Sony PRS-T1 in Calibre

[log]

Happened again, this time a slighty different error, using latest version of calibre (.836)

The way it happened was I deleted a book from device using calibre. Disconnected. Made sure reader was updated afer disconnecting (saw the deleted book disappear from homescreen) then reconnected and error happened again. I will see it if it "fixes itself" again but really strange.

Here is the exact error:

The SONY database is corrupted.  Delete the file /Volumes/READER/Sony_Reader/database/books.db on your reader and then disconnect  reconnect it. If you are using an SD card, you  should delete the file on the card as well. Note that  deleting this file will cause your reader to forget  any notes/highlights, etc. Underlying error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "site-packages/calibre/devices/prst1/driver.py", line 287, in update_device_books
DatabaseError: database disk image is malformed


Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/device.py", line 81, in run
  File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/device.py", line 332, in _books
  File "site-packages/calibre/devices/prst1/driver.py", line 162, in books
  File "site-packages/calibre/devices/usbms/driver.py", line 242, in books
  File "site-packages/calibre/devices/prst1/driver.py", line 241, in sync_booklists
  File "site-packages/calibre/devices/prst1/driver.py", line 270, in update_device_database
  File "site-packages/calibre/devices/prst1/driver.py", line 297, in update_device_books
DeviceError: The SONY database is corrupted.  Delete the file /Volumes/READER/Sony_Reader/database/books.db on your reader and then disconnect  reconnect it. If you are using an SD card, you  should delete the file on the card as well. Note that  deleting this file will cause your reader to forget  any notes/highlights, etc. Underlying error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "site-packages/calibre/devices/prst1/driver.py", line 287, in update_device_books
DatabaseError: database disk image is malformed

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by log

Happened again, this time a slighty different error, using latest version of calibre (.836)

The way it happened was I deleted a book from device using calibre. Disconnected. Made sure reader was updated afer disconnecting (saw the deleted book disappear from homescreen) then reconnected and error happened again. I will see it if it "fixes itself" again but really strange.

The problem is that there are two "apps" accessing the DB at the same time. The DB can get corrupted if either of them misbehaves.

1) Sony's Homescreen App (on T1)
2) Reader Library / Calibre app (on PC)

My best understanding of this bug is that the homescreen app on the T1 is caching some information and not fully writing it out to flash/SD when you connect it to your PC. The app on the PC sees this as corruption, and will not work with it.

I am curious about one thing though, when this occurs, is the T1 displaying the "you are connected" screen or the home screen? There's a bug in the T1 where you will not get the "you are connected" screen when plugging it in while it is asleep and I believe bugs like that are preventing the T1 from flushing out the contents of the DB to flash/SD like it should be.

Calibre opens the DB, does the operations it needs to, and immediately flushes/closes it out when done, do the chances that it is causing the problem are low.

[Shabazz]

Originally Posted by myshkin90

Hi, great forum (first time posting). I'm wondering if Calibre has a way of pulling notes/highlights from the PRS-T1. I read on the specs that the Sony app can do this but I really like using Calibre to sync and manage the device. I'd just really like to be able to sync my notes/highlights.

Still no answer on this issue? Cause reader for pc from sony makes you want to commit suicide

[Kolenka]

Originally Posted by Shabazz

Still no answer on this issue? Cause reader for pc from sony makes you want to commit suicide

Calibre as far as I know don't support any form of annotations, so there is no way to use Calibre to export them. Sony usually uses ADE-compatible annotations/highlights, and a tweaked SVG file for sketch notes. It may be possible to look at solutions that use ADE to get annotations.

[Shabazz]

Originally Posted by Kolenka

Calibre as far as I know don't support any form of annotations, so there is no way to use Calibre to export them. Sony usually uses ADE-compatible annotations/highlights, and a tweaked SVG file for sketch notes. It may be possible to look at solutions that use ADE to get annotations.

Well, its not as much as exporting them as being able to see them when opening the file in calibre. that would suffice greatly. but i guess thats not an option. Thank you for your reply though!

[bagby]

I'm new to my Sony PRST1 and to Calibre. My problem is that Calibre operation has become wretchedly and intolerably slow. I have approx. 350 books on a 32GB SD card, but it takes forever (23 minutes so far, and counting) just to get a list of books on the device. Adding books takes over 4 hours.

Is there something I can do to change this? Can I force a database rebuild or something? This is really frustrating. I don't like the Sony software at all, but I can't wait this long for simple operations. Please help.

[speakingtohe]

That is a long time. I have 1600+ books on my T1 and it takes maybe 2-3 minutes. I think less but have never timed it.

Perhaps start a new thread and posting a copy of the log which can be found under the list of jobs.

One simple thing to try is turning automanagement off although I have it on with no problems.
Resetting the T1, trying different USB Port, rebooting computer, reformatting memory, all come to mind, but you have probably tried these.

Helen

[kappsta]

I just got a new PRS-TI and I'm not sure how to get Calibre to recognize it. All the "send to device" options are grayed out for all my ebooks. Can anyone help? Thank you.

*edit* Nevermind, my PRS wasn't in Data Transfer mode. Sorry!!

[Abtacha]

Originally Posted by bagby

I'm new to my Sony PRST1 and to Calibre. My problem is that Calibre operation has become wretchedly and intolerably slow. I have approx. 350 books on a 32GB SD card, but it takes forever (23 minutes so far, and counting) just to get a list of books on the device. Adding books takes over 4 hours.

