Kobo not recognized by computer

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by leokennis

But, let’s be real, the actual problem is Kobo. People with all brands of laptops can connect all types of USB peripherals (mouse, usb drive, hard drive, phones, coffee mug warmers...) without issues. But only Kobo ereaders give issues.

Always nice to seeing someone who can dream.

Sorry but I've seen connections issues with cameras (including ones from Microsoft), ereaders, flash drives, mice, external hard drives, etc. At least, I haven't seen a Kobo ereader bluescreen a Window machine as Kindle devices did in a couple of previews.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by leokennis

But, let’s be real, the actual problem is Kobo. People with all brands of laptops can connect all types of USB peripherals (mouse, usb drive, hard drive, phones, coffee mug warmers...) without issues. But only Kobo ereaders give issues.

There are also problems connecting some Kindles to USB. It's not just Kobo. But the thing is, there is a solution or Kobo. I'm not sure if the same solution will work with a Kindle.

[marst]

Originally Posted by leokennis

But, let’s be real, the actual problem is Kobo. People with all brands of laptops can connect all types of USB peripherals (mouse, usb drive, hard drive, phones, coffee mug warmers...) without issues. But only Kobo ereaders give issues.

"What a wonderful world it would be." How I wish "only Kobo ereaders" had issues. The last time I tried to connect my new-and-not-even-used-much-yet external 6 GB drive (Seagate, if it matters), it refused to connect and I got the same error message I get when the Kobo won't connect. I will have to try a different cable; there's no reason this drive shouldn't be connecting.

It's such an entertaining error message, too. Even if the last external USB device connected without trouble, the error message says something about the previous device having failed to connect. It's completely wrong—every time—and Windows absolutely insists it's what happened. Yeah, right. :-)

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There are also problems connecting some Kindles to USB. It's not just Kobo. ...

Yeah, but I see this issue crop up a lot more in the Kobo forum than anywhere else. I don't have any trouble with any of my readers hooking up to a USB port (Kobo or otherwise) but that might have something to do with my using Linux.

[beachboybogart]

Exacerbating the problem is that the Kobo goes into a semi-conscious state as the screen darkens and gives no idea what's going on after selecting CONNECT. I also find it annoying that when I simply plug it in to charge, it thinks I am trying to coonect (maybe just a poorly designed interface blip). Pretty much every other device gives you some indication of what's happening when files are being transferred.

For a while, if I plugged my USB cable into a non-powered USB adapter and then the Kobo, Calibre would recognize it. That was after updating to some version of Windows a while back. Now with the latest version, it doesn't seem to matter again. However, using a laptop instead of my personal daily tower, everything just works. Windows recognizes it, Kobo Desktop, Calibre... the whole shooting match.

It thus appears that it is a combination of things: motherboard, video drivers, Windows version, USB drivers (updated or not)... the list is endless and there is no way to fix it with the current Kobo firmware. Or it would have been fixed by now. All one can do is hope ONE of the recommended solutions will work. Or maybe switch back to a Kindle (shudder) which never seems to fail on my machine.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by beachboybogart

Exacerbating the problem is that the Kobo goes into a semi-conscious state as the screen darkens and gives no idea what's going on after selecting CONNECT. I also find it annoying that when I simply plug it in to charge, it thinks I am trying to coonect (maybe just a poorly designed interface blip). Pretty much every other device gives you some indication of what's happening when files are being transferred.

I've never seen a Sony Reader, Kindle, or Kobo show that files are being transferred.

[beachboybogart]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've never seen a Sony Reader, Kindle, or Kobo show that files are being transferred.

Then it's a shortcoming with all of them. However, that is just one small annoyance along with the others. And not my reason for posting. Still, the logical next point is if the display showed a little more information, we might have a better idea of whether it is actually connected properly, and thus perhaps some remedial direction to help solve this ongoing problem.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by beachboybogart

Then it's a shortcoming with all of them. However, that is just one small annoyance along with the others. And not my reason for posting. Still, the logical next point is if the display showed a little more information, we might have a better idea of whether it is actually connected properly, and thus perhaps some remedial direction to help solve this ongoing problem.

It's pretty easy to tell if it connected properly. Windows users can see if it mounted as a drive, Macinstosh users can see if it mounts as a removable drive on their desktop, Linux users depending on how they configure their system but much the same, if it shows as a removable drive.

BTW, my StarTech USB3-SATA cable works in the charging/always on/USB3 port ( tested with a Seagate 1TB HD and 3 different SSD drives)on my laptop but not in the standard USB3 port while my Kobo and Tolino ereaders work in the standard port but not the charging port.

[beachboybogart]

Originally Posted by DNSB

It's pretty easy to tell if it connected properly. Windows users can see if it mounted as a drive, Macinstosh users can see if it mounts as a removable drive on their desktop, Linux users depending on how they configure their system but much the same, if it shows as a removable drive.

No it's not, actually. The whole Windows issue revolves around the fact that the OS may or may not give an audible connection signal, the device may or may not show up in File Manager, but invariably does not appear in Caliber, or, when it does, the contents of the Kobo do not display in the program, and books cannot be copied to the Kobo. So this causes users to not be clear on whether or not it is actually connected, whether the USB connection is recognized but not completed, whether the cable itself is bad (rarely, but that's where a lot of users are looking), whether the OS is out of date on the Kobo, whether a newer or older version of Calibre is the problem... you get the gist.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by beachboybogart

No it's not, actually. The whole Windows issue revolves around the fact that the OS may or may not give an audible connection signal, the device may or may not show up in File Manager, but invariably does not appear in Caliber, or, when it does, the contents of the Kobo do not display in the program, and books cannot be copied to the Kobo. So this causes users to not be clear on whether or not it is actually connected, whether the USB connection is recognized but not completed, whether the cable itself is bad (rarely, but that's where a lot of users are looking), whether the OS is out of date on the Kobo, whether a newer or older version of Calibre is the problem... you get the gist.

Been there, done that for a lot of years. So far I have never had an issue with calibre seeing a Kobo ereader that was mounted as a drive. It may have complained about database corruption or other issues but that's a different story from not being able to see the device.

OTOH, I will admit to having seen a lot of posters who complained that calibre would not see their ereader but when questioned, also admitted it was not mounted in File Explorer, MacOS desktop, File Manager (ahhh... OS/2 and Windows up to 1998(?)). Android MTP devices which mount, by default, in charge only mode are one of the more popular examples.

[compurandom]

I had a problem with Windows 10 (1909) not recognizing my kobo. It didn't show up in disk manager or even the USB device list. Then I realized that none of my USB disk devices were working. I figure missing or corrupt device driver. (Non-disk usbs were working fine.)

When I did the feature update to the latest version, my USB disks came back along with the kobo. Very frustrating.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by DNSB

So far I have never had an issue with calibre seeing a Kobo ereader that was mounted as a drive.

There is also the need for calibre to know the USB ID of the Kobo, so an old version of calibre might not recognize a Kobo that has been mounted as a drive.

[beachboybogart]

Originally Posted by compurandom

I had a problem with Windows 10 (1909) not recognizing my kobo. It didn't show up in disk manager or even the USB device list. Then I realized that none of my USB disk devices were working. I figure missing or corrupt device driver. (Non-disk usbs were working fine.)

When I did the feature update to the latest version, my USB disks came back along with the kobo. Very frustrating.

That does sometimes work, for sure. Best way is to go into Device Manager and delete USB drivers, then reboot. Windows will auto-install the latest or the un-broken versions in your FileRepository.