A Wi-Fi remote control page turner for Kobo e-readers

[sublipri]

Originally Posted by stupdude2

I installed the Kobo Wifi Remote Control on my H2O, and it is a game-changer! I even managed to set it up with Tasker to work seamlessly with my Amazfit Bip – talk about convenience!

However, it seems the wifi tends to disconnect regularly, which is a bit frustrating. I was wondering if anyone has experienced a similar issue or has any tips on how to address this.

Specifically, I'm curious if there's a way to disable wifi timeout or make the wifi connection more consistent. I want to ensure that my reading experience remains uninterrupted.

Thank you.

Edit: I found this thread describing how to enable devmode and check Force Wifi On: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=4239327. I'm going to try that and see.

That's cool to hear you got it working with a smart watch! You should have been able to enable Force Wifi On during the initial setup. There's a note about it at the bottom of the setup page that links to a Developer Settings page which has a button to toggle the value of ForceWifiOn in the config file. It's better to do it that way since enabling devmode allows people on the same Wi-Fi network full remote access to the Kobo.

[elinkser]

Originally Posted by sublipri

That's cool to hear you got it working with a smart watch! You should have been able to enable Force Wifi On during the initial setup. There's a note about it at the bottom of the setup page that links to a Developer Settings page which has a button to toggle the value of ForceWifiOn in the config file. It's better to do it that way since enabling devmode allows people on the same Wi-Fi network full remote access to the Kobo.

Well TIL that you do NOT need DEVMODEON to set the "ForceWifiOn=true" option in [DeveloperSettings] in the /mnt/onboard/.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf file.

Previously I had thought otherwise due to a goodereader article, and my own failure to activate it with a NickelMenu entry, if I recall correctly.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=353810

I tested it that WiFi shuts off automatically after 1-2 minutes of inactivity, but will stay on if "ForceWifiOn=true" in [DeveloperSettings] in the /mnt/onboard/.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf file, EVEN IF DEVMODEOFF.

So thanks for that heads up. I've corrected my previous posts.

[sublipri]

Originally Posted by elinkser

Previously I had thought otherwise due to a goodereader article

A lot of the guides online aren't very clear about it unfortunately. That goodereader article should really have a disclaimer about the security risk!

[elinkser]

I quoted the article to show that I didn't make up on my own that ForceWifiOn was a Developer feature.

But in fairness to the author:

- At least the sketch app inclusion in DEVMODEOFF has changed since the article - maybe other things have changed too - I don't keep track of what Kobo changes behind the scenes...
* To be clear, the author was just reporting what appeared as an option in Developer Settings after he turned DEVMODEON, which was accurate and informative.

- I'm fuzzy about how thoroughly I tested my interpretation of the article back then. I'm pretty sure a NickelMenu entry stopped working when I went DEVMODEOFF, but I don't remember doing a direct test like I did in my above post.

- Kobos - are they really that secure for many things other than reading, even when NOT in DEVMODEON? I seem to recall someone making a veiled reference to things (browsers running as root?) that are perhaps consciously left in "beta" rather than corrected (made "secure"?).


So in conclusion:

1) It wasn't my intention to blame the goodereader guy - it was mostly to deflect from me,

2) Agreed that security is important and part of everyone's job, including Kobo and the user too!

3) Still love my Clara HD.

And of course this ForceWifiOn info is good to know.

[sublipri]

I've just released a new version with a re-written backend and FBInk integration. Notable changes include device rotation detection, faster page turns, a new screenshot feature, and simpler setup. More changes are listed in the notes on the download page. The new version is larger - it'll take up ~5MB of the rootfs. This shouldn't be a problem, but I might look into running it off the onboard storage in the future.

Have tested it pretty thoroughly on my Sage and Glo, but would be grateful for any testing/feedback! Might be a couple of minor bugs where screenshots and logging will stop working after the server has been running for an extended period, but hopefully I managed to fix those. Shouldn't be anything that affects the core usability.

[jospalau]

Works really well. Thanks.

I made a little tweak in my Android app to be able to turn pages with volume keys.

Sent from my 22081212UG using Tapatalk

[sublipri]

Originally Posted by jospalau

I made a little tweak in my Android app to be able to turn pages with volume keys.

Nice! Which Android app are you using? I went to try volume keys with the KoboPageTurner app but I'd forgotten that expects a JSON response so it crashes with the new version .

[jospalau]

Originally Posted by sublipri

Nice! Which Android app are you using? I went to try volume keys with the KoboPageTurner app but I'd forgotten that expects a JSON response so it crashes with the new version .

It is a simple app I made to sync KOReader sidecars with Rsync.

I just made a little change on it to detect vol up/down presses to send simple http get queries to your server. Very few lines of code I would share but I am not at home for a few weeks.

Definitely I am using it connecting the Libra to my phone hotspot.


Sent from my 22081212UG using Tapatalk

[sublipri]

Originally Posted by jospalau

It is a simple app I made to sync KOReader sidecars with Rsync.

I just made a little change on it to detect vol up/down presses to send simple http get queries to your server. Very few lines of code I would share but I am not at home for a few weeks.

Oh cool! Feel free to share it when you get back but no rush. I fixed the server to work with the KoboPageTurner app again but might do some other things before posting a new release unless anyone is eager to use it.