MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

ilovejedd · 10-05-2018, 01:04 PM

Any changes made at file level are effectively lost but you can still salvage the calibre library. First and foremost, create a back-up of metadata.db and keep it somewhere safe. I'd do multiple backups just to be extra safe. I know I've overwritten my backup with a bad/corrupt copy on occasion.

Then, assuming your books are in the following:

Code:

\Calibre Library\A\Author A\Title (id)\Title - Author A.ext
\Calibre Library\Z\Author Z\Title (id)\Title - Author Z.ext

Move the authors back to the top level so you have:

Code:

\Calibre Library\Author A\Title (id)\Title - Author A.ext
\Calibre Library\Author Z\Title (id)\Title - Author Z.ext

Then run Calibre and do:
Library maintenance -> Check library -> Do you want calibre to check if the files in your library match the information in the database? Yes

Don't run any of the fixes. Instead expand the results so you can rename the files and folders you changed back to their original names in Windows Explorer or Finder (or whatever you use as file manager).

If you've made more massive changes to the directory and file structure than the above such as removing (id) you're better off copying the library to a different location and re-importing with merge duplicates.

10-05-2018, 01:04 PM	#4
ilovejedd hopeless n00b Posts: 5,110 Karma: 19597086 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: in the middle of nowhere Device: PW4, PW3, Libra H2O, iPad 10.5, iPad 11, iPad 12.9	Any changes made at file level are effectively lost but you can still salvage the calibre library. First and foremost, create a back-up of metadata.db and keep it somewhere safe. I'd do multiple backups just to be extra safe. I know I've overwritten my backup with a bad/corrupt copy on occasion. Then, assuming your books are in the following: Code: \Calibre Library\A\Author A\Title (id)\Title - Author A.ext \Calibre Library\Z\Author Z\Title (id)\Title - Author Z.ext Move the authors back to the top level so you have: Code: \Calibre Library\Author A\Title (id)\Title - Author A.ext \Calibre Library\Author Z\Title (id)\Title - Author Z.ext Then run Calibre and do: Library maintenance -> Check library -> Do you want calibre to check if the files in your library match the information in the database? Yes Don't run any of the fixes. Instead expand the results so you can rename the files and folders you changed back to their original names in Windows Explorer or Finder (or whatever you use as file manager). If you've made more massive changes to the directory and file structure than the above such as removing (id) you're better off copying the library to a different location and re-importing with merge duplicates.