diff --git a/.drone.yml b/.drone.yml
index 09288b1..0dc7080 100644
--- a/.drone.yml
+++ b/.drone.yml
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ trigger:
   event: [push, pull_request, tag]
 
 steps:
+- name: submodules
+  image: docker.io/geek1011/nickeltc:1.0
+  when:
+    event: [push, pull_request, tag]
+  command: ["git", "submodule", "update", "--init", "--recursive"]
 - name: build
   image: docker.io/geek1011/nickeltc:1.0
   when:
@@ -14,6 +19,7 @@ steps:
   - make clean
   - make all koboroot
   - mkdir out && mv KoboRoot.tgz src/libnm.so out/
+  depends_on: [submodules]
 - name: build-NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR
   image: docker.io/geek1011/nickeltc:1.0
   when:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yaml b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
index 3478888..61c7a2c 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ jobs:
     steps:
     - name: Checkout
       uses: actions/checkout@v1
+      with:
+        submodules: true
     - name: Build
       run: make all koboroot
     - name: Upload
diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yaml b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
index 1b8ac1a..f56f1e7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yaml
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ jobs:
     steps:
     - name: Checkout
       uses: actions/checkout@v1
+      with:
+        submodules: true
     - name: Build
       run: make all koboroot
     - name: Release
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yaml b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
index 75c966b..fbcb8f5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yaml
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@ jobs:
     steps:
     - name: Checkout
       uses: actions/checkout@v1
+      with:
+        submodules: true
     - name: Build
       run: cd test/syms && go build -o ../../test.syms .
     - name: Run
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index f491408..ee450a2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,33 +1,20 @@
 # make gitignore
-
-# KDevelop
 .kdev4/
-NickelMenu.kdev4
+*.kdev4
 .kateconfig
-
-# VSCode
 .vscode/
-
-# clangd
-compile_flags.txt
-
-# Build artifacts
+.idea/
+.clangd/
+.cache/
+compile_commands.json
 /KoboRoot.tgz
 /src/libnm.so
-
-/src/qtplugin.moc
-/src/qtplugin.o
-
-/src/failsafe.o
-/src/init.o
-/src/config.o
-/src/kfmon.o
 /src/action.o
-/src/util.o
-/src/dlhook.o
-/src/generator.o
 /src/action_c.o
+/src/config.o
+/src/generator.o
 /src/generator_c.o
-
-/src/menu.o
+/src/kfmon.o
+/src/util.o
 /src/action_cc.o
+/src/nickelmenu.o
diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e9acc5d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+[submodule "NickelHook"]
+	path = NickelHook
+	url = https://github.com/pgaskin/NickelHook.git
+	branch = master
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 24fa8ca..557dad5 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,126 +1,19 @@
-CROSS_COMPILE  = arm-nickel-linux-gnueabihf-
-MOC            = moc
-CC             = $(CROSS_COMPILE)gcc
-CXX            = $(CROSS_COMPILE)g++
-PKG_CONFIG     = $(CROSS_COMPILE)pkg-config
-STRIP          = $(CROSS_COMPILE)strip
+include NickelHook/NickelHook.mk
 
-DESTDIR =
+override PKGCONF  += Qt5Widgets
+override LIBRARY  := src/libnm.so
+override SOURCES  += src/action.c src/action_c.c src/action_cc.cc src/config.c src/generator.c src/generator_c.c src/kfmon.c src/nickelmenu.cc src/util.c
+override CFLAGS   += -Wall -Wextra -Werror -fvisibility=hidden
+override CXXFLAGS += -Wall -Wextra -Werror -Wno-missing-field-initializers -isystemlib -fvisibility=hidden -fvisibility-inlines-hidden
+override KOBOROOT += res/doc:/mnt/onboard/.adds/nm/doc
 
-ifneq ($(if $(MAKECMDGOALS),$(if $(filter-out clean gitignore install koboroot,$(MAKECMDGOALS)),YES,NO),YES),YES)
- $(info -- Skipping configure)
-else
-PTHREAD_CFLAGS := -pthread
-PTHREAD_LIBS   := -pthread
-
-define pkgconf =
- $(if $(filter-out undefined,$(origin $(1)_CFLAGS) $(origin $(1)_LIBS)) \
- ,$(info -- Using provided CFLAGS and LIBS for $(2)) \
- ,$(if $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --exists $(2) >/dev/null 2>/dev/null && echo y) \
-  ,$(info -- Found $(2) ($(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --modversion $(2))) with pkg-config) \
-   $(eval $(1)_CFLAGS := $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --silence-errors --cflags $(2))) \
-   $(eval $(1)_LIBS   := $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) --silence-errors --libs $(2))) \
-   $(if $(3) \
-   ,$(if $(shell $(PKG_CONFIG) $(3) $(2) >/dev/null 2>/dev/null && echo y) \
-    ,$(info .. Satisfies constraint $(3)) \
-    ,$(info .. Does not satisfy constraint $(3)) \
-     $(error Dependencies do not satisfy constraints)) \
-   ,) \
-  ,$(info -- Could not automatically detect $(2) with pkg-config. Please specify $(1)_CFLAGS and/or $(1)_LIBS manually) \
-   $(error Missing dependencies)))
-endef
-
-$(call pkgconf,QT5CORE,Qt5Core)
-$(call pkgconf,QT5WIDGETS,Qt5Widgets)
-
-CFLAGS   ?= -O2 -march=armv7-a -mtune=cortex-a8 -mfpu=neon -mfloat-abi=hard -mthumb
-CXXFLAGS ?= -O2 -march=armv7-a -mtune=cortex-a8 -mfpu=neon -mfloat-abi=hard -mthumb
-LDFLAGS  ?= -Wl,--as-needed
-
-override CFLAGS   += -std=gnu11 -Wall -Wextra -Werror
-override CXXFLAGS += -std=gnu++11 -Wall -Wextra -Werror
-override LDFLAGS  += -Wl,--no-undefined -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local/Kobo -Wl,-rpath,/usr/local/Qt-5.2.1-arm/lib
-
-NM_VERSION := $(shell git describe --tags --always --dirty)
-# Only use it if we got something useful out of git describe...
-ifdef NM_VERSION
- override CPPFLAGS += -DNM_VERSION='"$(NM_VERSION)"'
-endif
+override SKIPCONFIGURE += strip
+strip:
+	$(STRIP) --strip-unneeded src/libnm.so
+.PHONY: strip
 
 ifeq ($(NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR),1)
- $(info -- NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR... enabled)
- override CPPFLAGS += -DNM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR
-else
- $(info -- NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR... disabled)
-endif
+override CPPFLAGS += -DNM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR
 endif
 
