Kobo Bug thread

[Bookpossum]

Thanks very much for the suggestions. I do know about the apprentices, but can’t do anything there until I have the downloaded books. I shall try again in a couple of days, and also check my ADE.

[Ore]

Product: Kobo Clara hd
Firmware: 4.25.15875
Plugins: koreader, wallabako
File types: pdf
Sideloaded or from Kobobooks:yes
On external SD: no
Steps to reproduce:

1. plug kobo in computer
2. Open file /.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf
3. Add at the end of file a section to make nickel library ignore dot folders
   

   [FeatureSettings]
   ExcludeSyncFolders=\\.(?!kobo|adobe).*?

4. unplug kobo
5. see that files located inside dot folders (eg :".pdf") still appear in the library
6. replug kobo in the computer
7. Open the file /.kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf and see that the modification is gone.

Current result: library cluttered with unwanted files
Workaround: none found

I could not find any mention of this little trick not working anymore. Any idea ?

Thanks in advance

[Ore]

After some research and tinkering I'll answer my own question :

First, the [FeatureSettings] section was reordered inside the "Kobo eReader.conf " so that it was in the middle of the file instead of at the end but still present.

Second, the option works only for folders beginning with a dot located at the root of the kobo as displayed when plugged in a computer. In another word, a dot folder located inside another "regular" folder will not be ignored and its files will be loaded in the library.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Ore

After some research and tinkering I'll answer my own question :

First, the [FeatureSettings] section was reordered inside the "Kobo eReader.conf " so that it was in the middle of the file instead of at the end but still present.

Second, the option works only for folders beginning with a dot located at the root of the kobo as displayed when plugged in a computer. In another word, a dot folder located inside another "regular" folder will not be ignored and its files will be loaded in the library.

If I recall correctly, there is an implied ^/mnt/(sd|onboard)/%1$ before that exclusion so yes, the sample starts from the root. The example below is for a hack that turns the custom screensaver on/off by renaming the screensaver directory to screensaver_old so it needs to be excluded.

ExcludeSyncFolders=\\.(?!kobo(?!/screensaver_old)|adobe).*?

Edit: I also looked back at some notes and found the following as the default exclusion list:

(.kobo|koboExtStorage)/(articles|images|kepub|screensaver|slideshow|dict|certificates|webcache|webstorage)|.fseventsd|.Spotlight-V100|.Trash|.Trashes|.Trash-\\d+|\\$RECYCLE.BIN

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by Rev. Bob

Not a Kobo problem. The URL Link/ACSM file is not the book itself, but a “ticket” that ADE redeems through one of Adobe’s servers to validate the purchase and allow you access through the copy protection. As your error message says, ADE’s having trouble talking to the server to manage that process.

The easy but frustrating answer is to wait a couple of days, redownload a fresh ACSM file from the retailer, and try again. If you’re impatient and have access to a VPN, you might try virtually relocating to a different country and see if that connects you to a different server that is working better.

I see you’re in Australia. Any natural disasters or other known infrastructure disruptions going on?

Thanks again Rev. Bob. I thought I should post an update in case others have this problem, which seems to have been around for a while with ADE. It turned out that we had to deregister and then reregister ADE on the computer in order to get things working again. My resident techie (AKA my husband) found a couple of helpful websites, and I thought the links might help in case others have the same problem:

Deauthorising < https://support.ebooks.com/hc/en-gb/...s/115001588846 >
Authorising < https://support.ebooks.com/hc/en-gb/articles/204965929 >

[kitkat99]

Originally Posted by Aromatisse

Product: Touch
Firmware: 4.24.15676
Plugins: none
File types: epub
Sideloaded or from Kobobooks: sideloaded
On external SD: yes
Steps to reproduce: since the last firmware update, often when I open a book it will display a blank page instead, and say that I am on page 1 of 1. Attempting to go to the next page will close the book and mark it as completed. If I re-open the book and it does load (whatever it does or not seems random) it will go back to the page it should have in the first place, and progress will go back to displaying normally.
Workaround: none that I can find, other than reopening books until things work normally.

I'm having the same problem with my Kobo Glo. I do not use Calibre, but my books are all sideloaded. I tried to talk to Kobo support, but after giving them my height and blood type, I gave up and told them I would buy a Kindle instead. (Lies.)

Any solution to this open/close bug? Deleting books from Kobo (too many files)? Not using books on micro SD card?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Aromatisse

Thank you, I will try doing that. The problem appeared with multiple books of various sizes, some of which opened and loaded fine before the firmware update.

