Likebook Mars SD card locations?

[Quoth]

Locations

Where should ebooks, PDFs, images, audiobooks and music go on the SD card for a Likebook Mars?
The initial welcome on the model (Android 8.1) offered a download with exFat support (about 56 M Byte) and then after install it offered a larger update 775 megabyte download dated 2021-01-14.
The 128 G Byte card is recognised.

[raygj]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Locations

Where should ebooks, PDFs, images, audiobooks and music go on the SD card for a Likebook Mars?
The initial welcome on the model (Android 8.1) offered a download with exFat support (about 56 M Byte) and then after install it offered a larger update 775 megabyte download dated 2021-01-14.
The 128 G Byte card is recognised.

power off likebook remove external SD card.
on your computer insert the external SD card then
in the external SD card's root directory make a new directory called "books" (all lower case letters.) and also a new directory named "Music".copy all your music to inside this "Music" directory.
copy all your books to inside this '/books' directory(ebooks,pdfs,cbz etc.)
eject/unmount SD card and reinsert SD card into likebook.
boot likebook .the likebook will take a long time to error check SD card then scan only inside '/books' directory for new books and then add all found books to its books catalogue listing file.
Now on clicking on the Library tab a new window will open with 4 icons named =
Personal Space,WifiTransfer,Bluetooth and Books.

click on the Books icon.(book catalogue listing file)
a new window will show all your books.

at the top right hand side click on the far right icon (image made from 3 horizontal lines one above another) and click on "Scan Books" to check for new books if you want to recheck or click on "Books Search" to look for a particular book title..
note get one of the new SD cards with the new Android speed rating of A1 or even better A2 rating for fastest books scanning/searching.

[pazos]

@raygj: great post!

FWIW: images, video and audio can be stored in any location in the sdcard. That's because they're managed with MediaStore, which is as old as android itself, and used for almost every available app out there.

For other kind of documents there's no easy answer as the recommended way of handling them is using the Storage Access Framework, but that's something that almost nobody is using (with a few exceptions, like CC)

Some document readers (most of them?) do ask for permissions on the entire storage and try to scan and parse all documents that they handle. That's the case of Librera, for example. Others rely on a mix of a embedded file manager & import capabilities.

In all cases document viewers are able to read the files, but to be able to write them on a external SDcard you'll need an app that uses SAF, or simply manage the files with an external app or from your computer.

[raygj]

yes the likebook Mars "Library tab / Books" directory will only display books that are inside "/Books" in main memory and including also only books inside "/books" in external SD card memory.
to access other places use the file manager.

[Quoth]

I can see folders inside the SD card when it mounts on Linux via USB. Why do I need to take out the card?

It's new unused Integral Ultima Pro 128 GB SDXC up to 100 MB/S read and 50 MB/s write. Also lists V30, XC I, 3, 10 and A1 on the package.

So I make /books and /Music on the SD card, not /music or /Books?

I'm used to the idea it's best to power off phones, tablets, sound recorders and ereaders to eject/load SD Cards. Though some Android GUIs do have unmount options.

[raygj]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I can see folders inside the SD card when it mounts on Linux via USB. Why do I need to take out the card?

It's new unused Integral Ultima Pro 128 GB SDXC up to 100 MB/S read and 50 MB/s write. Also lists V30, XC I, 3, 10 and A1 on the package.

So I make /books and /Music on the SD card, not /music or /Books?

I'm used to the idea it's best to power off phones, tablets, sound recorders and ereaders to eject/load SD Cards. Though some Android GUIs do have unmount options.

taking out the card is overall much much much faster/shorter time adding a large number of books with calibre.
yes that's what I do.I power-down likebook first.

if you name it /Books on the external SD then the likebook book catalog scan program will ignore this directory and refuse to look inside it for books.
it must Be named '/books' (ALL LOWER CASE LETTERS).only books inside "/books" will be visible in the likebook library tab inside the Books icon.(book catalog).

I keep all my books on a External SD card with a speed rating of A1 or A2 Android SD speed rating.
the books must only be placed inside the root directory inside a sub-directory named "books"(all lower case letters).
E.G. "/books"
with the latest Likebook Mars update the usb is running at a snails pace.
I gave up on using the usb with calibre.
Instead i power down likebook and remove SD card.
I insert SD card in my computer and mount it.
i start up calibre.
in main menu i click on "Connect/Share" and click on "Connect to Folder"
then Navigate to SD card and click on "/books"
this mounts the "/books" directory on the SD card as a "Device" that acts like a ebook reader as far as calibre is concerned.

just manage your books on this "Device" the same ways as you did originally with your ebook reader.
the BIG difference it works at a very very much faster time than using the usb cable.
cuts the time using calibre to manage your ebooks by a great margin.
when you have finished managing your books on the calibre "Device"
in the Main menu right-click on "Device" and select "Eject this device"
then in computers file manager unmount/eject SD card
reinsert SD into Likebook and power-up Likebook.
.the likebook will take a long time to error check SD card then scan only inside '/books' directory for new books and then add all found books to its books catalogue listing file.
Now on clicking on the Library tab a new window will open with 4 icons named =
Personal Space,WifiTransfer,Bluetooth and Books.

click on the Books icon (books catalog listing file)
a new window will show all your books.

at the top right hand side click on the far right icon (image made from 3 horizontal lines one above another) and click on "Scan Books" to check for new books if you want to recheck or click on "Books Search" to look for a particular book title..
note get one of the new SD cards with the new Android speed rating of A1 or even better A2 rating for fastest books scanning/searching.

