Kobo and Calibre

[pipcat]

- I installed Calibre from Ubuntu repository but my Glo Hd was not well recognized and I must use “Folder Device Interface” to transfer ebooks. Also, Kobo Utilities plugin from davidfor doesn't works because Kobo is not detected.
The problem was related to the Calibre version in Ubuntu repository, that is quite old (v1.25). Download it from Calibre website, currently on version 2.56. https://calibre-ebook.com/download
With v2.56 Glo Hd is detected ok and Kobo Utilities are enabled ;-)

- Another problem I found is related to books with many authors, that causes too long paths and filenames, so books are not well syncronized between pc and e-reader. I suppose there are better workarounds or custom functions, but limiting the size was ok for me. I use this template to transfer files, so all my e-books on Kobo are under folder calibre, authors path limited to 50 chars and title to 100.
calibre/{author_sort:.50}/{title:.100}

- When transfering books to e-reader, they are stored as Kepub althought I had epub above kepub in preference order. To respect this order, we must uncheck “Enable Kobo Extended Features” from device config.

- To syncronize Shelves from Kobo, we could create a custom column in calibre (#koboshelf) and fill it in device config.

- Next step, Kobo Utilities... https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=215339

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by pipcat

- When transfering books to e-reader, they are stored as Kepub althought I had epub above kepub in preference order. To respect this order, we must uncheck “Enable Kobo Extended Features” from device config.

Just FYI, if you don't want the automatic on-the-fly conversion to kepub during calibre's send-to-device you may as well stick to the standard KoboTouch driver rather than KoboTouchExtended. If you only want an occasional book in kepub format then you can install the Kepub Output plugin for converting books to kepub format in your calibre library - just like any other calibre conversion.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by pipcat

- I installed Calibre from Ubuntu repository but my Glo Hd was not well recognized and I must use “Folder Device Interface” to transfer ebooks. Also, Kobo Utilities plugin from davidfor doesn't works because Kobo is not detected.
The problem was related to the Calibre version in Ubuntu repository, that is quite old (v1.25). Download it from Calibre website, currently on version 2.56. https://calibre-ebook.com/download
With v2.56 Glo Hd is detected ok and Kobo Utilities are enabled ;-)

Yes, the general advice is to ignore the calibre version in the repository and install from the calibre site.

- Another problem I found is related to books with many authors, that causes too long paths and filenames, so books are not well syncronized between pc and e-reader. I suppose there are better workarounds or custom functions, but limiting the size was ok for me. I use this template to transfer files, so all my e-books on Kobo are under folder calibre, authors path limited to 50 chars and title to 100.
calibre/{author_sort:.50}/{title:.100}

What's the problem? The KoboTouch driver shouldn't generate a path longer 185 characters long. That takes into account everything in the plus the length needed for the images. If the problem is the that the books with multiple authors don't match with the calibre library when you next connect, that's a problem with how the authors are stored in the book and the database.

- When transfering books to e-reader, they are stored as Kepub althought I had epub above kepub in preference order. To respect this order, we must uncheck “Enable Kobo Extended Features” from device config.

As jackie_w said, that's because you installed the KoboTouchExtended driver. If you don't want kepubs, remove the driver.

- To syncronize Shelves from Kobo, we could create a custom column in calibre (#koboshelf) and fill it in device config.

The shelf columns in the driver is a comma separated list. You can put as many columns as you want into the list. There is a wiki page to describing what you can do.

[pipcat]

Originally Posted by davidfor

What's the problem? The KoboTouch driver shouldn't generate a path longer 185 characters long. That takes into account everything in the plus the length needed for the images. If the problem is the that the books with multiple authors don't match with the calibre library when you next connect, that's a problem with how the authors are stored in the book and the database

Yes, the problem if books doesn't match it's because authors are different, but there is also another problem with long filenames. This is an example:

Bookname: Historias de developers (Spanish Edition)
Authors: Alberto de Vega Luna & Rafael de las Heras del Dedo & Josep Lluis Jiménez Castelltort & Diego González Martínez & Rafael Pellón Gómez-Calcerrada & Jesús Gumiel Ramírez & Jesús Manuel González Espinilla & Cristina Santa Cecilia & Salvador de la Puente González

With this template "calibre/{author_sort}/{title}" I get:
First folder: ce
Second folder: Alberto de Vega Luna & Rafael de las Heras del Dedo & Josep Lluis spinilla & Cristina Santa Cecilia & Salvador de la Puente Gonzalez
Filename: Historias h Edition).epub

With this template "calibre/{author_sort:.50}/{title:.100}" I get:
First folder: calibre
Second folder: Alberto de Vega Luna & Rafael de las Heras del Ded
Filename: Historias de developers (Spanish Edition).epub

So the first template break my main folder "calibre" and creates a folder "ce" in the root of the device. Ok, book is found and can be read, but I dislike it is created in a folder different than what I want!

Thx for your suggestions ;-)

[JSWolf]

You don't need to create directories on transfer from Calibre to your Kobo. The problem will be that once you delete the contents of the directories on the Kobo, you will be left with a bunch of empty directories.

SO your best bet is to dump directories or you will cause a mess on your Kobo.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by pipcat

Yes, the problem if books doesn't match it's because authors are different, but there is also another problem with long filenames. This is an example:

Bookname: Historias de developers (Spanish Edition)
Authors: Alberto de Vega Luna & Rafael de las Heras del Dedo & Josep Lluis Jiménez Castelltort & Diego González Martínez & Rafael Pellón Gómez-Calcerrada & Jesús Gumiel Ramírez & Jesús Manuel González Espinilla & Cristina Santa Cecilia & Salvador de la Puente González

With this template "calibre/{author_sort}/{title}" I get:
First folder: ce
Second folder: Alberto de Vega Luna & Rafael de las Heras del Dedo & Josep Lluis spinilla & Cristina Santa Cecilia & Salvador de la Puente Gonzalez
Filename: Historias h Edition).epub

With this template "calibre/{author_sort:.50}/{title:.100}" I get:
First folder: calibre
Second folder: Alberto de Vega Luna & Rafael de las Heras del Ded
Filename: Historias de developers (Spanish Edition).epub

So the first template break my main folder "calibre" and creates a folder "ce" in the root of the device. Ok, book is found and can be read, but I dislike it is created in a folder different than what I want!

Thx for your suggestions ;-)

OK, that makes sense. The calibre length trimming is on the full path, so it is affecting the root directory you want to use. Skipping a too directory like this would make sense, but I don't think there is a way to do it. I don't use a root directory like this, so I hadn't noticed.