the trouble with the Kobo environment

[franklekens]

Things that suck about the Kobo environment.

Just bought a new Ellipsa. Sideloaded 1000+ books, but now it starts giving me the “database disk image is malformed” error repeatedly. Logging out and back in is a slog. Besides, the shelves are beyond repair it seems anyway.

So maybe I’ll just remove all books and try again. I’m thinking part of the problem might be that in the past I’ve been stupid enough to buy books from Kobo. And since I don’t turn wifi off all the time (I need it for Pocket, for instance), I get those books via the Kobo environment. But I also always sideload them. Maybe the Kobo is getting confused somehow by the double titles. I don't know how else to explain this database problem with a brand new Ellipsa that I haven't even had time to do weird things with -- other than sideloading books with Calibre.

So I thought: maybe before I reformat the device now Ill just archive *all* of my books on the Kobo website. So none will be downloaded via the Kobo environment, and I can sideload them without them being doubled.

(Why bother, why not just go with the flow and download via the Kobo environment, you say? Because that environment has a mind of its own. It will not automatically download all the books you bought. So if you’re somewhere where you don’t have wifi and happen to want to read book X, although you’ve bought it, it’s tough luck for you. It’s not on the device. Sometimes the software even decides on its own that you no longer need a book you already downloaded, and deletes it. Same problem if suddenly you want to read it.)

Problem: try archiving all your books in one go. You have to bloody select each of them and give the command for every separate title. And note that archiving one title takes about 5 clicks, what with all the confirmation windows. What lunatic designs this kind of interface? Clearly my plan is unfeasible, I can't go archiving hundreds of titles one by one before trying a clean re-install and "sideload only" policy. I'll be stuck with those double items.

And as for the “database disk image” problem: why isn’t there a repair database function in the device interface that you can select?

[franklekens]

Just to give an indication of the bugginess of their software design: I've just done a factory reset. Factory, right? Back to its original state, you would think.
What do I see after logging back on when I go to collections? All the collections that were there from when I had sideloaded books with Calibre. (Shelves were turned into collections by a Calibre plugin.)
What kind of "factory settings" is this?

Some titles have even already been added to those collections. Which is weird, because the collections were created by Calibre. But the titles that are in that collection now, are from the Kobo environment. (They are not downloaded, it's just the titles there.) Which suggests to me that it's the interference of double titles -- from the sideload and from the Kobo environment -- that causes the problems.

I have serious doubts whether this will ever get right again. What a mess. Even a factory settings can't solve it. (Note: I've only done a factory reset, I haven't connected the device to a computer yet.)

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by franklekens

Things that suck about the Kobo environment.

Just bought a new Ellipsa. Sideloaded 1000+ books, but now it starts giving me the “database disk image is malformed” error repeatedly. Logging out and back in is a slog. Besides, the shelves are beyond repair it seems anyway.

So maybe I’ll just remove all books and try again. I’m thinking part of the problem might be that in the past I’ve been stupid enough to buy books from Kobo. And since I don’t turn wifi off all the time (I need it for Pocket, for instance), I get those books via the Kobo environment. But I also always sideload them. Maybe the Kobo is getting confused somehow by the double titles. I don't know how else to explain this database problem with a brand new Ellipsa that I haven't even had time to do weird things with -- other than sideloading books with Calibre.

Sideloaded and downloaded books have no impact on each other. The device in no way attempts to connect them. I have multiple copies of a lot of books on my devices with exactly the same title and author.

So I thought: maybe before I reformat the device now Ill just archive *all* of my books on the Kobo website. So none will be downloaded via the Kobo environment, and I can sideload them without them being doubled.

That is not how it works, or how it has ever worked. It doesn't download all the books after a factory reset or signing out. It downloads details of the books and the five most recent books (last five being read or purchased). You can then download individual books by tapping on them, or use the menu to download them all.

