Chromebook SD Card Book File Missing! error

SoccerDad91016 · 04-07-2022, 11:56 AM

I have installed Calibre Companion on a Chromebook. I want to use my SD Card as the location for my library. I was easily able to do this on an Android tablet, but it does not seem to be working on a Chromebook.

I installed Calibre Companion, connected to my Calibre server and sent several files to my Chromebook. This all works fine.

However, when I go to any of the books and click "read" I get an error message at the bottom of the screen: "Book File Missing!".

If I use the function "Books with Missing Files" it shows a list with ALL the books I just sent.

But, if I use the file manager to look at the directory I'm using for my library, all the files are there!

Any suggestions to why Calibre Companion can do everything but open the book to read?

bazookajoe · 04-07-2022, 02:22 PM

Welcome to hell! Lol.

This is the exact behaviour I have with OTG SD/USB storage on Android 10+ devices. Ordinarily not an issue because most of my devices have external SD slots and CC works fine with them but my Onyx Leaf does not and my library is bigger than internal storage. So that's a whole problem I've recently ran into myself right down to every aspect of the behaviour you're experiencing, which has then forced me to look at how my other Android devices respond with OTG (10, 11, 12 not well. At all. Pie was the last time it was flawless).

I'm sorry, I don't know anything about Chromebooks I'm an idiot and cannot help you technically however, maybe you could look into how Chromebooks handle external storage. Is formatting it as adoptable storage an option? Mounting scripts? Things I'm too stupid to comprehend? I say this because I think you might have to go outside the CC thread on this one to bigger things like Chrome O/S, storage scope etc, because it may (and I say may) be a more broadly systemic issue for you too and not just the CC app. Obviously you're not explicitly OTG (or are you?) but it makes me suspicious given we're identical in result which makes me think that there's just something going on there with your storage. It's nothing I can find much info on at all.

For me personally I've torn my hair out over this for weeks. Root hasn't worked, chmodding, permission changes, 2 different Magisk modules haven't and about 7 different apps haven't worked. It isn't just restricted to CC either, so it's not just that it's an old/outdated program (though CC is certainly that). The only real success I've had is with Paragon exFAT/NTFS making ReadEra finally detect the OTG SD. That's it. The closest I've come to minor change from your default behaviour in CC is with extSD in Magisk but I still have it unable to open the file, says it's missing just like you except this is the only time it can tell what size the file is. Otherwise default behaviour says the file is size: 0 in the "Book Detials" view. Still can't open books though :/

I guess one way to see if it's a systemic issue is to try other apps and see if you suffer storage restrictions similar to what I've experienced. As mentioned, ReadEra couldn't read OTG storage at all without explicit mounting app, I could select it, but it would not read it, an app I use that usually allows external storage is Smart Audiobook Player and that can't access external. Calibre Sync displays similar behaviour to CC in that it will download but not read (though since Leaf updating firmware things have gotten more restricted to what download folders I can choose).

If I make any headway I'll update here (or somewhere else relevant) for future people. Good luck.

SoccerDad91016 · 04-07-2022, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bazookajoe

Welcome to hell! Lol.

This is the exact behaviour I have with OTG SD/USB storage on Android 10+ devices. Ordinarily not an issue because most of my devices have external SD slots and CC works fine with them but my Onyx Leaf does not and my library is bigger than internal storage. So that's a whole problem I've recently ran into myself right down to every aspect of the behaviour you're experiencing, which has then forced me to look at how my other Android devices respond with OTG (10, 11, 12 not well. At all. Pie was the last time it was flawless).

I'm sorry, I don't know anything about Chromebooks I'm an idiot and cannot help you technically however, maybe you could look into how Chromebooks handle external storage. Is formatting it as adoptable storage an option? Mounting scripts? Things I'm too stupid to comprehend? I say this because I think you might have to go outside the CC thread on this one to bigger things like Chrome O/S, storage scope etc, because it may (and I say may) be a more broadly systemic issue for you too and not just the CC app. Obviously you're not explicitly OTG (or are you?) but it makes me suspicious given we're identical in result which makes me think that there's just something going on there with your storage. It's nothing I can find much info on at all.

