A firmware updater for all Kobos

[geek1011]

I have created a Kobo firmware updater for Linux because Kobo desktop does not work on Linux, and I also don't sign in with a Kobo account and I want to be able to update.

This has been tested with the Kobo Mini, Kobo Aura, Kobo Glo, and the Kobo WiFi. This should work with any device.

How to run

1. Plug in your e-reader
2. Type: bash <(wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ge.../KoboUpdate.sh) , and then press ENTER
3. Follow the prompts
4. You are done!

How it works

Spoiler:

It finds the mount point of your Kobo: mount | grep KOBO | head -n1 | cut -d' ' -f 3, and quits if it cannot find it
It finds the info about your Kobo:

The model id is the last field in the file KOBOPATH/.kobo/version : cat .kobo/version | rev | cut -d',' -f 1 | rev
The serial number is the first field in the file KOBOPATH/.kobo/version : cat .kobo/version | cut -d',' -f 1
The current firmware version is the third field in the file KOBOPATH/.kobo/version : cat .kobo/version | cut -d',' -f 3
The affiliate is in the affiliate value in KOBOPATH/.kobo/affiliate.conf : cat .kobo/affiliate.conf | grep "affiliate=" | sed "s/affiliate=//g"
It then confirms it for safety

It uses the Kobo API to check for a new firmware version:
https://api.kobobooks.com/1.0/UpgradeCheck/Device/$MODEL_ID/$AFFILIATE/$FWVERSION/$SERIAL

It checks for an update by looking at the value in UpdateType: 0 for none, and 2 for anything else
If it is 2, then it continues, if it is 0, it quits

It then downloads the url returned (which is a zip file)
After it downloads, it extracts the files into the KOBOPATH/.kobo/ directory
It then ejects the Kobo, and tells the user to unplug it
The Kobo will then finish installing the update

Is there a Windows version?
Soon.


Please leave a reply if you tried this. Report any issues on GitHub

See the link for more information!

http://geek1011.github.io/koboupdater-for-linux/

[simond]

Nice

[geek1011]

Originally Posted by simond

Nice

Thanks. Do you have any feedback?

[davidfor]

OK, useful.

For the non-linux users among us, if you are a calibre user, my Kobo Utilities plugin has a firmware check function that can be automatically run on connection. It works on all OSes.

[the.Mtn.Man]

Why jump through all these hoops when you can just update your Kobo directly over wifi?

[geek1011]

Originally Posted by the.Mtn.Man

Why jump through all these hoops when you can just update your Kobo directly over wifi?

Because not everyone wants to sign in, some people want to see the URL, some people want to have more control over it (for example if you want to update the mini to 3.19.5761 without chaniging affiliate.conf and you are not comfortable doing a firmware update manually, you can go to the script, override the AFFLIATE variable, and then run it. It's also more fun

[344a]

Thanks for giving us more option for device update.

[ottdmk]

Very interesting! When I get some time, I may grab it and modify it to work with FreeBSD.

[simond]

Excellent, another FreeBSD user

[JSWolf]

You don't actually need a program to help with firmware updates. You can use the following website to check for a new firmware version, download it, and install it.

http://kobofw.herokuapp.com/

[simond]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You don't actually need a program to help with firmware updates. You can use the following website to check for a new firmware version, download it, and install it.

http://kobofw.herokuapp.com/

Nice, didn't know about that before

[geek1011]

Originally Posted by ottdmk

Very interesting! When I get some time, I may grab it and modify it to work with FreeBSD.

What is not working about it? I can probably fix it. I'm also thinking of rewriting it in Python. I'm just waiting for an answer to: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3...abel-in-python

[geek1011]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You don't actually need a program to help with firmware updates. You can use the following website to check for a new firmware version, download it, and install it.

http://kobofw.herokuapp.com/

My tool basically does the same thing as this tool, but also extracts it for you.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by geek1011

What is not working about it? I can probably fix it. I'm also thinking of rewriting it in Python. I'm just waiting for an answer to: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3...abel-in-python

If you are going to write this in Python, I suggest making it a Calibre plugin. I do think it would get more use as a plugin.

[JSWolf]

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