Calibre add book stopped working.

[docmartn]

This week I started having problems with Calibre adding books. If I reboot the entire system it fixes itself for one session of adding. I can add one or multiple books when it fixes itself but after that add it starts bugging out again. Below is an example of the error. I'm using v2.7, Win10. If there's add'l info I can provide let me know.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
Failed to add the book: 18227-Berardo_Building
H:\00. Storage\Books need to be cataloged\Kate Berardo, Darla K. Deardorff, Fons Trompenaars-Building Cultural Competence_ Innovative Activities and Models-Stylus Publishing (2012).pdf
With error:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\add.py", line 379, in add_book
File "site-packages\calibre\db\legacy.py", line 217, in create_book_entry
File "site-packages\calibre\db\cache.py", line 61, in call_func_with_lock
File "site-packages\calibre\db\cache.py", line 1529, in create_book_entry
File "site-packages\calibre\db\backend.py", line 829, in execute
File "c:\cygwin64\home\kovid\sw\build\apsw-3.8.2-r1\src\cursor.c", line 231, in resetcursor
IOError: IOError: disk I/O error

[kovidgoyal]

That's a disk input/output error, it means your hard disk is failing. Backup your data, and get a new disk or move your calibre library to another disk.

[docmartn]

It does this on 3 disks that are 3 different ages.

[kovidgoyal]

Then replace your disk controller.

[theducks]

Could this be a rogue A/V blocking DB type files?

(I can't remember when I had a replaceable HD controller card system. W95c on have always had mainboard PATA and/or SATA)

Drive check (check for errors) should be holler'n if it is a HW problem.

[docmartn]

I did recently re-name the drive I was saving to but not the one I was adding from. Is it possible this could have done something? @theducks are you suggesting there might be a audio or video file blocking something? It seems odd that it's having trouble with the 3 different drives that house the books. I'm going to check each drive for failure issues.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by docmartn

I did recently re-name the drive I was saving to but not the one I was adding from. Is it possible this could have done something? @theducks are you suggesting there might be a audio or video file blocking something? It seems odd that it's having trouble with the 3 different drives that house the books. I'm going to check each drive for failure issues.

Calibre only can have a Library on a Single (logical) drive.


The ADD source can be any drive (Local is solid. Network share is iffy)

Your error message seems to imply the Library (db) is the issue

A/V is anti Virus not Audio/Visual

Get a utility that can read SMART status of HD. I boot a Linux Live DVD (does not need to be installed) and run the disk Utility

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by docmartn

I did recently re-name the drive I was saving to but not the one I was adding from. Is it possible this could have done something?

Can you confirm you mean rename (as in something like "Main Data Drive") rather assigning a new drive letter e.g. D: to F:. AFAIK drive names don't mean much to anything other than us mere humans.

Originally Posted by docmartn

It seems odd that it's having trouble with the 3 different drives that house the books. I'm going to check each drive for failure issues.

Indeed, it would be odd for all three to be flaky - unless there's a gremlin in the infrastructure they share.

Are the three drives internal or external?

If they're external try a different usb port or 'drive housing'. And if they are external it could be the usb controller that's at fault. If latter and it's a desktop you could get a USB 3.x adapter for not very much.

BR

[docmartn]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Can you confirm you mean rename (as in something like "Main Data Drive") rather assigning a new drive letter e.g. D: to F:. AFAIK drive names don't mean much to anything other than us mere humans.

Indeed, it would be odd for all three to be flaky - unless there's a gremlin in the infrastructure they share.
Are the three drives internal or external?

If they're external try a different usb port or 'drive housing'. And if they are external it could be the usb controller that's at fault. If latter and it's a desktop you could get a USB 3.x adapter for not very much.
BR

By rename I changed the label from Seagate F Drive to F - Seagate Drive
I didn't change the drive assignment.

All three drives are external and each uses a different USB controller.

I've got 3 different controllers on this PC -
• Two in back - each as 4 ports
• One in front - 2 ports

Each device was connected to a different controller - I didn't do this on purpose it just turned out that way.

This morning I moved the drive where the Calibre Library is stored (along with some of my un-catalogued books) to a different USB controller. I was then able to books from each of the 3 hard drives including the one were Calibre is stored and so far I'm able to add and save without errors.

This leads me to believe that there’s either something wrong with the USB port or possibly the drive although if it were the drive I’d think I’d still be having issues. As for the USB port in question I have two other drives on it which seem to be fine. (Yes, I have several external drives and yes I know this probably isn’t the best solution - unfortunately I can't afford a petabyte drive which is what I really need)

I’ll keep messing around with the drives and ports to see what happens. I appreciate everyone’s input and trouble shooting help.

@theducks I understand what you said about the Calibre drive vs. the add drives. It makes perfect sense. I wasn’t thinking that a record is immediately created on the Calibre drive regardless of the add drive which explains why I was getting the error regardless of the drive I was adding from. I also reverted back to an older version 2.68) of Calibre but in hindsight I don't think that was needed. I'm also going to check all the drives with SMART.

You’ve all be great as usual. I wish I could buy you a beer. Wish me luck. JCM