PRS-350 Problem with page numbers on PRS-350

nyrk · 06-23-2012, 07:54 AM

Hello,

I'm experiencing problems with 2 of 4 new (non-DRM-protected) epub files and I had experienced the same kind of issue a few times before:

After reformatting the books using "text justify" in Calibre and after transferring them to my Sony PRS 350 using Calibre and opening them on the device, 2 of them open on page number 2. Trying to go back to page 1 results in the small error symbol (circle) blinking up in the bottom next to the battery indicator.
When I try to go to page 1 by tapping the bottom bar and moving the "handle" to the very left, it will jump to the very right end of the scrollbar instead, showing me, instead of "1 of 277", something like -21474....-1 of 277.

Clearly, this is some kind of bug, but I can't tell if it's the reader or the ebook (which opens just fine on page one in Calibre!).

As I had already found a very helpful solution in this forum regarding the removal of margins by decompiling the book and altering some of the resulting files, I hope that someone will know what might be causing this strange page number behaviour and I'd be happy to know how I can fix this. I could probably read the whole book from page 2 on without any other issues (haven't flipped through all the pages yet though), but it's nagging me that I have a few books in my growing library that, by starting on page 2 or having other errors related to very strange and high page numbers, just don't seem to be right.

I'd really appreciate your help!

Best regards,

Alexander.

speakingtohe · 06-27-2012, 06:51 PM

did you try the goto page number?

Helen

nyrk · 06-28-2012, 03:59 AM

Hi Helen,

Yes I have - no matter how I try to go to page one, I will jump to the very last page and the page number will read something like "-214745982-1 of 277".

I have tried it with the same ebook(s) on another reader similar to mine - with the same outcome, so I guess it's the ebook files to blame.

I just hoped that someone would know where to look and how to fix this strange behaviour, once the book has been "exploded" using Calibre.

Thanks for your reply, Helen!

jackie_w · 06-28-2012, 09:08 AM

One thing you could check is the items in the <spine> section of the .opf file inside the epub. You will need to use the calibre TweakEpub option to unzip it to find the opf. In the spine you will see a list of ids showing what order to read the various html files. Look at the top of the list to see if one of the ids is duplicated.

nyrk · 06-28-2012, 10:35 AM

Hi Jackie,

Thanks for your interesting suggestion!

I have looked into the <spine> section, but unfortunately found no duplicates, just every chapter (starting with chapter 2 or 5, depending on the book) once. What puzzles me is that before the spine section, the chapters are already enumerated in the opf file, but not starting by the first chapter (e.g. 2 or 5), but for example by chapter 10.

Knowing just a tiny little HTML and this kind of language, the content of these files seem pretty complicated to me, so I can't tell what entry or maybe what little symbol may be causing the error. After seeing how much code there is just as the book's "skeleton", I wouldn't be surprised if my problem would result from just a tiny mistake in these lines of code.
I can tell for sure though that the chapter ids aren't duplicated.

Thank you very much for your input, it made me navigate a step further into the depths of an ebook file

jackie_w · 06-28-2012, 11:29 AM

If you are able to PM me a link to a copy of your epub, I could take a closer look, if you like. Don't post it here if it's copyrighted material, though.

BaenSidhe · 06-28-2012, 11:38 AM

I've never had the problem where the page number goes negative, but I have had the problem where I can't navigate back to a page. When that happens to me, it's because somewhere in content.opf (I think) there is a chapter listed as chapter#.htm but the actual file is actually chapter#_split_000.htm.

nyrk · 06-28-2012, 12:04 PM

Jackie: Thank you very much for your offer, I've just sent you a pm!

BaenSidhe: This is indeed part of my problem: I can't navigate back to page 1. If I try, I jump to the last or next-to-last page, which in my case displays this kind of very strange negative page number.

I couldn't find the same kind of difference between listed chapter name and actual chapter name. Has renaming the listed chapter name (to be equal with the actual chapter name) helped in your case?

Thanks for all your input!

Alex

Edit:
Here's a different question: How does this "karma" recompensation feature work? If I change the standard value "1" to a higher one, I guess this would mean that I add more than just one point to the helper's karma? The more someone helps me, the more I will add (to what limit?). Sorry, I'm new here and every forum seems to provide a different way of saying "thanks".