Have you updated to the 4.25 firmware and tried that? If so, is it fixed?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Ore

After some research and tinkering I'll answer my own question :

First, the [FeatureSettings] section was reordered inside the "Kobo eReader.conf " so that it was in the middle of the file instead of at the end but still present.

Second, the option works only for folders beginning with a dot located at the root of the kobo as displayed when plugged in a computer. In another word, a dot folder located inside another "regular" folder will not be ignored and its files will be loaded in the library.

If you go to the KOReader and plato on-click install thread, you'll find the expanded regex to handle .DIRECTORIES inside other DIRECTORIES.

[Colonel Cathcart]

Product: Kobo Libra H2O
Firmware: 4.25.15875
Plugins: none, just made a little config tweak to take the screenshots.
File types: kepub.epub
Sideloaded or from Kobobooks: sideloaded
On external SD: nope
Steps to reproduce:

1. Just open a book in Hebrew (or, probably, any other right-to-left language) such as Arabic.

Current result:
This is a visual glitch regarding the top and bottom when mixing, it seems, book chapters or book titles in Hebrew with other information in English, such as pages remaining, time remaining, etc. I've attached 3 screenshots with all the 3 different options for head and footer available on the device.
It is usable, just looks unpolished. I imagine something similar will happen with other left-to-right languages, such as Arabic.

I'll, gladly, provide more information or test a fix for this. I check the site regularly, on a daily basis.

Workaround:
n/a

Edit: Rewrote the post according to template

[davidfor]

You are talking about a mix of information from the book (the title and the chapter name) and the UI (the position information). The latter will always be in whatever language you have the UI set to. Until Kobo adds support for Hebrew or Arabic, it will continue to be like this.

As with all these things, you should report them to Kobo. If enough people ask for support in other languages, they will look at adding it. Of course, it would be much better if there was a company willing to partner with Kobo for the support. That is why most of the recent languages have ben added.

[Colonel Cathcart]

Originally Posted by davidfor

You are talking about a mix of information from the book (the title and the chapter name) and the UI (the position information). The latter will always be in whatever language you have the UI set to. Until Kobo adds support for Hebrew or Arabic, it will continue to be like this.

I think the problem comes b/c of missing LTR/RTL markers in the header/footer similar to what's explained here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...r-text-in-html. I could be wrong about that.
btw, if I'm not mistaken, Japanese is also written right-to-left.

Originally Posted by davidfor

As with all these things, you should report them to Kobo.

I have done that, via the email in the OP.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Colonel Cathcart

I think the problem comes b/c of missing LTR/RTL markers in the header/footer similar to what's explained here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/...r-text-in-html. I could be wrong about that.

That is almost definitely what is happening. But, it means they have to support this in the UI. Adding it might not make sense to them when they do not support these languages a

btw, if I'm not mistaken, Japanese is also written right-to-left.

But, it is also vertical. And support for the language is in the UI, so they will be looking for whatever is needed in the book.

I have done that, via the email in the OP.

[Colonel Cathcart]

Originally Posted by davidfor

... when they do not support these languages...

They do support those languages, to a great extent. Hebrew, at least. All the right-to-left book text renders perfectly. Not only that, but also the right-to-left book title and author name on the my books page renders perfectly - it is even right justified as it should. That's more than most products that claim to support Hebrew. This visual bug seems, to me, more of an oversight than an incomplete support for right-to-left languages.
I sure hope they'll fix it, but whether Kobo will fix this in the near future or ever is entirely up to them. I'm just reporting it and hoping for the best.
Btw, there's a much MUCH more serious issue with overdrive on the device that I'm experiencing. I need to explore it a bit more before I'm ready to report it just to be 100% sure.

[LNSancho]

My Kobo Clara has started deleting the latest book that I open.

These are my own books, that I have added from my computer, rather than bought at the kobo store.

Is there a(n easy, non-tecnhical) solution for this?

Thank you!

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by LNSancho

My Kobo Clara has started deleting the latest book that I open.

These are my own books, that I have added from my computer, rather than bought at the kobo store.

Is there a(n easy, non-tecnhical) solution for this?

This is usually a sign of a corrupt database. When this happens, changes to the database cannot be written correctly. The device works, but, if it has to reread the database, the recent changes are not there. The fix, unless you have a backup of the database, is to sign out of the Kobo account on the device. When you sign in, the database will be recreated and the sideloaded books reloaded. Unfortunately, you will lose any reading status and annotations for the sideloaded books.

Occasionally the above does not work. When that happens, you may need to do a factory reset. After that the setup, you will need to add your books again.