eBooks@Adelaide ePub problems?

[dhume01]

A while back I had downloaded ePub ebooks from eBooks@Adelaide, and they read just fine on my Sony PRS-505. Recently I tried downloading David Hume's "Of Suicide", and although I can read it fine in the Sony Reader software, when I try to open it on the PRS-505, the reader simply hangs, no loading logo, no response. I have to reset it. So I assume that they have changed how their ePubs are processed, and I was wondering if someone could figure out what is wrong with them, so I could relate it to the site.
(I didn't post it to the sony thread since this seemed more like a format than a hardware issue)
Many thanks for any help!

[Adjust]

Have you tried contacting eBooks@Adelaide?
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/meta/contact.html

[spotrick]

Hi! I am the editor of the ebooks@Adelaide site, and this is the third report I've seen of problems with the Sony ereaders. The others were the 300 and 600 models.

Since I don't own a Sony ereader, it's difficult for me to say what the problem might be.

I can say I have tested our epub files using stanza on the iPad and on the kobo, without problems. They also open fine in Calibre. Validation with epubcheck produces a few "errors" to do with metadata in the content.opf file, but these should be inconsequential.

So if anyone knows more, please contact me and I'll try to fix.

Thanks!
Steve

[MarcusStringer]

Originally Posted by spotrick

Validation with epubcheck produces a few "errors" to do with metadata in the content.opf file, but these should be inconsequential.

Hi Steve,
You should really fix those metadata errors... as metadata errors make my ebook converstions crash ADE etc... especially missing titles etc...

You should always validate your ebooks before sending out into the wild... via epubcheck and also KindleGen

Marcus
www.midlandtypesetters.com.au

[spotrick]

Yeah, maybe. ACtually epubcheck shouldn't really report as an error the use of <meta name="dc.date.published" ... -- and there's no sensible reason any ereader should barf if it finds that.

But yeah. Just bear with me while I go edit 1,850 ebooks ... to remove the publication date. :/

[dhume01]

Originally Posted by spotrick

Hi! I am the editor of the ebooks@Adelaide site, and this is the third report I've seen of problems with the Sony ereaders. The others were the 300 and 600 models.

Since I don't own a Sony ereader, it's difficult for me to say what the problem might be.

I can say I have tested our epub files using stanza on the iPad and on the kobo, without problems. They also open fine in Calibre. Validation with epubcheck produces a few "errors" to do with metadata in the content.opf file, but these should be inconsequential.

So if anyone knows more, please contact me and I'll try to fix.

Thanks!
Steve

Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for working on such a great resource!

I noticed that the orignal files I downloaded from the site some time ago also don't work on the reader, so I guess the problem was always there.

Wouldn't there be some way that you could convert your html files en masse into epubs?

[dhume01]

Originally Posted by spotrick

Yeah, maybe. ACtually epubcheck shouldn't really report as an error the use of <meta name="dc.date.published" ... -- and there's no sensible reason any ereader should barf if it finds that.

But yeah. Just bear with me while I go edit 1,850 ebooks ... to remove the publication date. :/

You should test one and post it here so we can see if that is the fix.

[spotrick]

OK, I have made some adjustments to my epub builder. Can someone with a Sony please test this book and let me know if it works (or not!):

The End of Books / Octave Uzanne
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/u/uzanne/octave/

This is a very small book, so small download.

Thanks!
Steve

[MarcusStringer]

It still doesn't validate via epubcheck

[spotrick]

See, that's where epubchk is just wrong. It's saying you can't have any links in the epub to external items, which is just dumb. This would be acceptable as a warning, but not as an error.

And really, the issue is not whether epubchk validates, but whether the Sony readers accept it.

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by spotrick

See, that's where epubchk is just wrong. It's saying you can't have any links in the epub to external items, which is just dumb. This would be acceptable as a warning, but not as an error.

And really, the issue is not whether epubchk validates, but whether the Sony readers accept it.

I remember the olden days when website designers had to fiddle and do work arounds to suit the many non-conforming browsers which were then used. It's much easier now because the browsers are getting closer to being conformant.

For what it is worth I have it on good authority (Elizabeth Castro, EPUB Straight to the Point) that ePub ebooks won't work on an iPad unless they conform with ePubcheck. So your attitude may well mean that people who use IPads won't be able to read books from your library. Is that what you want?

Regards, Alex

PS I'm going to download your test book, and will let you know whether it works on my Bookeen Gen3 and on my ECO Reader.

[dhume01]

I just tried the file in my PRS-505, it crashed in the same way.

[spotrick]

Alex, my ebooks work perfectly on the iPad, using Stanza. I guess Stanza is more tolerant than some other ereaders. They also work well on the Kobo.
But fear not, I will keep tinkering until they work on all ereaders.

[spotrick]

OK, I've just uploaded an updated version of the Uzanne mentioned above. This validates in epubchk.

@dhume01, if you could please try this one more time and let me know if it works on your Sony ....

[dhume01]

Whatever you did, it now works on the PRS-505!