Edit 2: To give you an idea, here's a link to a screenshot of the problem:
http://www.dropbox.com/s/og8e2c1d121...-28_182104.jpg
Sorry, embedding a https-link to an image doesn't seem to work so that the image would get displayed directly here.

BaenSidhe · 06-29-2012, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyrk

BaenSidhe: This is indeed part of my problem: I can't navigate back to page 1. If I try, I jump to the last or next-to-last page, which in my case displays this kind of very strange negative page number.

I couldn't find the same kind of difference between listed chapter name and actual chapter name. Has renaming the listed chapter name (to be equal with the actual chapter name) helped in your case?

I was wrong, I fixed the file name in toc.ncx. Once the first chapter in the toc was fixed I could go through the pages correctly. You might want to download Sigil and use the validate epub function to see the list of problems for your epub.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyrk

Here's a different question: How does this "karma" recompensation feature work? If I change the standard value "1" to a higher one, I guess this would mean that I add more than just one point to the helper's karma? The more someone helps me, the more I will add (to what limit?). Sorry, I'm new here and every forum seems to provide a different way of saying "thanks".

Info about how karma works on MR can be found here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10713

nyrk · 06-29-2012, 03:43 AM

Hi BaenSidhe,

Thank you for your replies and suggestions!

In the meantime, jackie_w has provided me with helpful instructions that fixed my problem (and some other knowledge that explain why he/she is a "Wizard" while I am a "Junior member"

.
In my case, I needed to delete a (maybe obsolete) entry in the .opf file after having converted the book with Calibre (epub>epub). Strangely, the total of page numbers have been reduced a bit, but the content seems to be intact and without any page number malfunction or any forced jumps to a weird negative number.

I will keep your suggestion to use Sigil's validate epub function in mind!

Thanks!

06-23-2012, 07:54 AM	#1
nyrk Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Vienna, Austria Device: Sony PRS 350, kindle, kindle paperwhite 2, sony prs T2	Problem with page numbers on PRS-350 Hello, I'm experiencing problems with 2 of 4 new (non-DRM-protected) epub files and I had experienced the same kind of issue a few times before: After reformatting the books using "text justify" in Calibre and after transferring them to my Sony PRS 350 using Calibre and opening them on the device, 2 of them open on page number 2. Trying to go back to page 1 results in the small error symbol (circle) blinking up in the bottom next to the battery indicator. When I try to go to page 1 by tapping the bottom bar and moving the "handle" to the very left, it will jump to the very right end of the scrollbar instead, showing me, instead of "1 of 277", something like -21474....-1 of 277. Clearly, this is some kind of bug, but I can't tell if it's the reader or the ebook (which opens just fine on page one in Calibre!). As I had already found a very helpful solution in this forum regarding the removal of margins by decompiling the book and altering some of the resulting files, I hope that someone will know what might be causing this strange page number behaviour and I'd be happy to know how I can fix this. I could probably read the whole book from page 2 on without any other issues (haven't flipped through all the pages yet though), but it's nagging me that I have a few books in my growing library that, by starting on page 2 or having other errors related to very strange and high page numbers, just don't seem to be right. I'd really appreciate your help! Best regards, Alexander. Last edited by nyrk; 06-23-2012 at 02:06 PM.

06-28-2012, 10:35 AM	#5
nyrk Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Vienna, Austria Device: Sony PRS 350, kindle, kindle paperwhite 2, sony prs T2	Hi Jackie, Thanks for your interesting suggestion! I have looked into the <spine> section, but unfortunately found no duplicates, just every chapter (starting with chapter 2 or 5, depending on the book) once. What puzzles me is that before the spine section, the chapters are already enumerated in the opf file, but not starting by the first chapter (e.g. 2 or 5), but for example by chapter 10. Knowing just a tiny little HTML and this kind of language, the content of these files seem pretty complicated to me, so I can't tell what entry or maybe what little symbol may be causing the error. After seeing how much code there is just as the book's "skeleton", I wouldn't be surprised if my problem would result from just a tiny mistake in these lines of code. I can tell for sure though that the chapter ids aren't duplicated. Thank you very much for your input, it made me navigate a step further into the depths of an ebook file Last edited by nyrk; 06-28-2012 at 10:37 AM.

