PC with XP Serv Pk 3 won't Sync or Eject Kobo

[moirad]

I received a Kobo as an Xmas gift from my kids. I managed to install the mobile app on my Blackberry, then I spent all yesterday trying to install it on my PC. Called support to find out that I have to "manage my library" in order to have my PC recognize my Kobo. That would have been a handy piece of information on the glitzy Quick Start Guide that was provided with my Kobo.
Eventually, my PC did recognize my Kobo, but I did not have the installation files for Windows.
Called support again. Danielle told me I could load installation files from Kobo site. Did that. Kobo icon appeared on desktop. I could log in, but could not access anything without the program erroring out, and shutting down. Cannot set up my account beyond my name and password.
I installed and uninstalled the files several times, and shut down my PC also.
Called support again. This time the tech person had me do a factory re-set of the Kobo. Told her all that I had done. I closed out my Spy Doctor, and then my PC had the Kobo installation files. Re-installed once again, and still cannot sync or eject my Kobo.
F.Y.I. I cannot eject using the icon on the bottom right of my PC screen. It says Mass Storage Device, and then when I try to close it, I get 3 options: Mass Storage Device, Generic Device, Kobo eReader. None of them will eject, PC says try later, close out other programs. Nothing else is running. Cannot eject in control panel either.
Tech Lady says to install elsewhere and see if that works. I was on the phone with her for over 2 hours. I was either on the phone or on hold with Kobo for 4 hours, once they even disconnected me without speaking to anyone.
Tech Lady says that if I can get my Kobo to sync with my Account on another PC then I could just download books wirelessly.
Anyone else have this problem? Any idea on how I can get my own home laptop that is using Windows XP Service Pack 3, to sync and eject my Kobo eReader? The amount of time spent on this has been ridiculous.
Thanks!

[taming]

It sounds like you have been through the ringer, for sure. Have you tried another USB cable? Defective cables can do odd things. The cable is generic, so any other USB cable you have handy should work.

XP does not always "flush" the buffer correctly so messages about devices continuing to run are fairly common. This is one workaround.
Open My Computer and right click device, select properties. Then click Hardware tab, select device and then click properties again.
In the Policies tab you will find the two options. If you select Quick Removal, you won't have to use Safely Remove Hardware every time you disconnect.

Also check to see if the manufacturer released new USB drivers for your laptop after SP3 was released. Many did so. This might be a good time to make sure you are not missing any updates. I like Belarc Advisor for this. It's free and will tell you all kinds of things about your system and the software you have installed.

Let us know how it goes. USB problems with XP SP3 are very common.

PS: In Kobo's defense, many XP installs are getting long in the tooth. I spent a fair amount of time whilst on holiday reinstalling XP on older computers that had developed, urmmm, eccentricities over the years. Testing is done on installations that have none of the problems that sometimes show up on the kind of computers we have at home.

[JCKobo]

Hi moirad, sorry you've been having such trouble with your Kobo and getting it to sync.

Can you please confirm what version of the Kobo software is on your device.

via the Settings screen - press Menu, then select settings. You should see 'Software Version' and 'Revision'. Can you tell me what those lines say?

Does your Kobo Desktop application detect your Kobo reader? I.e. when you plug it in, and select Manage Library, does the Desktop application see the device? What about if you aren't running Spy Doctor? Is it the same then?

If you can answer these questions, I'll try to help you further.

[moirad]

Hi:
Kobo says it's:
1.7.4 (r21156, Nov 17 2010)
Revision 5B
I was able to sync the Kobo using my PC at work, but I would like it to work properly with my PC at home.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
moirad

[moirad]

JC Kobo:
At first, my PC would recognize the Kobo, but there were no PC installation files. Late last night, I shut off my SpyDoctor and then it would do it. However, in all instances, I am unable to disconnect my Kobo. When syncing, it takes forever, and then stops responding. I could not add information to my Account (e.g. Visa #, etc.), again, the program would crap out.
I understand that it is probably something on my PC that is preventing this from happening, but what a pain in the butt!
How important is syncing, and how often should I do it? I am not confortable leaving the program and accessing it on my work PC. Any help would be great!
Thanks!
moirad

[taming]

With WiFi Kobo you can sync without ever plugging in by USB at all. This will sync and download your Kobo books purchased from the website as kepub files. Updates to the firmware can also be done over WiFi. You do need to plug in via USB when sideloading books using Adobe Digital Edition or Calibre.

I charge my reader using a wall charger initially meant for my cell phone, btw, so I need not use the USB even for that.

