Sage What actions after Kobo factory reset?

[baursak]

The last year and even a couple of weeks ago I had my Kobo synchronized with my MacBook Pro M2 by means of Calibre (updated to latest version 8.0.1) with Kobo Utilities plugin (updated to latest version 2.20.0) and SmartEject plugin (updated to latest version 2.6.0).

But yesterday that very Calibre on my MacBook stopped to launch synchronization upon connection with my Kobo (Calibre just didn't react on USB cable connection, though MacBook saw my Kobo device and Kobo properly switched to 'Connection' status).

So I made DB export from Calibre and created a catalog of the books prior to Kobo factory reset.

Then I made Kobo factory reset and no reaction again from Calibre: no sync...

I restarted MacBook and Calibre woke up (it seems that instead of Kobo factory reset I just had to restart MacBook, but what done is done).

Now all my 414 books from Calibre DB (including tittles, series, authors) were synchronized successfully with Kobo BUT

All of the books on my Kobo are now 'unread' (instead of particular 'Kobo % read' column old values in Calibre) and all of the books on Kobo are not sorted through (though I see all my 5 old shelves in Calibre).

1. Can I restore on my Kobo previous 'unread / reading / finished' statuses, which are still visible in Calibre?
2. Can I restore former reading positions that I still see in Calibre?

If not, - what actions / settings should I make to reset in Calibre values of (i) 'Kobo Reading Location' and (ii) 'Kobo % Read' columns and to start synchronization of both attributes mentioned above from the very beginning.

[Sirtel]

You can restore your reading status and positions via the Kobo Utilities plugin, if that's what you used to store them in calibre. Select the books, right-click on the Utilities icon -> restore current bookmark.

[baursak]

Thank you!
- It worked like a charm.
- Any chance to put books into former Collections?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by baursak

Thank you!
- It worked like a charm.
- Any chance to put books into former Collections?

That should happen automatically, if you have the metadata management set to automatic in the calibre settings (sending books to device), and the collections have been entered in the Kobo driver settings.

[baursak]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

That should happen automatically, if you have the metadata management set to automatic in the calibre settings (sending books to device), and the collections have been entered in the Kobo driver settings.

No, it didn't happen automatically, although it's set to 'Automatic'...
- However it's a minor problem: to delete old Collections on Kobo and in Calibre, then create them again on Kobo took me about 10 minutes only.
- On the other hand your advice helped me to create Collections anew and quickly fill them based on 'Kobo % Read' values.
- The most important thing is that now Calibre and Kobo are in sync again.

Thanks for all and have a nice day.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by baursak

No, it didn't happen automatically, although it's set to 'Automatic'...
- However it's a minor problem: to delete old Collections on Kobo and in Calibre, then create them again on Kobo took me about 10 minutes only.
- On the other hand your advice helped me to create Collections anew and quickly fill them based on 'Kobo % Read' values.
- The most important thing is that now Calibre and Kobo are in sync again.

Thanks for all and have a nice day.

No, it's probably not automatic if you created the collections on your Kobo. I don't create them on my Kobos; I just enter the column names my collections are based on in the Kobo driver settings and everything syncs automatically to my Kobos.

[baursak]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

No, it's probably not automatic if you created the collections on your Kobo. I don't create them on my Kobos; I just enter the column names my collections are based on in the Kobo driver settings and everything syncs automatically to my Kobos.

Ooo! Never heard it can work this way also. All the time from every Kobo user I have heard that Collections can be created on Kobo only so that they could be mirrored in Calibre after this.

Is 'Kobo driver' a plugin to Calibre? - Maybe 'Kobo Touch Extended'?
- But Kobo touch extended drivers are now removed by calibre 8 and can no longer be installed.

- Or it's Calibre built-in feature?

Will you please post appropriate settings screenshot?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by baursak

Ooo! Never heard it can work this way also. All the time from every Kobo user I have heard that Collections can be created on Kobo only so that they could be mirrored in Calibre after this.

Is 'Kobo driver' a plugin to Calibre? - Maybe 'Kobo Touch Extended'?
- But Kobo touch extended drivers are now removed by calibre 8 and can no longer be installed.

- Or it's Calibre built-in feature?

Will you please post appropriate settings screenshot?

Kobo driver is built-in. I've added screenshots.

[DNSB]

The KoboTouch driver has been built into calibre for what seems like forever. It is used by many to create collections on a Kobo based on whatever criteria you can fit into it's collection columns or generate from it's template. As for the KoboTouchExtended driver, it's main difference from the KoboTouch driver was the ability to convert an ePub into a Kepub on the fly. It's collection setup was identical to the KoboTouch driver. With the KoboTouch driver in calibre 8.0 gaining the ability to do that on the fly conversion, the KTE driver is no longer necessary and will not run in calibre 8.

As for me, I use the Kobo Utilities Update Metadata and Store/Restore Current Bookmark and their custom columns to save reading statistics and to restore them after a factory reset. My collections are limited to a single one called Finished just to make it easier when I feel like removing finished books from my Kobo's.

[baursak]

Originally Posted by DNSB

The KoboTouch driver has been built into calibre for what seems like forever. It is used by many to create collections on a Kobo based on whatever criteria you can fit into it's collection columns or generate from it's template. As for the KoboTouchExtended driver, it's main difference from the KoboTouch driver was the ability to convert an ePub into a Kepub on the fly. It's collection setup was identical to the KoboTouch driver. With the KoboTouch driver in calibre 8.0 gaining the ability to do that on the fly conversion, the KTE driver is no longer necessary and will not run in calibre 8.

As for me, I use the Kobo Utilities Update Metadata and Store/Restore Current Bookmark and their custom columns to save reading statistics and to restore them after a factory reset. My collections are limited to a single one called Finished just to make it easier when I feel like removing finished books from my Kobo's.

Thank you. - I have (and need) five Collections through all my eReaders (including Kobo). - How can I reserve more than one Collection in Calibre settings?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by baursak

Thank you. - I have (and need) five Collections through all my eReaders (including Kobo). - How can I reserve more than one Collection in Calibre settings?

You create a custom column with those five values and enter the column name in the driver settings. For example, I have genre-based collections - mystery, science fiction, fantasy and so on. They're all values in my #shelves column, which is the base of my Kobo collections. I enter the relevant values (i.e. genres) for individual books while editing metadata in Calibre, and the column name (shelves) in the driver settings.

[baursak]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

You create a custom column with those five values and enter the column name in the driver settings. For example, I have genre-based collections - mystery, science fiction, fantasy and so on. They're all values in my #shelves column, which is the base of my Kobo collections. I enter the relevant values (i.e. genres) for individual books while editing metadata in Calibre, and the column name (shelves) in the driver settings.

will you do me a favour and post here screen of this very column settings please?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by baursak

will you do me a favour and post here screen of this very column settings please?

Yes, but there's not that much to show; it's a very simple column, really. Yours could be something completely different, depends on what you want. For me, it's just a handful of genres and a couple of other keywords. I haven't bothered with complex templates or anything like that.

[baursak]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Yes, but there's not that much to show; it's a very simple column, really. Yours could be something completely different, depends on what you want. For me, it's just a handful of genres and a couple of other keywords. I haven't bothered with complex templates or anything like that.

1. I set KoboTouch driver
2. I add a custom column
3. I mark 5 books with 5 different values and sync with Kobo
4. I get 5 Collections in Calibre
5. I get 9 (2+2+2+2+1) Collections on Kobo

So, it didn't work on my side, alas

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Kobo driver is built-in. I've added screenshots.

Would that screenshot be from a pre-8.0.1 version of calibre as the extended driver is no longer?