Kobo Wifi Weather Forecast

[mougino]

First generation Kobo doesn't seem to have an internal SD-Card but rather a Samsung flash memory component: see https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83612
This being said, when I plug it to USB, it opens a drive with an architecture that seems very similar to the Kobo WiFi, including the .kobo folder... Too bad I cannot run any command, like "fbset" to learn more about it.

[mougino]

It is possible to boot from external SD-Card on the 1st gen as well. There were already some (light) hackings done: http://code.google.com/p/kobo-hacks/wiki/README
Booting from external SD should allow me testing hacks without injuring the Kobo too much, I guess?

[KevinShort]

Originally Posted by mougino

It is possible to boot from external SD-Card on the 1st gen as well. There were already some (light) hackings done: http://code.google.com/p/kobo-hacks/wiki/README
Booting from external SD should allow me testing hacks without injuring the Kobo too much, I guess?

Yep, booting from an external SD card would be pretty safe. If you set up your
Kobo to execute a runme.sh script then I'll see what I can do to help you get
python running on it.

[mougino]

Well, I'm afraid I cannot do it
I downloaded the firmware update SD-Card content from https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=94133 (second link from angusrobertson.com) and untared to an ext3 formatted SD-Card.
I booted my kobo 1st gen from the SD-Card with D-pad center button + power, but the kobo freezes after the 7th square has appeared in the lower right corner. I've waited up to 10mn, nothing occurs. Only way to exit is pressing center pad + power about 2 seconds, 2 times in a row to make the kobo reboot.
I have been fighting 2 straight days, trying everything: reformatting the SD-Card, modifying the /etc/init.d/rcS file (among others to run a runme.sh script at the base of SD-Card containing a simple "/bin/show_pic /pic/01.jpg"), keeping it intact, playing with "show_pic" and "led" but the result is always the same.
I have the latest kobo 1st gen firmware 1.8.3 and it seems the "boot from SD-Card" functionality has been deactivated in this version

[mougino]

Oops it seems I spoke too fast Third time's a charm. I reformatted and untared under Linux, did the changes directly in VI (and not under windows with an ext3 driver) and I am able to run a script and display an image now!

What's the next step? I will need help to install Python I guess. In the meantime I will learn Python not one of my languages but I learn fast. I will try to start with a simple script (write the date in the middle of the screen for example).

[mougino]

Here is my goal of what I would like to obtain on the kobo 1st gen. The information needs to be clear, big and in b&w, nothing to distract and only relevant information for people who have cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's.

Biggest fonts are used for name of the day and period of the day (morning/noon/afternoon/evening/night, should be configurable depending on country sun's hour and/or user habit, in an old people's home for example the evening is quite early!). Also the month appears in full letters.

I have already experimented with success on my grandmum, dedicated a very old laptop to that and it is very useful to her when she uses it. Problem is the laptop is now falling into pieces and the backlight forces her to close it every night and if we don't go there she forgets to open it the day after. Won't happen with the kobo.

Important thing: the program should be easily configurable for other languages (in my case I will use French) for all parts of labels and names of days of months and of seasons. Also time could be chosen to be set in 12 hours format or 24 hours format.
As for the screen refresh frequency, I was first thinking to do it every 5mn (would show 15:05 then 15:10 then 15:15...) but my motivation was to save battery and it is inconsistent with the Kobo being plugged at all time for a non-stop usage I guess.. so every minute will do

[jimmy.caille]

Very good work for this weather app !

Can we do this on a Kobo Glo ?

[mougino]

@KevinShort I have installed Python on the SD-Card, changed all paths in the sh scripts and modified the crontab to update every minute. I am now making the Python script to display the perpetual calendar. I will keep you posted of how it goes.

[KevinShort]

Originally Posted by jimmy.caille

Very good work for this weather app !

Can we do this on a Kobo Glo ?

It could be done on a Glo. The script just needs to be updated for the Glo's higher-resolution screen.

Originally Posted by mougino

@KevinShort I have installed Python on the SD-Card, changed all paths in the sh scripts and modified the crontab to update every minute. I am now making the Python script to display the perpetual calendar. I will keep you posted of how it goes.

Great! Sorry I haven't gotten back to you sooner, but here's a small python script
that creates an image with the text "Hello" in the upper-left corner and then calls
the Kobo's "show_pic" command to display the image. If that script works, then
creating the display you want won't be hard at all.

[mougino]

One question: the main difference between the weather app and my app is that my app is in landscape. Will it work if I define a

pygame.Surface((800, 600))

then use a

convert_to_raw(screen)

and finally call the .python/display_raw.sh ?

[mougino]

Nevermind, found the answer: need to do a

    finalscreen = pygame.transform.rotate(screen, -90)
    convert_to_raw(finalscreen)

[mougino]

Originally Posted by KevinShort

here's a small python script
that creates an image with the text "Hello" in the upper-left corner and then calls
the Kobo's "show_pic" command to display the image. If that script works, then
creating the display you want won't be hard at all.

Thanks! I think I have a potential problem when calling python from SD-Card. I based my work on what you did and before calling Python with your test script as argument, I need to do a

echo 1 > /sys/class/graphics/fb0/rotate

The problem is that the /sys folder on my SD-Card is empty... How to proceed?

[PeterT]

The /sys is I believe a "pseudo" file system; it's not actually files or directories on any file system; rather it's an interface into the Linux O/S on the Kobo.

[mougino]

Another question: in install-python.sh, there is a

for i in /mnt/onboard/.python/pygamelibs/*; do mv $i /usr/lib; done

Is /usr/lib supposed to be a folder?? Because it doesn't exist on my SD-Card, so as a result all the files from pygameslib/ are concatenated in a single "lib" file in the /usr folder. Is that supposed to happen, or should I create a /usr/lib folder and install Python again?

[KevinShort]

Originally Posted by mougino

Another question: in install-python.sh, there is a

for i in /mnt/onboard/.python/pygamelibs/*; do mv $i /usr/lib; done

Is /usr/lib supposed to be a folder?? Because it doesn't exist on my SD-Card, so as a result all the files from pygameslib/ are concatenated in a single "lib" file in the /usr folder. Is that supposed to happen, or should I create a /usr/lib folder and install Python again?

Yes, /usr/lib is supposed to be a folder.

Originally Posted by mougino

Thanks! I think I have a potential problem when calling python from SD-Card. I based my work on what you did and before calling Python with your test script as argument, I need to do a

echo 1 > /sys/class/graphics/fb0/rotate

The problem is that the /sys folder on my SD-Card is empty... How to proceed?

The echo command actually isn't needed anymore. It only makes a difference
on Wifi's that have an 8-bit framebuffer, but since I edited the script to work
on all Wifis the echo command could be removed completely.