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New post - KOReader, eink and more
Needed to quickly post this, will probably update, was fun and in constraint of a 1.5 hr session. No imgs
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‎content/about.org‎

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During the day I work as a Cyber Security professional in an Incident Response team. When not blocking attackers and analysing threats I can be found playing guitar.
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During the day I work as a Security engineer in an Incident Response team. When not blocking attackers and analysing threats I can be found playing guitar.
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* Music things @@html:<i class="fa-solid fa-music"></i>@@
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I am working on music for live performance hopefully before the end of the year (more on that soon).
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My musical influences include:

‎content/posts/koreader-on-kobo.org‎

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#+title: KOReader on Kobo
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#+author: mbrignall
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#+date: 2026-02-08
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* Another e-cycled device Martin?
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So I found an old Kobo Glo in a charity shop for 10 recently and was not too sure what to do with it. The intention was to read
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more, but...
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- How does the e-reader ecosystem work?
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- How does it work for me?
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- What fun things can I do with it?
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I was aware of Calibre and ebook management software already. I planned to utilise this and manage my personal
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library but this project quickly became so much more than just obtaining a tablet with an eInk screen!
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* Getting to a usable state
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Unfortunately the device appeared to be locked to the account of the previous owner. This wasn't an issue, but there was no
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books I wanted to read and I didn't want their personal details. I factory reset the device which left me at the setup screen.
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As with all devices like this, the online set up requires an account. Unfortunately, which took some time to debug,
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I realised that the software version I was on was causing the WiFi connection to fail. There was no error
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as such just a timeout when connecting to WiFi. I tried hot-spotting and also setup a 2.5g guest network in the case this device
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needed it.
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*Nothing was working*
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From some research online I realised this had a lot to do with the version software that was on the Kobo. It was around 2.5 version
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whereas the latest is 4.38 (at time of writing). See the [[https://pgaskin.net/KoboStuff/kobofirmware.html][link]] for available software updates.
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The steps for upgrading:
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** How to sideload an upgrade onto a Kobo eReader:
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- Download ~Kobo-update-<release number>-.zip~ from one of the links below for your specific Kobo eReader model.
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- *Important:* If there are multiple names listed, double check your Kobo and match the serial number. X means the character can be different.
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- Connect your Kobo eReader device to your computer using its USB cable and your computer will recognise its as a new drive.
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- Locate the Kobo#-update.zip file on your computer, then right click and Extract all ( Windows ) or double click (Mac) to unzip its contents,
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revealing an "upgrade" folder, ~KoboRoots.tgz~ file, and ~manifest.md5sum~ file.
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- Drag and drop the unzipped contents into the device's ~.Kobo~ directory (you will need to set show hidden "folders" on your computer)
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- Safely eject your Kobo eReader device from your computer.
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** Bypassing user login
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Just to be clear the only reason this was necessary was to fix the connect to WiFi option. I don't condone jailbreaking/hacking devices
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unless absolutely necessary but it is a lot of fun and you will /always/ learn new things.
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What we're going to do in this instance is remove the user/id entry in the sqlite database that is stopping us from using the device.
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The steps below are what worked for me, the end result was to get the device into a usable state, update the software/firmware, and get KOReader
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on there.
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- Choose 'computer setup' option
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- Attach to computer and the device should auto mount to ~/mnt/$USER/KOBOReader~ or something like that. A good way to check is using
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a file browser and find the device location, right click, and choose the 'open in Terminal' option.
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#+begin_src bash
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cd /mnt/$USER/KOBOReader/.kobo/
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sqlite3 KoboReader.sqlite
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#+end_src
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You'll then be on the sqlite command prompt. From here you can do the following:
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#+begin_src sql
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INSERT INTO user(UserID,UserKey,___DeviceID) VALUES('1','','N905C');
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#+end_src
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Eject and restart ereader.
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After this when you should be able to bypass the setup steps and see the home screen.
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* KOReader Software
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So having the device back to factory settings and loading pdf's and ebooks via Calibre felt /ok/ but...
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- Where is the customisation and user control I knew from using Linux?
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I distro hopped continuously until finding Nixos, and that became my go to, but I still flit around trying new
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desktop environments when interesting ones pop up in sub-reddits, or are recommended by friends. What draws me to
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Linux is the strong community and focus on customisation. My curiosity is what powers me day-to-day and if I have
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a device, regardless of the architecture, I always think: *'how can I make this more my own'*, *'how can I imprint myself on this device'*.
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[[https://koreader.rocks/][KOReader]] scratches this itch.
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From the homepage:
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#+begin_quote
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KOReader is a document viewer for E Ink devices.
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#+end_quote
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This description is a painful understatement of the capabilities and powerful extras (plugins and patches) that the software provides.
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I used the install [[https://github.com/koreader/koreader/wiki/Installation-on-Kobo-devices][instructions]] to get KOReader, KFMon and Nickelmenu on the device. The instructions are straight forward for the shell scripted
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install. Within a few seconds the script was finished and the device rebooted. A new option on the settings bar appeared for Nickelmenu and I chose
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'launch KOReader' and I was in.
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The first thing I noticed was the interface was really clean, intuitive and easy on the eyes. No adverts, no book suggestions, this is what
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I needed.
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From here I went through my smallish library of books checking out the different file formats (according to the KOReader homepage:
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supported fileformats include EPUB, PDF, DjVu, XPS, CBT, CBZ, FB2, PDB, TXT, HTML, RTF, CHM, DOC, MOBI and ZIP files).
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* Where next?
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With my new found love for ereaders and KOReader I plan to read more books. I have a collection of books I've been trying to finish,
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also plenty of technical books on the back burner that, with this new format, should enable me to read more regularly and efficiently.
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On top of the ereader features KOReader also provides a RSS/Atom feed manager, ssh session and a TERMINAL EMULATOR!
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I would also like to explore the community maintained plugins and patches for added customisation. Some people have made their
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UX look so fancy. One of the top results on search is [[https://github.com/sebdelsol/KOReader.patches][this one]] from ~sebdelsol~ for rounded corners, badges and progress status
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icons on the home screen and other tweaks and visual improvements that are always appreciated.
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All the magic appears to be a combination of shell scripts and lua, both of which I have a bit of experience with.
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So who knows, maybe I'll be putting together a neat plugin shortly?

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