Cover problem when using Calibre's "Polish" function

[PeterT]

Additionally, as we've seen with Kobo support, the main thing needed is an active user community and a few people who are motivated to write code.

I'm sure that you should be able to find other calibre / Nook users and work with them to identify both the issues and workarounds / solutions.

[seacity1]

I have been using the workaround although it a much more invasive procedure for changing a cover. The problem is minor. It's the "let them eat cake" attitude displayed that is problematic. I will advise those on the B&N Nook board that Kovid is unable to do any problem-solvng type testing on BN products because he does not own one & considers the technology to be a dead platform. I am sure this will cause an immediate up-tick in donations for Calibre. In fact the president of BN would probably be quite interested in his POV and may even be willing to supply a test device gratis if the lack of same were brought to his attention.

[PeterT]

Geez.. I hate to say it but neither does Kovid own a Kobo of any type; yet the community has managed to work with him to resolve it.

I'd suggest a less confrontational type approach than you seem to want to take....

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Geez.. I hate to say it but neither does Kovid own a Kobo of any type; yet the community has managed to work with him to resolve it.

I'd suggest a less confrontational type approach than you seem to want to take....

Maybe that's because the Kobo's have a lot more problems that the Nooks have, and that the Kobo's have greater appeal to the geeks that the Nooks have.

In much of the English speaking world (and elsewhere I suspect) the average person on the street might have heard of Barnes and Noble and recognise that they have been in the book business for a long time. Most of those same people would have never heard of Kobo.

If they did any research they'd find Kobo is controlled by a Japanese oligarch who as far as I know never owned a real book store. He owns things like a Spanish internet streaming tv service, on-line shopping 'malls' etc. The sort of thing that appeals to geeks - but not necessarily to non-geeks, it may even bore them to tears.

BR

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Device may not be dead, but the platform is... there is a difference...

.

it is NOT dead yet:
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...re/#more-63921
Barnes & Noble has just received a buyout offer from G Asset Management, a little-known private investment firm. This firm is looking to acquire a 51% stake in the bookseller, and they’re willing to put up $672 million, or about $22 a share.

The firm has stated that they plan to spin out the Nook division as a separate venture apart from the retail stores and the college stores

and in a related article form same source:
http://www.the-digital-reader.com/20...am-nook-media/
Update: I also don’t believe the wild speculation coming from Business Insider that B&N had fired the Nook Hardware team; that has already been denied by B&N.

new NOOK devices still selling well on ebay & in some on-line stores

[DoctorOhh]

The Nook HD 7 and 9 inch tablets are good value for the money. The bigger point is they are Android tablets and if the OP doesn't like how the Nook reading app works then the OP should pick a different app or ask Nook's developers to fix their problem.

Like the OP I use the calibre companion (CC) app too. Since I am managing and launching my books using CC I don't care if reading app X, Y, or Z registers the covers in their respective bookshelf. I only use the reading app to read the book. I use CC to search, sort and organize all of my books.

[PeterT]

While the nook might not be dead B & N have a highly restrictive availability; just the US and UK.

[bobstro]

Unfortunately, rather than work with the Calibre community on a solution, the OP has opened a tirade against Calibre over on the B&N forums . The solution to having one's device "dissed" (much as my Apple II gets dissed) is to diss a volunteer community because they won't divert all efforts to resolving a cosmetic issue. I'd like to state that I, as a NOOK owner, am appreciative of all the efforts the Calibre community has made freely on my behalf. I'll be making a donation out of sheer embarrassment.

Seacity hasn't indicated what other options have been tried. I'd try simply replacing covers and perhaps Metadata with the Edit Epub plugin to see if it makes a difference.

[PeterT]

I am HONOURED to be considered an assistant to Kovid
http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/...ad/m-p/1506919

Just saw I got another "helpful" message from one of Kovid Goyal's assistants.

"Additionally, as we've seen with Kobo support, the main thing needed is an active user community and a few people who are motivated to write code.
I'm sure that you should be able to find other calibre / Nook users and work with them to identify both the issues and workarounds / solutions."

This just gets more ridiculous. If we need problems to be solved we need o band together and start writing code. BTW - He goes on to say Kovid does not own a Kobo either! His budget for test equipment must be really low. I wonder what he does have? A tablet - maybe one of those stone ones?

[theducks]

Oooo!
What an inflated sense of entitlement. many of those posters have.

FREE software and they still B*tch.

If B&N (and other manufacturers) cared about their customers, they would have sent Kovid a FREE (gamma version) of every device to be sure there was support on release day.

Note: If this actually happens, Kovid can not say because of typical NDA terms. One typical clue this has happened, is when the support appears almost instantly after product release.

As it stands, the manufacturers are avoiding a development expense because Calibre exists and they paid not one red cent for all the support provided to THEIR customers.

[PeterT]

Not that it means a great deal, but I just created two test eBooks, identical save for the internal UUID and calibre-id fields, (well that is apart from the Titles!), added them to calibre, polished one, left one as raw work of art, sent them both via CC to a Nexus 7 with the Nook app. installed (and let me say that was fun getting it installed for a non US / UK IP address), and saw the cover's of both books within the Nook app.

The image for the cover in each book was flagged with the "cover" attribute, and the image was NOT referenced within an (x)HTML file.

After the polish, the cover was now referenced by an (x)HTML file which itself was flagged with the "cover" attribute, instead of the original image.

Attached find the two ePubs; maybe see what happens with these on the HD+. I've attached the ePub being polished in both it's raw and polished state.

[bobstro]

Peter, it means a great deal. Thank you for your extraordinary efforts. I don't have a Nook HD/+ to test on, but I appreciate what you have done. I hit the donate button earlier today.

[PeterT]

The other useful option would be to post an extract of a book that demonstrates this issue (ideally pre and post polish); just a chapter or two, any images, fonts, and the various Misc. class files.

[seacity1]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Not that it means a great deal, but I just created two test eBooks, identical save for the internal UUID and calibre-id fields, (well that is apart from the Titles!), added them to calibre, polished one, left one as raw work of art, sent them both via CC to a Nexus 7 with the Nook app. installed (and let me say that was fun getting it installed for a non US / UK IP address), and saw the cover's of both books within the Nook app.

The image for the cover in each book was flagged with the "cover" attribute, and the image was NOT referenced within an (x)HTML file.

After the polish, the cover was now referenced by an (x)HTML file which itself was flagged with the "cover" attribute, instead of the original image.

Attached find the two ePubs; maybe see what happens with these on the HD+. I've attached the ePub being polished in both it's raw and polished state.

Hi,
Peter thanks for the files. I sent your polished file to my Nook HD+ via Calibre Companion & the cover showed up. I then removed that file, loaded your unpolished file on my laptop, ran polish on it & sent it to the HD+. No cover image & the file looks untouched (eg just like the unpolished file.) It does not look like the Polish function is having any affect at all. I tried the same thing on my Nook Color. Same result. As mentioned I have Win 8 & the latest version Calibre. I know you sent the file to Calibre from your Nook app instead of direct as I did but I don't know if that makes a difference. I don't use the Nook app. This is what has been happening all along.

I don't think it's the Nook as the Nook accepted your Polished file fine. It's just not working when I try to use it on my laptop. Running Polish seems to have no affect on the file itself. This is not a "sometimes" thing. It looks on the computer like the cover was changed or added but goes "naked" when transferred. The only other program I'm using is MS Office, Chrome & IE. My antivirus is McAfee but I don't see where any of this would create a conflict.
It's still a mystery but it may be a software problem not a device issue.

[BetterRed]

@seacity - please post a screen shot of settings you have for Polish Books - here's mine for reference

BR