[moirad]

Taming:
Do I have to have my Kobo attached to my PC to do the properties things? Is that the device I would be selecting?
Moira

[taming]

Yes, Moira, the device is your Kobo. That means it will have to be set to "manage" when you do this.

[moirad]

Thanks Taming, I follow your instructions. Will try and play around and figure out how to sync wirelessly. Any ideas on how to get books onto the Kobo from Calibre or other sites?
Thanks!
Moira

[taming]

You actually do have to do that when using USB. The User Guide has a good explanation of how to use Sync on your WiFi reader. See: http://koboereader.com/user-guide

There comes a time when it begins to make sense to do a reinstall of XP. It takes a long time to get all the updates in place and you do have to do a good backup and reinstall software, but it is a weekend project that can have big rewards at the end in terms of how perky the machine is and how well it runs. Even the most careful person ends up with a messy registry and bits and pieces of leftover things stuck here and there. It's a day long project, for sure.

One of the work machines I did this to last weekend had not had a reinstall for about six years. It's still an underpowered computer, compared to my newish home computer, but it made a big difference. BTW, it doesn't take much to use Kobo on a computer. I can sync etc using a first generation Netbook with even less in terms of oomph than the computer I wiped and did a reinstall on over the weekend.

[PeterT]

If you can't get the Kobo to appear as a device in Windows, the only other means would be to copy ePubs onto an SD card and use that.

When you mention unable to eject, I wonder if something (for instance an antivirus) might be scanning the files on the device?

If you are up to it, there are some tools from a web site http://www.sysinternals.com that could help see what has the device open.

For instance, the tool Handle http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/s...rnals/bb896655 can show what programs have a given drive open.

[taming]

That's a great idea, Peter. I have all of my books on an SD card already.

[zoran]

Originally Posted by taming

There comes a time when it begins to make sense to do a reinstall of XP.

Then she would never find the answer. I remember previous advice from
kobo people asking user to install some C++ shared library. I assume kobo
should put this information on some sticky or on their site, if it is necessa-
ry for device to be recognized.

"Spy Doctor" is probably some kind of application firewall? Those "Mass
Storage Device, Generic Device, Kobo eReader" are obviously the same
thing and I bet it asks user to close all applications connecting to reader
or trying to connect to first. Garbage control on win is not perfect and it
needs reboot from time to time, however it sounds stupid to say. I would
reboot if reader can be unmounted. Unmounting is of prime importance.

Is there any chance to split the process? To have server -> desktop app
first? Then app -> reader second? That way the problem could be divided
into smaller parts.

If finally desktop sees reader, but has problem to manage it, I'd suspect
it not to be in manage mode as first. Next, I'd go after corrupted file
system.

Best regards.

[taming]

The C++ was for a different issue--having to do with the desktop--and it is mainly for folks with SP2. Sameer wrote the post far enough back that it might already be included by Kobo.

If the main problems is related to not being able to safely disconnect the Kobo, it's probably not a Db issue--much more likely to be a an old and somewhat screwy XP install. As long as Windows continues to have a registry, installation quality will degrade over time as programs are installed, uninstalled, changed, etc. And this particular problem has historically been a problem in XP.

[llizard]

Originally Posted by moirad

JC Kobo:
At first, my PC would recognize the Kobo, but there were no PC installation files. Late last night, I shut off my SpyDoctor and then it would do it. However, in all instances, I am unable to disconnect my Kobo. When syncing, it takes forever, and then stops responding.

Arg! I was having a very similar problem. When you say "SpyDoctor", do you actually mean "Spyware Doctor"? That's what I had installed on my XP sp3 machine, and was suffering until I *uninstalled* Spyware Doctor.

In my case, the Kobo desktop software would either hang, waiting for the eject to NOT happen. Or it would crash (with an access violation, if anyone is interested), and the kobo would immediately be "ejected". In that second case, none of my books would open anymore. Factory reset ahoy!

I kept reinstalling the kobo software, and failing to sync all the time, until I noticed -- with those sysinternal tools that someone else mentioned -- that even though spyware doctor was shut down, its drivers were still loaded.

Uninstalling it completely, and rebooting, made its drivers -- and my kobo problems -- go away.


If you did have spyware doctor, and not spydoctor, it looks like they have a known issue in the current version, that stops usb devices from being ejected. Sounds like they might have a fix next version... if we're lucky.

Otherwise, if spydoctor is an entirely different product, and actually is what you have, the fix might be similar (uninstall, not just shut off)?

Hope this helps...