Delete All Free Books

RedRoverJ · 05-14-2010, 07:49 PM

Is it possible to delete the included books by just deleting the database? Will it be re-created, empty of course, upon reset?

I do not have my Kobo yet but am planning for these issues when it does arrive.

Thanks.

Stinger · 05-14-2010, 07:55 PM

Yessir

SensualPoet · 05-14-2010, 09:30 PM

A better question ...

is it possible to delete all the free books on Kobo but back them up elsewhere and be able to restore them later individually?

Otherwise this freebie perk of "100 books" is bogus and just darned annoying.

It's not good enough to say: just download them again elsewhere from somewhere if you want them.

I "paid" for them and want them ... maybe in future I'll read them. For now, they clutter up the e-reader and I only want five of them to show up. How do I get from there to here?

pholy · 05-14-2010, 09:52 PM

A very good point, SP. In principle, one could dump out the 'free' content and restore it later. I think we have deduced almost enough about the database to do that. But even though the books are all public domain, they are encrypted in the database. Go figure. And I don't think we are sure of how that encryption works, whether we can save the key(s) and restore them, or if they will get lost when we delete the database. Perhaps Kobo will make that reloading possible someday.

RedRoverJ · 05-14-2010, 11:03 PM

Excellent. The first thing I will do is dump the database. Besides, the classics I do want to read are available all over the place in unencumbered ePub form. That won't be an issue.

As a follow up question... Does the update time, after syncing, improve without this massive database present? Or does that not seem to have any effect?

Thanks again.

pholy · 05-14-2010, 11:46 PM

Some experiments are best left to the interested owner....

Ummm, haven't a clue, I'm too busy reading to experiment

Ghoda · 05-17-2010, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

A better question ...

is it possible to delete all the free books on Kobo but back them up elsewhere and be able to restore them later individually?

Otherwise this freebie perk of "100 books" is bogus and just darned annoying.

It's not good enough to say: just download them again elsewhere from somewhere if you want them.

I "paid" for them and want them ... maybe in future I'll read them. For now, they clutter up the e-reader and I only want five of them to show up. How do I get from there to here?

I have done this - made a backup of the original SQLite DB and then proceeded to remove about 80 books I knew I would never read (even so, the remaining 20 are on my 'well, if I really have nothing better to read and these look somewhat interesting' list). Darkadept started a thread and later a wiki outlining the Kobo and its file structure/database. Your SQL-fu should be at least passable if you want to get those books out like I did. Word on the forums is that there is a Calibre driver in the works that will allow you to remove the books as well.

Ghoda · 05-17-2010, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedRoverJ

As a follow up question... Does the update time, after syncing, improve without this massive database present? Or does that not seem to have any effect?

I can't see any difference in the update/sync time between the DB with the 100 preloaded books and the one I stripped the preloads out of.

corona · 05-17-2010, 01:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghoda

I can't see any difference in the update/sync time between the DB with the 100 preloaded books and the one I stripped the preloads out of.

Me neither. Although it's easier navigating around without all those unwanted books cluttering everything up.

RedRoverJ · 05-18-2010, 06:54 PM

That's too bad. I was hoping that the lengthy update time was due to updating the database. Of course, since I plan on removing the database completely, I was hoping that it would improve the sync/update time.

05-14-2010, 07:49 PM	#1
RedRoverJ Zealot Posts: 125 Karma: 314 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Canada, Eh! Device: Kobo	Delete All Free Books Is it possible to delete the included books by just deleting the database? Will it be re-created, empty of course, upon reset? I do not have my Kobo yet but am planning for these issues when it does arrive. Thanks.

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05-14-2010, 07:55 PM	#2
Stinger Asha'man Posts: 335 Karma: 844 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Canada Device: Kobo	Yessir

05-14-2010, 09:30 PM	#3
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	A better question ... is it possible to delete all the free books on Kobo but back them up elsewhere and be able to restore them later individually? Otherwise this freebie perk of "100 books" is bogus and just darned annoying. It's not good enough to say: just download them again elsewhere from somewhere if you want them. I "paid" for them and want them ... maybe in future I'll read them. For now, they clutter up the e-reader and I only want five of them to show up. How do I get from there to here?

05-14-2010, 09:52 PM	#4
pholy Booklegger Posts: 1,801 Karma: 7999816 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Device: BeBook(1 & 2010), PEZ, PRS-505, Kobo BT, PRS-T1, Playbook, Kobo Touch	A very good point, SP. In principle, one could dump out the 'free' content and restore it later. I think we have deduced almost enough about the database to do that. But even though the books are all public domain, they are encrypted in the database. Go figure. And I don't think we are sure of how that encryption works, whether we can save the key(s) and restore them, or if they will get lost when we delete the database. Perhaps Kobo will make that reloading possible someday.

05-14-2010, 11:03 PM	#5
RedRoverJ Zealot Posts: 125 Karma: 314 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Canada, Eh! Device: Kobo	Excellent. The first thing I will do is dump the database. Besides, the classics I do want to read are available all over the place in unencumbered ePub form. That won't be an issue. As a follow up question... Does the update time, after syncing, improve without this massive database present? Or does that not seem to have any effect? Thanks again.

05-14-2010, 11:46 PM	#6
pholy Booklegger Posts: 1,801 Karma: 7999816 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Device: BeBook(1 & 2010), PEZ, PRS-505, Kobo BT, PRS-T1, Playbook, Kobo Touch	Some experiments are best left to the interested owner.... Ummm, haven't a clue, I'm too busy reading to experiment

05-18-2010, 06:54 PM	#10
RedRoverJ Zealot Posts: 125 Karma: 314 Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Canada, Eh! Device: Kobo	That's too bad. I was hoping that the lengthy update time was due to updating the database. Of course, since I plan on removing the database completely, I was hoping that it would improve the sync/update time.