Problem with Calibre and PRS-600

Pinecone · 02-20-2011, 07:07 AM

This may be a issue with the PRS-600.

But I gave my 600 to my wife when I got my PRS-650.

I set up Calibre (0.7.45) on her system (Win7 Pro) and tried to walk her through adding a book. It hosed the reader. As in it would hang on trying to boot up and even if shut off (which was NOT easy) the battery would go dead in hours. So finally I did a hard reset and got it working. Loaded books back on using my working copy of Calibre. Everything is fine.

So last night, I try to add some newly purchased books and a few I forgot on the first pass.

At first, Calibre would not see the reader. Finally it saw the reader. Then it would hang when trying to update the meta data. And finally errored out with a device communications problem. I rebooted and tried again.

And then it would hang at 99% in getting the book list from the reader. Tried several times, same thing. But after each try the reader on the books already on it were fine.

So in frustration, I did another hard reset, and then Calibre worked fine to talk to the reader and upload all the books.

So, just now, I hook it up the computer again, and it gets the book list off the reader, but it is not sending the metadata, it says Working, Progress is "Unavailable", and the time is now up to over 7 minutes.

I fired up the Sony Library software, and it sees the reader, all the books and collections. I did not try to move anything to the reader, as I did not want to screw up the metadata file on it.

Anyone ever seen this before?

itimpi · 02-20-2011, 10:00 AM

It definitely sounds asif it could be a defective PRS-600.

It might be worth using the option on the PRS-600 to reformat the internal memory in case the file system has been corrupted. That would mean, however, that you would have to resend all the books to the Sony device.

DoctorOhh · 02-20-2011, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itimpi

It might be worth using the option on the PRS-600 to reformat the internal memory in case the file system has been corrupted.

I agree with this assessment, reformat your internal memory.

Quote:

Originally Posted by itimpi

That would mean, however, that you would have to resend all the books to the Sony device.

@Pinecone after you resend a few hundred books it could take 30 minutes for the 600 to rebuild its database. Just set it up somewhere, leave it alone and let it do its thing.

Pinecone · 02-20-2011, 05:18 PM

I did that (format internal memory), it is part of the hard reset.

The after first time of hard reset, it sat overnight before I hooked it up again. The second time, I didn't leave it that long.

But it sounds like I will need to call Sony and get it repaired/replaced. Luckily, it is working now, so my wife can use it, until I get back from my business trip.

Thanks.

DoctorOhh · 02-20-2011, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pinecone

I did that (format internal memory), it is part of the hard reset.

Formatting internal memory is not part of a hard reset. I think it is a setting under advanced settings, but it is not part of a simple hard reset.

Pinecone · 02-20-2011, 09:06 PM

When I did the first hard reset, maybe it offered me the choice, but it was done.

Ramzay · 04-01-2011, 12:05 PM

I have a similar issue with my SONY Readers (PRS-650, PRS-300, PRS350). In my case the problem was with computer USB port and connection. The device once connected stays connected for short period of time and then gets intermittently disconnected and connected again (Reader was showing "Charging battery" and then "Charging stopped") . That in itself causes tons of problems during synchronization. In my case problem was with the USB cable, but I know the guys whose problem was with the USB port on the Reader. In any case, before doing synchronization make sure that your connection is stable (the READER shows as a drive in Windows Explorer).

speakingtohe · 04-05-2011, 03:41 PM

I have had similiar problems since Oct. with calibre not being able to send books to the SD card. IOerror 22.
I thought at first that it was because I had too many books on card and eventually reformatted card to fat 32 with no difference.

Tried a lot of things with no luck

Recently had problems with database and reimported all ebooks into new database using version 7.52

Calibre would no longer communicte with my device (communication failure)

reformatted Sony PRS 600 main memory and SD card
Sent 300 books to device (SD CArd)
Worked fine
Sent 8 more books
Reader went into fibrillation mode with the little circle whirrring until the battery died.
Recharged and went through this repeatedly for about 36 hours

I was thinking cable or SD Card at this point.

Plugged reader into different computer with Calibre 7.17
Seemed to work ok, read books on device/sd card but still/was able to send books to SD card but still when I disconnected the reader just displayed circle with arrows turning until the battery ran out.

In desperation I reconnected to original computer without calibre running and ran Sony reader software

Sent 8 books to SD card. Charged battery, disconnected reader, and it worked.

