New Prs-700 Experience!

bill the smith · 07-13-2009, 07:03 AM

Just out of the box.
Crashed after about 10 minutes - my fault for being so hasty.
Froze.
Got it working again and now seems to be OK.
For me, the main problem was a combination of my impatience and Sony's dodgy software.
They make great hardware but they shouldn't do their own proprietary software.
eBook Library is very limited.
I get "software not responding" all the time.
I seem to have learned the following in the last couple of hours.
1. Be patient: everything takes a long time and there are very few messages or indicators of activity (much, much slower than loading iPod)
2. The most useful indicator when you are loading books is to double click status so that you get a graph in the RH column.
This shows you what is happening to the loading.
Watch this and you will realise that everything happens v slowly.
(I crashed it at the start by unplugging too early).
I am now uploading 45 books (26 meg) which is taking forever. But at least the status graph shows me that there is some progress.

I will keep you posted FWIW.

bill the smith · 07-13-2009, 08:02 AM

Edit - Episode 2
Well, uploading 45 books didnt work.
Waited for along time until eBook Library said it was finished, unplugged, started the 700 and got an error message "invalid format" which then required me to reformat (the HDD?).
I did and, of course, lost all data.
I am now trying to upload just 6 books to see what happens.
At the moment, the screen is white and the EBK software is "not responding".
I will wait.
More later.
(I am rapidly concluding that the best way to upload to the Reader may be through Microsoft Windows).
I the current upload doesnt work, I will try Windows.
Update:
EBR is back on air and syas it has uploaded 5 out of 6 books. I have just got it to upload the 6th.
I have unpluged, started the reader and jave the same "invalid format" again.
Hrumph.

lilac_jive · 07-13-2009, 08:16 AM

What kind of books are you trying to upload?

el.astrologo · 07-13-2009, 10:11 AM

And how big are they? I've never had this kind of problem when uploading ebooks, perhaps your unit is not 100% right

tarq · 07-13-2009, 01:52 PM

I've had mine now for about a week, and it hasn't crashed yet, touch wood!

I've loaded books, articals & audio files onto it using mostly 'Calibre' but some drag & drop & also 'Adobe digital'.

When I uploaded the book I bought it took ages to load, I nearly unplugged but remembered reading here about it taking ages, so went a did something else.

It still said loading after a couple of hours, so I shut down the computer & unplugged the sony. The Sony found the file and can read it ok.

It looks as though yours might have a problem.

Treven · 07-13-2009, 03:16 PM

I assume you've already "registered" your unit with Sony Ebooks? I sort of got the same error msg, but it was due to the fact I hadn't registered my 700. Once I did that, everything ran peachy smooth. But I've not downloaded that many books at one time either, only about 10 at any one time.

warriorscot · 07-13-2009, 04:30 PM

Have had similar problems with mine. But using the ebook library is a hiding to nothing so just use windows and dump the books in the root directory. Its still slow haven't found a way to get it faster its fast for maybe the first 3mb of uploading and then its slow.

And on the invalid format problem I just figured out a way around that not 15 minutes ago. What you need to do is leave it be if you hit the NO on the format and then plug it back in and then scan and fix with windows it will fix it for you so that way you unplug it and voila! no invalid format message.

Andybaby · 07-13-2009, 06:47 PM

I've never gotten an invalid format error. try this, maybe your just doing something silly.

get your library the way you want it.
plug in your reader. click it and go to the sync page.

check the collections/all library. you want.

wait for it to finish syncing by viewing the status page.

when done close the ebook library or hit the eject button next to the reader in the library, unplug the reader. before unpluging make sure the reader says ready to disconnect, not "DO NOT DISCONNECT!"

it will spin for about 5 seconds, and it will be done and working.

bill the smith · 07-14-2009, 05:39 AM

Thanks for all the comments and assistance.
I think I have fixed it (I hope).
The invalid format error message left me with the sole option to reformat the memory and lose all the books on it.
This I did.
I then reloaded books using Windows and NOT Sony eLibrary software.
It now works fine.
I think the problem was my impatience plus the very slow Sony software - I disconnected while the software was still going and that scrambled the files, giving me the error messages.
In future I will not use Sony.
FYI, the Windows (Vista) directory is found as follows:
1 My HDD drive directory shows 3 external disks for the eReader. The first of these is the one you need.
2 Drill down the directory list - /database/media/books/ and copy the files across to /books/
Works OK for me.

