Needing help with new Kobo Aura HD

tadpole · 10-01-2013, 01:46 AM

Hello all!

I am new to the forum and am hoping that someone may be able to help me. I just today received my new Kobo Aura HD, and I can not get any of my books from my Calibre library to load! I have used Calibre for a few years, with my Kindles, but now I am totally perplexed!

I added the Kobo plugin and have even converted the books to kepub. Yet when I attempt to send to device I get a message stating,

“Your Kobo is running an updated firmware/database version. As calibre does not know about this updated firmware, database editing is disabled, to prevent corruption. You can still send books to your Kobo with calibre, but deleting books and managing collections is disabled. If you are willing to experiment and know how to reset your Kobo to Factory defaults, you can override this check by right clicking the device icon in calibre and selecting "Configure this device" and then the "Attempt to support newer firmware" option. Doing so may require you to perform a factory reset of your Kobo.”

So I updated my Calibre to the now latest edition (1.5.0) and still I get the same thing. I have even tried to just drag and drop a file into the Kobo but it just will not load the books. The firmware version on the Kobo is 2.8.1. Has anyone else had this problem? And if so, were you able to fix it?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

meeera · 10-01-2013, 02:52 AM

Have you clicked "Attempt to support newer firmware", as the message says?

GeoffR · 10-01-2013, 05:10 AM

Calibre 1.5 should know about firmware 2.8.1 already, so something else must be going wrong in your case, especially since you are not able to drag and drop a book onto the device either.

Note that you don't need to convert the book to kepub format before transfering it, and it shouldn't be necessary to add any plugins to get Calibre to work with Kobo devices.

There have been some reported problems with Windows XP systems communicating with some Kobo devices. Also a damaged cable or faulty USB port can cause problems. Both of these issues would affect Calibre as well as direct drag-and-drop transfers.

Edit: You can load books onto the Aura from Calibre via wifi, without plugging in to the USB port. It might be an idea to try this, if the device still doesn't see the book then the problem is either with the device or the book, not with the USB communications. To do this, start the content server on Calibre, note the address/port it is using, then use the Aura's web browser to vist that address: port and download a book. Once you exit the browser the book should show in your library.

GeoffR · 10-01-2013, 06:00 AM

Ahh, Kobo have updated the 2.8.1 firmware, so that might be the reason Calibre doesn't recognise it. Can you check the device information and post the code that appears after the firmware version number? Mine is 2.8.1 (9a63806202, 15/07/13), if yours is different then you might have the updated firmware.

davidfor · 10-01-2013, 06:59 AM

@tadpole: Based on your statements, you have installed and are using the KoboTouchExtended driver. Can you check that that you have the latest version installed? This is 2.2.9. If that is the installed version, can you disable it in the plugin list and restart calibre. This will use the built-in KoboTouch driver which definitely works with firmware 2.8.1.

@GeoffR: The drivers test the firmware version number and the database version. The new version of 2.8.1 firmware won't affect this unless the database version has been changed. And that is only likely to happen with a new firmware version or a new desktop application version. In any case, I have just changed the driver to display the database and firmware version in the message. That will be in the next calibre version.

DNSB · 10-01-2013, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

@GeoffR: The drivers test the firmware version number and the database version. The new version of 2.8.1 firmware won't affect this unless the database version has been changed. And that is only likely to happen with a new firmware version or a new desktop application version. In any case, I have just changed the driver to display the database and firmware version in the message. That will be in the next calibre version.

The DbVersion entry shows 88 for the 2.8.1b database. I think this is the same as the 2.9.0 database version though I don't have a 2.9.0 device handy at the moment to check.

Anyhow, Calibre 1.5.0 seems happy enough with it. Adding and removing books, updating metadata, database backup and compress, etc.

Regards,
David

PeterT · 10-01-2013, 02:07 PM

Actually from my experience, even updates to Kobo Desktop versions can update the schema (and version) of the DB on the Kobo itself.

tadpole · 10-01-2013, 05:42 PM

Thanks to all for your help. I am still at it and still have had no luck. I did end up doing two factory resets. At least now I am not getting the message that Calibre does not know what firmware I am using. So that is a good thing. But still, the books are not showing up. Very aggravating.

