ePub book looks fine but misses pages on Kobo Aura ONE

[jbmangan]

I have an up-to-date Aura ONE and I'm using Calibre 4.23 together with Apprentice Alf's De-Drm tools.

At page 401 for some reason a couple of pages are missing (on Aura) although they show up fine in the Calibre Reader or editor. (In fact I think the Calibre Reader probably renders the whole book better than the Kobo).

I looked at this thread https://mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=327313 (Epubs loaded to Kobo missing small bits of text) which looked similar but it hasn't helped.

I tried running Calibre Editor to automatically fix ePub errors, no difference.

I tried ePub -> ePub conversion, no difference.

In that thread an "ornamental-break" seemed to be implicated but I can't see one anywhere near the area that I'm having issues.

Can anyone suggest any further measures or ways of tracking down the issue?

TIA.

[JSWolf]

IN the editor, did you see the missing text?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by jbmangan

I have an up-to-date Aura ONE and I'm using Calibre 4.23 together with Apprentice Alf's De-Drm tools.

At page 401 for some reason a couple of pages are missing (on Aura) although they show up fine in the Calibre Reader or editor. (In fact I think the Calibre Reader probably renders the whole book better than the Kobo).

I looked at this thread https://mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=327313 (Epubs loaded to Kobo missing small bits of text) which looked similar but it hasn't helped.

I tried running Calibre Editor to automatically fix ePub errors, no difference.

I tried ePub -> ePub conversion, no difference.

In that thread an "ornamental-break" seemed to be implicated but I can't see one anywhere near the area that I'm having issues.

Can anyone suggest any further measures or ways of tracking down the issue?

TIA.

What is the code immediately prior to the missing text on your Kobo? I have seen issues with some epub creation tools when creating epub3s and using a <hr> for the scene break where a Kobo ereader using the RMSDK epub2 renderer will lose chunks of text. Sending it as a kepub.epub to use the epub3 renderer is a quick workaround for testing if that is the issue.

If the book is not copyrighted, you can attach it to a message here for people to take a look at. If it is copyrighted, use the ScrambleEbook plugin and then attach the scrambled output file to a message here. That way, the entire CSS can be seen as it applies to the area of missing text.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

What is the code immediately prior to the missing text on your Kobo? I have seen issues with some epub creation tools when creating epub3s and using a <hr> for the scene break where a Kobo ereader using the RMSDK epub2 renderer will lose chunks of text. Sending it as a kepub.epub to use the epub3 renderer is a quick workaround for testing if that is the issue.

If the book is not copyrighted, you can attach it to a message here for people to take a look at. If it is copyrighted, use the ScrambleEbook plugin and then attach the scrambled output file to a message here. That way, the entire CSS can be seen as it applies to the area of missing text.

I've been using an <hr/> for the scene break with RMSDK and it works perfectly.

HTML code is...

<hr/>
<p class="noindent">This is yet another paragraph.</p>

CSS code is...

hr {
  margin-top: 1em;
  margin-right: 40%;
  margin-bottom: 0.8em;
  margin-left: 40%;
  border-top: 2px solid;
}

But it is a good idea to see the relevant CSS code and the HTML code.

[jbmangan]

Thanks for the replies. The book is copyrighted so I've used the (completely new to me) plugin. There are a number of bits and pieces but the most 'impressive' is in the ch04b.xhtml part.
After the line identified as 51 in the Calibre Editor the first line of text is displayed correctly but then the next line is a random collection of dots as though the line has run off the bottom of the screen. The next line of text to appear is that marked as 77 in the Calibre Editor.

Looking forward to learning something, hopefully . . . .

Moderator Notice
You need to use the scramble book PI and not post Copyrighted material in the clear. Removed

[theducks]

Looked at the code:
Line 77 is a return to normal.
The previous chunk (parchment) was inside a Table. So this could be a Kobo fail.

[jbmangan]

Sorry, I did scramble it. Did I attach the wrong file?

[jbmangan]

@theducks - so nothing to be done then?

Rather annoying.

Thanks for looking.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by jbmangan

Sorry, I did scramble it. Did I attach the wrong file?

Must have, because it was totally in the clear.
Try and view it before you (re)attach it.
Someone else may have an idea. Remember that Kobos have 2 render engines. EPUB and Kepub. they behave differently in cases

[jbmangan]

I can't possibly remember thtat because I never knew it. I'll investigate that and see if I can switch and see if there's any benefit.

I'll re-attach the (scrambled) file in case anyone else has any ideas.

Thanks again.

[jbmangan]

@theducks - Thank you for that vital nugget. I changed the file extension to .kepub and it's perfect now! I haven't checked every page but the 'missing' ones are there and others, where there should have been a background graphic but wasn't, are now better.
One oddity I've found is that the book is split into parts and there is a kind of 'parchment' Part number cover page and turning the page from that can throw you back to the index for some reason. But all the pages are there!

Thanks again.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by jbmangan

@theducks - Thank you for that vital nugget. I changed the file extension to .kepub and it's perfect now! I haven't checked every page but the 'missing' ones are there and others, where there should have been a background graphic but wasn't, are now better.
One oddity I've found is that the book is split into parts and there is a kind of 'parchment' Part number cover page and turning the page from that can throw you back to the index for some reason. But all the pages are there!

Thanks again.

Some books are not made to be converted
That one had used more fonts (I cleaned the CSS of unused) than I have seen before.
As you noted, the 'table' just before the bad line had the Velum background.

[davidfor]

@jbmangan: I did try the error version and I was able to see the problem. As @theducks said, it is almost definitely related to the table that wraps that section of text. I know it is recommended to avoid tables in epubs, but, that is usually about the multiple columns being to wide.

Sending the book to the device as a kepub using the KoboTouchExtended driver appears to work correctly. I can see the parchment background for the section where the text was missing. And I there is no obvious missing text.

The problem you saw with the "Part" page is actually working as designed. The code for these pages are:

<div class="full"><a href="../Text/Contents.xhtml#p1" class="calibre1"><img alt="Part One" src="../Images/part_one.PNG" class="calibre3"/></a></div>

That basically fills the screen with a link to the comments page. Tapping anywhere on it will activate the link. You will need to swipe on the page to turn it.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jbmangan

I can't possibly remember thtat because I never knew it. I'll investigate that and see if I can switch and see if there's any benefit.

I'll re-attach the (scrambled) file in case anyone else has any ideas.

Thanks again.

I've downloaded a fresh copy of this eBook. I've had a look at it using ADE 2.0.1 and the table displays perfectly well. I've also loaded it as ePub to my H2O (latest 4.24 firmware) and the section with the table is displaying no problem. I've made no changes and this is as the ePub came.

I suggest downloading it again and hoping you get the latest version which is 1.4mb in size (according to Calibre). The formatting is better then it was when I got it.

Attached is a screenshot of the page with the table using RMSDK (ePub). The font being used is ChareInk. Also works with Georgia.

P.S.I think I have the wrong page. But the formatting is a lot different from the original version to the current version. All the embedded fonts are gone and it does read better due to the change in formatting. I did check Part Four and it seems to display the text correctly using ADE 2.0.1 and RMSDK (Kobo).

[JSWolf]

I do have one question, why has this eBook been converted with Calibre? That could very well be why it doesn't work properly.

Can you get a version that has never been converted at all with Calibre?