Sync and Collections

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Lys

But I do. That's not the point we are discussing

The problem highlighted in this thread is that sometimes the sync process doesn't finish on the device and the issue seems to be linked to the collections (I - or others - created through Calibre). Maybe the issue is linked to the # of collections we have, maybe with the number of books we have in them. Some reported they managed to avoid the issue by *not* putting downloaded books in the collections. To pinpoint the cause(s) has been a trial-and-see process.

So far, deleting the collection(s) on the device does the trick to unstuck the sync process. You can then create again the collections and - at least for a while - everything is fine.

Since I personally have 0 need to have my collections sync'ed to the cloud, try and tell my Kobo not to sync them may solve the issue once and for all


PS: Shelves, Collections... we all know here what we are talking about - regardless on how Kobo changed the name over time

If some of these collections are for series, you can do away with them and just setup to use series instead. It means you'll be able to do away with some or most collections.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The OP's first post in this thread did not mention Calibre. This is a case of the OP leaving out info that may have been useful.

What does Calibre have to do with the Kobo sync failing with specific numbers of collections?

And don't go on a snarky response about the solution being to not use sync at all. Some of us do use it.

[Lys]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The OP's first post in this thread did not mention Calibre. This is a case of the OP leaving out info that may have been useful.

It's you that brought up Calibre, no?

Calibre was not mentioned because there's no problem with Calibre and creating collections, so there's no need to bring up a variable that has no impact on the process.

If some of these collections are for series, you can do away with them and just setup to use series instead. It means you'll be able to do away with some or most collections.

Since I shared my collections list, you can easily check there's no collection for series.

For sure, if I don't use collections, I will solve any sync issue about sync & collections. But I don't think that would be a satisfying solution to the problem, wouldn't it?

[Rid]

I had the sync issue yesterday; I think it was good for a bit more than a month this time. I deleted 3 collections that I know had books added to them recently and it worked again. One of these collections has only side-loaded books so I might not delete it next time and see what happens (as per a previous post = jmw1011).

I have used Calibre for years to create my collections so I cannot really say if Calibre is the issue but potentially there could be – or it is just a coincidence (what are the chances of Calibre not being used by people on this forum who have this issue?). However, some past issues with Kobo sync (missing annotations etc) I am leaning towards Kobo's system being the issue... Primarily use Calibre now in case I lose half of my Kobo account.

[Rid]

One of the quirks of the sync issue; if you buy a book it won’t download and obviously not download if you initiated a sync. But in “My Books” if you press on the 3 dots and select “Read now” it will download the book.

Not sure how this relates to the sync issue but surely you would think there would be a timeout on the device so it does not try to sync forever?

[jmw]

Originally Posted by Rid

I have used Calibre for years to create my collections so I cannot really say if Calibre is the issue but potentially there could be – or it is just a coincidence (what are the chances of Calibre not being used by people on this forum who have this issue?). However, some past issues with Kobo sync (missing annotations etc) I am leaning towards Kobo's system being the issue... Primarily use Calibre now in case I lose half of my Kobo account.

I removed all sideloaded books from my Kobo and still ran into the sync problem, so I don't think it is a Calibre issue, but there is a lot I don't know about this stuff, so I could be wrong.

[ownedbycats]

For what it matters, I've noticed that if you remove a store book from a collection using the KoboTouchExtended driver, the next sync often puts it back. This persists until the book is deleted from the collection on the device itself. This happened on both my old Aura HD and my Libra H2O.

[ghira]

Originally Posted by Rid

One of the quirks of the sync issue; if you buy a book it won’t download and obviously not download if you initiated a sync. But in “My Books” if you press on the 3 dots and select “Read now” it will download the book.

I have only managed to sync my sage once, when I bought it last year. I need to "read" invididual books to download them every time. Then I turn off the wireless and I get a "download failed" window to OK on for each downloaded book. They're not true because the books have downloaded.

This is a bit annoying. I have not used Calibre to manage collections or transfer files. I sometimes edit files with it but then copy files to the Kobo with a file manager.

Kobo Desktop does no better syncing the Kobo than the Kobo does over wireless. Calibre says the database is fine.

[Rid]

Update - Had the sync issue again.

The only solution that worked was to delete the last collection that was updated. It was using Calibre but I doubt that caused the problem, just stating it here because that was what updated the collection.

I deleted the imported books collection and the collections that had the highest amount of books in it but this did not help.

[Lys]

My collection structure had been working fine for a couple of weeks, then the same issue as always.
I decide to try my luck and contacted Kobo Support on twitter. They answered quickly and after a couple of questions more (and repeating the issue a couple of times :P ), they escalated the issue to the technical team. I don't know if they will manage to solve the issue, but they have been quite welcoming so far, so if you are still struggling with this issue, it's worth a shot

[ownedbycats]

Sync's started stalling out for me since adding three new collections ('omnibuses', 'public domain', and 'novelizations & expanded universe'). I deleted the three and it worked again.

I have a sort of feeling that it might be the Novelizations one messing it up, so I'll get rid of it and let KoboTouch recreate the other two.

EDIT: I was right.

[ownedbycats]

Interesting thing I've noticed: Sync was stalling out. So I deleted a suspect collection (recently reached a certain number of books) and this fixed it. Then I let KoboTouchExtended re-create the collection - the sync issues didn't reoccur. Perhaps something similar to that 'differing case' mentioned earlier?

I wonder if it has trouble with collections made up of entirely sideloaded books. This would match certain patterns I've noticed.

[Lys]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Interesting thing I've noticed: Sync was stalling out. So I deleted a suspect collection (recently reached a certain number of books) and this fixed it. Then I let KoboTouchExtended re-create the collection - the sync issues didn't reoccur. Perhaps something similar to that 'differing case' mentioned earlier?

I wonder if it has trouble with collections made up of entirely sideloaded books. This would match certain patterns I've noticed.

At this point, I'm convinced the trigger point is just random (once you surpass a certain limit).

I deleted 3 huge collections and sync worked. I let KTE re-create them after sync, and the next time I sync'ed, I had to delete 6/7 of my collections for sync to work again (despite the numbers being almost the same as before).
Kobo HelpDesk answered me that they analyzed the issue, and will try to solve it in further updates. (So, again, it may be worth reaching them out and opening a bug, too. They are already aware of it, but the more people point the issue out, the more likely is they will actually spend time on it).

[JSWolf]

If these collections are for books in a series, you don't need any series based collections given that Kobo supports series without collections.

[ownedbycats]

None of my collections are for series.