library location in calibre portable

[mauslyon]

Hi all,
I have installed calibre portable on my external USB drive and defined 3 libraries (italian, english and technical) at root level (i.e. - assuming the drive is X - X:\calibre portable, X:\italian, X:\english, and X:\technical). Everything works fine (I can quick-jump among libraries) as long as the PC assigns the same drive letter to my drive.
If the letter is different (i.e. on another PC the drive becames D then calibre will not find the libraries and I have to manually reassign the drive letter. Then everything will work fine until the next letter change.
It seems clear that calibre is storing the library pathname including the drive letter.
Is there a tweak to fix this? I mean a way to edit the library path so that the library can be identified relative to the installation directory (in may case it will be something like "../italian"

Thanks
MausLyon

[theducks]

Originally Posted by mauslyon

Hi all,
I have installed calibre portable on my external USB drive and defined 3 libraries (italian, english and technical) at root level (i.e. - assuming the drive is X - X:\calibre portable, X:\italian, X:\english, and X:\technical). Everything works fine (I can quick-jump among libraries) as long as the PC assigns the same drive letter to my drive.
If the letter is different (i.e. on another PC the drive becames D then calibre will not find the libraries and I have to manually reassign the drive letter. Then everything will work fine until the next letter change.
It seems clear that calibre is storing the library pathname including the drive letter.
Is there a tweak to fix this? I mean a way to edit the library path so that the library can be identified relative to the installation directory (in may case it will be something like "../italian"

Thanks
MausLyon

The tweak is on your (windows) PC and is a bit geeky.

1)assign a unique (volume) Label to the drive. This is fairly simple to do. when the drive is connected.

(this step only needs to be done once per drive)
In My Computer: Right click on your drive X (or current letter): Properties:<Change the name in the white box to something Uniquely obvious>
I have (colored) flash drives: Red, White,Yellow


The next part gets into geekland and needs to be done at every computer. (admin privs needed)

I right click ON My Computer: Select Manage : Select disk Management: Right click on your drive (either place):Select 'Change Drive Letter and path': (Select if needed) Click the Change Button: Assign the following drive Letter: X: OK (confirm after reading the warning) Use care to never duplicate letters that will be present/connected at the same time
That should do it for that computer. Every time you plug in that drive, the computer will use that letter

[eschwartz]

Kovid's portable calibre doesn't recognize drive letter changes?

Well, I suppose that is one good reason why I like the PortableApps.com version.

PortableApps.com can set the current drive letter and apply it to any app that asks for it -- it works flawlessly.

Just install the PortableApps.com launcher (if you are using portable software, this is a must-have) and install their calibrePortable from here: http://portableapps.com/node/20518

[kovidgoyal]

Put your libraries inside the portable folder and they will be recognized regardless of drive letter changes. Put them outside the portable folder and they will not be.

[DoctorOhh]

@mauslyon what you listed

X:\calibre portable
X:\italian
X:\english
X:\technical

Should be arranged as follows:

X:\calibre portable
X:\calibre portable\italian
X:\calibre portable\english
X:\calibre portable\technical

This way it doesn't matter if it is X, Y or Z.

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Kovid's portable calibre doesn't recognize drive letter changes?

Kovid's calibre portable is drive letter independent if used as intended.

[mauslyon]

Thanks to everyone for the help

I'll setup the libraries inside the calibre portable folder

Mauslyon

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by DoctorOhh

Kovid's calibre portable is drive letter independent if used as intended.

Neater too, IMO of course

And if your library outgrows its USB stick you can just copy the Calibre Portable folder holus bolus to a bigger stick

BR

[drjenkins]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

holus bolus

Thank you for that; I don't knoiw why I don't remember hearing that before. From now on holus bolus replaces en masse in my daily vocabulary.