PRS-350 Baffled by Sony Reader annotations

[diamante]

Hello.

Before I explain my problem I'll start with a few specific questions.

1. Where does Reader Library store annotations for books in C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\Sony Corporation\Reader\Database\kLibrary, and can these annotations be backed up and/or restored to the Sony Reader?

2. What about for books in C:\Users\<user name>\Documents\My Books\Reader Library?

3. What are the files in C:\Users\<user name>\Documents\My Books\Reader Library\Manifest? Is this just e-book metadata?

Now for my problem. Yesterday I noticed that all of the annotations on my Sony Reader, which I've only had for a few weeks, had disappeared, with the exception of those after a certain point in the book I was reading. It appears the device has lost my entire history, although it did at least still open each book correctly to the last page accessed. However, on the home screen it showed books I had finished reading as "New" and, again, their notes were gone.

Before this happened yesterday I was reading an e-book on my Reader (a book that was originally in eReader PDB format), and I noticed that when I got to chapter 3 the font was suddenly smaller. I looked at every other chapter in the book and verified that only chapter 3 had the smaller font. I thought this was strange. Then later in the day I noticed that the font size for chapter 3 had returned to normal. After that I went to my list of notes and realized that all of my annotations for chapters 1 and 2 had disappeared, and I only had my notes starting from the beginning of chapter 3, the spot I had noticed the mysterious and temporary change in font size.

My main question is how I can avoid losing annotations and how I can restore them in the event they are lost. I tried replacing an eppub.annot file on the device with one that I had backed up (and then restarting the device), but the Reader seemed to ignore the new file. I called Sony tech support, but they obviously had no idea what I was talking about.

From what I can guess, the possible causes of the disappearance of my annotations are (1) a glitch that was somehow related to the temporary change in the font size displayed for just one chapter of the e-book I was reading, (2) the use of both Calibre and Reader Library to manage e-books on the device or (3) the fact that I replaced an image file on the device while it was connected to my computer, by overwriting it with a file of the same name. Thanks in advance for any information.

[elcreative]

Several possibilities as you suggest... could be caused by ebook problem, have you had calibre and SRL open at same time with reader connected (a real no-no, two programs trying to access same stuff at same time, corruption, data loss almost guaranteed), replacing image file might have caused corruption especially if differing sizes but same name and also relating to previous point (safer to delete file then replace)... sorry can't be more definitive but all these things can cause problems.

[vxf]

In klibrary, under markup/root, you will find folders (one for each 'book'). The annotations are stored inside those.

I have two methods for backup. One, I just keep a backup copy of the entire 'Reader' folder. I have tested it and, if things go wrong, copying the backup over the existing Reader folder will restore annotations (on your PC. You can then transfer that over to the device).

The second option is to use an SD card. Put it in the device and copy a book over. That will format the card. Now, you can put that SD card into any card-reader connected to your PC. Just drag and drop everything (through the Reader software) over to the SD card. That will create a backup copy of everything, including your annotations.

[diamante]

Thank you for the replies.

elcreative, I did have Calibre and Reader Library open once at the same time, but only because I did not yet know that Reader Library by default opens automatically when a Reader is connected! Live and learn, I guess. I closed Reader Library immediately and thought I'd be okay, but I suppose something could have been corrupted.

vxf, on my computer there is no markup/root in the klibrary folder, just two books for which annotations (highlights, notes, etc.; I haven't used the handwritten notes feature) do show up when I open them in Reader Library. I have my computer set to display hidden and system files, by the way. Are the annotations files supposed to have names ending in epub.annot like the ones on the reader? I can't find any such files at all on my computer.

Backing up the Reader folder sounds like a good idea. The PRS-350 doesn't have an SD card slot, but I suppose I could use any type of media to back up the library the way you describe. And I guess the location of annotations files may be a moot point if I can just drag and drop from the Reader Library to back everything up. I'll try that.

