Why can't I annotate books I load via Calibre?

the_meter413 · 09-22-2020, 07:02 PM

Hi all,

I'm coming up short in trying to self-diagnose this problem: annotations and notes for any book that I load to my device via Calibre will not save. I can highlight text and create notes (i.e. the device appears to allow me to go through the motions of creating highlights/annotations), but when I go to view the annotations from the device, there's nothing there. If I go back to a page I've created a highlight on, *most* of the time the highlight is gone, although it looks like highlights that span pages are still there (but again, they're not shown in the annotations view for the book). Any books that I load to my device via Overdrive or the Kobo store work flawlessly; it's just the books I load via Calibre that aren't working.

I'm running both the latest versions of the Kobo Forma software, Calibre, the Kobo Utilities plugin, and the Kobo Touch Extended plugin (so that I can convert my epubs to kepubs when I move them to the device).

What am I missing? I admittedly don't know much about the inner workings of Calibre, the plugins, the Kobo OS, etc.

Thanks!

the_meter413 · 09-22-2020, 07:16 PM

As a follow-up: within Calibre, in the library view (not the device view), I'm able to use the Kobo Utilities plugin to see the annotations and notes I've taken for kepubs I've loaded via Calibre. So, indeed, the notes are being saves somewhere/somehow, but I cannot see them on the device when I try to view annotations for the book.

davidfor · 09-22-2020, 09:49 PM

That sounds like the kepub transformation wasn't done correctly. The way the locations are recorded for the annotations in kepubs use the spans that should be added by the extended driver. If there is a problem with that, then the annotations can be recorded but, the device will not display them properly as they cannot find the location in the book. The annotations function in the Kobo Utilities will still work, as it looks at the database entry and doesn't use the stored location for anything.

Having said that, I am very surprised by this. I have been playing quite a lot with annotations in the last few weeks, with no issues. This is for epubs, purchases kepubs, books converted to kepubs and books sent to the device using the extended driver.

I think to do any more, I need to see some examples of the books. I'd like to see the epubs before the send to the device and the kepub from the device. If they are books you can legally share (no copyright issues), post them here. If they can't be posted, you can use the ScrambleBook plugin to produce a version that can be posted. Or, upload them somewhere and PM me a link to the books to download. Or, use a book from the MobileRead library and see if the problem can be reproduced. Then we can safely share both versions here.

09-22-2020, 07:02 PM	#1
the_meter413 Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2020 Device: Kobo Forma	Why can't I annotate books I load via Calibre? Hi all, I'm coming up short in trying to self-diagnose this problem: annotations and notes for any book that I load to my device via Calibre will not save. I can highlight text and create notes (i.e. the device appears to allow me to go through the motions of creating highlights/annotations), but when I go to view the annotations from the device, there's nothing there. If I go back to a page I've created a highlight on, most of the time the highlight is gone, although it looks like highlights that span pages are still there (but again, they're not shown in the annotations view for the book). Any books that I load to my device via Overdrive or the Kobo store work flawlessly; it's just the books I load via Calibre that aren't working. I'm running both the latest versions of the Kobo Forma software, Calibre, the Kobo Utilities plugin, and the Kobo Touch Extended plugin (so that I can convert my epubs to kepubs when I move them to the device). What am I missing? I admittedly don't know much about the inner workings of Calibre, the plugins, the Kobo OS, etc. Thanks! Last edited by the_meter413; 09-22-2020 at 07:04 PM. Reason: clarification

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09-22-2020, 07:16 PM	#2
the_meter413 Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2020 Device: Kobo Forma	As a follow-up: within Calibre, in the library view (not the device view), I'm able to use the Kobo Utilities plugin to see the annotations and notes I've taken for kepubs I've loaded via Calibre. So, indeed, the notes are being saves somewhere/somehow, but I cannot see them on the device when I try to view annotations for the book.

09-22-2020, 09:49 PM	#3
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	That sounds like the kepub transformation wasn't done correctly. The way the locations are recorded for the annotations in kepubs use the spans that should be added by the extended driver. If there is a problem with that, then the annotations can be recorded but, the device will not display them properly as they cannot find the location in the book. The annotations function in the Kobo Utilities will still work, as it looks at the database entry and doesn't use the stored location for anything. Having said that, I am very surprised by this. I have been playing quite a lot with annotations in the last few weeks, with no issues. This is for epubs, purchases kepubs, books converted to kepubs and books sent to the device using the extended driver. I think to do any more, I need to see some examples of the books. I'd like to see the epubs before the send to the device and the kepub from the device. If they are books you can legally share (no copyright issues), post them here. If they can't be posted, you can use the ScrambleBook plugin to produce a version that can be posted. Or, upload them somewhere and PM me a link to the books to download. Or, use a book from the MobileRead library and see if the problem can be reproduced. Then we can safely share both versions here.

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