Kobo research team is asking for feedback on Reddit

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The issue for most of the posters is the use of a cloud or other network attached storage to store their calibre libraries. Keep your backups in the cloud? Sure though I personally keep local backups as well. Run your calibre library from network storage? This is considered A BAD IDEA. See SQLite Over a Network, Caveats and Considerations for SQLite's take on doing so. Since calibre uses SQLite as it's database solution, the same issues apply. Until SQLite releases a free network storage compatible version, this is unlikely to change. If you think why not change to a different DB supplier? The choices there are rather expensive for Kovid to eat the cost and even so, as most database administrators would tell you, you need to have good backups.

You mention some very particular use cases where I would agree that cloud usage would be problematic, but I don’t think most people think of running their Calibre library from network storage when they sniff at WiFi and cloud services.

It’s not to say that cloud services are perfect. I’ve had my fair share of cloud headaches. There are sync issues and privacy issues and battery issues, etc. Last night, iCloud disappeared ten files that I moved into a folder. (Thanks, Apple!). However, there are also benefits which don’t get much mention around here. I answered the survey with support for both sideloading and cloud services. Give us the options and we’ll choose what works for us best.

[DNSB]

Oddly though that use case seems to be the major complaint about many about cloud services. Other than Google Drive which is the kiss of death for a calibre library (something about those (0000) numbers at the end of the directory names being used by Google for version control, most people have had some success at using cloud storage. The problem is that after a while, they post on MobileRead to the effect of "I've been using blahdeblah for storing my calibre library and it's worked for (days to years) and now my library says it is corrupted and I can't fix it".

As for the cloud headaches, that is one of the reasons that I use local and cloud backups. Unless I absolutely had to use a computer with minimal storage, I keep everything on a local hard drive (3GB of NVMe at this time) on my desktop.

And yes, I have played with DropBox and Google Drive with my Kobo ereaders plus a few unofficial connectors as well. For the most part, I don't find the game worth the candle.

I would suggest avoiding the complaints from the Kindle crowd who seem to be having more than the usual number of issues with Amazon's cloud storage including several complaints that Amazon has removed all sideloaded books without asking.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The problem is that after a while, they post on MobileRead to the effect of "I've been using blahdeblah for storing my calibre library and it's worked for (days to years) and now my library says it is corrupted and I can't fix it".

And very much frustrating the regulars.

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by Cootey

Their Kobo epubs don’t have those gorgeous covers. I’ve stopped using them as a PD source. Don’t you run into the same problem?

Good question, I used the Calibre plugin for it and haven't noticed this, to be honest.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by Cootey

I don’t really get the animosity on this forum towards WiFi and cloud services

I don't trust cloud services because they tend to evaporate or otherwise do what the vendor wants instead of what I want, and I have no control over it. Other than that, I don't really have a problem with cloud, and use it when convenient.

So I have local backups of my side loaded material. Duplicate cloud backups for that material doesn't help much and tends to interfere when I try to change the side loaded material by sideloaded means.

I have a huge number of books sideloaded on my kobo, so if it tries to sync those, it will take forever and the sync is going to fail. Even without trying to sync those (I hope), it still fails. And just to put a cherry on it, even for material loaded from the cloud, it doesn't work right. I've had overdrive repeatedly on sync delete books that have not expired and on a second sync reload the wrong edition of the book, sometimes not even in the correct language. And that's if it syncs at all instead of just spinning forever until my battery is dead.

With the existing bugs in kobo's cloud, I really don't want them messing with my side loaded material. I'd rather have them focus on fixing those bugs than messing with side loaded stuff.

[Terisa de morgan]

Originally Posted by Cootey

I don’t really get the animosity on this forum towards WiFi and cloud services, but I’ve been a member here long enough to know I’m an outlier. I use sideloaded or cloud services depending on my needs, so I’d like to see both services better supported in the future.

Wifi: I don't mind although I'm not interested. Cloud services: I've have had from too many free services moved to subscription services (I don't mind to pay once, but I don't want to pay every month), or missed so many bookshop services, that I prefer to trust on myself.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Cootey

I don’t really get the animosity on this forum towards WiFi and cloud services, .

Forget the word "Cloud". It's just someone else's service. Too many are scanning the content for their own reasons.
Too many have privacy and security issues.

