Aura ONE Kobo Aura One owners thread

[Katsunami]

With regard to ADE and Calibre, I only use ADE for downloading books from the EPUB stores. After that, I import them straight into Calibre (straight from the ADE directory in My Documents), for DRM-removal and whatever I want to do to them. When finished, working, and backed up, I delete the books from the ADE folder. ADE is always empty on my computer, and I don't even register the e-reader, nor manage it with that program. Everything, except downloading from the store, is done using Calibre.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by paulvro

(PS: I only now realize that you refer to the icon on my PC that is used to disconnect USB sticks and external drives, sorry, I erroneously sought it within the Adobe program - stupid me)

You just need to safely eject. Whether you do that through the Kobo app, calibre or Windows, it doesn't matter, so long as it happens

OK, Synchronizing is not an option, I understand now. But how DOES one see a recently added book on the Reader??? My reader still only shows the number of books that I added yesterday as being new but does in no way acknowledge the five new ones that I added a few hours ago.

When you sideload books, the device shows a black "processing" screen when you disconnected. If you don't see that, it means you either didn't actually copy the books (I know I forget sometimes) or you put the books in a place that the device doesn't look for them (any directory starting with a dot).

When the UI is shown, as you appear to have the old tiled home screen, there should be a tile with for the new books. Tapping that displays the book list and sorts it in "Recent" order. That puts the new books and recently read books first. If they don't show, tap the "Show" at the top of the list. This displays a list of filters. Selecting "All" or "Unread" should show the recently books. If the sort at the top of the list isn't "Recent", tap "Sort" and choose "Recent".

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

With regard to ADE and Calibre, I only use ADE for downloading books from the EPUB stores. After that, I import them straight into Calibre (straight from the ADE directory in My Documents), for DRM-removal and whatever I want to do to them. When finished, working, and backed up, I delete the books from the ADE folder. ADE is always empty on my computer, and I don't even register the e-reader, nor manage it with that program. Everything, except downloading from the store, is done using Calibre.

Much what I do except for library books. If they don't borrow directly to my KA1, then ADE comes into play to download and copy to my KA1 which does require my Kobo to be registered though that consists of copying my backup copy of the activation.xml file to the .adobe-digital-editions directory. Possibly an odd quirk but I dislike removing DRM from library books and do not import them into Calibre -- if I really like the book and want to keep it, time to support the author by purchasing a copy which I will happily de-DRM.

[paulvro]

Originally Posted by davidfor

You just need to safely eject. Whether you do that through the Kobo app, calibre or Windows, it doesn't matter, so long as it happens

Thanks, so I did nothing wrong anyway. Now of course I do use the computer's eject option.

When you sideload books, the device shows a black "processing" screen when you disconnected. If you don't see that, it means you either didn't actually copy the books (I know I forget sometimes) or you put the books in a place that the device doesn't look for them (any directory starting with a dot).

This is not the case. ALL books I added are in the same directory named Digital Editions without a dot in front of it. With Adobe Digital Editions I see all 19 books I put into that directory, but the Reader keeps telling me that there are 14 new books ignoring the addition of the last five of yesterday morning. If there has been a black screen after ending the computer session I can't say for sure but I seem to remember that it occurred.

When the UI is shown, as you appear to have the old tiled home screen, there should be a tile with for the new books. Tapping that displays the book list and sorts it in "Recent" order. That puts the new books and recently read books first. If they don't show, tap the "Show" at the top of the list. This displays a list of filters. Selecting "All" or "Unread" should show the recently books. If the sort at the top of the list isn't "Recent", tap "Sort" and choose "Recent".

At this moment my wife is reading one of the books that do show so I can't verify immediately but I think I did already try these options. Anyhow, the reader still says it contains 14 new books while in fact the latest five making it 19 remain ignored. Fact is of course that this whole thread started because I couldn't get any book to show in the beginning, I must have triggered something by acident yesterday morning that activated the reader to show the first batch. I only wish I knew what it is that I did so I could do it again...

