Kobo Wireless unable to write to (most) SD cards

Ayukawa · 01-22-2011, 01:50 AM

I have a kobo wireless and I'm having trouble saving anything to the SD cards. I have one 1gb SD card that I don't have any problems with.

I've also tried 2 2gb MicroSD cards and an 8gb SDHC card with no success using calibre nor by attempting to copy the files directly to the drive as it appears on my computer. It sits as if its copying for a moment, then fails.

I've attempted this on both Windows 7 and OSX systems. It's strange that only the one 1gb SD card I have works. I thought the Kobo Wireless was suppose to support cards up to 32gb.

almagary · 01-22-2011, 03:32 AM

When I got my Transcend 32GB SDHC card about 10 days ago, I loaded it up (with 99% Gutenberg epubs) using Calibre's Save to Disk function, then put it in my Kobo WiFi for overnight indexing and whatever else the device does. In the morning I turned on the Kobo and found a few hundred titles nicely arranged in the Books list, and I've had no problems since.

I know there's at least two other means of putting epubs on the SDHC card--"only" another 31GB of space remaining--but I figure there's no need to try them.

I'm using Windows Vista and have been doing all my ebook management with Calibre since I messed things up at the beginning (detailed in another thread) by careless use and syncing with multiple ereader programs/managers (Calibre, Kobo, Sony Reader, ADE).

Keep It Simple!

taming · 01-22-2011, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ayukawa

I have a kobo wireless and I'm having trouble saving anything to the SD cards. I have one 1gb SD card that I don't have any problems with.

Hummmm... I have used a number of different cards up to 8 Gb on several different Kobo with no problem. Are the books not copying to the card at all or are the books you put on the card not processing and creating the Db links? Is this true when you sideload using Calibre?

Ayukawa · 01-22-2011, 02:59 PM

The books aren't copying to the card at all. When I do this I have the card in the kobo, which is connected by USB. I don't have a card reader to try copying them directly to the card without the kobo involved at all.

I'm not entirely sure what side-loading is, so I probably haven't tried that.

Psyke · 01-22-2011, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ayukawa

The books aren't copying to the card at all. When I do this I have the card in the kobo, which is connected by USB. I don't have a card reader to try copying them directly to the card without the kobo involved at all.

I'm not entirely sure what side-loading is, so I probably haven't tried that.

Sideloading is copying epub books onto the kobo directly rather than using the kobo's software.

Is the system seeing the SD card at all when plugged into the kobo? If it is, are you able to format the card?

Do you happen to have a camera that can take the card? do you have the same problems when you plug the camera into the PC?

pholy · 01-22-2011, 04:40 PM

It's possible that the microSD adapter (or the SD card) has had it its (write)lock switch enabled (it might catch as you push the adapter in). It's a tiny little thing, easily overlooked. It's worth a quick check, if you haven't already.

Ayukawa · 01-22-2011, 10:24 PM

Yeah, the write lock wasn't on. I just purchased a USB card reader and tried using write to disk. That was successful. I was able to copy all of my books (CBZ format) to the card. After I put the card in, the kobo glitched slightly:

The kobo went through it's "Adding books" phase. When I attempted to open one of the books, it was "corrupted" (only the top 10% of the image displayed). I tried another book and the kobo rebooted itself.

However, when the kobo came back up, it redetected new books, and now everything opens without issue. Still kinda strange. I'm just wondering if there's an issue with my kobo that is preventing it from adding books directly to an inserted card.

Ayukawa · 01-22-2011, 11:30 PM

Just an update, it doesn't seem as if all the books got recognized correctly by the kobo. I ended up clearing the card and adding everything again, and had to reboot the kobo several times, and i'm still not entirely sure that everything is recognized correctly.

I've also noticed that whenever I power the kobo on now, it gives me the "updating contents" screen for a couple of seconds. I've never noticed this before. Is it normal?

I'm wondering if my kobo is actually defective. Everything I've read says it works with SDHC cards up to 32gb. I wonder if I should just return it and get it replaced.

taming · 01-23-2011, 02:02 AM

Download Calibre and then add the books into that program. Attach the Kobo reader. Calibre should recognize both the reader and the card. Highlight/choose the book you want to transfer and click on the menu to the right of send to device. Choose to send to the card. Does it transfer that way? I'm suggesting this because I am not sure if the way you are trying to copy is part of the problem.