When I try to send to the device, via Calibre, it wants to convert the book either to kepub. Epub, PDF or txt. I thought that I had read that the Kobo Aura HD will also read mobi. The books in my Calibre library are in the mobi format as that is what I have used for my Kindles. And in answer to your question meeera , I did try clicking "Attempt to support newer firmware", but alas, no luck.

GeoffR , the firmware that I now have is 2.8.1 (b2c05cda0e, 9/20/13). when I did the previous factory reset it was 2.5.1 something. You had also mentioned that “You can load books onto the Aura from Calibre via wifi, without plugging in to the USB port.” I am not computer literate at all and did a search in the forum of how to do this. I found a thread but am not able to figure out how to get the Kobo to see my Calibre. I think that I have Calibre set up correctly. If you know how to do this and could give 'Elementary' details, I would be most grateful.

davidfor I did check the KoboTouchExtended driver, it was the version prior to the 2.2.9, but I went ahead and uninstalled it anyway. It has not made a difference either-way.

So I have a beautiful Kobo Aura HD Espresso that I am not able to use!

I am certain that I will love it if only it will take my books!

Thanks again for everyone's input.

PeterT · 10-01-2013, 05:58 PM

While the Kobo does to a degree support Mobi, myself (and most others here) would not recommend it at all.

Stick to ePub format.

Lets go through the basics.

Preferences | Behavior
Set Preferred output format to EPUB

Preferences | Common Options | Page Setup
select Kobo Reader as the output profile

Preferences | Sending books to device
Set Metadata Management to Automatic Management

With the Kobo attached and calibre active, click on the arrow besides the Device icon on the calibre interface and select the configure icon. Make sure that at a minimum ePub is selected in the "Available formats" list, and that it is the first box displayed.
Select the OK button, then eject the device (select the arrow and then the Eject device), and finally shutdown and restart calibre.

Now reattach the Kobo and try sending a book to it. If the book is not in ePub format, calibre will prompt if you want to convert it to ePub. Say yes, and wait.

Once the book has been transferred, eject the Kobo and watch as (hopefully) it goes through the processing cycle to add the book to it's library.

davidfor · 10-01-2013, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeterT

While the Kobo does to a degree support Mobi, myself (and most others here) would not recommend it at all.

Stick to ePub format.

I have to agree with that. Some MOBI work well, some don't. But, ePub works so much better, that converting is a good idea.

Quote:

Lets go through the basics.

Preferences | Behavior
Set Preferred output format to EPUB

For the Glo, Aura and Aura HD, use the "Tablet" output profile. The "Kobo Reader" profile resizes any images to fit the older devices. Choosing the Tablet means they don't get resized by a conversion but lets the device handle it.

Quote:

Preferences | Common Options | Page Setup
select Kobo Reader as the output profile

Preferences | Sending books to device
Set Metadata Management to Automatic Management

With the Kobo attached and calibre active, click on the arrow besides the Device icon on the calibre interface and select the configure icon. Make sure that at a minimum ePub is selected in the "Available formats" list, and that it is the first box displayed.
Select the OK button, then eject the device (select the arrow and then the Eject device), and finally shutdown and restart calibre.

But, if the OP really wants to try MOBI, selecting this will work. There will be a warning about the device possibly not supporting it, but just click "OK" or "Yes" or whatever to continue.

davidfor · 10-01-2013, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tadpole

Thanks to all for your help. I am still at it and still have had no luck. I did end up doing two factory resets. At least now I am not getting the message that Calibre does not know what firmware I am using. So that is a good thing. But still, the books are not showing up. Very aggravating.

When I try to send to the device, via Calibre, it wants to convert the book either to kepub. Epub, PDF or txt. I thought that I had read that the Kobo Aura HD will also read mobi. The books in my Calibre library are in the mobi format as that is what I have used for my Kindles. And in answer to your question meeera , I did try clicking "Attempt to support newer firmware", but alas, no luck.

davidfor I did check the KoboTouchExtended driver, it was the version prior to the 2.2.9, but I went ahead and uninstalled it anyway. It has not made a difference either-way.

Sorry, but those statements are incompatible. The main KoboTouch driver knows nothing about kepubs. kepubs are not even in the list of formats that can be selected for the driver. Hence it can't do a conversion. Please check again that the KoboTouchExtended driver has been uninstalled or at least disabled. Then restart calibre.