-define GITIGNORE_HEAD
-# make gitignore
-
-# KDevelop
-.kdev4/
-NickelMenu.kdev4
-.kateconfig
-
-# VSCode
-.vscode/
-
-# clangd
-compile_flags.txt
-
-# Build artifacts
-endef
-export GITIGNORE_HEAD
-
-all: src/libnm.so
-
-strip: src/libnm.so
-	$(STRIP) --strip-unneeded $(CURDIR)/src/libnm.so
-
-clean:
-	rm -f $(GENERATED)
-
-gitignore:
-	echo "$${GITIGNORE_HEAD}" > .gitignore
-	echo '$(GENERATED)' | \
-		sed 's/ /\n/g' | \
-		sed 's/^./\/&/' >> .gitignore
-
-install:
-	install -Dm644 src/libnm.so $(DESTDIR)/usr/local/Kobo/imageformats/libnm.so
-	install -Dm644 res/doc $(DESTDIR)/mnt/onboard/.adds/nm/doc
-
-koboroot:
-	tar cvzf KoboRoot.tgz --show-transformed --owner=root --group=root --mode="u=rwX,go=rX" --transform="s,src/libnm.so,./usr/local/Kobo/imageformats/libnm.so," --transform="s,res/doc,./mnt/onboard/.adds/nm/doc," src/libnm.so res/doc
-
-.PHONY: all strip clean gitignore install koboroot
-override GENERATED += KoboRoot.tgz
-
-src/libnm.so: override CFLAGS   += $(PTHREAD_CFLAGS) -fvisibility=hidden -fPIC
-src/libnm.so: override CXXFLAGS += $(PTHREAD_CFLAGS) $(QT5CORE_CFLAGS) $(QT5WIDGETS_CFLAGS) -fvisibility=hidden -fvisibility-inlines-hidden -fPIC
-src/libnm.so: override LDFLAGS  += $(PTHREAD_LIBS) $(QT5CORE_LIBS) $(QT5WIDGETS_LIBS) -ldl -Wl,-soname,libnm.so
-src/libnm.so: src/qtplugin.o src/init.o src/config.o src/dlhook.o src/failsafe.o src/menu.o src/kfmon.o src/action.o src/action_c.o src/action_cc.o src/generator.o src/generator_c.o src/util.o
-
-override LIBRARIES += src/libnm.so
-override MOCS      += src/qtplugin.moc
-
-define patw =
- $(foreach dir,src res,$(dir)/*$(1))
-endef
-define rpatw =
- $(patsubst %$(1),%$(2),$(foreach w,$(call patw,$(1)),$(wildcard $(w))))
-endef
-
-$(LIBRARIES): src/%.so:
-	$(CXX) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -shared -o $@ $^ $(LDFLAGS)
-$(MOCS): %.moc: %.h
-	$(MOC) $< -o $@
-$(patsubst %.moc,%.o,$(MOCS)): %.o: %.moc
-	$(CXX) -xc++ $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $< -o $@
-$(call rpatw,.c,.o): %.o: %.c
-	$(CC) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CFLAGS) -c $< -o $@
-$(call rpatw,.cc,.o): %.o: %.cc
-	$(CXX) $(CPPFLAGS) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $< -o $@
-
-override GENERATED += $(LIBRARIES)  $(MOCS) $(patsubst %.moc,%.o,$(MOCS)) $(call rpatw,.c,.o) $(call rpatw,.cc,.o)
+include NickelHook/NickelHook.mk
diff --git a/NickelHook b/NickelHook
new file mode 160000
index 0000000..98931ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/NickelHook
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit 98931eee9ce1624286b8eecca9411ef3c1875ca6
diff --git a/src/action_cc.cc b/src/action_cc.cc
index c84de43..2344bbc 100644
--- a/src/action_cc.cc
+++ b/src/action_cc.cc
@@ -310,7 +310,6 @@ NM_ACTION_(nickel_setting) {
 }
 
 NM_ACTION_(nickel_extras) {
-
     const char* mimetype;
     if (strchr(arg, '/'))                   mimetype = arg;
     else if (!strcmp(arg, "unblock_it"))    mimetype = "application/x-games-RushHour";
@@ -330,7 +329,6 @@ NM_ACTION_(nickel_extras) {
 }
 
 NM_ACTION_(nickel_browser) {
-
     bool modal;
     QUrl *url;
     QString *css;
@@ -494,12 +492,11 @@ NM_ACTION_(power) {
 }
 
 NM_ACTION_(nickel_wifi) {
-
     //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN23WirelessWorkflowManager14sharedInstanceEv
     WirelessWorkflowManager *(*WirelessWorkflowManager_sharedInstance)();
     reinterpret_cast<void*&>(WirelessWorkflowManager_sharedInstance) = dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, "_ZN23WirelessWorkflowManager14sharedInstanceEv");
     NM_CHECK(nullptr, WirelessWorkflowManager_sharedInstance, "could not dlsym WirelessWorkflowManager::sharedInstance");
-    
+
     WirelessWorkflowManager *wfm = WirelessWorkflowManager_sharedInstance();
     NM_CHECK(nullptr, wfm, "could not get shared wireless manager pointer");
 
@@ -578,7 +575,6 @@ NM_ACTION_(cmd_spawn) {
 }
 
 NM_ACTION_(cmd_output) {
-
     // split the timeout into timeout, put the command into cmd
     char *tmp = strdup(arg);
     char *cmd = tmp;
diff --git a/src/config.c b/src/config.c
index 616d6d8..b40648c 100644
--- a/src/config.c
+++ b/src/config.c
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 #include "action.h"
 #include "config.h"
 #include "generator.h"
-#include "menu.h"
 #include "util.h"
 
 struct nm_config_file_t {
@@ -22,7 +21,6 @@ struct nm_config_file_t {
     nm_config_file_t *next;
 };
 
-
 // nm_config_files_filter skips special files, including:
 // - dotfiles
 // - vim: .*~, .*.s?? (unix only, usually swp or swo), *.swp, *.swo
@@ -671,3 +669,118 @@ void nm_config_free(nm_config_t *cfg) {
         cfg = n;
     }
 }
+
+// note: not thread safe
+static nm_config_file_t  *nm_global_menu_config_files = NULL; // updated in-place by nm_global_config_update
+static      nm_config_t  *nm_global_menu_config       = NULL; // updated by nm_global_config_update, replaced by nm_global_config_replace, NULL on error
+static   nm_menu_item_t **nm_global_menu_config_items = NULL; // updated by nm_global_config_replace to an error message or the items from nm_global_menu_config
+static           size_t   nm_global_menu_config_n     = 0;    // ^
+static              int   nm_global_menu_config_rev   = -1;   // incremented by nm_global_config_update whenever the config items change for any reason
+
+nm_menu_item_t **nm_global_config_items(size_t *n_out) {
+    if (n_out)
+        *n_out = nm_global_menu_config_n;
+    return nm_global_menu_config_items;
+}
+
+static void nm_global_config_replace(nm_config_t *cfg, const char *err) {
+    if (nm_global_menu_config_n)
+        nm_global_menu_config_n = 0;
+
+    if (nm_global_menu_config_items) {
+        free(nm_global_menu_config_items);
+        nm_global_menu_config_items = NULL;
+    }
+
+    if (nm_global_menu_config) {
+        nm_config_free(nm_global_menu_config);
+        nm_global_menu_config = NULL;
+    }
+
+    if (err && cfg)
+        nm_config_free(cfg);
+
+    // this isn't strictly necessary, but we should always try to reparse it
+    // every time just in case the error was temporary
+    if (err && nm_global_menu_config_files) {
+        nm_config_files_free(nm_global_menu_config_files);
+        nm_global_menu_config_files = NULL;
+    }
+
+    if (err) {
+        nm_global_menu_config_n        = 1;
+        nm_global_menu_config_items    = calloc(nm_global_menu_config_n, sizeof(nm_menu_item_t*));
+        nm_global_menu_config_items[0] = calloc(1, sizeof(nm_menu_item_t));
+        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->loc = NM_MENU_LOCATION_MAIN_MENU;
+        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->lbl = strdup("Config Error");
+        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->action = calloc(1, sizeof(nm_menu_action_t));
+        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->action->arg = strdup(err);
+        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->action->act = NM_ACTION(dbg_msg);
+        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->action->on_failure = true;
+        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->action->on_success = true;
+        return;
+    }
+
+    nm_global_menu_config = cfg;
+    nm_global_menu_config_items = nm_config_get_menu(cfg, &nm_global_menu_config_n);
+    if (!nm_global_menu_config_items)
+        NM_LOG("could not allocate memory");
+}
+
+int nm_global_config_update() {
+    NM_LOG("global: scanning for config files");
+    int state = nm_config_files_update(&nm_global_menu_config_files);
+    if (state == -1) {
+        const char *err = nm_err();
+        NM_LOG("... error: %s", err);
+        NM_LOG("global: freeing old config and replacing with error item");
+        nm_global_config_replace(NULL, err);
+        nm_global_menu_config_rev++;
+        NM_ERR_RET(nm_global_menu_config_rev, "scan for config files: %s", err);
+    }
+    NM_LOG("global:%s changes detected", state == 0 ? "" : " no");
+
+    if (state == 0) {
+        NM_LOG("global: parsing new config");
+        nm_config_t *cfg = nm_config_parse(nm_global_menu_config_files);
+        if (!cfg) {
+            const char *err = nm_err();
+            NM_LOG("... error: %s", err);
+            NM_LOG("global: freeing old config and replacing with error item");
+            nm_global_config_replace(NULL, err);
+            nm_global_menu_config_rev++;
+            NM_ERR_RET(nm_global_menu_config_rev, "parse config files: %s", err);
+        }
+
+        NM_LOG("global: config updated, freeing old config and replacing with new one");
+        nm_global_config_replace(cfg, NULL);
+        nm_global_menu_config_rev++;
+        NM_LOG("global: done swapping config");
+    }
+
+    NM_LOG("global: running generators");
+    bool g_updated = nm_config_generate(nm_global_menu_config, false);
+    NM_LOG("global:%s generators updated", g_updated ? "" : " no");
+
+    if (g_updated) {
+        NM_LOG("global: generators updated, freeing old items and replacing with new ones");
+
+        if (nm_global_menu_config_n)
+            nm_global_menu_config_n = 0;
+
+        if (nm_global_menu_config_items) {
+            free(nm_global_menu_config_items);
+            nm_global_menu_config_items = NULL;
+        }
+
+        nm_global_menu_config_items = nm_config_get_menu(nm_global_menu_config, &nm_global_menu_config_n);
+        if (!nm_global_menu_config_items) 
+            NM_LOG("could not allocate memory");
+
+        nm_global_menu_config_rev++;
+        NM_LOG("done replacing items");
+    }
+
+    nm_err_set(NULL);
+    return nm_global_menu_config_rev;
+}
diff --git a/src/config.h b/src/config.h
index 5e3b5a8..1a38990 100644
--- a/src/config.h
+++ b/src/config.h
@@ -5,7 +5,28 @@ extern "C" {
 #endif
 
