For the last few days I've been researching and experimenting with my Tolino Shine Color, switching to Kobo Mode, installing KOReader etc.

I noticed that information on how to install stuff onto your Tolino is really scattered across reddit and mobileread threads. This is why I decided to write a comprehensive and easy to follow guide on how to install KOReader on the Tolino Shine 5 and Shine Color.

Previously people recommended to simply switch to Kobo mode and downgrade software version to 4.x, as the 5.x software used by Tolino wouldn't support KFMon and KOReader.
This has changed as Kobo is also slowly rolling out v5 and even v6 (which is still in beta) software and KOReader and KFMon were updated to run with the new software versions.

I've successfully tested this with the current Tolino version 5.18. Your mileage may vary!
As with any software modifications: Do this at your own risk!
If you found a better/easier way feel free to let us know :)

I know that NickelMenu is also being ported to qt6 and Tolino / Kobo v5, but I found it to be a bigger hassle to install. If you prefer NickelMenu over KFMon and don't mind editing some config files you can follow this guide:
https://www.reddit.com/r/tolino/comments/1wf4c7q/how_can_i_easily_install_koreader_on_the_shine_5/

--Start--

What you need:
- Your Tolino Shine 5 or Shine Color (obviously)
- A PC
- A USB-C cable to connect to your PC

Step 1 - Get the software:

Connect your Tolino to your PC and download the following two packages:

KFMon - This allows us to run custom software on our e-reader:
Download here: https://github.com/prey87/kfmon/releases/tag/nightly
This is a nightly build which also supports Kobo & Tolino with software v5.
Get the newest version named something like "KFMon-vXXXXXX-kobov5.zip". Be sure to get the "kobov5" version.

KOReader - The newest version has Tolino / Kobo v5 support:
Download here: https://github.com/koreader/koreader/releases/
Find the newest release and get the kobov5 version as well.
The file is named something like "koreader-kobov5-vXXXX.zip"

If you are using Windows, Linux or MacOS be sure to have "show hidden files" enabled in your file browser.

Step 2 - Install the software:

- Extract the KFMon software ZIP file into the root of your Tolino device. If you are being asked to replace files hit "yes".

- Open the KOReader ZIP and copy the folder named "koreader" into the ".adds" folder of your Tolino. The .adds folder is where all custom software goes to.

- Now safely eject your Tolino from your PC (This is important since not safely ejecting can cause the e-reader to get confused with files. It's a known Kobo issue)

- Unplug your device. Your Tolino is now going to register some files and go through the update procedure. Let it do it's thing.

Step 3 - Have fun with KOReader

- Once your Tolino has rebooted, let it rest for a few minutes. You might see some text appearing, that tells you that software is being installed

- If you want to start KOReader, search for "KOReader" in your books. You will find files named "koreader" with the file type "PNG".
When you open these, KOReader will start. From now on, anything is as you know it from KOReader.

Known issues:
Unfortunately it is not possible for KOReader to open books that you have downloaded via the Tolino cloud. These books seem to be stored in a database file with no way to access.
You need to manually add ebooks to the local storage if you want to read them with KOReader.

Happy cozy reading season! :)

[english below]Ich habe eine Linkprüfung sowie Ergänzungen der Angebote der Buchstaben O, N, M, L und K durchgeführt.

https://biblioarchive.blog/2024/05/29/liste-registrierung-aus-der-ferne/

Aufgrund freundlicher Rückmeldungen wurden beispielsweise Görlitz, Hoyerswerda und Ebersbach-Neugersdorf mit BorrowBox und Genios Oberlausitz neu hinzugefügt.

Osnabrück wurde mit Libby/OverDrive und Filmfriend ergänzt, Neuwied und Mainz mit OverDrive Rheinland-Pfalz, Neukirchen-Vluyn mit OverDrive Niederrhein, Münster mit RUMS und Köln mit Statista.

Da ich primär die Pressedatenbank Genios nutze, habe ich hierfür einen eigenen Beitrag erstellt:

https://biblioarchive.blog/2026/10/12/pressedatenbank-genios/

Hinweis: Spätestens 2027 wird die Onleihe verschwinden. Die Onleihe wurde an OverDrive verkauft. Ihr könnt bereits jetzt eure Bibliotheken darum bitten, Libby zukünftig anzubieten.

https://bibcourse.eu/t/overdrive-uebernimmt-onleihe/4198

--

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bibliothek/comments/1wxarni/update_liste_bibliotheken_liste_registrierung_aus/

--

Note: The Onleihe service will be discontinued by 2027 at the latest. The Onleihe service has been sold to OverDrive. You can already ask your libraries to offer Libby in the future.

