New Kobo Firmware "April 2019" v4.13.12638

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Semwize

showed

Previously (all firmware up to this) showed the number and name of the current chapter (epub), it's not about %, it's about the fact that the current chapter was previously displayed, and now ALWAYS is the first.

The same goes for the content, previously the CURRENT chapter was noted, now ALWAYS the first.

Taking the last one first...

Do you mean that after reading the book a bit, and going to at least the second chapter, when you open the Table Of Contents, the tick is against the first chapter in the list? If so, that is not new. That is a bug that came in a while ago. It has been there for at least two years. But, it only affects books were an internal file has more than one ToC entry in. If the book is constructed to have a single ToC entry per internal file, the ToC works correctly. The one-to-one ToC entry-to-file is generally the recommended way to build the book, so it isn't something I hit very often. But, there are some reasons to do it the other way, so the bug is annoying. And I have a test book I keep on my devices specifically to check this when a new firmware version comes out.

For the annotations, it appears that the chapter title stored is affected by a similar bug. For my test book with one internal file and multiple ToC entries, when I made an annotation, no matter were it was in the book, it used the first chapter title. For books with one-to-one ToC entry-to-file construction, the correct chapter is used. I do enough annotations to have noticed if this was not the case. But, as I said, the structure of most of my books means I have one-to-one ToC entry-to-file, and rarely see the other construction. I'd be surprised if this is a new bug, as I think it is related to the ToC bug above. But, I'll put 4.12.12111 on my Aura H2O to check.

Of course, I might have misunderstood what you are talking about. I think I have the annotations part right, but, you haven't given me much to go on with the second bit.

But, the chapter title is not what @FrustratedReader is talking about. He has only mentioned "Chapter progress" and percentage. I think I'm the only one who has mentioned the chapter title stored with the annotations.

Disclaimer (excluding the last paragraph):
The above is a simple statement of fact. It is based on my experience with Kobo ereaders over the years. It includes some quick tests to confirm things with firmware 4.13.12638 on more than one of my devices. In no way is am I suggesting that this is the right way for it to be done, or that Kobo shouldn't fix bugs found in their software.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Taking the last one first...
But, it only affects books were an internal file has more than one ToC entry in. If the book is constructed to have a single ToC entry per internal file, the ToC works correctly.

Is there a way in calibre that I can, say, edit the TOC (deleting stuff I don't want split out) and then tell it to split the files in the book structure to match?

Mostly, I want it to split big files with multiple sections, but I don't want to split every section in a file, just the ones in the toc...

[Semwize]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Do you mean that after reading the book a bit, and going to at least the second chapter, when you open the Table Of Contents, the tick is against the first chapter in the list? If so, that is not new. That is a bug that came in a while ago. It has been there for at least two years. But, it only affects books were an internal file has more than one ToC entry in. If the book is constructed to have a single ToC entry per internal file, the ToC works correctly. The one-to-one ToC entry-to-file is generally the recommended way to build the book, so it isn't something I hit very often. But, there are some reasons to do it the other way, so the bug is annoying. And I have a test book I keep on my devices specifically to check this when a new firmware version comes out.

For the annotations, it appears that the chapter title stored is affected by a similar bug. For my test book with one internal file and multiple ToC entries, when I made an annotation, no matter were it was in the book, it used the first chapter title. For books with one-to-one ToC entry-to-file construction, the correct chapter is used. I do enough annotations to have noticed if this was not the case. But, as I said, the structure of most of my books means I have one-to-one ToC entry-to-file, and rarely see the other construction. I'd be surprised if this is a new bug, as I think it is related to the ToC bug above. But, I'll put 4.12.12111 on my Aura H2O to check.

Of course, I might have misunderstood what you are talking about. I think I have the annotations part right, but, you haven't given me much to go on with the second bit.

I have more than one Kobo device.

Therefore, I can check for identical books on different firmware. Firmware 4.12 works correctly, 4.13 - NO. It is with epub



CURRENT chapter has always been reflected here (name chapter), at 4.13 - the first. The same with the content, the check mark always remains on 1 position in 4.13

And it's not a book, it's a matter of errors in firmware 4.13

Have already mentioned that the search does not work correctly with the series of books.

I would also add that now it shows the volume of the SD card differently (not 29 but 32 gigabytes)

[dmapr]

Originally Posted by compurandom

Is there a way in calibre that I can, say, edit the TOC (deleting stuff I don't want split out) and then tell it to split the files in the book structure to match?

Mostly, I want it to split big files with multiple sections, but I don't want to split every section in a file, just the ones in the toc...

I use Sigil to do it manually (position cursor at the beginning of the new section, hit Ctrl + Enter). Once done I re-generate the ToC. IIRC it doesn't update an internal ToC if one is included, but I could be wrong.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by compurandom

Is there a way in calibre that I can, say, edit the TOC (deleting stuff I don't want split out) and then tell it to split the files in the book structure to match?

