Kobo Aura 2 H2O highlights disappear

Heath Watts · 07-21-2019, 09:59 PM

Hi,
I bought an Aura 2 H2O less than a month ago to replace my Kindle Paperwhite. In general, I like it. However, the Kobo is erasing my highlights from both ePub an KePub files that I've made on it. I've tested this issue and found that both purchased and free (gutenburg site) e-books have this issue.

I can highlight text for some of the book, but when I put the Kobo to sleep or go Home, many of the highlights have disappeared when I return to my book. The annotations are still there when I click "..." then Annotations in the lower right corner, but the highlight markings are gone.

Is there a fix for this problem? I contacted Kobo and they told me that because I did not purchase the books from them, the highlight feature will not work consistently, because books not purchased from Kobo will not sync.

I have Calibre downloaded and understand how to convert among the e-book formats.

My Kindle Paperwhite did not have this problem. It would let me highlight .mobi books that I did not buy from Amazon. Thanks for any help and advice you can provide.

davidfor · 07-22-2019, 02:43 AM

For epubs, this is a known problem with the current firmware, version 4.15.12920. There are problems storing and showing annotations where there is not a one-to-one relationship between the ToC and the internal files. There is a discussion about this in the thread for the firmware version. We are waiting for the next update from Kobo to fix this.

The workaround to this is to downgrade the firmware to the previous version. If you do this, you will need to do something to prevent the upgrade from happening. This is to WiFi off to prevent a sync and update, or patch the firmware to block the update.

The only issue I can think of for annotations and kepubs is if they are not created properly. If you are purchasing them, converting to kepub or using the KoboTouchExtended driver, annotations should work. If annotations are not working, I'd like to see an example book to try and work out what is wrong.

Also, the Kobo support person was wrong about annotations not being supported for sideloaded books. They are. Not all formats are supported to the same extend, but epubs are fully supported. What is not supported is any syncing annotations between Kobo devices or apps. This is only done for purchased books.

Heath Watts · 07-22-2019, 08:51 AM

Thank you very much for this information, David. I'll try to downgrade my firmware. The firmware that was on my Aura when it arrived would not let me use Overdrive, so I upgraded without thinking about potential bugs.

I would prefer to use epub files rather than kepub files. Unfortunately, one support technician at Kobo to told me that epub files are preferable to kepub files, whereas a second technician told me that the opposite is true. Three technicians at Kobo told me that the problem was due to sideloaded books, and they were ready to issue me a refund for my Aura. It is strange that none of the technicians suggested that the firmware version was the likely problem. I would think that other users have contacted them with the same problem. I'm happy that I posted my issue here.

Thanks again!

Heath Watts · 07-22-2019, 03:46 PM

Based on another thread, I downgraded my firmware to 4.14.12777. I reset my Aura 2 H2O to its factory settings, then installed that firmware. I reinstalled my books and began reading one that had been problematic in firmware 4.15.12920. That is, the highlighting feature does not save my highlighted text.

I hope that Kobo will upgrade their firmware and fix this problem soon. I will keep the Kobo, because I despise Amazon and am trying to break free of their evil grip, but if the Kobo doesn't improve, I won't be buying from them again. Unfortunately, Amazon, as evil as it is, makes readers that work seamlessly with both Amazon content and sideloaded .mobi files.

Heath Watts · 07-27-2019, 03:21 PM

The issue seems to be that my Aura H2O version 2 will highlight a portion of a chapter, then it stops. When I start a new chapter, the Kobo again highlights a few pages of the chapter, then stops again. This is an ongoing problem that I hope Kobo will fix with a firmware update.

davidfor · 07-28-2019, 01:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heath Watts

The issue seems to be that my Aura H2O version 2 will highlight a portion of a chapter, then it stops. When I start a new chapter, the Kobo again highlights a few pages of the chapter, then stops again. This is an ongoing problem that I hope Kobo will fix with a firmware update.

And that sounds more like the problem described in the thread I linked to. If the book has internal files with two ToC entries pointing to it, then the annotations stop being stored correctly part-way through the chapter. In my tests, it stopped working at about the 26th paragraph, but, exactly where it fails might depend on the exact code in the chapter. And, yes, I am hoping Kobo will fix this soon.

