Instructions for patching firmware 4.38.21908

[hatuluang]

Originally Posted by rogerinnyc

Thanks for the patches, as always. Is anyone else having trouble with the Don't uppercase header/footer text patch? It's not working for me on my Libra 2, using the latest 4.38.21908. Oddly, when I open libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml in Notepad++, the patch shows up, but unlike all the other patches, it is not bolded/colored. I don't know enough about coding or Notepad to know what that means, but it certainly seems consistent with the patch being buggy this time around? It has always worked for me across numerous software upgrades, but not this one.

Thanks for any enlightenment/assistance!

The related patch is working well on Kobo Clara 2E

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by rogerinnyc

Oddly, when I open libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml in Notepad++, the patch shows up, but unlike all the other patches, it is not bolded/colored. I don't know enough about coding or Notepad to know what that means, but it certainly seems consistent with the patch being buggy this time around? It has always worked for me across numerous software upgrades, but not this one.

When I open the .yaml file in Notepad++ with the language set to YAML, the patch shows colouring. See attached image. I've tested on a Sage and Clara HD and it does work.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by rogerinnyc

Thanks for the patches, as always. Is anyone else having trouble with the Don't uppercase header/footer text patch? It's not working for me on my Libra 2, using the latest 4.38.21908. Oddly, when I open libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml in Notepad++, the patch shows up, but unlike all the other patches, it is not bolded/colored. I don't know enough about coding or Notepad to know what that means, but it certainly seems consistent with the patch being buggy this time around? It has always worked for me across numerous software upgrades, but not this one.

Thanks for any enlightenment/assistance!

It's working for me. I don't change all the yes/no in the src .yaml files. I do it via the kobopatch.yaml file.

That way I don't have to change all the patches I want to yes and I can include some custom patches and the better hyphenation dictionary.

I've attached my kobopatch.yaml file so you can see what I've done.

[rogerinnyc]

Originally Posted by DNSB

When I open the .yaml file in Notepad++ with the language set to YAML, the patch shows colouring. See attached image. I've tested on a Sage and Clara HD and it does work.

Thanks, but your image is like mine. It's the Title of the patch that's not colored, whereas the titles of all the other patches are.

However, upon further inspection, it appears to be a problem with the kepub title I'm reading. The other books on my device show the lowercase header, so this is a problem presumably just with this particular file.

Appreciate the help.

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by rogerinnyc

Is anyone else having trouble with the Don't uppercase header/footer text patch? It's not working for me on my Libra 2, using the latest 4.38.21908. Oddly, when I open libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml in Notepad++, the patch shows up, but unlike all the other patches, it is not bolded/colored. <snip>

I think the oddity you're seeing with the appearance of this patch name in a .yaml in Notepad++ text editor is due to the presence of the apostrophe in "Don't"

It's always been this way when using Notepad++. I don't know whether other text editors handle it better.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

I think the oddity you're seeing with the appearance of this patch name in a .yaml in Notepad++ text editor is due to the presence of the apostrophe in "Don't"

It's always been this way when using Notepad++. I don't know whether other text editors handle it better.

Bingo! If you change Don't to Do not, it shows up correctly.

[Djazzy]

Hello from France,

first of all thank you very much for this patch, I am really the worst noob of noobs and therefore I am afraid of doing something that I will regret.
I think I have understood all the steps mentioned above to install the patch (my kobo having already been automatically updated, I suppose I do not need to do step 4)

all I want, since I don't use the kobo store or the internet, is to remove from the home page the message "find your next book on kobo plus....." and the message "read as much as you want with a kobo plus subscription" (I translate from French to English).

when I open the patches in the src folder. I don't know how to do it I'm afraid of breaking everything xD. Could a kind soul tell me with a screenshot what I need to modify? that's all I really care about, all the other fixes at the moment don't interest me.

I thank you and wish you a good week.

