Sony Software/Calibre issue

[rickstarz]

I have a Sony Reader 600, and usually use both Calibre and the Sony Library to sort/manage books. Although it's not always recommended to use both programs on one session, I'm used to it this way. So long as both programs weren't running at the same time, no problems would occur.

Now things are different. Calibre only seems to be able to show about 17 books from my device; the rest don't appear. This confuses the collections, as when I then move to the Sony Library, 17 books are in the right collections, whilst the other 23 are not.

As you can imagine, it is very frustrating having to re-group books each session, and I'm wondering if anyone else on this board has experienced a similar issue with Calibre, particularly a limited number of books showing on the device tab.

[chaley]

Many people have had many problems when using Sony Library and calibre at the same time. That said, yours is new to me.

What did you change before this behavior started?

Two ideas:
1) You should *not* have calibre's Metadata Management option set to Automatic.
2) Your books in main memory must be in the folder 'database/media/books'. If they are not, then calibre will not find them.

[rickstarz]

I've checked 2), which is fine, the directory matches 'database/media/books'.

I'll check 1) later, as the reader's still charging, and I dare not open Calibre when it's charging.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by rickstarz

I've checked 2), which is fine, the directory matches 'database/media/books'.

Sorry to be picky, but
a) did you change anything? Including upgrading either the Sony SW or Calibre?
b) Did verify that all of the books are in that directory?

If a and b are true, then:

a) give me a few examples of the names of the files
b) run calibre in debug mode and post the results.

As for b): I am going to assume you are running windows (you haven't said) with your system drive on c:. To run calibre in debug mode, without the device connected, you:
1) open a command box. Start/Run, type cmd, press OK
2) in the command box, type 'CD \' (without the quotes)
3) type 'calibre-debug -g > caldebug.txt 2>&1'
4) connect the device. Wait until it connects. Do nothing else. Quit calibre.
5) post the file c:\caldebug.txt. It would be nice to zip it first. There shouldn't be any private information in the file, but take a look to be sure.
6) delete the file c:\caldebug.txt

[rickstarz]

All of the books are in the directory.

I update Calibre quite frequently, but not Sony. There was a recent problem with the Calibre program. I can't remember the error, but I couldn't open the program. It was suggested I delete Calibre directory 2, which I did.

I'll try a debug when I unplug the reader, although I''ve never debugged anything before. Sounds easy enough.

Edit: Sorry, I tried the command but nothing happened. I'm on Windows 7.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by rickstarz

I have a Sony Reader 600, and usually use both Calibre and the Sony Library to sort/manage books. Although it's not always recommended to use both programs on one session, I'm used to it this way. So long as both programs weren't running at the same time, no problems would occur

Your optimism about your continued success using both programs is laudable. Personally I think using two programs to manage the books on your device is asking for trouble. But with the advent of metadata management in calibre in order to have any chance of making this work you must *not* have calibre's Metadata Management option set to Automatic.

Chaley wrote most of the code in this area and I'm sure he'll be a bigger help then my next suggestion.

My suggestion is to Stop using both programs to manage your books. Setting calibre's Metadata Management option to Automatic is so much easier then individually creating collections on the device.

I wish you well and hope Chaley can help out.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by rickstarz

Edit: Sorry, I tried the command but nothing happened. I'm on Windows 7.

What sort of 'nothing' happend? Did it print an error message of any kind? Did calibre start?

Note that the line
3) type 'calibre-debug -g > caldebug.txt 2>&1'
must also be without the quotes.

[rickstarz]

^^
Just nothing happened. I typed the command in the command box (without quotes), pressed enter - and neither Calibre or notepad came up.

Should Calibre be open as I enter the command?

Edit: this is what the command looks like:

C:/Users/Me \calibre-debug -g > caldebug.txt 2>&1

[chaley]

Originally Posted by rickstarz

^^
Just nothing happened. I typed the command in the command box (without quotes), pressed enter - and neither Calibre or notepad came up.

Should Calibre be open as I enter the command?

Calibre should not be running before you run the command. Make sure that it isn't hidden in the task bar.

Try 'calibre-debug -g', leaving off the rest. Post what happens.

[rickstarz]

Seems to have worked - lots of data went through the command box.

I noticed this listed a good few times: 0.4 Deleting item: [number] from playlist: [name of series/tag].

[chaley]

Originally Posted by rickstarz

Seems to have worked - lots of data went through the command box.

I noticed this listed a good few times: 0.4 Deleting item: [number] from playlist: [name of series/tag].

OK, assuming the problem is still there, now follow the instructions in post 4. You won't see anything in the command box other than the prompt, but calibre should open. When you close calibre, the command prompt will reappear, and that is when you should post the (zipped) file.

[rickstarz]

Sorry, I feel I'm wasting your time a bit now. The .txt command still won't work and I can't copy/paste the text from the box itself.

Calibre only opens when I type 'calibre-debug -g'.


Unless I print-screen it and pm the image to you...

[chaley]

Originally Posted by rickstarz

C:/Users/Me \calibre-debug -g > caldebug.txt 2>&1

The problem is in the command. There should not be a \ character in front of calibre-debug.

You don't need to do step 2 if you are in \Users\Me. The reason for that step was to make it possible to find the caldebug.txt file. If you use step 2, be sure to type a return after typing CD \.

[rickstarz]

I got further this time, but on pressing return with the .txt part, I got 'Access denied'.

Grr, I'm really trying to get this right.

On a side note, can the Reader be plugged in throughout this or does it need to be plugged in right after step 3? I'm guessing it does. Another mistake on my part.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by rickstarz

I got further this time, but on pressing return with the .txt part, I got 'Access denied'.

It can be extremely frustrating when what appear to be simple instructions don't work.

Assuming you are willing to keep trying, try the following for step 2:
cd \Users\Me\Desktop
I assume that 'Me' is in fact your name. Substitute accordingly.

On a side note, can the Reader be plugged in throughout this or does it need to be plugged in right after step 3? I'm guessing it does. Another mistake on my part.

Although the reader can usually remain plugged in, it is best if it isn't. What we want to see is what calibre does when it detects it, which will happen when you start calibre. The trick here is that when you unplug the reader, the reader's software does stuff. It may be this 'stuff' that is causing the trouble.