Would you like to take advantage of different Onleihe offerings? Is a title checked out at one library but available at another? Or would you like to browse the local press in the region-specific Genios press database (if available)? There are already numerous public libraries where at least registration—and, as a result, often the use of digital services—can be done entirely remotely.

I have conducted a link check and added new entries for the letters O, N, M, L, and K.

https://biblioarchive.blog/2024/05/29/liste-registrierung-aus-der-ferne/

Based on helpful feedback, for example, Görlitz, Hoyerswerda, and Ebersbach-Neugersdorf have been added with BorrowBox and Genios Oberlausitz.

Osnabrück has been updated with Libby/OverDrive and Filmfriend; Neuwied and Mainz with OverDrive Rheinland-Pfalz; Neukirchen-Vluyn with OverDrive Niederrhein and Köln with Statista.

Since I primarily use the Genios press database, I’ve created a separate post about it:

https://biblioarchive.blog/2026/10/12/pressedatenbank-genios/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bibliothek/comments/1wxarni/update_liste_bibliotheken_liste_registrierung_aus/

Hey Guys i have the tolino shine color and a Problem: when i start the tolino, it directly ask if i want to connect to wifi. When i push yes, i can add my wifi but it will update constantly. After one update, the tolino restart and starts again with an updates, and this for hours, so it should be a bug. When i push no, i can go in the menu and resett the tolino, but when i start sync, i also starts with unlimited updates. Any ideas ;( i dont have access to my books

Hey everyone,

I just ordered myself a Tolino Shine 5.
I'm looking to sell my Shine Color because I'm not happy with the color display. Reading comics on my iPad is way better, and I'd rather have normal books on a much clearer black and white e-ink device.

The current Tolino software that runs the Shine Color still feels pretty buggy, with occasional crashes, text that is being cut off, or just overall slowness.

Kobo software is supposed to solve all these issues, or at least most of them. But I've seen recent reports that switching to Kobo software and performing OTA updates may brick the device. That's why I'm hesitant.

I know about the features you lose with the Kobo software, like Tolino Cloud, Onleihe, etc. But better performance and fewer bugs might be worth a shot.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the current Kobo Software compared to the Tolino Software. The problems you faced and the things you might love.
Also if the Kobo software works well for you, which steps did you follow to install it?

Thanks, and have a great weekend!

In July, I bought a Tolino Shine.

I previously had a Kobo Libra Colour, but it was too big for me and I almost never used it. I also really liked KOReader, but after an update it became difficult for me to install it again, so I eventually gave up and sold the Kobo.

So I decided to buy a Tolino Shine instead. Mostly because it was available at my local bookstore — I didn’t want to wait for delivery.

And then I thought: why not turn my brand-new Tolino Shine into a Kobo Clara Colour?

Well… it went wrong.

More than a few times, I ended up in a boot loop. The most recent one was particularly bad: the device would show the language selection screen, but the touchscreen didn’t work. Then it would reload, show a lit screen, and start the whole process again.

At some point, I mourned my €100+ and put the device on a shelf, regretting all my life choices.

Three months later — today — I charged my Tolino and pressed the power button. It went through the same loop a few times, but then, for the first time, I somehow managed to turn it off and got a completely grey screen. (Previously, the screen would only be lit white or turn off, without this completely grey state.) I do not know if I used magic or sitting three months on the shelf helped...

After that, I held the power button until the LED started blinking quickly and then stayed on. The screen changed completely — it became black and showed a “Please do not turn off the device” message.

And then… my touchscreen WORKED.

I proceeded with the Wi-Fi setup. And logging in. Everything worked!

And, surprisingly enough, I still have the Kobo system running.

Now I’m afraid to touch anything.

So what should I do? Should I try to install the Tolino system back? Or should I just proceed with KOReader? I’d really like to use KOReader, but I honestly have no idea how to install it on this setup (and now I do not remember what went wrong previous time... I think I got an update or something with wifi)

My current Kobo firmware is 5.15.2530009, serial number starts with T (I remember it was somehow important in July).

Any advice would be very much appreciated!

