Glo Calibre/Kobo Glo "error communicating with device."

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by davidfor

@Ripplinger and mbovenka: How big is the database file on the device? Similar reports in the past have suggested that writing small files to the device was OK. But, when larger files were changed, the connection drops

That confirms the feeling I have. Trying to copy a large file to my Aura fails as well. The database is 8.8 MB, the second-largest file on the device.

[Ripplinger]

I have just slightly over 300 books on the Glo right now. The KoboReader.sqlite file is just over 18MB, and the metadata.calibre file is 1.9MB. I can't find any large file on the Sony that could be the database to compare to the KoboReader.sqlite file, but the metadata.calibre on the Sony is 4.6MB. I always thought on the Sony that the 2 .xml files in the cache directory handled the books, but they are tiny compared to the Kobo.

And yes, I'm on WinXP SP3. Wonder what size the file would be with 1000 books loaded on the reader.

Edit: I got Calibre updated tonight and tried it on the other PC. It did the usual metadata update, which for some reason only takes like 2 seconds on the Glo (compared to up to 1:30 on the Sony, so I'm not actually sure it's really updating the metadata, but it doesn't give any errors at that point). Then I right clicked a book on the library side to delete the book from the device, and immediately got a typical error:

calibre, version 0.9.39
ERROR: Error: Error communicating with device

unable to open database file

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\device.py", line 85, in run
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\device.py", line 581, in _delete_books
File "site-packages\calibre\devices\kobo\driver.py", line 453, in delete_books
File "site-packages\calibre\devices\kobo\driver.py", line 1851, in delete_via_sql
File "site-packages\calibre\devices\kobo\driver.py", line 365, in delete_via_sql
OperationalError: unable to open database file

Both PCs have WinXP SP3, and while not identical motherboards, they are both Asus with AMD cpus, both with Nvidia graphics cards, and pretty much the same programs installed on both with the same settings.

Edit 2: I deleted all books from the Glo through explorer and surprisingly the size of the database never changed, it stayed at 18MB (at precisely 18,887KB and never changed by even 1KB). I restarted the reader several times thinking rebooting it would trigger the data but that didn't help either. I ended up doing another factory reset, which is really starting to get old, the worse part being entering the wireless password.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

As mbovenka said, once the first error happens, then I can no longer access the files on the Glo through explorer. The drive letter for the Glo is still shown and usually all the directories, but they're all blank and you can't see any files in the directories.

This is the same as the problem I have - I've been trying to get Kobo to solve it but unless I can reproduce the problem reliably without using Calibre they "don't support it". My theory is that when they moved from 2.4.0 and changed the USB Mass Storage Gadget drivers this is where the problems started. Reverting to 2.4.0 has solved the problem in the past.

I can happily transfer large files using file manager (though on 2.5.1 I did have an occasional problem). The problem seems to have similarities with that noted in http://www.linux-usb.org/gadget/file_storage.html under "AN IMPORTANT WARNING!" .

I can reliably transfer one book (using Calibre) without having to eject the Glo but it bombs out on a second one. Perhaps the transfer of the first book causes some process to run on the Glo which then results in the Mass Storage Device becoming unhappy and throwing it's teddy out of the pram.

I think debugging this would require Kobo to acknowledge they and not Calibre has the problem .

BobC

[ryuji35]

Sorry for just getting back on you guys. I tried it on a Mac and it IS working flawlessly. What is wrong with my PC then? Is it the Calibre?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by BobC

I think debugging this would require Kobo to acknowledge they and not Calibre has the problem .

I'd have to disagree that it is solely a Kobo issue. I had this issue with several devices on my computer when it was running Windows XP SP3. Updating the AMD USB filter driver to the last version I could find cured the issue for a while until I upgraded to Windows 7. With Windows 7 on the same hardware, I have not seen the problem re-appear.

When I was having the issue, I tried connecting my Kobo WiFi to several other computers. I found the same issue on another computer with an AMD chipset running Windows XP SP3. Otherwise, a couple of PowerPC and Intel Macs had no problems nor did several computers using Intel chipsets.

After purchasing a Touch, I tested it with the other AMD chipset computer and it showed the same issue -- copy a mass of files over and part way through the transfer, the Touch would appear to disconnect though it would show in My Computer without any accessible details.

Regards,
David

[SWCaffeinated]

Greetings! I found this website while doing a google search. If it helps anyone, I am getting the same error on both of my Kobos, a Mini and an Aura HD. And yes, I'm also running Windows XP.

