Firmware 4.20.14601 has been released

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by retro

I have series info in my calibre data and that was working before the update. I only load a dozen or so books on my Clara and I noticed, after the update, that one book is showing in the series NOVEL and it is number 11 of that series.
I don't have a calibre series called NOVEL so it must be getting it from somewhere else.

I ran Modify epub with remove non dc checked and it removed the series from that book when I reloaded it.

Is there a way for me to identify the other books that show in that series without having to load everything on my Clara?

Install the new 4.12 version of Calibre. Plug in your Kobo and it will sort out the series as long as you are set to automatic management.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by rosalita

I love the new series feature except for one thing: Apparently Kobo has been wildly inconsistent in how they label books from the same series over the years. For example, I have a series of books written by Charles Todd that feature a Scotland Yard detective, Ian Rutledge. Kobo shows me some of these books in a series called "Inspector Ian Rutledge" and others in a series called "Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries." There are other series that are the same way, which is very frustrating.

Is there any sort of communication path with Kobo to send them corrections? Or a way to correct these myself? I am a Calibre user but because I have an old Mac that can't run anything past OS Sierra, I can't use the latest version of it. And I have not imported my Kobo books into Calibre in the past.

As @Quoth said, it is probably the publishers fault. They supply the metadata to Kobo, and Kobo display it. Kobo might not be allowed to fix it. It will depend on the contracts they have.

In this case, there is a problem. I looked up the series in the Kobo store. The books come from at least two different publishers. It looks like "Inspector Ian Rutledge" comes from Random House and "Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries" comes from William Morris.

Having said that, there is a feedback link on the Kobo store. Report the problem through that. I don't know if they will be able to change anything. But, one thing they might be able to change is the id used for the series. The Series tab is based on an internal id, not the series name. The two series names above appear to have different ids (click on the series name in the store and look at the URL). They might merge the ids so that it will appear as one series, though with different series names depending on the book. In the Series tab, I think it will use the series name from the book with the lowest series number.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by slkissinger

I tried to read up in this thread, but I don't think this has been mentioned yet that the latest Calibre update (as I type this, it's version 4.12) has been updated to handle Series w/4.20

Super easy.
1) update Calibre to 4.12
2) plug in kobo (in my case, Libra HD, which has been updated to 4.20.14601
3) let it think about life for a few seconds.
4) Eject device via Calibre (Device, eject this device)
5) Go look at the Kobo itself, My Books, Series.

Everything is tidy, just like I've always wanted, and never knew it until now.

Note that 99% of my books are sideloaded.

For the record, that was pretty much what I said in my first post in the thread when I said there was an update to calibre coming. For any firmware version release, I will post the calibre status as soon as possible.

[Mingyar]

Hi,

I found a bug on this version, tested on 3 devices : Mini, Aura H20 (the first model) and Aura One LE.
If a pin is activated to wake up from sleep mode and to startup, it works for wake up from sleep but fails on startup.
If I shutdown the device then startup it, the pin is asked but if I wait few seconds to 1 minute (depends of the model), home screen appears even if I don't type the pin code !

EDIT : I tested this behavior on the firmware not patched, but I've previously installed the screensaver provided in this thread on the previous firmware I used (4.12). The screensaver still works after firmware upgrade to 4.20.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I do as well. There's no need to keep switching drivers as the extended driver will do ePub or KePub depending on the order of the the file formats to send to your Kobo.

Firstly, I'm a bit stunned at the idea that you are using the extended driver considering your usual attitude to the kepub format.

But, you have something mixed up here. Unless you have actually turned off the extended features in the extended driver, there is no way* to use it to actually get an epub on the device when using the driver. You are right about the order of the formats, but, if the epub is being sent, it will be transformed to a kepub during the send.

The base KoboTouch driver will send kepubs from the library if they exist. In this case, it will depend on the list of the file formats what will be sent. The defaults are to have kepub first as getting a kepub into the library is a very deliberate act, so it is assumed that it is to be used.

And for the record, there isn't much point in using the extended driver if you turn off the extended features. With this off, very few of the other features of the extended driver are used.

* The exception to this is if there is an error doing the kepubification work. If the ignore error option is chosen, the epub will be sent to the device.

[retro]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Install the new 4.12 version of Calibre. Plug in your Kobo and it will sort out the series as long as you are set to automatic management.