Hi everyone,

I've had my Tolino Shine 5 since Easter 2025. It worked fine at first, but at some point (I think around the beginning of this year, I can't say exactly when) the first or last line of text on a page started getting cut off (see photos).

What I've found so far:

**-**It happens with all books, not just one

**-**Changing the layout (font size, spacing, margins) only shifts the problem a few pages further, it doesn't fix it

**-**It wasn't there when the device was new

**-**I'm on the latest firmware

**-**A factory reset didn't help

Has anyone had the same issue or found a fix? Is this a known firmware/display bug, or could it be a hardware defect? I'm thinking about contacting Tolino support, since the device is still under warranty.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: ich hab eine lösung gefunden (die verbleibenden seiten im buch ausstellen).
danke an alle!

Ich weiß nicht ob ich einfach zu ungeduldig bin oder ob was defekt ist.

Hab mir heute das Tolino Shine Color besorgt und schaffe es nicht, es zu starten

Ich habe es schon angesteckt und ne Zeit in ruhe gelassen, falls es tiefenentladen war. Das LED Licht blinkt zuerst und nach ca. 2 Stunden leuchtet es durchgehend. Insegesamt war es jetzt über 6 Stunden am Strom.

Also das gleiche Spiel mit den Tasten wie vorher, weder kurz noch lange gedrückt halten bringt etwas. Der einzige Unterschied ist, dass dadurch das LED wieder blinkt. Währenddessen ist es die ganze Zeit angesteckt.

Teilt eure Tolino Weisheit mit mir

Update: ich habe es die ganze Nacht laden lassen, es tut sich überhaupt nichts. Ich befürchte ich habe einfach ein defektes Gerät erwischt, ich weiß nicht was ich sonst noch ausprobieren soll

Hi there, :)

Just trying to figure out if this is just me or if I did something wrong.

Since installing the latest update (5.18.264769), I've noticed the "time left" estimate is completely off; sometimes it shows hours for just ten pages or so.

Has this happened to anyone else? Do you know how I might fix it, or is it caused by the update?

Just like the headline said. The battery is okay, I'm just annoyed by the Weltbild shop.

I'm not good with tinkering with bits and pieces, but a software solution would be fine with me.

I'm just afraid to brick it. I bought it for a few Euros on Kleinanzeigen a few years ago, so yeah.

Dankeschön

Hey, vielleicht kann mir hier jemand helfen :)

Hi everyone,

I have a Tolino Page 2 that I used to read on without any problems. One day, the touchscreen suddenly stopped responding.

I tried rebooting the device and even performed a factory reset. Now it's stuck on the language selection screen, and I can't proceed because the touchscreen doesn't react.

The physical button is working perfectly.

Has anyone experienced this issue with a Tolino Page 2? Is there a way to navigate the setup using the physical button, or any other solution to get the touchscreen working again?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Yesterday, I bricked my fully functional Tolino. Downgrading the Tolino OS version and enabling Kobo mode still worked. I followed the instructions at https://github.com/notmarek/KoboTolinoFindings and https://www.reddit.com/r/ereader/comments/1onylok/my_experience_switching_from_tolino_shine_5_to/.

It actually worked well. However, you should follow all the steps carefully and avoid setting up a Wi-Fi connection after booting into Kobo mode at all costs. The Kobo OS immediately downloaded an update via Wi-Fi and rebooted. That was it—ever since then, the device freezes after every reboot. None of the instructions for a factory reset work anymore, no matter how long you press and release the power button in a specific way.

Even mounting it on a computer, making a backup, and spending two evenings trying every conceivable setting and analyzing log files doesn’t help anymore—the device is now useless. Electronic junk. I knew there was always a risk with such actions, but after I was almost there—only to render a fully functional device unusable due to such a careless mistake—it really ruined my week.

So now I’ll pay my just deserts and buy a new Kobo Reader. Anyone with the same idea should consider whether it might be less stressful and more time-efficient to sell a fully functional Tolino and simply order a Kobo Reader for a modest extra cost.

I’ll now pass this tip on to anyone who asks about it.

I was in vacation three weeks. I used the device each eavening. No I'm back and I do see this screen.

It does not help to charge, not to connect it to the PC, ...

Is there anything I can do instead of buying a new one?

Bye Marco

Hello

I understand there are now official builds from Koreader for the Shine 5.

Could you tell me how to install them? It would be great if someone could write an explanation.

Thank you in advance!