06-28-2012, 12:04 PM	#8
nyrk Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Vienna, Austria Device: Sony PRS 350, kindle, kindle paperwhite 2, sony prs T2	Jackie: Thank you very much for your offer, I've just sent you a pm! BaenSidhe: This is indeed part of my problem: I can't navigate back to page 1. If I try, I jump to the last or next-to-last page, which in my case displays this kind of very strange negative page number. I couldn't find the same kind of difference between listed chapter name and actual chapter name. Has renaming the listed chapter name (to be equal with the actual chapter name) helped in your case? Thanks for all your input! Alex Edit: Here's a different question: How does this "karma" recompensation feature work? If I change the standard value "1" to a higher one, I guess this would mean that I add more than just one point to the helper's karma? The more someone helps me, the more I will add (to what limit?). Sorry, I'm new here and every forum seems to provide a different way of saying "thanks". Edit 2: To give you an idea, here's a link to a screenshot of the problem: http://www.dropbox.com/s/og8e2c1d121...-28_182104.jpg Sorry, embedding a https-link to an image doesn't seem to work so that the image would get displayed directly here. Last edited by nyrk; 06-28-2012 at 12:25 PM.

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06-27-2012, 06:51 PM	#2
speakingtohe Wizard Posts: 4,812 Karma: 26912940 Join Date: Apr 2010 Device: sony PRS-T1 and T3, Kobo Mini and Aura HD, Tablet	did you try the goto page number? Helen

06-28-2012, 03:59 AM	#3
nyrk Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Vienna, Austria Device: Sony PRS 350, kindle, kindle paperwhite 2, sony prs T2	Hi Helen, Yes I have - no matter how I try to go to page one, I will jump to the very last page and the page number will read something like "-214745982-1 of 277". I have tried it with the same ebook(s) on another reader similar to mine - with the same outcome, so I guess it's the ebook files to blame. I just hoped that someone would know where to look and how to fix this strange behaviour, once the book has been "exploded" using Calibre. Thanks for your reply, Helen!

06-28-2012, 09:08 AM	#4
jackie_w Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,212 Karma: 16534894 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo: KA1, ClaraHD, Forma, Libra2, Clara2E. PocketBook: TouchHD3	One thing you could check is the items in the <spine> section of the .opf file inside the epub. You will need to use the calibre TweakEpub option to unzip it to find the opf. In the spine you will see a list of ids showing what order to read the various html files. Look at the top of the list to see if one of the ids is duplicated.

06-28-2012, 11:29 AM	#6
jackie_w Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,212 Karma: 16534894 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: UK Device: Kobo: KA1, ClaraHD, Forma, Libra2, Clara2E. PocketBook: TouchHD3	If you are able to PM me a link to a copy of your epub, I could take a closer look, if you like. Don't post it here if it's copyrighted material, though.

06-28-2012, 11:38 AM	#7
BaenSidhe Groupie Posts: 150 Karma: 1087916 Join Date: Mar 2010 Device: PRS-500 and PRS-650	I've never had the problem where the page number goes negative, but I have had the problem where I can't navigate back to a page. When that happens to me, it's because somewhere in content.opf (I think) there is a chapter listed as chapter#.htm but the actual file is actually chapter#_split_000.htm.

06-29-2012, 03:43 AM	#10
nyrk Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Vienna, Austria Device: Sony PRS 350, kindle, kindle paperwhite 2, sony prs T2	Hi BaenSidhe, Thank you for your replies and suggestions! In the meantime, jackie_w has provided me with helpful instructions that fixed my problem (and some other knowledge that explain why he/she is a "Wizard" while I am a "Junior member" . In my case, I needed to delete a (maybe obsolete) entry in the .opf file after having converted the book with Calibre (epub>epub). Strangely, the total of page numbers have been reduced a bit, but the content seems to be intact and without any page number malfunction or any forced jumps to a weird negative number. I will keep your suggestion to use Sigil's validate epub function in mind! Thanks!

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