PRS-T1 Sync causes duplication of bookmarks

[4691mls]

UPDATE - see post #15

I bought a PRS-T1 two weeks ago. After a few days, I discovered I had approximately 8 copies of each bookmark. I finally figured out that they were being duplicated every time I synced with the Reader for PC software.

Last weekend, I spent a long time in chat with a Sony representative, who tried hard reset, format, delete all books & reinstall from original sources, but the problem was not fixed. He finally gave up and said if I kept having the problem I should return the reader.

Given that the problem occurs only upon sync, I am suspicious that the problem is with the Reader for PC software, not the PRS-T1 itself. Before I go to the hassle of returning/exchanging the reader, I would like to know if other people have the same problem? If so, maybe I should just keep this reader and quit using the Sony software.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give this newbie!

[psychandtheology]

Alas, I'm having the same trouble, except I'm using the Mac software! And all the highlights are getting duplicated with each sync, too! It's now gotten to where the software won't sync to my e-reader. I'm going to try contacting a representative tomorrow. I wanted to avoid buying a Kindle since it uses a proprietary format and I don't like Amazon's business practices, but I may have no choice if Sony doesn't get on the ball quickly and fix this problem!

[phloxy]

Others will have more specific advice about getting rid of the duplicates on your device, but as a n00b who just got an T1 about 2 weeks ago, I recommend using the free Calibre software to manage your library and load books on and off your device. Calibre installs easily for Windows or Mac and, with the addition of some other tools, can make Kindle and other non-epub books compatible with your device. I turned off the automatic sync function in the Reader for Mac software so that it doesn't even launch when I connect the T1 to my laptop.

Bottom line is that this problem can be fixed and there is an easy and I daresay elegant workaround that's easy to get up and running.

I would offer suggestions for fixing the duplicates on your device, but I don't actually know how to do it. I didn't have the problem of duplication because I was fortunate to find out about Calibre before I got my device (shipping took over a week and I came across the info while reading all things T1-related while I waited to get the device in my hands). If you poke around here in the forums a bit, you will come across other threads that have discussed this problem specifically.

[4691mls]

psychandtheology, thanks for letting me know I'm not the only one with the duplication problem! (I also wanted to avoid Amazon.)

phloxy, I've seen other people posting about Calibre and have been considering switching. I have not had any other problems with the Reader, so I do suspect the problem is with the PC software, not the PRS-T1 itself.

As for deleting the duplicates - I have found two ways:

- Go to Page 2 of the home screen, under All Notes, and delete each one individually (long press on the note to be deleted, and you will see the delete option). This will take forever if you have a lot of duplicates.

- Go into one of the books that you have made bookmarks or highlights in; from within the book, press Menu, then Notes; when the Notes come up, press Menu; then select Delete Notes. You can then tap in the check box to the left of each note that you want to delete. When you are done selecting, press Done - it will then ask if you are sure you want to delete the selected items; say yes, and it will delete them.

[dmiller]

Once you have deleted duplicates, here is a link to a way of downloading notes without using the Sony Reader software: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...=165559&page=2

[diddy]

All my highlights are duplicated as well. It's a problem caused by the Mac/PC software. I would for now recommend to stop using the Mac/PC software until they have sorted out all the problems (this highlight duplication problem is just one of them).

[4691mls]

dmiller - thanks for the tip, I will keep that in mind.

diddy - thanks for confirming my suspicions. Since nothing appears to be wrong with the reader itself, I will not return/exchange it.

Hopefully, since Sony has already done two firmware updates, they will eventually update the software as well. In the meantime, I will avoid syncing. It will be interesting to see if psychandtheology gets the same response from Sony that I did ("can't fix it, maybe you should return it").

[jshoughton]

I have had exactly the same problem with notes/annotations. I contacted Sony customer support in the UK and was told (after many emails) that the software was designed to work like that. Which sounds ludicrous to me! They stopped corresponding with me after I pointed out that it would only take 16 syncs to turn a single not/bookmark into 32768 (2^15)

I suspect this may be the cause of the ContentManager crashes I've seen mentioned on several forums as once I stopped using the sony reader software and reset my ereader everything worked fine again.

If only I had the programming skills to create a decent piece of sync software I would!!

[4691mls]

I guess after you pointed out the exponential increase with each successive sync, they realized they weren't going to be able to convince you that it was designed to do that!

[floss]

I pointed out that it would only take 16 syncs to turn a single not/bookmark into 32768 (2^15)

Hmm, maybe this is similar to what happened to me- I had over 17000 notes and couldn't delete one by one because my T1 would freeze. I ended up checking if I could read my ebooks just on the computer with Reader for PC, found one book that I couldn't read (the one with all the notes) and deleted it from the T1, and PC for Reader. I then just used drag and drop to get the ebook back on my T1. All the notes disappeared- I don't know if I was just lucky or this is the way to solve your problem- I'm not very technical

[4691mls]

The duplication has occurred for me with books from different sources (Sony store, Google books, public library), so it does not appear to be a problem with any one book, at least for me.

[diddy]

Yes, same here, it happened to all my books.

[psychandtheology]

An update from my previous post: Sony's tech support was not very helpful, or at least they weren't able to finish the job, so I decided to try taking it from there on my own. I'm still in the process, and haven't tried syncing yet, but I'll let you know how it goes and what I'm able to figure out. I basically have until the end of this weekend to decide whether to keep the PRS-T1 or to send it back and get a Kindle instead.

[jshoughton]

I didn't find Sony tech support helpful either. they kept telling me that the software was basic and not meant to be synchronised everyday! Which they repeated after I pointed out that it shouldn't matter how many times you synchronise it, it still shouldn't be duplicating bookmarks. I think they've missed the point of synchronisation!

I'm going to try disabling the sync of notes, and see if that works around the problem. As I only use the bookmarks and not text notes, I can probably survive without having them backed up.

I've stuck with the sony over Kindle as in the UK we don't have Kindle Touch yet (nor a release date for it) and you can't do Library lending on it. Plus I prefer the more open nature of the ePub format.

[4691mls]

I found this on Sony's forum:

https://forum.sel.sony.com/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=13036

by sonymod_mb » Fri Feb 03, 2012 4:04 pm

Sony has received reports from a number of PRST1 owners that the Reader software has been causing bookmarks and notes to be duplicated with some of their books. Sony engineering is aware of the issue and is currently working on a solution which will be in the next release of the software.

When the update is posted on Sony’s eSupport site we will also announce it here. Thank you for your patience in this matter.