Rebuilding after crash

Sami · 09-25-2015, 11:02 AM

So yesterday my harddrive seemed to take issue with polishing too many books after downloading new covers and in the process killed my metadata.db and calibre install.

Luckily I'm sometimes smarter than I look and I have a full working backup of my books with updated metadata (excluding those new covers) and a copy of my calibre prefs folder.

So far I've uninstalled calibre and installed a fresh copy, now what comes next?

Switch out the prefs folder, install new copies of my plugins, rebuild the library?

I'd like to get it back to what I had custom columns and all as much as possible but not sure the order of things to get there.

theducks · 09-25-2015, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sami

So yesterday my harddrive seemed to take issue with polishing too many books after downloading new covers and in the process killed my metadata.db and calibre install.

Luckily I'm sometimes smarter than I look and I have a full working backup of my books with updated metadata (excluding those new covers) and a copy of my calibre prefs folder.

So far I've uninstalled calibre and installed a fresh copy, now what comes next?

Switch out the prefs folder, install new copies of my plugins, rebuild the library?

I'd like to get it back to what I had custom columns and all as much as possible but not sure the order of things to get there.

Here is what I have done:
With a safe backup of your Library folder in case things go sideways

1) Install Calibre as normal.
2) Shutdown Calibre
3) Replace all the contents of the calibre config folder with your saved config. Note: that should take care of all your PI and PI settings

4) Replace the contents of the Library folder. if you are lucky, you will have the metadata_db_prefs_backup.JSON intact
5) Start Calibre. Point it to the Library if asked, rebuild if asked ( only if needed)
6) continue your efforts.

You did replace that sick drive?

Sami · 09-25-2015, 12:49 PM

Thank you thank you

I haven't replaced it yet, have one on order and am also researching how to get a os install accomplished on it (with no recovery disks ha! not always so smart). But I figure I'll try out getting calibre back up and running while I'm waiting and have a process/backup plan for the new hard drive.

Luckily I had backed up and saved on an external for eventual move to win10, which that stupid reserve your copy thing I'm thinking may have been the start to my problems due to some previous error messages.

Sami · 09-25-2015, 07:06 PM

So 3rd try now and getting this error message:

calibre, version 2.39.0
ERROR: Failed: Restoring database failed, click Show details to see details

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\db\restore.py", line 125, in run
File "site-packages\calibre\db\restore.py", line 277, in replace_db
WindowsError: [Error 32] The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process: u'C:\\Users\\Samantha\\Documents\\Calibre Library\\metadata.db'

Not completely sure what it means or how to fix it.

theducks · 09-25-2015, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sami

So 3rd try now and getting this error message:

calibre, version 2.39.0
ERROR: Failed: Restoring database failed, click Show details to see details

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\db\restore.py", line 125, in run
File "site-packages\calibre\db\restore.py", line 277, in replace_db
WindowsError: [Error 32] The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process: u'C:\\Users\\Samantha\\Documents\\Calibre Library\\metadata.db'

Not completely sure what it means or how to fix it.

Something has it open.

Another instance of Calibre
Antivirus scan
(CLI) Content server
CLOUD backed folder? Pause cloud

Did you restore from a CD/DVD (AKA read only media)?

kovidgoyal · 09-25-2015, 10:51 PM

If you have a backup of your library folder, you dont need to restore, just copy it over.

Sami · 09-25-2015, 11:59 PM

As far as I can figure there shouldn't have been anything to hold metadata.db open.
I copied over from an external drive.

That's what I've just tried Kovid, but I'm guessing along the way somewhere something transferred because now I've got mostly but not all duplicates a) is all my current metadata with no format and b) has the format with outdated metadata.

I'll play around with this for a bit and see if I can tell what went wrong where but luckily I still have the back up (and possibly an older one around here somewhere) and will probably try again tomorrow all fresh like.

09-25-2015, 11:02 AM	#1
Sami Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Ipod Touch, Sony 350	Rebuilding after crash So yesterday my harddrive seemed to take issue with polishing too many books after downloading new covers and in the process killed my metadata.db and calibre install. Luckily I'm sometimes smarter than I look and I have a full working backup of my books with updated metadata (excluding those new covers) and a copy of my calibre prefs folder. So far I've uninstalled calibre and installed a fresh copy, now what comes next? Switch out the prefs folder, install new copies of my plugins, rebuild the library? I'd like to get it back to what I had custom columns and all as much as possible but not sure the order of things to get there.

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09-25-2015, 12:49 PM	#3
Sami Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Ipod Touch, Sony 350	Thank you thank you I haven't replaced it yet, have one on order and am also researching how to get a os install accomplished on it (with no recovery disks ha! not always so smart). But I figure I'll try out getting calibre back up and running while I'm waiting and have a process/backup plan for the new hard drive. Luckily I had backed up and saved on an external for eventual move to win10, which that stupid reserve your copy thing I'm thinking may have been the start to my problems due to some previous error messages.

09-25-2015, 07:06 PM	#4
Sami Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Ipod Touch, Sony 350	So 3rd try now and getting this error message: calibre, version 2.39.0 ERROR: Failed: Restoring database failed, click Show details to see details Traceback (most recent call last): File "site-packages\calibre\db\restore.py", line 125, in run File "site-packages\calibre\db\restore.py", line 277, in replace_db WindowsError: [Error 32] The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process: u'C:\\Users\\Samantha\\Documents\\Calibre Library\\metadata.db' Not completely sure what it means or how to fix it.

09-25-2015, 10:51 PM	#6
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,219 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	If you have a backup of your library folder, you dont need to restore, just copy it over.

09-25-2015, 11:59 PM	#7
Sami Member Posts: 18 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Ipod Touch, Sony 350	As far as I can figure there shouldn't have been anything to hold metadata.db open. I copied over from an external drive. That's what I've just tried Kovid, but I'm guessing along the way somewhere something transferred because now I've got mostly but not all duplicates a) is all my current metadata with no format and b) has the format with outdated metadata. I'll play around with this for a bit and see if I can tell what went wrong where but luckily I still have the back up (and possibly an older one around here somewhere) and will probably try again tomorrow all fresh like.

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