]

This package installs syncthing under KSM 08

How to install and activate:

Spoiler:

• extract KoboRoot.tgz from the uploaded zip archive and copy it into .kobo
• eject and disconnect the device
• select (from home): handle update > install update
• wait until the reader has restarted
• select (from home): scripts > syncthing > syncthing start.sh
• if you see "Syncthing has been configured successfully", touch the middle of the screen, and then press the "close" button
• Enable wifi, if it is not already on
• On your pc, type into the location bar "http://<your device IP>:8384" (for instance, "http://10.0.0.3:8384"), and manage the syncthing settings. Note: To refer to a folder with the name ".testsyncfolder" on the user partition of the Kobo (this is what you see, when you connect the device via USB to your pc), you would write "/mnt/onboard/.testsyncfolder".

You can shut down syncthing by selecting "Actions" > "Shutdown" in the web browser, or by selecting "scripts" > "syncthing" > "syncthing kill.sh", in KSM. You can access the syncthing GUI also from your webbrowers on nickel via "http://127.0.0.1:8384", but this seems to be only of limited use.

Note: Do not use the default synchronization folder (/Sync), which is created by syncthing, except you know exactly what you are doing. Anyway, it is not advisable to use the system partition as storage.

[gummihuhn]

Originally Posted by tshering

This package installs syncthing under KSM 08

Thanks tshering! Installation went smoothly for me.

A couple of tips for using Syncthing with the Kobo:

• If you are syncing to a folder on an external SD card (almost always formatted with a FAT filesystem) , you will want to select the "Ignore Permissions" option for that folder. See https://forum.syncthing.net/t/v0-8-1...ermissions/263
• If you are a Koreader user, you will probably want to add "*.sdr" (without the quotes) to the "Ignore Patterns" at the bottom of the settings page. This will prevent the ".sdr" folders (automatically generated by Koreader) from being synced. CORRECTION: it seems it is worthwhile to sync these folders-- see Ken's post below.

The Syncthing documentation http://docs.syncthing.net/intro/getting-started.html is pretty good, and the first place you should consult for info on getting things set up.

It's dead simple, really.

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by gummihuhn

Thanks tshering! Installation went smoothly for me.

A couple of tips for using Syncthing with the Kobo:

• If you are syncing to a folder on an SD card, you will want to select the "Ignore Permissions" option for that folder. See https://forum.syncthing.net/t/v0-8-1...ermissions/263
• If you are a Koreader user, you will probably want to add "*.sdr" (without the quotes) to the "Ignore Patterns" at the bottom of the settings page. This will prevent the ".sdr" folders (automatically generated by Koreader) from being synced.

The Syncthing documentation http://docs.syncthing.net/intro/getting-started.html is pretty good, and the first place you should consult for info on getting things set up.

It's dead simple, really.

You might need to set the mnt/sd to read/write, as well. You might want to sync the .sdr folders, as they are where your progress and highlights, and other per book settings are recorded.

Luck;
Ken

[tshering]

gummihuhn,
thank you for the feedback and also for the tips.

Originally Posted by gummihuhn

• If you are syncing to a folder on an SD card, you will want to select the "Ignore Permissions" option for that folder. See https://forum.syncthing.net/t/v0-8-1...ermissions/263

I guess you would do this on the internal sd/storage too (except you are syncing folders from the system partition).

[gummihuhn]

Originally Posted by tshering

gummihuhn,
thank you for the feedback and also for the tips.
I guess you would do this on the internal sd/storage too (except you are syncing folders from the system partition).

I haven't had permissions problems with the internal storage, but I definitely have with an external SD card. Until I enabled "Ignore Permissions" for folders synced to the external SD, I was unable to delete files via the Koreader interface. I don't have "Ignore permissions" enabled for synced folders on internal storage, and have not seen any similar issues.

That said, I'm not aware of any negative consequences of ignoring permissions on the Kobo side of a sync.

[gummihuhn]

Originally Posted by Ken Maltby

You might want to sync the .sdr folders, as they are where your progress and highlights, and other per book settings are recorded.

So we can use the '.sdr' folders to sync, progress, highlights and other books settings between devices? For some reason I was under the misimpression that those folders were device specific. That's great news. I'll amend my post to reflect this info.

[Ken Maltby]

I start KOReader with the external uSD card remounted read/write, without that, I can't use the long press delete option, in the File Manager or have OPDS downloads to a folder on the external uSD card (/mnt/sd).

The .sdr folder and KOReader's "History" seem to work in parallel to maintain the current status of each book that has been opened. That said, I haven't tried to manually move a set of the files for a book from device to device. I have used the "Progress sync" function which works between my Kobo Aura HD and Android tablet. I believe that the .sdr files are specific to the book file, while if there were any device specific settings, they would not have effect in a different device.

Luck;
Ken

[gummihuhn]

Originally Posted by tshering

This package installs syncthing under KSM 08

Thanks again for this nice installer tshering!

Syncthing on the Kobo and your scripts have been working nicely for me. I'm glad to report that Syncthing on my Kobo automatically upgraded itself to the latest version (a feature on most devices) meaning that one will only need use your installer once, and subsequent upgrades are automatic.

[tshering]

gummihuhn,

thank you for sharing this information!