Touch Precautions for firmware upgrade

touring · 09-19-2013, 07:59 PM

I'm contemplating upgrading the firmware on my Kobo Touch from v1.9 to the current.

Every time I have done this in the past it has been a nightmare, and has needed a factory reset. I have never managed to connect and transfer books using Calibre, even after chkdsk etc, so I end up side loading the books at about 30-40 per load (any more and the Kobo freezes). This takes a long time!

Since I have read quite a few books, I'd like to identify them before I upgrade and mark them as read in Calibre.

Can anyone suggest an easy way to do this please?

PeterT · 09-19-2013, 08:05 PM

Look at using the Kobo Utilities plugin in calibre and saving the reading status / location of books. Then it's a simple matter to restore them via the same tool.

PeterT · 09-19-2013, 08:06 PM

Also check out the thread associated with the afore mentioned plugin for how to automate the population of a Reading shelf, and a Finished shelf.

touring · 09-19-2013, 08:32 PM

Thanks Peter
Unfortunately Calibre has never successfully connected to the Kobo, always terminating after 20-30 minutes with an [Errno22] Invalid argument.

I was planning to manually update Calibre if I can find a way to identify read books on the Kobo.

PeterT · 09-19-2013, 09:08 PM

Maybe a road trip to visit davidfor in person might solve a few issues then

touring · 09-19-2013, 11:33 PM

Hmm, that may well involve several thousand kilometres!

In desperation I installed Calibre on a newer computer and *success*!
The computer was able to read from the Kobo, and create a new library

My old Celeron must have been two slow on i/o, causing the time-out - Calibre is quite a demanding application.

I will now take a look at the Kobo utilities app now, thanks for your help PeterT!

PeterT · 09-19-2013, 11:53 PM

Either the CPU too slow, or there do seem to be issues with some USB drivers and the Kobos, especially under Windows/XP.

davidfor · 09-20-2013, 12:44 AM

You didn't mention it, but was the old PC running Windows XP? There is a problem with some XP machines and the Kobo devices. And the way calibre talks to the device seems to highlight the problem.

touring · 09-20-2013, 12:58 AM

Yes it was davidfor, and old Compaq (HP). The new machine is on Windows 7.

I've installed the Kobo utilities plugin and set up the new columns, but am not quite sure how to import the existing status of books on the Kobo into Calibre (eg whether read). I looked through the Help file, but it seem to refer to correction of problems, but not importing data from the Kobo?

Do I use Update metadata in device library?

EDIT: I think I found the answer here. But I got :
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>OperationalError</b>:no such table: ratings

touring · 09-20-2013, 01:01 AM

Also Calibre did a brilliant job of detecting duplicates when reading the Kobo, which I didn't import into the library. Is there any way to remove them from the Kobo too?

EDIT Also there doesn't seem to be a type "Timestamp" any longer so I used "date" for "last read" column.

davidfor · 09-20-2013, 01:16 AM

Once you have setup the custom columns, select the books you want to store the reading status for and select the "Store/Restore current bookmark" option on the utilities menu. On the dialog, select the "Store" radio button and press OK. This will run and tell you how many books it found a reading position for.

As to my use of "Timestamp", no that is my error. I'll fix it for the next release.

touring · 09-20-2013, 02:26 AM

Thanks again Davidfor. Presumably I can select all books in my library at once too.

I added four new columns and linked them in the Customise Plugin settings and re-started Calibre. I then realised that I had added a MY Ratings column when there is already an existing Ratings column, so linked to that instead.

But each time I try using Store, I get this message now:
OperationalError:No such table: ratings

I'm puzzled about that, becayse the column I added is called "#rating" and the exsting column name is "rating", neither is plural.

Any thoughts?

touring · 09-20-2013, 03:16 AM

Uninstalled and re-installed the Kobo utilities plugin, and got the same thing - it worked once, then got the above error message

davidfor · 09-20-2013, 03:27 AM

Whoops, that is my bad. Your Touch is still running 1.9.x firmware. That doesn't have ratings in the device database. I actually added code to the plugin to handle this for the older devices, but I forgot about a Touch running the older firmware. I'll fix it and post a version later.

touring · 09-20-2013, 03:31 AM

Hahaa thanks David!
I was so careful to set things up right, and couldn't see what I'd done incorrectly.