(Why bother, why not just go with the flow and download via the Kobo environment, you say? Because that environment has a mind of its own. It will not automatically download all the books you bought. So if you’re somewhere where you don’t have wifi and happen to want to read book X, although you’ve bought it, it’s tough luck for you. It’s not on the device. Sometimes the software even decides on its own that you no longer need a book you already downloaded, and deletes it. Same problem if suddenly you want to read it.)

Problem: try archiving all your books in one go. You have to bloody select each of them and give the command for every separate title. And note that archiving one title takes about 5 clicks, what with all the confirmation windows. What lunatic designs this kind of interface? Clearly my plan is unfeasible, I can't go archiving hundreds of titles one by one before trying a clean re-install and "sideload only" policy. I'll be stuck with those double items.

Why not use the "Manage books" option in the book list? For what you want to do, in the books list, select "Purchased" in the filter, then "Manage books" from the menu in the top right of the list. Then use the "Select all" in the menu and press the "Remove" button, select the appropriate option and then press the "Remove" button.

And as for the “database disk image” problem: why isn’t there a repair database function in the device interface that you can select?

Because a database isn't supposed to get broken. And there is no meaningful way to repair the database if it is corrupted. The only thing you can do is to rebuild which is basically what happens when you sign out of the account.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by franklekens

Just to give an indication of the bugginess of their software design: I've just done a factory reset. Factory, right? Back to its original state, you would think.
What do I see after logging back on when I go to collections? All the collections that were there from when I had sideloaded books with Calibre. (Shelves were turned into collections by a Calibre plugin.)
What kind of "factory settings" is this?

Some titles have even already been added to those collections. Which is weird, because the collections were created by Calibre. But the titles that are in that collection now, are from the Kobo environment. (They are not downloaded, it's just the titles there.) Which suggests to me that it's the interference of double titles -- from the sideload and from the Kobo environment -- that causes the problems.

I have serious doubts whether this will ever get right again. What a mess. Even a factory settings can't solve it. (Note: I've only done a factory reset, I haven't connected the device to a computer yet.)

Which it is all working as designed, both by Kobo and myself when working on the driver.

Collections, and the which purchased books are in them, is synced to the Kobo servers. When you do a factory reset, the collection information will be downloaded from the server. And any purchased books will still be in the collection. Sideloaded books have to be added to the collections later.

When calibre creates collections, they are created so that the device thinks they are collections. And when you connect the device, the collection management acts on any book that can be matched to the books in the calibre library. This means it will affect both sideloaded and purchased books.

If you sync your Forma, you will see the same collections on it. And the same purchased books will be in the collections. That is assuming you use the same account on the two devices.

[franklekens]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Why not use the "Manage books" option in the book list? For what you want to do, in the books list, select "Purchased" in the filter, then "Manage books" from the menu in the top right of the list. Then use the "Select all" in the menu and press the "Remove" button, select the appropriate option and then press the "Remove" button.

Thanks. This is on the device, I gather. It hadn't occurred to me that an option that was lacking in the web interface of the store would be present on the device. I should make more use of filters anyway.

[Josieb1]

I recently bought a Kobo so I could read fan fiction on a dedicated reader. I had so much trouble with cloud collections and not wanting to actually see books I’ve bought I ended up creating a new Kobo email address just to link my Kobo too, one that has no purchases and no cloud collections. Everything works perfectly now and the Kobo is controlled through calibre and the Kobo drivers.

[Nightflyer]

I kind of like the Kobo environment including adding my sideloading of books.

Maybe I'm an outlier.

I'm just a regular user and guessing would never see something like “database disk image is malformed”.

Is that something that just pops up on someones screen and then does it tell you how to fix it?