Ea · 07-14-2009, 08:28 AM

I you'd like to use some kind of library software you could try out Calibre

warriorscot · 07-14-2009, 12:05 PM

The reader actually recognises the books in the root directory. They are actually better there as they are 100% detected whereas in the proper folder if moved with copy and past its only 80 or 90% as for some reason you get a random book not showing up.

The scan and fix does work and its easier than a reformat. The invalid format is caused by the copy operation being incomplete and bits of the files that were being transferred at the time being split across memory sites that aren't allowed.

Calibre is ok but it can share the problem of slowness as the sony and it has no status element and can't be easily interrupted. Ive actually got calibre just for keep organised but Ive been using book designer and have a folder on my desktop that I have all the converted books on and just copy it right into the reader and skip all the ones already present. Seems to work well and if I need to reformat everything is still there.

bill the smith · 07-15-2009, 01:48 AM

@warriorscot
Interesting.
I was only copying to /books because that is what Sony seemed to do.
I will try them in the root directory as you say.
On another issue: is it possible to create Windows folders in (say) the root REader directory and have the Sony software read them?
I have an awful lot of books and I would be much happier if they were in folders rather than the present Sony sort which seems to be alphabetical.
I have now got about 60 books loaded direct thru Windows and all seems to be fine.
Update
I opened a folder for Scott, Walter and put one book in it.
The book comes up in the reader but not the folder.
Curses.

warriorscot · 07-15-2009, 05:20 PM

The reader will see the folder and get the book out of it usually but it won't sort like that. If only it did its something I would also like.

What you can do is use calibre and tag the books. A tagged book will show up in collection so say you have several sets of series books and you tag them 1,2,3 etc. In collection you will find it has grouped all the 1 tagged books together and the 2 tagged books and it can group by more than one tag. I haven't really used that feature because it means doing that for all my books but I probably will eventually. Its a good way to use collections without using collections.

But at the moment I just use the sony sort which you can change from alphabetical by title or author. I am tending to use by author at the moment to change it from the default title just hit the options button.

07-13-2009, 07:03 AM	#1
bill the smith Banned Posts: 42 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Australia Device: sony prs 700	New Prs-700 Experience! Just out of the box. Crashed after about 10 minutes - my fault for being so hasty. Froze. Got it working again and now seems to be OK. For me, the main problem was a combination of my impatience and Sony's dodgy software. They make great hardware but they shouldn't do their own proprietary software. eBook Library is very limited. I get "software not responding" all the time. I seem to have learned the following in the last couple of hours. 1. Be patient: everything takes a long time and there are very few messages or indicators of activity (much, much slower than loading iPod) 2. The most useful indicator when you are loading books is to double click status so that you get a graph in the RH column. This shows you what is happening to the loading. Watch this and you will realise that everything happens v slowly. (I crashed it at the start by unplugging too early). I am now uploading 45 books (26 meg) which is taking forever. But at least the status graph shows me that there is some progress. I will keep you posted FWIW.

07-15-2009, 01:48 AM	#12
bill the smith Banned Posts: 42 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Australia Device: sony prs 700	@warriorscot Interesting. I was only copying to /books because that is what Sony seemed to do. I will try them in the root directory as you say. On another issue: is it possible to create Windows folders in (say) the root REader directory and have the Sony software read them? I have an awful lot of books and I would be much happier if they were in folders rather than the present Sony sort which seems to be alphabetical. I have now got about 60 books loaded direct thru Windows and all seems to be fine. Update I opened a folder for Scott, Walter and put one book in it. The book comes up in the reader but not the folder. Curses. Last edited by bill the smith; 07-15-2009 at 01:53 AM.

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07-13-2009, 08:02 AM	#2
bill the smith Banned Posts: 42 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Australia Device: sony prs 700	Edit - Episode 2 Well, uploading 45 books didnt work. Waited for along time until eBook Library said it was finished, unplugged, started the 700 and got an error message "invalid format" which then required me to reformat (the HDD?). I did and, of course, lost all data. I am now trying to upload just 6 books to see what happens. At the moment, the screen is white and the EBK software is "not responding". I will wait. More later. (I am rapidly concluding that the best way to upload to the Reader may be through Microsoft Windows). I the current upload doesnt work, I will try Windows. Update: EBR is back on air and syas it has uploaded 5 out of 6 books. I have just got it to upload the 6th. I have unpluged, started the reader and jave the same "invalid format" again. Hrumph.

07-13-2009, 08:16 AM	#3
lilac_jive Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,870 Karma: 27376 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Device: PRS-505	What kind of books are you trying to upload?

