Libra Problems with Kobo Libra H2O

[rjh4242]

I've been very happy with my Kobo Libra H2O since I bought it almost exactly two years ago - until last week.

I plugged it into the laptop to load a few books onto it using Calibre, in exactly the same way as I have for the past 2 years. I have the KoboUtilities Plugin, using the KoboTouchExtended driver, and up until last week it worked perfectly. Last week in calibre when I plugged the Libra into the laptop I started getting odd error messages in calibre: 'unable to read database' and 'database corrupt' and 'disk i/o error' (different messages after various reboots of both the Libra and the laptop).

Having googled and read lots of mobileread posts, I assumed there might have been a dodgy book or a dodgy cable, and that the database was lost beyond repair so reset the Libra to factory settings and started again with a completely blank, new setup.

The problem is that now I'm getting even more weird symptoms.

I reset the Libra to factory settings, set up the Kobo account and get it back running with a completely empty database. No books downloaded from my Kobo account (I don't have any - I always sideload my books). I plug the Libra into the laptop and start Calibre. Calibre detects the Libra with its empty database, and when I check the database using KoboUtilities it comes back ok.

I then put a book onto the Libra via Calibre (I've tried multiple different ones in case it's a specific book causing the problem). Calibre shows it's put a book onto the Libra, so I safely eject the Libra. The usual Importing content screen and bar comes up on the Libra, but when the home screen appears the book doesn't show in the My Books count on the home page, although it DOES show when I go to the My Books section, and I can read it there.

If I plug the Libra back into the PC with calibre open, calibre doesn't think there are any books on the device.

If I plug the Libra back into the PC without calibre open, do nothing, and then eject the Libra, it goes back into the Importing Content screen, and then the My Books count is correct. If I then plug it back into Calibre, calibre can see the book on the device.

Based on this, it seems like the first time the Libra says Importing Content it's not actually updating the database properly. If I plug it back into the laptop and safely eject it to trigger another database update, this time it sees the book and updates the database correctly.

How is this possible on a completely newly restored to factory settings Libra? I've tried it with two different firmwares: 4.28.18220 and 4.31.19086, factory resetting each time and then installing the relevant firmware version. I've tried 2 different laptops with completely separate calibre setups and versions. I've tried 3 different cables and 5 different USB ports. I have lost count of how many times I've factory reset the Libra and started again.

After working on this all day I finally managed to get up to 63 books on the Libra by only putting on a couple at a time, ejecting the Libra, closing calibre, waiting until the Libra 'Importing content' screen had closed, plugging it back into the laptop without calibre open, safely ejecting, waiting through another 'Importing content' screen and then plugging back in to the laptop, opening calibre and repeating the process.

Unfortunately just now I got the yet another error (I haven't seen this one before) when KoboUtilities tried to do its automatic backup when I plugged in the Libra:
"calibre, version 5.30.0 (win32, embedded-python: True)
Failed to backup device database: Failed: Backing up Kobo device database

*** in database main ***
On tree page 9806 cell 42: 2nd reference to page 9788
Page 5271 is never used
wrong # of entries in index content_bookid_index
wrong # of entries in index sqlite_autoindex_content_1

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre\gui2\device.py", line 87, in run
File "calibre_plugins.koboutilities.jobs", line 200, in do_device_database_backup
Exception:
*** in database main ***
On tree page 9806 cell 42: 2nd reference to page 9788
Page 5271 is never used
wrong # of entries in index content_bookid_index
wrong # of entries in index sqlite_autoindex_content_1
"
UPDATE:

Without doing anything else to the Libra I just plugged it into the other PC and Calibre is giving me the i/o error again (that I have had several times before):
calibre, version 5.34.0
ERROR: Error: Error communicating with device

IOError: disk I/O error

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre\gui2\device.py", line 87, in run
File "calibre\gui2\device.py", line 512, in _books
File "calibre\devices\kobo\driver.py", line 1886, in books
File "calibre\devices\kobo\driver.py", line 180, in device_database_connection
apsw.IOError: IOError: disk I/O error

UPDATE 2:
I safely ejected the Libra, and it rebooted without human intervention. It then seemed to think there was one book less than it previously knew about. I plugged it back into the computer, when Windows scanned for errors and didn't find anything (which it has done many times during this process, never finding any errors). When I started Calibre it recognised the Libra and this time gave the 'database malformed' error that started off this whole process:
calibre, version 5.34.0
ERROR: Error: Error communicating with device

CorruptError: database disk image is malformed

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre\gui2\device.py", line 87, in run
File "calibre\gui2\device.py", line 512, in _books
File "calibre\devices\kobo\driver.py", line 1988, in books
apsw.CorruptError: CorruptError: database disk image is malformed

There's clearly something very wrong, but I can't figure out what's happening and I'm losing the will to live. I've spent all day trying to get it sorted out, or at least understand what the problem might be, and failed. Can anyone suggest what might be going on, and how I might get the Libra to work effectively again? Could it be a hardware issue? I've tried everything I can think of from a software/database perspective. Thanks for any suggestions.

[DNSB]

What those message mean is that the SQLite database on your Kobo has issues. If you do a search on these forums, you can find several threads on this issue.

Probably, the easiest way to fix the issue is to sign out and then sign back in on your Libre H2O which will create a blank database and then re-import your sideloaded books. You will lose your reading stats, etc.