[boxcorner]

As regards where files are stored, you might find this helpful:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=117872

[Bookworm_Girl]

I periodically back-up the folders on my ereader too. I have successfully restored lost annotations from that back-up using the suggestions in this thread link.
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho....php?p=1368895

A few differences:
1) I don't modify the media.xml file as suggested.
2) I have found that you don't have to to paste everything between <text> and </text>. You will see for each book there is a tag called <markup> and </markup> where your annotations are stored. I copy & paste everything between those items from the back-up to my ereader.

[diamante]

This is some more useful information; thanks to you both! I will try these suggestions and report back if I discover anything interesting.

By the way, are the Sony Readers pretty good about NOT LOSING ANNOTATIONS unless I do something dumb like open Calibre and Reader Library at the same time? I'm just hoping that the feature is pretty reliable and that I won't have to be restoring annotations on a regular basis.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Typically my annotations don't just disappear. I lost my annotations the same way that you did. We all make silly mistakes even when we know better. I ended up reformatting my 950 and reinstalling Reader Library. Luckily I had a backup from which to recreate my annotations. I also periodically use the Sony software to export the annotations to an RTF file. Some of the earlier models (especially my 505) used to have random restarts and then you would lose recent annotations, but the new models are much more stable.

[vxf]

Originally Posted by diamante

Thank you for the replies.

elcreative, I did have Calibre and Reader Library open once at the same time, but only because I did not yet know that Reader Library by default opens automatically when a Reader is connected! Live and learn, I guess. I closed Reader Library immediately and thought I'd be okay, but I suppose something could have been corrupted.

vxf, on my computer there is no markup/root in the klibrary folder, just two books for which annotations (highlights, notes, etc.; I haven't used the handwritten notes feature) do show up when I open them in Reader Library. I have my computer set to display hidden and system files, by the way. Are the annotations files supposed to have names ending in epub.annot like the ones on the reader? I can't find any such files at all on my computer.

Backing up the Reader folder sounds like a good idea. The PRS-350 doesn't have an SD card slot, but I suppose I could use any type of media to back up the library the way you describe. And I guess the location of annotations files may be a moot point if I can just drag and drop from the Reader Library to back everything up. I'll try that.

I am going to speculate here, but I hope it still helps.

If I have a file on my PC and I simply add it to the library, it will keep the file in its original location and just 'link' to it. I suspect the annotations might then be also stored where the original file lies.

On the other side, if I download a file through the Reader, the file and annotations are stored under the Reader folder.

Since I want everything in the Reader folder, I got into the habit of adding a file to the library, transferring it over to the device, delete it from the library, transfer from the device to the library. That way, it forces it to create a new copy of the file under the Reader folder. And the annotations get stored under the same library.

It's a bit cumbersome, but this way I make sure that I can simply have everything in one place (the Reader folder).

On the other side, if you simply use the Reader library to drag and drop the files onto some external media (be it an SD card or anything else) then the above is really not necessary (i think...).

Now, you mention the 350 does not have an SD slot. I don't know whether that is a problem. Putting the card in my 950 formats it and creates the necessary storage folders (subsequently, you can just drag and drop with the card in your PC). I am not sure whether you can achieve the same result without first inserting the card into your device. I suspect you can, I just haven't tried it.

Hope this makes sense. I am tired...

[Bookworm_Girl]

vxf, thanks for the explanation. I understand your process now. Once you transfer your books from your device back to your computer, do you keep backups of the kLibrary folder? I had to reinstall Reader Library recently. The Mac reinstall process completely wiped out the kLibrary folder. I just went into my backup software and looked at various versions of this folder pre- and post-reinstall to confirm.

My approach is that I sync most of my book collections between Reader Library and my 950. I also have it setup to merge notes from the computer version and the ereader version. That way my notes from my ereader are copied over to the linked hard-drive files in Reader Library during the sync. I just can't figure out where the annotations for the hard-drive files are stored. They must be buried in one of the software database files is my best guess. They aren't kept in the same folder location as the linked file.

