manta (ko)reader

this TD;LR write-up covers KOReader on the new SuperNote A5X2 or Manta. This is not so much an installation guide, as a collection of companion notes to the detailed Kobo KOReader installation write-ups..

Grokking KOReader

KOReader Settings

outlining Manta specific settings and issues resulting from its differing hardware and size.

From a settings perspective, most of my Kobo settings (gestures, in particular) have been copied (with some device specific actions specific to the Kobo being removed or pass through) to maintain a uniform UX across devices.

Gesture control is one of the compelling features of KOReader which elevates the reading experience, placing navigation, book information and reading data at your fingertips. Over time, it is easy to tailor KOReader into a highly personalized UX.

the A5X

During the year long wait for the highly anticipated A5X2, side loading of Android APK’s was made available and KOReader immediately made it’s way onto my A5X without a hitch providing the level of layout control i require of my ereading devices.

Equal to the task, Calibre was able to detect the SuperNote and permit management of epubs and their metadata on it, for use by KOReader.

KOReader still required some patching to achieve my needs but would have to wait. The 4GB storage space (shared with notes) limited the A5X’s use as a dedicated ereader (for my purposes, with a substantial library maintained across several KOReader devices and uninterested in managing per device catalogues).

the manta

Its 32GB of storage and micro SD card expansion open up the A5X2’s possibilities as a dedicated ereader device, especially with the bump in resolution to 300PPI—the A5X still perfectly legible even at small font sizes with its 226PPI screen.

Performance also gains a bump with the new SOC and the jump from Android 8 to 11 is potentially beneficial for some side loaded apps.

Overall, though, for the devices’ purposed note taking function, the utility of the two SuperNote devices remain largely on par, save for some of the UI enhancements resulting from the updated design (such as, dual sidebars)—part of Ratta’s laudable anti-obsolescence strategy.

micro SD card expansion

is straightforward (from Ratta’s videos), if not requiring some nimble dexterity to remove the back panel. To make things much simpler (pour moi), i performed the following..

• using the corner of a credit card (the newer issues tend to be made of much thinner plastic now), pry up the bottom tab in the left corner indent and, working towards the right, release all the tabs
• the secret sauce here, is to now place a strip of stiff paper or thin cardboard underneath the length of the now released bottom panel section (to prevent the panel from reseating), freeing the hands for the next step (as opposed to Ratta’s method of grasping the bottom of the released panel to pull downwards—some may find this easy to do but i preferred not to stress the plastic).
• while holding two small pieces of duct tape, affix a portion of these near the top of the removable panel and pull downwards on the duct tape to slide the panel out of its side latches
• with the panel now removed, insert your micro SD card into a locked position (push in once to seat, once again to release if removing).
• align the side panel tabs starting from the top to the bottom, and carefully slide up and press shut, working your way down, finishing with seating the bottom edge flush with the back of the device.

You should now be able to see your micro SD card card in the settings > system > storage and as a folder in files.

The above approach should ensure the back panel avoids any unnecessary material stressing during removal (not that i would expect one to have to do this procedure often, if at all).

android koreader

on your computer, download the Androidr-ARM64 APK of KOReader. Assuming you have Android Tools adb installed, with your SuperNote connected via USB..

adb devices -L # to confirm SuperNote device connection adb install <KOReader APK>

KOReader should now be installed on your SuperNote device.

calibre integration

calibre by default configures itself to read/write to the Documents folder. This works flawlessly with the older A5X (i cannot speak to the A5X2 without micro SD card installed as i have not done so).

With the Manta and micro SD card installed, the top menu of Calibre will indicate it has auto-detected the device with two icons: Device and Card A (essentially the same). BUT it will report failing to write its driveinfo.calibre file (even though it has). No amount of configuring the Device or Card A (they are the same) to specify your folder of choice, file types, etc. will clear this error.

Rather than use Calibre’s autodetection, there is a much better way to connect to the Manta and it’s micro SD card. With Calibre closed, mount the SuperNote as an mtp device—you will have to refer to the appropriate documentation for your OS and install the requisite mtp tools.

On my system it is simply..

jmtpfs <mount directory>

under which mount directory would show..

• Internal shared storage (the inbuilt 32GB storage)
• micro SD card volume name (the micro SD card card storage)

As you are unlikely to be using your entire micro SD card for just ebooks, you may wish to create a folder to contain all Calibre exported books by..

mkdir <mount directory>/<calibre folder>

Launching Calibre, we can now manually configure access to the micro SD card with..

• Connect/share
• Connect to folder
• Choose your mtp mount point folder

One last Calibre step. Once you have connected Calibre to a folder, a device icon will appear in the top menu. With..

• Device
• Configure this device
• Deseselect (uncheck) Read metadata from the files on the device Since we are pushing our library to the SuperNote, we do not need to read its metadata back upon connecting Calibre to the micro SD card (which can take several minutes with a substantial library in place).

For subsequent updates to the onboard SuperNote ebook catalogue, we only need to..

