Libra Colour problems with new kobo

[alita]

Hi, I bought the Kobo Libra colour a few months ago, and I'm having trouble with it. Once I connect it to calibre (which I've used with my previous kobos) calibre puts up a message to say it can't communicate with the device and it won't show books on it. I can still add books, but once I've disconnected, all of my books are marked Unread, even the one I was reading at the time, and all the books are in the wrong order. So a new book might be on page 5 of the kobo, instead of at the top. I have the sort order to recent, so I don't get it. Is this a problem with Kobo? Isnt it compatible with calibre? I've downloaded every calibre update. I can temporarily fix the problem by resetting my kobo to factory settings and completely wiping it, but the fix doesn't last long.

Has anyone any ideas to sort this out? thanks.

[PeterT]

It sounds as if you're suffering from a corrupted database on the kobo. When you connect the Kobo to calibre what messages are produced? Is there one talking about a malformed database?

If that is the issue, you need to recreate that database, either by doing a reset of the device, or going to Settings | Accounts and selecting "Sign out" next to your Kobo account.

Unfortunately either option will result in you having to redo the setup.

It's curious that you are experiencing this issue; known problems causing this were resolved in current releases

What mods / patches are you using?

Are you ensuring that you cleanly eject the device from your PC and allow it to process new content?

Sent from my Pixel 7a using Tapatalk

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by PeterT

It's curious that you are experiencing this issue; known problems causing this were resolved in current releases

While the current firmware corrected the issue where the database was not closed before the USB connection was established, not safely ejecting is still a great way to get a corrupted database.

[talaivan]

Unless I'm trying to update the firmware or add a font, I never plug my Kobo into the computer. If I have the book I want in Calibre, I open the folder where the book is (control-click) and copy it to the Dropbox folder used by the Kobo. Then the book is available on the Kobo without having risked corrupting the database. Unfortunately, not all Kobo's have the Dropbox option, though apparently it can be added fairly easily by installing NickelMenu and putting in a config file. For some reason, when Calibre makes a file for Kobo, it ends in .kePub. The extension .epub has to be added after .kepub.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by talaivan

Unless I'm trying to update the firmware or add a font, I never plug my Kobo into the computer. If I have the book I want in Calibre, I open the folder where the book is (control-click) and copy it to the Dropbox folder used by the Kobo. Then the book is available on the Kobo without having risked corrupting the database. Unfortunately, not all Kobo's have the Dropbox option, though apparently it can be added fairly easily by installing NickelMenu and putting in a config file. For some reason, when Calibre makes a file for Kobo, it ends in .kePub. The extension .epub has to be added after .kepub.

I would suggest using calibre's save to disk to ensure that metadata is embedded and then use kepubify to convert epub to kepub with the dual extension (I use a batch file to do this). Copy the kepubs to Dropbox and delete the contents of the folder where you did the save to disk. Unless you are using Polish or Modify ePub or similar tool that embeds metadata, the epub file you are copying to Dropbox will not carry any metadata or cover image with it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I would suggest using calibre's save to disk to ensure that metadata is embedded and then use kepubify to convert epub to kepub with the dual extension (I use a batch file to do this). Copy the kepubs to Dropbox and delete the contents of the folder where you did the save to disk. Unless you are using Polish or Modify ePub or similar tool that embeds metadata, the epub file you are copying to Dropbox will not carry any metadata or cover image with it.

I've turned off calibre's automatic metadata embedding for Save to disk and when opening in the editor.. When I edit the eBook, I make sure the metadata is correct. So no need for the code to be modified after it's edited.

[alita]

I haven't used this forum before, so i hope I'm replying correctly!

I don't have any mods or patches. I always eject before I unplug. I do have the dropbox option, so I might look into just using that, and stop connecting to the pc, that might be the best option for me.

[talaivan]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I would suggest using calibre's save to disk to ensure that metadata is embedded and then use kepubify to convert epub to kepub with the dual extension (I use a batch file to do this). Copy the kepubs to Dropbox and delete the contents of the folder where you did the save to disk. Unless you are using Polish or Modify ePub or similar tool that embeds metadata, the epub file you are copying to Dropbox will not carry any metadata or cover image with it.

Just copying from Calibre to Dropbox keeps the metadata -- cover, description, etc. for kepubs. The only thing is you have to add the .epub extension after .kepub.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by talaivan

Just copying from Calibre to Dropbox keeps the metadata -- cover, description, etc. for kepubs. The only thing is you have to add the .epub extension after .kepub.

That's a hugely bad idea. You need all the specialized code in the kePub or a number of things won't work such as highlighting. I do not remember if your last read page is kept.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by alita

I haven't used this forum before, so i hope I'm replying correctly!

I don't have any mods or patches. I always eject before I unplug. I do have the dropbox option, so I might look into just using that, and stop connecting to the pc, that might be the best option for me.

By doing that, you look all to eBook organization you get with calibre. I suggest you try a different USB cable in case the one you are using is iffy,

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by talaivan

Just copying from Calibre to Dropbox keeps the metadata -- cover, description, etc. for kepubs. The only thing is you have to add the .epub extension after .kepub.

If you have a kepub in your library and copy it over USB to a Kobo ereader, the metadata will not be updated in the file sent unless you have installed the Kepub Metadata Writer plugin. Both the KoboTouch and KoboTouchExtended drivers update the metadata in the Kobo ereader's database. For a direct copy from the calibre library to Dropbox not using calibre's Save to Disk or Save to folder device or other option, you would need to Polish, Modify ePub or otherwise update the metadata in the ePub file before conversion to kepub.

Given that the bug that caused most of the database corruption with the previous firmware generation has been fixed, I am not worried at the moment about database corruption unless I do something stupid such as accidentally unplug my ereader from the computer. That possibility is why I have the Kobo Utilities plugin keep 5 daily backup copies of the databases and other critical files.

[talaivan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That's a hugely bad idea. You need all the specialized code in the kePub or a number of things won't work such as highlighting. I do not remember if your last read page is kept.

All I can say is that when I copy the Caliber .kepub (changed to .kepub.epub) file to Dropbox everything works -- highlighting, notes, metadata, etc. I did discover that in order for the cover to appear, I have to reboot the reader.

[DNSB]

Do metadata items such as page/word counts and series/series index work?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by talaivan

Just copying from Calibre to Dropbox keeps the metadata -- cover, description, etc. for kepubs. The only thing is you have to add the .epub extension after .kepub.

Maybe something was done in 3,49.* to allow KePub not to need the spans. Are these eBooks ePub or are they KePub?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Maybe something was done in 3,49.* to allow KePub not to need the spans. Are these eBooks ePub or are they KePub?

From what the poster was saying, the book have already been converted to .kepub. Calibre keeps kepub files in the library without adding the .epub. The reason for the existence of kepubify's --calibre option.