Copy ebooks from reader back to the PC ?

JPS · 04-08-2011, 03:34 AM

Hi ! I'm new to Calibre...

I just bought a Sony PRS-650 and loaded some ebooks via Calibre... the books have automatically been re-arranged into different "collections" !

I would prefer to have ALL my books into ONE "collection" (directory?)...

Meanwhile, I had deleted the books from the Calibre Library...

So, I tried to copy all the books FROM the reader into a directory of my computer, but I got the following message:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ERROR: Not allowed

You are trying to save files into the calibre library. This can cause Corruption of your library. Save to disc is meant to export friles from your calibre library elsewhere.

[OK] [Copy to clipboard]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I clicked on [Copy to clipboard] but apparently nothing happened... What's this button for ?

Now... is there a way to copy ALL THE BOOKS in my reader back into ONE directory in my PC ?

Also, what shall I do to force Calibre NOT to create those different "collections" in my reader (or is it the Sony software who does it ?) A clear, detailed and thourough explanation would be welcome...

Thanks for any help...

J-P.

PS. I first tried the Sony software, but then I discovered Calibre and... I find it much more user-friendly (although a bit tough to understand when going deep into the "Preferences", for someone not used to computers

).

Manichean · 04-08-2011, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPS

So, I tried to copy all the books FROM the reader into a directory of my computer, but I got the following message:

ERROR: Not allowed

You are trying to save files into the calibre library. This can cause Corruption of your library. Save to disc is meant to export friles from your calibre library elsewhere.

[OK] [Copy to clipboard]

I clicked on [Copy to clipboard] but apparently nothing happened... What's this button for ?

You obviously tried to save the books to disk into your library directory. That won't work- Calibre needs to copy the files into that directory by itself. You shouldn't touch the library directory manually.
The "Copy to clipboard"- button copies the error message to your computers' clipboard, which makes it easier posting it on forums for help.

Quote:

Now... is there a way to copy ALL THE BOOKS in my reader back into ONE directory in my PC ?

I don't know if that is what you want, but if you select the books on your reader in Calibre (you'll need to have your device connected and recognized by Calibre and then select the device view in the toolbar), and right-click on the selection, there should be an option to copy them to the library.

Worldwalker · 04-08-2011, 06:29 AM

First, Manichean knows what he's talking about -- listen to him.

Also, I'm basing my comments on my Sony 505, which I believe is substantially similar to the 650 (though, lacking a touch screen, it's immune to Cheeto-dust-covered fingers).

I'm a little unclear on why you don't want collections. Most of the time, people who don't use them just ignore that option; it's the people who do use them who get worked up about their type and number. Either way you're going to have the "collections" item (an on-screen button on the 650?) visible, just with 0 items if you have no collections defined, so if you're not using them, going to a lot of work to make them go away isn't really saving you any screen real estate or anything. If you prefer to access your books by title, author, etc., the presence or absence of any number of collections doesn't change those.

Collections are automatically created based on tags, series, etc. (I've forgotten what the default is because I've had mine customized, and not touched it since, for a year or two) You can turn off this functionality completely, or you can set it to what you want your collections to be. Personally, I find collections to be very useful. I have a couple of thousand ebooks on my 505, and it's handy to be able to find all the SF, for instance, or all the tech manuals, without having to remember a manual author's name or digging through all the authors starting with a given letter. But if you don't, there's a setting to shut it off -- I'll need to check calibre itself if you really need that.

By and large, it's a good idea not to delete books from your calibre library. Ebooks are not just small but tiny, so having them on your computer doesn't take much space. With them in your library, you can fix their metadata the way you like it, organize them in proper series when appropriate, tag them to make them easy to find and organize, and so on. And, of course, if you need to re-upload them to your reader for any reason -- you want to change something, perhaps, or for some reason you had to do a hard format -- there they are, ready to go.

Does that message really say "friles"? If that was a direct cut-and-paste, I think something needs fixed. *snicker*

To expand on what Manichean said, you can and should copy the books back to your computer by connecting your Reader, viewing the books on it (clicking the reader icon on the toolbar), selecting them all, and right-clicking for a copy option. However, these will go back into the directories that calibre establishes, not "one directory". Read the sticky in this section about changing the calibre library folders and why you can't. Calibre's internal folders are its business, and you should treat its innards like a black box -- or a database, which is what it behaves like -- and interact with the books only via the calibre GUI. That's what "save to disk" is for, by the way: I keep insisting it should be named "export" for clarity, because it acts like a database export function and saves books wherever you need them, so that you could do something like pack up all the Harvard Classics and send them off to a friend.

The "copy to clipboard" button copies the error message to the clipboard. It may seem a bit silly for some things, but it's part of calibre's standard error message dialog box, and when you have something long and complicated (a big error explosion, for instance) that you need to post here you'll really appreciate it. The rest of the time, just ignore it.

Like you, I started with the Sony software and discovered calibre. It's one sweet program. I've watched it grow over the past year+ and it's just amazing.

Read my .sig (well, the post linked in it), specifically the part about how calibre manages books, not files. As a new calibre user, that was the hardest thing for me to wrap my mind around; once I internalized that, everything else suddenly made perfect sense.

