Sony PRS-505/Sony Connect/Calibre

[orion2001]

Originally Posted by kennyc

It's not a problem as long as you don't try to use them simultaneously.

Kenny, I remember reading on another thread and the Calibre FAQ that if you use Calibre to sync your books to the reader then it can cause your Sony Library software to hang when syncing at a later time (due to some xml file in the e-reader). Actually, here is the quote from the calibre FAQ:

I used calibre to transfer some books to my reader, and now the SONY software hangs every time I connect the reader?

You should not use both calibre and Connect to transfer books to the reader. You can fix this problem by:

* Removing any storage cards from your reader.
* Deleting the file media.xml from the reader’s main memory using windows explorer (search for the file to find all locations where it is present). Note that by doing this you will lose all your collections, bookmarks, history etc.
* Unplugging the reader and waiting till the list of books shows up again
* Re-connecting the reader and starting the SONY software

Are you sure that it isn't an issue any more? I have been managing my library using Calibre but I sync to my PRS-505 using Sony LIbrary. Another difference that might be important to note is that if you sync with Sony LIbrary, it pre-formats your books so that if you were to change font sizes (zoom) on the fly, it is much faster if you sync using Sony Library instead of Calibre (which doesn't pre-format the books)

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by orion2001

Kenny, I remember reading on another thread and the Calibre FAQ that if you use Calibre to sync your books to the reader then it can cause your Sony Library software to hang when syncing at a later time (due to some xml file in the e-reader). Actually, here is the quote from the calibre FAQ:
....

Hmm. Well since I don't actually us the Sync function of either one then I may not have an issue. I do use both to manually move files and have not run into any issues. I do know that if you move a file then it will not necessarily show up in the (other) library app until it is reloaded or re-connected

[gwynevans]

Originally Posted by orion2001

Are you sure that it isn't an issue any more?

The FAQ's explaining how to recover if you've messed up by trying to use both at the same time/during the same session. If you remember to only use one or the other but not both each time it's connected, there's no problem.

[dordale]

Originally Posted by orion2001

Are you sure that it isn't an issue any more? I have been managing my library using Calibre but I sync to my PRS-505 using Sony LIbrary. Another difference that might be important to note is that if you sync with Sony LIbrary, it pre-formats your books so that if you were to change font sizes (zoom) on the fly, it is much faster if you sync using Sony Library instead of Calibre (which doesn't pre-format the books)

I've been using both Calibre and the Sony software to transfer books to my Reader for a while now. But, I don't use the sync feature of the Sony software. I just drag and drop books. So far I haven't had any problems. I can see how problems would arise though if someone were trying to use the actual sync feature within the Sony software.

dordale

[MerLock]

Thanks for everyones responses. I don't plan on using the sync feature nor using both at the sametime so hopefully I won't run into any bumps.

Thanks again!

[orion2001]

Originally Posted by dordale

I've been using both Calibre and the Sony software to transfer books to my Reader for a while now. But, I don't use the sync feature of the Sony software. I just drag and drop books. So far I haven't had any problems. I can see how problems would arise though if someone were trying to use the actual sync feature within the Sony software.

dordale

Ah that is great to know. I like Calibre much more, so I guess I can start using that for loading ebooks too . Is there any way to do the "pre-formatting" that the Sony Library reader does via Calibre? I'd much rather not have to wait around while changing font sizes, etc when I am actually trying to read the book.

[kennyc]

Calibre does not do any pre-formatting that I know of.

[orion2001]

Cool. Thanks for the heads up. I wonder if Kovid plans to do it or if there is some technical issue that makes it difficult to implement. In any case, I think I'm going to switch to Calibre all the same

[gwynevans]

The problem is that the technical details about how the Sony software generates format data aren't known, so before generating it, someone would have to reverse-engineer the algorithm, which is a big piece of work for something that would mostly just save a minute or so at the start of each new book!

Also, it doesn't apply to ePubs, which is what Sony will switch to, so unless Sony publish the details, I don't expect to see it in calibre.

[orion2001]

Originally Posted by gwynevans

The problem is that the technical details about how the Sony software generates format data aren't known, so before generating it, someone would have to reverse-engineer the algorithm, which is a big piece of work for something that would mostly just save a minute or so at the start of each new book!

Also, it doesn't apply to ePubs, which is what Sony will switch to, so unless Sony publish the details, I don't expect to see it in calibre.

Ah I didn't know that. So the formatting thing is only applicable to lrf and lrx files? Thats good to know. I'm getting more and more frustruated with Sony Libarary at the moment.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by orion2001

Ah I didn't know that. So the formatting thing is only applicable to lrf and lrx files? Thats good to know. I'm getting more and more frustruated with Sony Libarary at the moment.

I only use it to connect to the Sony Store and transfer those books purchased.

(same with the ADE Library software...)

Calibre for everything after that.

[orion2001]

Originally Posted by kennyc

I only use it to connect to the Sony Store and transfer those books purchased.

(same with the ADE Library software...)

Calibre for everything after that.

Yup, I think that is going to be my strategy as well .