Aura H2O Unable to sideload since update

[GoldenHelikaon]

Hi everyone, first post here. My Kobo Aura H2O updated on the 21/2 to 4.3.8842 and ever since then I have been unable to transfer downloaded books from my computer to the device. I've had similar problems with my iPad Mini in the past and I just left that for a few days and it seemed to sort itself out, but I've tried repeatedly tonight and since the update to add 10 new books to the Kobo, both on the device and on the SD card, and they're just not showing up on the device at all. They're definitely showing up on the card and device if I look at the folders on my computer, but I can't see them on the device and the number of books on there is not changing.

I'm using a MacBook Pro and have tried on my MacBook Air as well if that's of any use.

I am afraid of doing a factory reset if it's going to lose all the work I put into making the collections, because I did that manually as I didn't understand how to use Calibre (which will be my next port of call, I guess).

[davidfor]

What happened when you disconnected the device after adding the books? Did the processing screen show? Have you restarted the device since this started to happen?

One of the causes for this can be a problem in one or more of the books. If the processing fails for one, the rest might not get added. If you remove these books, and then add them one at a time, hopefully the ones that aren't causing a problem will be added and you can then try and work out what is wrong with the others.

[heathbal]

I've had exactly the same problem. I synced my Kobo Glo yesterday and since then I can't transfer any books from my 'download' or even Calibre, which now says it doesn't recognise the new file changes Kobo has made. I've re downloaded Calibre again and made a small change, and now it says that it's downloaded to the Kobo, but nothing shows up on the device once I've ejected. Don't want to do a factory reset either as all will be lost - anybody have any ideas?

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by heathbal

I've had exactly the same problem. I synced my Kobo Glo yesterday and since then I can't transfer any books from my 'download' or even Calibre, which now says it doesn't recognise the new file changes Kobo has made.

It's going to sound picky, but calibre didn't say that. The message made no mention of file changes. It does mention a change in version. And it gives explicit instructions on what to do.

I've re downloaded Calibre again and made a small change,

So you updated calibre to the version that does support the firmware version on you device. Good. No idea what the "small change" was, but it might be a good idea to tell us as that might be the problem.

and now it says that it's downloaded to the Kobo, but nothing shows up on the device once I've ejected. Don't want to do a factory reset either as all will be lost - anybody have any ideas?

The ideas I have are stated in the post immediately before yours. Answering those questions will at least eliminate some possibilities.

[heathbal]

I bit the bullet and saved my books and did a factory reset - all fixed. No idea what happened - a glitch of some sort whilst syncing possibly. Thanks for help.

[GoldenHelikaon]

Originally Posted by davidfor

What happened when you disconnected the device after adding the books? Did the processing screen show? Have you restarted the device since this started to happen?

One of the causes for this can be a problem in one or more of the books. If the processing fails for one, the rest might not get added. If you remove these books, and then add them one at a time, hopefully the ones that aren't causing a problem will be added and you can then try and work out what is wrong with the others.

Nothing changed when I disconnected the device, the processing screen showed and then the number of books listed under My Books did not change. I did a search on the device just to make sure and they definitely weren't there. I restarted the device more than once in the hope that that would sort out the problem, but it didn't.

I tried your suggestion of removing them and adding one at a time. I've only tried two so far but no luck yet, so I'm thinking I'll have the same outcome from the other 8 books.

Do you think a factory reset is my next option? I might have to wait til the weekend to do that when I've got more time to sort it all out again.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by GoldenHelikaon

Nothing changed when I disconnected the device, the processing screen showed and then the number of books listed under My Books did not change. I did a search on the device just to make sure and they definitely weren't there. I restarted the device more than once in the hope that that would sort out the problem, but it didn't.

It showed the processing screen and the progress bar showed the books being processed? If it just flashed and disappeared, it means the books weren't processed, or it thought the books were already on the device.

And the latter is worth a comment. The device uses the full file path as the key in the database. If you are using calibre and have a book on the device and replace it with a book of the same file name, the device won't process it as a new book. And that means if you replace the file with the wrong book, the devices library is not updated to the new book.

I tried your suggestion of removing them and adding one at a time. I've only tried two so far but no luck yet, so I'm thinking I'll have the same outcome from the other 8 books.

Do you think a factory reset is my next option? I might have to wait til the weekend to do that when I've got more time to sort it all out again.

The things I would do are:

• Check the database is not corrupt. You can use my Kobo Utilities plugin in calibre for this, or any SQLite database management tool will be able to do it.
• Use the "Account Repair" function. This is in the Device information page of the settings and was added in the 4.x firmware. This is mainly aimed at problems downloading books from Kobo, but it might help solve other problems like this.
• Reapply the firmware. Just in case the firmware didn't update cleanly, this can fix things. Just download the firmware and manually install it.
• Sign out of the account on the device. This generates a new database when you sign in and reloads all existing books.
• Factory reset. Either the last resort, or the "let's get it over with" option.

[Josieb1]

When my Kobo plays up I always do Davidfor's last suggestion, for me it's the quickest and the most pain free.

Factory reset. Either the last resort, or the "let's get it over with" option

[GoldenHelikaon]

Originally Posted by davidfor

It showed the processing screen and the progress bar showed the books being processed? If it just flashed and disappeared, it means the books weren't processed, or it thought the books were already on the device.

And the latter is worth a comment. The device uses the full file path as the key in the database. If you are using calibre and have a book on the device and replace it with a book of the same file name, the device won't process it as a new book. And that means if you replace the file with the wrong book, the devices library is not updated to the new book.


The things I would do are:

• Check the database is not corrupt. You can use my Kobo Utilities plugin in calibre for this, or any SQLite database management tool will be able to do it.
• Use the "Account Repair" function. This is in the Device information page of the settings and was added in the 4.x firmware. This is mainly aimed at problems downloading books from Kobo, but it might help solve other problems like this.
• Reapply the firmware. Just in case the firmware didn't update cleanly, this can fix things. Just download the firmware and manually install it.
• Sign out of the account on the device. This generates a new database when you sign in and reloads all existing books.
• Factory reset. Either the last resort, or the "let's get it over with" option.

Yes, the processing screen did show the books being processed, which just annoyed me further as they still didn't show up.

I've just tried the account repair and signing out/in options, it's currently processing the content, so I'll see what happens there.

Is there an easy tutorial on how to use Calibre? I tried to follow another I found online a couple of weeks ago and I just couldn't get on with it, nothing I did seemed to work.


Edit: Once it re-processed everything after the account repair I got the old homescreen back. It also removed all the books from my collections, but left the collection folders.

Edit2: The repair seemed to do the trick. I've finally been able to add those books.