The updating content bit is normal. Your Kobo has to check to see if there is new content to process, bookmarks to sync, etc. It is very fast if there really isn't anything, but can take a long time if you, for example, have just popped in an SD card with 100 books on it.

Ayukawa · 01-23-2011, 04:13 PM

Ive been using calibre to do it as suggested above. When I tell it to transfer to card A, it starts like it should then errors after about a minute. The only way I have been able to get the files transferred to a card is to put it in a card reader and use save to disk in calibre - then the kobo doesn't recognize all the books.

The books I'm trying to write to the card are all CBZ comics converted to ePub. They save to the kobo directly just fine. I also have a 1gb card that they save to jus fine when it is in my kobo. But any other card fails like I described.

taming · 01-23-2011, 04:36 PM

How are the SD cards formatted? That is the only thing I can think of at this point. You can return the reader and see if it actually is a defect.

Ayukawa · 01-23-2011, 04:59 PM

I've tried FAT and eFAT. EFAT wasn't recognizable at all by the kobo.

taming · 01-23-2011, 07:59 PM

Quote:

The books I'm trying to write to the card are all CBZ comics converted to ePub.

Yeah--should be FAT. If the cards work with everything but the books you have converted into ePUB from CBZ, try a few free books to check, then I don't think it is a Kobo problem. You may want to bring it up in the calibre forum as a file conversion issue.

Ayukawa · 01-23-2011, 08:59 PM

Well, I tried copying a bunch of smaller epub files to the kobo, and it failed. It sat for maybe 2-3 minutes running the "job" then the kobo and sd card were "disconnected" from my mac. I had to disconnect the kobo and hold the power button in until it restarted.

ie., same result as usual.

taming · 01-24-2011, 03:59 AM

By this point, you may have a borked Db on the kobo. I think what I would do is start over.

By this I mean remove any book files or book folders you have on the root of the kobo and do a factory reset. As a factory reset does not seem to fix a messed up sqlite Db, replace it, as well as the images and kepub files following the directions in the sqlite replacement sticky

When that has happened, you will now have your preloaded books as kepub files, rather than in the Db itself. Those should now be the only books on your reader.

Test your machine by adding in some books you have already purchased or free books from the Kobo site. Add books into the main memory through sync, as ePUB through Adobe ADE, and as ePUB via Calibre. If everything goes as it should, do the same things but add the ePUB books to an SD card you absolutely know is good, even if you have to buy a new one to be sure.

Finally, try adding the comic books you have converted to ePUB.

01-22-2011, 01:50 AM	#1
Ayukawa Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Syracuse, NY Device: Kobo	Kobo Wireless unable to write to (most) SD cards I have a kobo wireless and I'm having trouble saving anything to the SD cards. I have one 1gb SD card that I don't have any problems with. I've also tried 2 2gb MicroSD cards and an 8gb SDHC card with no success using calibre nor by attempting to copy the files directly to the drive as it appears on my computer. It sits as if its copying for a moment, then fails. I've attempted this on both Windows 7 and OSX systems. It's strange that only the one 1gb SD card I have works. I thought the Kobo Wireless was suppose to support cards up to 32gb.

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01-22-2011, 03:32 AM	#2
almagary Wears funny hat (cloth) Posts: 28 Karma: 26 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Limbo Device: Kobo WiFi, Kobo Touch	When I got my Transcend 32GB SDHC card about 10 days ago, I loaded it up (with 99% Gutenberg epubs) using Calibre's Save to Disk function, then put it in my Kobo WiFi for overnight indexing and whatever else the device does. In the morning I turned on the Kobo and found a few hundred titles nicely arranged in the Books list, and I've had no problems since. I know there's at least two other means of putting epubs on the SDHC card--"only" another 31GB of space remaining--but I figure there's no need to try them. I'm using Windows Vista and have been doing all my ebook management with Calibre since I messed things up at the beginning (detailed in another thread) by careless use and syncing with multiple ereader programs/managers (Calibre, Kobo, Sony Reader, ADE). Keep It Simple!

01-22-2011, 02:59 PM	#4
Ayukawa Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Syracuse, NY Device: Kobo	The books aren't copying to the card at all. When I do this I have the card in the kobo, which is connected by USB. I don't have a card reader to try copying them directly to the card without the kobo involved at all. I'm not entirely sure what side-loading is, so I probably haven't tried that.