Mostly, I want it to split big files with multiple sections, but I don't want to split every section in a file, just the ones in the toc...

You can do it with a conversion. Depending on how you set it up, that will tend to split each chapter to a separate file and generate the ToC.

Otherwise, the calibre editor can do it. You can split and rename files. And the ToC tool can generate the entries and allow you to add or remove as desired. The ToC tool can be used separately if you want to tweak it.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Semwize

I have more than one Kobo device.

Therefore, I can check for identical books on different firmware. Firmware 4.12 works correctly, 4.13 - NO. It is with epub



CURRENT chapter has always been reflected here (name chapter), at 4.13 - the first. The same with the content, the check mark always remains on 1 position in 4.13

The photo isn't that useful as you have cropped it in exactly the way to not show some of the details you are commenting on. With both 4.12.12111 and 4.13.12638, underneath the slider, I see a text version of the position. Exactly what is there depends on the format and the setting of the page progress. For "Current chapter", it displays the chapter name followed by "Page x of y". For "Entire book", it just displays "Page x of y".

For the arrows, again, it is working the same for both 4.12.12111 and 4.13.12638. And this is probably another symptom of the multiple-toc-to-file structure. For the epub I am reading, that has one ToC entry per file, the arrows work as I would expect. On the first page of the first chapter, the left arrows are disabled. As move through the book, they are enabled. Tapping either double arrow moves me to the next or previous chapter.

For my test book which has a single file and multiple ToC entries in it, the left arrows are never enabled. The right double arrow is enabled and moves to the second ToC entry, but doesn't move after that. The single arrows are working, but, the book isn't long enough to be exactly sure of what is happening. The page count shows as two, but, it has a lot of different font sizes and spacing, so is spread over a lot more screens than two. If the photo had included the chapter and page text, I'd be able to see what is happening for you better.

And it's not a book, it's a matter of errors in firmware 4.13

Well, I can't see the difference in behaviour between 4.12.12111 and 4.13.12638, but, I can see the difference between two books, so I can't agree.

Have already mentioned that the search does not work correctly with the series of books.

Yes, and I reported it to Kobo and it will be fixed in the next release.

I would also add that now it shows the volume of the SD card differently (not 29 but 32 gigabytes)

I hadn't noticed. It seems to be showing the installed storage size rather than the size of the book partition. If that is it, it will now match what the specs say for the device.

[Semwize]

davidfor,
I dropped an epub book for you in private messages.

To make it clearer what I am writing about. On 4.12 and other firmware, everything works correctly, at 4.13 it does not work.

And so with all the books.

If everything works in 4.12 and earlier firmware, but not work in 4.13, then the conclusion is obvious. Blame the firmware, not the book, as you are trying to present.

[tamarissa]

So when will Calibre be releasing a version that works with this new Kobo update? I can't manage my library at all right now. The biggest headaches at the moment are not being able to delete books at all from my device in Calibre, and my collections are not being updated in my Kobo Aura H2O with new books or changes added from Calibre.
And yes, before I get asked about it, my collections management options are set to automatic and the collection options are set up in the driver configurations.

I get this message every single time I try to do anything:

calibre, version 3.40.1
WARNING: Failed: Kobo database version unsupported - See details

Your Kobo is running an updated firmware/database version. As calibre does not know about this updated firmware, database editing is disabled, to prevent corruption. You can still send books to your Kobo with calibre, but deleting books and managing collections is disabled. If you are willing to experiment and know how to reset your Kobo to Factory defaults, you can override this check by right clicking the device icon in calibre and selecting "Configure this device" and then the "Attempt to support newer firmware" option. Doing so may require you to perform a factory reset of your Kobo.
Device database version: 149.
Device firmware version: (4, 13, 12638)

I am not willing to screw up my ereader, so the suggestion noted does not apply to me.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by tamarissa

So when will Calibre be releasing a version that works with this new Kobo update? I can't manage my library at all right now. The biggest headaches at the moment are not being able to delete books at all from my device in Calibre, and my collections are not being updated in my Kobo Aura H2O with new books or changes added from Calibre.
And yes, before I get asked about it, my collections management options are set to automatic and the collection options are set up in the driver configurations.

I get this message every single time I try to do anything:

I am not willing to screw up my ereader, so the suggestion noted does not apply to me.

You will not screw up your ereader by enabling that option. If there were going to be any issues, they would have been posted in this forum. Very likely within minutes of the firmware release going public.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by tamarissa

So when will Calibre be releasing a version that works with this new Kobo update? I can't manage my library at all right now. The biggest headaches at the moment are not being able to delete books at all from my device in Calibre, and my collections are not being updated in my Kobo Aura H2O with new books or changes added from Calibre.
And yes, before I get asked about it, my collections management options are set to automatic and the collection options are set up in the driver configurations.

