Using multiple SD cards (Kobo)

[PermaTourist]

Calibre does a fine job of telling me if a particular title is on the Kobo or "Card A", but it thinks every SD card is card "A" (versus "B", "C", etc).

It would be Really Nice(tm) if Calibre could differentiate automagically (and display it), but failing that, I'd be fine with doing a custom column and populating it if there was a way to distinguish between SD cards from within Calibre, so I could store different genres to different cards (Tech vs Reference vs SciFi vs ...).

If Calibre can already do that, could some kind soul point me at instructions/directions?

Thanks...

[kovidgoyal]

calibre does not distinguish between sd cards. The card a,b etc designation is for readers like the sony readers that support more than one card at the same time.

[PermaTourist]

Is there a way to distinguish between SD cards, then?

When dealing with something that has removable media such as SD cards, it would seem worthwhile to keep track of which card(s) which file(s) are on.

[kovidgoyal]

No, there isn't

[PermaTourist]

Mr. Goyal:

The Calibre program is a good program, and I thank you for making it available as free and open-source. That said, I find your personal attitude regarding inquiries and suggestions to be not only highly contrarian, but outright offensive. I started this thread politely asking if Calibre had a specific capability, and if not, if someone could point me toward directions on how to implement it. Your first response was to tell me something that I already knew - and nothing more.

When I inquired further, and (again politely) pointed out the reason why I was making the inquiry, you bluntly and rudely denied it. I would point out to you that there IS a point to knowing which disks (SD card, HDD, CD, DVD, etc) files are on - thus the number of "cataloging" applications for keeping track of audio CDs and the like.
As I said, Calibre is a good program; your obstinacy and attitude toward user suggestions is preventing it from becoming a _great_ program - one that would draw in (and EARN) the kind of donations that would make its development worthwhile. However, since you've responded to my queries and input the way you have, you won't be getting any such donations from ME.

And for your reference, I'll tell you that I, too, have done more than a little bit of programming (though not in Python), so I'm FULLY aware that it is _entirely_ possible to read the unique disk ID of every storage device, and thus differentiate between them. If you've tired of further development of Calibre, at least have the decency to say so; otherwise, you risk giving the impression that you are either too ignorant or lazy to make further changes to the program yourself.

[Manichean]

Originally Posted by PermaTourist

As I said, Calibre is a good program; your obstinacy and attitude toward user suggestions is preventing it from becoming a _great_ program - one that would draw in (and EARN) the kind of donations that would make its development worthwhile. However, since you've responded to my queries and input the way you have, you won't be getting any such donations from ME.

The guy you're currently insulting gets enough donations to be able to make a living from them and develop Calibre full time. What was your point again?

And for your reference, I'll tell you that I, too, have done more than a little bit of programming (though not in Python), so I'm FULLY aware that it is _entirely_ possible to read the unique disk ID of every storage device, and thus differentiate between them. If you've tired of further development of Calibre, at least have the decency to say so; otherwise, you risk giving the impression that you are either too ignorant or lazy to make further changes to the program yourself.

Go ahead and write a patch. This is open source, which means that users aren't entitled to having something done by the developers (yes, there is more than one person developing Calibre), but might have to do something by themselves. In the past, Kovid has included many patches submitted by users.

[Starson17]

I find it incredibly difficult to exert my self control. I'll stop before I post something I regret.

[PermaTourist]

As noted in my post (for those that weren't paying attention):

1) I asked POLITELY.
2) Got blown off - repeatedly and rudely (read the posts leading up to my rant). Not "I'll look into it", not "maybe one of the devs will check it out", not "if you want to learn a little python, here's where to start in the code", not "Sorry, we don't have the time - we only do this part-time", nothing but "Beat it, kid, you bother me". Just for the novelty of it, try looking at those first 4 messages from MY perspective as a new user and ask yourselves how happy you'd be to get those kinds of responses.
3) AS NOTED, I have no knowledge of or experience with Python, so patching on my own is out.
4) I did NOT specifically ask ANYONE in particular to explicitly do anything; please note that in my first post, I even asked for pointers or directions to how to do it MYSELF in case there was some other way of accomplishing it. It was KOVID that was "abrupt" to the point of rudeness.
5) I have no expectation that the donation I would have made would have made that much of a difference; the point was that responding the way he did served to alienate at least ONE donation, and may well have lost them in the past (and may well in the future); it's up to Kovid to decide how important that is to him.

[hrynkiw]

Originally Posted by PermaTourist

(...) I find your personal attitude regarding inquiries and suggestions to be not only highly contrarian, but outright offensive.

