And here's another thing I just discovered...
Most of the time, the updater software just hangs (well, it doesn't hang but it never finishes) but a couple of times it has finished, telling me that the update didn't work.
Why would it be inconsistent?
My laptop has three USB ports. The computer recognizes the reader when plugged into two of them, but not the other one- it says that the device is unrecognized.
I've read a few pieces of advise in other posts where people have recommended using a different port, or failing that, a different PC.
I use Linux. I have Windows on a partition of my hard drive because I have an iphone so I need itunes
I have another laptop with only Linux on it.
Is it worth me messing around installing Windows on the other machine to see if it works?
Doing so would be extremely nontrivial, but if there's a good chance I can fix my book, I'll do it...