For me personally I've torn my hair out over this for weeks. Root hasn't worked, chmodding, permission changes, 2 different Magisk modules haven't and about 7 different apps haven't worked. It isn't just restricted to CC either, so it's not just that it's an old/outdated program (though CC is certainly that). The only real success I've had is with Paragon exFAT/NTFS making ReadEra finally detect the OTG SD. That's it. The closest I've come to minor change from your default behaviour in CC is with extSD in Magisk but I still have it unable to open the file, says it's missing just like you except this is the only time it can tell what size the file is. Otherwise default behaviour says the file is size: 0 in the "Book Detials" view. Still can't open books though :/

If I make any headway I'll update here (or somewhere else relevant) for future people. Good luck.

I have a sneaky suspicion it has something to do with the length of the filename. Not sure about Onyx implementation of Android, but on Chrome OS the SD Card is assigned a really long name (over 15 characters), so combined with the file name I think Calibre Companion has issues with opening the file (even if I can open with other apps). I have not found a way to change the SD Card name in Chrome OS.

So I'm in the same boat, pulling out my hair and looking for another alternative to manage my comic library.

bazookajoe · 04-08-2022, 03:13 AM

Your situation may well be to do with filenames. To run tests on this for yourself to see if it is filename length, maybe try change your default filename template in CC. Settings > File Name > Use CC template everywhere > then enter this as template: {id}
That's the shortest name length I can think of (e.g. I'm looking at one of my books now in my experiments and the ID is 4096). Maybe just send a few down not your whole collection and see how that works out. Apparently it's not the best choice to use as an identifier but at least for testing purposes that's the shortest you're going to get imho.

In my instance I don't think that's going to be the fix, I've run some preliminary tests on that already to get filename smaller (apparently Onyx only supports 255 char) and it's under 255 but, the complication there is regular Android. I have the same issue with my S20+, Tab S6 and Tab A 8.4 2020 and Tab A 8.0 2019 w/S-Pen and across 3 different Android iterations (edit: with OTG storage, to be clear, regular extSD in my slots are fine. Storage scope is getting increasingly strict post 10 from what I gather).

I wish I understood all this better like, is there a way I can use symbolic links to change how the path is viewed? StickMount sort of does that but it's not a fix for me. My expertise stops at being able to TWRP, root and eventually smash through until I get Apps2SD or Link2SD to work back in the old days lol.

bazookajoe · 04-08-2022, 11:12 AM

FWIW if it turns out it isn't filename length and it turns out Chrome O/S views external SD cards similar to how newer Androids view OTG storage and you can't do any mount stuff or adoptable storage stuff and you're crushed by extremely limited and/or weird storage scope I know that ComicScreen app will access OTG SD. Far from ideal as you can't filter by tags or series or whatever to handle a large collection and you can only sort by filename (plus date stuff) to find what you want in a large collection but it will actually read what relevant comic files you have on your SD that you can use CC to send down to the card.

04-07-2022, 11:56 AM	#1
SoccerDad91016 Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2014 Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Fire HD 8, Microsoft Surface Go 3	Chromebook SD Card Book File Missing! error I have installed Calibre Companion on a Chromebook. I want to use my SD Card as the location for my library. I was easily able to do this on an Android tablet, but it does not seem to be working on a Chromebook. I installed Calibre Companion, connected to my Calibre server and sent several files to my Chromebook. This all works fine. However, when I go to any of the books and click "read" I get an error message at the bottom of the screen: "Book File Missing!". If I use the function "Books with Missing Files" it shows a list with ALL the books I just sent. But, if I use the file manager to look at the directory I'm using for my library, all the files are there! Any suggestions to why Calibre Companion can do everything but open the book to read?