I did that BEFORE I asked my question. The Kobo is showing a series that does NOT exist in calibre and I'm just trying to find out where it's coming from.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I'm not sure why anyone would want the collections from tags option since that tends to lead to a massive number of collections. The only collection I use on my Kobo's is Finished (name says it all). If I used series and tags to create collections, I would have over 1200 collections on my Forma (121 for series, the rest for tags).

You mean, you don't want me to be asking for a Tags tab in the beta group? Look how well it went for the Series tab

But, I agree about the tags. I'd end up with to many. A Genre tab might be the way to go. Or use the first x tags for any book. Though in that case, I'd have to win an argument with Kovid about the order of tags.

And for the record, my collections at the moment are from: #kobobookshelves,apublisher,#status,#book_source

The first is a for ad hoc collections, the second is a deliberate error to make sure everything is OK, the #status is reading status plus some other things such as whether the book needs to be cleaned and the last is where I got the book.

[davidfor]

This has been partly answered later, but, I wanted to throw my 2cents in.

Originally Posted by retro

I have series info in my calibre data and that was working before the update. I only load a dozen or so books on my Clara and I noticed, after the update, that one book is showing in the series NOVEL and it is number 11 of that series.
I don't have a calibre series called NOVEL so it must be getting it from somewhere else.

If you meant that there was a series in the Series tab called "NOVEL", then it had to come from Kobo. At the version of calibre you were running, that was the only way for this to get populate. But, from the rest, I think you just mean in the main book list.

I ran Modify epub with remove non dc checked and it removed the series from that book when I reloaded it.

Using the Modify epub didn't make any changes. And in fact, with that option set, it would have removed the series information from the book. But, if you sent the book to the device using calibre, all that removed metadata would have been added again. But, the Kobo devices do not read the series information from sideloaded books, so it didn't really matter.

What actually happened is that you cleaned up the metadata in calibre and connected the device. The driver updated the metadata in the device database. That included setting the series info to whatever you currently have for the book.

Is there a way for me to identify the other books that show in that series without having to load everything on my Clara?

Just use calibre to cleanup the metadata in the library and then connect the device. That works for sideloaded books. You can update purchased books, but, a sync will probably reset the metadata.

[nikev]

The release notes for this firmware states that an autorotation bug for Forma users who read left handed with locked orientation has been fixed.

Does anybody know what changed? I posted earlier about exactly this problem -- I read left handed with orientation fixed in portrait, but I still have issues. When the reader powers off, the book title is shown in the orientation which I use, but once I turn it on, the home page is showed upside down. This has been the case since the I got my Forma.

[retro]

I actually have a metadata plugboard setup to send series info to my Clara and that has been working great since I got the device. The series shows below the title in the book list.

Before the firmware update, the book in question showed no series, as expected. After the update, NOVEL showed up under the title. Plus, it showed as number 11 in the series, which tells me there are more books not loaded on the Clara. Also, on the new series tab, NOVEL shows as a series with that book in it.

All books are sideloaded with calibre and I don't sync with Kobo, so it doesn't come from there.

I removed the book from the Clara, ran Modify epub and reloaded it. Disconnected and reconnected and the series was gone.

I'm just trying to figure out the other 10 or more books that seem to be in that series but it doesn't show up anywhere in calibre. I have quite a few books and don't want to run Modify epub on all of them.

I guess loading all books not in series on the Clara would give me a list. Just hoping there was another way to identify them.

Thanks for replying davidfor.

Originally Posted by davidfor

This has been partly answered later, but, I wanted to throw my 2cents in.


If you meant that there was a series in the Series tab called "NOVEL", then it had to come from Kobo. At the version of calibre you were running, that was the only way for this to get populate. But, from the rest, I think you just mean in the main book list.

Using the Modify epub didn't make any changes. And in fact, with that option set, it would have removed the series information from the book. But, if you sent the book to the device using calibre, all that removed metadata would have been added again. But, the Kobo devices do not read the series information from sideloaded books, so it didn't really matter.

What actually happened is that you cleaned up the metadata in calibre and connected the device. The driver updated the metadata in the device database. That included setting the series info to whatever you currently have for the book.


Just use calibre to cleanup the metadata in the library and then connect the device. That works for sideloaded books. You can update purchased books, but, a sync will probably reset the metadata.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by retro

I actually have a metadata plugboard setup to send series info to my Clara and that has been working great since I got the device. The series shows below the title in the book list.

