Trying to enable "Un-Force user font-family in KePubs" patch, need help

[rs37982]

Hi all! I just got a Kobo Clara BW (2024), and I would like to patch it so that embedded non-body text (like chapter headings, titles, text messages, article excerpts, etc.) are not overridden when I change the font. It seems the only way to see publisher embedded fonts is to set it to 'Publisher Default', however the body font defaults to Rakuten Serif.

I went down a rabbit hole here and seems there's a patch where you can enable the setting "Un-Force user font-family in KePubs", but it appears this patch doesn't working for the latest firmware?

What I've tried so far:

1. Downloaded latest firmware "kobo-update-4.45.23697.zip", extracted zip, copied files into .kobo folder, updated device
2. Downloaded patch file "kobopatch_4.45.23697_v3.zip" from this forum, extracted zip, copied the kobo-update zip file into the src folder in the patch folder
3. Opened "libnickel.so.1.0.0.patch" and changed 'Enabled: no' to 'Enabled: yes' under "Un-Force user font-family in KePubs"
4. Run "kobopatch.bat" - find "KoboRoot.tgz" file in out folder, copy to .kobo folder in device, update device.

I might be doing something wrong, but this isn't working on this firmware. I noticed when I opened the kobopatch.yaml file that the 'Un-Force user font-family in KePubs' patch is listed under 'Does not work' for this firmware/patch version, so I'm assuming it no longer works. Do I have to use an older firmware number to enable this?

My other question is that this particular patch has multiple settings or Alternatives 1-3 -- how do you choose which alternative setting you want to use? I read the readme files but it was confusing to me. I'm new to this, but I really appreciate everyone's help!

[Sirtel]

I don't know about it not working on the latest firmware, as both my Kobos are on an older version, but as to your other question, I use the alternative 3. But then I also remove the embedded body font from the book css, if there is one, so none of my ebooks have a publisher-defined font for general text. You might want to experiment with different alternatives, to find the one that suits you.

[rs37982]

Thanks for the reply! I guess I should be more clear, I meant how do you set/toggle the alternative settings? Is it a modification within the text files? That part wasn't clear to me.

Anyways, not sure if it works on this firmware version anyway - when I ran the kobopatch.bat, the log generated showed "SKIP" next to this particular patch. Not sure if I want to revert to an older firmware for this, but will see if there's anything else I can try.

[JSWolf]

You are doing the patches incorrectly. Leave the yaml file in the src directory alone. Do not use any of them to enable the patches. It won't work. Leave them all set to no. You need to use kobopatch.yaml to select which patches you want to enable.

Change the no to a Yes in kobopatch.yaml for Un-Force user font-family in KePubs in kobopatch.yaml.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rs37982

Thanks for the reply! I guess I should be more clear, I meant how do you set/toggle the alternative settings? Is it a modification within the text files? That part wasn't clear to me.

Yes. Remove the # signs from the lines in the ReplaceString section relevant to the alternative you want to use.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You are doing the patches incorrectly. Leave the yaml file in the src directory alone. Do not use any of them to enable the patches. It won't work. Leave them all set to no. You need to use kobopatch.yaml to select which patches you want to enable.

Change the no to a Yes in kobopatch.yaml for Un-Force user font-family in KePubs in kobopatch.yaml.

You also need to modify the yaml file in the src directory with this patch, else it won't work. There are alternative versions you must select there.

[rs37982]

Thank you both, I was able to figure it out and apply the patch successfully!

Unfortunately, this seems to have uncovered a new issue for a small number of epubs where the publisher default font is overriding the selected Kobo device font for the main body text. Is there a guide on here that can help me modify the CSS to "un-fix" the publisher fonts for regular body text only, but keep it for headers/special text?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rs37982

Thank you both, I was able to figure it out and apply the patch successfully!

Unfortunately, this seems to have uncovered a new issue for a small number of epubs where the publisher default font is overriding the selected Kobo device font for the main body text. Is there a guide on here that can help me modify the CSS to "un-fix" the publisher fonts for regular body text only, but keep it for headers/special text?

No, because the only way to do that reliably is manual. And there is no one fixed way manually either, because the css can differ wildly between books.

Open the epub in the calibre editor. On the far right is the display panel, which shows how the text looks in the viewer; on the far left are the files in the book, both html (text) and css (style). In the middle is the panel that shows what styles are used in the text. Select a file on the left, just an ordinary one that shows body text. Then look at what styles are used for paragraphs in the middle panel (p or div) and search for those styles in the css files. The font can be specified at the book level (then it's under body) or it's under that p or div style you just searched for. If you manage to locate the font (font-family), just delete the font-family entry from the css. Look at what changed in the right-hand panel. No changes are saved until you save the file, so you can always go back before that. Just in case, make a backup copy before you start editing.