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#1 |
Member
![]() Posts: 14
Karma: 10
Join Date: May 2009
Device: PRS-700
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PRS-700 MetaData a great disappointment
I've been using my PRS-700 for about a months now, and I have had to conclude that (sadly) all "metadata" is so volatile (perhaps "flaky" is better), that I might as well give up using it.
By metadata I mean "annotations" and "collections". My experience has been that these get completely WIPED so often, that it is just pure frustration to keep re-building them!!!! I should point out that unlike some other forum users, I am a very "good boy". I use no third-party software. I use only the SONY-supplied eBookLibrary software to communicate with the PRS-700. I NEVER pull the SD chip out and connect it directly to the PC. Yet..... time and time again I get some minor error or timeout and..... POP..... all my annotations and collections are gone!!!! This is very sad for me because: • Collections are really necessary for file organisation once you move beyond (say) 100 books. • Annotations were one of my reasons for buying an eBooks at all. I wonder if all of that XML in the "database" is part of the problem. If SONY used: • A FileSystem.... then collections would not be so crucial. • One annotation file PER BOOK, then damaging one XML file would not blow away ALL annotations !!!!! §------§ I think that is the crux of the matter..... all this metadata is kept in a very few XML files. One bad write, and you lose the lot!!!!!! dda |
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#2 |
.a ribbon around a bomb.
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Karma: 4334
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: sigh... ny
Device: PRS700
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If you see this as such a crutch, and insist on using elibrary ( and all prs700 owners have admitted that it is the worst part of the reader...) why ru complaining?
There are threads upon threads celebrating Calibre and the way it allows us to edit the metadata efficiently.... |
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#3 |
Wizard
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Karma: 406616
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Northern Virginia
Device: SurfacePro, SurfaceBook 2
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I use both Calibre and Ebook Library and have only had problems when I used the Sync option. I use Calibre to make conversions and to add missing book covers, etc., and then I upload the files to Ebook Library where I use the bookmarks/highlighting options to make initial notes. In these scenarios, Ebook Library has worked fine, as long as I don't ever Sync.
In Calibre's defense, it is an excellent piece of software that Kovid is constantly updating and supporting. I don't think anyone (even Sony) would consider you a "Bad Boy" if you used it. ![]() |
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#4 |
Addict
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Karma: 570
Join Date: Apr 2008
Device: Onyx Note Pro, Kobo H20 and iPad
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Does the Calibre software keep the annotations and bookmarks backed up as well?
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#5 | |
Wizard
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Karma: 406616
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Northern Virginia
Device: SurfacePro, SurfaceBook 2
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#6 | ||
Storm Surge'n
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Karma: 8213195
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Polar Vortex
Device: S0ny PRS-300/350/505/700/T1
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I personally only use the SONY eBook Library and would prefer not to change, or have another software handling my eBooks. I have nothing against Calibre, I just don't need it since I don't do any eBook conversions and the metadata I have is all that I need. WDE. |
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#7 | |
Wizard
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Karma: 406616
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Northern Virginia
Device: SurfacePro, SurfaceBook 2
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I will say, though, I am surprised that Sony hasn't addressed these issues with a software update. |
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#8 | |
Wizard
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Karma: 1002683
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: New York
Device: PRS-700
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Sersiously, go download sonic stage if you don't believe me. its good enough for what I use it for, but the bookmark sync is defenatly buggy.. it keeps restoring deleted book marks, but that's no big deal for me. |
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#9 | |
Wizard
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Karma: 406616
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Northern Virginia
Device: SurfacePro, SurfaceBook 2
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#10 |
Member
![]() Posts: 14
Karma: 10
Join Date: May 2009
Device: PRS-700
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For all those have problems with "flakey" and unreliable annotations, bookmarks, and collections.....
I have had some time this weekend to experiment... I have learned a lesson. When using SD cards, you must NEVER assume that just because the "eBook Library software" can "see" an SD card, "format" it, and successfully "read" and "write" it, that the PRE-700 will be able to do the same !!!!! In particular, I can immediately cause all manner of disaster by formatting my 16 gig SD card using the WinXP "default allocation size" !!!! You will have to experiment..... but NEVER assume that the eBook Library and the PRS-700 like the same allocation size. On my 16 gig SD I found that allocsize:4096 immediately improved things. 8192 is what I am using at the moment. It seems stable. I will report back here if I find somethig better than 8192. dda (of course this may vary by SD chip size or even manufacturer) |
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#11 | |
Wizard
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Karma: 406616
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Northern Virginia
Device: SurfacePro, SurfaceBook 2
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#12 |
Zealot
![]() Posts: 130
Karma: 96
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: metro Atlanta, GA
Device: Sony Reader PRS-505
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This is good to know - the only reason I wanted to get a 700 was for the annotations - I've found the bookmark feature to be very buggy and I can't depend on it keeping track of my bookmarks across the 6 or so books that I read at one time. I would absolutely want the annotation system to be dependable.
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#13 | |
Wizard
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Karma: 406616
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Northern Virginia
Device: SurfacePro, SurfaceBook 2
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![]() Just thought you might like to know all that. ![]() |
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#14 |
Enthusiast
![]() Posts: 31
Karma: 10
Join Date: Jul 2009
Device: prs-700
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Sony= Amazing hardware and rubbish software.
Every Sony device I have had(and Im a long time customer) has been plagued with bad software and Sony very rarely fix it you usually end up finding alternative programs and work arounds which sony eventually tell you to use instead. Its a poor company attitude but they get away with it to an extent. SonicStage ironically worked quite well in its first couple of versions until they completely naffed it around version 3 I think, the original interface was actually something of artistic beauty and at the time it stood up well to competitors as PC media libraries were still pretty basic. |
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#15 | |
Wizard
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Karma: 1002683
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: New York
Device: PRS-700
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