Please, one more Kobo Reader update.

[bru888]

One more Kobo e-reader database update in Calibre, if you please, Mr. Goyal. After this, I promise to shut off the updating of my e-reader permanently as I fear you are going to lose patience with Kobo's software updates and I am going to lose some good functionality. As always, I am assuming that this update will include the KoboTouchExtended plug-in. Thank you. (Note: I am fully patched to version 4.22.0 and I am referring to the Kobo software upgrade that came out last week.)

[PeterT]

Sigh; updates for the db version are not done by Kovid; rather they are submitted by davidfor.

Also, there is no need for an update; just follow the instructions in the message displayed by calibre. If it ever happens that the database is truly incompatible with an updated Kobo f/w rest assured that it will be prominently displayed on this forum

[bru888]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Sigh; updates for the db version are not done by Kovid; rather they are submitted by davidfor.

Also, there is no need for an update; just follow the instructions in the message displayed by calibre. If it ever happens that the database is truly incompatible with an updated Kobo f/w rest assured that it will be prominently displayed on this forum

Sorry to have made you sigh, but you may have taken note of my "Junior Member" status. First post, and somebody is already sighing at me!

Regardless, I am not a dummy; I found the instructions:

"Your Kobo is running an updated firmware/database version. As calibre does not know about this updated firmware, database editing is disabled, to prevent corruption. You can still send books to your Kobo with calibre, but deleting books and managing collections is disabled. If you are willing to experiment and know how to reset your Kobo to Factory defaults, you can override this check by right clicking the device icon in calibre and selecting "Configure this device" and then the "Attempt to support newer firmware" option. Doing so may require you to perform a factory reset of your Kobo.
Device database version: 160.
Device firmware version: (4, 23, 15505)"

And I found the option alright. I had seen it before. Here is the trouble: Why would I want to perform a factory reset of my Kobo? Next thing I know, my Kobo reader is shot. [Hint: From experience, I don't trust technology very much.]

Thanks, but I will wait for "davidfor" to work his magic one more time - hopefully that includes the KoboTouchExtended plug-in - then I will be keeping the auto-sync feature off in the Kobo.

This calibre device-linking process is overly complicated and frankly, I am finding that reading books on my phone is much more rewarding and utilitarian. The only thing Kobo has over the phone is better battery life. This is probably the last Kobo reader that I will own.

As for you, Peter, better take a break if noob questions are excessively exasperating you.

[rashkae]

Originally Posted by bru888

And I found the option alright. I had seen it before. Here is the trouble: Why would I want to perform a factory reset of my Kobo? Next thing I know, my Kobo reader is shot. [Hint: From experience, I don't trust technology very much.]

Maybe you should re-read that quote above. All the instructions you need are right there, and at no point does it say to do a factory reset.

[bru888]

Originally Posted by rashkae

Maybe you should re-read that quote above. All the instructions you need are right there, and at no point does it say to do a factory reset.

Have I stumbled into some sort of alternative universe here? What the heck does "If you are willing to experiment and know how to reset your Kobo to Factory defaults . . . Doing so may require you to perform a factory reset of your Kobo" mean, then?

I am not "willing to experiment"; I am not willing to "attempt" anything when it comes to software that runs my hardware; and I am not looking to reset my Kobo to factory defaults.

My sole purpose in coming here was to inquire/encourage/ask for Calibre to be updated one last time (for me, that is) to allow for it to operate normally with my Kobo reader. That is, without going through a process that sounds daunting and risky and so that once-again missing functionality be restored. (In addition to "deleting books and managing collections is disabled," the plug-in that I mentioned which seems to speed up book searches and provide for picture zooming does not work.)

This is not on Calibre, I know. That is why I was humbly asking, because my Kobo reader is still important to me, and it's them who keep changing their programming.

Although, after my last post, I went to bed thinking about the ways to get around this. I still like Calibre for editing and organizing my books, and a certain other unmentionable activity, but I have Google Drive and can download a book instantaneously from my Calibre library there. No issues; full functionality.

It's just that darned battery life aspect that keeps me clinging to my Kobo . . .

Anyway, folks, I don't need a welcoming committee. You high-karma people have apparently seen this type of discussion before and are tired of it. So be it.

Chalk it up to yet another noob, looking for guidance. But please don't keep telling me to "read the instructions."

[issybird]

^^Peter told you quite clearly not to worry about doing the override, because if an update actually required a factory reset you’d have been warned against it here.

No point in countering perceived rudeness in kind; you lose the moral upper hand that way.

[bru888]

Originally Posted by issybird

^^Peter told you quite clearly not to worry about doing the override, because if an update actually required a factory reset you’d have been warned against it here.

No point in countering perceived rudeness in kind; you lose the moral upper hand that way.

That's not really "quite clearly" although now that I read it again with your first statement in mind, I can see that it could be what he meant.

Your second statement is well-taken and I agree with it, thank you, although again, there could be some milk and cookies provided to a poor soul who is blindly seeking guidance. This stuff is obvious and repetitive to you; it's more like TMI to me. I just would like Calibre to upload books to my Kobo reader without delving into unknown territory.

Two resolutions:

1) I DO NOT WANT to do an update that mentions the possibility of a factory reset. I would like the functionality to be restored normally, with a future patch, and I hope that Calibre will fulfill that wish. That's all on the technical end.