07-13-2009, 10:11 AM	#4
el.astrologo Groupie Posts: 164 Karma: 462 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina Device: PRS-700BC	And how big are they? I've never had this kind of problem when uploading ebooks, perhaps your unit is not 100% right

07-13-2009, 01:52 PM	#5
tarq Enthusiast Posts: 39 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: UK Device: Palm Tungsten E, Sony 700	I've had mine now for about a week, and it hasn't crashed yet, touch wood! I've loaded books, articals & audio files onto it using mostly 'Calibre' but some drag & drop & also 'Adobe digital'. When I uploaded the book I bought it took ages to load, I nearly unplugged but remembered reading here about it taking ages, so went a did something else. It still said loading after a couple of hours, so I shut down the computer & unplugged the sony. The Sony found the file and can read it ok. It looks as though yours might have a problem.

07-13-2009, 03:16 PM	#6
Treven Addict Posts: 222 Karma: 680 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: the Left Coast Device: iPad	I assume you've already "registered" your unit with Sony Ebooks? I sort of got the same error msg, but it was due to the fact I hadn't registered my 700. Once I did that, everything ran peachy smooth. But I've not downloaded that many books at one time either, only about 10 at any one time.

07-13-2009, 04:30 PM	#7
warriorscot Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: prs-700	Have had similar problems with mine. But using the ebook library is a hiding to nothing so just use windows and dump the books in the root directory. Its still slow haven't found a way to get it faster its fast for maybe the first 3mb of uploading and then its slow. And on the invalid format problem I just figured out a way around that not 15 minutes ago. What you need to do is leave it be if you hit the NO on the format and then plug it back in and then scan and fix with windows it will fix it for you so that way you unplug it and voila! no invalid format message.

07-13-2009, 06:47 PM	#8
Andybaby Wizard Posts: 1,279 Karma: 1002683 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: New York Device: PRS-700	I've never gotten an invalid format error. try this, maybe your just doing something silly. get your library the way you want it. plug in your reader. click it and go to the sync page. check the collections/all library. you want. wait for it to finish syncing by viewing the status page. when done close the ebook library or hit the eject button next to the reader in the library, unplug the reader. before unpluging make sure the reader says ready to disconnect, not "DO NOT DISCONNECT!" it will spin for about 5 seconds, and it will be done and working.

07-14-2009, 05:39 AM	#9
bill the smith Banned Posts: 42 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Australia Device: sony prs 700	Thanks for all the comments and assistance. I think I have fixed it (I hope). The invalid format error message left me with the sole option to reformat the memory and lose all the books on it. This I did. I then reloaded books using Windows and NOT Sony eLibrary software. It now works fine. I think the problem was my impatience plus the very slow Sony software - I disconnected while the software was still going and that scrambled the files, giving me the error messages. In future I will not use Sony. FYI, the Windows (Vista) directory is found as follows: 1 My HDD drive directory shows 3 external disks for the eReader. The first of these is the one you need. 2 Drill down the directory list - /database/media/books/ and copy the files across to /books/ Works OK for me.

07-14-2009, 08:28 AM	#10
Ea Wizard Posts: 3,490 Karma: 5239563 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3\|iPad air\|iPhone 4S	I you'd like to use some kind of library software you could try out Calibre

07-14-2009, 12:05 PM	#11
warriorscot Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: prs-700	The reader actually recognises the books in the root directory. They are actually better there as they are 100% detected whereas in the proper folder if moved with copy and past its only 80 or 90% as for some reason you get a random book not showing up. The scan and fix does work and its easier than a reformat. The invalid format is caused by the copy operation being incomplete and bits of the files that were being transferred at the time being split across memory sites that aren't allowed. Calibre is ok but it can share the problem of slowness as the sony and it has no status element and can't be easily interrupted. Ive actually got calibre just for keep organised but Ive been using book designer and have a folder on my desktop that I have all the converted books on and just copy it right into the reader and skip all the ones already present. Seems to work well and if I need to reformat everything is still there.

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07-15-2009, 05:20 PM	#13
warriorscot Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: prs-700	The reader will see the folder and get the book out of it usually but it won't sort like that. If only it did its something I would also like. What you can do is use calibre and tag the books. A tagged book will show up in collection so say you have several sets of series books and you tag them 1,2,3 etc. In collection you will find it has grouped all the 1 tagged books together and the 2 tagged books and it can group by more than one tag. I haven't really used that feature because it means doing that for all my books but I probably will eventually. Its a good way to use collections without using collections. But at the moment I just use the sony sort which you can change from alphabetical by title or author. I am tending to use by author at the moment to change it from the default title just hit the options button.