Pretty sure it is not a calibre problem as there are a lot of users with Sony PRS-600

Have used 3 SD cards with same message coming up after I have had them connected using Calibre (scan card message from Windows 7) and same inability to write to them using calibre after the inital write.

Cable seems to work fine with Windows XP and Calibre 7.17. Or on Windows 7 with Sony reader software.
No random disconnects that I can determine.

calibre is excellent software and I have even taught my 86 year old mother to use it after a fashion. (must donate on her behalf

, but for some reason I am having a lot of Sony PRS-600 issues these days which all worked (still seem to) with earlier versions.

Not the end of the world as I can still put books on with Sony software but any insight appreciated

Helen

kovidgoyal · 04-05-2011, 03:51 PM

Different ways of putting books onto the device have different load profiles. I suggest using save to disk in calibre to put the books onto the device, that may not trigger whatever the underlying problem in your device is.

chaley · 04-05-2011, 03:54 PM

Calibre was recently changed (around two weeks ago IIRC) to scan the entire SD card for books, where it used to scan only the Sony subfolder. Is it possible that you have other 'ebook stuff' on the card that calibre is finding and adding to the Sony database? It could be that the 600's firmware cannot handle that.

You can turn off the global scan by going to preferences -> plugins -> Sony and unchecking the "Search for books in all folders" box.

speakingtohe · 04-05-2011, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Different ways of putting books onto the device have different load profiles. I suggest using save to disk in calibre to put the books onto the device, that may not trigger whatever the underlying problem in your device is.

I will definitely try that

speakingtohe · 04-05-2011, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Calibre was recently changed (around two weeks ago IIRC) to scan the entire SD card for books, where it used to scan only the Sony subfolder. Is it possible that you have other 'ebook stuff' on the card that calibre is finding and adding to the Sony database? It could be that the 600's firmware cannot handle that.

@ Chaley
Not sure thsi is directed at me but in case:
I did reformat the Sony memory and SD at least twice in the last 48 hours.
Only used calibre (no other programs even started and autoplay set to do nothing)

Problems marginally worse this week but ongoing since December.

And calibre 7.52 worked perfectly on the first send Next send it went into fibrillation mode until the battery died
All books on ereader at this point were sent by calibre, all calibre modified epub files.
Same files are on the reader now and seem to be ok since I sent a file using Sony reader
As I said before, I don't see how it could be a calibe problem but am flailing around looking for ideas
Thanks
Helen

Sure it is some bizarre Sony problem but hard to go after them when their software seems to function in its own limited fashion

jackie_w · 04-07-2011, 01:20 PM

Sorry if this is a bit simplistic, but have you eliminated the SD card from your enquiries by removing it completely, rebooting, then sending some books to internal memory?

speakingtohe · 04-13-2011, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Sorry if this is a bit simplistic, but have you eliminated the SD card from your enquiries by removing it completely, rebooting, then sending some books to internal memory?

Yes I did that (quite a few times

)
I have since tried 3 different SD cards
Coupled with the fact that an older version of calibre works fine, I have kind of ruled out the SD card as the source.

02-20-2011, 07:07 AM	#1
Pinecone Guru Posts: 902 Karma: 1660722 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Maryland Device: PRS-650, PRS-600, PRS-350	Problem with Calibre and PRS-600 This may be a issue with the PRS-600. But I gave my 600 to my wife when I got my PRS-650. I set up Calibre (0.7.45) on her system (Win7 Pro) and tried to walk her through adding a book. It hosed the reader. As in it would hang on trying to boot up and even if shut off (which was NOT easy) the battery would go dead in hours. So finally I did a hard reset and got it working. Loaded books back on using my working copy of Calibre. Everything is fine. So last night, I try to add some newly purchased books and a few I forgot on the first pass. At first, Calibre would not see the reader. Finally it saw the reader. Then it would hang when trying to update the meta data. And finally errored out with a device communications problem. I rebooted and tried again. And then it would hang at 99% in getting the book list from the reader. Tried several times, same thing. But after each try the reader on the books already on it were fine. So in frustration, I did another hard reset, and then Calibre worked fine to talk to the reader and upload all the books. So, just now, I hook it up the computer again, and it gets the book list off the reader, but it is not sending the metadata, it says Working, Progress is "Unavailable", and the time is now up to over 7 minutes. I fired up the Sony Library software, and it sees the reader, all the books and collections. I did not try to move anything to the reader, as I did not want to screw up the metadata file on it. Anyone ever seen this before?