Heath Watts · 07-31-2019, 12:30 PM

Thanks, David. I send Kobo an email detail the issue and they claimed that they would forward my message to their development team. I hope that other who are having the same problem will alert Kobo too.

07-21-2019, 09:59 PM	#1
Heath Watts Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2019 Device: Kobo Aura 2 H2O; Kindle Paperwhite	Kobo Aura 2 H2O highlights disappear Hi, I bought an Aura 2 H2O less than a month ago to replace my Kindle Paperwhite. In general, I like it. However, the Kobo is erasing my highlights from both ePub an KePub files that I've made on it. I've tested this issue and found that both purchased and free (gutenburg site) e-books have this issue. I can highlight text for some of the book, but when I put the Kobo to sleep or go Home, many of the highlights have disappeared when I return to my book. The annotations are still there when I click "..." then Annotations in the lower right corner, but the highlight markings are gone. Is there a fix for this problem? I contacted Kobo and they told me that because I did not purchase the books from them, the highlight feature will not work consistently, because books not purchased from Kobo will not sync. I have Calibre downloaded and understand how to convert among the e-book formats. My Kindle Paperwhite did not have this problem. It would let me highlight .mobi books that I did not buy from Amazon. Thanks for any help and advice you can provide.

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07-22-2019, 02:43 AM	#2
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,907 Karma: 47303748 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	For epubs, this is a known problem with the current firmware, version 4.15.12920. There are problems storing and showing annotations where there is not a one-to-one relationship between the ToC and the internal files. There is a discussion about this in the thread for the firmware version. We are waiting for the next update from Kobo to fix this. The workaround to this is to downgrade the firmware to the previous version. If you do this, you will need to do something to prevent the upgrade from happening. This is to WiFi off to prevent a sync and update, or patch the firmware to block the update. The only issue I can think of for annotations and kepubs is if they are not created properly. If you are purchasing them, converting to kepub or using the KoboTouchExtended driver, annotations should work. If annotations are not working, I'd like to see an example book to try and work out what is wrong. Also, the Kobo support person was wrong about annotations not being supported for sideloaded books. They are. Not all formats are supported to the same extend, but epubs are fully supported. What is not supported is any syncing annotations between Kobo devices or apps. This is only done for purchased books.

07-22-2019, 08:51 AM	#3
Heath Watts Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2019 Device: Kobo Aura 2 H2O; Kindle Paperwhite	Thank you very much for this information, David. I'll try to downgrade my firmware. The firmware that was on my Aura when it arrived would not let me use Overdrive, so I upgraded without thinking about potential bugs. I would prefer to use epub files rather than kepub files. Unfortunately, one support technician at Kobo to told me that epub files are preferable to kepub files, whereas a second technician told me that the opposite is true. Three technicians at Kobo told me that the problem was due to sideloaded books, and they were ready to issue me a refund for my Aura. It is strange that none of the technicians suggested that the firmware version was the likely problem. I would think that other users have contacted them with the same problem. I'm happy that I posted my issue here. Thanks again!

07-22-2019, 03:46 PM	#4
Heath Watts Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2019 Device: Kobo Aura 2 H2O; Kindle Paperwhite	Based on another thread, I downgraded my firmware to 4.14.12777. I reset my Aura 2 H2O to its factory settings, then installed that firmware. I reinstalled my books and began reading one that had been problematic in firmware 4.15.12920. That is, the highlighting feature does not save my highlighted text. I hope that Kobo will upgrade their firmware and fix this problem soon. I will keep the Kobo, because I despise Amazon and am trying to break free of their evil grip, but if the Kobo doesn't improve, I won't be buying from them again. Unfortunately, Amazon, as evil as it is, makes readers that work seamlessly with both Amazon content and sideloaded .mobi files.

07-27-2019, 03:21 PM	#5
Heath Watts Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2019 Device: Kobo Aura 2 H2O; Kindle Paperwhite	The issue seems to be that my Aura H2O version 2 will highlight a portion of a chapter, then it stops. When I start a new chapter, the Kobo again highlights a few pages of the chapter, then stops again. This is an ongoing problem that I hope Kobo will fix with a firmware update.

07-31-2019, 12:30 PM	#7
Heath Watts Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2019 Device: Kobo Aura 2 H2O; Kindle Paperwhite	Thanks, David. I send Kobo an email detail the issue and they claimed that they would forward my message to their development team. I hope that other who are having the same problem will alert Kobo too.