Nook 2011 Not Recognized by Macbook Pro Yosemite

bold · 08-09-2015, 10:23 PM

howdy.

i have an older, basic Nook from 2011. i've transferred epubs bank and forth to it using calibre for windows on various win 7 / 8 laptops i own since i bought it. so i know my Nook can be recognized by calibre (at least with windows)

a couple of months ago i bought a brand new macbook pro direct from apple running the latest OS yosemite. i just downloaded and installed calibre on it. for some reason, my Nook doesn't appear on the Finder when i plug it in and thus it doesn't appear in calibre.

i've tried everything in the pinned / sticky thread and nothing has helped. there's actually not much to try there quite frankly. the only thing i haven't tried is rebooting my system.

should calibre / osx yosemite see my nook or is there a problem i should know about? if not, any thoughts? i'd love to be able to directly copy public epubs to my nook for an upcoming trip and i'm running out of time. i don't have my older win laptops anymore and need to have the same functionality on the new macbook going forward..

thanks!

kovidgoyal · 08-09-2015, 11:43 PM

You need the nook to appear in finder before calibre can possible detect it.

eschwartz · 08-10-2015, 12:02 AM

calibre can only see your device if i can first be seen by the operating system.

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH19094

They suggest (eventually) looking under System Information to see if the hardware device is listed.

bold · 08-10-2015, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

You need the nook to appear in finder before calibre can possible detect it.

i understand that and said so in my original post. i want to confirm nook is supported by calibre on mac osx yosemite (i imagine it is) as well as what i can do to make it show up if it is supported.

thx

bold · 08-10-2015, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

calibre can only see your device if i can first be seen by the operating system.

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH19094

They suggest (eventually) looking under System Information to see if the hardware device is listed.

thansk for the link. it's not showing up in system info. i'll reboot my system tomorrow to see if it helps. i'm in the middle of working on something right now and can't shutdown until i'm finished.

kovidgoyal · 08-10-2015, 12:36 AM

Yes. All device support in calibre is cross platform. I generally never implement features in calibre that only work on some platforms and not others. The only exception being old/obsolete platforms that dont support some newer technologies. But if you are running the latest or near latest version of your OS, all calibre features will work in it.

bold · 08-10-2015, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Yes. All device support in calibre is cross platform. I generally never implement features in calibre that only work on some platforms and not others. The only exception being old/obsolete platforms that dont support some newer technologies. But if you are running the latest or near latest version of your OS, all calibre features will work in it.

well i rebooted my mac..tried two different and new usb cables.. my nook is working but the mbp doesn't see it (it's not appearing in the finder / desktop or system info at all).. i can't believe it! i read and tried everything in those two apple articles to no avail. what else is left to do?

i just plugged in a wireless mouse with a usb receiver and it works fine too??

eschwartz · 08-10-2015, 10:54 PM

Can you confirm that something/anything else does work with one of those USB cables? Do you have any other way of testing your Nook, maybe on a computer at work/family/friends/public library?

It's either a problem with the Macbook, with the USB port, the USB cable, or the Nook.

You have ruled out the USB port, and it seems the cable is highly unlikely -- though they could theoretically all be broken.

bold · 08-11-2015, 02:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Can you confirm that something/anything else does work with one of those USB cables? Do you have any other way of testing your Nook, maybe on a computer at work/family/friends/public library?

It's either a problem with the Macbook, with the USB port, the USB cable, or the Nook.

You have ruled out the USB port, and it seems the cable is highly unlikely -- though they could theoretically all be broken.

ok.. so i tried plugging in a bunch of legacy devices with all these cables on both usb ports on the mbp and they all showed up in the finder.. so it started looking like it was the nook.

i went and pulled out my old win 7 laptop and tried to hook the nook up with two different cables and no luck! this was a laptop with calibre and ADE on it so i know it used to work. i was like wtf. so i simply tried holding the power button on the nook for a bit (i don't believe i actually turned it off b/c this sucker takes awhile to reboot i think) and voila.. the win laptop saw the nook.

i then plugged the nook back into the mbp and voila.. it works on the mbp now. go figure. i can see it in ade and calibre both.. oh well, i guess the nook was in a funky state or something. hard to say.

