Power Tip: Logos on e-ink with page turn buttons working!

I recently got a Boyue T63 e-reader device to run Verbum / Logos, thanks to the advice of Mark Nolette. I am very happy with how it runs Verbum, but was disappointed to see the physical page turn buttons don’t work.

I found out how to make them work, however! Click on the image below to see a brief video demonstrating me using the hardware buttons to flip pages forward and backward in Verbum:

In this post, I’ll explain how I did it. Hopefully this method will work for other e-reader brands as well (some of the steps will likely need to be adapted – feel free to follow up in this post with questions about how to do so).

Steps to make the Page Turn buttons work with Logos / Verbum on the Boyue T63

NOTE: This process involves rooting the Boyue T63, which may void your warranty. Do so at your own risk.

OVERVIEW: After rooting the device (necessary for this to work), we’re going to install and configure some apps which will allow us to “remap” the hardware buttons, so that pressing them will replicate what we do when we physically tap the right-hand or left-hand side of the screen, causing Logos / Verbum to flip pages!

Install the necessary software:

Root the Boyue T63 following the instructions here. As part of the process, following the instructions in the forum post, install the Google Play Store, and the Nova Launcher, but don’t install the Xposed Installer yet.
Install Tasker from the Google Play Store. It costs a few dollars.
After installing Tasker, install the Xposed Installer, using the T6x Toolkit you used in step 1. This installs the XPosed Framework and XPosed Installer.
Once you’ve installed the XPosed Installer, download version 3.4.1 of the Xposed Additions from here and install it on the T63. This program allows the XPosed Framework to remap the hardware button commands. It is an older version of the app (newer versions don’t work on the T63), so we have to side-load it to install it. To do so:
1. Connect the T63 by USB cable to your computer.
2. Copy the Xposed Additions file you downloaded to the Android --> Downloads folder.
3. Disconnect the T63 from the USB cable.
4. Open the Downloads folder on the T63, and click on the Xposed Additions APK file to install it.
Install Xposed Additions Pro from the Google Play store, available here. It costs a few dollars. We need the "Pro" add-on because we need the integration with Tasker to make this work.

Basic configuration of the apps:

We need to configure Tasker to accept commands from the XPosed Additions. To do so:
1. Open Tasker
2. Select the three dots on the upper right, then Preferences
3. Go the “Misc” tab
4. Activate the option “Allow External Access”
5. Press the back button to save changes
Activate the XPosed Additions:
1. Open XPosed Installer
2. Tap on the “Modules” option.
3. Check the Xposed Additions to activate it (NOTE: If the T63 asks you in a pop-up if it is okay to grant the program root access here or in other moments throughout this installation, you’ll need to say OK for it to work).
4. Reboot the T63.

Create actions in Tasker to simulate tapping on the far right, or far left of the screen

Open Tasker
Activate the “Tasks” tab if it isn’t already

Create a Left tap action:

Press the + button on the bottom center
Type the name “Left tap” and tap on the check mark to save
Press the + button in the bottom center to add a new action
Select the Action Category “Code”
Select the Code Action “Run Shell”
In the command box, type “input tap 15 700” (without the quotation marks). This is a command which will tap on the screen, 15 pixels from the far left, and 700 pixels from the top.
Check the “Use Root” option
Press back two times to save changes and return to the Tasks menu.

Create a Right tap action – Repeat the above process, with the name “Right tap”, and in the command box, type “input tap 1030 700”

Remap the hardware buttons using Xposed Additions:

Open the app “Xposed Additions”
Tap on “Buttons”
Tap on Allow External Devices. Activate “Miscellaneous” and tap OK.

Remap the right button:

Tap on “Add new Key”
A dialogue box will appear. Press the right hardware button on your T63. The words “Page Down” should appear in the dialogue box. Tap on OK.
Tap on the newly created “Page Down” key to open it
Tap on “Add new Condition”
Tap on “Screen on”
Tap on the newly created “Screen on” condition to open it.
Activate the "Click" option by checking the box on the right.
Tap on “Click” to configure what happens when you click the button
Scroll to the bottom, and choose “Tasker: Select a task from Tasker”
Tap on the “Right tap” action we had created in Tasker
If you like, configure the “Long Press” option as well by activating it, then tapping on it. I use “Recent Applications.”
Press the back button twice to return to the “Buttons” page

Remap the left button – Do the same process as for the right button, but choosing the “Left tap” task from Tasker. For the “Long Press” button, I use the “Back” button.

