MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Glo Database problem with Digital Editions and Library books

davidfor · 03-10-2016, 11:50 PM

The short answer to this is that the database on the device is probably corrupt. The fix is to signout of the Kobo account and then back in. If you have a backup of the database, you can try that.

The longer answer with the details I can think of that might be affecting this...

Firstly, the device should look for changes in the books every time it is disconnected from the PC. If it detects changes (books added, books removed, size of existing books changed), then the processing happens. That means there is a step that is always done, but the actual book processing is shown after this. If the book processing completes successfully, the book will be in the database and hence in the library. If the book processing is not happening, it either because the device is not seeing the new books, or the processing is failing earlier enough that the black processing screen is not shown.

For books with Adobe DRM, the device needs to be authorised. This is usually done from ADE when you the device is connected. If you put a book a DRM protected book on the device and the device is not authorised to the same account, you will get the black cover and the "not authorised" error you are seeing. The cover in an Adobe DRM'd book is encrypted. The black cover in the library list on the device is a sign that the cover couldn't be decrypted. That usually means an authorisation problem.

I'm surprised that after pressing the pinhole reset, that these books are seen properly. Usually this makes things worse if there are database problems. Or at least it makes it more obvious what is happening. When you hit the reset, the database isn't saved and an old version is used when the device is restarted. If there are any problems with the database, these can show up at this time. One of the common problems seen is losing the latest reading position for the book being read or any recent bookmarks.

Are you a calibre user? If so, I recommend using my Kobo Utilities plugin to do a check of the database. Otherwise, any SQLite database management application will have a function to check the database for problems.

The only other thing I can think of, and would be consistent with the restart fixing problems, is that the Adobe host service on the device is crashing. This is used to decrypt the books when being processed and read. If this has crashed or otherwise return an error, then the error and the black cover makes sense. Restarting the device would restart the service and solve this problem.

The only thing I can think of that might cause this is a bad book. And this doesn't have to be a DRM protected book. I am pretty sure that the Adobe host service is used for some functions for all epubs and PDF. So, if one of those crashes the service, it would affect other books. The possibility here is that you put several books on the device and the processing started. Some are added to the database. Then one causes a problem, crashes the service and stops any more from being added. Until the device is restarted, there will be some problems processing books or with Adobe DRM protected epubs.

If this is what is happening, there might be some log files in the ".kobo" directory. These have a stack dump when the crash happened. From memory, the name looks like "stack_nn.log" where "nn" are two numbers. These can be sent to Kobo to help debug the problem.

With all this, what do I suggest:

- Check the database. If it is corrupted, you need to fix that.
- When you put books on the device, watch for the processing. If it doesn't happen, or seems to short, check the library list on the device to see if the books are there. If books are missing, power off and on (that's better than the reset button), connect to the PC and see what happens when you disconnect.
- If you get the black cover for DRM'd books, restart the device, check again and if there is still a problem, resend the books.

Lastly, the subject says "Library books". I assume you mean books you have borrowed. If you are having the same problem with books you have bought, then I recommend stripping the DRM before putting them on the device.

03-10-2016, 11:50 PM	#2
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	The short answer to this is that the database on the device is probably corrupt. The fix is to signout of the Kobo account and then back in. If you have a backup of the database, you can try that. The longer answer with the details I can think of that might be affecting this... Firstly, the device should look for changes in the books every time it is disconnected from the PC. If it detects changes (books added, books removed, size of existing books changed), then the processing happens. That means there is a step that is always done, but the actual book processing is shown after this. If the book processing completes successfully, the book will be in the database and hence in the library. If the book processing is not happening, it either because the device is not seeing the new books, or the processing is failing earlier enough that the black processing screen is not shown. For books with Adobe DRM, the device needs to be authorised. This is usually done from ADE when you the device is connected. If you put a book a DRM protected book on the device and the device is not authorised to the same account, you will get the black cover and the "not authorised" error you are seeing. The cover in an Adobe DRM'd book is encrypted. The black cover in the library list on the device is a sign that the cover couldn't be decrypted. That usually means an authorisation problem. I'm surprised that after pressing the pinhole reset, that these books are seen properly. Usually this makes things worse if there are database problems. Or at least it makes it more obvious what is happening. When you hit the reset, the database isn't saved and an old version is used when the device is restarted. If there are any problems with the database, these can show up at this time. One of the common problems seen is losing the latest reading position for the book being read or any recent bookmarks. Are you a calibre user? If so, I recommend using my Kobo Utilities plugin to do a check of the database. Otherwise, any SQLite database management application will have a function to check the database for problems. The only other thing I can think of, and would be consistent with the restart fixing problems, is that the Adobe host service on the device is crashing. This is used to decrypt the books when being processed and read. If this has crashed or otherwise return an error, then the error and the black cover makes sense. Restarting the device would restart the service and solve this problem. The only thing I can think of that might cause this is a bad book. And this doesn't have to be a DRM protected book. I am pretty sure that the Adobe host service is used for some functions for all epubs and PDF. So, if one of those crashes the service, it would affect other books. The possibility here is that you put several books on the device and the processing started. Some are added to the database. Then one causes a problem, crashes the service and stops any more from being added. Until the device is restarted, there will be some problems processing books or with Adobe DRM protected epubs. If this is what is happening, there might be some log files in the ".kobo" directory. These have a stack dump when the crash happened. From memory, the name looks like "stack_nn.log" where "nn" are two numbers. These can be sent to Kobo to help debug the problem. With all this, what do I suggest: - Check the database. If it is corrupted, you need to fix that. - When you put books on the device, watch for the processing. If it doesn't happen, or seems to short, check the library list on the device to see if the books are there. If books are missing, power off and on (that's better than the reset button), connect to the PC and see what happens when you disconnect. - If you get the black cover for DRM'd books, restart the device, check again and if there is still a problem, resend the books. Lastly, the subject says "Library books". I assume you mean books you have borrowed. If you are having the same problem with books you have bought, then I recommend stripping the DRM before putting them on the device.