 #include <stdbool.h>
-#include "menu.h"
+#include <stddef.h>
+
+#include "action.h"
+
+typedef enum {
+    NM_MENU_LOCATION_MAIN_MENU   = 1,
+    NM_MENU_LOCATION_READER_MENU = 2,
+} nm_menu_location_t;
+
+typedef struct nm_menu_action_t {
+    char *arg;
+    bool on_success;
+    bool on_failure;
+    nm_action_fn_t act; // can block, must return zero on success, nonzero with nm_err set on error
+    struct nm_menu_action_t *next;
+} nm_menu_action_t;
+
+typedef struct {
+    nm_menu_location_t loc;
+    char *lbl;
+    nm_menu_action_t *action;
+} nm_menu_item_t;
 
 #ifndef NM_CONFIG_DIR
 #define NM_CONFIG_DIR "/mnt/onboard/.adds/nm"
@@ -52,6 +73,21 @@ nm_menu_item_t **nm_config_get_menu(nm_config_t *cfg, size_t *n_out);
 // nm_config_free frees all allocated memory.
 void nm_config_free(nm_config_t *cfg);
 
+// nm_global_config_update updates and regenerates the config if needed. If the
+// menu items changed (i.e. the old items aren't valid anymore), the revision
+// will be incremented and returned (even if there was an error). On error,
+// nm_err is set, and otherwise, it is cleared.
+int nm_global_config_update();
+
+// nm_global_config_items returns an array of pointers with the current menu
+// items (the pointer and the items it points to will remain valid until the
+// next time nm_global_config_update is called). The number of items is stored
+// in the variable pointed to by n_out. If an error ocurred during the last time
+// nm_global_config_update was called, it is returned as a "Config Error" menu
+// item. If nm_global_config_update has never been called successfully before,
+// NULL is returned and n_out is set to 0.
+nm_menu_item_t **nm_global_config_items(size_t *n_out);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/src/dlhook.c b/src/dlhook.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 7f8bf5d..0000000
--- a/src/dlhook.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,114 +0,0 @@
-#define _GNU_SOURCE // dladdr, dladdr1, dlinfo, Dl_info
-#include <dlfcn.h>
-#include <elf.h>
-#include <link.h>
-#include <stdbool.h>
-#include <stdlib.h>
-#include <string.h>
-#include <sys/mman.h>
-#include <unistd.h>
-
-#include "dlhook.h"
-#include "util.h"
-
-#ifndef ELFW
-#define ELFW(type) _ElfW(ELF, __ELF_NATIVE_CLASS, type)
-#endif
-
-#if __x86_64__
-#define R_JUMP_SLOT R_X86_64_JUMP_SLOT
-#else
-#if __arm__
-#define R_JUMP_SLOT R_ARM_JUMP_SLOT
-#else
-#error Please define the architecture-specific R_*_JUMP_SLOT type.
-#endif
-#endif
-
-// prevent GCC from giving us warnings everywhere about the format specifiers for the ELF typedefs
-#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wformat"
-
-void *nm_dlhook(void *handle, const char *symname, void *target) {
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, handle && symname && target, "BUG: required arguments are null");
-
-    // the link_map conveniently gives use the base address without /proc/maps, and it gives us a pointer to dyn
-    struct link_map *lm;
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, !dlinfo(handle, RTLD_DI_LINKMAP, &lm), "could not get link_map for lib");
-    NM_LOG("lib %s is mapped at %lx", lm->l_name, lm->l_addr);
-
-    // stuff extracted from DT_DYNAMIC
-    struct {
-        bool plt_is_rela;
-        union {
-            ElfW(Addr) _;
-            ElfW(Rel)  *rel;
-            ElfW(Rela) *rela;
-        } plt;
-        ElfW(Xword) plt_sz;
-        ElfW(Xword) plt_ent_sz;
-        ElfW(Sym)   *sym;
-        const char  *str;
-    } dyn = {0};
-
-    // parse DT_DYNAMIC
-    for (size_t i = 0; lm->l_ld[i].d_tag != DT_NULL; i++) {
-        switch (lm->l_ld[i].d_tag) {
-        case DT_PLTREL:   dyn.plt_is_rela = lm->l_ld[i].d_un.d_val == DT_RELA;          break; // .rel.plt - is Rel or Rela
-        case DT_JMPREL:   dyn.plt._       = lm->l_ld[i].d_un.d_ptr;                     break; // .rel.plt - offset from base
-        case DT_PLTRELSZ: dyn.plt_sz      = lm->l_ld[i].d_un.d_val;                     break; // .rel.plt - size in bytes
-        case DT_RELENT:   if (!dyn.plt_ent_sz) dyn.plt_ent_sz = lm->l_ld[i].d_un.d_val; break; // .rel.plt - entry size if Rel
-        case DT_RELAENT:  if (!dyn.plt_ent_sz) dyn.plt_ent_sz = lm->l_ld[i].d_un.d_val; break; // .rel.plt - entry size if Rela
-        case DT_SYMTAB:   dyn.sym         = (ElfW(Sym)*)(lm->l_ld[i].d_un.d_val);       break; // .dynsym  - offset
-        case DT_STRTAB:   dyn.str         = (const char*)(lm->l_ld[i].d_un.d_val);      break; // .dynstr  - offset
-        }
-    }
-    NM_LOG("DT_DYNAMIC: plt_is_rela=%d plt=%p plt_sz=%lu plt_ent_sz=%lu sym=%p str=%p", dyn.plt_is_rela, (void*)(dyn.plt)._, dyn.plt_sz, dyn.plt_ent_sz, dyn.sym, dyn.str);
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, dyn.plt_ent_sz, "plt_ent_sz is zero");
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, dyn.plt_sz%dyn.plt_ent_sz == 0, ".rel.plt length is not a multiple of plt_ent_sz");
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, (dyn.plt_is_rela ? sizeof(*dyn.plt.rela) : sizeof(*dyn.plt.rel)) == dyn.plt_ent_sz, "size mismatch (%lu != %lu)", dyn.plt_is_rela ? sizeof(*dyn.plt.rela) : sizeof(*dyn.plt.rel), dyn.plt_ent_sz);
-
-    // parse the dynamic symbol table, resolve symbols to relocations, then GOT entries
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < dyn.plt_sz/dyn.plt_ent_sz; i++) {
-        // note: Rela is a superset of Rel
-        ElfW(Rel) *rel = dyn.plt_is_rela
-            ? (ElfW(Rel)*)(&dyn.plt.rela[i])
-            : &dyn.plt.rel[i];
-        NM_CHECK(NULL, ELFW(R_TYPE)(rel->r_info) == R_JUMP_SLOT, "not a jump slot relocation (R_TYPE=%lu)", ELFW(R_TYPE)(rel->r_info));
-
-        ElfW(Sym) *sym = &dyn.sym[ELFW(R_SYM)(rel->r_info)];
-        const char *str = &dyn.str[sym->st_name];
-        if (strcmp(str, symname))
-            continue;
-
-        void **gotoff = (void**)(lm->l_addr + rel->r_offset);
-        NM_LOG("found symbol %s (gotoff=%p [mapped=%p])", str, (void*)(rel->r_offset), gotoff);
-
-        NM_CHECK(NULL, ELFW(ST_TYPE)(sym->st_info) != STT_GNU_IFUNC, "STT_GNU_IFUNC not implemented (gotoff=%p)", (void*)(rel->r_offset));
-        NM_CHECK(NULL, ELFW(ST_TYPE)(sym->st_info) == STT_FUNC, "not a function symbol (ST_TYPE=%d) (gotoff=%p)", ELFW(ST_TYPE)(sym->st_info), (void*)(rel->r_offset));
-        NM_CHECK(NULL, ELFW(ST_BIND)(sym->st_info) == STB_GLOBAL, "not a globally bound symbol (ST_BIND=%d) (gotoff=%p)", ELFW(ST_BIND)(sym->st_info), (void*)(rel->r_offset));
-
-        NM_LOG("ensuring the symbol is loaded (to get the original address)");
-        void *orig = dlsym(handle, symname);
-        NM_CHECK(NULL, orig, "could not dlsym symbol");
-
