NickelMenu: An integrated launcher for Kobo eReaders

[remlap]

Can images be displayed as a pop up I'd like to use a QR Code for my contact details.

[remlap]

Ah dbg_msg uses html thats great.

menu_item       :   main    :   Contact Details :   dbg_msg         :   <table><tr><td>Phone:</td><td>+000000</td></tr><tr><td>Email:</td><td>bleh@bleh.com</td></tr></table><br /><br /><img src=/mnt/onboard/.adds/nm/.contacts.png></img>

I used https://www.qr-code-generator.com/so...email-qr-code/ with the email option then cropped their border

[xyclonei]

Originally Posted by remlap

Ah dbg_msg uses html thats great.

menu_item       :   main    :   Contact Details :   dbg_msg         :   <table><tr><td>Phone:</td><td>+000000</td></tr><tr><td>Email:</td><td>bleh@bleh.com</td></tr></table><br /><br /><img src=/mnt/onboard/.adds/nm/.contacts.png></img>

I used https://www.qr-code-generator.com/so...email-qr-code/ with the email option then cropped their border

This is brilliant. Thank you!

[Deobulakenyo]

Hi, I was browsing on reddit and i saw a post sharing his/her nickelmenu commands to edit the menu tabs at the bottom of the homescreen. He/she said notes was disabled. He has not responded yet (which can be long in reddit) to my questions which are inside the parentheses). Does anyone know which is which in terms of the other command lines? This is for a Kobo Libra Colour. I was hoping these would apply to Libra 2 as well (escept for notes).

experimental: menu_main_15505_enabled: 1 (Nickel Menu ON)
experimental: menu_main_15505_label: Shortcuts (Nickel menu renamed)
experimental: menu_main_15505_0_enabled: 0 (Is this the OFF command line for Books?)
experimental: menu_main_15505_1_label: Books
experimental: menu_main_15505_2_enabled: 1 (Which is this command line for?)
experimental: menu_main_15505_3_enabled: 0 (Which is this command line for?
experimental: menu_main_15505_3_label: Notes
experimental: menu_main_15505_4_enabled: 1 (Which is this command line for?)
experimental: menu_main_15505_5_enabled: 1 (Which is this command line for?)
experimental: menu_main_15505_default: 1 (Which is this command line for?)

[Pe8er]

@Deobulakenyo check the documentation: https://github.com/pgaskin/NickelMen.../doc#L198-L203

[remlap]

I have been trying to edit the Discover button to Store and change its icon to a bag since Discover and a compass icon annoys me.

I am using the latest build from https://github.com/pgaskin/NickelMen...ns/12460091665

experimental    :   menu_main_15505_4_icon          :   /mnt/onboard/.adds/nm/.store.png

But the icon will not change, I can rename it fine.

Is this a known problem?

[vahtos]

A few people have asked about quickly connecting a bluetooth controller (8bitdo in my case) using NickelMenu. I had this question too, and I did some tinkering with this and figured out a nice solution. I am not going to go into detail on how to do some of the steps (enable developer mode, force wifi on, and telnet), these are covered well elsewhere and are generally searchable.

Before starting
1. Make sure to enable telnet on your reader. You will need this to get the MAC address of your Bluetooth controller. I did this manually before installing NickelMenu, but according to the NickelMenu docs, this should work:

menu_item :main    :Telnet             :cmd_spawn          :quiet:/bin/mount -t devpts | /bin/grep -q /dev/pts || { /bin/mkdir -p /dev/pts && /bin/mount -t devpts devpts /dev/pts; }
     chain_success                        :cmd_spawn          :quiet:/usr/bin/pkill -f "^/usr/bin/tcpsvd -E 0.0.0.0 1023" || true && exec /usr/bin/tcpsvd -E 0.0.0.0 1023 /usr/sbin/telnetd -i -l /bin/login
     chain_success                        :dbg_toast          :Started Telnet server on port 1023.

2. Enable developer mode
2a. Enable "Force Wifi ON"

Get your controller's MAC address
1. Turn on Bluetooth on your device.
2. Turn on telnet on your reader, then using your computer's terminal (if you're using Windows, you might need to open "Turn Windows features on or off" and enable "Telnet Client"), connect to your device using it's IP address

telnet 192.168.0.110

3. Turn on your controller and start pairing mode on it
4. Run this in your telnet session:

bluetoothctl scan on

5. In the resulting messages, you should see a line similar to

[NEW] Device E4:17:D8:6E:87:61 8BitDo Micro gamepad

5a. Note down the MAC address, the part between "Device" and "8BitDo", in this case

E4:17:D8:6E:87:61

6. Close your telnet session, connect your ereader to your PC, and edit your NickelMenu configuration. My full configuration is below, make sure to replace the MAC address to your devices MAC address from the previous step!

