Touch Kobo touch incompatible Mac OS 10.4.11 ??

[Rojofo]

After buying a Kobo touch and failing to get the desktop software to work, I contacted my local retailer who informed me that this software was incompatible with Mac OS 10.4.11.
The technician led me to believe that there are workarounds, which I have been trying to get going — to no avail.

I firstly got a friend with a PC to download the software and initialize the Kobo.

Having to organize this with a friend is a real hassle (however kind they may be!) and I would like to warn otherMac users of the incredible problems they will have if they buy a Kobo. (I'm sure over 80% of Mac users have this version of Mac OS, the latest if you don't own a very recent Mac).

I downloaded Adobe Digital Editions on my Mac. It doesn't seem to accept my non-DRM epubs. I cannot side-load any of these directly by drag and drop either. The Kobo appears as "read only" when I examine it. Why, I don't know nor do I know how to change it without the incompatible Desktop software. Sigh!

Calibre doesn't recognise my Kobo either.

So after a couple of days of owning a Kobo touch, it is lying like a piece of junk on my desk. I haven't been able to load a single book.

The Kobo help site has been totally useless on these questions.

Are there any real solutions for this ?



Thanks in advance,
Rojofo.

[PeterT]

From what I can tell, Mac OS 10.4.11 was released November 14, 2007. I see that 10.5 did remove support for some hardware models of Mac, but I'm sorry to say, I don't find it all suprising that a product releases in 2011 does not support this level of OS.

[paulsalter]

Originally Posted by Rojofo

(I'm sure over 80% of Mac users have this version of Mac OS, the latest if you don't own a very recent Mac).

How old is your Mac?, if possible you should really upgrade to a more recent version of OSX

If you Mac is a PowerPc one instead of Intel you should be able to upgrade to 10.5

as to the above

For September last year

Lion (10.7) 11%
Snow Leopard (10.6) had 55% of the share
Leopard (10.5) 22%

If Tiger that you have has the rest that is only 12%

Not sure why you think over 80% of Mac users are still on Tiger

[JedV]

My sister has a Macbook from 2007 in the exact same position as yours - Can't run her new iPod Nano because she can't update iTunes to the latest version. She also can't upgrade Firefox, install Google Chrome, etc... the list goes on. Piece of crap Windows XP computers can be several years older than that and have no problems with the above mentioned software.

It's ridiculous how obsolete that Mac OS X 10.4.11 is. I'm going to upgrade her Macbook, but I need to install more RAM to make it work. Planned obsolescence = Anger!

[paulsalter]

2007 MacBooks will run the current version of OSX (need to Max out the RAM to 2 meg but it runs fine)

the only problem is how to get it, Apple has gone with download only for os upgrades, so to download it you need 10.6

from memory Snow Leopard (10.6) was quite a cheap one to buy, much less than previous, this is the last version available on disk and works fine on a 2007 MacBook

I agree with JedV about how quick Apple make things obsolete, will be worse for people on earlier versions when Mountain Lion comes out this summer, this will need 2008 machine or newer to run

[Sharkus]

Lion (10.7) is $29.99, Snow Leopard (10.6) was I think the same price. Leopard (10.5) was probably full price, which I think was $129.
A very good point of how to get Snow Leopard. You could try calling an Apple Store and seeing if they have any retail copies left, but I think by this time they have sold them or shipped them back to Apple.

Originally Posted by paulsalter

If you Mac is a PowerPc one instead of Intel you should be able to upgrade to 10.5

The Kobo FAQ states that you need an Intel Mac running 10.5 or later. And the last time I looked 10.5 was quite expensive (probably because it is the last version for the PowerPC).

Lion (10.7) 11%
Snow Leopard (10.6) had 55% of the share
Leopard (10.5) 22%

The Snow Leopard's have the Lion's share ... somehow that just doesn't sound right.