-        // remove memory protection (to bypass RELRO if it is enabled)
-        // note: this doesn't seem to be used on the Kobo, but we might as well stay on the safe side (plus, I test this on my local machine too)
-        // note: the only way to read the current memory protection is to parse /proc/maps, but there's no harm in unprotecting it again if it's not protected
-        // note: we won't put it back afterwards, as if full RELRO (i.e. RTLD_NOW) wasn't enabled, it would cause segfaults when resolving symbols later on
-        NM_LOG("removing memory protection");
-        long pagesize = sysconf(_SC_PAGESIZE);
-        NM_CHECK(NULL, pagesize != -1, "could not get memory page size");
-        void *gotpage = (void*)((size_t)(gotoff) & ~(pagesize-1));
-        NM_CHECK(NULL, !mprotect(gotpage, pagesize, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE), "could not set memory protection of page %p containing %p to PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE", gotpage, gotoff);
-
-        // replace the target offset
-        NM_LOG("patching symbol");
-        //void *orig = *gotoff;
-        *gotoff = target;
-        NM_LOG("successfully patched symbol %s (orig=%p, new=%p)", str, orig, target);
-        return orig;
-    }
-
-    NM_ERR_SET("could not find symbol");
-    return 0;
-}
diff --git a/src/dlhook.h b/src/dlhook.h
deleted file mode 100644
index d166f78..0000000
--- a/src/dlhook.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-#ifndef NM_DLHOOK_H
-#define NM_DLHOOK_H
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-extern "C" {
-#endif
-
-#include "util.h"
-
-// nm_dlhook takes a lib handle from dlopen and redirects the specified symbol
-// to another, returning a pointer to the original one. Only calls from within
-// that library itself are affected (because it replaces that library's GOT).
-// This function requires glibc and Linux. It should work on any architecture,
-// and it should be resilient to most errors. If it fails, NULL is returned and
-// nm_err is set.
-NM_PRIVATE void *nm_dlhook(void *handle, const char *symname, void *target);
-
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-}
-#endif
-#endif
diff --git a/src/failsafe.c b/src/failsafe.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 1bf8669..0000000
--- a/src/failsafe.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,78 +0,0 @@
-#define _GNU_SOURCE // asprintf, Dl_info, dladdr
-#include <dlfcn.h>
-#include <link.h>
-#include <pthread.h>
-#include <stdio.h>
-#include <stdlib.h>
-#include <string.h>
-#include <unistd.h>
-
-#include "failsafe.h"
-#include "util.h"
-
-struct nm_failsafe_t {
-    char *orig;
-    char *tmp;
-    int  delay;
-};
-
-nm_failsafe_t *nm_failsafe_create() {
-    NM_LOG("failsafe: allocating memory");
-    nm_failsafe_t *fs;
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, (fs = calloc(1, sizeof(nm_failsafe_t))), "could not allocate memory");
-
-    NM_LOG("failsafe: finding filenames");
-    Dl_info info;
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, dladdr(nm_failsafe_create, &info), "could not find own path");
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, info.dli_fname, "dladdr did not return a filename");
-    char *d = strrchr(info.dli_fname, '.');
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, !(d && !strcmp(d, ".failsafe")), "lib was loaded from the failsafe for some reason");
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, (fs->orig = realpath(info.dli_fname, NULL)), "could not resolve %s", info.dli_fname);
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, asprintf(&fs->tmp, "%s.failsafe", fs->orig) != -1, "could not generate temp filename");
-
-    NM_LOG("failsafe: ensuring own lib remains in memory even if it is dlclosed after being loaded with a dlopen");
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, dlopen(fs->orig, RTLD_LAZY|RTLD_NODELETE), "could not dlopen self");
-
-    NM_LOG("failsafe: renaming %s to %s", fs->orig, fs->tmp);
-    NM_CHECK(NULL, !rename(fs->orig, fs->tmp), "could not rename lib");
-
-    return fs;
-}
-
-static void *_nm_failsafe_destroy(void* _fs) {
-    nm_failsafe_t *fs = (nm_failsafe_t*)(_fs);
-
-    NM_LOG("failsafe: restoring after %d seconds", fs->delay);
-    sleep(fs->delay);
-
-    NM_LOG("failsafe: renaming %s to %s", fs->tmp, fs->orig);
-    if (rename(fs->tmp, fs->orig))
-        NM_LOG("error: could not rename lib");
-
-    NM_LOG("failsafe: freeing memory");
-    free(fs->orig);
-    free(fs->tmp);
-    free(fs);
-
-    return NULL;
-}
-
-void nm_failsafe_destroy(nm_failsafe_t *fs, int delay) {
-    fs->delay = delay;
-
-    NM_LOG("failsafe: scheduling restore");
-
-    pthread_attr_t attr;
-    pthread_attr_init(&attr);
-    pthread_attr_setdetachstate(&attr, PTHREAD_CREATE_DETACHED);
-    pthread_t t;
-    pthread_create(&t, &attr, _nm_failsafe_destroy, fs);
-    const char name[16] = "nm_failsafe";
-    pthread_setname_np(t, name);
-    pthread_attr_destroy(&attr);
-}
-
-void nm_failsafe_uninstall(nm_failsafe_t *fs) {
-    NM_LOG("failsafe: deleting %s", fs->tmp);
-    unlink(fs->tmp);
-}
diff --git a/src/failsafe.h b/src/failsafe.h
deleted file mode 100644
index d5e7040..0000000
--- a/src/failsafe.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-#ifndef NM_FAILSAFE_H
-#define NM_FAILSAFE_H
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-extern "C" {
-#endif
-
-#include "util.h"
-
-// nm_failsafe_t is a failsafe mechanism for injected shared libraries. It
-// works by moving it to a temporary file (so it won't get loaded the next time)
-// and dlopening itself (to prevent it from being unloaded if it is dlclose'd by
-// whatever dlopen'd it). When it is disarmed, the library is moved back to its
-// original location.
-typedef struct nm_failsafe_t nm_failsafe_t;
-
-// nm_failsafe_create allocates and arms a failsafe mechanism for the currently
-// dlopen'd or LD_PRELOAD'd library. On error,  NULL is returned and nm_err is
-// set.
-NM_PRIVATE nm_failsafe_t *nm_failsafe_create();
-
-// nm_failsafe_destroy starts a pthread which disarms and frees the failsafe
-// after a delay. The nm_failsafe_t must not be used afterwards.
-NM_PRIVATE void nm_failsafe_destroy(nm_failsafe_t *fs, int delay);
-
-// nm_failsafe_uninstall uninstalls the lib. The nm_failsafe_t must not be
-// used afterwards.
-NM_PRIVATE void nm_failsafe_uninstall(nm_failsafe_t *fs);
-
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-}
-#endif
-#endif
diff --git a/src/generator.c b/src/generator.c
index d4128fa..7197106 100644
--- a/src/generator.c
+++ b/src/generator.c
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 #include <time.h>
 