If it still does this, I need a debug log from calibre. This is done by starting calibre, right-clicking on the preferences and then selecting "Restart in debug mode". Calibre will restart and display a message about debug and the log. Dismiss that, connect your Aura HD and let calibre get the book list. Then, send a book to the device. After that finishes, you can eject the device and close calibre. The log will then be displayed. I want to see the complete contents of the log. Either post it, or PM it to me.

In the meantime, you can get a book onto the device using the "Save to disk" function. Right-click on the book and select "Save to disk" from the menu. Then choose an option. I suggest "Save only EPUB format to disk". You will then be prompted where to save it. Navigate to the drive for the device and press OK. Calibre will then copy the book to the device. You can do this for multiple book or you can just drag-and-drop the books from calibre to device. This will allow you to do some reading and we can sort the rest out later.

GeoffR · 10-02-2013, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tadpole

GeoffR , the firmware that I now have is 2.8.1 (b2c05cda0e, 9/20/13). when I did the previous factory reset it was 2.5.1 something. You had also mentioned that “You can load books onto the Aura from Calibre via wifi, without plugging in to the USB port.” I am not computer literate at all and did a search in the forum of how to do this. I found a thread but am not able to figure out how to get the Kobo to see my Calibre. I think that I have Calibre set up correctly. If you know how to do this and could give 'Elementary' details, I would be most grateful.

Sorry I was probably leading you down the wrong path, it didn't occur to me that you were trying to load mobi books, that is most likely the source of most of the problems. There doesn't seem to be any difference between the old and new 2.8.1 firmware versions after all, both work fine with Calibre 1.5.0, so don't worry about that.

If you are interested in loading the books via wifi anyway you can activate the Calibre content server just by selecting Connect/share --> Start Content Server from the menu bar in Calibre. Then if you select Connect/share again it will have the option to stop the content server, along with the address/port the server is using. Type that address/port into the Kobo's web browser and you wil be able to browse and download books from your Calibre library. However there are some advantages in connecting to Calibre via USB instead of via wifi, options like sending covers and series metadata only work when connected via USB.

crochetgeek2010 · 10-02-2013, 11:54 PM

Calibre 1.5 Aura HD (purchased and firmware updated Friday). Used the directions for calibre. I used series in addition to shelves. Changed my series name to category - series so get close to what I had on my other device. I uploaded hundreds of books - never converted kepub - just left it epub. Let me know if you have questions

tadpole · 10-03-2013, 12:35 AM

Well last night I was beyond exasperation and called Kobo to get instructions on how to return this Aura HD. Then I did a factory reset and boxed it up. So today, after some sleep and a few cocktails, I decided to try again and I have now had some success. My software version is 2.8.1 (b2c05cda0e, 9/20/13) again.

I found out that when I to send to the device, I then have to go to the device icon and select 'configure the device' with each book. A bit time consuming and annoying but it did work...to a degree. On several of my books, though the book is there the cover is not. Is there a trick to get the cover to download also? Also, some of my books still will not open once on the device. I get a message stating that the book can not be opened as it is a DRM book. And I know for FACT that the book is NOT a DRM book. So is there a way around this?

Again thank you for all the support here. It has been greatly appreciated. So I will continue to play with the Aura HD, and will probably not return it, now that I know where to come to for answers. Thanks again.

davidfor · 10-03-2013, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tadpole

Well last night I was beyond exasperation and called Kobo to get instructions on how to return this Aura HD. Then I did a factory reset and boxed it up. So today, after some sleep and a few cocktails, I decided to try again and I have now had some success. My software version is 2.8.1 (b2c05cda0e, 9/20/13) again.

I found out that when I to send to the device, I then have to go to the device icon and select 'configure the device' with each book. A bit time consuming and annoying but it did work...to a degree. On several of my books, though the book is there the cover is not. Is there a trick to get the cover to download also? Also, some of my books still will not open once on the device. I get a message stating that the book can not be opened as it is a DRM book. And I know for FACT that the book is NOT a DRM book. So is there a way around this?

Again thank you for all the support here. It has been greatly appreciated. So I will continue to play with the Aura HD, and will probably not return it, now that I know where to come to for answers. Thanks again.