PS: I also tried to send one of those books for a second time to the reader with ADE but it correctly responded by saying that it's an error because the book is already in the reader. So there can be no doubt about that. The question remains why the reader itself sees only 14 of the 19 books in that directory. I must have skipped something in the procedure of adding them seems.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by paulvro

PS: I also tried to send one of those books for a second time to the reader with ADE but it correctly responded by saying that it's an error because the book is already in the reader. So there can be no doubt about that. The question remains why the reader itself sees only 14 of the 19 books in that directory. I must have skipped something in the procedure of adding them seems.

The missing books are probably because there is a problem in one of them. The processing the device does when you disconnect reads metadata and the ToC from the book and adds it to the internal database. If there is a problem doing thing because of an error in a book, that book and all after it will not be added to the database and hence not seen in any list on the device. Unfortunately, there are no errors shown and you need to remove all the missing books and add them one at a time until you find the one in error.

[radius]

Hi paulvro,

I suggest you start taking good notes about exactly what you do and what you see and start trying things out in a systematic way. The reason for this is I believe you do not yet have a sufficient mental schema or model of how the ebook-ereader-PC system fits together.

Here are some guiding principles for you (as opposed to the excellent detailed advice you have already received):

1 - Syncing versus sideloading.

Syncing usually refers to downloading books from an ereader vendors captive book store, and/or recording the bookmarks, notes, and last page read of books on the device or in the cloud bookshelf. You probably won't need to do this because you are trading around ebook files.

Sideload refers to putting books on the device, usually through USB transfer (but possibly through downloading over wifi), without using the vendor's store.

2 - Digital rights management (or DRM)

This is anti-theft technology built into books bought from some stores. The book is encrypted and can only be read on a device with the proper key to decode it. This code can often be broken if necessary, and the book decrypted for reading on any device.

However, if you are trading non-protected books this shouldn't be a problem for you.

3 - treat your ereader like a USB mass storage device.

By this, I mean don't think that you need to use Kobo's software or Adobe Digital Editions to transfer books to your device. The DRM key is embedded in those programs, but if you don't have DRMed books, you can use the Windows Explorer to drag books directly into the disk representing your ereader.

Contrast with Apple's iBooks where you can only add books to an iPad by importing them into the iBooks application on a Mac or purchasing in iTunes before syncing with the device.

If you do want to organize your books in a central library on your PC, most people here would suggest using Calibre instead of Kobo's desktop software or ADE. You will be able to get much better help as more people use Calibre, and many of the developers are regular posters here (including the founder/original developer). It also has much stronger organisational tools for use once you become an advanced user.

Calibre can take care of copying books to device for you.

4 - the many meanings of "sync"

I said above that sync means downloading books from the vendor's store, but the word can mean other things depending on context.

Sometimes, the act of sideloading is also called syncing. After all, copying books to your device from ADE or Kobo's software is essentially the same as copying books using Calibre or the Explorer.

After you disconnect your ereader from the PC, it scans through its filesystem looking for new books and updates its internal database recording information about the books. This is sometimes also called sync.

5 - ebook formats

The Kobo is good at reading many different formats of books (although I can't remember if you can read mobi books directly or whether you need to pass them through the Kobo desktop software for conversion) including epub, Kobo's kepub, rtf and pdf.

I would suggest that for your initial experiments you choose a single format (epub is likely the best) and stick with it until you are familiar with how everything works.

If you end up installing Calibre, it can do format conversions for you if needed.


I hope I didn't repeat too many things that you already know. Good luck!

[jackie_w]

Originally Posted by radius

5 - ebook formats

The Kobo is good at reading many different formats of books (although I can't remember if you can read mobi books directly or whether you need to pass them through the Kobo desktop software for conversion) including epub, Kobo's kepub, rtf and pdf.

(bolding mine) I think you mean use calibre to convert mobi to epub.

Originally Posted by radius

I would suggest that for your initial experiments you choose a single format (epub is likely the best) and stick with it until you are familiar with how everything works.

