Mac Sony Reader software rant

AprilHare · 02-11-2012, 08:25 PM

Hello,
I am deeply frustrated with the Mac Sony Reader software, so I thought I'd write out a rant..
I download ebooks from my local library, which is all well and good. But then comes the blasted Sync functionality. It can't be disabled, so I have to put up with it.
Firstly, I connect my Reader to my Mac laptop.
The Reader software, Adobe Bridge and it's picture downloading software run automatically (the latter *twice*). Killing Bridge and it's picture downloading software takes time. (The Adobe software is not Sony's problem, but irritating nonetheless.)
Sync begins, like it or not.
It starts syncing - then by the time it gets to nearly the end of the Notepad items, it swirly balls. After an age of the world, it ends. Then the fun begins. "Guess which items are duplicated on the Reader" is the name of the game. Often it duplicates lots of things - and I find all copies of borrowed items that are synced (including the original!) are rendered unreadable on the Reader.
If you dare to cancel the Sync function, it swirly balls forever.
Even disconnecting the device using the GUI causes swirly ball for ~20 seconds.

Why do we put up with this shoddiness? Who conned Sony by claiming they were a programmer, and can we all please get a refund from these crooks?

P.S. I just manually synced a borrowed e-book I had been reading that had been rendered unreadable by this shoddy software. Still says "Protected Page!" - Grrrrrr…….. It took 20 minutes to find that out. This is despite it still being within my borrowing period. Serious revenge was considered, but this rant should do.

induna · 02-12-2012, 12:26 AM

You can prevent the Reader software from loading automatically when you connect your reader by going to preferences and unchecking the option.

You can also manually copy books downloaded by the reader software to the internal storage on your reader using the finder. This completely avoids the unfortunate synch behavior of the new Sony software.

AprilHare · 02-12-2012, 04:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by induna

You can prevent the Reader software from loading automatically when you connect your reader by going to preferences and unchecking the option.

You can also manually copy books downloaded by the reader software to the internal storage on your reader using the finder. This completely avoids the unfortunate synch behavior of the new Sony software.

I have seen the preferences. No such option (unless I've gone blind.. I am on the way..)
The manual sync seems to get rid of all other borrowed items. Not exactly convenient.

nick101 · 02-12-2012, 05:00 AM

Well it's no comfort I know, but Sony software has alway been dreadful. I have no idea why - they spend all that time on hardware design and styling and waste it with appalling software

chrisridd · 02-12-2012, 05:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nick101

Well it's no comfort I know, but Sony software has alway been dreadful. I have no idea why - they spend all that time on hardware design and styling and waste it with appalling software

I noticed in the Sony shop that their Windows software looks exactly the same (exactly as bad!) as their Mac software.

I suspect that was Sony's main goal with Sony Reader for Windows/Mac, rather than making something that synced properly

nick101 · 02-12-2012, 05:30 AM

Well let's not forget that these were the guys who thought it was a good idea to put a root kit on their music CDs

induna · 02-12-2012, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AprilHare

I have seen the preferences. No such option (unless I've gone blind.. I am on the way..)
The manual sync seems to get rid of all other borrowed items. Not exactly convenient.

While in the Reader Software, click the Reader for Mac item on the menu bar and select Preferences. On the General tab, uncheck 'Launch Reader desktop when connecting the Reader Device.'

Let me know if you need to know how to copy books bought/downloaded using the Reader application to the Reader device.

6charlong · 02-12-2012, 07:49 PM

I'm so new to the T1 that UPS hasn't delivered mine yet. I don't buy books from the Sony store anymore. Is there a way to just download my books to ADE and move them to the Sony from there?

carpetmojo · 02-13-2012, 04:23 AM

If not bothered about wifi-ly stuff, Calibre, naturally.

Abtacha · 02-13-2012, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carpetmojo

If not bothered about wifi-ly stuff, Calibre, naturally.

That's what I do too.
But if you don't want to use Calibre you can simply use your favourite file-manager (on Windows probably the Windows Explorer) and copy the books to the T1.
You'll have to authorize the T1 with Adobe first to view DRMed books though.
The easiest way is to connect the reader to a WiFi net and access the Sony store, just make sure you use the same e-mail address there as you did for ADE.
Or you can do it through the Reader for PC software.

tomsem · 02-13-2012, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abtacha

That's what I do too.
But if you don't want to use Calibre you can simply use your favourite file-manager (on Windows probably the Windows Explorer) and copy the books to the T1.
You'll have to authorize the T1 with Adobe first to view DRMed books though.
The easiest way is to connect the reader to a WiFi net and access the Sony store, just make sure you use the same e-mail address there as you did for ADE.
Or you can do it through the Reader for PC software.

I just use Dropbox. But you do need Reader software for side loading library ebooks.

6charlong · 02-13-2012, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abtacha

That's what I do too.
But if you don't want to use Calibre you can simply use your favourite file-manager (on Windows probably the Windows Explorer) and copy the books to the T1.
You'll have to authorize the T1 with Adobe first to view DRMed books though.
The easiest way is to connect the reader to a WiFi net and access the Sony store, just make sure you use the same e-mail address there as you did for ADE.
Or you can do it through the Reader for PC software.