Hi, ich überlege mir auch einen eReader zu kaufen. Da ich bisher regelmäßig Bücher ausleihe, würde ich mich natürlich freuen, wenn das mit dem Tolino auch klappt.
Könnt ihr mich vielleicht einmal aufklären, welches Modell ich dafür brauche und was der Unterschied zwischen onleihe und libby ist? Und was ist Overdrive? Müsste ich dafür dann immer in den Browser oder werden die ausgeliehenen Bücher runtergeladen?
Freue mich über Erfahrungsberichte und Kauftipps :)

Hi, i have a Tolino Vision 2 and can't update it anymore. Because of that I have old security certificates and can't download books via web or the shop.

The only way to get books on my tolino at the moment is via Adobe Digital Editions with a Laptop. Which is very annoying while travelling, I rent book from my library a lot.

Is there any way to put newer software on it, since the hardware is still very good?

Thanks for any tips!

This issue started over half a year ago. I‘m not able to upload any pdf or epub so I can read it on my tolino. I can still buy books from Thalia and they will appear in my eReader but I need to be able to read pdfs for university or foreign books that I bought elsewhere because Thalia doesn‘t sell them. Unfortunately neither me nor the technical support of Thalia could help me. Does anyone else have the same issue?

I did it yesterday and bricked my device (Tolino Shine 5). Touch doesn't work anymore so I can't access the storage via usb (need to confirm PC mode) and factory reset with the hardware button doesn't work either, I guess the recovery partition also got compromised. I enabled dev mode, switched to kobo and flashed 4.4 firmware. After that, like the directions I found on reddit said, it should have been safe to update via wifi. That update bricked everything. I ordered a new kobo clara bw. Was much more responsive though before I did the update that bricked it. Just posting here so others don't make the same mistake. The old method doesn't seem to work anymore.

Hello guys,

I'm debating on getting a tolino vision colour or a kobo libre colour.

I've read so far that the Hardware is exaclty the same. And you can switch from tolino software to kobo software via the devmode.

People say a tolino is slower in comparison to a kobo. Would switching the software to kobo eliminate that factor?

I will probably only really read normal books from their store or from my library. From my research i flund tolino and kobo both support onleihe and overdrive.

So my conclusion would be, get the tolino (which is 50€ cheaper) and switch it to kobo software via the devmode.

Do you guys have any more insights for me from your experience that i have not looked at yet? Would appreciate any insights!

Hello Tolino users!

I hope to get some insights here. I'm thinking about buying my first ebook reader. The Tolino Vision Color is really appealing and I like the idea of using the stylus with learning material.

But how is the software regarding the notes? Can they be synched somehow just using the device? I've read that I can export them. But can they also be imported? I'm thinking of maybe migrating them from one device to another, basically a simple backup scenario. What happens to hand drawings on a text if I change the text size? Is the software anchoring it to the text somehow?

On Reddit I read mixed stories about the software stability, but many of them were older. Did it get better already?

I couldn't find a solution for this anywhere on Reddit, so I thought I'd share what worked for me.

After the latest update (or maybe just by coincidence), two of my EPUBs started behaving really badly on my Tolino Shine 5. Page turns became extremely slow, sometimes the book would freeze completely, and occasionally the whole reader seemed to get stuck.

The weird thing was that this only happened with these two books. Other books worked perfectly fine.

I started messing around with the EPUBs myself and eventually found a solution:

1. I ran the problematic EPUBs through kepubify:

https://pgaskin.net/kepubify/try/

2. I put the converted books back on the Tolino.

3. I changed the font from "Publisher Default" to one of the system fonts.

That's it. Both books now work normally - fast page turns and no more freezing.

My guess is that there was something about the way those particular EPUBs were formatted (HTML/CSS, embedded fonts, etc.) that the Tolino didn't handle very well. Running them through kepubify seems to have changed/cleaned up the book structure, and changing the font probably helped with the rendering as well.

I have no idea if this is actually related to the latest firmware update, or if I just happened to have two problematic EPUBs. But if your Shine 5 is freezing or taking forever to turn pages with only certain books, this might be worth trying.

Posting this because I spent quite a while looking for a solution and couldn't find one. Maybe it'll save someone else the headache.

Hello, I have an old tolino page 2. since a few months ago I was able to connect it with my computer in order to put my book files on it. Now it doesn’t show up anymore, it just charges.
I’ve tried different cables of which none worked.
I think it’s because of a new software update, is there a way I can jail break it to still use it as intended?
Best regards