[PeterT]

Something I'd love to try, but don't have an XP machine or a failing device....

Kobo uses a driver called libusb as a part of the suite of drivers to handle the device. The version used by Kobo is 1.1.14.0; a fairly old version of the driver.

I have to wonder if replacing this by a current version might help.

[RobertJSawyer]

I have the exact same problem here. Kobo Glo, latest firmware, Windows XP SP3. Never had this problem prior to updating my Kobo firmware.

[simond]

I've just started having this trouble with my Aura the last few days, currently restoring in the hope that'll fix it...

[Ripplinger]

Today I updated Calibre on my netbook that has Windows 7 installed and tried transferring books to the Glo. While I hate the tiny screen compared to my desktops, file transfers have worked perfectly so far. I transferred multiples of books 5x, the last time was just over 250 books, and not so much as a hiccup in the process. Books turned out on the Glo exactly as they should in the right shelves and renamed correctly.

And one of the really annoying things cleared up as well. I have the books in series renamed to Title [series #] Series name when I send them to the readers. Once books were transferred from the WinXP machines and then the Glo was reconnected again later, the books on the device that were renamed always showed as not in the main library. Only the books that retained the identical Calibre Library names showed as being in the main library. I'm now sure it's just because of the problems with the Glo not being recognized in the middle of the transfer process.

Whether it's a problem with the Kobo Glo, drivers used in Calibre for WinXP machines, or with WinXP itself that is causing the problems, I don't have a clue (although I'm more suspecting the Calibre Kobo drivers/plugins that don't play nice with WinXP, maybe only if you also have AMD processors). But it could be a combination of all three. I really only use the netbook for when I'm out of town, but looks like I'll have to drag it out more often and keep the Calibre Library up-to-date and start using it whenever I want to do transfers to the Glo.

Originally Posted by simond

I've just started having this trouble with my Aura the last few days, currently restoring in the hope that'll fix it...

For me and my Glo, once the problem started happening, it never stops, restoring back to factory setup doesn't help at all. It will start up again after a few transfers to the Glo.

It didn't do this when I first got the Glo, it's only been happening the last month or so. I did more factory resets than I care to admit (and this time I haven't even bothered entering my wifi password yet, that part is a real PITA). So maybe it started happening after a WinXP update, or a particular Calibre update or the Kobo driver updates (not sure if there were any though).

[Ripplinger]

Today I wanted to transfer just one book that I had made corrections to and did it on the WinXP machine just by drag/drop to the Kobo drive. I made sure that Calibre was not running before connecting the reader.

It was a book starting with "The" so I had to delete the original copy and rename the new copy to put ", The" at the end of the title. Disconnected the correct way by using the WinXP Safely Remove Hardware option.

When I started the reader up again, the book wasn't there, not under any name. I completely powered off the reader and restarted it, no change, there's still no book on the reader. I re-connected the Glo to the PC, and sure enough, the book wasn't there. Tried placing it onto the Glo again the same exact way, and this time it worked. When I disconnected the Glo, the book was there as it should be without powering off/on.

To me that makes it look more and more like it's not a Calibre issue, but a problem the reader has communicating with WinXP machines. I'm not holding my breath that Kobo will ever acknowledge this though and actually look into the issue, but they can't really stick to it being a 3rd party software issue only as their reasoning to continue to say nothing is wrong.

[PeterT]

Did you allow the Kobo to process the deletion before resending the book?

It's very important to do this by disconnecting the Kobo AFTER the deletion, and then reattaching the device and copying the book to the Kobo, followed by one final disconnect to allow the device to process the new material.

[Ripplinger]

No, I've never had to do that with the Sonys so never thought it was an issue with any device. Basically it's just sending an updated copy of the book. Maybe I should have tried by renaming it first before sending and just letting it copy over and see how that would worked.

Next time there's a correction I'm anal about in the book I'm reading I'll do it both ways.

[davidfor]

@PeterT: I frequently delete a book using calibre and then send a replacement in the same session. I haven't seen a problem with this.

@Ripplinger: Could you try sending the book again and then checking on the device drive that it is there before disconnecting? If it is, then it is the device not liking the book. If it isn't there, then it is a calibre driver issue.

[PeterT]

David; I took what Ripplinger was doing was without calibre. I thought you had code in calibre to handle resending an ePub without dropping it

Whatever..