Apart from having a few "real" e-readers (Tolino, Pocketbook), I have two small and relatively under-powered old Linux notebooks that are mainly used as "offline typewriters".
Now I would like to also read books on these, much like a normal e-reader, because they have touchscreens and KOReader on them. I’d also like to use KOReader’s "Calibre Metadata Search".
What would be the easiest/best/suggested way to get books onto these, using Calibre on my Calibre machine? A handling like a normal Calibre "device" would be preferred, because it would save files in my templated folder structure and also copy over the metadata files Calibre and KOReader can then use.
I thought of the following, but all of them seem to be over-complicated:
- Somehow make the Linux notebook look like an MTP device, so it could be connected via USB. Sounds like much fiddling and possibly incompatible driver issues.
- Using a "generic folder device" on my Calibre to export to a folder on my NAS, which I could then rsync back to my little notebooks. That would mean multiple steps (upload/download) and no direct control (like checking which books are already on the device).
There must surely be a better way?
Remember,
- I cannot simply set up a Calibre server, since the notebooks are used offline (while travelling, outdoors, etc.) and can’t keep a permanent connection. I could temporarily enable sharing just for the sake of copying, though.
- Installing Calibre on the notebooks seems overkill, and besides, they have slow CPUs and not much RAM. Also, I’d then have to synchromise changes in multiple Calibres, not good.