A bit late but maybe you still have problems.
I'd guess that your problem is the SD card.
There was a thread somewhere in the Sony Forum about data transfer being slow with a fast (class 10) card in the T1.
Personally I wouldn't use a SD card for books at all, but if you (feel you) have to use one try a small (2-4 GB) class 4 one.

I also think there's still a problem with the database when using calibre to put books on the SD card. To work around that you'll first have to add one book to the SD card using the Windows Explorer, disconnect the T1 and let it finish adding that book to its db. After that calibre should work.

Edit:
Ah well, seems the problem was resolved after all. Anyone interested look here

[myshkin90]

Originally Posted by Kolenka

Calibre as far as I know don't support any form of annotations, so there is no way to use Calibre to export them. Sony usually uses ADE-compatible annotations/highlights, and a tweaked SVG file for sketch notes. It may be possible to look at solutions that use ADE to get annotations.

So how can we make this a priority? It's really maddening to me since I went out of my way to purchase a reader especially for its annotation capabilities. Not being able to sync them off the reader means they are vulnerable to loss. Having recently deleted several books due to a sync problem I almost cried when I realized that the result of hundreds of hours worth of reading and highlighting important passages was lost. To me it's a no-brainer that syncing should mean syncing everything. Who do I have to beg? pleeeeeeease....

[speakingtohe]

I don't annotate but I think there are several threads describing extracting notes with SQL lite or other options.

I think you should put in a feature request.

Helen

[Le_Tigre]

hey mischka90,

file in a feature request or add it to mine:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/calibre/+bug/898060

@speakingtohe:
"I don't annotate but I think there are several threads describing extracting notes with SQL lite or other options."

yes there are, but they have severe drawbacks: 1) they only give you truncated versions of your annotations (200chars for non DRMed books) and 2) they do not back up your annotations.

actually i bought my prs-t1 for accademic work - and the first thing it did after a month of buissy work, was to delete my annotations - and these where very valuable to me and they where lost beyond hope. 1 month of work gone...

@myshkin90:
you can backup the annotations file by the way - and reimport your notes (via sqlite) when the get deleted or watch them with the annotation viewer:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=1987801

by the way: there is a firmware modification, that kills the hardcoded 200char limit for the prs-t1. you should check out - though im not sure if it appeared allready! (you'll find more here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=165559)

but i'd love to see calibre handle annotations too. this is one of the main weaknesses of calibre if you consider it for more then casual reading. it simply direly needs the feature.
not even only calibre, but epub should natively support annotations - preferably within its container or in a general language/file used on all devices. that was announced for the V3 of epub, but never made it into the finalized version. insted the guys, that get all credits for their awesome work, try to directly set it up in a way compatible for social networks. this is good - but seems a bit like putting the cart infront of the horse....

well well se. anyway: everybod who wants this feature, file a [Enhancement] Request, or sign mine or what not@ (https://bugs.launchpad.net/calibre/+bug/898060)

[eholdrin]

Is there a PRS-T1 plug-in that works with the older version of calibre, 0.7.28? This is the latest version of calibre that will work with my pre-Intel Mac (which can't go beyond OS X 10.5).

Furthermore, Sony's Reader software also demands Intel Macs, so currently I'm stuck transferring ebooks on my PRS-T1 as if it was a USB key...; I want to use calibre to manage my ebooks and my ereader!

And I'm not ready yet to dump my good ol' iMac vintage 2005 - acquired a couple of months before Intel Macs were announced. 'Sigh'. Tks for helping me save the planet (and delay Apple's getting more of my cash)!

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by eholdrin

Is there a PRS-T1 plug-in that works with the older version of calibre, 0.7.28? This is the latest version of calibre that will work with my pre-Intel Mac (which can't go beyond OS X 10.5).

I think you're going to be out of luck if you want calibre to do the managing. The PRST1 device interface plugin wasn't written until Oct 2011, round about v0.8.20-ish.

[Yoths]

Originally Posted by Kolenka

Sony usually uses ADE-compatible annotations/highlights

Does anyone know how to decrypt the SONY's/ADE's text position declarations (e.g. point(/1/4/2/6/1/1:101))?

Theoretically, the numbers after slashes are "children in the DOM tree starting from the document node and counting both element and text nodes". But in practice they count in a very strange way... Or they use not the original document but the internal parsed tree...

Example:

Source document:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<title>Preface</title>
<link href="css/main.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
</head>
<body>
<div>
<h3>PREFACE.</h3>
<hr class="spacing" />
<p><em>The chief beauty of this book lies not, so much in its literary
style, or in the extent and usefulness of the information it conveys,
as in its simple truthfulness. Its pages form the record of events that
really happened. All that has been done is to colour them; and, for
this, no extra charge has been made. George and Harris and Montmorency
are not Poetic ideals, but things of flesh and blood &mdash; especially
George, who weighs about twelve stone. Other works may excel this in
depth of thought and knowledge of human nature: other books may rival
it in originality and size; but, for hopeless and incurable veracity,
nothing yet discovered can surpass it. This, more than all its other
charms, will, it is felt, make the volume precious in the eye of the
earnest reader; and will lend additional weight to the lesson that the
story teaches.</em></p>
<p>LONDON, August, 1889
</p>
</div>
</body></html>

Marked text:

The chief beauty of this book lies not, so much in its literary
style, or in the extent and usefulnes

SONY/ADE text position declaration:

start="OEBPS/boat003_preface.xhtml#point(/1/4/2/6/1/1)" end="OEBPS/boat003_preface.xhtml#point(/1/4/2/6/1/1:101)