MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Forma Dropbox on Forma not all it’s cracked up to be

MGlitch · 10-08-2019, 12:52 AM

So I finally got around to trying Dropbox on my Forma. I’m somewhat disappointed to be honest.

So getting an account is easy, though Dropbox does try and steer you into one of the paid options pretty hard. It’s worth getting a referral link since it’s 500mb free for you and them.

Linking it with calibre is also easy just connect to folder and select the right one (this does have to be the one Kobo generates on your Dropbox your Forma doesn’t see anything else).

So far so good right?

Well this is where the problems set in. I’m aware Dropbox can’t read kepub files which for me doesn’t matter. I don’t want it to read them I just want it to act as a middleman from my computer or whatever device to my Forma. I would have thought this would be a no brainer for this set up. After all it has the option to download the files.

Oh boy was I wrong. The first time you try to get a particular kepub over to your Forma it asks about being sure you want to download it because Dropbox can’t open it. I was holding out some hope here. Sure it’d be a pain to do bulk transfers this way but a few books here and there? No problem really. Still better than having to have my Forma plugged into my computer send the files over, eject it, wait for it to process and then enjoy my books.

But no. I have no idea where it tries to send the kepubs, syncing briefly shows “finishing download of file name.

But nothing appears in my books and nothing seems to have been written to the Kobo (plugging it in didn’t show anything unless it’s buried somewhere).

The first time I tried this converting the books to kepub in the transfer the second time I converted them on my computer.

I then tried ePub which did work though series data wasn’t sent over, everything else seems to have been as the covers do display along with the author.

In the end this is disappointing I’m somewhat surprised Kobo wouldn’t ensure their native format would be able to transfer using this method. I can forgive the series info not syncing as even directly putting it on the Kobo requires reconnecting it I believe.

I will not be using this feature until/unless kepub is actually supported. If I’ve missed something please let me know.

10-08-2019, 12:52 AM	#1
MGlitch Wizard Posts: 2,857 Karma: 22003124 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: Kobo Forma, Kobo Sage, Kobo Libra 2	Dropbox on Forma not all it’s cracked up to be So I finally got around to trying Dropbox on my Forma. I’m somewhat disappointed to be honest. So getting an account is easy, though Dropbox does try and steer you into one of the paid options pretty hard. It’s worth getting a referral link since it’s 500mb free for you and them. Linking it with calibre is also easy just connect to folder and select the right one (this does have to be the one Kobo generates on your Dropbox your Forma doesn’t see anything else). So far so good right? Well this is where the problems set in. I’m aware Dropbox can’t read kepub files which for me doesn’t matter. I don’t want it to read them I just want it to act as a middleman from my computer or whatever device to my Forma. I would have thought this would be a no brainer for this set up. After all it has the option to download the files. Oh boy was I wrong. The first time you try to get a particular kepub over to your Forma it asks about being sure you want to download it because Dropbox can’t open it. I was holding out some hope here. Sure it’d be a pain to do bulk transfers this way but a few books here and there? No problem really. Still better than having to have my Forma plugged into my computer send the files over, eject it, wait for it to process and then enjoy my books. But no. I have no idea where it tries to send the kepubs, syncing briefly shows “finishing download of file name. But nothing appears in my books and nothing seems to have been written to the Kobo (plugging it in didn’t show anything unless it’s buried somewhere). The first time I tried this converting the books to kepub in the transfer the second time I converted them on my computer. I then tried ePub which did work though series data wasn’t sent over, everything else seems to have been as the covers do display along with the author. In the end this is disappointing I’m somewhat surprised Kobo wouldn’t ensure their native format would be able to transfer using this method. I can forgive the series info not syncing as even directly putting it on the Kobo requires reconnecting it I believe. I will not be using this feature until/unless kepub is actually supported. If I’ve missed something please let me know.