Why is bluetooth such a non-starter on Kobo?

[bob.f]

I took the plunge and got an 8bitdo micro which I managed to get working without too much aggro, using the stock reader. However, despite my best efforts, and posts in this forum, I've been completely unable to get the device to work in koreader. As far as I can tell there's no way to even enable bluetooth in the standard koreader build.

I have now given up, as life's too short. But it's left me wondering - why would koreader, which is fantastic in so many ways, be anti-bluetooth?

[Aleron Ives]

KOReader is not "anti Bluetooth". Every feature requires the time and effort of a developer to implement it, and since the KOReader developers don't get paid, they work on whichever features they want as they see fit.

If you want Bluetooth on KOReader, you might want to look at this plugin:

https://github.com/onatbas/bluetooth.koplugin

[alva]

i use a kobo libra color and with https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=370719 it works perfectly, enable bluetooth, pairing and mapping up the 8bit do micro to actions.

the bluetooth plugin above did not work for me on this device

[lumping-sugar66]

TLDR: Hey, developer of the bluetooth.koplugin plugin here. It's not koreader that's anti-bluetooth, it's me that does a poor job providing support in the forums . I'll consider putting more effort into a diagnostics overview. In the meanwhile, patches/forks are always welcome.

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KOReader bluetooth setup is kind of involved even with my plugin mainly because there are koreader main-branch source code that needs to be changed before the plugin can actually be utilized. device.lua file needs to be changed and the kernel drivers are all over the place between different kobo devices and I don't have all of them (I have only 2 bluetooth devices)

I make changes based on what I need/want at the moment and simply document the changes that need to be made. I am not a koreader developer and my understanding of the code is also limited. I don't think KOreader is anti-bluetooth, although koreader kills BT with extreme prejudice all they're doing is stopping the bluetooth processes which are easily revived by the plugin, so your issue isn't that.

The following changes are required to be made manually:

1. device.lua need to be patched for both hasKeys attribute and the key events.
2. Initial bluetooth connection needs to be made from the command line. You need bluetoothctl commands issued.
3. The source code of the plugin itself is not adaptive and needs some paths changed to fit different types of kobo devices. I mainly use 1 device at a time.
4. Every once in a blue moon, the kobo device won't connect to a 8bitdo again, you have to turn on bluetooth scan on and off. This is something I intend to embed.
5. Clara puts bluetooth devices to event3 slot and libra on event4, you need to change those manually.

Probably more that I'm forgetting now.

While I agree compared to other plugins, the bluetooth.koplugin isn't forgiving to configuration issues by any stretch, It's at least out there.

On kobo land, As many others have mentioned, colour devices aren't supported. Other devices such as Sage, aren't tested and will likely require modifications. I would be willing to develop the add-on further to get to a place where a patch could be sent to the main repository but I need devices for that. Even then I'm not sure how koreader would approach a kobo-only solution tbh.

Update:

Please see https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...4&postcount=66 for major updates.