Absolutely

@ paulvro,

Although Kobos can read some mobis they read epub (and kepub) much better. For an easy life stick with these 2 formats until you get more experience. If and when you start to use calibre it is very simple to convert mobi (without DRM) to epub.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by Ashjuk

I have a non-official cover that I got from Amazon which works fine and has no effect on my KA1 when I fold it back.
Obviously works as it should when I close the cover as on next opening the sleep page is displayed.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is the exact same cover that I purchased that didn't work. I contacted the seller and they shipped out a new one, no charge & no return required. The new one works like a dream. I still have the old one. Willing to send it to somebody if they don't mind the sleep magnet not being strong enough. All you'd pay is shipping. But the cover is so cheap on Amazon, I can't imagine I'd have any takers.

[Cootey]

Originally Posted by Illyria

Thank you! The replacement is scheduled to arrive tomorrow and I hope for a good one. I would much prefer to keep my Amazon returns as low as possible and needed to exchange a couple of Kindles in the past.

I'm so looking forward to a good unit, the large screen and the colour temperature adjustment are just wonderful.

HOW DID YOU GET SUCH A QUICK RETURN‽ Kobo customer support tortured me. I bought my KA1 in mid April. It took me several calls over two days to convince them that the unit was defective. Then it took a week to arrive at the return center in NY, and then they had to ship it to Canada. The product return page stopped updating, and I waited in the dark until the replacement finally arrived yesterday. It took over one month, and customer support in Jamaica had no idea where my replacement unit was most of the time. Madness.

[paulvro]

Thanks all of you for your kind advice. I'm sorry, I was unexpectedly unable to respond these last two days.
First, in general terms: what rather bugs me is the fact that Kobo is so anxious to sell books that it hardly pays any attention at all to those people who spent their hard earned money to purchase a reader in order to just do that, READ. Not to have just purchased an extremely expensive shopping cart of around US$ 250,00 just to fill it with purchases from their company. I read their manual time and again but virtually all is related to how to put your books that you purchased from them into the reader.

Secondly: the fact that it took me close to 2 days in order to all of a sudden see the originally 15 books that I entered (the word "side" I find rather insulting, why "side"? For me it's the "main" way that I intended the Reader for and nothing in their sales pitch indicates that that shouldn't be my main objective otherwise I wouldn't have bought it!) appear on my Reader as being newly added books. I wasn't prepared to have this problem as I followed all instructions well, I always read all instructions before I start using something I'm not familiar with. The confusing part isn't only WHY IT TOOK 2 DAYS but also WHY IT THEN THE NEXT MORNING SUDDENLY WORKED when I turned the Reader on. It's not as if I did an unexplicable thing, the evening before it didn't work until the very moment I turned it off, the next morning the books were suddely there.

And by the way, there is nothing consistent in the "home page" screen: whereas the previous days it showed under the heading "books" that i had entered 15 new books (of which I later erased one because it was a sales folder so after that it showed 14 books), now this whole "books" thing is even no longer on the front (home) page. The left column shows the large front of the book my wife is reading and tells it's 46% read, the middle says 0 books read and 83 hours read with below it the covers of three books in small size and the right side tells me what the Top 50 books are with below it the cover of a book I test-read saying that it's a bookmark and that the book is 1% read. Nowhere any information as to how to see the number of books (14 or 19 ???) that the Reader now recognizes.
I expect that if I do some searching perhaps I'll find a way but in terms of user friendliness I feel bitterly disappointed so far. I'm really shocked to have so little control over something that has cost so much.

Well, I found the list under Read and then Books. A strange way of using words because I don't want to know what is read but how many books are stored in the Reader. However, no total amount of books is mentioned but still the same 3 pages, the same 14 books. Last 5 books that were added still missing in action. Good that I put so few in, how does one know if one has put in several hunderds of books without being foreced to meticulously count them all one by one?

I guess I'll follow the advice to erase these last 5 ones and then try to add them again, perhaps one by one, using Calibre. But it makes me mad that this reader permits itself to simply ignore additions if it finds that perhaps one book may be non-standard or even faulty in it's opinion without even bothering to mention that it's refusing a book or a set of books. An error mention would be the least one could expect! I work with computers since 1983 and to be honest, such a thing I never ever experienced, not even in the earliest days of IBM computing!