Anyhow, I don't blame Rojofo for making up that 80% using Tiger figure. The upgrade treadmill on Mac OS is crazy these days.

[Paulc15]

Just tried loading the desktop software via cassette tape onto my Sinclair Spectrum. Didn't work either...

Originally Posted by Paulc15

Just tried loading the desktop software via cassette tape onto my Sinclair Spectrum. Didn't work either...

Expecting an expensive piece of hardware to last for a few years is, IMHO, a reasonable expectation. Maybe not to the Spectrum extreme, but certainly more than 5 years. (Actually, this is a big part of the reason why I ditched Apple for Microsoft. XP and older hardware remains reasonably well supported.)

[dioioib]

if you have an older PPC Mac running 10.4.11 you could download Q http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/20830/q-emulator

It's an emulator for Intel/Windows - it takes for ever to setup but at least you could have a local copy on your system.

Also you might want to look into Wine. http://www.winehq.org/

neither are perfect solutions.

I agree with BWinmill on the life span issue, although I am using a Mac Pro from 2006 and have no issue's with software, upgrades, etc. So I am getting my 5+ years from it.

But I think its a bit much to ask a company to support hardware and operating systems from before the companies conception date. PPC was phased out well before Kobo opened its doors in 2009.

[geenp]

Yes, it is inconvenient but the explanation is pretty simple. 10.4 was from the PowerPC era, apps compiled for x86 will not work on older Macs. Kobo could make a version compatible with older Macs but there is little incentive to do so.

Apple doesn't lose sleep over phasing out older platforms and leaving some consumers behind. Not pleasant, definitely not, but unless you upgrade your Mac you will probably be having to deal with a lot of this.

I'm a firm believer that the level of support should depend upon the product being offered, at least within a particular platform. For example: expecting the latest video production or graphics design tools on a 5 year old system is probably a bit much. Expecting a program that displays book covers and formatted text on the screen, registers devices, and copies files to the device to support a 5 year old system is well within the bounds of reason (IMHO). That is especially true if they already support the platform since it basically compiling the source for two processors (Xcode should do that automatically) and being careful with the APIs used. Well, testing is another problem. But in cases like that they can say it needs 10.5 on Intel while having support for older systems compiled in. If things go wrong on those older systems and calls technical support they can say, 'it should work, but we only support 10.5 or later on Intel.'

[dioioib]

That is true Xcode can be used to change the target OS, but you lose features that require fundamental changes in your code 10.4.11 still used carbon framework alongside cocoa which is another issue. I would imagine that the Kobo desktop application also uses a cross platform framework like QT which might not be compatible with the older OS. It is disappointing that the older OS is not sported but you might be able to upgrade to Leopard 10.5 and regain compatibility with a greater number of applications. I currently run 10.5 on a G4 power book with no problems. I have been developing a script that allows mac users to easily do many of the tasks discussed on this site which could improve your experience.

[Rojofo]

Well Folks, I gave up on this one: despite the fact that my mac was running perfectly on Mac OS10.4, I had to upgrade to 10.6 for the Kobo!

The Mac is still running fine on 10.6 and I can use the latest version of Calibre which was my main problem.

Thanks for the advice, for those who suggested positive solutions, especially Dioioib.
Rojofo.

[the.Mtn.Man]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Expecting an expensive piece of hardware to last for a few years is, IMHO, a reasonable expectation. Maybe not to the Spectrum extreme, but certainly more than 5 years. (Actually, this is a big part of the reason why I ditched Apple for Microsoft. XP and older hardware remains reasonably well supported.)

Apple is in the business to sell hardware, so they have devised a strategy of planned obsolescence to maximize hardware sales. Microsoft, on the other hand, has to design their OS to work on a wide range of hardware, so maximum flexibility is a design goal which naturally lends itself to increased longevity. But you can be sure that Microsoft is envious of Apple's ability to essentially force a majority of its customers to regularly "upgrade" their hardware and software.