Replace Most, But Not All, Books on My Kobo

[koberulz]

I have from memory 411 books on my Kobo. About a dozen I bought through the Kobo store. A number are PDFs. The rest are sideloaded epubs, because I was using an older version of Calibre that didn't convert to kepub when transferring. I would like to replace the epubs with kepubs, but there's a catch: I have read, and annotated, a number of the epubs already. I don't want to lose those annotations, so I want to leave those epubs on the device. I also don't see any point wiping the PDF files and replacing them, and anything I purchased from the Kobo store I want to maintain so that I can access the whole cloud backup thing or whatever for annotations, reading position, etc.

Weirdly, when I plug the Kobo in it says one of my Kobo purchases is on the device. Not sure why that is; I would understand it saying none are because they're not actually the same file, but one? Seems odd.

So basically I need a quick and easy way of deleting everything from the Kobo that a) is an epub and b) hasn't been annotated, and then transferring the Calibre-stored epubs back over to the Kobo, which if I understand correctly should automatically become kepubs in the process.

Can this be done?

[theducks]

Before your foot get shot
Will your (previous) annotations apply if you swap for KEPUB??? Probably not.

Someone who HAS replaced an EPUB with annotations, with A KEPUB will need to answer this.

Next The order you DO DO this needs LOTS OF care (assumes they survive).
Do not remove the EPUB until the SECOND connect or you will orphan the annotations.
(The first disconnect makes the DB entry on the Kobo. the second is where the additional metadata happens. In this case, you hope to use the original DB entry when you add a version.) You will need to verify EVERY BOOK shares the same data. There is so much that can glitch that I would leave the existing stuff alone.

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by theducks

There is so much that can glitch that I would leave the existing stuff alone.

Right, as I said in my post:

Originally Posted by koberulz

I don't want to lose those annotations, so I want to leave those epubs on the device.

[JSWolf]

If you were to remove the ePub without annotations, the first thing to do add the KePub. The remove all ePub you've not read. Then manually go through each ePub left to see which have annotations and which don't. Then delete the ones that don't have annotations.

There is no way to automate this without writing a plugin to do what you want.

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If you were to remove the ePub without annotations, the first thing to do add the KePub. The remove all ePub you've not read. Then manually go through each ePub left to see which have annotations

I would expect all epubs I've read to have annotations, so the last step won't be necessary.

I'm not sure how to best go about the first two steps, though. Given that they're epubs in Calibre at the moment but it converts to kepub on transfer, and kepubs are still an epub file extension anyway, I'm not sure how it would handle transferring a book that's already on there as an epub? Even if that does work, how do I delete the epubs I've not read? The Kobo UI seems to be the only way to find that information, but that's also about the worst UI to use for mass deletion.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by koberulz

I would expect all epubs I've read to have annotations, so the last step won't be necessary.

I'm not sure how to best go about the first two steps, though. Given that they're epubs in Calibre at the moment but it converts to kepub on transfer, and kepubs are still an epub file extension anyway, I'm not sure how it would handle transferring a book that's already on there as an epub? Even if that does work, how do I delete the epubs I've not read? The Kobo UI seems to be the only way to find that information, but that's also about the worst UI to use for mass deletion.

If you send a kepub of the book you already have as an epub and haven't checked the box "Do not treat replacements as new books", you'll have two books - a kepub and an epub.

You can use calibre for mass deletion of epubs you've not read. For this you'll need to install the Kobo Utilities plugin and store your reading progress with it in a custom column. Then you can remove the books with no reading progress from your device via Remove Books (right-click -> remove matching books from device).

[koberulz]

Any idea why one of my Kobo store purchases shows up as being on the device, but the rest don't?

Originally Posted by Sirtel

If you send a kepub of the book you already have as an epub and haven't checked the box "Do not treat replacements as new books", you'll have two books - a kepub and an epub.

What happens if one does check that box?

You can use calibre for mass deletion of epubs you've not read. For this you'll need to install the Kobo Utilities plugin and store your reading progress with it in a custom column. Then you can remove the books with no reading progress from your device via Remove Books (right-click -> remove matching books from device).

Okay, I've installed the plugin and added the columns...now what? I don't know how to see the column—I can't even find a way to view a table—or do anything with it.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by koberulz

Any idea why one of my Kobo store purchases shows up as being on the device, but the rest don't?

The metadata is probably different. Sorry, no ideas beyond that, as I sideload all my Kobo purchases.

What happens if one does check that box?

Again, I've never tried, so you just have to try it yourself.

Okay, I've installed the plugin and added the columns...now what? I don't know how to see the column—I can't even find a way to view a table—or do anything with it.

I've added the screenshots of my settings. Once you've set up the automatic storing of reading progress as shown in my Kobo Utilities settings, connect your Kobo and the storing of reading status should happen automagically.

[koberulz]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

I've added the screenshots of my settings. Once you've set up the automatic storing of reading progress as shown in my Kobo Utilities settings, connect your Kobo and the storing of reading status should happen automagically.

Right, I've set that up, but where do I see it? How do I actually use that column?