Not much help to you at this time but davidfor's Kobo Utilities plugin for calibre has the capability of doing a backup of the database and other important information when you connect your Kobo to your computer (the backup is done once per day and saves 5 days by default). This does minimize your losses when your database gets corrupted.

[ownedbycats]

I've been getting similar issues with my H2O as well.

In my case, the issues was to do with the 4.31 firmware and tended to crop up after importing new books to the device. I found that I was able to prevent it by immediately rebooting after the import process had run, though I forgot to do that earlier today and it corrupted again (I actually got the same errors about the wrong numbers of index entries in the indexes).

Since your issue persisted across different firmwares though, I'm wondering if something might be wrong with your device's storage. My Aura HD's card started failing in the last year of its life and had a lot of database corruptions.

[rjh4242]

Thanks for your comments.
@DSNB maybe I didn't make it clear in my first post. I KNOW these errors mean the database has been corrupted. What I'm trying to establish is why/how the database is getting corrupted EVERY time I transfer a book to the Libra. As I said before, I have REPEATEDLY factory reset my Libra and signed back in to my Kobo account which of course cleans up the database. I have also tried your suggestion of signing out of my Kobo account and then signing back in. The database gets cleaned up, but the very next time I transfer a book from calibre to the Libra the database gets corrupted again. I have not been able to transfer a single book to my Libra for a week without the database getting corrupted. I reverted to 4.28, which I had been using for months with no problems, and the same issues occurred. That's why I'm tearing my hair out...

[rjh4242]

PS I should point out that as I mentioned in my first post, I use the KoboUtilities plugin to take a backup of my Kobo database every time I plug in the Libra at this point, given the issues I'm having. I really want to thank davidfor for providing the plugin! I just wish I didn't have to restore the database every time I try to transfer a book to the Libra...

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Probably, the easiest way to fix the issue is to sign out and then sign back in on your Libre H2O which will create a blank database and then re-import your sideloaded books. You will lose your reading stats, etc.

If you're not afraid with mucking about with databases, you can use SQLiteStudio (or whatever other tool of your choice) to copy the 'Activity' table from a working backup of the old database to the new one. That puts the reading stats back.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by rjh4242

I have not been able to transfer a single book to my Libra for a week without the database getting corrupted.

Since it's happening after sending a new book, maybe try reboot the device after the import process runs. That's what helped the issue for me... well, until I forgot to do it.

[icallaci]

I agree with the suggestion to turn off your Kobo after it finishes importing one or more books, then turn the device on again. That has solved a similar issue I'm having with my Kobo (on firmware 4.31).

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

If you're not afraid with mucking about with databases, you can use SQLiteStudio (or whatever other tool of your choice) to copy the 'Activity' table from a working backup of the old database to the new one. That puts the reading stats back.

The Activity tables does not hold any useful stats. It was only used with the old tiled home screen to device what tiles were shown.

The stats displayed come from a mix of the Events table and the contents tab.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by davidfor

The Activity tables does not hold any useful stats. It was only used with the old tiled home screen to device what tiles were shown.

The stats displayed come from a mix of the Events table and the contents tab.

Oops, yeah -- I meant Events.

[rjh4242]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. Sadly, turning the Kobo off and on again seems to actually cause more database corruption, although it does help the Kobo recognise books that it hadn't recognised up until now.

I am (once again) trying a full factory reset, and I'll keep the firmware at 4.30 for now, as others seem to have had database corruptions with 4.31. I am leaning towards it being a hardware issue at the moment though, because of the very strange symptoms.

[rjh4242]

For those following along, I thought I'd report that a full hardware factory reset, installing firmware 4.30 (NOT 4.31), and rebooting the Kobo after every book transfer from calibre (after safely ejecting from the PC and importing the content of course) has so far worked without a database corruption.

The only odd thing I'm noticing is that immediately after the books have been imported by Kobo (after the Importing content screen has finished) the My Books tile on the home screen doesn't include the books just loaded, but they are there if you actually open the My Books list. I have waited for quite a long time, tried going into the My Books list etc. and the number of books on the home screen doesn't seem to change. It gets updated when I restart the Kobo - then it shows the correct number. Does anyone have any explanations of what might be going on there?

I am therefore making sure to reboot the Kobo after every transfer before connecting it back to the PC and calibre, and so far so good. It's a pain, but better than getting a database corruption every time I transferred a book. It's just going to take a very long time to get the several thousand books I usually carry on my Kobo back onto it...

[Poppaea]

Originally Posted by rjh4242

For those following along, I thought I'd report that a full hardware factory reset, installing firmware 4.30 (NOT 4.31), and rebooting the Kobo after every book transfer from calibre (after safely ejecting from the PC and importing the content of course) has so far worked without a database corruption.

The only odd thing I'm noticing is that immediately after the books have been imported by Kobo (after the Importing content screen has finished) the My Books tile on the home screen doesn't include the books just loaded, but they are there if you actually open the My Books list. I have waited for quite a long time, tried going into the My Books list etc. and the number of books on the home screen doesn't seem to change. It gets updated when I restart the Kobo - then it shows the correct number. Does anyone have any explanations of what might be going on there?

I am therefore making sure to reboot the Kobo after every transfer before connecting it back to the PC and calibre, and so far so good. It's a pain, but better than getting a database corruption every time I transferred a book. It's just going to take a very long time to get the several thousand books I usually carry on my Kobo back onto it...

I can upload batches of 150 books in one go without a problem under 4.30. Haven't sent more to the Libra2, because I have to file them into my custom collections before I can send them and I don't like to work on this for too long each day.