Clara HD Reading Progress Indicator sideloaded kepubs

This is definitely NOT an important question, just one I'm mildly interested in. If there's a fix, great, if not, no matter.

When I switched from a Paperwhite 2 to my Clara last month, I converted all my new epubs to kepubs because I actually like the reading progress stats bar. So far, I've not read any of the few kepubs I've bought from the Kobo store, still have hundreds of Kindle "refugees" to work through. So I don't know if this problem is unique to sideloaded and/or Calibre-generated kepubs, but I suspect it may be. The stats bar is hopelessly out of whack, bearing no connection to reality.

Here are some screenshots to illustrate:

98% read, over 2 hours left to go?


This was from the 5th "page turn" into a new book, "19% read", apparently. It got me wondering about the page count, so I checked and the Kindle edition of this book is listed as 100 pages, when I turn the header on, it tells me I'm at "page 16 of 60". Since I'd been reading only a minute or two, that seemed unlikely.


So I opened up the other book to the point at which I had taken screenshot one - 98% read, >2hrs to go, and checked the page count.


This seems to explain why the stats bar is useless. If the page count is nonsensical, clearly any data derived from it will be. But is there a fix?

[John F]

Usually, stats seem to be fine, but I occasionally get a book that is whacky. I use kepubs (generated on the fly.)

Originally Posted by John F

Usually, stats seem to be fine, but I occasionally get a book that is whacky. I use kepubs (generated on the fly.)

I shall keep track. I've only had my Clara a month, and it feels like most have had this problem. At another website, the book of the month is Monte Cristo, it will be fun to see how the stats for that novella stack up.

[rashkae]

This has to do with the Table of Contents and the way files are formatted internally. Epubs (and kepubs) are basically zip files with a defined structure of files and meta data inside. Kobo requires that each file inside the epub has a Table of Contents entry for the progress tracking and page count to work. For the vast majority of books, they split the files at the new chapters, so this just happens to be exactly the case.

However, some books, either because they do not have a table of contents, or files are split to create a page break, (say, for example, if there are full page illustrations withing the chapters.,) then the progress will not show properly (until someone edits the table of contents in Calibre. Calibre has a built in function to generate a new ToC based on files.)

Thank you for that clear explanation rashkae,

[dordale]

My process and results are similar to John F--converting ePubs to kePubs on the fly with Calibre when transferring to my Kobo One. Most books seem to work just fine--but some show wacky in book statistics--I'm sure because of bad formatting (as described by rashkae).

But what I find interesting on my Aura One is how inaccurate the "Reading Activity" in the Activity menu. I'll be 50% through with a book and it'll show that I've spent 80 hours reading that book and have 4 hours to go...The time remaining is always fairly close. This doesn't really bother me--in fact I kind of get a kick out of how much time my Kobo says I've spent reading.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by dordale

But what I find interesting on my Aura One is how inaccurate the "Reading Activity" in the Activity menu. I'll be 50% through with a book and it'll show that I've spent 80 hours reading that book and have 4 hours to go...The time remaining is always fairly close. This doesn't really bother me--in fact I kind of get a kick out of how much time my Kobo says I've spent reading.

What firmware are you using? I haven't noticed any big discrepancies recently. There were big problems with the stats in the firmware in the 4.1 to 4.3 range, but they have been fixed.

[rashkae]

Originally Posted by dordale

I'm sure because of bad formatting (as described by rashkae).

Not bad formatting,, bad coding. Whomever Kobo hired to add some some of these functions to the reading software clearly did not understand what the OPF spine section was there for, end ended up using the TOC as a substitute.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by dordale

But what I find interesting on my Aura One is how inaccurate the "Reading Activity" in the Activity menu. I'll be 50% through with a book and it'll show that I've spent 80 hours reading that book and have 4 hours to go...The time remaining is always fairly close. This doesn't really bother me--in fact I kind of get a kick out of how much time my Kobo says I've spent reading.

I tend to find it the other way around. I read 50% of a book in what it states as 39 minutes and get told it will take me 3 hours to finish the book. I also get a chuckle out of the Your Kobo Reading Life emails:

HOURS READ 171.93
Previous month - 158.55

BOOK PAGES FLIPPED 54,392
Previous month - 52,491

[dordale]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I tend to find it the other way around. I read 50% of a book in what it states as 39 minutes and get told it will take me 3 hours to finish the book. I also get a chuckle out of the Your Kobo Reading Life emails:

HOURS READ 171.93
Previous month - 158.55

BOOK PAGES FLIPPED 54,392
Previous month - 52,491

Wow! You're a much more efficient reader than I am--at least your Kobo thinks so! LOL
I don't get the e-mails from Kobo Reading Life but if I did, it'd probably say something like Hours Read: 300; Pages Flipped 2,500.

[dordale]

Originally Posted by davidfor

What firmware are you using? I haven't noticed any big discrepancies recently. There were big problems with the stats in the firmware in the 4.1 to 4.3 range, but they have been fixed.

Currently running firmware version 4.6.9995. Inaccurate activity reporting was actually quite a bit worse on previous versions. I'm not bothered enough to update the firmware now. I have my Aura One patched and don't want to be bothered with reapplying the patches.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by dordale

Wow! You're a much more efficient reader than I am--at least your Kobo thinks so! LOL
I don't get the e-mails from Kobo Reading Life but if I did, it'd probably say something like Hours Read: 300; Pages Flipped 2,500.

Mostly fiction and a reading speed at the high end. I do slow down when going through tech manuals especially when I'm trying to match my installation with what the book says I should see. PRTG has been a recent fun example.

300 hours per month spent reading? Sleep is a poor substitute for caffeine!

Originally Posted by dordale

Wow! You're a much more efficient reader than I am--at least your Kobo thinks so! LOL
I don't get the e-mails from Kobo Reading Life but if I did, it'd probably say something like Hours Read: 300; Pages Flipped 2,500.

I don't get them either, and now I'm very curious to know how I can get this "enriched reading experience designed to enhance your passion for reading and help you get more out of your books. Unique to Kobo, there's no better way to read, discover your next great title, collect and organize your books and articles, and share what you're reading with others." - when I visit https://www.kobo.com/readinglife there's nothing there, except a couple of faux links.

[NiLuJe]

I think I got one this month for the first time, FWIW .