04-07-2022, 02:22 PM	#2
bazookajoe Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 84358 Join Date: Mar 2022 Device: Onyx Leaf, excessive amount of Android devices	Welcome to hell! Lol. This is the exact behaviour I have with OTG SD/USB storage on Android 10+ devices. Ordinarily not an issue because most of my devices have external SD slots and CC works fine with them but my Onyx Leaf does not and my library is bigger than internal storage. So that's a whole problem I've recently ran into myself right down to every aspect of the behaviour you're experiencing, which has then forced me to look at how my other Android devices respond with OTG (10, 11, 12 not well. At all. Pie was the last time it was flawless). I'm sorry, I don't know anything about Chromebooks I'm an idiot and cannot help you technically however, maybe you could look into how Chromebooks handle external storage. Is formatting it as adoptable storage an option? Mounting scripts? Things I'm too stupid to comprehend? I say this because I think you might have to go outside the CC thread on this one to bigger things like Chrome O/S, storage scope etc, because it may (and I say may) be a more broadly systemic issue for you too and not just the CC app. Obviously you're not explicitly OTG (or are you?) but it makes me suspicious given we're identical in result which makes me think that there's just something going on there with your storage. It's nothing I can find much info on at all. For me personally I've torn my hair out over this for weeks. Root hasn't worked, chmodding, permission changes, 2 different Magisk modules haven't and about 7 different apps haven't worked. It isn't just restricted to CC either, so it's not just that it's an old/outdated program (though CC is certainly that). The only real success I've had is with Paragon exFAT/NTFS making ReadEra finally detect the OTG SD. That's it. The closest I've come to minor change from your default behaviour in CC is with extSD in Magisk but I still have it unable to open the file, says it's missing just like you except this is the only time it can tell what size the file is. Otherwise default behaviour says the file is size: 0 in the "Book Detials" view. Still can't open books though :/ I guess one way to see if it's a systemic issue is to try other apps and see if you suffer storage restrictions similar to what I've experienced. As mentioned, ReadEra couldn't read OTG storage at all without explicit mounting app, I could select it, but it would not read it, an app I use that usually allows external storage is Smart Audiobook Player and that can't access external. Calibre Sync displays similar behaviour to CC in that it will download but not read (though since Leaf updating firmware things have gotten more restricted to what download folders I can choose). If I make any headway I'll update here (or somewhere else relevant) for future people. Good luck. Last edited by bazookajoe; 04-07-2022 at 02:25 PM.

04-08-2022, 03:13 AM	#4
bazookajoe Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 84358 Join Date: Mar 2022 Device: Onyx Leaf, excessive amount of Android devices	Your situation may well be to do with filenames. To run tests on this for yourself to see if it is filename length, maybe try change your default filename template in CC. Settings > File Name > Use CC template everywhere > then enter this as template: {id} That's the shortest name length I can think of (e.g. I'm looking at one of my books now in my experiments and the ID is 4096). Maybe just send a few down not your whole collection and see how that works out. Apparently it's not the best choice to use as an identifier but at least for testing purposes that's the shortest you're going to get imho. In my instance I don't think that's going to be the fix, I've run some preliminary tests on that already to get filename smaller (apparently Onyx only supports 255 char) and it's under 255 but, the complication there is regular Android. I have the same issue with my S20+, Tab S6 and Tab A 8.4 2020 and Tab A 8.0 2019 w/S-Pen and across 3 different Android iterations (edit: with OTG storage, to be clear, regular extSD in my slots are fine. Storage scope is getting increasingly strict post 10 from what I gather). I wish I understood all this better like, is there a way I can use symbolic links to change how the path is viewed? StickMount sort of does that but it's not a fix for me. My expertise stops at being able to TWRP, root and eventually smash through until I get Apps2SD or Link2SD to work back in the old days lol. Last edited by bazookajoe; 04-08-2022 at 03:36 AM.

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04-08-2022, 11:12 AM	#5
bazookajoe Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 84358 Join Date: Mar 2022 Device: Onyx Leaf, excessive amount of Android devices	FWIW if it turns out it isn't filename length and it turns out Chrome O/S views external SD cards similar to how newer Androids view OTG storage and you can't do any mount stuff or adoptable storage stuff and you're crushed by extremely limited and/or weird storage scope I know that ComicScreen app will access OTG SD. Far from ideal as you can't filter by tags or series or whatever to handle a large collection and you can only sort by filename (plus date stuff) to find what you want in a large collection but it will actually read what relevant comic files you have on your SD that you can use CC to send down to the card.

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