[Cootey]

Davidfor has addressed a lot of your issues already, so I won't add to what he's said. HOWEVER, I, too, ran into an Elipsa database corruption issue. (Ghost eBook Purchase on an Elipsa
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=340260) It can be maddening to say the least. I don't know if you have been a previous Kobo owner or not, but I have owned multiple Kobos and have never run into the problems I ran into with my Elipsa. You can read the thread and see the nightmare I went through. Every time I factory reset I had a new problem. So now I am shipping it off to Kobo and getting a replacement. Obviously, my Elipsa was defective.

There's something else you can try that I didn't see David mention. If you type "devmodeon" in the system search on your Elipsa, you will enable developer tools that can be found at the bottom of Device Information in settings. There is a factory reset option there, too. It's a full factory reset that takes your Elipsa back to the firmware your Elipsa shipped with. This deeper reset may resolve your database issue if you have already logged out of your Elipsa and relogged back in with no improvement.


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[anacreon]

I've had many database errors since I bought the Elipsa, and I've learned how to make it a little less painful, thanks to Calibre:

• I save the database at least every couple of days
• I save the kobo data every time I make a major change: .kobo (that includes the screensaver folder, the dictionaries and the custom dictionaries) and the affiliate file. The fonts are not affected by the database switch but I save them also every time I change the list
• I sync reading positions every morning (I always have many books on the go)
• instead of a factory reset or disconnecting/reconnecting from my kobo account, I just replace the database
• I still have to modify the affiliate Kobo (kobo instead of Fnac for me), add the screen savers, dictionaries, and modify the parameters
• and, the most painful since I have more than 5000 items on the Elipsa, go through the hassle of connecting Elipsa to the PC with Calibre on, wait until Calibre is done, disconnect it, and repeat, until all books are visible on Calibre and the device - don't worry when the Kobo screen remains on "charge your device" screen instead of opening, just long press on the button as when it has been turned off. Last time (yesterday, so it is fresh in my mind and I have the figures jotted down), I had to go through it 5 times: the books visible were 1061 / 2049 / 3068 / 4085 / 5050.
• And I still had to harmonize 114 items at the end, most books with multiple authors. I had previously modified Calibre following davidfor's advice, but I still had 114 which didn't work. Two of them couldn't be harmonized so I had to cancel them from the device and send them again.
• Once that is done I disconnected/reconnected again and updated metadata and reading positions.

I hope I will have less incidents going on, but I still love the Elipsa so much that I don't want to go back to the Libra or the Forma. I'll keep syncing the Libra when I need it on the go, and I'll keep the Forma as a spare wheel for the PDFs if I have to go without the Elipsa for a while.

EDIT: At the beginning, I had once major problems which did necessitate a manual reset: neither the disconnect/reconnect from the Kobo account, nor the factory reset were enough.


HELP: Just now I have again a database error. I don't understand. This morning after syncing reading positions, I did nothing save update the metadata, since Calibre loses them on connecting, and I checked the database which was ok (I don't remember whether before or after updating the metadata).
FYI according to the reader (database corrupted), I have 5031 items instead of 5052 it should have - I sent 2 new books yesterday.
All of the 5052 except 153 PDFs are kepubs (mostly converted on the go with kobotouch extended).

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by anacreon

I've had many database errors since I bought the Elipsa, and I've learned how to make it a little less painful, thanks to Calibre:

• I save the database at least every couple of days
• I save the kobo data every time I make a major change: .kobo (that includes the screensaver folder, the dictionaries and the custom dictionaries) and the affiliate file. The fonts are not affected by the database switch but I save them also every time I change the list
• instead of a factory reset or disconnecting/reconnecting from my kobo account, I just replace the database

…
I hope I will have less incidents going on, but I still love the Elipsa so much that I don't want to go back to the Libra or the Forma.

I tried doing this similar backup process, but I experienced too many errors. It works great for my Clara, however.

I love the Elipsa, too, so I'm glad to see Kobo shipped my replacement today. But I'm concerned about the database issues. A handful of us in this forum have had database issues with our Elipsas. I'm hoping this is something Kobo can address in a firmware update, because I'd hate to think it's a hardware issue with the product line.


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