[hatuluang]

Originally Posted by Djazzy

Hello from France,

first of all thank you very much for this patch, I am really the worst noob of noobs and therefore I am afraid of doing something that I will regret.
I think I have understood all the steps mentioned above to install the patch (my kobo having already been automatically updated, I suppose I do not need to do step 4)

all I want, since I don't use the kobo store or the internet, is to remove from the home page the message "find your next book on kobo plus....." and the message "read as much as you want with a kobo plus subscription" (I translate from French to English).

when I open the patches in the src folder. I don't know how to do it I'm afraid of breaking everything xD. Could a kind soul tell me with a screenshot what I need to modify? that's all I really care about, all the other fixes at the moment don't interest me.

I thank you and wish you a good week.

5. Choose your patches from the files in the src folder
Enable patches in the files in the src folder (or use the overrides in kobopatch.yaml to keep your options separate).

Instead of putting "yes" to the related patch in the nickel.yaml on SRC folder, you can override it in kobopatch.yaml as following:

  
overrides:
  src/libadobe.so.yaml:
  src/libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml:
  src/librmsdk.so.1.0.0.yaml:
  src/nickel.yaml:
    Remove footer (row3) on new home screen: yes

The screenshot of kobopatch.yaml attached

Hope it helps...

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Djazzy

when I open the patches in the src folder. I don't know how to do it I'm afraid of breaking everything xD. Could a kind soul tell me with a screenshot what I need to modify? that's all I really care about, all the other fixes at the moment don't interest me.

Open the patches in a notepad app and change no to yes for the ones you want. Don't forget to save.

[Djazzy]

Originally Posted by hatuluang

5. Choose your patches from the files in the src folder
Enable patches in the files in the src folder (or use the overrides in kobopatch.yaml to keep your options separate).

Instead of putting "yes" to the related patch in the nickel.yaml on SRC folder, you can override it in kobopatch.yaml as following:

  
overrides:
  src/libadobe.so.yaml:
  src/libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml:
  src/librmsdk.so.1.0.0.yaml:
  src/nickel.yaml:
    Remove footer (row3) on new home screen: yes

The screenshot of kobopatch.yaml attached

Hope it helps...

Thank you to you 2

it does not work :/

When I make the modification in the kobopatch.yaml I do not have any koboroot file in the out folder

and when I make the modification in the nickel.yaml folder I don't have a koboroot file either but I have a log.txt file with this written in it:

kobopatch 653070c
https://github.com/geek1011/kobopatch



KoboPatch::LoadConfig
reading config file from *os.File
unmarshaling yaml
  | {
  |     "Version": "4.38.21908",
  |     "In": "src/kobo-update-4.38.21908.zip",
  |     "Out": "out/KoboRoot.tgz",
  |     "Log": "out/log.txt",
  |     "PatchFormat": "kobopatch",
  |     "Patches": {
  |         "src/libadobe.so.yaml": "usr/local/Kobo/libadobe.so",
  |         "src/libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml": "usr/local/Kobo/libnickel.so.1.0.0",
  |         "src/librmsdk.so.1.0.0.yaml": "usr/local/Kobo/librmsdk.so.1.0.0",
  |         "src/nickel.yaml": "usr/local/Kobo/nickel"
  |     },
  |     "Overrides": {
  |         "src/libadobe.so.yaml": null,
  |         "src/libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml": null,
  |         "src/librmsdk.so.1.0.0.yaml": null,
  |         "src/nickel.yaml": null
  |     },
  |     "Lrelease": "",
  |     "Translations": null,
  |     "Files": null
  | }


KoboPatch::OutputInit


KoboPatch::ApplyPatches
    KoboPatch::openIn
        Opening firmware zip 'src/kobo-update-4.38.21908.zip'
        --> zip: not a valid zip file

[hatuluang]

