KOReader on Nook Glowlight+?

[fllc]

I have a few questions about KOReader on the Nook Glowlight+ (7.8 inch):

Which version would work?
Do buttons work?
Can light be adjusted?

I'm very familiar with KOReader and have it on my various Kindles. I am looking at the large Nook. Really nice device, but the SW is underwhelming.

There seems to be very little info on this Nook in MR. I am guessing that the Nook has to be rooted, and a new launcher installed, followed by Android version of KOReader.

Any pointers are welcome!

Thank you!

[pazos]

Nook and other android devices are not Android. They're based on AOSP with a bunch of hacks. If these hacks are not incompatible with the 99.99999999999% android devices both buttons, light and other things will work.

Keep in mind that KO is not an android app and thus has some limitations that other android apps don't have. Keep in mind that Nook wasn't intended to be used with 3rd party software too.

If you're still thinking about a mix of nook + KO then yes: you'll need to root your device, install a launcher and the KO package for arm (you can get it from github or fdroid).

Some things could fail for your particular model, firmware version, etc. If its just for running KO please consider a Kobo instead. If you want to run other apps too please consider a device that doesn't need to be rooted and can be returned in the case the new device+fw+sw don't fullfit your needs.

We had a report of other Nooks, Tolinos, Boyues and Onyx working, but YMMV.

[pazos]

By the way, adding support for "special" features, like custom event mapping or light scheme, is possible for interested users. They need to do the work (with hints from other contributors) or wait for others. That's fine if you already have a device but, as you can guess, is not the most sensible advice to buy a device just to try it.

[Pajamaman]

I guess you mean the nook glowlight 3 7.8". You'll have to root it, install a launcher (Relaunchx), the add koreader.

You can find instructions on how to do this on the xda forums. Google "xda nook glowlight 3 root". Note, the instructions are for the 6" model. I'm not sure if you'd if need to change anything for the 7.8".

Personally I found Koreader to be unstable to the point of useless on Android, but maybe that was just me.

Alternately, you could install another ereader software like alreader for example. A copy of fbreader compiled to work with buttons is available on these forums.

Take a look at that xda thread and see if you think you can do it. The software on the nook is a bit flaky. You need to tread carefully. I did manage to brick one, but that was because of a bug that is now known and documented on that thread.

I have ordered a new nook and will be rooting it in the near future, so I reasonably sure I can do it successfully. Whether you are confident about doing it is your call.

[pazos]

Originally Posted by Pajamaman

Personally I found Koreader to be unstable to the point of useless on Android, but maybe that was just me.

@Pajamaman: I'm interested. You have a few android brands, do you find the same level of unstability on all of them?.

We have good reports for a few e-ink devices and I myself tested KO on EnergyE4Pro and BoyueMimas and I can say it's slower than kobo/cervantes but not unstable, at least not more than in other platforms

The kind of limitations I was talking about were about GPU usage, touch event overhead and the known "Application Not Responding" that happens while downloading a file for more than 5 seconds if the user press the touchscreen (we don't have a threaded event pool),

I'm aware that trying to support most e-ink devices from KO pov is a lot of work, but I'd like to document specific android bugs, specially if reproducible across different devices/platforms.

Thanks!

[fllc]

@pazos: Kobo is too expensive. The large Nook appears to be a pretty good deal for the hardware and ergonomics. I noted all of your warnings. It's not that I am looking for a device to run KO, it's that I found a nice device with unusable (for me) software.

There are two critically important issues for me in a modern ereader (assuming light, screen quality, reliability, battery, weight, form factor, etc are all satisfactory): dictionaries and proper directory/file structure support. Kindle is fantastic (actually the best) for dictionaries, but completely fails on file organization. I usually use Kindle native reader for English language books, but often resort to KO for other languages because of the difficulties in finding the right book among hundreds.

Nook is a total failure on both.

KO is great for file organization. It is OK for dictionaries.

(I read in multiple languages, and use multiple dictionaries for each language.)


@Pajamaman: yes, I meant nook glowlight 3 7.8". Thank you for the pointers. I am very comfortable rooting/jailbreaking.

I thought about alreader (and ebookdroid) as well since I use it heavily on a tablet. My understanding (perhaps incorrect) is that eink devices require different build because of the limitations of CPU, etc. Also, I really don't know whether any of these android apps handle buttons and light on the Nook.

Thank you both.

[pazos]

The good thing of KO + Android is that you can use 3rd party dictionary apps like Colordict, Aard2, Quickdic or Goldendict.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by pazos

@Pajamaman: I'm interested. You have a few android brands, do you find the same level of unstability on all of them?.