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
menu_item :main     :Connect Controller           :nickel_bluetooth   :enable
  chain_success                                   :cmd_spawn          :quiet:bluetoothctl scan on
  chain_success                                   :cmd_spawn          :quiet:bluetoothctl pair E4:17:D8:6E:87:61
  chain_success                                   :cmd_spawn          :quiet:bluetoothctl connect E4:17:D8:6E:87:61
  chain_success                                   :dbg_toast          :Controller Connection Steps Complete
menu_item :main     :Energy Efficient Sleep       :nickel_bluetooth   :disable
  chain_success                                   :nickel_wifi        :disable
  chain_success                                   :power              :sleep
menu_item :main     :Bluetooth OFF                :nickel_bluetooth   :disable
menu_item :main     :Wifi OFF                     :nickel_wifi        :disable
menu_item :main     :Sleep                        :power              :sleep

#--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
menu_item :reader   :Connect Controller           :nickel_bluetooth   :enable
  chain_success                                   :cmd_spawn          :quiet:bluetoothctl scan on
  chain_success                                   :cmd_spawn          :quiet:bluetoothctl pair E4:17:D8:6E:87:61
  chain_success                                   :cmd_spawn          :quiet:bluetoothctl connect E4:17:D8:6E:87:61
  chain_success                                   :dbg_toast          :Controller Connection Steps Complete
menu_item :reader   :Energy Efficient Sleep       :nickel_bluetooth   :disable
  chain_success                                   :nickel_wifi        :disable
  chain_success                                   :power              :sleep
menu_item :reader   :Bluetooth OFF                :nickel_bluetooth   :disable
menu_item :reader   :Wifi OFF                     :nickel_wifi        :disable
menu_item :reader   :Sleep                        :power              :sleep

Notes
- When you connect the controller for the first time, you may need to press "Connect Controller" twice.
- Connecting the controller this way, instead of using the Kobo UI, seems to work better generally -- it actually saves the controller as a saved device and will auto-reconnect if you just turn on Bluetooth and turn on the controller. So you may consider adding another NickelMenu entry that just enables Bluetooth, though it is safe to just keep using the "Connect Controller" entry as-is.
- I also included an "Energy Efficient Sleep" entry which shuts off wifi, shuts off bluetooth, and sleeps the ereader
- The individual OFF entries are for if you want to stop using your controller, but keep using the ereader without wasting battery power on bluetooth/wifi.

[vahtos]

I should also have mentioned, you have to install the latest NickelMenu (from commits, not releases)

[remlap]

Originally Posted by vahtos

I should also have mentioned, you have to install the latest NickelMenu (from commits, not releases)

I just telnet-ed in and ran

bluetoothctl trust MACADDRESS

and now my cheap £3 bluetooth ring connect straight away after toggling bluetooth in NickelMenu.

Never had the need to force wifi on to keep bluetooth alive, but I have not actually used it for more than a few minutes yet.

[Sheehan]

Originally Posted by vahtos

I should also have mentioned, you have to install the latest NickelMenu (from commits, not releases)

Would someone be able to explain how to install the latest commit? I don't understand a lot of the terminology around github when I look up how to do this but the features I would like to use (modifying the bottom tabs like "Home" and "Discover") do not work correctly in the latest release.

[DNSB]

Copy the KoboRoot.tgz file from the .zip archive to the .kobo directory on your Kobo. Safely eject and the install should automatically start. Pretty much the standard procedure for installing anything on a Kobo that requires access to the system partition.

[MalFicLib]

Hi all,

I am ready to tear my hair out with this! This is my first time playing with any sort of coding and in hindsight I should have picked something easier than a brand new Kobo


I had just installed NM and got the menu up, plugged my kobo back in so I could sideload with Calibre and then accidentally unplugged it without calibre job being done or ejecting properly. I plugged it back in and the config was gone (and NM gave me a Config Error) so I did a factory reset and the NM error is still there I also no longer have a copy of the config that had initially worked.

So I'm piecing together what I can remember and adding some new stuff I found along the way.

parse config files: file /mnt/onboard/.adds/nm/icon.png: line1: field 1: unknown type '[blank square]PNG' (src/config.c:327) (src/config.c:936)


code:

menu_item :main     :Kernel Version     :cmd_output         :500:uname -a
menu_item :main     :Send to Kobo       :nickel_browser :modal :https://send.djazz.se
menu_item :main     :Screensaver toggle :cmd_output :500 :quiet :test -e /mnt/onboard/.kobo/screensaver_old
     chain_failure  :skip :3
     chain_success  :cmd_spawn :quiet :mv /mnt/onboard/.kobo/screensaver_old /mnt/onboard/.kobo/screensaver
     chain_success  :dbg_toast :Wallpaper Mode
     chain_always   :skip :-1
     chain_failure  :cmd_spawn :quiet :mv /mnt/onboard/.kobo/screensaver /mnt/onboard/.kobo/screensaver_old
     chain_success  :dbg_toast :Cover Art Mode
menu_item :main     :Sketch Pad         :nickel_extras      :sketch_pad
menu_item :main     :Solitaire          :nickel_extras :solitaire
menu_item :main     :Sudoku             :nickel_extras :sudoku
menu_item :main     :Dark Mode          :nickel_setting :toggle :dark_mode
menu_item :main     :USB Connection     :nickel_misc :force_usb_connection  
menu_item :main     :Sleep              :power :sleep
menu_item :main     :Shutdown           :power :shutdown
menu_item :main     :Reboot             :power :reboot

experimental :menu_main_15505_icon :/mnt/onboard/.adds/nm/icon.png
experimental :menu_main_15505_label :MalFicLib

 #HOME / Main screen

#bleutooth toggle

menu_item :main :Bluetooth On :nickel_bluetooth :enable

menu_item :main :Bluetooth Off :nickel_bluetooth :disable

menu_item :main :Bluetooth Check :nickel_bluetooth :check

menu_item :main :Bluetooth Scan :nickel_bluetooth :scan

menu_item :main :Reading Stats :nickel_open :reading_life :stats

menu_item :main :Reboot :power :reboot

menu_item :main :Sleep :power :sleep

menu_item :main :Shutdown :power :shutdown

#====================================

# Reader page

#bluetooth toggle

menu_item :reader :Bluetooth On :nickel_bluetooth :enable
E4:17:D8:39:FF:CC

menu_item :reader :Bluetooth Off :nickel_bluetooth :disable

menu_item :reader :Bluetooth Check :nickel_bluetooth :check

menu_item :reader :Bluetooth Scan :nickel_bluetooth :scan

menu_item :reader :Reading Stats :nickel_open :reading_life :stats

menu_item :reader :Sleep :power :sleep

menu_item :reader :Shutdown :power :shutdown

The features I'm trying to enable:
-wake/sleep Kobo using 8bitdo Micro
-turn pages using 8bitdo
-see clock while reading
-play solitaire and sudoku
-change the nickelmenu icon and name
-change screensaver when 'sleeping'

is someone with more experience willing to give insight?
any help would be appreciated!

[Sheehan]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Copy the KoboRoot.tgz file from the .zip archive to the .kobo directory on your Kobo. Safely eject and the install should automatically start. Pretty much the standard procedure for installing anything on a Kobo that requires access to the system partition.

Thanks for responding to my initial question, but I have installed NickelMenu in the past so I shouldn't need any help with that. What I'm really wondering is if there is a way to not download the latest release on the Github page, but instead the latest commit. The last downloadable release was made in 2022, but there are way more recent commits that include the features I would like to use. You can see the link to the commits quoted in the first post I made. Very possible that this isn't anything that can be fixed though and I just have to wait for someone to make a newer release. It's just a shame though since there hasn't been one since 2022.

[DNSB]

I'm think this link needs you to be logged into GitHub but the last NickelMenu build that I see has the NickelMenu file linked at https://github.com/pgaskin/NickelMenu/actions/runs/12460091665/artifacts/2354351789 from https://github.com/pgaskin/NickelMenu/actions/runs/12460091665.

I've attached the NickelMenu.zip I downloaded from that page to this message.

[ladooee]

So I'm reading through this thread to try to setup my NickelMenu actions properly. I'm trying to connect my 8BitDo micro using the above commands on my Kobo Libra Colour. It seems like bluetoothctl and bluetoothd may not be used on this device like they are on others.

I connected via telnet to check manually if I could run bluetoothctl commands. When I run bluetoothctl I just get "Waiting to connect to bluetoothd...". So I tried starting bluetoothd under /libexec/bluetooth/bluetoothd. When I run it with options "-d -n" I get a bunch of errors ending in:

src/main.c:main() Adapter handling initialization failed

In "top" I see /usr/bin/btservice listed highly, with higher CPU usage when scanning for bluetooth devices. When I try running btservice I get a succesful readout that includes snippets referencing bluedroid.

Mtk_bt_service server start:
increase the priority of bluedroid.i4_ret:0 @ main
set bluedroid priority thread done
...

So I think some of these NickelMenu snippets might not be applicable to us Libra Colour users. Maybe they switched to a MediaTek bluetooth chip for these devices that doesn't expose the same HCI to bluetoothctl. I parsed most of this using ChatGPT so apologies if I'm off base. Maybe someone with more knowledge can let us know if we are out of look to force a bluetooth pair and trust using the commandline.

The good news is, it seems like most times I can enable bluetooth using the NickelMenu control and it will automatically find the controller and connect.