04-08-2011, 03:34 AM	#1
JPS Connoisseur Posts: 58 Karma: 110 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Geneva, Switzerland Device: iPad II	Copy ebooks from reader back to the PC ? Hi ! I'm new to Calibre... I just bought a Sony PRS-650 and loaded some ebooks via Calibre... the books have automatically been re-arranged into different "collections" ! I would prefer to have ALL my books into ONE "collection" (directory?)... Meanwhile, I had deleted the books from the Calibre Library... So, I tried to copy all the books FROM the reader into a directory of my computer, but I got the following message: --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ERROR: Not allowed You are trying to save files into the calibre library. This can cause Corruption of your library. Save to disc is meant to export friles from your calibre library elsewhere. [OK] [Copy to clipboard] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I clicked on [Copy to clipboard] but apparently nothing happened... What's this button for ? Now... is there a way to copy ALL THE BOOKS in my reader back into ONE directory in my PC ? Also, what shall I do to force Calibre NOT to create those different "collections" in my reader (or is it the Sony software who does it ?) A clear, detailed and thourough explanation would be welcome... Thanks for any help... J-P. PS. I first tried the Sony software, but then I discovered Calibre and... I find it much more user-friendly (although a bit tough to understand when going deep into the "Preferences", for someone not used to computers ). Last edited by JPS; 04-08-2011 at 03:39 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
How do you back up your ebooks?	HarleyB	Kobo Reader	34	02-01-2012 08:32 PM
Microsoft is getting back into ebooks!	Nate the great	News	38	01-06-2010 04:10 PM
Twitter and eBooks...wait, come back!	kjk	News	0	12-28-2009 12:37 PM
Pocket Pro: 50% back on first 10 ebooks	wallcraft	Deals and Resources (No Self-Promotion or Affiliate Links)	0	11-08-2009 06:16 PM
Support your local Sherrif - Shareware free to copy ebooks	columbus	Reading Recommendations	4	06-02-2009 10:11 PM

04-08-2011, 06:29 AM	#3
Worldwalker Curmudgeon Posts: 3,085 Karma: 722357 Join Date: Feb 2010 Device: PRS-505	First, Manichean knows what he's talking about -- listen to him. Also, I'm basing my comments on my Sony 505, which I believe is substantially similar to the 650 (though, lacking a touch screen, it's immune to Cheeto-dust-covered fingers). I'm a little unclear on why you don't want collections. Most of the time, people who don't use them just ignore that option; it's the people who do use them who get worked up about their type and number. Either way you're going to have the "collections" item (an on-screen button on the 650?) visible, just with 0 items if you have no collections defined, so if you're not using them, going to a lot of work to make them go away isn't really saving you any screen real estate or anything. If you prefer to access your books by title, author, etc., the presence or absence of any number of collections doesn't change those. Collections are automatically created based on tags, series, etc. (I've forgotten what the default is because I've had mine customized, and not touched it since, for a year or two) You can turn off this functionality completely, or you can set it to what you want your collections to be. Personally, I find collections to be very useful. I have a couple of thousand ebooks on my 505, and it's handy to be able to find all the SF, for instance, or all the tech manuals, without having to remember a manual author's name or digging through all the authors starting with a given letter. But if you don't, there's a setting to shut it off -- I'll need to check calibre itself if you really need that. By and large, it's a good idea not to delete books from your calibre library. Ebooks are not just small but tiny, so having them on your computer doesn't take much space. With them in your library, you can fix their metadata the way you like it, organize them in proper series when appropriate, tag them to make them easy to find and organize, and so on. And, of course, if you need to re-upload them to your reader for any reason -- you want to change something, perhaps, or for some reason you had to do a hard format -- there they are, ready to go. Does that message really say "friles"? If that was a direct cut-and-paste, I think something needs fixed. snicker To expand on what Manichean said, you can and should copy the books back to your computer by connecting your Reader, viewing the books on it (clicking the reader icon on the toolbar), selecting them all, and right-clicking for a copy option. However, these will go back into the directories that calibre establishes, not "one directory". Read the sticky in this section about changing the calibre library folders and why you can't. Calibre's internal folders are its business, and you should treat its innards like a black box -- or a database, which is what it behaves like -- and interact with the books only via the calibre GUI. That's what "save to disk" is for, by the way: I keep insisting it should be named "export" for clarity, because it acts like a database export function and saves books wherever you need them, so that you could do something like pack up all the Harvard Classics and send them off to a friend. The "copy to clipboard" button copies the error message to the clipboard. It may seem a bit silly for some things, but it's part of calibre's standard error message dialog box, and when you have something long and complicated (a big error explosion, for instance) that you need to post here you'll really appreciate it. The rest of the time, just ignore it. Like you, I started with the Sony software and discovered calibre. It's one sweet program. I've watched it grow over the past year+ and it's just amazing. Read my .sig (well, the post linked in it), specifically the part about how calibre manages books, not files. As a new calibre user, that was the hardest thing for me to wrap my mind around; once I internalized that, everything else suddenly made perfect sense.

Advert