I need a little help with Calibre.

themadcookieman · 08-16-2011, 06:42 PM

I have calibre installed on my computer.
My ebook library is on my external drive. (J Drive on my main pc)
My calibre library is on my external drive. (J Drive on my main pc)
I also have a laptop on which I have installed calibre.
My main pc and my laptop are both on my wireless network.

Incidentally, don't know if it matters, but, my ebook library (it is a folder on my j drive called 'my ebooks') has the ebooks sorted into sub-folders by author. For example:
Alex, Aaron
Ball, Bailey
Carol, Cathy

See what I mean. I have my ebook folder and in that folder and I have sub-folders with the names of the authors and in those folders I have the ebooks. (they are in various formats)

This information may not matter, but I wanted to be clear.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Okay, so I want to be able to use calibre on my laptop in my bedroom.
My laptop is on a wireless network.
For example, I can access my external hard-drive that is on my pc from my laptop. I often use it to listen to music stored on my external hard drive from my main pc.

I have installed calibre on my laptop.

How do I get calibre on my laptop to see the calibre library on my pc?

I have read something about 'pointing' calibre on my laptop to the calibre library on my pc, but I don't understand how to do that.

Can anyone help me with this?

I run xp on both my laptop and on my pc.
I don't have a reader device like a 'nook' or 'kindle', I just want to be able to read them on my laptop.

One of the main features I want to take advantage of is the ability to use the scroll feature on kindle to be able to flip through the books. I have over a thousand books. Sure, I can go to the pc and find the book and then go back to the bedroom and open the file and read it that way, but it sure would be nice to just scroll through the book covers and find the book I want right from my laptop.

Thank you for your patience.

Jeff

ldolse · 08-17-2011, 03:22 AM

You need to create a network share on your PC. You then map the network share on your laptop, and finally point Calibre on your laptop to the library on your mapped network share.

Do some google searches for 'windows sharing' and/or 'mapped network drive' for XP for a walk-through.

Pinecone · 08-17-2011, 08:21 AM

Just make sure Calibre is not running on the PC when you access if from the Laptop or vice versa.

avantman42 · 08-17-2011, 10:00 AM

Another possibility would be to start Calibre on the main PC, start the content server, then access your books via a web browser on your laptop. This section of the user manual describes the content server:
http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/gui.html#connect-share

themadcookieman · 08-19-2011, 01:09 AM

Thank you so much for your help. I have made some progress. I finally found how to 'point' calibre to my ebook library on my main pc. I will go through your suggestions and try them so that I will get a better understanding of how it all works. Thank you again.

themadcookieman · 08-19-2011, 03:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avantman42

Another possibility would be to start Calibre on the main PC, start the content server, then access your books via a web browser on your laptop. This section of the user manual describes the content server:
http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/gui.html#connect-share

Okay, I downloaded dropbox via that link and created an account. Hope it works.

avantman42 · 08-19-2011, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by themadcookieman

Okay, I downloaded dropbox via that link and created an account. Hope it works.

You don't need Dropbox to use the Calibre content server, but you can put your Calibre library in Dropbox and access it on both machines. If you do that, just make sure you don't have Calibre running on both machines at the same time.

themadcookieman · 08-27-2011, 03:52 PM

I finally got everything working just right. I can access it either from my network (but for some reason when I do that my meta stuff doesn't always show up - for example, it might now show the right book cover) or from the online server thing. I haven't tried it from dropbox. If I put a folder into dropbox do I need to put my entire ebook library in there and the calibre library folder in there also?

avantman42 · 08-30-2011, 03:36 AM

If you're going to go the Dropbox route, you'll have to put the entire Calibre library into Dropbox, and make sure that both copies of Calibre are set up to use the library in Dropbox.

08-16-2011, 06:42 PM	#1
themadcookieman Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: laptop	I need a little help with Calibre. I have calibre installed on my computer. My ebook library is on my external drive. (J Drive on my main pc) My calibre library is on my external drive. (J Drive on my main pc) I also have a laptop on which I have installed calibre. My main pc and my laptop are both on my wireless network. Incidentally, don't know if it matters, but, my ebook library (it is a folder on my j drive called 'my ebooks') has the ebooks sorted into sub-folders by author. For example: Alex, Aaron Ball, Bailey Carol, Cathy See what I mean. I have my ebook folder and in that folder and I have sub-folders with the names of the authors and in those folders I have the ebooks. (they are in various formats) This information may not matter, but I wanted to be clear. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, so I want to be able to use calibre on my laptop in my bedroom. My laptop is on a wireless network. For example, I can access my external hard-drive that is on my pc from my laptop. I often use it to listen to music stored on my external hard drive from my main pc. I have installed calibre on my laptop. How do I get calibre on my laptop to see the calibre library on my pc? I have read something about 'pointing' calibre on my laptop to the calibre library on my pc, but I don't understand how to do that. Can anyone help me with this? I run xp on both my laptop and on my pc. I don't have a reader device like a 'nook' or 'kindle', I just want to be able to read them on my laptop. One of the main features I want to take advantage of is the ability to use the scroll feature on kindle to be able to flip through the books. I have over a thousand books. Sure, I can go to the pc and find the book and then go back to the bedroom and open the file and read it that way, but it sure would be nice to just scroll through the book covers and find the book I want right from my laptop. Thank you for your patience. Jeff

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08-17-2011, 03:22 AM	#2
ldolse Wizard Posts: 1,337 Karma: 123455 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Malaysia Device: PRS-650, iPhone	You need to create a network share on your PC. You then map the network share on your laptop, and finally point Calibre on your laptop to the library on your mapped network share. Do some google searches for 'windows sharing' and/or 'mapped network drive' for XP for a walk-through.

08-17-2011, 08:21 AM	#3
Pinecone Guru Posts: 902 Karma: 1660722 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Maryland Device: PRS-650, PRS-600, PRS-350	Just make sure Calibre is not running on the PC when you access if from the Laptop or vice versa.

08-17-2011, 10:00 AM	#4
avantman42 Wizard Posts: 1,090 Karma: 6058305 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Another possibility would be to start Calibre on the main PC, start the content server, then access your books via a web browser on your laptop. This section of the user manual describes the content server: http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/gui.html#connect-share

08-19-2011, 01:09 AM	#5
themadcookieman Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: laptop	Thank you so much for your help. I have made some progress. I finally found how to 'point' calibre to my ebook library on my main pc. I will go through your suggestions and try them so that I will get a better understanding of how it all works. Thank you again.

08-27-2011, 03:52 PM	#8
themadcookieman Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2011 Device: laptop	I finally got everything working just right. I can access it either from my network (but for some reason when I do that my meta stuff doesn't always show up - for example, it might now show the right book cover) or from the online server thing. I haven't tried it from dropbox. If I put a folder into dropbox do I need to put my entire ebook library in there and the calibre library folder in there also?

08-30-2011, 03:36 AM	#9
avantman42 Wizard Posts: 1,090 Karma: 6058305 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite	If you're going to go the Dropbox route, you'll have to put the entire Calibre library into Dropbox, and make sure that both copies of Calibre are set up to use the library in Dropbox.

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