You shouldn't have to do anything with the device configuration after the first time. Or you want to change it. And, after changing the device configuration, you need to restart calibre.

For covers, you shouldn't need to do anything. The device will generate them from the book when it needs them. But, the device configuration has some options for sending covers at the same time as the book. This has some advantages over the way the device generates the covers.

The DRM issue is one I see very occasionally. I usually delete the book and send it again. If it happens for to many books, it probably means the database on the device is corrupter. The best solution for that is to logout on the device. It will create a new empty database, restart and then prompt you to log in again.

But, to understand more about what is happening, I need the debug log. This will give me a good idea about what is happening when calibre interacts with the device.

10-01-2013, 01:46 AM	#1
tadpole Enthusiast Posts: 49 Karma: 11516 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: kobo aura hd	Needing help with new Kobo Aura HD Hello all! I am new to the forum and am hoping that someone may be able to help me. I just today received my new Kobo Aura HD, and I can not get any of my books from my Calibre library to load! I have used Calibre for a few years, with my Kindles, but now I am totally perplexed! I added the Kobo plugin and have even converted the books to kepub. Yet when I attempt to send to device I get a message stating, “Your Kobo is running an updated firmware/database version. As calibre does not know about this updated firmware, database editing is disabled, to prevent corruption. You can still send books to your Kobo with calibre, but deleting books and managing collections is disabled. If you are willing to experiment and know how to reset your Kobo to Factory defaults, you can override this check by right clicking the device icon in calibre and selecting "Configure this device" and then the "Attempt to support newer firmware" option. Doing so may require you to perform a factory reset of your Kobo.” So I updated my Calibre to the now latest edition (1.5.0) and still I get the same thing. I have even tried to just drag and drop a file into the Kobo but it just will not load the books. The firmware version on the Kobo is 2.8.1. Has anyone else had this problem? And if so, were you able to fix it? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

10-01-2013, 05:10 AM	#3
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	Calibre 1.5 should know about firmware 2.8.1 already, so something else must be going wrong in your case, especially since you are not able to drag and drop a book onto the device either. Note that you don't need to convert the book to kepub format before transfering it, and it shouldn't be necessary to add any plugins to get Calibre to work with Kobo devices. There have been some reported problems with Windows XP systems communicating with some Kobo devices. Also a damaged cable or faulty USB port can cause problems. Both of these issues would affect Calibre as well as direct drag-and-drop transfers. Edit: You can load books onto the Aura from Calibre via wifi, without plugging in to the USB port. It might be an idea to try this, if the device still doesn't see the book then the problem is either with the device or the book, not with the USB communications. To do this, start the content server on Calibre, note the address/port it is using, then use the Aura's web browser to vist that address: port and download a book. Once you exit the browser the book should show in your library. Last edited by GeoffR; 10-01-2013 at 05:47 AM.

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10-01-2013, 02:52 AM	#2
meeera Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,814 Karma: 68407974 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Australia Device: Kobo Libra 2, iPadMini4, iPad4, MBP; support other Kobo/Kindles	Have you clicked "Attempt to support newer firmware", as the message says?

10-01-2013, 06:00 AM	#4
GeoffR Wizard Posts: 3,821 Karma: 19162882 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Te Riu-a-Māui Device: Kobo Glo	Ahh, Kobo have updated the 2.8.1 firmware, so that might be the reason Calibre doesn't recognise it. Can you check the device information and post the code that appears after the firmware version number? Mine is 2.8.1 (9a63806202, 15/07/13), if yours is different then you might have the updated firmware.

10-01-2013, 06:59 AM	#5
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	@tadpole: Based on your statements, you have installed and are using the KoboTouchExtended driver. Can you check that that you have the latest version installed? This is 2.2.9. If that is the installed version, can you disable it in the plugin list and restart calibre. This will use the built-in KoboTouch driver which definitely works with firmware 2.8.1. @GeoffR: The drivers test the firmware version number and the database version. The new version of 2.8.1 firmware won't affect this unless the database version has been changed. And that is only likely to happen with a new firmware version or a new desktop application version. In any case, I have just changed the driver to display the database and firmware version in the message. That will be in the next calibre version.