Running it on a NOOK GL3. It's very stable. FWIR it was unstable on the old Nook Glowlight, and I've read it's unstable on Onxy. But on the GL3 it's a champ. It's my new go to ereader. I got used to it on a Kindle, and I find it the best. I've set up the screen to work like an Android ereader.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by pazos

The good thing of KO + Android is that you can use 3rd party dictionary apps like Colordict, Aard2, Quickdic or Goldendict.

My dictionaries on Koreader on the Kindle lose all the carriage returns. I'll try it on GL3.

[fllc]

So I bought the Nook Glowlight + 7.8" for $170 + tax. Very nice hardware.

I rooted it and installed ReLaunchX, KOReader, ALreader, f-droid, a couple of other reader apps and misc apps.

Took a while (a lot of reading) to set-up ReLaunchX properly...

The buttons do not work with KOReader (or any other reader). I tried both the latest nightly and the f-droid version. The left lower button acts like a menu. All other buttons have no effect.

ReLaunchX and/or KOReader are really nice and easy to use to traverse the directory tree. I haven't figured out yet where to move my huge collection of dictionaries in the Android KOReader.

Once I installed launcher(s), the automatic sleep became unreliable. The battery life is horrible. Not sure if it's a side effect of rooting/launcher/apps or Nook itself.

I like the fact that I can customize the nook. I like the screen. I am disappointed in everything else.

I think a perfect device would be Kindle with ReLaunchX!

I really would like to get the buttons to work in KOreader. I can help with testing.

[Pajamaman]

Originally Posted by fllc

So I bought the Nook Glowlight + 7.8" for $170 + tax. Very nice hardware.

I rooted it and installed ReLaunchX, KOReader, ALreader, f-droid, a couple of other reader apps and misc apps.

Took a while (a lot of reading) to set-up ReLaunchX properly...

The buttons do not work with KOReader (or any other reader). I tried both the latest nightly and the f-droid version. The left lower button acts like a menu. All other buttons have no effect.

ReLaunchX and/or KOReader are really nice and easy to use to traverse the directory tree. I haven't figured out yet where to move my huge collection of dictionaries in the Android KOReader.

Once I installed launcher(s), the automatic sleep became unreliable. The battery life is horrible. Not sure if it's a side effect of rooting/launcher/apps or Nook itself.

I like the fact that I can customize the nook. I like the screen. I am disappointed in everything else.

I think a perfect device would be Kindle with ReLaunchX!

I really would like to get the buttons to work in KOreader. I can help with testing.

I just did the same with a 6" glowlight 3. Runs fine. My battery life seems okay. Maybe our expectations are different? Open Android ereaders have much lower battery life than standard ereaders. Price you pay.

There is a version of fbreader on here compiled to handle the buttons.

Personally I find the buttons too loud. I have written a config in koreader to treat the whole screen to be a next page button, except for the center which is a menu button. Back page is a.swipe. I'll post it it when it's fully tested.

I finxdI have to sideload epubs via calibre or the reader doesn't like them. Do you get that? I can't just drag and drop.

The autosleep on mine seems okay.

I still use both launchers as a split launcher. So I choose everytime I hit home. I've also installed button savior (29_2.2.2) to make navigation and choosing launcher easier. I find this extremely useful. I'm happy with the setup.

The new nook is IMO a bit crap but the screen and comfort light are the best. I read with koreader with the orange light and reverse mode. Its amazing.

I think I read that koreader on Android uses goldendict. I haven't set it up yet. I'll do that next.

Surprised you don't like it. It is a limited slow device, but I accept that and just use koreader and glory in the heveanly screen. I'll post a picture.

[Pajamaman]

Set up goldendictfree with koreader and bgl dictionaries. Works great.

[pazos]

Originally Posted by fllc

I really would like to get the buttons to work in KOreader. I can help with testing.

You can. It's really easy. You need Android Debug Bridge (aka adb) installed on your computer and your nook hooked to usb. Then just start KOReader normally and run the following command:

adb logcat KOReader:* *:S

You'll see a lot of log messages. Each time you press a button, recognized or not, it will be logged with a number. Press each button a few times until you manage to recognize the number associated with the button. Once you have the numbers of every button you can create your own event mapping following https://github.com/koreader/koreader...customize-keys.

See the first example and replace 27 with the number your system reported when you pressed the "next" key. You need to exit and start KOReader again. Once you tested that the key works you can do the same with the rest of buttons.

I think nook button keycodes are incompatible with default android ones. In any case feel free to post your button numbers here as we can update the wiki.

@Pajamaman: thanks for the feedback!!

[fllc]

@pazos: I tried adb logcat KOReader:* *:S

It displays a bunch of messages regarding startup of koreader but does not display any additional lines on any clicks or touches.

[pazos]

Oh, my bad. I always work with debug builds where all these verbose messages are enabled at launch.

You need to enable debug logs in tools -> developer options. Then you'll see something like

key event => type: 1, code: 24(LPgBack), value: 0, time: 1575236947.899649