Overdrive Kobo Aura One sync issues

[Cootey]

I recently received a replacement for my faulty Kobo Aura One, and I'm running into sync issues with Overdrive that I wonder if somebody else has experience fixing. My first Kobo interfaced with Overdrive perfectly. It's a shame I had to return it for a defective backlight. The new KA1 has had a difficult time staying in sync with Overdrive. I've had to sign out and sign back in four times. In the first KA1, the books I borrowed automagically appeared in My Books. The new KA1 isn't so automagical. I have only five books synced to my KA1 now of the six I've borrowed. The new one I just borrowed has still not shown up after 30 minutes.

So my questions:

1) Is there a way to force sync Overdrive with my KA1? (short of signing out and signing back in as I've been doing?)
2) How long does the KA1 usually take to notice a new library loan?
3) Are there books that can't be loaned onto the KA1 for some DRM reason?
4) Is the problem I am running into avoided by doing all my Overdrive borrowing from the KA1 instead of using my desktop web browser as I usually do?

Anybody know? Thanks.

As a side note, I used ADE to side load a book onto my KA1, but even though the KA1 is authorized, the book refused to open. It's likely a different issue, but just in case it is related I offer it for your consideration.

Cheers,
~Dˢ

[JSWolf]

You need to say what firmware you are using.

[MGlitch]

1) Is there a way to force sync Overdrive with my KA1? (short of signing out and signing back in as I've been doing?)

No, but a normal sync should work just by hitting the sync button. You shouldn't need to sign in and out of anything.

2) How long does the KA1 usually take to notice a new library loan?

In my experience a few minutes.

3) Are there books that can't be loaned onto the KA1 for some DRM reason?

Not for DRM reasons, but the Kobo store needs to have the same edition of the ebooks you're borrowing. Not just the same title.

4) Is the problem I am running into avoided by doing all my Overdrive borrowing from the KA1 instead of using my desktop web browser as I usually do?

The more you do from the device itself the better as far as i can tell.


Do make sure you're running the current firmware, which is at least 4.3xx but preferably 4.4xx

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You need to say what firmware you are using.

4.3.8945 (14b5a0d83e, 3/8/17)

[Cootey]

1) Manual sync doesn't fix the problem.
2) I've waited a few hours, and the new books have not arrived on my device. There is a problem with my account. I can put books on hold and return them from my new KA1, but not borrow them. Well, not all of them at any rate. My previous KA1 didn't have these issues, but I don't think it's the new KA1 at fault.
3) That may account for one of the books, but not the others. Overdrive is not updating on my unit.
4) I can change my habits, but I suspect this isn't the problem. It really sounds like an authorization/sync issue.

Originally Posted by MGlitch

Do make sure you're running the current firmware, which is at least 4.3xx but preferably 4.4xx

I ran Kobo desktop and it claimed to update my Kobo device, but it seems that it only updated the Kobo desktop software, perhaps? I am repairing my Kobo account now using the menu option on the device, but I'll hunt down the latest firmware. Shouldn't the KA1 have downloaded that firmware when it initially updated itself to the new home screen, etc.? It ships with the old software.

Update: "Device information>Repair your Kobo account" didn't fix the problem.

Update 2: Cold booting the device didn't fix the problem. I can browse the Kobo store and put a book on hold, but when the book is suddenly available, it neither shows up on my device nor is updated when I browse the book again. The last time I signed out and signed in again, I browsed Kobo's store for those books and they suddenly downloaded when they showed up in the search results. Maddening.

Update 3: This may not be a problem on my end at all. I opened my account on kobo.com, and only five of the books I have borrowed from the library are listed up top. So this is a Kobo-Overdrive problem with my account. I bet this is a DRM issue, possibly due to me having authorized a similar device last month. Who knows? I'll have to call Overdrive in the morning, assuming they have customer support. I'm going to search the Overdrive catalog for my library and find a book that hasn't been borrowed, then see if I can borrow it from browsing on my KA1. Do you have any other suggestions?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Cootey

Update 3: This may not be a problem on my end at all. I opened my account on kobo.com, and only five of the books I have borrowed from the library are listed up top. So this is a Kobo-Overdrive problem with my account. I bet this is a DRM issue, possibly due to me having authorized a similar device last month. Who knows? I'll have to call Overdrive in the morning, assuming they have customer support. I'm going to search the Overdrive catalog for my library and find a book that hasn't been borrowed, then see if I can borrow it from browsing on my KA1. Do you have any other suggestions?

It's not a DRM issue, and it's not related to the devices on the account. As far as I can tell, Kobo do not have a limit on the number of devices or apps linked to the account.