The big value is public sharing and collaboration for a group where none have their own hosting.

It might seem convenient for personal single use, but each "sync" is needing two separate internet connections.

Also needs good quality always on Internet.

What is the income model of the so called "Cloud" provider?
What is their security?
What is the privacy? Really, not just claimed.
What backup or redundancy does the vendor have?
Where is it and what government agencies have access? A life or death question (or imprisonment) in the majority of countries.

The more you know about it, the less you'll like it [Cloud]. This year is maybe 30th of having some sort of server 24x7 on my own LAN. Never hacked and despite HW & SW failures no lost files.
About 20 years of having hosting (where you know more about location, privacy and security than stuff advertised as Cloud services), where I have personal domain names (no-one owns them except government etc, you rent the domain name you invent, unfortunately) and I decide what other people get access to whatever. Also email on my own domains. Changed provider about six times with no loss of data or email. I don't use it for backups. Those are on physical devices I own and control and actually I backup up the files on the Internet on local devices. The Internet is best for sharing stuff.

Last year I finally got fibre. But I'd be mad to self-host. We have had our own VPN server on the internet off and on for about 20 years. That allows email and browsing from dubious hotels, universities or cafes via secure VPN to our home internet connection, as if at home. The only other legitimate use case is WFH/remote office. The 3rd party VPNs are not always private and secure and only exist to circumvent geo-restrictions (which like DRM shouldn't exist, but a commercial VPN is a bad solution).

I was a communications engineer at one time. On diagrams we drew a "cloud" in the middle when we didn't care or know have the interconnections worked. It was not for internet till later, and might have been Analogue, voice, video, fax or telex not just data.

That is where the term "Cloud" in marketing comes from and it's a lie. It's just the vendor's servers. The actual Internet is the "Cloud". The only real things of the Internet are ISPs, backbones /Internet exchanges, the connections and servers. Internet simply means interconnected networks. A cloud is a diagrammatic indication of the usually unknown interconnection routes.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives

No. The cover art works just fine on their KEPUB files for me.

Did the griper tick the option to make the cover monochrome or other cover processing in the driver?

I don't see all the fuss about HIRES covers on the device. Calibre is where I see covers of books I might sideload. On the device, The cover is just a page on the screen for a short time (other than sleep. but if it is sleeping, I am not using )

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by theducks

I don't see all the fuss about HIRES covers on the device. Calibre is where I see covers of books I might sideload. On the device, The cover is just a page on the screen for a short time (other than sleep. but if it is sleeping, I am not using )

Even when my Kobos are sleeping, I don't see the book covers since I use the random screensaver option (mostly M. C. Escher images).

[ownedbycats]

Kobo has a random screensaver option?

[Gone]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Nope. Not solved. Having a wire to the battery is not solved. Having a more powerful battery in the Kobo is problem solved. Also, having a more powerful battery will allow a more powerful processor without losing any reading time. Also, the Sage and Elipsa both need a more powerful battery. Much more then the Libra 2. So they will get heavier and rightly so.

Just tape the extra battery to the Kobo and plug the USB C battery to the Kobo.

Sounds ridiculous?

You asking for more weight to an ereader is ridiculous. Nobody wants that.

[Aleron Ives]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Kobo has a random screensaver option?

Yes. It's undocumented, but you can create a screensaver folder and put images in it, and the device will randomly pick one of the images to use for the sleep screen.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Kobo has a random screensaver option?

To quote a message from @davidfor about 4.5 years back:

Originally Posted by davidfor

I just found out today that firmware has hidden support for a random screensaver image. If you add a directory called "screensaver" inside the ".kobo" directory, images in it will be selected randomly to be used as the screensaver.

The steps needed to use a random image for the screensaver are:

1. In the ".kobo" directory, create a directory called "screensaver".
2. Put the images you want to see as screensavers in the new directory.
3. Disconnect the device.
4. In the settings, on the "Energy saving and privacy" screen, turn on "Show current read" and "Show book covers full screen".
5. Put the device to sleep and see one of the images. If there is only one image, it will always be used.

This came up in a discussion elsewhere that was sort of triggered by the current miniclock discussion. It has been in the firmware since 4.13.x without anyone noticing.

Once you have this setup, you can also use NickelMenu to toggle the custom screensaver on/off by renaming the screensaver directory.