With your help I may even get my Kobo working properly, nearly 2 years after I bought it

09-19-2013, 07:59 PM	#1
touring Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Clara	Precautions for firmware upgrade I'm contemplating upgrading the firmware on my Kobo Touch from v1.9 to the current. Every time I have done this in the past it has been a nightmare, and has needed a factory reset. I have never managed to connect and transfer books using Calibre, even after chkdsk etc, so I end up side loading the books at about 30-40 per load (any more and the Kobo freezes). This takes a long time! Since I have read quite a few books, I'd like to identify them before I upgrade and mark them as read in Calibre. Can anyone suggest an easy way to do this please?

09-20-2013, 12:58 AM	#9
touring Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Clara	Yes it was davidfor, and old Compaq (HP). The new machine is on Windows 7. I've installed the Kobo utilities plugin and set up the new columns, but am not quite sure how to import the existing status of books on the Kobo into Calibre (eg whether read). I looked through the Help file, but it seem to refer to correction of problems, but not importing data from the Kobo? Do I use Update metadata in device library? EDIT: I think I found the answer here. But I got : ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>OperationalError</b>:no such table: ratings Last edited by touring; 09-20-2013 at 01:12 AM.

09-20-2013, 01:01 AM	#10
touring Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Clara	Also Calibre did a brilliant job of detecting duplicates when reading the Kobo, which I didn't import into the library. Is there any way to remove them from the Kobo too? EDIT Also there doesn't seem to be a type "Timestamp" any longer so I used "date" for "last read" column. Last edited by touring; 09-20-2013 at 01:05 AM. Reason: Add a line

09-20-2013, 03:31 AM	#15
touring Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Clara	Hahaa thanks David! I was so careful to set things up right, and couldn't see what I'd done incorrectly. With your help I may even get my Kobo working properly, nearly 2 years after I bought it Last edited by touring; 09-20-2013 at 03:50 AM.

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09-19-2013, 08:05 PM	#2
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,471 Karma: 78880114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Look at using the Kobo Utilities plugin in calibre and saving the reading status / location of books. Then it's a simple matter to restore them via the same tool.

09-19-2013, 08:06 PM	#3
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,471 Karma: 78880114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Also check out the thread associated with the afore mentioned plugin for how to automate the population of a Reading shelf, and a Finished shelf.

09-19-2013, 08:32 PM	#4
touring Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Clara	Thanks Peter Unfortunately Calibre has never successfully connected to the Kobo, always terminating after 20-30 minutes with an [Errno22] Invalid argument. I was planning to manually update Calibre if I can find a way to identify read books on the Kobo.

09-19-2013, 09:08 PM	#5
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,471 Karma: 78880114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Maybe a road trip to visit davidfor in person might solve a few issues then

09-19-2013, 11:33 PM	#6
touring Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Clara	Hmm, that may well involve several thousand kilometres! In desperation I installed Calibre on a newer computer and success! The computer was able to read from the Kobo, and create a new library My old Celeron must have been two slow on i/o, causing the time-out - Calibre is quite a demanding application. I will now take a look at the Kobo utilities app now, thanks for your help PeterT!

09-19-2013, 11:53 PM	#7
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,471 Karma: 78880114 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Either the CPU too slow, or there do seem to be issues with some USB drivers and the Kobos, especially under Windows/XP.

09-20-2013, 12:44 AM	#8
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	You didn't mention it, but was the old PC running Windows XP? There is a problem with some XP machines and the Kobo devices. And the way calibre talks to the device seems to highlight the problem.

09-20-2013, 01:16 AM	#11
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	Once you have setup the custom columns, select the books you want to store the reading status for and select the "Store/Restore current bookmark" option on the utilities menu. On the dialog, select the "Store" radio button and press OK. This will run and tell you how many books it found a reading position for. As to my use of "Timestamp", no that is my error. I'll fix it for the next release.

09-20-2013, 02:26 AM	#12
touring Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Clara	Thanks again Davidfor. Presumably I can select all books in my library at once too. I added four new columns and linked them in the Customise Plugin settings and re-started Calibre. I then realised that I had added a MY Ratings column when there is already an existing Ratings column, so linked to that instead. But each time I try using Store, I get this message now: OperationalError:No such table: ratings I'm puzzled about that, becayse the column I added is called "#rating" and the exsting column name is "rating", neither is plural. Any thoughts?

09-20-2013, 03:16 AM	#13
touring Connoisseur Posts: 69 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Clara	Uninstalled and re-installed the Kobo utilities plugin, and got the same thing - it worked once, then got the above error message

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09-20-2013, 03:27 AM	#14
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	Whoops, that is my bad. Your Touch is still running 1.9.x firmware. That doesn't have ratings in the device database. I actually added code to the plugin to handle this for the older devices, but I forgot about a Touch running the older firmware. I'll fix it and post a version later.