 #include "action.h"
+#include "config.h"
 #include "generator.h"
-#include "menu.h"
 #include "util.h"
 
 nm_menu_item_t **nm_generator_do(nm_generator_t *gen, size_t *sz_out) {
diff --git a/src/generator.h b/src/generator.h
index a4120f4..ce29e0d 100644
--- a/src/generator.h
+++ b/src/generator.h
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ extern "C" {
 
 #include <stddef.h>
 #include <time.h>
-#include "menu.h"
+#include "config.h"
 
 // nm_generator_fn_t generates menu items. It must return a malloc'd array of
 // pointers to malloc'd nm_menu_item_t's, and write the number of items to
diff --git a/src/generator_c.c b/src/generator_c.c
index 0aaee76..6cf6911 100644
--- a/src/generator_c.c
+++ b/src/generator_c.c
@@ -9,8 +9,8 @@
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>
 
+#include "config.h"
 #include "generator.h"
-#include "menu.h"
 #include "kfmon.h"
 #include "util.h"
 
diff --git a/src/init.c b/src/init.c
deleted file mode 100644
index 4633401..0000000
--- a/src/init.c
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,208 +0,0 @@
-#define _GNU_SOURCE
-#include <dlfcn.h>
-#include <errno.h>
-#include <link.h>
-#include <pthread.h>
-#include <stdlib.h>
-#include <string.h>
-#include <unistd.h>
-
-#include "action.h"
-#include "config.h"
-#include "failsafe.h"
-#include "init.h"
-#include "menu.h"
-#include "util.h"
-
-__attribute__((constructor)) void nm_init() {
-    NM_LOG("version: " NM_VERSION);
-    #ifdef NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR
-    NM_LOG("feature: NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR: true");
-    #else
-    NM_LOG("feature: NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR: false");
-    #endif
-    NM_LOG("config dir: %s", NM_CONFIG_DIR);
-
-    NM_LOG("init: creating failsafe");
-
-    nm_failsafe_t *fs;
-    if (!(fs = nm_failsafe_create())) {
-        NM_LOG("error: could not create failsafe: %s, stopping", nm_err());
-        goto stop;
-    }
-
-    NM_LOG("init: checking for uninstall flag");
-
-    if (!access(NM_CONFIG_DIR "/uninstall", F_OK)) {
-        NM_LOG("init: flag found, uninstalling");
-        nm_failsafe_uninstall(fs);
-        unlink(NM_CONFIG_DIR "/uninstall");
-        goto stop;
-    }
-
-    #ifdef NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR
-    NM_LOG("init: NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR: checking if config dir exists");
-
-    if (access(NM_CONFIG_DIR, F_OK) && errno == ENOENT) {
-        NM_LOG("init: config dir does not exist, uninstalling");
-        nm_failsafe_uninstall(fs);
-        goto stop;
-    }
-    #endif
-
-    NM_LOG("init: updating config");
-
-    int rev = nm_global_config_update();
-    if (nm_err_peek())
-        NM_LOG("init: error parsing config, will show a menu item with the error: %s", nm_err());
-
-    size_t ntmp = SIZE_MAX;
-    if (rev == -1) {
-        NM_LOG("init: no config file changes detected for initial config update (it should always return an error or update), stopping (this is a bug; err should have been returned instead)");
-        return;
-    } else if (!nm_global_config_items(&ntmp)) {
-        NM_LOG("init: warning: no menu items returned by nm_global_config_items, ignoring for now (this is a bug; it should always have a menu item whether the default, an error, or the actual config)");
-    } else if (ntmp == SIZE_MAX) {
-        NM_LOG("init: warning: no size returned by nm_global_config_items, ignoring for now (this is a bug)");
-    } else if (!ntmp) {
-        NM_LOG("init: warning: size returned by nm_global_config_items is 0, ignoring for now (this is a bug; it should always have a menu item whether the default, an error, or the actual config)");
-    }
-
-    NM_LOG("init: opening libnickel");
-
-    void *libnickel = dlopen("libnickel.so.1.0.0", RTLD_LAZY|RTLD_NODELETE);
-    if (!libnickel) {
-        NM_LOG("error: could not dlopen libnickel, stopping");
-        goto stop_fs;
-    }
-
-    NM_LOG("init: hooking libnickel");
-
-    if (nm_menu_hook(libnickel)) {
-        NM_LOG("error: could not hook libnickel: %s, stopping", nm_err());
-        goto stop_fs;
-    }
-
-stop_fs:
-    NM_LOG("init: destroying failsafe");
-    nm_failsafe_destroy(fs, 5);
-
-stop:
-    NM_LOG("init: done");
-    return;
-}
-
-// note: not thread safe
-static nm_config_file_t  *nm_global_menu_config_files = NULL; // updated in-place by nm_global_config_update
-static      nm_config_t  *nm_global_menu_config       = NULL; // updated by nm_global_config_update, replaced by nm_global_config_replace, NULL on error
-static   nm_menu_item_t **nm_global_menu_config_items = NULL; // updated by nm_global_config_replace to an error message or the items from nm_global_menu_config
-static           size_t   nm_global_menu_config_n     = 0;    // ^
-static              int   nm_global_menu_config_rev   = -1;   // incremented by nm_global_config_update whenever the config items change for any reason
-
-nm_menu_item_t **nm_global_config_items(size_t *n_out) {
-    if (n_out)
-        *n_out = nm_global_menu_config_n;
-    return nm_global_menu_config_items;
-}
-
-static void nm_global_config_replace(nm_config_t *cfg, const char *err) {
-    if (nm_global_menu_config_n)
-        nm_global_menu_config_n = 0;
-
-    if (nm_global_menu_config_items) {
-        free(nm_global_menu_config_items);
-        nm_global_menu_config_items = NULL;
-    }
-
-    if (nm_global_menu_config) {
-        nm_config_free(nm_global_menu_config);
-        nm_global_menu_config = NULL;
-    }
-
-    if (err && cfg)
-        nm_config_free(cfg);
-
-    // this isn't strictly necessary, but we should always try to reparse it
-    // every time just in case the error was temporary
-    if (err && nm_global_menu_config_files) {
-        nm_config_files_free(nm_global_menu_config_files);
-        nm_global_menu_config_files = NULL;
-    }
-
-    if (err) {
-        nm_global_menu_config_n        = 1;
-        nm_global_menu_config_items    = calloc(nm_global_menu_config_n, sizeof(nm_menu_item_t*));
-        nm_global_menu_config_items[0] = calloc(1, sizeof(nm_menu_item_t));
-        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->loc = NM_MENU_LOCATION_MAIN_MENU;
-        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->lbl = strdup("Config Error");
