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mtjj · 10-28-2017, 02:29 AM

Long time user of calibre here, up until now I've been able to solve any issues I've had by searching the forum and documentation, but now I'm stumped, so created an account to ask a question :-)

I have a home server that is an Intel NUC running windows, plugged into to the TV. All my main media (ripped DVDs and CDs, etc.) is managed on that, running Emby. I would like to move all my ebooks to it as well, and as most of the media server applications are pretty poor at handling ebooks I'm looking to use calibre.

My objective is to have all the media on the server, and connect to it from mobile devices (mostly android). I can run calibre content server (or wireless connection) and connect devices with no issues, so that bit is fine.

But, I would also like to add new books from the calibre GUI, running on a different PC (my main laptop), *not* from the server. (Because I don't want to have to sit in front of the TV using a cheap wireless keyboard and squinting at the screen ).

I found the following options, but none of them seem great:
- Connect calibre (on my laptop) to the library on the server. This doesn't work if the content server is running, so I would need to remotely log in and terminate the content server, then start it again after quitting the GUI. This would be a pain, particularly if someone else is trying to watch something on the TV at the same time.
- Manage the library on my laptop and sync it to the server. This creates a duplicate library and is not great from a workflow perspective - I'm trying to avoid having lots of sync jobs running across the network.
- Not do any editing on the server at all - get new books and metadata the way I want on a separate calibre instance on the laptop, then upload to the server via the Web interface (and delete from the laptop). This would work OK, but it doesn't seem to be possible to upload books via the web interface?
- Give up on using calibre on the server and try to find another media server program that can handle ebook metadata?
- Something else I'm missing?

I'm thinking someone must have tackled this problem before, it seems a fairly common scenario for anyone with a home media server, so hoping someone will have some advice here! :-)

Many thanks!!

10-28-2017, 02:29 AM	#1
mtjj Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2017 Device: Android, Windows 10	Content Server on a home network Long time user of calibre here, up until now I've been able to solve any issues I've had by searching the forum and documentation, but now I'm stumped, so created an account to ask a question :-) I have a home server that is an Intel NUC running windows, plugged into to the TV. All my main media (ripped DVDs and CDs, etc.) is managed on that, running Emby. I would like to move all my ebooks to it as well, and as most of the media server applications are pretty poor at handling ebooks I'm looking to use calibre. My objective is to have all the media on the server, and connect to it from mobile devices (mostly android). I can run calibre content server (or wireless connection) and connect devices with no issues, so that bit is fine. But, I would also like to add new books from the calibre GUI, running on a different PC (my main laptop), not* from the server.* (Because I don't want to have to sit in front of the TV using a cheap wireless keyboard and squinting at the screen ). I found the following options, but none of them seem great: - Connect calibre (on my laptop) to the library on the server. This doesn't work if the content server is running, so I would need to remotely log in and terminate the content server, then start it again after quitting the GUI. This would be a pain, particularly if someone else is trying to watch something on the TV at the same time. - Manage the library on my laptop and sync it to the server. This creates a duplicate library and is not great from a workflow perspective - I'm trying to avoid having lots of sync jobs running across the network. - Not do any editing on the server at all - get new books and metadata the way I want on a separate calibre instance on the laptop, then upload to the server via the Web interface (and delete from the laptop). This would work OK, but it doesn't seem to be possible to upload books via the web interface? - Give up on using calibre on the server and try to find another media server program that can handle ebook metadata? - Something else I'm missing? I'm thinking someone must have tackled this problem before, it seems a fairly common scenario for anyone with a home media server, so hoping someone will have some advice here! :-) Many thanks!!