Side-loading books apart from Kobo

[VelvetElvis]

Excuse me if this is a sophomoric question, but my Kobo days were some time ago.

Is it possible to side-load non-DRM books onto a freshly formatted memory card attached to a Windows PC, and then install this card in a Kobo, and have Kobo recognize the books?

Back in the day, I always loaded books via Calibre with the Kobo attached, so this issue never arose.

Thanks.

[JSWolf]

Are you talking about a Kobo tablet or a Kobo eInk Reader?

[VelvetElvis]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Are you talking about a Kobo tablet or a Kobo eInk Reader?

Sorry, eInk, 1st gen thru Glo. An older relative has a 1st gen Kobo, and lives a long way off. Rather than her sending her device to me, I was wondering about just sending her an SD card.

[Alpha o]

I got all my books from the Nook wifi and an Android Acer tablet into the Glo that way.
The Glo chewed for a bit then got them all.

It's easier to remember to bring a card with you than haul a laptop around or find each device and bring it to the computer.

[VelvetElvis]

Originally Posted by Alpha o

I got all my books from the Nook wifi and an Android Acer tablet into the Glo that way.
The Glo chewed for a bit then got them all.

It's easier to remember to bring a card with you than haul a laptop around or find each device and bring it to the computer.

That's my feelings as well. Thanks for the info.

[filmo]

I have a flash drive with all of my public domain books on a key ring that I have used to give friends and relatives books. I have also mailed SD card with public domain books to my sister and calibre download link. She was able to install calibre on her computer and load books from SD card to her computer. My dentist also installed calibre to her computer and books from SD card to her ereader.

I wouldn't give anyone more than 2000 books without calibre to manage those books.

https://www.calibre-ebook.com

[VelvetElvis]

Originally Posted by filmo

I have a flash drive with all of my public domain books on a key ring that I have used to give friends and relatives books. I have also mailed SD card with public domain books to my sister and calibre download link. She was able to install calibre on her computer and load books from SD card to her computer. My dentist also installed calibre to her computer and books from SD card to her ereader.

I wouldn't give anyone more than 2000 books without calibre to manage those books.

https://www.calibre-ebook.com

Thank you.
My concern was just copying books to the SD card and having her insert the card directly into her Kobo, bypassing Calibre altogether.

[ZodWallop]

I just tried moving an SD card full of non-DRM ePubs from my Nook to my Kobo and no joy. The Kobo didn't seem to see the books and when I then tried putting the SD card back in the Nook or PC, there were no longer books on it. I had to reformat the card and start over.

I suspect the Kobo tried to read some of the Nook files on the card and that caused the problem, but I don't know for sure.

Perhaps insert the card into a Kobo first and let the device put whatever files it needs to recognize the card on it, then add the books?

[davidfor]

The only thing the Kobo firmware should do to the card is to create a directory called "koboExtStorage". This is used for extra storage for downloading books. It can also contain cover image. Was that created?

The only other thing I can think of is that the file system was already corrupt and this was the final breakage.

[VelvetElvis]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I just tried moving an SD card full of non-DRM ePubs from my Nook to my Kobo and no joy. The Kobo didn't seem to see the books and when I then tried putting the SD card back in the Nook or PC, there were no longer books on it. I had to reformat the card and start over.

I suspect the Kobo tried to read some of the Nook files on the card and that caused the problem, but I don't know for sure.

Perhaps insert the card into a Kobo first and let the device put whatever files it needs to recognize the card on it, then add the books?

Thanks, but the device is on the other side of the province. :-)

[MacEachaidh]

I tried it on my Aura HD - created a folder on the card called Books (as is my custom on my Kobo's internal drive) and put the books in there. Didn't seem to have any problems, although the Kobo processing books on the card seems to be slower than processing new books added to my Kobo's internal drive.

Originally Posted by davidfor

The only thing the Kobo firmware should do to the card is to create a directory called "koboExtStorage". This is used for extra storage for downloading books. It can also contain cover image. Was that created?

David, is there a way of gauging how much space to leave on the card for the image files the Kobo creates when adding the books to its library? If there's not enough space, will it default to its main drive for these?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

David, is there a way of gauging how much space to leave on the card for the image files the Kobo creates when adding the books to its library? If there's not enough space, will it default to its main drive for these?

The firmware doesn't save the cover images for books sideloaded to the SD card. It only puts downloaded files there when it runs out of space on the main memory. So, that is kepubs and their covers, covers for recommendations and dictionaries. How much space is taken is related to the number of books it needs to put there.

You can sideload the covers and the device will use them. The KoboTouch driver in calibre will do this if the cover upload options are used. How much space depends on how big the covers are. But, there are four of different sizes generated, so that will use more space. The total should be less than the size of the book, assuming the cover image is included in the books.

[dakini]

Originally Posted by VelvetElvis

Thank you.
My concern was just copying books to the SD card and having her insert the card directly into her Kobo, bypassing Calibre altogether.

I regularly do this for an ereader across the pond. I just use Windows to copy/drag and drop the files onto a 4GB micro SD card. The files will only be processed when the card gets put in the ereader.

I've never tried putting it in my Glo before putting it in the ereader they're meant for, a Touch. I just wait til I visit the ereader and hand off the card to let them insert it for the first time. :-)