-        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->action = calloc(1, sizeof(nm_menu_action_t));
-        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->action->arg = strdup(err);
-        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->action->act = NM_ACTION(dbg_msg);
-        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->action->on_failure = true;
-        nm_global_menu_config_items[0]->action->on_success = true;
-        return;
-    }
-
-    nm_global_menu_config = cfg;
-    nm_global_menu_config_items = nm_config_get_menu(cfg, &nm_global_menu_config_n);
-    if (!nm_global_menu_config_items)
-        NM_LOG("could not allocate memory");
-}
-
-int nm_global_config_update() {
-    NM_LOG("global: scanning for config files");
-    int state = nm_config_files_update(&nm_global_menu_config_files);
-    if (state == -1) {
-        const char *err = nm_err();
-        NM_LOG("... error: %s", err);
-        NM_LOG("global: freeing old config and replacing with error item");
-        nm_global_config_replace(NULL, err);
-        nm_global_menu_config_rev++;
-        NM_ERR_RET(nm_global_menu_config_rev, "scan for config files: %s", err);
-    }
-    NM_LOG("global:%s changes detected", state == 0 ? "" : " no");
-
-    if (state == 0) {
-        NM_LOG("global: parsing new config");
-        nm_config_t *cfg = nm_config_parse(nm_global_menu_config_files);
-        if (!cfg) {
-            const char *err = nm_err();
-            NM_LOG("... error: %s", err);
-            NM_LOG("global: freeing old config and replacing with error item");
-            nm_global_config_replace(NULL, err);
-            nm_global_menu_config_rev++;
-            NM_ERR_RET(nm_global_menu_config_rev, "parse config files: %s", err);
-        }
-
-        NM_LOG("global: config updated, freeing old config and replacing with new one");
-        nm_global_config_replace(cfg, NULL);
-        nm_global_menu_config_rev++;
-        NM_LOG("global: done swapping config");
-    }
-
-    NM_LOG("global: running generators");
-    bool g_updated = nm_config_generate(nm_global_menu_config, false);
-    NM_LOG("global:%s generators updated", g_updated ? "" : " no");
-
-    if (g_updated) {
-        NM_LOG("global: generators updated, freeing old items and replacing with new ones");
-
-        if (nm_global_menu_config_n)
-            nm_global_menu_config_n = 0;
-
-        if (nm_global_menu_config_items) {
-            free(nm_global_menu_config_items);
-            nm_global_menu_config_items = NULL;
-        }
-
-        nm_global_menu_config_items = nm_config_get_menu(nm_global_menu_config, &nm_global_menu_config_n);
-        if (!nm_global_menu_config_items) 
-            NM_LOG("could not allocate memory");
-
-        nm_global_menu_config_rev++;
-        NM_LOG("done replacing items");
-    }
-
-    nm_err_set(NULL);
-    return nm_global_menu_config_rev;
-}
diff --git a/src/init.h b/src/init.h
deleted file mode 100644
index fd923e7..0000000
--- a/src/init.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,28 +0,0 @@
-#ifndef NM_INIT_H
-#define NM_INIT_H
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-extern "C" {
-#endif
-
-#include <stdbool.h>
-#include "menu.h"
-
-// nm_global_config_update updates and regenerates the config if needed. If the
-// menu items changed (i.e. the old items aren't valid anymore), the revision
-// will be incremented and returned (even if there was an error). On error,
-// nm_err is set, and otherwise, it is cleared.
-int nm_global_config_update();
-
-// nm_global_config_items returns an array of pointers with the current menu
-// items (the pointer and the items it points to will remain valid until the
-// next time nm_global_config_update is called). The number of items is stored
-// in the variable pointed to by n_out. If an error ocurred during the last time
-// nm_global_config_update was called, it is returned as a "Config Error" menu
-// item. If nm_global_config_update has never been called successfully before,
-// NULL is returned and n_out is set to 0.
-nm_menu_item_t **nm_global_config_items(size_t *n_out);
-
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-}
-#endif
-#endif
diff --git a/src/menu.h b/src/menu.h
deleted file mode 100644
index cece8a7..0000000
--- a/src/menu.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-#ifndef NM_MENU_H
-#define NM_MENU_H
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-extern "C" {
-#endif
-
-#include <stdbool.h>
-#include <stddef.h>
-
-#include "action.h"
-
-typedef enum {
-    NM_MENU_LOCATION_MAIN_MENU   = 1,
-    NM_MENU_LOCATION_READER_MENU = 2,
-} nm_menu_location_t;
-
-typedef struct nm_menu_action_t {
-    char *arg;
-    bool on_success;
-    bool on_failure;
-    nm_action_fn_t act; // can block, must return zero on success, nonzero with nm_err set on error
-    struct nm_menu_action_t *next;
-} nm_menu_action_t;
-
-typedef struct {
-    nm_menu_location_t loc;
-    char *lbl;
-    nm_menu_action_t *action;
-} nm_menu_item_t;
-
-// nm_menu_hook hooks a dlopen'd libnickel handle. It MUST NOT be called more
-// than once. On success, zero is returned. Otherwise, a nonzero value is
-// returned and nm_err is set.
-int nm_menu_hook(void *libnickel);
-
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-}
-#endif
-#endif
diff --git a/src/menu.cc b/src/nickelmenu.cc
similarity index 72%
rename from src/menu.cc
rename to src/nickelmenu.cc
index 8d38717..2cd8362 100644
--- a/src/menu.cc
+++ b/src/nickelmenu.cc
@@ -5,11 +5,10 @@
 #include <QWidget>
 
 #include <cstdlib>
-#include <dlfcn.h>
 
-#include "dlhook.h"
-#include "init.h"
-#include "menu.h"
+#include <NickelHook.h>
+
+#include "config.h"
 #include "util.h"
 
 typedef QWidget MenuTextItem; // it's actually a subclass, but we don't need its functionality directly, so we'll stay on the safe side
@@ -21,7 +20,6 @@ typedef void MainWindowController;
 // search menu for an example of this being used). IDK what the last parameter
 // is for, but I suspect it might be passed to QObject::setObjectName (I haven't
 // tested it directly, and it's been empty in the menus I've tried so far).
-static MenuTextItem* (*AbstractNickelMenuController_createMenuTextItem_orig)(void*, QMenu*, QString const&, bool, bool, QString const&) = NULL;
 static MenuTextItem* (*AbstractNickelMenuController_createMenuTextItem)(void*, QMenu*, QString const&, bool, bool, QString const&);
 