I get this message every single time I try to do anything:



I am not willing to screw up my ereader, so the suggestion noted does not apply to me.

As @DNSB said, you will not screw up your ereader. But, if you are concerned when a new firmware comes out, look for the thread on the firmware and read it. There will always be a comment on this. Usually it will come from me within a few hours of the release, I will post my knowledge of the firmware which will include a statement about the calibre driver status. I maintain the driver and I am in the Kobo beta group and have usually tested it before release. There hasn't been a real issue with the update for a long time. If there ever is, the post will have a warning in large red letters, and they will flash if I can make them.

As to when the next calibre release is, I don't know. The usual schedule is every second Friday. But, Kovid is in the midst of a bigger change than normal, and has skipped a few. There is a beta in the calibre forum you can try. The latest version doesn't seem to have any issues.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Semwize

davidfor,
I dropped an epub book for you in private messages.

To make it clearer what I am writing about. On 4.12 and other firmware, everything works correctly, at 4.13 it does not work.

And so with all the books.

If everything works in 4.12 and earlier firmware, but not work in 4.13, then the conclusion is obvious. Blame the firmware, not the book, as you are trying to present.

I have the book and I see the same behaviour on the firmware on the device I have with me. I'll have to test 4.12.12111 when I get home tonight.

But, testing most of the books I have, they do not have this problem. I'll have to have a play with your book to try and see what it is. The two things that jumped out where that not all files have a ToC entry, and there is a page map.

I have replied to your PM with a link to a book that I know works in 4.13.

[Semwize]

davidfor,
I repeat, can change the book, but...

If everything worked fine on 4.12 and earlier firmwares, and does not work on 4.13 Can still Kobo roll back the changes and not users will spend a bunch of their time?

Your book works fine, but I've explained to you in private messages that this is, unfortunately, a massive problem, far from one book.

[EmperorMittens]

I am experiencing a massive problem with this update.
I got installed automatically just earlier today for me.

I have a bunch of epubs loaded with calibre.
Reading is fine.
However If I go back to home the book percent read is updated and seems appropriate.
However when I go back to the book, either from Home (as recent read) or manually from books/collections it opens up at the page I was last reading before the update the had occurred.

For example, I was at page 103 (of 234) in a book before it updated. The home page listed it at 44% read. I open the book and read to page 106 and go to "Home". It shows 45% read now, but when I open the book again it opens at page 103.

Even worse, if I use the slider from "<->" to pick a page number it doesn't update the percent when I go back and home and once again opens at the previous page.

Shutting down and restarting the kobo doesn't fix anything.
It doesn't seem to be saving any new reading positions at all.
Even worse, some books don't seem to be acknowledged at all. I can open them up and they don't even show up in recently read and simply open back at whatever page (or the start if I hadn't started yet) I was at before the update happened.
This makes the kobo kind of useless at the moment.

I think I had left the wifi off and had not actually updated the firmware for several years. I had accidently turned it on and it auto-updated before I knew it.

Does anyone have some suggestions.

Everything was working perfectly before this.

Edit: The "Home" page changed on me too.
I used have a larger single "recently read" on the upper left. A cascading of covers showing new books in the upper middle. I don't remember what was on the right side or lower as I never used them.
Now it is 4 recently read on the upper half with a "my books" that seems to be cascading covers for "new" in the lower left and then it seems to be same author cascading covers in the lower right.

Thanks

[Semwize]

Originally Posted by EmperorMittens

Does anyone have some suggestions.

Everything was working perfectly before this.

This firmware has many bugs, especially for books in the epub

What I unsuccessfully explain 2 page. Roll back to 4.12 the most correct option. Advantages in addition to the new language in this firmware no. If you read mainly the epub of the book, I would not recommend 4.13. Everything works fine with kepub.

And Kobo is not the first time making mistakes for epub books, unfortunately.

[compurandom]

Originally Posted by davidfor

You can do it with a conversion. Depending on how you set it up, that will tend to split each chapter to a separate file and generate the ToC.

Otherwise, the calibre editor can do it. You can split and rename files. And the ToC tool can generate the entries and allow you to add or remove as desired. The ToC tool can be used separately if you want to tweak it.

I know /how/ to edit the TOC and how to split the files.

What I'm asking is if there is a way to automatically split the files based on the TOC.

I know I can split by xpath expression, but if I generate the TOC that way and I don't like it and then fix the toc itself, now I want to automatically split based on my TOC edits...

You say the conversion will /tend/ to split files... the whole point of this exercise is to make the TOC work correctly on the device by making file splits match. I suspect that /tend/ to work isn't good enough...and probably makes other changes that might not be desired.

Maybe I need to put this in as a feature request, probably to the editor.