Calibre not seeing Kobo in Windows 10 Preview builds

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Are you sure it's not something to do with that computer? I cannot see Microsoft fixing the problem and then botching it again.

Hmmm... see "regression error". And yes, Microsoft has fixed a problem and then promptly broken it again on quite a few occasions.

[beachboybogart]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Are you sure it's not something to do with that computer? I cannot see Microsoft fixing the problem and then botching it again.

Well, apart from it being exactly the same problem, I do have three W10 machines on the Fast Ring. They all exhibit the same sudden loss of use. I did find a bit of extraneous info in the Feedback Hub and on a couple of websites, which makes me want to ask DNSB if he might think this is related (based on a few of his previous posts): This has been acknowledged by MS: "The issue here is NTFS partitions seen as RAW (in Disk Manager) so the drive is not accessible. But the HDD drive (hardware) itself remains perfectly visible."

[rtiangha]

Originally Posted by beachboybogart

Well, apart from it being exactly the same problem, I do have three W10 machines on the Fast Ring. They all exhibit the same sudden loss of use. I did find a bit of extraneous info in the Feedback Hub and on a couple of websites, which makes me want to ask DNSB if he might think this is related (based on a few of his previous posts): This has been acknowledged by MS: "The issue here is NTFS partitions seen as RAW (in Disk Manager) so the drive is not accessible. But the HDD drive (hardware) itself remains perfectly visible."

Well, MS said they fixed that issue in 14942 which is what DNSB is running, so maybe that fix is related to DNSB's Kobo working fine? But it doesn't explain why yours doesn't work on the same release version, so who knows anymore.

[beachboybogart]

Originally Posted by rtiangha

Well, MS said they fixed that issue in 14942 which is what DNSB is running, so maybe that fix is related to DNSB's Kobo working fine? But it doesn't explain why yours doesn't work on the same release version, so who knows anymore.

Actually, MS said nothing about fixing the problem in any of the last three Fast builds. They have mentioned repeated and multiple issues with USB connectivity. Perhaps running in a virtual machine bypasses some issue. But three different PCs...

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by beachboybogart

Actually, MS said nothing about fixing the problem in any of the last three Fast builds. They have mentioned repeated and multiple issues with USB connectivity. Perhaps running in a virtual machine bypasses some issue. But three different PCs...

For the KA1 and Aura2, there should be a new firmware release Real Soon Now so might be worth syncing your ereader to see if it updates.

[frostschutz]

it's out

[rtiangha]

Originally Posted by beachboybogart

Actually, MS said nothing about fixing the problem in any of the last three Fast builds. They have mentioned repeated and multiple issues with USB connectivity. Perhaps running in a virtual machine bypasses some issue. But three different PCs...

Yes, they did. They mentioned it specifically in their announcement of Build 14942 on Oct 7.

Other improvements and fixes for PC

• We’ve updated Narrator’s reading order for Windows 10 apps which display an app bar on the bottom of the app, for example OneDrive, so now the contents of the page will be read before the contents of the app bar.
• We fixed an issue where running sfc /scannow in an elevated command prompt would fail at 20% with the error “could not perform the requested operation.”
• We fixed an issue resulting in certain areas of Windows 10 app notifications not doing anything when clicked, rather than opening the corresponding app.
• We fixed an issue resulting in Personalization > Background Settings page crashing or showing a blank context menu when right clicking one of the recent images .
• Fixed an issue resulting in Windows Defender’s Antimalware Service Executable sometimes using an unexpectedly large amount of CPU.
• We fixed an issue resulting in the Devices and Printers page in Control Panel loading slowly for users with certain audio devices.
• We fixed an issue resulting in a small set of users seeing the NTFS partition of their external hard drive incorrectly showing up as RAW format.
• Going forward from Build 14942, custom printer names will be preserved across upgrades. We’ve also addressed an issue where the printer queue name wasn’t preserved across upgrade for some printers.
• Improved framerates when Game Bar is enabled for full screen games.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by rtiangha

Yes, they did. They mentioned it specifically in their announcement of Build 14942 on Oct 7.

The only problem there is the Kobo ereader's exposed partition is FAT32 not NTFS.

[rtiangha]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The only problem there is the Kobo ereader's exposed partition is FAT32 not NTFS.

Well, yeah. One would hope that if they fixed it for one file system, it'd be fixed for all. Looks like it hasn't, though.

It really makes me wonder what they're doing though when it comes to mounting mass storage devices in these newer versions of Windows. Are they trying to be more strict about file system standards and specifications in order to implement security features to prevent the mounting of malicious volumes or something? Because I can't figure it out. Hopefully this all gets sorted out by the next general release next year.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by rtiangha

Well, yeah. One would hope that if they fixed it for one file system, it'd be fixed for all. Looks like it hasn't, though.

It really makes me wonder what they're doing though when it comes to mounting mass storage devices in these newer versions of Windows. Are they trying to be more strict about file system standards and specifications in order to implement security features to prevent the mounting of malicious volumes or something? Because I can't figure it out. Hopefully this all gets sorted out by the next general release next year.

It seems as if any modification from the stock boot sector (AKA VBR) structure makes Windows 10 unhappy. I suspect that you are correct in thinking that Microsoft is treating all modifications as being malicious.

[beachboybogart]

Originally Posted by frostschutz

it's out

Thanks, and to DNSB, for this info. I am waiting with WiFi on... I can find a few web pages quoting a 3.5 firmware update, but only for the Aura One.

[DNSB]

Tested several Kobo ereaders with 3.19 and 4.1 firmware and all connected happily* to a VMWare virtual machine running the 14951 Insider Preview.

* connected happily being defined as the exposed volumes mounted and I could open files on them.

[beachboybogart]

Interesting. I had rolled back to the previous build (due to the SLEEP function being broken again), but as usual was forced to accept 14951 again. No recognition via File Manager, Computer Managment console, or "Safely Remove" function. Bummer.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by beachboybogart

Interesting. I had rolled back to the previous build (due to the SLEEP function being broken again), but as usual was forced to accept 14951 again. No recognition via File Manager, Computer Managment console, or "Safely Remove" function. Bummer.

I think you should wipe the computer and install the latest preview build from fresh. See if that solves your USB issues.

[beachboybogart]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I think you should wipe the computer and install the latest preview build from fresh. See if that solves your USB issues.

No. The majority of Insider users are experiencing the same issues. USB "Safely Remove Hardware" is a separate issue being suffered by everyone, without exception. Kobo connectivity problems, same, except for DNSB, who is running from a virtual machine, which means it is somehow bypassing the problem. But he is the only one I know. And the Sleep issue is now fixed with build 14995, released today, but was ubiquitous.