followup question. i have an backup of my old windows system calibre library on my current mbp. what's the best way to import that lib into the new install of calibre on the mac? i'm pretty sure i can just drag the epubs from the folders manually to calibre but i thought i'd ask how to actually import the library itself

thanks for all the other help

BetterRed · 08-11-2015, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bold

followup question. i have an backup of my old windows system calibre library on my current mbp. what's the best way to import that lib into the new install of calibre on the mac? i'm pretty sure i can just drag the epubs from the folders manually to calibre but i thought i'd ask how to actually import the library itself

@bold - FAQ ==>> How do I move my calibre library from one computer to another? (← click)

BR

bold · 08-11-2015, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@bold - FAQ ==>> How do I move my calibre library from one computer to another? (← click)

BR

thanks. i got it working.

question about adding books by directories (or possibly even dragging to library in calibre from desktop): if i add a directory where i periodically download epubs to that exists separate from the actual calibre library directory, it appears that calibre takes the original source directory, leaves it intact and then copies the files INTO the actual calibre library folder. this would mean that i could download and import epubs / pdfs from many different / existing directories on my hard drive to calbre which then copies / dups them so that they all exist in one location under the calibre library folder withOUT affecting the originals.

is this correct? if so this is how i want it to work vs having calibre manage a bunch of unrelated directories under it's own hood. or perhaps it can work both ways. i'm not really clear.

thx

bold · 08-11-2015, 02:53 PM

so i'll sum up what worked for me in case other run into this with an older 2011 nook on a mac (or maybe even on a win pc).

i hadn't used my nook in a long time probably b/c i generally find the whole ereader / epub / ADE / DRM a royal pita. esp when you try to start mixing and matching different formats purchased from different providers with devices and OSs. awhile ago, i thought i'd save space and get organized and go digital with my entire paper book collection but in many ways i wish i had never done it b/c nothing about it is remotely intuitive. my guess is part of that is barnes and nobles lousy delivery stream as well as the DRM nonsense (esp mac) impose on customers who want flexibility and choice.

i lead with that paragraph b/c it appears that with this nook, in order for the devices (definitely mac, but i think it happened on win too) to be seen by the OSs, you sometimes have to press the on/off button (not the "letter n" sleep button on the front) on the back of the unit to have the system register it on the desktop. just a quirk but it seems to work. it's not mentioned in the little manual that came with my nook that i still have. maybe i had to do this before but just forgot since it's been so long.

either way i hope this helps others.

another thing, though common to some of these devices, when it's mounted on the desktop you can't use the device as a reader until you eject it.

eschwartz · 08-11-2015, 04:38 PM

FWIW, the Nook is a pretty old device, and many people were... disappointed... in their software.

I have never had to reboot my Kindle to see new books, whether it was supposed to happen that way or not.

As for calibre, calibre creates its own duplicate copies for internal use, and leaves the originals untouched -- you can do what you want with those.

The exception is calibre's auto-add folder. Books will be deleted from the auto-add folder when added; if not, calibre wouldn't know which ones were already added!

bold · 08-12-2015, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

FWIW, the Nook is a pretty old device, and many people were... disappointed... in their software.

I have never had to reboot my Kindle to see new books, whether it was supposed to happen that way or not.

As for calibre, calibre creates its own duplicate copies for internal use, and leaves the originals untouched -- you can do what you want with those.

The exception is calibre's auto-add folder. Books will be deleted from the auto-add folder when added; if not, calibre wouldn't know which ones were already added!

thx schwartz.. that's exactly how i prefer it works

also.. the push of the button on the back is not a reboot.. it's just a quick click that somehow wakes the unit up a little bit differently than the N button does on the front. yeah.. it's old and not the greatest but i prefer the nonbacklight style of old models and it's such a POS that if it gets stolen while i travel.. some poor soul will just have to suffer with it

i'll say this itunes, ibooks and the whole i cumbersome infrastructure of handling media is the biggest POS / joke ever developed in the history of computing. way overcomplicated, buggy, slow and just UNintuitive for people that actually like to have control over their own media and do things quickly and intuitively. i'm not sure if mac zealots realize how bad that crap is.. that's a story for another day.

thx again all for the help here

eschwartz · 08-12-2015, 04:03 PM

Kindle Touch 2 (currently the latest Kindle Basic) has no backfrontlight. The frontlit models can be turned down to where it isn't actually noticeable (reports of unusually sensitive eyes aside) and the Kobo frontlit models can have the light turned entirely off.
In case that was all that was holding you back.

