[GUI Plugin] Kobo Utilities

[ownedbycats]

I've mentioned it before that I set KoboTouchExtended to add as new books so the ToC regenerates on updated fanfics. Unfortunately this means that the bookmarks get wiped. (I think davidfor is working on a way to update the ToC without adding as a new book, but I'm not sure of the progress on that.)

I'm restoring the reading position and percentage read. There's also options to change the reading status based on percentage (I use this) and rating (a bit pointless for sideloaded books).

[123kajote]

A question.. help request..

I have problem when importing to KOBO H20 that I dont get allways a series description in a book list (perhapse better to understand in picture)
I am converting to KEPUB in Calibre...before uploading to device

Could someone give me a proper HOW-TO so that I could get this... thanks,
Joze, Slovenia

[123kajote]

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by 123kajote

A question.. help request..

I have problem when importing to KOBO H20 that I dont get allways a series description in a book list (perhapse better to understand in picture)
I am converting to KEPUB in Calibre...before uploading to device

Could someone give me a proper HOW-TO so that I could get this... thanks,
Joze, Slovenia

Are you sending the books to your Kobo, safely ejecting, letting it process them and then reconnecting your Kobo to have the metadata inserted into the database entry created during the import process? In calibre's Send to device preference, do you have metadata management set to Automatic? See attached image. How is the Metdata on device & advanced tag in the Kobo driver configured? See the second attached image.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Are you talking about the bookmarks you set when you tap the upper right cover of the screen while an eBook is displayed? If not, then please use the correct term and not bookmark.

Jon: I really wish you would stop answering posts that you do not know anything about. Or at least ask intelligent questions rather than just jumping on one of your bandwagons.

Most people in the world used the term "bookmark" to mean the thing they put into a book to remember where they are up to in it. A few people used multiple bookmarks to also remember the location of a favourite quote, or a spot they want to refer back to. This is why when I created this plugin, I used he word "bookmark" for this function. It isn't about one of the various annotations types that Kobo uses, but, about where you are up to in the book. Maybe I should have used a different term, but, it is obvious from it's use what it is for and changing it now is to much work for the tiny bit of benefit it would achieve.

[ownedbycats]

If you want to be pedantic, in Kobo Utilities "bookmark" could refer to any combination of reading position/last read date/percentage read. But I tend to use it as a synonym for "reading position."

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Question:

I've run into a strange quirk with my current fanfic update setup. Basically it goes as follows:

1. When I'm on the last page, go to the device menu.
2. Connect the device, and store the bookmarks.
3. Set the percentage to 100% and restore the bookmark. (This marks it as read.)
4. When the fanfic updates, re-send it to the device.
5. Disconnect to let the database entries generate, then reconnect.
6. Set the percentage to 99% and restore the bookmark. (This marks it as unread.)

This works, except that even though the bookmark doesn't change (e.g. OEBPS/file0048.xhtml#kobo.471.1) it ends up shifting to the beginning of the chapter I left off. Note that the only changes would be to the title page, ToC page, and the addition of a new chapter (file0049.xhtml).

Is this usual behaviour for Kobo bookmarks?

It shouldn't be. I have done this in the past, but, I've just realised the recent times was to put an updated position on another device, but, I hadn't actually opened the books to check. And in these cases, the books were not changing.

But, I have just tested and am probably seeing the same problem. I used FFF to download just the first chapter of a two chapter book and sent it to the device. Then I opened it and went to the last page. Then I used FFF to download the rest of the book. After connecting the device and resending the updated book, I had a look at the generated kepub and the span numbering wasn't what I expected. Which means the bookmark position stored would not have matched the same place in the book.

The extended drive adds the spans around each sentence. They are numbered from the beginning of each file. The number increases for each paragraph (headings and some other tags count as a paragraph) and then sentence inside the paragraph. So, "kobo.471.1" means paragraph 471, sentence 1. Every time I have looked at this past, the paragraph number starts at 1 for each internal file. But, for this file it isn't. But for this book, the number is starting somewhere else. I checked a couple of books I sent earlier (not FFF created books). One does start at 1 for each file, the other doesn't. It looks like it is creating unique numbers across the whole book. I have a vague memory of some discussion of doing this, but, I didn't think it was done. I will have to have a look at the driver to work out what is going on.

And, I can be very pedantic. But, only when it suits me.

[ownedbycats]

I forgot to mention that I was using KoboTouchExtended kepubs, though I've probably mentioned it before.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by pricciar

I updated the Plug-in and tried again. I'm getting the same results. The book is not updating.

I don't remember if I finished the book normally, or simply set the book to read. Normally, I would just go through all of the pages and let it be set to read automatically. But, in this case I might have set it to Read after the first method didn't work. In any case, I have not opened the book for a while now.

I'll send you the log, if you still want to work on it.

OK, lets try this beta. On of the checks was out of order, and there result from another wasn't handled properly. I'm also disabling the "Clear if unread" if "Not if finished in library" is selected. That shouldn't affect you, but, it was something that's been niggling at me while I've been doing this.

Tell me how it goes.

[Barruel]

Hi.

I'm puzzled with the auto database backup feature in this plugin.