How did you borrow the missing book? I you did it through the Aura ONE, then it is a problem for Kobo to fix. If you borrowed it through Overdrive or your library's site, it probably means the book you borrowed does not match a book that Kobo has. When you borrow a book from OD, it is actually supplied from the Kobo store. If the book on OD doesn't match a book in the store, then Kobo cannot supply the book. Unfortunately, this can includes the edition. If the edition of the book at the library doesn't match that in the store, you might not get it. I don't know exactly how the matching is done, or how strict Kobo is with it. It's likely it is all automatic and needs to match on ISBN or some other id. But, it is also possible that it is something that Kobo can fix manually.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by davidfor

It's not a DRM issue, and it's not related to the devices on the account. As far as I can tell, Kobo do not have a limit on the number of devices or apps linked to the account.

How did you borrow the missing book? I you did it through the Aura ONE, then it is a problem for Kobo to fix. If you borrowed it through Overdrive or your library's site, it probably means the book you borrowed does not match a book that Kobo has. When you borrow a book from OD, it is actually supplied from the Kobo store. If the book on OD doesn't match a book in the store, then Kobo cannot supply the book. Unfortunately, this can includes the edition. If the edition of the book at the library doesn't match that in the store, you might not get it. I don't know exactly how the matching is done, or how strict Kobo is with it. It's likely it is all automatic and needs to match on ISBN or some other id. But, it is also possible that it is something that Kobo can fix manually.

There are two books that have not appeared. The first, I borrowed from Overdrive's website. A search on Kobo's store shows that this book is not available. So we know why that one hasn't shown up on my device.

The second I browsed for on my KA1: "The Martian" by Andy Weir. I pressed the … next to the book and put the book on hold. A few hours later, I received notification from the library that the book was available. It has not appeared on my KA1. Browsing the store for that book on the KA1 (which jumpstarted the previous books) shows only that I can put the book on hold again.

The strange thing is that last month I borrowed the same book from my old KA1 with no troubles. What do you think is going on? Visiting My Books on kobo.com shows The Martian, but it's only for sale whereas the other library loans on My Books on kobo.com have library dropdown menu items. I just borrowed another book using my KA1, and it showed up in Overdrive's web interface and My Books on kobo.com. So, the process works, but only when borrowed from the device. If I reserve the book online on my desktop browser, there seem to be sync issues now that I didn't have before on my first KA1. The replacement has been giving me trouble.

Let me ask this. When you folks put a book on hold when browsing with your Kobo device, does the book automatically arrive when you move to the top of the queue? How do you get holds onto your Kobo? I have my Overdrive account set up to auto checkout the books. Is this causing a problem? Thanks in advance.

[Deets]

I usually have to sync my KA1 to get the books to show up. Have you tried that?

[Cootey]

Last night, I logged out of my account on my KA1, then relogged back in. This mangled all my reading awards, BUT suddenly The Martian downloaded. At this point I have all books, but I'm not convinced I've seen the end of this. I shouldn't have to log out of Overdrive, log out of Kobo, etc to get things to work. However, I am fairly certain this was an Overdrive to Kobo issue, not a problem with my account. Thanks for everybody's feedback. If I have further issues, I'll post again. Maybe there is still something wrong on my end. Won't know until I borrow another book.

[3amkickoff]

I've had the same problem and this was the advice that I needed. I don't use overdrive often and I'm pretty sure that sometimes it's all worked like magic but not this time.

I'd used my laptop to put a book on hold a few days ago.
I'd been sent an email today confirming that it was available and, again using my laptop, had checked it out.
I tried syncing my kobo a few times over the next half hour but nothing turned up.
But when I logged out and back into Overdrive the book turned up straight away.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I don't know exactly how the matching is done, or how strict Kobo is with it. It's likely it is all automatic and needs to match on ISBN or some other id. But, it is also possible that it is something that Kobo can fix manually.

My experience is that the ISBN is used for the matching. At one time, I received an incorrect book since the indie KWL author used an ISBN that matched the book I wanted. Nothing like getting Sabor de Prazer by Victor Duarte when I had checked out A Wizard of Mars by Diane Duane to give that WTF feeling.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by 3amkickoff

I've had the same problem and this was the advice that I needed. I don't use overdrive often and I'm pretty sure that sometimes it's all worked like magic but not this time.

I'd used my laptop to put a book on hold a few days ago.
I'd been sent an email today confirming that it was available and, again using my laptop, had checked it out.
I tried syncing my kobo a few times over the next half hour but nothing turned up.
But when I logged out and back into Overdrive the book turned up straight away.

Hopefully, that’ll be the end of your issues. I’ve had no problems like this since I relogged in.


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