Glo Kobo Night Mode

[yoq]

@Kevin
It would be great if you could update the topic title and the first post with the newest version for all models.

Originally Posted by ShellShock

Anyone tried this on the Aura?

Looking at the tiny bit we know about the hardware, the latest version should work. But depending on how much they changed the software, KoboTweaks might not be compatible.

[KevinShort]

Originally Posted by ShellShock

Anyone tried this on the Aura?

I think I read somewhere that the Kobo Tweaks plugin doesn't work on the Aura (which doesn't surprise me, considering they completely remade the homescreen). So right now, no.

Originally Posted by yoq

@Kevin
It would be great if you could update the topic title and the first post with the newest version for all models.

Done.

[tshering]

Originally Posted by KevinShort

I think I read somewhere that the Kobo Tweaks plugin doesn't work on the Aura (which doesn't surprise me, considering they completely remade the homescreen).

Just would like to mention (the obvious) that one can start the night mode from the "KoboLauncher for standalone Qt apps" too.

[Lucas Malor]

Originally Posted by yoq

Yes, patch is available on the Kobo. The main problem with this approach I think is that it isn't possible to use 2 hacks which modify the same file. I think you can only patch a file that is exactly like the one you used to create the diff?

I don't know how patch inside the distro used by Kobo works. In theory patch can apply a diff even if there's a line number mismatch. When I'll upgrade the firmware I'll do some tests ^^

The idea of the init script is good, I don't have to bother ah-

[tshering]

I am certain, this is a pure coincidence. I installed yesterday the night mode program (build 2), which does a great job, and my battery went down from 97% (yesterday) to 30% (today). I never had a battery problem with my touch before. Did anybody else experience this? Additional information: Estimated reading time three or maybe four hours. Wifi was always off. The device was powered off during night.

[akorx]

Tshering,

It's very strange because I have noticed no problem with the version 1 that refreshed the screen 2 tenth of a second (it could reduce the autonomy of the battery) and the version 2 doesn't do this, so it should be better.

I will read this evening... tomorrow I will tell you if I notice something wrong.

[tshering]

akorx,
merci beaucoup. I am hoping it is not the night mode, since I like it a lot. On the other hand, I would feel better if I knew what happened.

[akorx]

Oh Tshering ! you speak french?

I've ridden during 1h15 yesterday with the frontlight on and my battery is gone to 100% to 96% of capacity...

Are you sure that yours was at 97% the first time?

[Lucas Malor]

It could be simply that it's more resource consuming to turn the pixel to black. It seems to me that in night mode Kobo is a bit more slow.

Anyway, what does exaclt this piece of code?

    while(1)
    {
        int err = epoll_wait(epollFD, &readEvent, 1, -1);
        if(err > 0)
        {
            int bytesRead = read(fd, &input, sizeof(input));
            
            if(bytesRead == 0) //writing application left the pipe -> reopen
            {
                close(fd);
                fd = open(ctlPipe, O_NONBLOCK);
                readEvent.data.fd = fd;
                epoll_ctl(epollFD, EPOLL_CTL_ADD, fd, &readEvent);
                continue;
            }

[yoq]

About the slowness and batterylife: None of this has happened on my Glo, maybe there is something specific about the Touch that I missed? Please try to pinpoint when the battery drains so quickly, is it during reading, sleeping (or (!) power off)? There's also an uninstaller if you want to compare easily, see the first post.

Originally Posted by Lucas Malor

Anyway, what does exaclt this piece of code?

I create a named pipe (/tmp/screenInvert) to be able to control the state. For this I launch a new thread which opens the pipe and waits for data to arrive. It waits using epoll_wait(), so the thread is only awakened by the kernel when someone writes to the pipe (i.e. you press toggle). After the read is completed, I need to reopen the pipe.

[tshering]

Originally Posted by yoq

Please try to pinpoint when the battery drains so quickly, is it during reading, sleeping (or (!) power off)?

