Access to Win11 library via VirtualBox LINUX

mookwi · 07-25-2025, 02:21 PM

Hello and good evening,
I don't know if this is the right thread for my problem. I'm using Calibre under Windows 11 (no problems whatsoever). Now I've installed MXLinux under VirtualBox (under Windows 11) and wanted to use Calibre to access the shared eBook library I use under Windows 11. Unfortunately, I always get the following error message:
Traceback (most recent call last):

File "calibre/gui2/main.py", line 323, in initialize_db
File "calibre/db/legacy.py", line 192, in __init__
File "calibre/db/legacy.py", line 46, in create_backend
File "calibre/db/backend.py", line 551, in __init__
File "calibre/db/backend.py", line 990, in initialize_notes
File "calibre/db/notes/connect.py", line 79, in __init__
File "calibre/db/notes/connect.py", line 100, in reopen
File "calibre/db/notes/schema_upgrade.py", line 29, in __init__
File "calibre/db/backend.py", line 433, in execute
File "src/cursor.c", line 240, in resetcursor
apsw.IOError: IOError: disk I/O error

Access works under Win11! Does anyone have any advice?

Quoth · 07-25-2025, 04:22 PM

The Calibre Library needs to be in the same VM. You can't share like this.

It barely works dual booting and using same library on Linux and Windows. Sharing a sub directory or drive across the "wall" of the VM is not a reliable file system. It just about works for a file manager.

DNSB · 07-25-2025, 08:53 PM

I tried this with calibre installed on Windows 11 and several Linux installs on VM Workstation with the calibre test library in a shared folder. While I did not get the Disk I/O errors, after several sequential sessions between Windows and the Linux VMs, the library was munged. If I did a 2-way sync between shared folder and the Linux VMs's local copies of the library, again the library in the shared directory got munged though it seemed to take longer and needed more disk space. A 1-way sync worked but was rather useless since only the changes I made in Windows got synced to the Linux VMs and the changes made in the Linux VMs were not propagated.

kovidgoyal · 07-25-2025, 10:18 PM

windows and linux filesystems have *very* different semantics, you cant share a library folder between them.

07-25-2025, 02:21 PM	#1
mookwi Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2025 Location: Northern Germany Device: none	Access to Win11 library via VirtualBox LINUX Hello and good evening, I don't know if this is the right thread for my problem. I'm using Calibre under Windows 11 (no problems whatsoever). Now I've installed MXLinux under VirtualBox (under Windows 11) and wanted to use Calibre to access the shared eBook library I use under Windows 11. Unfortunately, I always get the following error message: Traceback (most recent call last): File "calibre/gui2/main.py", line 323, in initialize_db File "calibre/db/legacy.py", line 192, in __init__ File "calibre/db/legacy.py", line 46, in create_backend File "calibre/db/backend.py", line 551, in __init__ File "calibre/db/backend.py", line 990, in initialize_notes File "calibre/db/notes/connect.py", line 79, in __init__ File "calibre/db/notes/connect.py", line 100, in reopen File "calibre/db/notes/schema_upgrade.py", line 29, in __init__ File "calibre/db/backend.py", line 433, in execute File "src/cursor.c", line 240, in resetcursor apsw.IOError: IOError: disk I/O error Access works under Win11! Does anyone have any advice?

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07-25-2025, 04:22 PM	#2
Quoth Still reading Posts: 14,112 Karma: 105211945 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper	The Calibre Library needs to be in the same VM. You can't share like this. It barely works dual booting and using same library on Linux and Windows. Sharing a sub directory or drive across the "wall" of the VM is not a reliable file system. It just about works for a file manager.

07-25-2025, 08:53 PM	#3
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 46,313 Karma: 169098492 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	I tried this with calibre installed on Windows 11 and several Linux installs on VM Workstation with the calibre test library in a shared folder. While I did not get the Disk I/O errors, after several sequential sessions between Windows and the Linux VMs, the library was munged. If I did a 2-way sync between shared folder and the Linux VMs's local copies of the library, again the library in the shared directory got munged though it seemed to take longer and needed more disk space. A 1-way sync worked but was rather useless since only the changes I made in Windows got synced to the Linux VMs and the changes made in the Linux VMs were not propagated.

07-25-2025, 10:18 PM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,373 Karma: 27230406 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	windows and linux filesystems have very different semantics, you cant share a library folder between them.