08-09-2015, 10:23 PM	#1
bold Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2015 Device: Nook 2011 model	Nook 2011 Not Recognized by Macbook Pro Yosemite howdy. i have an older, basic Nook from 2011. i've transferred epubs bank and forth to it using calibre for windows on various win 7 / 8 laptops i own since i bought it. so i know my Nook can be recognized by calibre (at least with windows) a couple of months ago i bought a brand new macbook pro direct from apple running the latest OS yosemite. i just downloaded and installed calibre on it. for some reason, my Nook doesn't appear on the Finder when i plug it in and thus it doesn't appear in calibre. i've tried everything in the pinned / sticky thread and nothing has helped. there's actually not much to try there quite frankly. the only thing i haven't tried is rebooting my system. should calibre / osx yosemite see my nook or is there a problem i should know about? if not, any thoughts? i'd love to be able to directly copy public epubs to my nook for an upcoming trip and i'm running out of time. i don't have my older win laptops anymore and need to have the same functionality on the new macbook going forward.. thanks!

08-11-2015, 02:53 PM	#12
bold Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2015 Device: Nook 2011 model	The Fix For This in Summary so i'll sum up what worked for me in case other run into this with an older 2011 nook on a mac (or maybe even on a win pc). i hadn't used my nook in a long time probably b/c i generally find the whole ereader / epub / ADE / DRM a royal pita. esp when you try to start mixing and matching different formats purchased from different providers with devices and OSs. awhile ago, i thought i'd save space and get organized and go digital with my entire paper book collection but in many ways i wish i had never done it b/c nothing about it is remotely intuitive. my guess is part of that is barnes and nobles lousy delivery stream as well as the DRM nonsense (esp mac) impose on customers who want flexibility and choice. i lead with that paragraph b/c it appears that with this nook, in order for the devices (definitely mac, but i think it happened on win too) to be seen by the OSs, you sometimes have to press the on/off button (not the "letter n" sleep button on the front) on the back of the unit to have the system register it on the desktop. just a quirk but it seems to work. it's not mentioned in the little manual that came with my nook that i still have. maybe i had to do this before but just forgot since it's been so long. either way i hope this helps others. another thing, though common to some of these devices, when it's mounted on the desktop you can't use the device as a reader until you eject it.

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08-09-2015, 11:43 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,345 Karma: 27182818 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	You need the nook to appear in finder before calibre can possible detect it.

08-10-2015, 12:02 AM	#3
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	calibre can only see your device if i can first be seen by the operating system. https://support.apple.com/kb/PH19094 They suggest (eventually) looking under System Information to see if the hardware device is listed.

08-10-2015, 12:36 AM	#6
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,345 Karma: 27182818 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Yes. All device support in calibre is cross platform. I generally never implement features in calibre that only work on some platforms and not others. The only exception being old/obsolete platforms that dont support some newer technologies. But if you are running the latest or near latest version of your OS, all calibre features will work in it.

08-10-2015, 10:54 PM	#8
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Can you confirm that something/anything else does work with one of those USB cables? Do you have any other way of testing your Nook, maybe on a computer at work/family/friends/public library? It's either a problem with the Macbook, with the USB port, the USB cable, or the Nook. You have ruled out the USB port, and it seems the cable is highly unlikely -- though they could theoretically all be broken.

08-11-2015, 04:38 PM	#13
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	FWIW, the Nook is a pretty old device, and many people were... disappointed... in their software. I have never had to reboot my Kindle to see new books, whether it was supposed to happen that way or not. As for calibre, calibre creates its own duplicate copies for internal use, and leaves the originals untouched -- you can do what you want with those. The exception is calibre's auto-add folder. Books will be deleted from the auto-add folder when added; if not, calibre wouldn't know which ones were already added!

08-12-2015, 04:03 PM	#15
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Kindle Touch 2 (currently the latest Kindle Basic) has no backfrontlight. The frontlit models can be turned down to where it isn't actually noticeable (reports of unusually sensitive eyes aside) and the Kobo frontlit models can have the light turned entirely off. In case that was all that was holding you back.