• mount our SuperNote as an mtp device
• launch Calibre
• Connect/share
• Connect to folder

and use Calibre as you would for other dedicated ereader devices.

style plugins

to enable the range of font and line spacing settings i use on the Manta, custom user patches must first be installed in the patches subfolder of koreader. See the repos below.

Other patches achieve the “look” i prefer, rendering the promise of epublishing.

patch	description
2-dictionary-close-highlight-delay.lua	extend page recovery time
2-fontsize-linespacing.lua	increase maximum font/line spacing range
2-page-forward-buttons.lua	not applicable (no buttons!)
2-statusbar-font.lua	match header/footer font to document*
2-statusbar-progressbar.lua	increase status bar contrast
2-statusbar-separator.lua	replace Bar with Space
2-ui-font.lua	set Atkinson Hyperlegible as system font**

* Default font placed in folder koreader/fonts/<fontname>/.
** Atkinson Hyperlegible Font placed in folder koreader/fonts/.

koreader settings

For a uniform KOReader UX experience across multiple ereader devices, i configure the same settings described in the above Kobo KOReader write-ups. The Kobo front/warm light and reboot gestures become “pass through” actions for the Manta.

layout profiles

the manta lends itself to two column page layout format with its large display in both orientations. A bonus is the slightly larger font size to take in the significantly larger real estate from a greater distance..

2 column portrait

bottom > orientation > portrait rotation (0°) bottom > orientation > two columns > on bottom > font > font size > 9.0 bottom > document > line spacing > 235% bottom > margins > l/r margins > left: 30, right: 30 bottom > margins > top margin > 22 bottom > margins > bottom margin > 19

2 column landscape orientation

bottom > orientation > landscape rotation (90°) bottom > orientation > two columns > on bottom > font > font size > 9.0 bottom > document > line spacing > 235% bottom > margins > l/r margins > left: 25, right: 25 bottom > margins > top margin > 27 bottom > margins > bottom margin > 24

Note: as an aside, if you create a page layout “profile” (highly recommended) and have unsynced top/bottom margins, you must edit the profile and deselect or “uncheck” the profile’s “sync t/b margins”—setting to “off” behaves more like “toggle”—and have it “off” by default in your configuration settings.

touch zones

The Manta with its huge (coming from 7” ereaders) default touch zones—due to the generic nature of the Android KOReader versus Kobo builds which accommodate each model’s feature set—prevent long press highlight access to words near the corners.

Depending on one’s gesture settings, these large touch zones, unintentionally triggered can lead to unintended actions and a disrupted reading flow. This can be corrected by manually defining the tap zones in the defaults.custom.lua file..

-- /storage/emulated/0/koreader/defaults.custom.lua return { DTAP_ZONE_MENU = { x = 0, y = 0, h = 0.06, w = 1 },---top menu bar DTAP_ZONE_MENU_EXT = { x = 0.25, y = 0, h = 0.125, w = 0.5 }, DTAP_ZONE_CONFIG = { x = 0, y = 0.94, h = 0.06, w = 1 },---bottom layout bar DTAP_ZONE_CONFIG_EXT = { x = 0.25, y = 0.875, h = 0.125, w = 0.5 }, DTAP_ZONE_TOP_LEFT = { x = 0, y = 0, h = 0.055, w = 0.05 },---long press corners DTAP_ZONE_TOP_RIGHT = { x = 0.95, y = 0, h = 0.055, w = 0.05 }, DTAP_ZONE_BOTTOM_LEFT = { x = 0, y = 0.955, h = 0.045, w = 0.05 }, DTAP_ZONE_BOTTOM_RIGHT = { x = 0.95, y = 0.955, h = 0.045, w = 0.05 }, }

These values (decimal percentages) are tuned for the portrait profile illustrated above and the area of the display the text region occupies. Those not using long press gestures or preferring layouts with larger margin areas may not experience any unusual gesture actions—otherwise, tailor the percentages accordingly.

An alternative to this, is to create a gesture to (device) “toggle long press on corners” for those occasions when one needs “long press” access to the corners.

no light!

with all the above applied, the manta can gloriously take its place as a dedicated ereader when not in use as a note taking tool.

The acid test came with use at night under dim bedside lighting (and no lighting at all) with just a simple clip on 86Lux LED lamp. To my absolute surprise, i have found myself preferring this setup to using my Kobo and its inbuilt front/warm light.

Even at low frontlight levels, such lighting is still received as “glare”, as staring directly into a light source. Whereas, the Manta with its reflected light, does not.

Obviously, the Kobo in darkness, at whatever brightness level, presents a harsh “contrast” with its lit panel to the surrounding darkness of the room. Whereas, the less precise diffused LED lamp illuminates not only the entirety of the Manta but also to a degree its surroundings, creating a softly lit region which is far less taxing on the eyes.

There are probably many factors, including age, which play into this perception and its degree of difficulty. Suffice to say, i have found for myself, that i much prefer reading with the Manta whenever i can, daytime and night.

And that is the caveat: whenever. The Manta around the house is a no brainer. Outside on a summer’s day walking the dog.. probably not! But it is a wonderful choice to have.

repos

Patches
Tap Zones