While I too find Mr. Goyal's responses to be on the terse side in general, they have not, in my opinion, been either contrary or offensive.

Respectfully, I think you're mis-interpreting the tone of his responses.

You asked if Calibre could distinguish between SD cards. He responded that it could not. That's all.

EDITED:

Hold on. I think I see where the disconnect may lie.

You asked:

Originally Posted by PermaTourist

Is there a way to distinguish between SD cards, then?

When dealing with something that has removable media such as SD cards, it would seem worthwhile to keep track of which card(s) which file(s) are on.

He replied:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

No, there isn't

I think he was replying to your first question "Is there a way...", not the second "...it would seem worthwhile..."

Does that help?

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I agree with hrynkiw. Your second post had only one question which Kovid answered. The second paragraph of the post was a statement, not a question.

Something to keep in mind about Kovid... Yes, his answers are a bit terse. He is a busy man, yet he takes time to answer questions here on the forums. How many developers do you know of that will do so? He is more responsive than his anwers would lead you to believe. I once asked about a minor feature that, it turned out, calibre didn't have. His response was, essentially, the feature didn't exist and I could make a formal feature request but not to hold my breath waiting for it. I believed him and wasn't upset by it because I knew that it was a minor feature few people would be interested in. Yet, within a couple of weeks or so, the request was assigned to a developer and was implimented. How many programs and developers do you know of will give you that kind of service?

That being said, maybe you could make a custom column (or one for each card) that can show the book has been loaded on a particular card. My vote would be a manually populated column (using a star to indicate the book is on the card) for each card (do a search for the books you want to put on the card, use save to disk to populate the card, then use the mass edit metadata screen to populate the column) but it would eat up a lot screen real estate. Mahap some of the gurus here could take this suggestion and expand on what might work best and how to do it?

[PermaTourist]

hrynkiw:

It does, in fact, help - as does your observation regarding Mr. Goyal's "terseness". I apologize for misinterpreting his responses the way I did; I'll also say that I appreciate that someone else would be able to look beyond the post itself to see how I reached that point - wrong though it was. Thank you.

Lady Fitzgerald:

Thank you, too, for your observations and suggestion. Had I received virtually ANY amplification in the answers I got, I have no doubt that my reaction to them would have been different. I've already added a custom column and am manually entering the appropriate information. I hope to be able to poke around and learn enough to see if there isn't a way to at least mostly automate the process, however.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Starson17

I find it incredibly difficult to exert my self control. I'll stop before I post something I regret.

I feel the same way, but I think I can respond without regrets.

Originally Posted by PermaTourist

That said, I find your personal attitude regarding inquiries and suggestions to be not only highly contrarian, but outright offensive.

He gave you a polite direct answer to your question.

Originally Posted by PermaTourist

When I inquired further, and (again politely) pointed out the reason why I was making the inquiry, you bluntly and rudely denied it.

He gave another polite direct answer to your question. It was not rude in any way shape or fashion and for you to take offense to either of these answers requires a giant disconnect between what you think you asked and the actual questions.

Originally Posted by PermaTourist

As noted in my post (for those that weren't paying attention):

Now you decide to be rude not just to Kovid but to all others who posted in this thread previous to this statement.

Originally Posted by PermaTourist

1) I asked POLITELY.
2) Got blown off - repeatedly and rudely (read the posts leading up to my rant).

You did ask politely and you were answered politely and directly. To say you "Got blown off - repeatedly and rudely" is simply out of touch with what is actually included in this thread.

Congratulations on most likely being added to Kovid's ignore list.

Originally Posted by PermaTourist

I apologize for misinterpreting his responses the way I did

Most folks upon realizing they misinterpreted the situation would apologize for the subsequent rude posts not for the misinterpretation.

Originally Posted by PermaTourist

I'll also say that I appreciate that someone else would be able to look beyond the post itself to see how I reached that point

It was polite of hrynkiw. Personally why you decided to become rude in the face of polite, direct answers I'll leave to the professionals.

Originally Posted by PermaTourist

Had I received virtually ANY amplification in the answers I got, I have no doubt that my reaction to them would have been different.

You choose to become become rude, belligerent, and condescending in response to polite, direct answers and after a weak apology you turn around and blame the victim of your rudeness for causing you to lose it. Again I'll leave analysis of that trait to professionals.

Welcome to Mobileread.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

I feel the same way, but I think I can respond without regrets...

Uh, the guy did back off a bit. That's better than we normally get. I'm for giving him the benefit of doubt. Now, had he responded in the typical way, I would have been back unleashing both barrels.