Nokia Readers and Calibre

[56up]

I use Calibre (brilliant software and I have donated) with my Kobo and it works seamlessly, no problem

But I want to transfer to my Nokia 920 with Windows 8.1. The books transfer, not problem and I can see them in the Books folder when connected to my PC. But I cannot find a reader that will find books loaded on the device. Nokia Reader and Freda can happily download from OneDrive but that seems pointless if the book is already on the phone. There is no app to browse the folders on the device.

[eschwartz]

Wouldn't that imply that Nokia is not a good phone to use for ereading?

Really, it (WinPhone) doesn't have good market share/reputation at all, and you are far more likely to find a viable option with either Android or iOS -- both of which have various ereader app choices. calibre can send books directly to Marvin/Kindle/GoodReader on iOS, and on Android I am pretty sure any app will scan your storage for books.

Apparently, Microsoft has finally come out with a file manager for their pseudo-operating system see here: http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-makes...le-7000030064/ Note the amusement of the commenters.

Perhaps if you can figure out where the app stores its books, you can customize the save template so calibre puts them there?

Perhaps Kovid/someone can do something about putting books in app storage like is done for iOS?

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by 56up

But I want to transfer to my Nokia 920 with Windows 8.1. The books transfer, not problem and I can see them in the Books folder when connected to my PC. But I cannot find a reader that will find books loaded on the device.

You might want to post in the Windows Devices forum to find out what apps folks there use to read books they put on their machine.

Also there is a Minimalist Windows App for Calibre in the Related Tools forum that says, "Double tapping any book will launch that book in whatever viewer you have associated with that filetype." You might want to ask them what viewers they use.

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Wouldn't that imply that Nokia is not a good phone to use for ereading? ...

You often give great advice and truly help many folks here. Then sometimes, like this post, you respond with pure snark which except for the last 2 sentences would have been better off not posted. That said, Thank you for all of the great assistance you have given many folks on this forum.

[eschwartz]

At least I did move from there, though and suggest a possible workaround. Knowing nothing about the ereader apps for Windows Phone -- other than the names -- I have no idea whether there is a better app fo finding books. But if the location where say Freda expects to see books can be determined, perhaps the save template can be jiggered to put them there.

(And I guess its clear I'm not exactly a fan of the Windows phone -- sorry about that and please don't take it personally. I've known a few people to get them and they all decided it was a mistake I tend to get very offtopic near them.)

[AnotherCat]

I am not user of Freda on phone but do use the PC version and keep alert to its overall general development.

As you are probably aware the only options you have to get books into Freda's Library with the Windows Phone version, apart from the cloud and direct downloads from web sites, seem to be a wireless connection with Calibre, emailing the book to the phone or loading the book onto the phone's SD card (the SD card option not being available on the Lumia 920 though).

While, as has been pointed out, you can now browse the mass memory, as far as I know you still cannot assign a default App to .epub for execution.

I think all the above is common (although it is not a limitation with Windows 8.x on PCs), as I think you have found.

If not done already, I would suggest emailing Jim Chapman at Turnipsoft (if his email is not in the App, it is available at the bottom of his web site's opening page). He may throw some light onto where he is going with this matter or suggest some solution. I understand that Microsoft have been providing him with assistance in development so he can likely clearly express what the difficulties are in accessing mass memory.

As well as the link in these forums that DoctorOhh has provided, have you tried the Nokia Support Discussions Nokia Lumia Forum http://discussions.nokia.com/t5/Noki..._Windows_Phone ?

Originally Posted by DoctorOhh

Also there is a Minimalist Windows App for Calibre in the Related Tools forum that says, "Double tapping any book will launch that book in whatever viewer you have associated with that filetype." You might want to ask them what viewers they use...

I am a user of this very good application; as far as I am aware it is currently only for Windows 8.x RT and Windows 8.x PC but would be worth checking with Marty_B as to his future intentions.

[56up]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Wouldn't that imply that Nokia is not a good phone to use for ereading?

The tag says this guy is suspended, doesn't surprise. Frankly, a smart phone is not exactly the best platform for reading anyway, small screen with few words, doesn't work in direct daylight, poor battery performance. It matters not a hoot which platform you use. My Kobo (or any other dedicated e-reader) is much more sensible.

I use the phone to read a page or two when out shopping with the wife. She's browsing the clothes, I sit down and dip into a book for a few minutes. Would not dream of using it as my main e-reader. I just wanted to see if there was a work-around to using cloud based loading. Not explored WiFi loading. It's not a problem, I only store half a dozen books on there.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by 56up

The tag says this guy is suspended, doesn't surprise.

As I said:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

(And I guess its clear I'm not exactly a fan of the Windows phone -- sorry about that and please don't take it personally. I've known a few people to get them and they all decided it was a mistake I tend to get very offtopic near them.)

(Regarding suspension -- my snark about Windows phones is an entirely different kettle of fish from hanging out in dangerous scary places like the Politics & Religion subforum. Vile place, that, full of argumentation and personal insults. Difference being, snark has never been outlawed.)

Frankly, a smart phone is not exactly the best platform for reading anyway, small screen with few words, doesn't work in direct daylight, poor battery performance. It matters not a hoot which platform you use. My Kobo (or any other dedicated e-reader) is much more sensible.

I use the phone to read a page or two when out shopping with the wife. She's browsing the clothes, I sit down and dip into a book for a few minutes. Would not dream of using it as my main e-reader. I just wanted to see if there was a work-around to using cloud based loading. Not explored WiFi loading. It's not a problem, I only store half a dozen books on there.

Were you able to nail down the location where the reader apps store their books, and adjust the calibre save path for Nokia devices to put books there?

If not, well, if you are only going to read a few books on it and this is never going to be your main device, it might be worth it to simply send those books to the device via OneDrive. They don't seem to be doing much in the Books folder, and if you have a sure solution, just do it the once and have done with it.

Or use the developer preview of Win8.1 + the Files app I linked to earlier -- could be useful just in general.