Unable to access content server on anything other than host PC
 

About a year ago i made a post here where i was having the same problem, which randomly resolved its self after a windows update and pc restart. That is not the case this time. I recently decided to try using the server again after a long time of not using it and it no longer allows me to connect. I've enable port forwarding, I've updated Calibre, I've tried various different browsers and 3 separate devices (including mobile) and I CANNOT access the server on anything other than the pc it is hosted on, every time i try it times out, or just loads indefinitely. I followed the Guide on the official Calibre site (https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/server.html) making sure both programs were allowed through my windows firewall, to no avail. I really can't think of why it would be acting like this over a LAN connection. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

If Windows 10
Make sure your Network mode id PRIVATE
Win update has had a nasty habit of flipping it back to Public (the default, and good for security for the unaware ;) )

The network mode is already set to private, sadly. And even a day later and another reboot the server is still not working properly.

simple tests.
1. is the PC visible over Lan , from another pc e.g. in Network or by typing \\PCNAME into a browser? if not then solve that before continuing
2. is a shared folder accessible via Lan - pick a folder and set sharing to everyone can read it. test...

its much more likely to be a windows setting than a calibre problem so proceed step by step...

Right, I've set up the folder sharing over the network and my pc is visible to another. I also tested the folder sharing and it works just fine. But still no other computer can access the content server, it just times out. I cannot think of any reason as to why it shouldn't be working and its starting to drive me insane.

ok - not what I expected but progress nevertheless
what devices do you have available to test with ?

maybe change the port from the default 8080 in case that is clashing with something
not sure HOW to do that but its probably just a preference setting
I would also consider , counterintuitively, setting an access password then connecting with the wrong password - to see if it really is connecting and checking

this is all being done wired- via LAN? no wifi involved ?- and no complicated subnets e.g. server is on something like 192.168.0.xx and client is on 192.168.0.yy ?

and circling back - if you set the calibre content library folder to shared, you can actually get to that and copy over a book via windows by navigating down into the author subfolders ?

at some point, if none of that helps, I think backup then nuke all of the calibre config folder, let that rebuild with all default values, then retry content server. Maybe there's a stuck , messed up cache somewhere that calibre is not auto clearing when it is stopped and restarted

do you have ANY internet security / Av type programs running that could be monitoring/blocking?
i doubt they are the cause but if you can eliminate them by suspending & re-testing or by running windows in safe mode, that may help by narrowing things down

Folder sharing has nothing to do with User Access to the Content server.

The content server uses a WEB server IP connection (port 8080 or the one you set. eg 10.0.0.16:8080)

What Security suite are you using (Defender plays well with the content server)?

On the host PC, are you using 127.0.0.1 or the host PC's IP address to access the content server?

FWIW that has not worked for me, for a long time on any of my W10 boxes

:o Localhost was commented out in the Hosts file

:smack: That does explain it. I normally use 127.0.0.1:8088 on my PC for local access.

Well that did not work (I did not reboot, but I did restart Calibre :()

yes, but establishing that folder sharing works rules out there being a basic windows config issue that could stop the devices seeing each other. think of it as an elimination test.

if this was a horse race, my money would now be on something else trying to use the same port- with a side bet on there being some cache somewhere that needs nuking.

I suppose for the record, we also must ask: is calibre running on a local drive with no interference from cloud sync programs like one drive....

I seem to remember that 127.0.0.1 and ::1 are now handled within the DNS client and are no longer needed in the hosts file.

Perhaps this is a better topic for elsewhere?

FYI
http://127.0.0.1:8088 fails to connect for me also but

http://127.0.0.1:8080 works :)
Choose the calibre library to browse…


scanning back, I don't think OP has said what port he is trying to connect to for content server

:smack: I should have thought about that test :smack:
But the answer is YES. that pings.
No problem when using the hosts IP (local browser or any device on my LAN)