Metadata plugboards do not have an option to set the series info. For other devices, it is common to use a plugboard to add the series info to the title. But, if you are seeing the series info on a Kobo device for a sideloaded book, it has nothing to do with a metadata plugboard.

Before the firmware update, the book in question showed no series, as expected. After the update, NOVEL showed up under the title. Plus, it showed as number 11 in the series, which tells me there are more books not loaded on the Clara. Also, on the new series tab, NOVEL shows as a series with that book in it.

All books are sideloaded with calibre and I don't sync with Kobo, so it doesn't come from there.

I removed the book from the Clara, ran Modify epub and reloaded it. Disconnected and reconnected and the series was gone.

I'm just trying to figure out the other 10 or more books that seem to be in that series but it doesn't show up anywhere in calibre. I have quite a few books and don't want to run Modify epub on all of them.

I guess loading all books not in series on the Clara would give me a list. Just hoping there was another way to identify them.

You are over-thinking this. If you are only sideloading books, then seeing a series in the Series tab means you have a book in the calibre library with that series name. If you look at the series and only book 11 is there, all it means is that book 11 of that series is on the device. It doesn't mean that the others are there.

As the series disappeared after sending the book again, it means you fixed the metadata and removed the series from the book. That automatically fixed things when you connected the device.

As to finding the series in calibre, you can use the tag browser on to find it it. Expand the series tree and look for it. Or do a search. But, as I said above, having book 11 in a series doesn't mean you have any of the other books.

[jafmaw]

Originally Posted by rosalita

I love the new series feature except for one thing: Apparently Kobo has been wildly inconsistent in how they label books from the same series over the years. For example, I have a series of books written by Charles Todd that feature a Scotland Yard detective, Ian Rutledge. Kobo shows me some of these books in a series called "Inspector Ian Rutledge" and others in a series called "Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries." There are other series that are the same way, which is very frustrating...

This is the biggest reason I have been side-loading ALL of my books from Calibre into my Kobo devices (for years now). (I download all Kobo books and import into Calibre, de-DRM'ing them in the process.) That way, I can control series names, order, etc. without the crazy inconsistency of Kobo's naming.
The only reason I've ever turned on wifi is to install some Kobo dictionaries.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I'm not sure why anyone would want the collections from tags option since that tends to lead to a massive number of collections.

Originally Posted by davidfor

But, I agree about the tags. I'd end up with to many. A Genre tab might be the way to go. Or use the first x tags for any book. Though in that case, I'd have to win an argument with Kovid about the order of tags.

It depends entirely on how you use tags. Some probably have 500 various tags to cover every type of plot possible (and if that's your preference, by all means, go for it). For myself, I have one tag per book, which is the genre, and I stick to the basics, such as simply "Mystery" and not broken down into 50 different types of mysteries.

So my Collections are only 4 pages on my reader, while my Series are 43 pages, which covers about 2100+ books.

I'm not saying my way is better than others, just why using tags for Collections on the readers works very well for me and might for others without adding an unmanageable amount of categories to page through.

[NiLuJe]

@Ripplinger: I tend to agree with you on that, FWIW.

My main "issue" with that approach is with older books imported before I actually thought this through (which was when working on the Kindle Collections plugin, where I picked up a dedicated trick: I prefix the "main" tag (i.e., genre) with a specific character (e.g., '+'). The plugin can then detect that via a user-specified regex to pick the "right" tag/tags from the mess):
Those are full of crappy tags that I'm way too lazy to cleanup ^^.

(My current radical answer to that fact is to not use collections at all ^^).

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by jafmaw

This is the biggest reason I have been side-loading ALL of my books from Calibre into my Kobo devices (for years now). (I download all Kobo books and import into Calibre, de-DRM'ing them in the process.) That way, I can control series names, order, etc. without the crazy inconsistency of Kobo's naming.
The only reason I've ever turned on wifi is to install some Kobo dictionaries.

Before this update and the updated driver I was setting the series in the collections as I said here: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...56&postcount=4

I didn't have any problems with the series' names, but all of my books came either from my local library or were bought from Amazon.

But I'm puzzled about what metadata is being used; it seems to me it used to be using series:calibre and now it's using Belongs to Collection; did Calibre or the driver move the series stuff to the latter?