2) On the personal end, within three initial posts, I have already been drawn into an unpleasant conversation with experienced forum members. That is, I have allowed myself to become irritated - my fault - by what I perceive to be dismissive answers to my request. Not a good sign. I am no forum troll, so I will be signing out after this with a farewell to all of you.

Kovid and davidfor, thank you for your efforts. Calibre remains one of the great programs available for general use on the internet and yet it is free to the public (donations encouraged, of course ). Truly a remarkable story.

[PeterT]

@bru888 Sorry if my comment rubbed you the wrong way. What you need to understand though is how frequently that question is asked. As I think I said if there were issues with calibre truly breaking the Kobo database you'd find numerous posts here on that topic.

I've suggested to both @davidfor and one of the moderators that we have a sticky post (probably both here and in the calibre forum) that would clearly state that calibre x.xx supports Kobo f/w y.yyyy with the checkbox checked in the driver with no risk of requiring a reset of the Kobo.

I actually have a hard time remembering when a new version of calibre actually was required to support a f/w release; possibly it was when Kobo changed their use of journalling on the device (and that I think was back in either the 1.xx or 2.xx releases).

[DevonHess]

Originally Posted by bru888

On the personal end, within three initial posts, I have already been drawn into an unpleasant conversation with experienced forum members. That is, I have allowed myself to become irritated - my fault - by what I perceive to be dismissive answers to my request. Not a good sign. I am no forum troll, so I will be signing out after this with a farewell to all of you.

If you're already gone then this may fall on deaf ears, but maybe you should take this experience to examine how you interact with people online. People post here for the first time every day, and most aren't met with immediate criticism.

You start the thread by requesting a "Kobo Reader update" when in fact you want a Calibre update. You must know that they're already working on it. Every piece of software that this community uses is free, made by people in their spare time. Be patient.

Then, you claim not to be dumb, and in the same breath you prove that you have bad reading comprehension. You obviously didn't realize that a factory reset wasn't necessarily required. When two people point out your mistake, you get defensive.

Even though multiple high karma posters told you "it's fine," you still insist that you're going to wait for the Calibre update. If you don't trust the users of this forum to know what they're talking about, why come here? Go post a bug on the Calibre bug tracker.

If you find yourself in a lot of "unpleasant conversations," perhaps it's because of your conduct.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by PeterT

I've suggested to both @davidfor and one of the moderators that we have a sticky post (probably both here and in the calibre forum) that would clearly state that calibre x.xx supports Kobo f/w y.yyyy with the checkbox checked in the driver with no risk of requiring a reset of the Kobo.

I was just thinking that with the number of people not understanding the message from Calibre on newer firmware, maybe the message could be changed to be easier for someone inexperienced to better understand it and iIncluding a link to the sticky thread (your idea) that says if the firmware and Calibre are compatible without waiting or a new version of Calibre.

[davidfor]

@bru888: Firstly, while you claim to be a newbie, your post makes that statement questionable. You knew enough to wonder if the frequency of updates to the firmware would be an issue to the owner of calibre. That really suggests that you have seen that prompt a few times. Add that you know what the KoboTouchExtended driver is and have patched the firmware, that suggests that you have been around here a while, just never bothered to actually join and post.

Overall, to me at least, your request is very strange. Why on earth do you want calibre updated one last time? Why would you want the updates stopped? If what you think is that because the update has not been rolled out yet, that it won't be, then you are over-thinking things. Calibre usually gets updated every two weeks. That means that how soon after a firmware release the calibre support is received is really just a factor of timing. Unfortunately, for some reason there was no release last week. I haven't bothered to ask why as skipping a week isn't that uncommon. But, the emphasis at the moment is preparing for calibre v5 and there weren't that many changes in the main branch. Just one annoying one for us Kobo users.

And for the record, I have been maintaining the KoboTouch driver in calibre for a few years now. I have no intention of stopping that any time soon. I started doing this because the previous maintainer had moved to other things, and I wanted some changes (yes, purely selfish reasons). If I do have to stop for some reason, I think there are several people now who would be able to take over.

For calibre status, @PeterT has suggested a sticky. Honestly, I don't know if it would work any better than what is done now. Every time there is a new firmware release, there is a thread started to discuss it. I always make a post about the calibre status as soon as possible after the firmware is released. I am involved in the beta firmware group, and will have already prepared and tested the changes. Any apparent delay in my post is usually relate to timezones. Kobo likes to release the firmware when I am sleeping.

This has been happening for several years. Anyone who has been here for any time at all should have seen them. Anyone turning up new when there is a new firmware release, should be able to see the new release thread. I keep thinking that people would look there for the calibre status as well. But, it doesn't seem to happen, so I have no real belief that a sticky would help. I suppose it would give a place for people to point when a question like this is asked.

I have also thought of updating the warning message that calibre displays. Maybe add a statement to look in this forum for discussion of the firmware. But, it is already long and the evidence is that no one bothers to read it. Or panics even more when they do. If someone can come up with a clearer statement to replace the current one, I would be very happy.

I am not going to remove the warning. It is a matter of safety. There have been a few changes that would have caused problems, but, not for a long while. Luckily, Kobo keeps the database updates to a minimum and compatible across most releases. Most changes mean there is something we can take advantage of, but, do not change the current function.

[DevonHess]

@davidfor: Maybe a better message would be "please back up your kobo database before selecting this option."
People get cold feet when you mention factory resets.