Optional: Add, and remap the button on the bottom of the T63 using the same process. I have it set to go to “Home” on click. “Long Press” doesn’t seem to work with this button.

Grant the new actions "root" permission - When you press the right and left hardware button for the first time after remapping them, a popup will appear, asking if you want to grant root permission. You need to grant the access for this to work.

Open Verbum / Logos and enjoy!

I hope I remembered all the steps correctly! This is not for the fainthearted, but if you don’t mind experimenting with your device, having the hardware buttons working adds a lot to the Verbum / Logos e-reader experience!

And… maybe, just maybe, this post will motivate Faithlife to make an e-reader optimized version, with hardware buttons supported OOTB. Wink

Find more posts tagged with

Mobile App

Comments

Mark Nolette

Ah, Xposed and Tasker! I didn't try Xposed on my T63. I've used it on other devices I have had. I'll give this a whirl. Thanks!

Mark Nolette

Well, I gave it a try. Everything seemed to install properly. The one problem I am seeing is when I get to #7 under "Remap the right button". I tap on "click", and nothing happens,

As far as I can tell, you haven't left out any steps in the process. I made sure I followed each step as you presented it. I tap "click" and I can see that the tap registers on the screen, but no options appear afterwards; nothing to scroll down with!

Somehow, Tasker and Xposed Additions are having a failure to communicate, but I haven't found the reason yet. Maybe you ran into this in your own efforts before you solved it. If not, I'll try again when I have the chance!

Edit: I found what I was missing. I had to check the box next to "Click" first, and then touch "click" to see the options. Then everything works! I also made one adjustment in your instructions. Instead of "screen on", I went to the list of applications and chose "Verbum", so that the change would work only in Verbum.

This same procedure also works for the Onyx Boox C67ML Carta 2, for anyone who's interested!

Fr Devin Roza

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/886627#Comment_886627

Well, I gave it a try. Everything seemed to install properly. The one problem I am seeing is when I get to #7 under "Remap the right button". I tap on "click", and nothing happens,

I just took a look at this, and it looks like I missed a step. I just edited the instructions, and hopefully they're correct now.

For the submenu of "Click" to appear when you tap on it, you first have to tap on the check box which appears on the right of the "Click" option. Once the check box is selected, then tapping on "Click" will open up the options. If the check box isn't selected first, tapping on "Click" won't do anything.

Give that a try and see if it works.

Fr Devin Roza

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/886627#Comment_886627

Edit: I found what I was missing. I had to check the box next to "Click" first, and then touch "click" to see the options. Then everything works! I also made one adjustment in your instructions. Instead of "screen on", I went to the list of applications and chose "Verbum", so that the change would work only in Verbum.

This same procedure also works for the Onyx Boox C67ML Carta 2, for anyone who's interested!

Glad that worked, and happy you got it working on the Boox C67ML as well!!

I thought about setting the options for Verbum only, but I've seen that the device can really only handle one app at a time... so I am going to use it ONLY for Verbum. I just keep Verbum always open, and I've uninstalled everything else.

I've found that doing so made the performance of the device very quick (while when I tried to run multiple apps it quickly got bogged down).

Mark Nolette

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/886641#Comment_886641

Yes, these devices have limited RAM and CPU speed, so they can't handle too much at once. I sometimes need to open the window that displays all open apps and shut down everything except Verbum for best performance. But they are great for reading, and worth the extra effort!

Mark Nolette

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/886649#Comment_886649

For those who prefer to scroll a resource up or down, the buttons can be remapped to simulate a swipe up or down. You can remap the right hardware button as "swipe up" by doing something like this: input swipe 600 1100 600 300. The left button can be remapped as "swipe down" by: input swipe 600 300 600 1100. You can tweak the Y coordinates (the second and fourth numbers) to increase or decrease the difference between them, thus increasing or decreasing the scroll.

Just another option!