Clara BW Device Won't Import

[Cavin]

I set up a new Clara BW (N365) via WiFi. But books transferred from Calibre aren't imported. No progress bar/import message displays on the device after I eject. A empty home screen appears.

A calibre bug report says “When you send a book to the device, the driver enters some but not all information into the Kobo database. When you disconnect the Kobo, it displays a message, scans the new books and finishes entering information into the database… Are you seeing the ‘Scanning’ message? If not then something on your Kobo… is preventing the database update.”

I searched the forums. It seemed that the database wasn’t being updated because it was corrupted. Or that the device was bad.

Here’s what I tried. Nothing changed behaviour or resolved the issue.

(1) Logged out of my account, then set it up to recreate the database.

(2) A manual factory reset with a new Kobo account.

(3) A factory reset from the developer options menu.

(4) Two Kobo USB cables on different PC ports. The cables were firmly seated. And I ejected the device properly.

(5) I tried different books (no DRM).

(6) Finally, I bought another Clara BW. I repeated the steps on a different computer. Nothing changed. Every time I ejected, a empty home screen appeared.

I must be missing something. Any ideas? Thanks.

[Sirtel]

Are the USB cables possibly for charging only and not for data transfer? Try copying the book file to your Kobo from the file explorer, not from calibre. Did it appear?

And just in case, the books are epub, yes?

[DNSB]

You wouldn't get the cancel/connect popup with a charge only cable.

Also if the database on the Kobo is corrupted, you will get an error message from calibre.

I suspect the issue may be with where the ePubs are being copied.

Can @Cavin post the send to device template being used with the KoboTouch driver? It is found on the first page of the configuration dialog.

My current send to device template is:

eBooks/{author_sort:sublist(0,1,&)}/{title} - {authors:sublist(0,1,&)}

eBooks is a directory in the root of my Kobo ereaders. A directory based on the first entry in the author sort is created (i.e. Flint, Eric) and then the ePub is saved under a file name based on the book title followed by the first entry in the authors list (i.e. Mother of Demons - Eric Flint).

The attached images show my driver configuration. Some custom columns are used (kepub for deciding if I want to send a kepub or an ePub, my one collection (Finished), subtitles. estimated reading time, one used to change the series display for omnibuses to 1-9 instead of 1.09)

[Sirtel]

Personally I use whatever the default config in calibre is, I've never changed it and never had the problem the OP described. So it's not likely to be the problem, unless they've messed with the template.

[Cavin]

@Sirtel I used Kobo cables for that reason.

I don’t have edit rights. Yes, epubs. I also forgot to say that the books are on the Clara (Calibre > Device and File Explorer). Should I still try copying a book to the Kobo with Explorer? If so, can you tell me the file path?

I wouldn’t know how to mess with the template

[Cavin]

@DNSB: If a Kobo database is corrupt, I’d always get a Calibre error message? Ouch. Given what I’ve read, that’s not understood.

The send to device template is attached.

Thanks for the Developer Mode post, by the way.

[Cavin]

@Sirtel: my response is pending mod approval.

[DNSB]

The send to template should be modified. It is storing books in the root directory of your Kobo which has limited directory entries. I would suggest just copying my template so the books are stored in a subdirectory called eBooks with the file and directory names kept shorter (the default template uses all the author names in both the directory name and filename which can easily lead to overly long paths.

At this point, you don't need to worry about the rest of my customization.

If you have Kobo Utilities installed, just select Configure driver from the menu. Otherwise, you will have to go into Preferences => Advanced => Plugins and find the KoboTouch driver and then click on Customize plugin. Copy/paste the template and then restart calibre.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The send to template should be modified.

But that's not likely to cause the current issue, unless the OP has many thousands of books.

I haven't modified mine, have about 3000 books on my Kobos at the moment and no issues with books not appearing.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Cavin

@Sirtel I used Kobo cables for that reason.

I don’t have edit rights. Yes, epubs. I also forgot to say that the books are on the Clara (Calibre > Device and File Explorer). Should I still try copying a book to the Kobo with Explorer? If so, can you tell me the file path

No, if they're already on the device.

Sometimes the cause is a book with errors, but you say you've tried with different books.

[Cavin]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The send to template should be modified. It is storing books in the root directory of your Kobo which has limited directory entries....

Three is the largest number of books I've tried to transfer. I've reproduced the issue six times sending a single book. Surely Calibre's default config should be enough

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I've made maybe three dozen attempts on two readers using two computers. I'd suspect a firmware bug - like the 2024 one - if it wasn't only me. Still, I wish there was a way to avoid updating the firmware during setup.

I do not know what to do. Buy another model and hope?

[DNSB]

When your Clara BW is connected to your computer, can you see the books in the exposed storage using File Explorer? Can you also check what other files are in root of the exposed storage. The only files I would expect to see are driveinfo.calibre and metadata.calibre.

You might also want to try scanning the exposed partition for errors. (File Explorer => right click on drive => Properties => Tools => Error Checking and force the scan.

If you don't already have Kobo Utilities installed, install it. Then on it's dropdown menu, click on Database and then on Check the device database.

Once you have sent books with my suggested save to device template, you should see the eBooks directory and books stored in directories inside that directory. This will let us know if calibre is even able to send books to there.

You may also want to check in Preferences => Send to device and see what the send to device template there is.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

When your Clara BW is connected to your computer, can you see the books in the exposed storage using File Explorer?

They already said they can see the books. The problem is that their Kobo has not processed them for some reason and therefore can't see them.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

They already said they can see the books. The problem is that their Kobo has not processed them for some reason and therefore can't see them.

And that would seem to indicate that their Kobo is not scanning the directory where the ebooks are being copied to. Trying a different directory is kinda basic troubleshooting. As for calibre showing the books, if it shows them immediately after transferring, that means little. If it shows them after the disconnect/import/reconnect, that says that they are being imported.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by DNSB

And that would seem to indicate that their Kobo is not scanning the directory where the ebooks are being copied to. Trying a different directory is kinda basic troubleshooting. As for calibre showing the books, if it shows them immediately after transferring, that means little. If it shows them after the disconnect/import/reconnect, that says that they are being imported.

Two new Kobo devices, neither of which is scanning the default directory to which probably the majority of calibre users are sending their books? Sounds strange. IMO a faulty book is more likely to be the culprit, but the OP said they've tried with different books...

OP, exactly how many different books did you try to send? Were the books from the same source, author, publisher?