NickelMenu: An integrated launcher for Kobo eReaders

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Out of curiosity, why would you want to change the setting in the config file without changing the physical light level as well? I suppose you could launch vi and use that to edit the file using a NickelMenu entry but not sure if that could work since NM seems to launch a background process and I don't think Kobo pre-installs fg or equivalent.

Do you think a reboot would be needed if the config was edited for the light level? Or is there another way to get the config reread without a reboot?

[John F]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Out of curiosity, why would you want to change the setting in the config file without changing the physical light level as well? I suppose you could launch vi and use that to edit the file using a NickelMenu entry but not sure if that could work since NM seems to launch a background process and I don't think Kobo pre-installs fg or equivalent.

I am changing the physical light level using NickelMenu.

[John F]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Out of curiosity, why would you want to change the setting in the config file without changing the physical light level as well? I suppose you could launch vi and use that to edit the file using a NickelMenu entry but not sure if that could work since NM seems to launch a background process and I don't think Kobo pre-installs fg or equivalent.

And just to be clear, I don't want to launch vi and then have to type something in; I just want to to be able to set the current light level in the Kobo config file, without typing in a value.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by John F

And just to be clear, I don't want to launch vi and then have to type something in; I just want to to be able to set the current light level in the Kobo config file, without typing in a value.

Lets say you can do that, how would you get the Kobo to reread the config other then rebooting?

[Aleron Ives]

You could edit the config file, but you can also adjust the frontlight with sysfs and uh... ioctl I think? It doesn't make much sense to do any of those things, since the number of taps would be about the same as just using Nickel's existing frontlight sliders.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

You could edit the config file, ...

Could you give 5he necessary entries for Nicklemenu to edit the config file. P&T.

[NiLuJe]

I'm roughly 85.42% sure that modifying the config file behind Nickel's back *while* Nickel is running will not, in fact, achieve anything (it's holding the serialized state in memory, the config file is just there for persistence).

In any case, if you feel like wasting a bit of time, the key is called `FrontLightLevel` (assuming the frontlight was actually *touched* in the UI at one point, I seem to recall the key being absent on stock & untouched installs), so bit of sed trickery should do it. Unlike warmth, the scale is obvious (0-100).

[John F]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

I'm roughly 85.42% sure that modifying the config file behind Nickel's back *while* Nickel is running will not, in fact, achieve anything (it's holding the serialized state in memory, the config file is just there for persistence).

In any case, if you feel like wasting a bit of time, the key is called `FrontLightLevel` (assuming the frontlight was actually *touched* in the UI at one point, I seem to recall the key being absent on stock & untouched installs), so bit of sed trickery should do it. Unlike warmth, the scale is obvious (0-100).

So sed could be used through Nickelmenu?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

You could edit the config file, but you can also adjust the frontlight with sysfs and uh... ioctl I think? It doesn't make much sense to do any of those things, since the number of taps would be about the same as just using Nickel's existing frontlight sliders.

It makes sense as it's not easy to adjust the light to get the exact number.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

I'm roughly 85.42% sure that modifying the config file behind Nickel's back *while* Nickel is running will not, in fact, achieve anything (it's holding the serialized state in memory, the config file is just there for persistence).

In any case, if you feel like wasting a bit of time, the key is called `FrontLightLevel` (assuming the frontlight was actually *touched* in the UI at one point, I seem to recall the key being absent on stock & untouched installs), so bit of sed trickery should do it. Unlike warmth, the scale is obvious (0-100).

Do you know if we can use decimal point to get a light level between two whole numbers?

[-stepan-]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

You could edit the config file, but you can also adjust the frontlight with sysfs and uh... ioctl I think? It doesn't make much sense to do any of those things, since the number of taps would be about the same as just using Nickel's existing frontlight sliders.

Because if you read at night without external lighting, then you have found the optimal frontlight level for yourself - for example, 12% and dark mode. This can be done in the NM - turn it on and off. Using the slider to set exactly 12% every time is inconvenient. But, unlike the slider, when frontlight level is set in NM, the set values are not saved after the reader sleep and wake up. If you use the slider, they are saved.

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by John F

So sed could be used through Nickelmenu?

You can execute any arbitrary command through NickelMenu's cmd_output and cmd_spawn, including shell scripts that you write and put in /mnt/onboard/.adds/. You're just limited to commands included in BusyBox, since Kobo doesn't run a full-scale Linux distro.

[John F]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

You can execute any arbitrary command through NickelMenu's cmd_output and cmd_spawn, including shell scripts that you write and put in /mnt/onboard/.adds/. You're just limited to commands included in BusyBox, since Kobo doesn't run a full-scale Linux distro.

Did you answer my question? Is sed included in busybox?

If I wrote a program and put it in .../.adds could I execute it through NM?

And if someone could provide the sed line for NM, that would be much appreciated.

[NiLuJe]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Do you know if we can use decimal point to get a light level between two whole numbers?

No, you can't. The only device with finer-grained frontlight control was the Aura One.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

No, you can't. The only device with finer-grained frontlight control was the Aura One.

Thanks for that.