Originally Posted by Djazzy

Thank you to you 2

it does not work :/

When I make the modification in the kobopatch.yaml I do not have any koboroot file in the out folder

and when I make the modification in the nickel.yaml folder I don't have a koboroot file either but I have a log.txt file with this written in it:

kobopatch 653070c
https://github.com/geek1011/kobopatch



KoboPatch::LoadConfig
reading config file from *os.File
unmarshaling yaml
  | {
  |     "Version": "4.38.21908",
  |     "In": "src/kobo-update-4.38.21908.zip",
  |     "Out": "out/KoboRoot.tgz",
  |     "Log": "out/log.txt",
  |     "PatchFormat": "kobopatch",
  |     "Patches": {
  |         "src/libadobe.so.yaml": "usr/local/Kobo/libadobe.so",
  |         "src/libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml": "usr/local/Kobo/libnickel.so.1.0.0",
  |         "src/librmsdk.so.1.0.0.yaml": "usr/local/Kobo/librmsdk.so.1.0.0",
  |         "src/nickel.yaml": "usr/local/Kobo/nickel"
  |     },
  |     "Overrides": {
  |         "src/libadobe.so.yaml": null,
  |         "src/libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml": null,
  |         "src/librmsdk.so.1.0.0.yaml": null,
  |         "src/nickel.yaml": null
  |     },
  |     "Lrelease": "",
  |     "Translations": null,
  |     "Files": null
  | }


KoboPatch::OutputInit


KoboPatch::ApplyPatches
    KoboPatch::openIn
        Opening firmware zip 'src/kobo-update-4.38.21908.zip'
        --> zip: not a valid zip file

It means that your Kobo firmware file in the SRC folder is not a valid zip file.
Try to download it again and put it in the SRC folder as Instruction No.1 and No.3 on the first page of this thread.
Make sure that you download the Kobo firmware file according to your Kobo Model.

Attached is the image of the SRC folder with Kobo firmware.

Hope it works...

[Djazzy]

Originally Posted by hatuluang

It means that your Kobo firmware file in the SRC folder is not a valid zip file.
Try to download it again and put it in the SRC folder as Instruction No.1 and No.3 on the first page of this thread.
Make sure that you download the Kobo firmware file according to your Kobo Model.

Attached is the image of the SRC folder with Kobo firmware.

Hope it works...

Thanks a lot ! I downloaded the firmware again and this time the zip file was recognized and it works perfectly! thanks again for the screens and detailed explanations

[hatuluang]

Originally Posted by Djazzy

Thanks a lot ! I downloaded the firmware again and this time the zip file was recognized and it works perfectly! thanks again for the screens and detailed explanations

Glad to read it works. You're welcome.

[Toolpost]

Originally Posted by jackie_w

The dictionary patch Dictionary text font-family/font-size/line-height - in libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml - needed a small adjustment for fw 4.38.21908.

Although the change is related to dictionary font-family, it will affect anyone who uses this patch. So, anyone who has stored their own customised version of the patch will need to take a fresh copy before re-applying their customisations.

Compare your old customisations with the commented-out examples at the end of the patch to see whether you'll need to tweak your custom code.

My device is GloHD running firmware 4.38.21908.

I am trying to add a font for the custom built English-Malayalam language dictionary, which I have been using for few years. I tried two sideloaded fonts but couldn't make it work.

  # Un-comment ONE ONLY of the following 4 ReplaceString examples
  #- ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif ",             Replace: "sans-serif",             MustMatchLength: yes}
  #- ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif             ", Replace: "'KBJ-TsukuMin Pr6N RB'", MustMatchLength: yes}
  #- ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif             ", Replace: "'KBJ-TsukuMin Pr6N RB'", MustMatchLength: yes}
  #- ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif            ",  Replace: "'KBJ-UDKakugo Pr6N M'",  MustMatchLength: yes}
  #- ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif       ",       Replace: "'AR UDJingxihei'",       MustMatchLength: yes}
  
  #- ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif ",             Replace: "Keraleeyam",             MustMatchLength: yes}
  - ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif            ", Replace: "'Noto Sans Malayalam'", MustMatchLength: yes}

The dictionary displays proper Malayalam text if I change the book font to any of the sideloaded Malayalam unicode font.

Any advice, please?

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by Toolpost

My device is GloHD running firmware 4.38.21908.