 // AbstractNickelMenuController::createAction finishes adding the action to the
@@ -60,42 +58,42 @@ void (*MainWindowController_toast)(MainWindowController*, QString const&, QStrin
 static void (*LightMenuSeparator_LightMenuSeparator)(void*, QWidget*);
 static void (*BoldMenuSeparator_BoldMenuSeparator)(void*, QWidget*);
 
-extern "C" int nm_menu_hook(void *libnickel) {
-    //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN28AbstractNickelMenuController18createMenuTextItemEP5QMenuRK7QStringbbS4_
-    reinterpret_cast<void*&>(AbstractNickelMenuController_createMenuTextItem) = dlsym(libnickel, "_ZN28AbstractNickelMenuController18createMenuTextItemEP5QMenuRK7QStringbbS4_");
-    //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN22AbstractMenuController12createActionEP5QMenuP7QWidgetbbb
-    reinterpret_cast<void*&>(AbstractNickelMenuController_createAction) = dlsym(libnickel, "_ZN22AbstractMenuController12createActionEP5QMenuP7QWidgetbbb");
-    //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN25ConfirmationDialogFactory12showOKDialogERK7QStringS2_
-    reinterpret_cast<void*&>(ConfirmationDialogFactory_showOKDialog) = dlsym(libnickel, "_ZN25ConfirmationDialogFactory12showOKDialogERK7QStringS2_");
-    //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN20MainWindowController14sharedInstanceEv
-    reinterpret_cast<void*&>(MainWindowController_sharedInstance) = dlsym(libnickel, "_ZN20MainWindowController14sharedInstanceEv");
-    //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN20MainWindowController5toastERK7QStringS2_i
-    reinterpret_cast<void*&>(MainWindowController_toast) = dlsym(libnickel, "_ZN20MainWindowController5toastERK7QStringS2_i");
-    //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN18LightMenuSeparatorC2EP7QWidget
-    reinterpret_cast<void*&>(LightMenuSeparator_LightMenuSeparator) = dlsym(libnickel, "_ZN18LightMenuSeparatorC2EP7QWidget");
-    //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN17BoldMenuSeparatorC1EP7QWidget
-    reinterpret_cast<void*&>(BoldMenuSeparator_BoldMenuSeparator) = dlsym(libnickel, "_ZN17BoldMenuSeparatorC1EP7QWidget");
+static struct nh_info NickelMenu = (struct nh_info){
+    .name            = "NickelMenu",
+    .desc            = "Integrated launcher for Nickel.",
+    .uninstall_flag  = NM_CONFIG_DIR "/uninstall",
+#ifdef NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR
+    .uninstall_xflag = NM_CONFIG_DIR,
+#else
+    .uninstall_xflag = NULL,
+#endif
+    .failsafe_delay  = 2,
+};
 
-    NM_CHECK(1, AbstractNickelMenuController_createMenuTextItem, "unsupported firmware: could not find AbstractNickelMenuController::createMenuTextItem(void* _this, QMenu*, QString, bool, bool, QString const&)");
-    NM_CHECK(1, AbstractNickelMenuController_createAction, "unsupported firmware: could not find AbstractNickelMenuController::createAction(void* _this, QMenu*, QWidget*, bool, bool, bool)");
-    NM_CHECK(1, ConfirmationDialogFactory_showOKDialog, "unsupported firmware: could not find ConfirmationDialogFactory::showOKDialog(String const&, QString const&)");
-    NM_CHECK(1, MainWindowController_sharedInstance, "unsupported firmware: could not find MainWindowController::sharedInstance()");
-    NM_CHECK(1, MainWindowController_toast, "unsupported firmware: could not find MainWindowController::toast(QString const&, QString const&, int)");
+static struct nh_hook NickelMenuHook[] = {
+    {.sym = "_ZN28AbstractNickelMenuController18createMenuTextItemEP5QMenuRK7QStringbbS4_", .sym_new = "_nm_menu_hook", .lib = "libnickel.so.1.0.0", .out = nh_symoutptr(AbstractNickelMenuController_createMenuTextItem)}, //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN28AbstractNickelMenuController18createMenuTextItemEP5QMenuRK7QStringbbS4_
+    {0},
+};
 
-    if (!LightMenuSeparator_LightMenuSeparator)
-        NM_LOG("warning: could not find LightMenuSeparator constructor, falling back to generic separators");
-    if (!BoldMenuSeparator_BoldMenuSeparator)
-        NM_LOG("warning: could not find BoldMenuSeparator constructor, falling back to generic separators");
+static struct nh_dlsym NickelMenuDlsym[] = {
+    {.name = "_ZN28AbstractNickelMenuController18createMenuTextItemEP5QMenuRK7QStringbbS4_", .out = nh_symoutptr(AbstractNickelMenuController_createMenuTextItem)}, //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN28AbstractNickelMenuController18createMenuTextItemEP5QMenuRK7QStringbbS4_
+    {.name = "_ZN22AbstractMenuController12createActionEP5QMenuP7QWidgetbbb",                .out = nh_symoutptr(AbstractNickelMenuController_createAction)},       //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN22AbstractMenuController12createActionEP5QMenuP7QWidgetbbb
+    {.name = "_ZN25ConfirmationDialogFactory12showOKDialogERK7QStringS2_",                   .out = nh_symoutptr(ConfirmationDialogFactory_showOKDialog)},          //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN25ConfirmationDialogFactory12showOKDialogERK7QStringS2_
+    {.name = "_ZN20MainWindowController14sharedInstanceEv",                                  .out = nh_symoutptr(MainWindowController_sharedInstance)},             //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN20MainWindowController14sharedInstanceEv
+    {.name = "_ZN20MainWindowController5toastERK7QStringS2_i",                               .out = nh_symoutptr(MainWindowController_toast)},                      //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN20MainWindowController5toastERK7QStringS2_i
+    {.name = "_ZN18LightMenuSeparatorC2EP7QWidget",                                          .out = nh_symoutptr(LightMenuSeparator_LightMenuSeparator)},           //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN18LightMenuSeparatorC2EP7QWidget
+    {.name = "_ZN17BoldMenuSeparatorC1EP7QWidget",                                           .out = nh_symoutptr(BoldMenuSeparator_BoldMenuSeparator)},             //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN17BoldMenuSeparatorC1EP7QWidget
+    {0},
+};
 
-    void* nmh = dlsym(RTLD_DEFAULT, "_nm_menu_hook");
-    NM_CHECK(1, nmh, "internal error: could not dlsym _nm_menu_hook");
+static int nm_init();
 
-    //libnickel 4.6 * _ZN28AbstractNickelMenuController18createMenuTextItemEP5QMenuRK7QStringbbS4_
-    reinterpret_cast<void*&>(AbstractNickelMenuController_createMenuTextItem_orig) = nm_dlhook(libnickel, "_ZN28AbstractNickelMenuController18createMenuTextItemEP5QMenuRK7QStringbbS4_", nmh);
-    NM_CHECK(1, AbstractNickelMenuController_createMenuTextItem_orig, "failed to hook _ZN28AbstractNickelMenuController18createMenuTextItemEP5QMenuRK7QStringbbS4_: %s", nm_err());
-
-    return 0;
-}
+NickelHook(
+    .init  = &nm_init,
+    .info  = &NickelMenu,
+    .hook  = NickelMenuHook,
+    .dlsym = NickelMenuDlsym,
+)
 
