Aura H2O MacOS 10.13, Calibre, & Kobo firmware version

[jcf]

Hi,

- I have an iMac Mid-2011 so the latest version of MacOS that I can have is 10.13 (MacOS High Sierra). I have this version installed with latest updates.

- According to Calibre website, the latest version for MacOS older than 10.14 (Mojave) is 3.48. I have this installed as well.

- My Kobo Aura H2O has version 4.19.14123 (12/10/19) firmware installed.

My Kobo has been playing well with Calibre for years, but lately, I have been getting the following error from Calibre

"Kobo database version unsupported - See details"

The details screen from Calibre says that this is due to the Kobo's firmware/database version.

Then, just a few days ago, Calibre gives the following when I send a book to my Kobo:

"Error communicating with device"

I searched the forums and saw several advice saying that this error indicates a corrupted Kobo database and that the solution is to log out / log in to Kobo and this will rebuild the Kobo database. I did this, and saw that the Kobo went thru the database rebuild process. But instead of fixing it, it seems to have made the problem worse. Now, I see weird things in my list of books (weird "book names" that seem to be part of the software, like: appbar.align.auto, appbar.align.center, etc.), and most of my Collections now have zero books.

** I am willing to reset my Kobo to factory settings. **

Can someone please help me out with the following:

1) What is the latest stable Kobo firmware version that will work with Calibre 3.48. Right now, I have 4.19.14123 and it is likely that I will need an older firmware version.

2) My expectation is that when I reset the Kobo to factory setting, and I then enable WIFI, the Kobo will automatically upgrade the firmware. How do I "stop" the Kobo from updating to the latest firmware so that I update only to what works with Calibre 3.48?

3) I use Pocket a LOT, and so I would like the WIFI to be on. How do I tell Kobo to sync Pocket BUT NOT the firmware?

TIA,

Jay

[jcf]

Additional question:

- Are the annotations (highlights, notes) synched back to Calibre such that I can get them back even if I reset the Kobo to factory settings?

[DNSB]

I would suggest checking the Attempt to support newer firmware checkbox in the KoboTouch/KoboTouch Extended driver settings. See the Metadata, on device & advanced tab for the setting. I've attached an image of the setting as well. This should deal with the database version issue.

Your communication issue is possibly a database corruption issue. If you have the KoboUtilities plugin installed, use it to check the database. If you don't, install it. If it shows database integrity issues, I'd suggest signing out of your Kobo account and then signing back to correct the issue.

As for saving highlights and notes, there I can't offer much help. I've used the Annotation plugin a couple of times to retrieve annotations from a Kobo but since the majority of my usage is to mark errors for correction, I've never worried about restoring annotations to a Kobo and am not sure if there a way to easily do this.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jcf

Hi,

- I have an iMac Mid-2011 so the latest version of MacOS that I can have is 10.13 (MacOS High Sierra). I have this version installed with latest updates.

This is a major reason to go with Windows instead of OS X. Microsoft is not trying ot make your hardware obsolete. But Apple is in hopes you'll buy a new computer as silly high prices.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

This is a major reason to go with Windows instead of OS X. Microsoft is not trying ot make your hardware obsolete. But Apple is in hopes you'll buy a new computer as silly high prices.

Yes Jon Apple is trying to make 9 year old hardware obsolete.

Btw the current low end iMac is about 1000 USD, meaning for a 9 year lifespan it’s basically run you 111 USD a year. And even the low end now would beat the high end from 9 years ago.

And spare us the dropping of support for 32 bit apps.

[jcf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I would suggest checking the Attempt to support newer firmware checkbox in the KoboTouch/KoboTouch Extended driver settings. See the Metadata, on device & advanced tab for the setting. I've attached an image of the setting as well. This should deal with the database version issue.

Your communication issue is possibly a database corruption issue. If you have the KoboUtilities plugin installed, use it to check the database. If you don't, install it. If it shows database integrity issues, I'd suggest signing out of your Kobo account and then signing back to correct the issue.

As for saving highlights and notes, there I can't offer much help. I've used the Annotation plugin a couple of times to retrieve annotations from a Kobo but since the majority of my usage is to mark errors for correction, I've never worried about restoring annotations to a Kobo and am not sure if there a way to easily do this.