Thank you. This is just what I needed to know. I already use Calibre but in preparation for the T1 I downloaded and installed the Mac version of Reader. It recognized my 505 but it also pulled all of my eBooks out of Calibre. I didn't really want that. I'd rather continue to use Calibre and delete Reader from my computer entirely.

Looks like there's no problem doing that.

Okay, I can't leave this alone. Going back to the OP, the reason I don't want to use Reader is exactly like AprilHare's problem. I had installed Reader to make Collections on my PRS505. It made me update my password. Fair enough since I hadn't been back for over a year.

When I went to buy a T1 from my browser, I got almost clear through and it switched me to the Sony Store in Reader and made me enter everything all over again. When I got to the final checkout it refused my password. I use 1Password and I know it was the same one. I finally gave up and reset it again. When I went back my shopping cart was empty. It made me start over again for the forth time before finally letting me buy a new Reader.

I've gotten used to Amazon and Barnes and Noble, they make it easy to buy their products. [end of rant]

pholy · 02-13-2012, 10:33 PM

Perhaps I should be glad that the Reader for Mac software won't run on my Mac because some permissions are screwed up somewhere. I have installed from several places, and none of them work for me. So I authorised through the store and can now download straight from the library. And Apprentice Alf gave me a hand, too, which simplified things immensely.

02-11-2012, 08:25 PM	#1
AprilHare Wizard Posts: 2,981 Karma: 11862367 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony Reader PRS-T2	Mac Sony Reader software rant Hello, I am deeply frustrated with the Mac Sony Reader software, so I thought I'd write out a rant.. I download ebooks from my local library, which is all well and good. But then comes the blasted Sync functionality. It can't be disabled, so I have to put up with it. Firstly, I connect my Reader to my Mac laptop. The Reader software, Adobe Bridge and it's picture downloading software run automatically (the latter twice). Killing Bridge and it's picture downloading software takes time. (The Adobe software is not Sony's problem, but irritating nonetheless.) Sync begins, like it or not. It starts syncing - then by the time it gets to nearly the end of the Notepad items, it swirly balls. After an age of the world, it ends. Then the fun begins. "Guess which items are duplicated on the Reader" is the name of the game. Often it duplicates lots of things - and I find all copies of borrowed items that are synced (including the original!) are rendered unreadable on the Reader. If you dare to cancel the Sync function, it swirly balls forever. Even disconnecting the device using the GUI causes swirly ball for ~20 seconds. Why do we put up with this shoddiness? Who conned Sony by claiming they were a programmer, and can we all please get a refund from these crooks? P.S. I just manually synced a borrowed e-book I had been reading that had been rendered unreadable by this shoddy software. Still says "Protected Page!" - Grrrrrr…….. It took 20 minutes to find that out. This is despite it still being within my borrowing period. Serious revenge was considered, but this rant should do.

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02-12-2012, 12:26 AM	#2
induna Addict Posts: 230 Karma: 1500000 Join Date: May 2007 Location: San Vito de Coto Brus, Costa Rica Device: Sony PRS-500, 505, 600, 350, T1 Amazon Kindle PW1, PW2, Voyage	You can prevent the Reader software from loading automatically when you connect your reader by going to preferences and unchecking the option. You can also manually copy books downloaded by the reader software to the internal storage on your reader using the finder. This completely avoids the unfortunate synch behavior of the new Sony software.

02-12-2012, 05:00 AM	#4
nick101 Groupie Posts: 190 Karma: 1248 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Milton Keynes UK Device: Sony PRS-600 Touch, iPhone	Well it's no comfort I know, but Sony software has alway been dreadful. I have no idea why - they spend all that time on hardware design and styling and waste it with appalling software

02-12-2012, 05:30 AM	#6
nick101 Groupie Posts: 190 Karma: 1248 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Milton Keynes UK Device: Sony PRS-600 Touch, iPhone	Well let's not forget that these were the guys who thought it was a good idea to put a root kit on their music CDs

02-12-2012, 07:49 PM	#8
6charlong friendly lurker Posts: 896 Karma: 2436026 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: US Device: Kindle, nook, Apple and Kobo	I'm so new to the T1 that UPS hasn't delivered mine yet. I don't buy books from the Sony store anymore. Is there a way to just download my books to ADE and move them to the Sony from there?

02-13-2012, 04:23 AM	#9
carpetmojo Wizard Posts: 3,117 Karma: 9269999 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: UK Device: Sony- T3, PRS650, 350, T1/2/3, Paperwhite, Fire 8.9,Samsung Tab S 10.5	If not bothered about wifi-ly stuff, Calibre, naturally.

02-13-2012, 10:33 PM	#13
pholy Booklegger Posts: 1,801 Karma: 7999816 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Device: BeBook(1 & 2010), PEZ, PRS-505, Kobo BT, PRS-T1, Playbook, Kobo Touch	Perhaps I should be glad that the Reader for Mac software won't run on my Mac because some permissions are screwed up somewhere. I have installed from several places, and none of them work for me. So I authorised through the store and can now download straight from the library. And Apprentice Alf gave me a hand, too, which simplified things immensely.