sony reader for PC - library checkouts -problems

[cybmole]

I am having much trouble understanding the logic used by this software, and because it is to do with library checkouts I cannot easily do repeated tests in order to fully understand what goes on...

scenario:

I have two or more library books at checkout, ready to download ( in chrome browser)
I have Windows "open with" set to use Sony software for the licence files & have chrome download set to "open when done" for acsm.
I have the services such as the reader helper app disabled as far as possible, so that it does not interfere with other types of downloads...

so I download the 1st book & wait, chrome downloads the acsm, opens it when done ( as per it's settings) launches reader software, book appears - so far so good.
[ except that sometimes the reader software chooses to remain invisible or minimised, or hidden behind browser - causing me to think it has not worked & to repeat the download- but assuming that does not happen we move on to the real problem step..]

..which is that I download another book from checkout....

what I think happen now is that chrome or windows tries to launch a 2nd instance of reader software. At the same time, the 1st instance of the software , which is still open, launches a helper application to say " download detected, should I import this book ?"

Now I seem to get in a muddle whatever answer I give to that question- I get error messages ( which I don't recall the exact wording of ) saying "cant import" or "book already exists " or something like that.

because these are library checkouts I am reluctant to return & repeat , over & over, so I am not 100% sure what goes on- but it's not a smooth bug-free experience, that's for sure.

I am very tempted to revert to ADE for checkouts , (& then have to manually sideload because ADE will not talk to Sony T series readers) .. I don't recall any similar checkout issues when I was using ADE - it just worked.

Alternatively, could workaround by checking out the books one at a time and closing the sony software in between each checkout.

but neither of those are ideal, so can someone who is able to checkout 2 library books without encountering these issues pleas talk me through how they do it

[Bookworm_Girl]

I'm using Safari on a Mac and not Chrome. I say no when it asks to import. That way I continue to download all of the acsm files into my Downloads folder for however many books I've checked out from the library. Then when I'm done with that step, I open each acsm file sequentially from my Downloads folder into the Reader software. It works fine that way.

When I say yes to import then things can get muddled. The "book exists" message occurs when you try to import the acsm file twice simultaneously, which I think might be occurring in your setup. It is a weird message because the book doesn't really seem to exist because it hasn't shown up on your shelf in the software yet. However the process for importing it is still working in the background and that is what gets recognized as a duplicate.

[cybmole]

thanks - Overdrive's own advice is to use ADE, then import from ADE to Sony software, then transfer to device. I guess they also are not impressed with Sony software's library support.
That solution is OK but it leaves a messy trail of expired book files & file pointers. The
My Books/reader/manifest folder is also never auto-tidied - I see lots of xml files records left in there - one for each book the software has ever opened? Plus it runs an additional opaque database in App data, with pointers to books held elsewhere e.g. in calibre, which have been opened via the open with plugin. Thats a crap design for 2 reasons
1) it's stressful to click "delete book" in the Sony software in case it zaps calibre records ( though it does not seem to) &
2) it's too dumb to know about calibre changes so it happily stores pointers and shows books on it's bookshelf that are no longer valid.

ADE is tidier -it seems to use just one manifest.xml for all current books & updates that when a book is added/ deleted / returned. But as we know it cannot see the T3 when connected.

[Bookworm_Girl]

The Sony software works ok for me, and I prefer it to ADE. All my books whether from the library or other stores like Kobo get loaded with my Sony purchases and stored neatly in the same folder. It's fine to delete a book from the Sony software if the book is stored in the Sony books folder for example. However, I think I remember a past post that you are loading your books into calibre and then importing them back into the Sony software. In that case you are creating pointers to these other locations. Sounds like your workflow is creating the complexity of what you see.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

... However, I think I remember a past post that you are loading your books into calibre and then importing them back into the Sony software. In that case you are creating pointers to these other locations. Sounds like your workflow is creating the complexity of what you see....

That was a separate issue & observation. I just noticed that if I did open with... on a calibre book - it appeared on the Sony software bookshelf but was not copied into that programs folder. [There was someone else on this forum a while back also wanting to know where books & annotations were stored as he claimed they stayed around on the Sony software bookshelf even though he reckoned he'd deleted the books- his thread prompted me to look more closely at how the program worked]

My borrowing flow, used to be library -> ADE -> PRS 650 but when I changed to T2 / T3 that stopped working & I had to switch to using the reader software.