01-22-2011, 04:40 PM	#6
pholy Booklegger Posts: 1,801 Karma: 7999816 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Device: BeBook(1 & 2010), PEZ, PRS-505, Kobo BT, PRS-T1, Playbook, Kobo Touch	It's possible that the microSD adapter (or the SD card) has had it its (write)lock switch enabled (it might catch as you push the adapter in). It's a tiny little thing, easily overlooked. It's worth a quick check, if you haven't already.

01-22-2011, 10:24 PM	#7
Ayukawa Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Syracuse, NY Device: Kobo	Yeah, the write lock wasn't on. I just purchased a USB card reader and tried using write to disk. That was successful. I was able to copy all of my books (CBZ format) to the card. After I put the card in, the kobo glitched slightly: The kobo went through it's "Adding books" phase. When I attempted to open one of the books, it was "corrupted" (only the top 10% of the image displayed). I tried another book and the kobo rebooted itself. However, when the kobo came back up, it redetected new books, and now everything opens without issue. Still kinda strange. I'm just wondering if there's an issue with my kobo that is preventing it from adding books directly to an inserted card.

01-22-2011, 11:30 PM	#8
Ayukawa Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Syracuse, NY Device: Kobo	Just an update, it doesn't seem as if all the books got recognized correctly by the kobo. I ended up clearing the card and adding everything again, and had to reboot the kobo several times, and i'm still not entirely sure that everything is recognized correctly. I've also noticed that whenever I power the kobo on now, it gives me the "updating contents" screen for a couple of seconds. I've never noticed this before. Is it normal? I'm wondering if my kobo is actually defective. Everything I've read says it works with SDHC cards up to 32gb. I wonder if I should just return it and get it replaced.

01-23-2011, 02:02 AM	#9
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	Download Calibre and then add the books into that program. Attach the Kobo reader. Calibre should recognize both the reader and the card. Highlight/choose the book you want to transfer and click on the menu to the right of send to device. Choose to send to the card. Does it transfer that way? I'm suggesting this because I am not sure if the way you are trying to copy is part of the problem. The updating content bit is normal. Your Kobo has to check to see if there is new content to process, bookmarks to sync, etc. It is very fast if there really isn't anything, but can take a long time if you, for example, have just popped in an SD card with 100 books on it.

01-23-2011, 04:13 PM	#10
Ayukawa Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Syracuse, NY Device: Kobo	Ive been using calibre to do it as suggested above. When I tell it to transfer to card A, it starts like it should then errors after about a minute. The only way I have been able to get the files transferred to a card is to put it in a card reader and use save to disk in calibre - then the kobo doesn't recognize all the books. The books I'm trying to write to the card are all CBZ comics converted to ePub. They save to the kobo directly just fine. I also have a 1gb card that they save to jus fine when it is in my kobo. But any other card fails like I described.

01-23-2011, 04:36 PM	#11
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	How are the SD cards formatted? That is the only thing I can think of at this point. You can return the reader and see if it actually is a defect.

01-23-2011, 04:59 PM	#12
Ayukawa Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Syracuse, NY Device: Kobo	I've tried FAT and eFAT. EFAT wasn't recognizable at all by the kobo.

01-23-2011, 08:59 PM	#14
Ayukawa Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Syracuse, NY Device: Kobo	Well, I tried copying a bunch of smaller epub files to the kobo, and it failed. It sat for maybe 2-3 minutes running the "job" then the kobo and sd card were "disconnected" from my mac. I had to disconnect the kobo and hold the power button in until it restarted. ie., same result as usual.

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01-24-2011, 03:59 AM	#15
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	By this point, you may have a borked Db on the kobo. I think what I would do is start over. By this I mean remove any book files or book folders you have on the root of the kobo and do a factory reset. As a factory reset does not seem to fix a messed up sqlite Db, replace it, as well as the images and kepub files following the directions in the sqlite replacement sticky When that has happened, you will now have your preloaded books as kepub files, rather than in the Db itself. Those should now be the only books on your reader. Test your machine by adding in some books you have already purchased or free books from the Kobo site. Add books into the main memory through sync, as ePUB through Adobe ADE, and as ePUB via Calibre. If everything goes as it should, do the same things but add the ePUB books to an SD card you absolutely know is good, even if you have to buy a new one to be sure. Finally, try adding the comic books you have converted to ePUB.