Calibre not seeing Kobo in Windows 10 Preview builds

[FiggyRolls]

I had this problem when I upgraded to Windows 10 Anniversary.

An update for this (via Windows updates) has been released today which fixes the problem.

Microsoft must have missed out a dll or something!

[beachboybogart]

It appears to be happening again. No response from my PC with Insider release 14931. No drives appear; nothing in Calibre. The last two releases had already damaged the 'safe to remove USB device' function (it worked, but did not show a message). So...

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by beachboybogart

It appears to be happening again. No response from my PC with Insider release 14931. No drives appear; nothing in Calibre. The last two releases had already damaged the 'safe to remove USB device' function (it worked, but did not show a message). So...

The joys of living on the bleeding edge. I will admit that Microsoft has broken USB connections to software mapped disks in a different way this time but again I wonder about their in-house testing before the code is released to the fast ring.

[beachboybogart]

... I went back to the previous build.... same thing. There are so many updates now, and I don't plug my Kobo in every day. So it would have to be at least the build prior to 14926 that still worked, and maybe the one before that. I have reported it. With an obnoxious "really, guys?" included in my note.

I only use the fast ring because my job is computer repair, and it helps to know ahead of time what problems people are going to be facing.

[rtiangha]

Originally Posted by beachboybogart

It appears to be happening again. No response from my PC with Insider release 14931. No drives appear; nothing in Calibre. The last two releases had already damaged the 'safe to remove USB device' function (it worked, but did not show a message). So...

To be fair, I'm on the stable ring with up-to-date patches and I've noticed that notification is inconsistent in popping up. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't, although it does appear that the volume successfully unmounts. So something was introduced in the last week or two.

[robko]

Originally Posted by beachboybogart

It appears to be happening again. No response from my PC with Insider release 14931. No drives appear; nothing in Calibre. The last two releases had already damaged the 'safe to remove USB device' function (it worked, but did not show a message). So...

Which device/firmware are you on? IIRC Kobo changed something on their end for 4.xx to solve the issue, so hopefully you're still on a 3.xxx version.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by beachboybogart

It appears to be happening again. No response from my PC with Insider release 14931. No drives appear; nothing in Calibre. The last two releases had already damaged the 'safe to remove USB device' function (it worked, but did not show a message). So...

Get off the insider build and go back to the release build with all the patches. Problem solved.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by beachboybogart

... I went back to the previous build.... same thing. There are so many updates now, and I don't plug my Kobo in every day. So it would have to be at least the build prior to 14926 that still worked, and maybe the one before that. I have reported it. With an obnoxious "really, guys?" included in my note.

I only use the fast ring because my job is computer repair, and it helps to know ahead of time what problems people are going to be facing.

But you don't know because it's not a release version so most people won't ever have it. You need the release version to know what problems people might have NOW.

[rtiangha]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But you don't know because it's not a release version so most people won't ever have it. You need the release version to know what problems people might have NOW.

That's not true at all. People had weeks and/or months of notice that the Kobos would have issues when the Anniversary Update officially came out because of people on the Insider Previews. But it's true that it only works if MS doesn't fix things before they get officially released, which is what happened in this case.

[JSWolf]

It is true. There can be changes between the last preview version and the release version that you might not know about because you have not used the release version enough.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It is true. There can be changes between the last preview version and the release version that you might not know about because you have not used the release version enough.

I vaguely seem to remember posting about issues with build 14393 and Kobo ereaders a while back in this thread including a suggestion not to install the Anniversary update around message #11 in this thread.

Am I incorrect in being under the impression we were discussing how the preview editions can point to potential issues in the next release version not the current release version. Now it appears that Microsoft is heading down the same path, you want us to turn a blind eye to any problems because they will miraculously be fixed in the release version?

And, just BTW, the last preview build prior to the Anniversary release was the same code as the Anniversary release, the insiders got to play with build 14393 including a couple of cumulative updates before it went GA. You do notice that winver still reports as build 14393 with a trailing cumulative update version.

[JSWolf]

I don't know about the preview builds. But from what I have been reading, the USB problem with Kobo Readers has been fixed in the Win 10AU. Microsoft released update(s) that fixed the problem.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't know about the preview builds. But from what I have been reading, the USB problem with Kobo Readers has been fixed in the Win 10AU. Microsoft released update(s) that fixed the problem.

But in this thread, we are discussing preview builds -- you have noted the thread is named "Calibre not seeing Kobo in Windows 10 Preview builds" (emphasis mine). That change was done about 8 messages into the thread so about 2 months ago.

So, Jon, might I suggest that constant suggestions about using the release version are counter-productive and off topic in a thread dedicated to preview builds.

You might want to consider that Microsoft fixed the issue in the Windows 10 AU after it's release but it now appears that Microsoft has broken the fix in the newer preview builds. Given the length of time that reports about issues with ereaders and preview builds were being filed before the AU release, it makes you wonder if the next release of Windows 10 is going to work out of the box with Kobo ereaders (we won't discuss the bugcheck blue screens with some Kindle ereaders here).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

But in this thread, we are discussing preview builds -- you have noted the thread is named "Calibre not seeing Kobo in Windows 10 Preview builds" (emphasis mine). That change was done about 8 messages into the thread so about 2 months ago.

So, Jon, might I suggest that constant suggestions about using the release version are counter-productive and off topic in a thread dedicated to preview builds.

You might want to consider that Microsoft fixed the issue in the Windows 10 AU after it's release but it now appears that Microsoft has broken the fix in the newer preview builds. Given the length of time that reports about issues with ereaders and preview builds were being filed before the AU release, it makes you wonder if the next release of Windows 10 is going to work out of the box with Kobo ereaders (we won't discuss the bugcheck blue screens with some Kindle ereaders here).

So your saying that the current Win 10 does work correctly with Kobo? If that's not the case, then any discussion in this thread is off-topic as there would be no more problem.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So your saying that the current Win 10 does work correctly with Kobo? If that's not the case, then any discussion in this thread is off-topic as there would be no more problem.

How are you defining the current Win 10 version? To me it's Build 14931.1000. For you, it likely to be that antique 14393.187 which is patched to work with Kobo ereaders -- or more precisely, software defined mass storage devices with non-standard boot sectors. Since that is not a preview build, it's off-topic here.

Until the next CB release of Windows 10 (rumour has it that Microsoft is looking at two major updates to Windows 10 in 2017, check Nathan Mercer's blog at What New For IT pros in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update) or until Microsoft supplies an update to Windows 10 AU which breaks USB connections to Kobo ereaders, my personal opinion is that maundering about using the CB release is extremely annoying behaviour.

I don't know about other people in the Insider Preview program, but around here, we don't run preview builds in our production environment. We do run Windows 10 and preview builds in our test lab and it is very useful for us in finding potential issues so we can attempt to fix them prior to rolling out Windows 10 into our production environment. If nothing else, it's going to be 'fun' to redo all our group policies and then test them.

Anyhow, 'nuff said. It's past time to send JSWolf to Coventry.