I am trying to add a font for the custom built English-Malayalam language dictionary, which I have been using for few years. I tried two sideloaded fonts but couldn't make it work.

  # Un-comment ONE ONLY of the following 4 ReplaceString examples
  #- ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif ",             Replace: "sans-serif",             MustMatchLength: yes}
  #- ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif             ", Replace: "'KBJ-TsukuMin Pr6N RB'", MustMatchLength: yes}
  #- ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif             ", Replace: "'KBJ-TsukuMin Pr6N RB'", MustMatchLength: yes}
  #- ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif            ",  Replace: "'KBJ-UDKakugo Pr6N M'",  MustMatchLength: yes}
  #- ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif       ",       Replace: "'AR UDJingxihei'",       MustMatchLength: yes}
  
  #- ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif ",             Replace: "Keraleeyam",             MustMatchLength: yes}
  - ReplaceString: {Offset: 54, Find: "%4, serif            ", Replace: "'Noto Sans Malayalam'", MustMatchLength: yes}

The dictionary displays proper Malayalam text if I change the book font to any of the sideloaded Malayalam unicode font.

Any advice, please?

If you read the Description of this patch in libnickel.so.1.0.0.yaml you will see this note:

4.32.19501: major font handling changes. Customising font-family now very limited

In other words, trying to customise dictionary font-family no longer works as well as it once did if you're trying to use a sideloaded custom font. The only custom fonts which have been reported as working (by various users) are those already listed as options in the patch, as per your quoted extract. As you can see they are all built-in fonts.

That's the bad news! However, if you want it badly enough and you are prepared to be disciplined every time you reboot the Kobo there is a possible workaround. I wouldn't describe it as "convenient"

Some background, based on observation rather than real knowledge... After a reboot the current firmware (since 4.32.19501) seems to only load "as required" what it considers non-essential fonts. Unfortunately for us that appears to include all sideloaded fonts. So it's necessary to find some way to force your preferred dictionary font to be loaded very soon after every reboot.

Quite recently I discovered that using the following steps I was able to make the dictionary use a sideloaded font. I use the font-family from your quoted patch as an example below, 'Noto Sans Malayalam':

1. Load a designated kepub to your Kobo [* See Note 1 below]. It will need to remain on your Kobo permanently.
2. Open the designated kepub.
3. Use the [Aa] font menu to set the font for this book to 'Noto Sans Malayalam'. This font should be automatically stored permanently for this book in the Kobo database.
4. Long-press a word [** See Note 2 below] and choose your 'English-Malayalam' dictionary to lookup the word. This chosen dictionary should be automatically stored permanently for this book in the Kobo database.

This should force the firmware to load your 'Noto Sans Malayalam' sideloaded font into memory for use in both book reading and dictionary lookups. It should stay in memory - and therefore work correctly in the dictionary - until the next full reboot or full power off. This means it should survive either a USB connection or putting the Kobo to sleep/standby mode.

After every reboot/power off you will need to re-do Steps 2. and 4. and I suggest you do them *immediately* because, as far as I can tell, once the dictionary opens using the "wrong" font you can't get rid of it except by doing another reboot.

---

My own testing was done using a sideloaded sans-serif font, Arial (Regular, Bold, Italic, BoldItalic), with the default Kobo English-English dictionary.

If you (or anyone else still reading this post) decide you're prepared to go to this much trouble to make it work (and keep it working) please give feedback about whether it works for you. If it's worthwhile I'll add a link to the patch's Description pointing back to this post for future reference.

---

Notes:

1. * I used a designated kepub for my own tests. An epub may also work but I haven't tested it. It can be any book you like. I just created a tiny 1-page test kepub.
   
2. ** If your chosen sideloaded dictionary font, 'Noto Sans Malayalam' consists of only a single Regular sub-family .ttf/.otf file, you can use any word you like to do the dictionary lookup. However, you will need to be more careful if 'Noto Sans Malayalam' consists of more than one sub-family file (Regular, Bold, Italic, BoldItalic). To make sure all sub-family font files are stored in memory you need to pick a word whose definition uses all the sub-families.