Calibre Error Message - Now I have NO BOOKS

[SmiLynnLady]

I got two error messages as I was cleaning up Author(s) info. in Calibre.
So I closed Calibre - opened it up again expecting things to have cleared up - and suddenly I have ZERO BOOKS in Calibre. (My "Calibre Library" file with over 4,000 books appears to be okay. I copied it elsewhere to keep it from being damaged while I try to fix things.)

What do these error messages mean? Did I do something to cause the problem?

ERROR MESSAGE 1
calibre, version 0.8.9
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>DatabaseException</b>:disk I/O error
RemoteTraceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages/calibre/library/sqlite.py", line 268, in run
OperationalError: disk I/O error
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/library/models.py", line 889, in setData
File "site-packages/calibre/library/database2.py", line 1929, in set
File "site-packages/calibre/library/database2.py", line 2189, in set_authors
File "site-packages/calibre/library/database2.py", line 2133, in _set_authors
File "site-packages/calibre/library/sqlite.py", line 308, in run
DatabaseException: disk I/O error
RemoteTraceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages/calibre/library/sqlite.py", line 268, in run
OperationalError: disk I/O error
-------------------
ERROR MESSAGE 2
calibre, version 0.8.9
ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>DatabaseException</b>:disk I/O error
RemoteTraceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages/calibre/library/sqlite.py", line 268, in run
OperationalError: disk I/O error

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/ui.py", line 692, in closeEvent
File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/ui.py", line 602, in write_settings
File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/init.py", line 278, in save_layout_state
File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/library/views.py", line 331, in save_state
File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/library/views.py", line 325, in write_state
File "site-packages/calibre/library/prefs.py", line 58, in set
File "site-packages/calibre/library/prefs.py", line 53, in __setitem__
File "site-packages/calibre/library/sqlite.py", line 308, in run
DatabaseException: disk I/O error
RemoteTraceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages/calibre/library/sqlite.py", line 268, in run
OperationalError: disk I/O error
-----------------------
Can you tell me what happened, and how to keep it from happening again? Can I just download Calibre again and tell it to use the same "Calibre Library" - or do you think the Library itself is damaged?

[itimpi]

That message is telling you that there is a problem with accessing your the Calibre metadata.db file on the hard disk! It could be genuine hardware level error, or the Calibre metadata.db file could have been corrupted in some way.

What OS are you using? The first thing you should run is whatever utility the OS provides for checking the hard disk, and take whatever action is required to remedy the issue if there is an underlying hardware of filing system fault. This would fix most problems with a hard disk and rectify any file system level errors.

If the Calibre metadata.db database file is damaged then you will then either need to restore it from a backup, or use the calibre facility for restoring it by rebuilding it from the files in your Calibre library.

[theducks]

Was there something that may have caused this?
Mains failure? Computer lockup? BSOD?

Are other programs now having issues

Windows Event viewer (administrative tools): System section:
Anything RED should be reviewed. Any RED message that mentions Disk drive should get a second opinion.

Warning: Do NOT defrag a failing Hard Drive.

That's like asking a cardiac patient to run up hill

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by theducks

Warning: Do NOT defrag a failing Hard Drive.

That's like asking a cardiac patient to run up hill

LOL.. That reminds me of many years ago, a friend and I each had an Eagle portable PC; one of the early PC clones. He had ran a defrag of his hard disk and now few if any of the DOS programs would work. He was convinced he had a bad virus on his PC.

We found the problem was that he had faulty memory; the defrag read all files into RAM and wrote them back out. Any of the contents of the files read into the faulty error of RAM were now corrupt.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by PeterT

LOL.. That reminds me of many years ago, a friend and I each had an Eagle portable PC; one of the early PC clones. He had ran a defrag of his hard disk and now few if any of the DOS programs would work. He was convinced he had a bad virus on his PC.

We found the problem was that he had faulty memory; the defrag read all files into RAM and wrote them back out. Any of the contents of the files read into the faulty error of RAM were now corrupt.

Ouch!
Yes, Defrag is also RAM and I/O intensive.

Had a pair of 1/2 height 40M Seagate MFM drives that started having sector errors. Every few days another few sectors would come up bad.

2 drives from different lots, at the same time

Borrowed a PSU for a AT (286) clone. Drives came up clean.
1 @ $100 PSU was a whole lot cheaper than those $450 40M Segates.

[PeterT]

I remember those MFM drives... I even bought an MFM Adaptec controller to get some extra storage on them

[banjomike]

That sounds like the old Seagate ST-251. They made a weird DOINK noise on startup.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by banjomike

That sounds like the old Seagate ST-251. They made a weird DOINK noise on startup.

Thanks for jogging my brain. Yep, those beasts.
I had the hot setup. 10MHz 0 Wait state 286 with a 2M Intel Above Board and 2 HD.
Smoking fast Paradox (DOS) Database machine. The data crunch: Seconds. The print job: hours (Epson MX80 with Dots Perfect+)

[SmiLynnLady]

Thanks, ITIMPI. I'm using MAC OSX version 10.6.8. Don't know about utilities on the MAC ... spent many years with PC, but this is first problem with MAC. Guess I'd better find out. I found the metadata.db file in my Calibre Library ... but when I click on it, My an iPHOTO update program starts up! How can I get a "clean" metadata.db file to replace it? (I'd like to cram iPHOTO ver. 11 in a dark hole ... it's become a nightmare to tag my 24,000+ photos, and it's impossible to convert back to the previous version. But that's another problem for another day.)

[theducks]

Originally Posted by SmiLynnLady

Thanks, ITIMPI. I'm using MAC OSX version 10.6.8. Don't know about utilities on the MAC ... spent many years with PC, but this is first problem with MAC. Guess I'd better find out. I found the metadata.db file in my Calibre Library ... but when I click on it, My an iPHOTO update program starts up! How can I get a "clean" metadata.db file to replace it? (I'd like to cram iPHOTO ver. 11 in a dark hole ... it's become a nightmare to tag my 24,000+ photos, and it's impossible to convert back to the previous version. But that's another problem for another day.)

each Metadata.db is unique.
If it is so damaged it can't be run,
You need to delete (back it up somewhere else) and "Rebuild" using The Library Maintenance" tool.

[SmiLynnLady]

Thanks ducks ... I went back a couple of days in TimeMachine to a good backup & restored my Library. Re-downloaded Calibre ... and it all works again! Thank God for regular backups!