Ben Tasker

New #Documentation: Installing #KOReader onto a #Kobo

Having gone to the effort of setting up Booklore, I realised that its Kobosync was unable to send PDFs to the Kobo :(

This post talks about installing KOReader onto the Kobo so that #ebooks (and PDFs) can be pulled using OPDS (opening up access to things like Project Gutenberg in the process)

It also goes through installing #NickelMenu so that menu items can be customised

https://www.bentasker.co.uk/posts/documentation/general/setting-up-koreader-on-a-kobo.html

Installing KOReader onto a Kobo

Short post detailing how to install KOReader onto a Kobo, providing the means to wirelessly sync PDFs to and from the device as you would with standard ebooks

www.bentasker.co.uk
Mar 1 at 4:45pmWeb
Show threadMike BellMar 9
@ben This is perfect timing! I've been doing something similar and had an email (form @markpitblado) recommending your blog. Thinking of getting a Kobo reader to replace my beaten up kindle. Thanks for the posts on this and booklore.
Show threadBen TaskerMar 9

@mikebell @markpitblado Oh nice, let me know you get on!

I'd _definitely_ recommend getting a Kobo to replace the kindle.

Booklore's continued to do what I need of it, though the RAM usage still bugs me.

I've also grown a _little_ concerned by Booklore's release cadence - it feels a little high and seems to involve a fair bit of fixing the previous release. On the other hand, it means it's actively getting better so 🤷

Show threadMike BellMar 9

@ben nice! I just grabbed the Kobo Clara Colour so looking forward to trying it out. I'm pretty happy with my Calibre/Calibre-web OPDS workflow but if I can simplify it I'll try anything.

I can see claude user has been active in the repo so I'm a bit wary of using booklore now.

Show threadMike BellMar 9
@ben ah looks like my biggest use case (renaming/file management) isn't possible due to my setup - https://github.com/booklore-app/BookLore?tab=readme-ov-file#%EF%B8%8F-network-storage-nas--nfs--smb--cifs
GitHub - booklore-app/booklore: BookLore: A self-hosted, multi-user digital library with smart shelves, auto metadata, Kobo & KOReader sync, BookDrop imports, OPDS support, and a built-in reader for EPUB, PDF, and comics.

BookLore: A self-hosted, multi-user digital library with smart shelves, auto metadata, Kobo & KOReader sync, BookDrop imports, OPDS support, and a built-in reader for EPUB, PDF, and comics. - b...

GitHub
Show threadBen TaskerMar 9
@mikebell Ah, yeah - I keep the library on the host's SSD and then periodically rsync to NFS as a backup
Show threadBen TaskerMar 9
@mikebell AIUI, Calibre-Web (https://github.com/janeczku/calibre-web) has a Kobo plugin so is probably worth looking at (despite having Booklore up and running I'm still quite tempted to play around with it)
GitHub - janeczku/calibre-web: :books: Web app for browsing, reading and downloading eBooks stored in a Calibre database

:books: Web app for browsing, reading and downloading eBooks stored in a Calibre database - janeczku/calibre-web

GitHub
Show threadMike BellMar 9
@ben will take a look at the kobo plugin, I'm pretty happy with my KoReader and OPDS setup at the moment. I do recommend giving Calibre-web a go even if you bounce off it, it has a really nice UI.
Show threadJames6d ago
@ben Hi, I was going to comment that there had been some huge drama regarding Booklore on Reddit in the last week which the main developer wasn't handling too well. I just went to find the link and there's this: https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1rvmpnv/booklore_is_gone/
From a quick skim it looks like it has been forked, but you might want to have a look.
Show threadJames6d ago
@ben If you don't want to visit Reddit, after a big stooshie mainly regarding AI coding, which got quite heated, with much throwing the toys out of the pram and wiping the Discord it looks like the github repo has been also been nuked.
Show threadBen Tasker6d ago

@james Yup, someone else pinged me earlier too - I'd completely missed it all :(

It does add up though, I commented somewhere recently to say I was a bit worried by Booklore's rapid release cadence and frequent introduction of new bugs - I did think AI tooling was probably enabling that.

It's unfortunate to lose it as a project, but I think, although I'll keep an eye on the fork, I'll probably head to calibre-web next

Show threadJames6d ago
@ben Yeah, somewhere buried deep in a massive pile-on there were glimmers of an interesting debate around AI 'assisted' coding Vs vibe coding, open source licensing etc etc. But it was buried _deep_.
I liked Booklore, but I use an ancient tablet as an ebook reader and having a few folders on Nextcloud probably does all I need.