Book in Calibre Series is not being added to collection in Sony PRS 300

[Sean0]

Hello,

I've been searching the forums, but have not found a similar problem.

I have one specific book in a series in my Calibre Library, but when I add it to my Sony PRS 300 it isn't added to the associated Collection.

The book is book 12 in the series and have added book 13 to the library and subsequently to the Collection on the reader with no problems.

All books in the series are EPUB.

I have attempted to remove the book from the ereader and then re-send it to the device. As soon as I disconnect from the computer the book is not in the collection.

I have attempted to remove the entire collection from the ereader. Then disconnected the ereader from the computer and allowed it to update, then I re-sent the entire series from Calibre to the device.
When I checked the collections in the Device library from within Calibre, the book was in the proper Collection. Once I disconnected the device and it updated itself the book was no longer in the Collection.

Has anyone experienced this problem and been able to solve it?

thank you.

[chaley]

Before we do anything, be sure that metadata management (preferences -> send to device -> metadata management) is set to automatic. Send the books, unplug the device, plug it back in, then run calibre again. Don't send the books again. Unplug the device and see if the series are as you expect.

If the above changes nothing, then the only way I know to solve this problem is to look at the Sony databases at several points. You can post the databases here if you don't care that the world sees what books you have on your device. If you do care, then create a ticket at https://bugs.launchpad.net/calibre, mark the ticket private, then post the files there as attachments.

What I need to see is the sony database file, found on your reader at database/cache/media.xml. Best would be for you to:
1) remove the series from the device
2) unplug the device and wait until it is ready.
3) stop calibre
4) plug in the device and grab a copy of the database. Unplug the device.
5) start calibre, restart calibre in debug mode (on preferences menu)
6) plug in the device, send the series, stop calibre, capture the debug log in a text file. Do not unplug the device.
7) grab a copy of the database.
8) unplug the device, wait, plug it back in, being sure that calibre is not running.
9) grab a copy of the database.

Be sure to name the copies appropriately. Put all three database files + the debug log into a zip file and post it.

[speakingtohe]

I had something similiar happen, but it was caused by a typo in the series name (extra space before series name I think). I had to reconvert the book before it worked right.

Probably not the same problem though.

Helen

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I had something similiar happen, but it was caused by a typo in the series name (extra space before series name I think). I had to reconvert the book before it worked right.

Probably not the same problem though.

Most likely this is the source of the problem.

Hopefully following chaley's instructions will work or help Charles figure out what is happening.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by speakingtohe

I had something similiar happen, but it was caused by a typo in the series name (extra space before series name I think). I had to reconvert the book before it worked right.

Probably not the same problem though.

Helen

Fast way to discover this is to open the series list (sorted by name) in the tag browser.
You will see the series listed more than once (which one is wrongish)

[Sean0]

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your replies.
chaley - It worked. Set library management to Automatic.
Removed series. Unlugged device. Re-sent series...and followed the rest of your instructions. The book is now part of the series, thank you.
Would you have an idea why it wasn't added to the series when Library management was set to manual? My understanding is that it's not supposed to remove any collections, but should add books to the collections if necessary.

speakingtohe, dwanthny, theducks - That was also an idea that I had. I should have mentioned in the original post that I updated the metadata of the conflicting book by using the drop down menu and selecting the correct series.
I figured that would avoid any user error on my part.

thanks again.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Sean0

Would you have an idea why it wasn't added to the series when Library management was set to manual? My understanding is that it's not supposed to remove any collections, but should add books to the collections if necessary.

Two possibilities come to mind:
1. Sonys support timezones, but there is no way (that I know of) to determine what that timezone is. Because of this, the dates can be wrong, leading the sony to reread metadata from the book and change the sony database. It is possible that it changes the series database in the process.

2. A problem I just found because of a bug report involving a kindle: if you have author_sort values for the same author spelled with different case, and if you use author_sort in templates, then calibre can get confused about whether or not the books are on the device. For example, if you have books with author_sort values McCaffrey and Mccaffrey, then when written, the device thinks the names are the same while calibre thinks they are different. One of the spellings will win on the device's file system. As far as calibre is concerned, the others disappear, resulting in series (and other) information going away on the device for such books. Book matching will then find the books again (usually), and automatic management will put the 'new' book back into the series.

My guess is that your problem is related to #2. The author_sort of book thirteen is probably spelled with different case from the other books in the series.