[Quoth]

I also found that if I created a subdirectory via Linux with MTP mode to the SD card on the Mars that I can't rename it.

[raygj]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I also found that if I created a subdirectory via Linux with MTP mode to the SD card on the Mars that I can't rename it.

try using the likebooks file manager to rename the linux with MTP mode created directory.

MTP is very limiting.
according to Wikipedia
MTP is part of the "Windows Media" framework and thus closely related to Windows Media Player
.....say no MORE......
that's why
eject and manage SD card on computer is much more speedy/versatile/useful.

[Quoth]

I did the power off, SD card in the Laptop etc. Obviously then no problem deleting, renaming or copying.

Except it's impossible to find books by author or title. The names of the subdirectories look weird on the Mars. You have to navigate to the directory with books in it. Seems a useless Library interface unless I'm doing something stupid.

[raygj]

see my next post

[raygj]

[QUOTE=Quoth;4084853]I did the power off, SD card in the Laptop etc. Obviously then no problem deleting, renaming or copying.

Except it's impossible to find books by author or title. The names of the subdirectories look weird on the Mars. You have to navigate to the directory with books in it. Seems a useless Library interface unless I'm doing something stupid.[/QUOTE
go to the "Home" screen
lower bottom left of screen tap on read tab

Now on clicking on the screens top centre 'Library' tab a new window will open with 4 icons named =
Personal Space,WifiTransfer,Bluetooth and Books.

click on the 'Books' icon (books catalog listing file)
a new window will show all your books.

at the top right hand side click on the far right icon (image made from 3 horizontal lines one above another) and click on "Sort by File"
a window will pop up
window options are
reading time
add time
sorted by title
sort by Author
Sort by size
Sort by Type
Ascending
Descending
cancel
confirm

i have set mine to sort by Author Ascending Confirm.
anytime thereafter on clicking on the Library tab a new window will open with 4 icons named =
Personal Space,WifiTransfer,Bluetooth and Books.
click on the Books icon (books catalog listing file)
a new window will show all your books.
at the top right hand side click on the far right icon (image made from 3 horizontal lines one above another) and click on "Books Search"
on the lower keyboard type the first 3 or 4 letters of the book title or Author's surname you want and several book titles will appear ,including the book title you wanted.
tap on your title
a new window will open
tap on the new picture
your ebook title will open for reading

[raygj]

[QUOTE=raygj;4084873]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I did the power off, SD card in the Laptop etc. Obviously then no problem deleting, renaming or copying.

Except it's impossible to find books by author or title. The names of the subdirectories look weird on the Mars. You have to navigate to the directory with books in it. Seems a useless Library interface unless I'm doing something stupid.[/QUOTE
go to the "Home" screen
lower bottom left of screen tap on read tab

Now on clicking on the screens top centre 'Library' tab a new window will open with 4 icons named =
Personal Space,WifiTransfer,Bluetooth and Books.

click on the 'Books' icon (books catalog listing file)
a new window will show all your books.

at the top right hand side click on the far right icon (image made from 3 horizontal lines one above another) and click on "Sort by File"
a window will pop up
window options are
reading time
add time
sorted by title
sort by Author
Sort by size
Sort by Type
Ascending
Descending
cancel
confirm

i have set mine to sort by Author Ascending Confirm.
anytime thereafter on clicking on the Library tab a new window will open with 4 icons named =
Personal Space,WifiTransfer,Bluetooth and Books.
click on the Books icon (books catalog listing file)
a new window will show all your books.
at the top right hand side click on the far right icon (image made from 3 horizontal lines one above another) and click on "Books Search"
on the lower keyboard type the first 3 or 4 letters of the book title or Author's surname you want and several book titles will appear ,including the book title you wanted.
tap on your title
a new window will open
tap on the new picture
your ebook title will open for reading

go to the "Home" screen
lower bottom left of screen tap on read tab
Now on clicking on the screens top left 'recently Added' tab a new window will open
Now on clicking on the screens top 3rd from the right icon(looks like a funnel)
and select/tap "Reading Books "
then the top left tabs title will change to "Reading Books" and will show all the books that you have opened and are reading but have not finished reading...

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by raygj

click on the 'Books' icon (books catalog listing file)
a new window will show all your books.

But only if no subdirectories are used, at least that seems to be how it works.

Thanks.

[Quoth]

I think I simply didn't wait long enough. I'd copied over about 500 epubs. It does seem to find books in subfolders. I now just have two subfolders because the subfolders/subdirectories are listed. One for technical PDFs and one for PDF manuals, user guides or instruction books.

The auto crop works well for PDFs, and most of my technical ones are scans of really old books and magazines long out of copyright.

[raygj]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I think I simply didn't wait long enough. I'd copied over about 500 epubs. It does seem to find books in subfolders. I now just have two subfolders because the subfolders/subdirectories are listed. One for technical PDFs and one for PDF manuals, user guides or instruction books.

The auto crop works well for PDFs, and most of my technical ones are scans of really old books and magazines long out of copyright.

yes that's why getting the fastest SD card with Android A2 speed rating is important especially if you have 1,000's of books installed on the SD card..
But the actual "search for a book title or Author" is very fast because it only checks the "Books catalogue file" regardless of the number of books you have catalogued,it is very fast.