A Wi-Fi remote control page turner for Kobo e-readers

[sublipri]

Originally Posted by stupdude2

I installed the Kobo Wifi Remote Control on my H2O, and it is a game-changer! I even managed to set it up with Tasker to work seamlessly with my Amazfit Bip – talk about convenience!

However, it seems the wifi tends to disconnect regularly, which is a bit frustrating. I was wondering if anyone has experienced a similar issue or has any tips on how to address this.

Specifically, I'm curious if there's a way to disable wifi timeout or make the wifi connection more consistent. I want to ensure that my reading experience remains uninterrupted.

Thank you.

Edit: I found this thread describing how to enable devmode and check Force Wifi On: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh....php?p=4239327. I'm going to try that and see.

That's cool to hear you got it working with a smart watch! You should have been able to enable Force Wifi On during the initial setup. There's a note about it at the bottom of the setup page that links to a Developer Settings page which has a button to toggle the value of ForceWifiOn in the config file. It's better to do it that way since enabling devmode allows people on the same Wi-Fi network full remote access to the Kobo.

[elinkser]

Originally Posted by sublipri

That's cool to hear you got it working with a smart watch! You should have been able to enable Force Wifi On during the initial setup. There's a note about it at the bottom of the setup page that links to a Developer Settings page which has a button to toggle the value of ForceWifiOn in the config file. It's better to do it that way since enabling devmode allows people on the same Wi-Fi network full remote access to the Kobo.

Well TIL that you do NOT need DEVMODEON to set the "ForceWifiOn=true" option in [DeveloperSettings] in the /mnt/onboard/.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf file.

Previously I had thought otherwise due to a goodereader article, and my own failure to activate it with a NickelMenu entry, if I recall correctly.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=353810

I tested it that WiFi shuts off automatically after 1-2 minutes of inactivity, but will stay on if "ForceWifiOn=true" in [DeveloperSettings] in the /mnt/onboard/.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf file, EVEN IF DEVMODEOFF.

So thanks for that heads up. I've corrected my previous posts.

[sublipri]

Originally Posted by elinkser

Previously I had thought otherwise due to a goodereader article

A lot of the guides online aren't very clear about it unfortunately. That goodereader article should really have a disclaimer about the security risk!

[elinkser]

I quoted the article to show that I didn't make up on my own that ForceWifiOn was a Developer feature.

But in fairness to the author:

- At least the sketch app inclusion in DEVMODEOFF has changed since the article - maybe other things have changed too - I don't keep track of what Kobo changes behind the scenes...
* To be clear, the author was just reporting what appeared as an option in Developer Settings after he turned DEVMODEON, which was accurate and informative.

- I'm fuzzy about how thoroughly I tested my interpretation of the article back then. I'm pretty sure a NickelMenu entry stopped working when I went DEVMODEOFF, but I don't remember doing a direct test like I did in my above post.

- Kobos - are they really that secure for many things other than reading, even when NOT in DEVMODEON? I seem to recall someone making a veiled reference to things (browsers running as root?) that are perhaps consciously left in "beta" rather than corrected (made "secure"?).


So in conclusion:

1) It wasn't my intention to blame the goodereader guy - it was mostly to deflect from me,

2) Agreed that security is important and part of everyone's job, including Kobo and the user too!

3) Still love my Clara HD.

And of course this ForceWifiOn info is good to know.

[sublipri]

I've just released a new version with a re-written backend and FBInk integration. Notable changes include device rotation detection, faster page turns, a new screenshot feature, and simpler setup. More changes are listed in the notes on the download page. The new version is larger - it'll take up ~5MB of the rootfs. This shouldn't be a problem, but I might look into running it off the onboard storage in the future.

Have tested it pretty thoroughly on my Sage and Glo, but would be grateful for any testing/feedback! Might be a couple of minor bugs where screenshots and logging will stop working after the server has been running for an extended period, but hopefully I managed to fix those. Shouldn't be anything that affects the core usability.

[jospalau]

Works really well. Thanks.

I made a little tweak in my Android app to be able to turn pages with volume keys.

Sent from my 22081212UG using Tapatalk

[sublipri]

Originally Posted by jospalau

I made a little tweak in my Android app to be able to turn pages with volume keys.

Nice! Which Android app are you using? I went to try volume keys with the KoboPageTurner app but I'd forgotten that expects a JSON response so it crashes with the new version .

[jospalau]

Originally Posted by sublipri

Nice! Which Android app are you using? I went to try volume keys with the KoboPageTurner app but I'd forgotten that expects a JSON response so it crashes with the new version .

It is a simple app I made to sync KOReader sidecars with Rsync.

I just made a little change on it to detect vol up/down presses to send simple http get queries to your server. Very few lines of code I would share but I am not at home for a few weeks.

Definitely I am using it connecting the Libra to my phone hotspot.


Sent from my 22081212UG using Tapatalk

[sublipri]

Originally Posted by jospalau

It is a simple app I made to sync KOReader sidecars with Rsync.

I just made a little change on it to detect vol up/down presses to send simple http get queries to your server. Very few lines of code I would share but I am not at home for a few weeks.

Oh cool! Feel free to share it when you get back but no rush. I fixed the server to work with the KoboPageTurner app again but might do some other things before posting a new release unless anyone is eager to use it.

[sublipri]

Finally managed to release version 0.3.0 which fixes the above bug and some issues with 0.2.0 that caused problems with (at least) the Aura H20.

There are also some new features: an automatic page turner, experimental voice control (very limited browser support), and an experimental way to simulate input anywhere on the e-readers screen, allowing total control of the device from a phone/computer. These are mostly intended as accessibility features, but the last one can be useful if cocooned under covers in winter and wanting to look up the definition of a word. It might not work properly on all devices or in all rotations, but it works on my Glo in portrait rotation and Sage in all rotations. I've updated the README with further explanation of this last feature as well as a quick demo video.

To add some more details about the screenshot feature added in version 0.2.0, it lets you use NickelMenu to take a screenshot even if the server is disabled, so might be useful for people with no desire for remote control. This should be slightly more convenient that existing screenshot methods, since you don't need to use the power button. It saves images to .adds/wifiremote/screenshots/ with the device model and date/time in the filename. There is a customizable delay to allow for the menu to disappear before it actually takes the screenshot. If you are using the server then you can just take a screenshot from the web interface and save it from there.

[sublipri]

Just pushed another release that will hopefully work with the 2024 Kobos if anyone is interested in testing.

[gereksizuser]

Great work, thank you. I hope that in the future it will be possible to control with just the volume keys when the screen is off (or am I thinking the impossible?).

[sublipri]

Originally Posted by gereksizuser

I hope that in the future it will be possible to control with just the volume keys when the screen is off (or am I thinking the impossible?).

I think this is impossible to do with the web interface since the browser can't access the volume keys on iOS or Android. The KoboPageTurner app (download link) lets you use the volume keys on Android, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to work with the screen off.

[Tommalka]

Originally Posted by stupdude2

I installed the Kobo Wifi Remote Control on my H2O, and it is a game-changer! I even managed to set it up with Tasker to work seamlessly with my Amazfit Bip – talk about convenience!

Would you mind sharing your Tasker configuration?

[gereksizuser]

Originally Posted by sublipri

I think this is impossible to do with the web interface since the browser can't access the volume keys on iOS or Android. The KoboPageTurner app (download link) lets you use the volume keys on Android, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to work with the screen off.

I understand, thank you for clarifying.