Thread: Since Kobo update, series information doesn't transfer to device
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Old 11-17-2021, 01:07 AM   #32
davidfor
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Liudprand View Post
One (I think!) final follow-up question. In all the documentation, and on this forum, can I ask precisely what "device database" refers to? I mean, should I understand it to include everything - collections and series information, reading progress for each book, bookmarks, highlights, annotations, etc. (i.e. all metadata)? Or is it more limited than that?
Kobo ereaders use an SQLite database to contain all the information they consider is necessary about the books on the device. When you sideload a book, the book is imported. This gets the metadata from the book and the ToC and puts it into the database. When you buy a book and download, it the same thing happens. As you read the books, the status is stored in the database. Collections are stored in the database. Annotations are stored in the database. And lots of statistics are stored (and luckily or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint, most are not in an accessible format). Pretty much everything except the actual books and covers, and the settings are stored in the database.
Quote:
EDIT: And, by extension, is it possible in principle to back all of that information up within Calibre, and then restore it on, say, a new device. And, if so, does that device have to be exactly the same model - or would it work when switching to a different model of Kobo reader?
The Kobo Utilities plugin can store the reading status. It does that by reading the database. The reading status can be restored to another Kobo device. It doesn't matter what Kobo device. I frequently use this to sync the status for books between my ereaders. But, it doesn't store the time spent reading and some other stats, so they cannot be restored.

The Annotations plugin can get the annotations and store them in calibre against the books. But, this cannot be restored to the device. Not enough information is saved. That is not likely to change. But, one day I plan to store the annotations so that the calibre viewer can use them. When that happens, I might look at going the other way as well.

You can backup the database in its entirety. Some people have had success in putting this on a new ereader with a change to one of the tables in the database. But, it doesn't always work. I've never bothered to try as I'm not that tied to the stats and don't use annotations for long term things. They are mainly to mark errors to fix or things to look up later. And if I did ever to transfer annotations, I know exactly how to do it.

There is plenty of discussion on this in this in the Kobo forum. The people who have done it have said what was needed. If you look for the threads, you will see I have stated how I would do it depending on exactly what it was they wanted to achieve.
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