I think I will go with library -> ADE -> import to reader software -> T3 for library books in future, as per overdrive's advice, and use ADE to return books early as needed.

I'd use calibre -> open with sony reader software if I had a converted book where I was tweaking formatting & wanted a preview of how it might look on the T3 e.g. with a converted book from Amazon, or with something from MS word or similar

[Bookworm_Girl]

I think you are still making it more complex than it needs to be. However as long as your system woks for you then that's what matters. Why not just tell Chrome not to auto-open a program when you download the acsm file? Then just open the acsm file from wherever you downloaded it with the Sony software. You can return books early from the Sony software too.

The Sony software will only load books into its directory when you use it to open the acsm file. However it allows you to open files that are stored elsewhere on your hard-drive but won't copy them into the Sony books directory in that case.

[cybmole]

i could disable auto-open, yes, but that's less elegant.

I think even further back I was using Internet explorer with library & had it set to run, not save the acsm, so I did not even have to tidy up afterwards. But I could not get that to work with chrome, it insists on saving a licence file even though it is use-once-only file.

Anyway, I think with your help I've researched this enough for now. I will see how I get on next time I have 2 books at checkout.

Its a shame that Sony don't see fit to document how their software works. e.g. your final sentence ought to be in their help file !

[radius]

I wonder if you are being a little impatient. After you click the link, it takes time for the Sony library to open, if needed, and for the book to be retrieved. Can you put your Chrome window and the Sony library window side by side and wait until the book is fully imported before moving on to the next one?

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by radius

I wonder if you are being a little impatient. After you click the link, it takes time for the Sony library to open, if needed, and for the book to be retrieved. Can you put your Chrome window and the Sony library window side by side and wait until the book is fully imported before moving on to the next one?

I could , but I'm 99% set on reverting to ADE for all of the library management stuff. It will be another week before I have new checkouts to do so cannot do more tests at present but I am fairly sure that Sony software sometimes opens minimised whereas ADE always jumps to front & shows what is happening , & does not glitch on 2 rapid checkouts

the other issue is that silly sony helper process "application detects download" which cannot be completely disabled ( main program re-launches it every time) which does not play nice with chrome download+open-when-done ascm settings

What I'm wanting is a 1 click process, click download book & that's ALL. not click, count slowly to 10, re-arrange windows.. & only then start the next download.''
are there any active complaints /petitions elsewhere on the internet for pressing Sony/Adobe to get T3 & ADE to talk to each other ?

[4691mls]

I have a Windows 7 computer, I use the Sony software, and I can download two library books at once (though it takes about as long as downloading them one at a time). Maybe the problem is the interaction between the Sony software and Chrome?

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I have a Windows 7 computer, I use the Sony software, and I can download two library books at once (though it takes about as long as downloading them one at a time). Maybe the problem is the interaction between the Sony software and Chrome?

i think it is likely to be chrome + Sony reader software not playing well together, but I'd rather change my reader software than have to change my browser!

What browser are you using and with what download settings e.g. run or save in IE / open when done Y/N in chrome / whatever the options are in firefox....

do you see the "application detects download import Y/N" pup-up message ?

[Bookworm_Girl]

I don't think you can turn off the message from the Sony software that it detects the download. What I do is answer no. Then I manually open the acsm file and all is fine. When I say yes it seems to take ages and ages with no activity. Really I think it is just slow like 4691mls suggests. It is hard not to get impatient thinking it is doing nothing and try to open it again and then get the duplicate book already exists message! I find it is quicker to just click no and then double-click the acsm file in the downloads folder to open.

[4691mls]

Here's how it works for me, using Internet Explorer on my Windows 7 PC:

Once the library books are on my library bookshelf, I select epub format to download.

I then get a popup at the bottom of the screen asking if I want to Open or Save - I click Open.

At that point, if I did not already have the Sony software open, it opens automatically in a separate window, and the book starts downloading. I can switch to the Sony window to view the download progress.

If I want, I am then able to go ahead and download a second book while the first is downloading.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Do you not also get the application prompt to import? What version of the Sony software are you using?

[4691mls]

I have version 2.2.00.11270
I do not have Adobe Digital Editions - maybe that is the difference