Ad blocker for Kobo web browser

[nicolas161]

I have lurked the mobileread forums for years, and I have found very useful information. Now it's time to try to give something back to the community, although really simple.

This needs testing, but in theory it works.

What this does is install a custom hosts file on the memory of the reader that blocks undesired domains and ads, making the web a bit faster. The hosts file is taken from a famous Github repository here: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/St...s/master/hosts

In order to install this, you only need to download the adblock.zip file and unzip it, copying the resulting KoboRoot.tgz file to your .kobo folder and let the thing do the work for you. It is really quick. Once this is done, this should block all undesired advertising when you browse the web with your Kobo.

It needs some testing to make sure that it works, but since I haven't seen any ad since I installed it, it seems that it works fine.

Please tell me if it works for you, and sorry for the bad English.

[Nemo1984]

Originally Posted by nicolas161

I have lurked the mobileread forums for years, and I have found very useful information. Now it's time to try to give something back to the community, although really simple.

This needs testing, but in theory it works.

What this does is install a custom hosts file on the memory of the reader that blocks undesired domains and ads, making the web a bit faster. The hosts file is taken from a famous Github repository here: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/St...s/master/hosts

In order to install this, you only need to download the adblock.zip file and unzip it, copying the resulting KoboRoot.tgz file to your .kobo folder and let the thing do the work for you. It is really quick. Once this is done, this should block all undesired advertising when you browse the web with your Kobo.

It needs some testing to make sure that it works, but since I haven't seen any ad since I installed it, it seems that it works fine.

Please tell me if it works for you, and sorry for the bad English.

It works for me. At least it seems! Thank you very much for this!

[Freewheelin]

Hi just came across this! Thanks for making it. Would this patch persist on the Kobo device across firmware updates?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by nicolas161

I have lurked the mobileread forums for years, and I have found very useful information. Now it's time to try to give something back to the community, although really simple.

This needs testing, but in theory it works.

What this does is install a custom hosts file on the memory of the reader that blocks undesired domains and ads, making the web a bit faster. The hosts file is taken from a famous Github repository here: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/St...s/master/hosts

In order to install this, you only need to download the adblock.zip file and unzip it, copying the resulting KoboRoot.tgz file to your .kobo folder and let the thing do the work for you. It is really quick. Once this is done, this should block all undesired advertising when you browse the web with your Kobo.

It needs some testing to make sure that it works, but since I haven't seen any ad since I installed it, it seems that it works fine.

Please tell me if it works for you, and sorry for the bad English.

Is there a setting to turn it off for when it needs to be off?

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by Freewheelin

Would this patch persist on the Kobo device across firmware updates?

Kobo doesn't usually include a hosts file with firmware updates, so yes it should persist.

[Freewheelin]

How might we edit the hosts file? I unzipped KoboRoot.tar and got the etc folder containing the hosts file. If I were to edit the hosts file and repackage it as KoboRoot.tar would that work?

I kind of thought, being the noob I am, that KoboRoot.tar would have loads of other files from the Kobo OS in it

Thanks

[DNSB]

The KoboRoot.tgz file can contain as few as 1 file or as many as the thousands you find in a firmware update.

For instance, I took the existing adblock.zip, opened it in 7-Zip, deleted the hosts file, copied the hosts file (2024-Jun-17 version) from the link in the original message and saved it. This took a few seconds and the file size more than doubled.

[Freewheelin]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The KoboRoot.tgz file can contain as few as 1 file or as many as the thousands you find in a firmware update.

For instance, I took the existing adblock.zip, opened it in 7-Zip, deleted the hosts file, copied the hosts file (2024-Jun-17 version) from the link in the original message and saved it. This took a few seconds and the file size more than doubled.

Ah I see, thank you - KoboRoot.tgz is making more sense now. So when you saved it you were just rezipping the etc folder as a .tgz file?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Freewheelin

Ah I see, thank you - KoboRoot.tgz is making more sense now. So when you saved it you were just rezipping the etc folder as a .tgz file?

Yes. One of the reasons that I like 7-Zip is it's ability to handle multiple archive formats.

[Freewheelin]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Yes. One of the reasons that I like 7-Zip is it's ability to handle multiple archive formats.

Ah cool! Thanks so much