02-20-2011, 05:18 PM	#4
Pinecone Guru Posts: 902 Karma: 1660722 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Maryland Device: PRS-650, PRS-600, PRS-350	I did that (format internal memory), it is part of the hard reset. The after first time of hard reset, it sat overnight before I hooked it up again. The second time, I didn't leave it that long. But it sounds like I will need to call Sony and get it repaired/replaced. Luckily, it is working now, so my wife can use it, until I get back from my business trip. Thanks. Last edited by Pinecone; 02-20-2011 at 05:21 PM.

04-05-2011, 03:41 PM	#8
speakingtohe Wizard Posts: 4,812 Karma: 26912940 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet	I have had similiar problems since Oct. with calibre not being able to send books to the SD card. IOerror 22. I thought at first that it was because I had too many books on card and eventually reformatted card to fat 32 with no difference. Tried a lot of things with no luck Recently had problems with database and reimported all ebooks into new database using version 7.52 Calibre would no longer communicte with my device (communication failure) reformatted Sony PRS 600 main memory and SD card Sent 300 books to device (SD CArd) Worked fine Sent 8 more books Reader went into fibrillation mode with the little circle whirrring until the battery died. Recharged and went through this repeatedly for about 36 hours I was thinking cable or SD Card at this point. Plugged reader into different computer with Calibre 7.17 Seemed to work ok, read books on device/sd card but still/was able to send books to SD card but still when I disconnected the reader just displayed circle with arrows turning until the battery ran out. In desperation I reconnected to original computer without calibre running and ran Sony reader software Sent 8 books to SD card. Charged battery, disconnected reader, and it worked. Pretty sure it is not a calibre problem as there are a lot of users with Sony PRS-600 Have used 3 SD cards with same message coming up after I have had them connected using Calibre (scan card message from Windows 7) and same inability to write to them using calibre after the inital write. Cable seems to work fine with Windows XP and Calibre 7.17. Or on Windows 7 with Sony reader software. No random disconnects that I can determine. calibre is excellent software and I have even taught my 86 year old mother to use it after a fashion. (must donate on her behalf, but for some reason I am having a lot of Sony PRS-600 issues these days which all worked (still seem to) with earlier versions. Not the end of the world as I can still put books on with Sony software but any insight appreciated Helen

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02-20-2011, 10:00 AM	#2
itimpi Wizard Posts: 4,552 Karma: 950151 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-950, iphone/ipad (Marvin/iBooks/QuickReader)	It definitely sounds asif it could be a defective PRS-600. It might be worth using the option on the PRS-600 to reformat the internal memory in case the file system has been corrupted. That would mean, however, that you would have to resend all the books to the Sony device.

02-20-2011, 09:06 PM	#6
Pinecone Guru Posts: 902 Karma: 1660722 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Maryland Device: PRS-650, PRS-600, PRS-350	When I did the first hard reset, maybe it offered me the choice, but it was done.

04-01-2011, 12:05 PM	#7
Ramzay Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: SONY PRS-650	I have a similar issue with my SONY Readers (PRS-650, PRS-300, PRS350). In my case the problem was with computer USB port and connection. The device once connected stays connected for short period of time and then gets intermittently disconnected and connected again (Reader was showing "Charging battery" and then "Charging stopped") . That in itself causes tons of problems during synchronization. In my case problem was with the USB cable, but I know the guys whose problem was with the USB port on the Reader. In any case, before doing synchronization make sure that your connection is stable (the READER shows as a drive in Windows Explorer).

04-05-2011, 03:51 PM	#9
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Different ways of putting books onto the device have different load profiles. I suggest using save to disk in calibre to put the books onto the device, that may not trigger whatever the underlying problem in your device is.

04-05-2011, 03:54 PM	#10
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,740 Karma: 6997045 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	Calibre was recently changed (around two weeks ago IIRC) to scan the entire SD card for books, where it used to scan only the Sony subfolder. Is it possible that you have other 'ebook stuff' on the card that calibre is finding and adding to the Sony database? It could be that the 600's firmware cannot handle that. You can turn off the global scan by going to preferences -> plugins -> Sony and unchecking the "Search for books in all folders" box.

04-07-2011, 01:20 PM	#13
jackie_w Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,212 Karma: 16534894 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo: KA1, ClaraHD, Forma, Libra2, Clara2E. PocketBook: TouchHD3	Sorry if this is a bit simplistic, but have you eliminated the SD card from your enquiries by removing it completely, rebooting, then sending some books to internal memory?

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