Thread: [GUI Plugin] Kobo Utilities
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Old 07-30-2018, 01:17 AM   #1523
davidfor
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Posts: 24,905
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Sydney, Australia
Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos
Quote:
Originally Posted by gwaldon View Post
Hi there,

I'm having a problem which I believe is caused by the Kobo Utilities "backup device database" function. (Not every single time, unfortunately, which is why it's been hard to track down, but pretty often.)

I have the option set to make a backup each time I connect. However, what is happening is that as soon as this starts, the Kobo somehow gets unmounted. It disappears from my desktop, the backup job fails, and I get a system error saying the disk wasn't ejected properly (and the Kobo screen stays on "connected and charging"). If I unplug it, the Kobo itself seems fine, though often it won't mount at all if I plug it in again, and I have to restart the computer, or even reset the SMC to get it back again.

If I disable the "backup on each connection" then Calibre has no problem accessing my Kobo, adding/removing books, downloading annotations. But then as soon as I re-enable that option and it tries to make a backup, the same problem occurs.

I'm on Mac OS 10.13.6, with the latest versions of Calibre (3.28) and Kobo Utilities (2.6.0). My Kobo is an Aura Edition 2, running software version 4.9.11311 (6/28/2018). But this problem has occurred on the previous version of all of these as well.

Any ideas? Or other information I could provide?
Firstly, I do see a similar problem with my devices on a Windows laptop. But, my problem is because of a worn USB port on my laptop. I can connect OK, but if I bump the USB plug, it can move and drop the connection but still be charging. If that happens while calibre is accessing the device, then I get the errors you see and the USB port doesn't work properly until I reboot. But, it doesn't just happen during the backup, it is at whatever phase of the connection calibre is in at the time.

For what is happening to you, I can't think of a reason. The backup is done by using the OS to copy the database file to the local drive. Unless that is somehow stressing the USB connection in a way that means the OS drops it. If that is the cause, you could try manually copying the database when calibre isn't connected. If the device connection is dropped, then there is a problem with the connection. A different cable might fix something like that.

Other than that, I don't know what to suggest. My Mac knowledge is pretty minimal. There have been some reports of problems connecting the newer devices with Macs in the Kobo forum. But, there haven't been consistent reasons or fixes. Looking at those reports might give you an idea.
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