Hey folks and Kovid,
Firstly, I want to just say, this is an immaculate piece of software, and I have been using this for literal years. It's by far one of my most prized digital assets. Every few months, I backup and archive my entire calibre library, using the following command:
Code:
calibre-debug --export-all-calibre-data [/path/to/empty/dir] all
This has been working flawlessly for years.
The last time I ran this command and it worked well was on 4 Oct 2025. I decided to run the export/backup again today, and everything appeared to be working alright, however, after the standard plugin errors, which are inconsequential, it hit the metadata.db file which is usually backs-up first, and begins the file countdown, but now it just hangs at the metadata.db. It's now been running for about 2 hours, usually by now it completes, but it's still stuck at the metadata.db file. Here's the output of my error when I run the command:
Code:
$ calibre-debug --export-all-calibre-data /home/shayaknyc/ayp/Calibre-Backup-20260126/ all
Exporting libraries: /home/shayaknyc/win-d/Users/shaya/Documents/Calibre Library to: /home/shayaknyc/ayp/Calibre-Backup-20260126/
Failed to initialize plugin: '/home/shaya/.config/calibre/plugins/ANOBII.zip'
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre/customize/ui.py", line 833, in initialize_plugins
File "calibre/customize/ui.py", line 87, in load_plugin
File "calibre/customize/zipplugin.py", line 310, in load
File "importlib/__init__.py", line 126, in import_module
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1204, in _gcd_import
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
File "calibre/customize/zipplugin.py", line 202, in exec_module
File "calibre/customize/zipplugin.py", line 198, in get_code
File "calibre_plugins.ANOBII.__init__", line 39
cached_cover_url_is_reliable = True
^
TabError: inconsistent use of tabs and spaces in indentation
Failed to initialize plugin: '/home/shayaknyc/.config/calibre/plugins/Barnes & Noble.zip'
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre/customize/ui.py", line 833, in initialize_plugins
File "calibre/customize/ui.py", line 87, in load_plugin
File "calibre/customize/zipplugin.py", line 310, in load
File "importlib/__init__.py", line 126, in import_module
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1204, in _gcd_import
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
File "calibre/customize/zipplugin.py", line 209, in exec_module
File "calibre_plugins.barnes_noble.__init__", line 11, in <module>
from urllib import quote
ImportError: cannot import name 'quote' from 'urllib' (/opt/calibre/lib/calibre-extensions/python-lib.bypy.frozen/urllib/__init__.pyc)
Failed to initialize plugin: '/home/shayaknyc/.config/calibre/plugins/DOC Input.zip'
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre/customize/ui.py", line 833, in initialize_plugins
File "calibre/customize/ui.py", line 87, in load_plugin
File "calibre/customize/zipplugin.py", line 329, in load
calibre.customize.InvalidPlugin: The plugin at /home/shayaknyc/.config/calibre/plugins/DOC Input.zip cannot be used on linux
Failed to initialize plugin: '/home/shayaknyc/.config/calibre/plugins/KoboBooks.zip'
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre/customize/ui.py", line 833, in initialize_plugins
File "calibre/customize/ui.py", line 87, in load_plugin
File "calibre/customize/zipplugin.py", line 310, in load
File "importlib/__init__.py", line 126, in import_module
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1204, in _gcd_import
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
File "calibre/customize/zipplugin.py", line 209, in exec_module
File "calibre_plugins.kobobooks.__init__", line 10, in <module>
import time, re, HTMLParser
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'HTMLParser'
Failed to initialize plugin: '/home/shayaknyc/.config/calibre/plugins/Read MP3 AudioBook metadata.zip'
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre/customize/ui.py", line 833, in initialize_plugins
File "calibre/customize/ui.py", line 87, in load_plugin
File "calibre/customize/zipplugin.py", line 310, in load
File "importlib/__init__.py", line 126, in import_module
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1204, in _gcd_import
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1176, in _find_and_load
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 1147, in _find_and_load_unlocked
File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 690, in _load_unlocked
File "calibre/customize/zipplugin.py", line 209, in exec_module
File "calibre_plugins.audiobookmetadatareader.__init__", line 8, in <module>
from common import DEBUG
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'common'
/home/shayaknyc/win-d/Users/shaya/Documents/Calibre Library 0 2
metadata.db 0 2824
Nothing has changed in my environment (including the space in the source library path). I'm running Arch Linux, and running calibre v8.16.2.
Other than this, the software works great and I have no problems with this at all. This is the first time I've come across an issue like this, and I would greatly appreciate any insight or advice to resolve this so I may continue backing up my precious library. Thank you in advance!