10-01-2013, 02:07 PM	#7
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,515 Karma: 78910202 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	Actually from my experience, even updates to Kobo Desktop versions can update the schema (and version) of the DB on the Kobo itself.

10-01-2013, 05:42 PM	#8
tadpole Enthusiast Posts: 49 Karma: 11516 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: kobo aura hd	Thanks to all for your help. I am still at it and still have had no luck. I did end up doing two factory resets. At least now I am not getting the message that Calibre does not know what firmware I am using. So that is a good thing. But still, the books are not showing up. Very aggravating. When I try to send to the device, via Calibre, it wants to convert the book either to kepub. Epub, PDF or txt. I thought that I had read that the Kobo Aura HD will also read mobi. The books in my Calibre library are in the mobi format as that is what I have used for my Kindles. And in answer to your question meeera , I did try clicking "Attempt to support newer firmware", but alas, no luck. GeoffR , the firmware that I now have is 2.8.1 (b2c05cda0e, 9/20/13). when I did the previous factory reset it was 2.5.1 something. You had also mentioned that “You can load books onto the Aura from Calibre via wifi, without plugging in to the USB port.” I am not computer literate at all and did a search in the forum of how to do this. I found a thread but am not able to figure out how to get the Kobo to see my Calibre. I think that I have Calibre set up correctly. If you know how to do this and could give 'Elementary' details, I would be most grateful. davidfor I did check the KoboTouchExtended driver, it was the version prior to the 2.2.9, but I went ahead and uninstalled it anyway. It has not made a difference either-way. So I have a beautiful Kobo Aura HD Espresso that I am not able to use! I am certain that I will love it if only it will take my books! Thanks again for everyone's input.

10-01-2013, 05:58 PM	#9
PeterT Grand Sorcerer Posts: 13,515 Karma: 78910202 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Toronto Device: Libra H2O, Libra Colour	While the Kobo does to a degree support Mobi, myself (and most others here) would not recommend it at all. Stick to ePub format. Lets go through the basics. Preferences \| Behavior Set Preferred output format to EPUB Preferences \| Common Options \| Page Setup select Kobo Reader as the output profile Preferences \| Sending books to device Set Metadata Management to Automatic Management With the Kobo attached and calibre active, click on the arrow besides the Device icon on the calibre interface and select the configure icon. Make sure that at a minimum ePub is selected in the "Available formats" list, and that it is the first box displayed. Select the OK button, then eject the device (select the arrow and then the Eject device), and finally shutdown and restart calibre. Now reattach the Kobo and try sending a book to it. If the book is not in ePub format, calibre will prompt if you want to convert it to ePub. Say yes, and wait. Once the book has been transferred, eject the Kobo and watch as (hopefully) it goes through the processing cycle to add the book to it's library.

10-02-2013, 11:54 PM	#13
crochetgeek2010 Enthusiast Posts: 44 Karma: 13110 Join Date: Mar 2012 Device: Kobo Aura HD	Calibre 1.5 Aura HD (purchased and firmware updated Friday). Used the directions for calibre. I used series in addition to shelves. Changed my series name to category - series so get close to what I had on my other device. I uploaded hundreds of books - never converted kepub - just left it epub. Let me know if you have questions

10-03-2013, 12:35 AM	#14
tadpole Enthusiast Posts: 49 Karma: 11516 Join Date: Oct 2013 Device: kobo aura hd	Well last night I was beyond exasperation and called Kobo to get instructions on how to return this Aura HD. Then I did a factory reset and boxed it up. So today, after some sleep and a few cocktails, I decided to try again and I have now had some success. My software version is 2.8.1 (b2c05cda0e, 9/20/13) again. I found out that when I to send to the device, I then have to go to the device icon and select 'configure the device' with each book. A bit time consuming and annoying but it did work...to a degree. On several of my books, though the book is there the cover is not. Is there a trick to get the cover to download also? Also, some of my books still will not open once on the device. I get a message stating that the book can not be opened as it is a DRM book. And I know for FACT that the book is NOT a DRM book. So is there a way around this? Again thank you for all the support here. It has been greatly appreciated. So I will continue to play with the Aura HD, and will probably not return it, now that I know where to come to for answers. Thanks again.

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