Today, here was much less power consumption than yesterday. Still it seems to me higher than what I am used to.
I fully charged my Touch yesterday night, and powered it off. In the morning it was still at 100%.
1) I read an English epub in day mode for approximately one and a half hours without using a dictionary. The battery went from 100% to 95%.
2) I read a Japanese kepub.epub in night mode for approximately another one and a half hours with intensive dictionary use. The battery dropped from 95% to 80%.
Unfortunately, I cannot compare these values with previous values since I never logged the power consumption. I will try to make a similar reading session without the night mode program next weekend, or during this week if I find the time.

Originally Posted by Lucas Malor

It could be simply that it's more resource consuming to turn the pixel to black. It seems to me that in night mode Kobo is a bit more slow.

I used to change my Japanese books from black on white to white on black by css, and did not notice any difference in power consumption or responsiveness. Of course, only the text pages were white on black; the status bar on the top and at the bottom remained black on white, as did the dictionary screen.

Originally Posted by akorx

I've ridden during 1h15 yesterday with the frontlight on and my battery is gone to 100% to 96% of capacity...
Are you sure that yours was at 97% the first time?

This is very similar to my first one and a half hours. I am pretty sure about the 97%.

[Mingyar]

Hello,

After some tests it seems bugs appeared.

I'm on Glo, firmware 2.5.1, KoboTweaks plugin installed and Calibre plugin to send books in kepub format.

Since I installed the last NightMode plugin, serial information are no more transmitted.

After uninstalling the NightMode plugin (with the uninstaller provided with the plugin), some files have to be removed manually in the .kobo directory. (nightmode.sh and screenInv.so)

Serial informations are again transmitted to the Kobo.
But, on my current book, chapter informations are not good, no more chapter name but names of the html files in the epub (.kepub.epub)

The only way to solve this is to factory reset the Kobo.

Sorry for my English, I'm from France.

[Lucas Malor]

Originally Posted by tshering

Of course, only the text pages were white on black; the status bar on the top and at the bottom remained black on white, as did the dictionary screen.

This is strange, on my Glo 2.4 all is white on black: header, dictionary, homepage, even the book when you sleep or power off.

@yoq: ok. Granted that I don't know much about programming :-P, can't you create a fifo AND a file in nightmode.sh, reading the file only the first time? Furthermore you check if returned value of epoll_wait is > 0, but this is not superfluous since timeout is infinite?

[yoq]

Originally Posted by Lucas Malor

This is strange, on my Glo 2.4 all is white on black: header, dictionary, homepage, even the book when you sleep or power off.

@yoq: ok. Granted that I don't know much about programming :-P, can't you create a fifo AND a file in nightmode.sh, reading the file only the first time? Furthermore you check if returned value of epoll_wait is > 0, but this is not superfluous since timeout is infinite?

He changed the ebook itself to be white on black to test if there is a difference in consumption.

about epoll, i'm think an EINTR error is possible: http://linux.die.net/man/2/epoll_wait
it suspect it could happen when shutting down

I'm not sure what you mean about the file, but I have to create the fifo on startup, as a channel of communication.

@Mingyar
I'm sorry to hear you had to do a factory reset. But I have an idea why there could be a problem, I'll upload a new version soon.
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by serial information.

And yes, the uninstaller doesn't remove all files but the hack is disabled afterwards. So far I couldn't think of a safe way to remove them on all models.

[tshering]

Originally Posted by Lucas Malor

This is strange, on my Glo 2.4 all is white on black: header, dictionary, homepage, even the book when you sleep or power off.

Of course, it is the same on my Touch. My intention was to contrast the w/b effect that I produced previously by this code

body {
    color:white;
    background-color:black;
    text-align: justify;}

with the w/b effect produced now by the screenInv plugin. In the first case only the text area was reversed, in the second case everything is reversed. If your idea that turning "the pixel to black" is "more resource consuming" is correct, then it might explain, why I now notice higher power consumption: my intensive use of the dictionary (which is now also white on black).