Halide Stones

How to Manually Install NickelMenu, KOReader and Plato on Kobo

Contents

  1. Start from Scratch & Skip Kobo Activation (Optional)
  2. Nickelmenu
  3. KOReader
  4. Plato

Most people will find difficult to locate and follow most instructions needed to install any of the software mentioned in the title (Nickelmenu, KOReader and Plato). They will even find more difficult to install each one of them manually without the need of the "one-click install" package that will surely fail or install other software that they might not want.

This tutorial will explain how to install this software manually.

Start from Scratch & Skip Kobo Activation (Optional)

In the case you want to start from scratch you can follow the next set of instructions. This process will permanently delete all your library files, reset your Kobo database, highlights and custom settings in order to "start from scratch". Make sure to backup everything before resetting.

Some extensions (Nickelmenu) can persist between factory resets, make sure to uninstall every extension you have previously installed.

  1. Navigate to your Homescreen
  2. Click the 3 lines icon found at the bottom of the screen
  3. Navigate Settings > Factory Reset > Reset now
  4. Wait until your Kobo restarts (this might take 1 minute)
  5. Press the power button behind your Kobo to start the configuration process, click your preferred Language and do not continue with the Wi-Fi setup.
  6. Plug your Kobo into your computer
  7. Navigate and find the Koboreader.config located at .kobo/Kobo/, make sure your file explorer lists "hidden folders"
  8. Open the file with a text editor program, locate the [ApplicationPreferences]section within the file and write a new line below : SideloadedMode=true
  9. Safely eject the Kobo from your computer and hold the power button until it restarts.

Delete Preview Books (Calibre)

You might also want to delete the "preview" books that Kobo fills your library with as these files are also indexed in the "Author" page of the Library.

  1. Plug your Kobo into your computer
  2. Open Calibre
  3. Once Calibre detects and lists your device, navigate to Device (click the arrow beside the button with the same name) > Configure this Device > Metadata, on device & advanced > Check the "Show Previews"
  4. Restart Calibre
  5. Now when browsing the books saved in your Kobo, you will see a lot of dummy files, select all these files and delete them.

Nickelmenu

  1. Download the Nickelmenu installer from the official website (KoboRoot.tgz).
  2. Plug your Kobo into your computer
  3. Paste this downloaded file inside the Kobo folder: .kobo/Kobo/, make sure your file explorer lists "hidden folders"
  4. Wait until the Kobo successfully restarts on its own.
  5. There will be a new menu item in the bottom-right named "Nickelmenu"
  6. You can proceed to install one of the two readers

KOReader

  1. Download the latest KOReader release for Kobo devices (it will have a name similar to koreader-kobo-*, in the case your Kobo is running the 5.x firmware branch, download the koreader-kobov5-v*)
  2. Plug your Kobo into your computer
  3. Extract the contents of the KOReader .zip file into the .adds folder of your Kobo device
  4. Open the Kobo configuration file located at .kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf with a text editor program
  5. Add the following lines at the end of the document, make sure there aren't stray empty files at the end of the lines:
[FeatureSettings]
ExcludeSyncFolders=(\\.(?!kobo|adobe).+|([^.][^/]*/)+\\..+)
  1. Create a new file, .adds/nm/koreader without extension and add the following lines:
menu_item:main:KOReader:cmd_spawn:quiet:exec /mnt/onboard/.adds/koreader/koreader.sh
  1. Safely eject the Kobo
  2. You will find a new entry in the Nickelmenu menu named KOReader

Plato

  1. Download the latest Plato release
  2. Plug your Kobo into your computer
  3. Extract the folder of the Plato .zip file, rename the extracted folder to "plato" and move it to your .adds folder.
  4. Open the Kobo configuration file located at .kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf with a text editor program
  5. Add the following lines at the end of the document, make sure there aren't stray empty files at the end of the lines (if you have done this with KOReader, skip this step):
[FeatureSettings]
ExcludeSyncFolders=(\\.(?!kobo|adobe).+|([^.][^/]*/)+\\..+)
  1. Create a new file, .adds/nm/plato without extension and add the following lines:
menu_item : main : Plato : cmd_spawn : quiet : exec /mnt/onboard/.adds/plato/plato.sh
  1. Safely eject the Kobo
  2. You will find a new entry in the Nickelmenu menu named Plato

#english #guide #kobo