Plugging and unplugging via USB

[Flaviocc]

Is there a hack to avoid plugging and unplugging the Kobo from USB when we are working on Calibre?

Does this hack exist or is it possible?

I always had this same doubt about the kindle...

[NiLuJe]

Err, what do you mean by that, exactly?

[Deskisamess]

To eject and reconnect without physically unplugging and replugging?

[NiLuJe]

Or to transfer stuff wirelessly from start to finish?

(Because both are doable, so, ask a better question ).

[Flaviocc]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

To eject and reconnect without physically unplugging and replugging?

Sorry my question wasn't well posted.

Yes, eject and reconnect without physically unplugging and replugging.

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

Or to transfer stuff wirelessly from start to finish?

This is a nice solution too

[Deskisamess]

From my limited experience with Calibre, I know certain actions can't be performed when a device is attached. It would be nice to be able to eject the device without physically disconnecting and plugging back in to remount.

There may be techie ways to achieve this, of which I've no idea.

[hobnail]

If (like me) you're worried about wearing out or damaging the USB connector on your ereader my solution is to use a USB extension cable, so that you have two cables between your computer and your ereader. The main one is plugged into the back of the computer and the extension is plugged into that. Then I just unplug the extension cable from the main cable, wait a few moments for the Kobo to update its database, then plug it back in so that Calibre can update the series info/metadata.

I can't find it but there was another thread where someone asked this question and one of the responses was about some box that had a switch to disconnect and connect the USB but I think they said it wasn't reliable.

[twowheels]

The easiest way is to unmount and re-mount. If you choose the usual eject, then some OSes will actually turn off the device and it cannot be re-mounted without disconnecting.

On Linux, I use pmount and pumount to connect & disconnect the media.

On MacOS, I usually use `diskutil eject /Volumes/<name>`, though that has the same problem. You can also unmount and remount, using this:

diskutil unmount /Volumes/<name>

then to find it again:

diskutil list | grep Volume

and then remount with:

diskutil mount <id, from last column>


EDIT: For MacOS You can also use the graphical "Disk Utility" program, right click on the drive and choose "unmount", then "remount" -- NOT eject.
...

for Windows, well, you're on your own.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by hobnail

I can't find it but there was another thread where someone asked this question and one of the responses was about some box that had a switch to disconnect and connect the USB but I think they said it wasn't reliable.

I suspect that was a post by @davidfor. I have a similar device and it works with USB ports that supply enough voltage that the voltage drop across the device does not take the voltage out of spec. So it works if the ereader is plugged directly into my laptop or into a powered USB hub but did not work when I tried a passive USB hub.

[Flaviocc]

@hobnail,

yes my concern is damage the connector in the future with the constant in and out the usb plug.

@twowheels,

windows here

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by Flaviocc

@hobnail,

yes my concern is damage the connector in the future with the constant in and out the usb plug.

@twowheels,

windows here

This looks promising, but I don't have a Windows computer to test on:

https://superuser.com/questions/7048...cript-software

[NiLuJe]

Hmm, AFAIK, a plain old OS eject will do just fine, and is actually necessary here.

i.e., you *want* the Kobo to detect a true eject, so it can remount it and process the new content, to account for the double cycle necessary to handle metadata updating, as was mentioned earlier.

Then, you just kindly tell the Kobo that, yes, it's still plugged in, please show me the "Connect" popup again:

echo "usb plug add" > /tmp/nickel-hardware-status

There's a NickelMenu action for that:

menu_item : main : USB : nickel_misc : force_usb_connection

(Incidentally, this is what I've been doing since day 1 with a Kobo & Calibre, on my end).

[NiLuJe]

As for the wireless route, that's either a pure DIY approach with whatever transfer/sync/cloud solution you want in a script that you run with NM or KFMon (e.g., rsync, rclone, sftp, scp, ftp; you name it).

Or as an OPDS client against e.g., Calibre via KOReader.

Or as a Calibre Wireless Smart Device client, e.g., via KOReader or @sherman's UNCaGED.

Note that with (most) wireless approaches, you lose much of the niceties involved in Calibre actually knowing that it's dealing with a Kobo, because it doesn't know that anymore.

[Flaviocc]

Originally Posted by NiLuJe

Hmm, AFAIK, a plain old OS eject will do just fine, and is actually necessary here.

i.e., you *want* the Kobo to detect a true eject, so it can remount it and process the new content, to account for the double cycle necessary to handle metadata updating, as was mentioned earlier.

Then, you just kindly tell the Kobo that, yes, it's still plugged in, please show me the "Connect" popup again:

echo "usb plug add" > /tmp/nickel-hardware-status

There's a NickelMenu action for that:

menu_item : main : USB : nickel_misc : force_usb_connection

Nice!

I'll try the Nickel menu. That solution is perfect for what I want.

Tks.

[NiLuJe]

On Windows, you'll want to go with the "Eject this device safely" USB thingy in the status bar.

On macOS, with a right click > Eject on the volume's icon on the desktop (or the Eject button below it in Finder).

(Replace that with the actual proper name of those things, because I'm not running either of those right now ^^)

On Linux, via the eject command .