Manual copy through USB card reader

[anix]

Since I am running 64-bit OSes (I dual-boot Linux and windows Vista), I can't use my PRS-500 unless someone comes out with a working driver (and that doesn't look like it will happen soon). My desperate idea for a workaround is to get a USB card reader and just copy the relevant files to the SD card. My questions:
1. Will Calibre detect the card through the USB reader in the normal way, that is, will it show up in the main interface, or will I have to manually drag & drop files as if it were a hard drive?
2. Is there a way to transfer metadata such as tags and collections without having to connect the PRS-500 itself?
Thanks

[kovidgoyal]

1. You can use the save to disk function
2. No

[wallcraft]

Has anyone tried VMware (say) running 32-bit Linux, e.g. from Chrysaor.info? Essentially, this would be a Calibre "virtual appliance" on top on one of your 64-bit OSes. I don't know if the USB support is good enough in VMware to make this work, but it might be worth trying.

[iain_benson]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

2. No

Is this also the case with the PRS-505? It looks like all that calibre does is copy the files and create an xml file, or am I missing something? Does it actually need to talk to the reader itself?
It would be handy (and probably faster ... I haven't got round to benchmarking it yet) to be able to write to an SD/MS card directly, and have the tags & metadata.

Iain

[Alf]

Your best bet is virtualizing, and you are probably having more problems with other programs, not only Calibre, so it would really pay off.

[kovidgoyal]

The 500 doesn't support colelctions for books on the SD card. THe 505 will work just fine with calibre in a 64 bit OS

[user_none]

Originally Posted by anix

Since I am running 64-bit OSes (I dual-boot Linux and windows Vista), I can't use my PRS-500 unless someone comes out with a working driver (and that doesn't look like it will happen soon).

Drivers in Calibre aren't the typical driver you're thinking of, like a driver for a graphics card. A driver in Calibre does not interface with the OS's kernel. All device drivers Calibre uses will work on any supported OS 32 or 64 bit. They are really just a way to tell Calibre how to write the files to the device. The Cybook and Kindle Drivers for instance were developed on a 64 bit Linux install.

Originally Posted by iain_benson

It looks like all that calibre does is copy the files and create an xml file, or am I missing something?

Essentially that's what it does in the case of the PRS devices.

Originally Posted by iain_benson

Does it actually need to talk to the reader itself?

Nope. However, it does need to know how to put the files on the card. Calibre currently supports the PRS line, the Cybook Gen 3 and the Kindle. Only the 505 and the 700 share the same book and meta data file layout. The 500 is similar. The Cybook and Kindle are different. Calibre at least needs to know what kind of device it is dealing with so it can properly add the books for the device so the device will be able to read them.

Originally Posted by iain_benson

It would be handy (and probably faster ... I haven't got round to benchmarking it yet) to be able to write to an SD/MS card directly, and have the tags & metadata.

This would be a nice feature. It hasn't been implemented because Calibre would have to know what kind of device the card is intended for so it can write to it in the proper manner. This is not a simple task. It is however something I've been thinking about implementing at some point in the future.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by user_none

Drivers in Calibre aren't the typical driver you're thinking of, like a driver for a graphics card. A driver in Calibre does not interface with the OS's kernel. All device drivers Calibre uses will work on any supported OS 32 or 64 bit. They are really just a way to tell Calibre how to write the files to the device. The Cybook and Kindle Drivers for instance were developed on a 64 bit Linux install.

That's true of all the drivers except the PRS 500 driver. The PRS 500 isn't a mass storage device, so calibre does need to interface with the USB subsystem to communicate with the device.

[igorsk]

You could use WinUSB on x64.

[kovidgoyal]

Yeah but since I dont have an x64 machine and since the PRS500 is the only device silly enough to not use the Mass storage drivers...