 // AbstractNickelMenuController_createAction_before wraps
 // AbstractNickelMenuController::createAction to use the correct separator for
@@ -106,12 +104,39 @@ QAction *AbstractNickelMenuController_createAction_before(QAction *before, nm_me
 
 // nm_menu_item_do runs a nm_menu_item_t and must be called from the thread of a
 // signal handler.
-void nm_menu_item_do(nm_menu_item_t *it);
+static void nm_menu_item_do(nm_menu_item_t *it);
 
 // _nm_menu_inject handles the QMenu::aboutToShow signal and injects menu items.
-void _nm_menu_inject(void *nmc, QMenu *menu, nm_menu_location_t loc, int at);
+static void _nm_menu_inject(void *nmc, QMenu *menu, nm_menu_location_t loc, int at);
 
-extern "C" NM_PUBLIC MenuTextItem* _nm_menu_hook(void* _this, QMenu* menu, QString const& label, bool checkable, bool checked, QString const& thingy) {
+static int nm_init() {
+    #ifdef NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR
+    NM_LOG("feature: NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR: true");
+    #else
+    NM_LOG("feature: NM_UNINSTALL_CONFIGDIR: false");
+    #endif
+
+    NM_LOG("updating config");
+
+    int rev = nm_global_config_update();
+    if (nm_err_peek())
+        NM_LOG("... warning: error parsing config, will show a menu item with the error: %s", nm_err());
+
+    size_t ntmp = SIZE_MAX;
+    if (rev == -1) {
+        NM_LOG("... info: no config file changes detected for initial config update (it should always return an error or update), stopping (this is a bug; err should have been returned instead)");
+    } else if (!nm_global_config_items(&ntmp)) {
+        NM_LOG("... warning: no menu items returned by nm_global_config_items, ignoring for now (this is a bug; it should always have a menu item whether the default, an error, or the actual config)");
+    } else if (ntmp == SIZE_MAX) {
+        NM_LOG("... warning: no size returned by nm_global_config_items, ignoring for now (this is a bug)");
+    } else if (!ntmp) {
+        NM_LOG("... warning: size returned by nm_global_config_items is 0, ignoring for now (this is a bug; it should always have a menu item whether the default, an error, or the actual config)");
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
+extern "C" __attribute__((visibility("default"))) MenuTextItem* _nm_menu_hook(void* _this, QMenu* menu, QString const& label, bool checkable, bool checked, QString const& thingy) {
     NM_LOG("AbstractNickelMenuController::createMenuTextItem(%p, `%s`, %d, %d, `%s`)", menu, qPrintable(label), checkable, checked, qPrintable(thingy));
 
     QString trmm = QCoreApplication::translate("StatusBarMenuController", "Settings");
@@ -130,7 +155,7 @@ extern "C" NM_PUBLIC MenuTextItem* _nm_menu_hook(void* _this, QMenu* menu, QStri
     if (loc)
         QObject::connect(menu, &QMenu::aboutToShow, std::bind(_nm_menu_inject, _this, menu, loc, menu->actions().count()));
 
-    return AbstractNickelMenuController_createMenuTextItem_orig(_this, menu, label, checkable, checked, thingy);
+    return AbstractNickelMenuController_createMenuTextItem(_this, menu, label, checkable, checked, thingy);
 }
 
 void _nm_menu_inject(void *nmc, QMenu *menu, nm_menu_location_t loc, int at) {
@@ -185,7 +210,7 @@ void _nm_menu_inject(void *nmc, QMenu *menu, nm_menu_location_t loc, int at) {
 
         NM_LOG("adding item '%s'...", it->lbl);
 
-        MenuTextItem* item = AbstractNickelMenuController_createMenuTextItem_orig(nmc, menu, QString::fromUtf8(it->lbl), false, false, "");
+        MenuTextItem* item = AbstractNickelMenuController_createMenuTextItem(nmc, menu, QString::fromUtf8(it->lbl), false, false, "");
         QAction* action = AbstractNickelMenuController_createAction_before(before, loc, i == items_n-1, nmc, menu, item, true, true, true);
 
         QObject::connect(action, &QAction::triggered, [it](bool){
@@ -306,3 +331,4 @@ QAction *AbstractNickelMenuController_createAction_before(QAction *before, nm_me
 
     return action;
 }
+
diff --git a/src/qtplugin.h b/src/qtplugin.h
deleted file mode 100644
index 113a7aa..0000000
--- a/src/qtplugin.h
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-#ifdef __cplusplus
-#include <QImageIOHandler>
-#include <QObject>
-#include <QtPlugin>
-
-// we make it a fake image plugin so we can have Qt automatically load it
-// without needing extra configuration (e.g. LD_PRELOAD, -plugin arg, etc).
-
-class NMPlugin : public QImageIOPlugin {
-    Q_OBJECT
-    Q_PLUGIN_METADATA(IID "org.qt-project.Qt.QImageIOHandlerFactoryInterface")
-public:
-    Capabilities capabilities(QIODevice*, QByteArray const&) const { return 0; };
-    QImageIOHandler *create(QIODevice*, QByteArray const& = QByteArray()) const { return 0; };
-};
-
-#endif
diff --git a/src/util.h b/src/util.h
index 92d6b24..9d40e31 100644
--- a/src/util.h
+++ b/src/util.h
@@ -9,18 +9,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #include <string.h>
 #include <syslog.h>
 
-// Fallback version tag
-#ifndef NM_VERSION
-#define NM_VERSION "dev"
-#endif
-
-#ifndef NM_LOG_NAME
-#define NM_LOG_NAME "NickelMenu"
-#endif
-
-// Symbol visibility (to prevent conflicts when reusing parts of NM)
-#define NM_PUBLIC  __attribute__((visibility("default")))
-#define NM_PRIVATE __attribute__((visibility("hidden")))
+#include <NickelHook.h>
 
 // strtrim trims ASCII whitespace in-place (i.e. don't give it a string literal)
 // from the left/right of the string.
@@ -34,22 +23,22 @@ inline char *strtrim(char *s) {
 }
 
 // NM_LOG writes a log message.
-#define NM_LOG(fmt, ...) syslog(LOG_DEBUG, ("(" NM_LOG_NAME ") " fmt " (%s:%d)"), ##__VA_ARGS__, __FILE__, __LINE__)
+#define NM_LOG(fmt, ...) nh_log(fmt " (%s:%d)", ##__VA_ARGS__, __FILE__, __LINE__)
 
 // Error handling (thread-safe):
 
 // nm_err returns the current error message and clears the error state. If there
 // isn't any error set, NULL is returned. The returned string is only valid on
 // the current thread until nm_err_set is called.
-NM_PRIVATE const char *nm_err();
+const char *nm_err();
 
 // nm_err_peek is like nm_err, but doesn't clear the error state.
-NM_PRIVATE const char *nm_err_peek();
+const char *nm_err_peek();
 
 // nm_err_set sets the current error message to the specified format string. If
 // fmt is NULL, the error is cleared. It is safe to use the return value of
 // nm_err as an argument. If fmt was not NULL, true is returned.
-NM_PRIVATE bool nm_err_set(const char *fmt, ...) __attribute__((format(printf, 1, 2)));
+bool nm_err_set(const char *fmt, ...) __attribute__((format(printf, 1, 2)));
 
 // NM_ERR_SET set is like nm_err_set, but also includes information about the
 // current file/line. To set it to NULL, use nm_err_set directly.