Help ... lost Collections on my reader

[Mellobob]

Okay, I had my shelves/collections working 100% on my aura HD reader. But, suddenly the are completely buggered. Some show 0 books, other are correct and others show, for example, 1 book where there are actually 10 or 20.

I use Calibre to update my books and it was Calibre which created the collections to start with. I just added some books and they appear in the correct collection. Hmmm, matter of fact that particular collection even shows books which weren't there (but were on the device) before I just added them.

But, I don't what to upload all my books again since I'll (??) lose the reading info.

Help ... thanks.

[davidfor]

The two most likely things are that the database on the device has become corrupted, or the setting in the KoboTouch driver in calibre have changed.

Depending on the settings, the driver maintains the collections each time the device is connected. If you change the settings you will get different collections. And as the collections are based on columns in the library, changes to the metadata in the library will affect the collections. You should check the setting are still what you want and the confirm that the columns you are using for the collections still contain the expected values.

If it is the database, you will need to fix that either by restoring a backup of the database, or by signing out. Unfortunately, the latter will lose your reading status. As you are using calibre, you can use my Kobo Utilities plugin to store the reading status and then restore them later.

[Mellobob]

I have not changed anything in Calibre ... well, not that is obvious to me.

I wonder, is having both kobo utilities installed a problem? I have the Kobo device interface 2.1.7 and Kobotouch 2.1.7.

Originally Posted by davidfor

If it is the database, you will need to fix that either by restoring a backup of the database, or by signing out. Unfortunately, the latter will lose your reading status. As you are using calibre, you can use my Kobo Utilities plugin to store the reading status and then restore them later.

When you say "reading status" do you mean all books or the current one? I'm really just concerned about books being marked as "read".

Of course, I don't have a copy of the database

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Mellobob

I have not changed anything in Calibre ... well, not that is obvious to me.

The main thing to check is that the collection/shelf columns setting is correct. It should be a list of the columns you want to build the collections from. If this is not the correct columns, then the collections will be incorrect after the next connection of the device.

I wonder, is having both kobo utilities installed a problem? I have the Kobo device interface 2.1.7 and Kobotouch 2.1.7.

These are part of calibre. They are the drivers calibre uses to connect to the Kobo devices. The "Kobo device interface" is for the original Kobo ereader and the WiFi. The Kobotouch driver is for all newer devices. That is, the Touch, Glo, Mini, Aura HD, Aura and Aura H2O.

The Kobo Utilites plugin is an addon and has to be installed by you. But, it can be installed though the plugins section of the preferences.

When you say "reading status" do you mean all books or the current one? I'm really just concerned about books being marked as "read".

Both actually. The plugin can pull the readings status of any book on the device that is in your calibre library. It stores this in some custom columns. The reading status is the percent read (100% = Read), the current position in the book, rating and the timestamp when the book was last read. All are optional, so you can just store the percent read. But, if you store the others, you can restore them to the device after a factory reset or signout and back in. You can also transfer the status to another Kobo ereader.

Of course, I don't have a copy of the database

Which is another function of the utilities plugin. It can take a backup of the database and configuration when you connect.

It doesn't sound like the database is corrupt. If it was, you would probably be getting errors when calibre connects to it. And f the driver configuration is correct and the collections are wrong, there must be something else going on. I can tell a lot from the log that calibre produces when it is run in debug mode. If you restart calibre in debug mode (right click the preferences button and select the option), connect the device and post the log when it finishes, I'll see what I can see.

[myki]

A little suggestion :
Check if the option "Automatic management" is set in Options / Sending books to devices.

[Mellobob]

Originally Posted by myki

A little suggestion :
Check if the option "Automatic management" is set in Options / Sending books to devices.

Oh my! So easy. I have to assme that this got unchecked at some point ... checked it, connected, waited a few minutes and all's well.

Davidfor: I will be doing a database backup later tonight!

I have the shelves set in the device interface to "authors". Is it easy to change this to something else (I'd like authors lastname, firstname) and would that change remove (please!) the current authors firstname-lastname I have?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Mellobob

Oh my! So easy. I have to assme that this got unchecked at some point ... checked it, connected, waited a few minutes and all's well.
Davidfor: I will be doing a database backup later tonight!

I have the shelves set in the device interface to "authors". Is it easy to change this to something else (I'd like authors lastname, firstname) and would that change remove (please!) the current authors firstname-lastname I have?

The shelf columns can be any column in the library including custom columns. You can create a custom column with type "Column built from other columns". In the "Template" field put "{author_sort}" (without the quotes). And give it a "Lookup name" and heading. When you save this, calibre will want to restart. After the restart, the column should be in the list. Then, change the driver configuration to use the lookup name for the new column instead of "authors". And don't forget the "#" at the start of the name. All custom columns need this to identify that it is a custom column when used in a template or other place. The next time you connect the ereader, the existing "firstname lastname" collections will be removed and "lastname, firstname" ones will be created.

[Mellobob]

Hey, magic! Worked perfectly the first time. And, let me tell you, scrolling though a list in lastname/firstname order is much easier than first/last!