Hi DNSB,


I can try the "Attempt to support newer firmware" later.

Even prior to my original post, I have already tried signout/signin. It went through the process of rebuilding the database, but - as I mentioned in original post - it did not fix it and in fact, I believe it messed it up even more.

Like I said I am willing to reset to factory settings but I first need to understand if there is an answer to my 3 original questions (see original post).

TIA,

Jay

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by jcf

Like I said I am willing to reset to factory settings but I first need to understand if there is an answer to my 3 original questions (see original post).

1. Use 4.19.14123. I've tested it with 3.48 and Attempt to support newer firmware and did not find any issues (Clara HD).

2. You can use the Kobo desktop app to do the connection to Kobo and then delete the upgrade directory, the KoboRoot.tgz file and the manifest.md5sum file before ejecting your Kobo. However, I do not think that is necessary.

3. See question 1. Not necessary though there is a patch in the Kobopatcher set to disable firmware updating OTA (Block WiFi firmware upgrade).

4. The factory reset procedure has changed. To do the full factory reset, you will need to type devmodeon in a search box and search. After that, if you go to Settings => Device Information, you should see a Developer options item. Tap on view and then use the Factory reset from the second page of that section to do a full factory reset.

[jcf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

1. Use 4.19.14123. I've tested it with 3.48 and Attempt to support newer firmware and did not find any issues (Clara HD).

2. You can use the Kobo desktop app to do the connection to Kobo and then delete the upgrade directory, the KoboRoot.tgz file and the manifest.md5sum file before ejecting your Kobo. However, I do not think that is necessary.

3. See question 1. Not necessary though there is a patch in the Kobopatcher set to disable firmware updating OTA (Block WiFi firmware upgrade).

4. The factory reset procedure has changed. To do the full factory reset, you will need to type devmodeon in a search box and search. After that, if you go to Settings => Device Information, you should see a Developer options item. Tap on view and then use the Factory reset from the second page of that section to do a full factory reset.

Hello DNSB,

My apologies for the delayed reply, I got distracted with other things.

Anyway, I just tried the "attempt to support..." and it fixed everything EXCEPT the weird book names I mentioned earlier (appbar.align.auto, etc). These are png files that show up my book list. I recall now that I recently experimented with koreader - could this be what is causing these png files to show up as book names?

Re: #3 - I am happy with this firmware (assuming it will not give me problems later), so I would like to explore disabling OTA firmware updates. Can you point me to where I can read about Kobopatcher?

Thanks again for your help and patience.

Jay

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by jcf

Anyway, I just tried the "attempt to support..." and it fixed everything EXCEPT the weird book names I mentioned earlier (appbar.align.auto, etc). These are png files that show up my book list. I recall now that I recently experimented with koreader - could this be what is causing these png files to show up as book names?

Yes, the newer Kobo firmware will add files in directories that start with a . (normally, on Unix/Linux based operating systems, these are hidden directories. There are several threads with information on fixing this. One message from NiLuJe with the information to be added to "Kobo eReader.conf file" to keep some directories from being searched is found at https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...3&postcount=70.

Originally Posted by jcf

Re: #3 - I am happy with this firmware (assuming it will not give me problems later), so I would like to explore disabling OTA firmware updates. Can you point me to where I can read about Kobopatcher.

Check in the Instructions for patching firmware 4.17.13694 thread in the Kobo Developer's Corner subforum.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by jcf

Anyway, I just tried the "attempt to support..." and it fixed everything EXCEPT the weird book names I mentioned earlier (appbar.align.auto, etc). These are png files that show up my book list. I recall now that I recently experimented with koreader - could this be what is causing these png files to show up as book names?

Recent firmware versions will now scan directories whose name starts with a dot for books. These are probably images included in the KOReader install. There is plenty of discussion about how to block the firmware from scanning these directories.

[NiLuJe]

Yep, the one example quoted is definitely a KOReader UI element (and, as was mentioned, this is the expected behavior on vanilla devices with current FW versions) .

[jcf]

Hello DNSB, davidfor, & NiLuJe,

Thank you all very much for your replies. I'm going to look at your suggestions and the links and get back here if I have more questions.

Jay