[MGlitch]

Most if not all ereaders sold by companies that also sell eBooks are going to be primarily set up to be portals to that companies eBooks store.

Amazon, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, all operate the same way.

I'll agree the cost of an ereader isn't cheap, but they are typically sold at or near to cost, the goal being that you'll spend money on eBooks sold through the device.

I also expect that having someone a little more tech savvy with you would help in terms of side loading eBooks. I've no doubt you read the manual and understood it. But the manual is really only going to tell you how to use the device Kobo wants you to.

[paulvro]

OK, new surprise: I now see that the list of books in the directory named Digital Editions is now reduced to the 14 that I see in the reader. Apparently the thing has erased the last 5 books by itself (??). I don't really understand so far how such a thing can happen but it did.

But looking closely I now spot something else. On later moments than my entering books the reader seems to have created one file and three directories. The file is named "manifest.xml" and the subdirectories are named Manifest, Annotations and Thumbnails.

Each of the three directories have a subdirectory with the bookshelf name (Digital Editions) and then shows the status some of the books, I guess that's what the Reader uses to tell to what page you came and so on). Manifest shows only six books (including the erased one), Annotations 16 (including the erased one) and Thumbnails the correct 14 books that are listed in the Bookshelf. I subsequently erased the data of the erased book in Manifest and in Annotations so now all seems in perfect harmonty with one another.

I wait now first for possible comments and suggestions before I go on. If I continue with Calibre I assume it will create it's own bookshelf like Adobe did. Or perhaps I will be asked to create a new bookshelf or perhaps I'll be asked if I want to add to the existing one.

I expect it would be best to create an new one apart from the existing one named Digital Editions to be sure that there will not be any "ghosts from the past" that might interfere?

Time to go to bed, see you guys tomorrow! And once more, thanks very, very much for helping!

[John F]

Originally Posted by paulvro

...

And by the way, there is nothing consistent in the "home page" screen: whereas the previous days it showed under the heading "books" that i had entered 15 new books (of which Well, I found the list under Read and then Books. A strange way of using words because I don't want to know what is read but how many books are stored in the Reader. However, no total amount of books is mentioned but still the same 3 pages, the same 14 books. Last 5 books that were added still missing in action. Good that I put so few in, how does one know if one has put in several hunderds of books without being foreced to meticulously count them all one by one?

...

In general, on the reader UI, go to Library/Books. Towards the upper right you will see "Page X of Y". Multiply the number of books in the first page by Y; this will give you a rough number.

I wouldn't mind helping, but I'm confused myself as to what you have done, doing, and trying to do.

Keep calm, and good luck.

[Aelirenn]

Damn, I have scratched the screen somehow

I was so careful, used soft slipcover all the time. Must have happened, when I took it to the First time in 20 years I went sunbathing, got a sunburn and this I have no idea, what could scratch it

[paulvro]

Originally Posted by John F

In general, on the reader UI, go to Library/Books. Towards the upper right you will see "Page X of Y". Multiply the number of books in the first page by Y; this will give you a rough number.

I wouldn't mind helping, but I'm confused myself as to what you have done, doing, and trying to do.

Keep calm, and good luck.

Hi John,

Your reply amazes me a bit. Because I literally described step by step exactly what I did. It took a lot of space to do so but I did it in order to avoid the confusion that you now speak of. I told exactly step by step what I did and what assumptions it was based upon.

BTW, when I read that all readers are programmed to lead people to purchasing only and to say as little as possible about entering publications that aren't bought by them, I just wondered something. I am someone with a long history in satellite reception (since 1983), I wrote a number of books and guides on the subject. When a dozen or so years ago so called Linux based Enigma 2 boxes appeared with software that could do a lot more than that of the original manufacturer quite a number of user guides appeared, written by those who had a lot of experiences in using it and/or developing it, written in such a way that any newbie could understand what to do.

Why doesn't someone in this field do the same when it comes to E-Readers? It's clear that there are a lot of people for whom this E-Reader holds no secrets. Wouldn't be a great thing if someone wrote a "Manual for E-Reader Dummies" which didn't concentrate on selling books but on entering existing books, manuals and documents? Wouldn't that be a great idea?