[vxf]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

vxf, thanks for the explanation. I understand your process now. Once you transfer your books from your device back to your computer, do you keep backups of the kLibrary folder? I had to reinstall Reader Library recently. The Mac reinstall process completely wiped out the kLibrary folder. I just went into my backup software and looked at various versions of this folder pre- and post-reinstall to confirm.

My approach is that I sync most of my book collections between Reader Library and my 950. I also have it setup to merge notes from the computer version and the ereader version. That way my notes from my ereader are copied over to the linked hard-drive files in Reader Library during the sync. I just can't figure out where the annotations for the hard-drive files are stored. They must be buried in one of the software database files is my best guess. They aren't kept in the same folder location as the linked file.

Well, I backup the whole "Reader" folder. That includes the klibrary folder.

I double checked once more and, sure enough, my "books" (the ones that are properly imported) are stored under:
/Reader/Database/klibrary
While the annotations for the same books are stored under
/Reader/Database/klibrary/markup/root

In the root folder, there is one folder for every annotated book. The annotations themselves are saved in JPEG and SVG files.

But you mentioned using a Mac. I wonder if the file management is organized differently.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Glad to hear you back up that folder. I helped someone recently restore ebooks from that folder in their backup records after a Reader Library reinstall wiped it clean, and they didn't know where their books went.

I misunderstood before when you said you back-up the Reader folder. I thought you were referring to folders on your ereader. When I plug in my 950 on my Mac, it shows up in Mac Finder (equivalent to Windows Explorer) as a drive icon titled "READER". I don't know if your ereader has a name or just a volume letter on your PC. My method is to back-up the annotations folder and cache files on the ereader. And, I also back-up my hard-drive folders too. Rather than keep copies of my ebooks in the kLibrary folder on my hard-drive, I keep all my ebooks in a specific folder on my hard-drive. That way they will still be there after a software reinstall.

The file path for kLibrary on a Mac is mostly similar. On a Mac, the path is:
Users/(username)/Library/Preferences/Sony Corporation/Reader/Database/kLibrary

When I went through my backup records, Markup wasn't a direct subfolder of kLibrary. There were several subfolders in between - can't remember the names. I also didn't have subfolders with book titles. I had two files in Markup. One was a jpg file, and one was a SVG file. They were for two different books. I don't move files over very frequently from my ereader to the hard-drive within Reader Library. I mostly use the collection sync feature to transfer files.

Currently I have no "markup" folder under kLibrary. I do have annotations on my ebooks that were imported into the Reader Library from copies on my hard-drive. So the annotations have to be stored somewhere... I think that perhaps you see annotations in your markup folder because of the drag-and-drop method that you use from the ereader to the hard-drive and the annotations you made on your ereader came along with the ebook file.

[diamante]

I would like to pause for a second here to thank Sony for making backing up and restoring annotations such an intuitive, straightforward process.

Your e-book readers are very elegant, Sony, but can't you give us an advanced annotations FAQ? Especially since your support people don't seem to have a clue about this stuff?

In the meantime, thanks, Bookworm_Girl and vxf, for the helpful information!

[boxcorner]

diamante: I don't back up book notes, or use the Mac OS, so unfortunately I can't offer much help, however I have added this thread to file/folder structure hierarchy PDF located here https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=117872 in the hope that it will help others who encounter the same difficulty.

Bookworm_Girl: It's interesting that with the Mac OS the reader appears as a drive icon entitled "READER", as that's how it is with Linux too.

everyone: I would welcome any feedback to help make this PDF guide more generic, so it becomes useful to all users of 350/650/950 readers, as well as the Windows/Mac/Linux OS's. Furthermore, whilst this PDF currently just relates to the locations of files on the reader, I would be happy to add further notes providing information on the the locations of files, when backed up to Windows/Mac/Linux, if anyone thinks this would be helpful.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by diamante

I would like to pause for a second here to thank Sony for making backing up and restoring annotations such an intuitive, straightforward process.

Thanks for your humor and making me smile!