MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - errors syncing huge Calibre Library from USB stick to Ubuntu netbook

Adoby · 05-05-2013, 04:32 AM

WARNING: There are SERIOUS problems using the same calibre library in Linux and Windows. The reason is that Windows/Linux treat upper/lower case characters in filenames differently. Windows doesn't care. Linux care a lot. OS/X is by default case insensitive, like Windows, I believe?

This means that you most likely will end up with a seriously corrupt calibre library if you move it between Linux and Windows. And the errors are like you describe, calibre unable to open a book or find a file that obviously is there. But with the wrong case... It seems very weird until you realise the cause. And you may not even notice it for a while, and the errors keep accumulating.

It might be possible to do all the updates in Linux, and only read the library in Windows. I haven't tried. I only use Linux. Another possibility could be to use a VM with Linux on the USB stick to run calibre.

Also it might be possible to use the library maintenance tools to fix some of these problems.

In Windows "Caves of steel.epub" and "Caves of Steel.epub" are identical filenames, and will overwrite each other. In Linux they are two completely different filenames.

05-05-2013, 04:32 AM	#2
Adoby Handy Elephant Posts: 1,736 Karma: 26785668 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Southern Sweden, far out in the quiet woods Device: Thinkpad E595, Ubuntu Mate, Huawei Mediapad 5, Bouye Likebook Plus	WARNING: There are SERIOUS problems using the same calibre library in Linux and Windows. The reason is that Windows/Linux treat upper/lower case characters in filenames differently. Windows doesn't care. Linux care a lot. OS/X is by default case insensitive, like Windows, I believe? This means that you most likely will end up with a seriously corrupt calibre library if you move it between Linux and Windows. And the errors are like you describe, calibre unable to open a book or find a file that obviously is there. But with the wrong case... It seems very weird until you realise the cause. And you may not even notice it for a while, and the errors keep accumulating. It might be possible to do all the updates in Linux, and only read the library in Windows. I haven't tried. I only use Linux. Another possibility could be to use a VM with Linux on the USB stick to run calibre. Also it might be possible to use the library maintenance tools to fix some of these problems. In Windows "Caves of steel.epub" and "Caves of Steel.epub" are identical filenames, and will overwrite each other. In Linux they are two completely different filenames. Last edited by Adoby; 05-05-2013 at 04:51 AM.