Today I got a new Clara and I had it set up by imaging the SD card in one of my other Claras and hex editing the serial number in the image to match the one printed on the side of my new device.

I use the auto database backup feature in KU plugin and I tried to configure the plugin to write database backups for each device in its own folder. When I finished setting the new Clara up I found that it is detected as the same device the SD card was cloned from. It is worth noting that the s/n displayed in the auto backup settings window doesn't change when the plugged in device has a different s/n than the one active when the autobackup was set.

Looking at Kobo Utilities.json, which seems to be the file where the plugin preferences are stored, it seems that the plugin identifies the device through an uuid string, so I changed the uuid of all 3 partitions on the SD card, but both devices are still detected as the same device.

So, how does the plugin identify each device? What should I change to get them detected as different devices.

Best regards.

[davidfor]

The plugin gets the serial number from the file "version" in the .kobo directory on the device. This also has other information such a the firmware version. The firmware does update this and I'm surprised it hasn't for the cloned device. It might only happen during an sync, or periodically. But, if you delete it, the device should recreate it with the current serial number. Which is what should be displayed in the Device information page of the settings.

The UUID is from the deviceinfo.metadata file. This is created by calibre when the device is first seen. If you copy it to another device, it should be used with no problems. When you add the device in the plugins configuration, it also stores the serial number. If you delete the deviceinfo.metadata file, calibre will create a new one with a different UUID the next time the device is connected. Then, delete the existing devices from the plugins configuration and add them again. That should get the plugin seeing them as separate devices.

The auto-backup should be using the serial number from the version file. It is possible it is using the one from the configuration, but, I don't think so. I'll check when I have a chance.

[Barruel]

Originally Posted by davidfor

The plugin gets the serial number from the file "version" in the .kobo directory on the device. This also has other information such a the firmware version. The firmware does update this and I'm surprised it hasn't for the cloned device. It might only happen during an sync, or periodically. But, if you delete it, the device should recreate it with the current serial number. Which is what should be displayed in the Device information page of the settings.

The UUID is from the deviceinfo.metadata file. This is created by calibre when the device is first seen. If you copy it to another device, it should be used with no problems. When you add the device in the plugins configuration, it also stores the serial number. If you delete the deviceinfo.metadata file, calibre will create a new one with a different UUID the next time the device is connected. Then, delete the existing devices from the plugins configuration and add them again. That should get the plugin seeing them as separate devices.

The auto-backup should be using the serial number from the version file. It is possible it is using the one from the configuration, but, I don't think so. I'll check when I have a chance.

Thank you very much, David.

I updated the firmware after flashing the sd image and the version file had the correct serial number, so it had to be file deviceinfo.metadata (which I found in the root of the device as driveinfo.metadata). I just deleted that file and now all 3 Claras are detected as different devices.

It seems that the plugin is looking at that file and saving the settings as belonging to the uuid in it. After it has it saved to Kobo utilities.json, it just reads driveinfo.metadata and looks at the version file only when saving the backup, but not at plugin startup. That explains why the backups had the correct s/n but 2 of my devices were being detected as the same device having the same s/n. Is it possible?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Barruel

Thank you very much, David.

I updated the firmware after flashing the sd image and the version file had the correct serial number, so it had to be file deviceinfo.metadata (which I found in the root of the device as driveinfo.metadata). I just deleted that file and now all 3 Claras are detected as different devices.

It seems that the plugin is looking at that file and saving the settings as belonging to the uuid in it. After it has it saved to Kobo utilities.json, it just reads driveinfo.metadata and looks at the version file only when saving the backup, but not at plugin startup. That explains why the backups had the correct s/n but 2 of my devices were being detected as the same device having the same s/n. Is it possible?

Yes, the configuration is stored for the UUID. That is largely because the code to do this is based on code from another plugin (Reading list). I have considered changing it, but, the only time it matters is in cases like yours (very rare) and if something happens to the deviceinfo.calibre file. In that case, the configuration will need to be done again. It just hasn't bugged me enough to want to do it, and I'm not sure the alternatives are actually better.

And, except for the display in the configuration dialog, the serial number is read from the file each time it is needed. For the configuration dialog, it is stored in the configuration, but, you can open the configuration when no device is connected and see what the known devices are.

[Barruel]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Yes, the configuration is stored for the UUID. That is largely because the code to do this is based on code from another plugin (Reading list). I have considered changing it, but, the only time it matters is in cases like yours (very rare) and if something happens to the deviceinfo.calibre file. In that case, the configuration will need to be done again. It just hasn't bugged me enough to want to do it, and I'm not sure the alternatives are actually better.

Yes. It's OK how it is. Maybe you can add a "Refresh devices" button which deletes driveinfo.metadata and forces Calibre to recreate it, but mine is indeed a rare case and the plugin is perfectly OK.

Thanks again.

[123kajote]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Are you sending the books to your Kobo, safely ejecting, letting it process them and then reconnecting your Kobo to have the metadata inserted into the database entry created during the import process? In calibre's Send to device preference, do you have metadata management set to Automatic? See attached image. How is the Metdata on device & advanced tag in the Kobo driver configured? See the second attached image.

Hallo,
thanks, something is happening, but.. I get an error also PLUGBOARD TEMPLATE ERROR