Help please - Calibre 9.2.1 not starting on Windows 11

[littlegreyboat]

Hi

Calibre has been working fine until today, I was importing books and Calibre crashed and now it won't start at all. All I get is a blank white or black window.

I've tried running calibre-debug -g and this is the output:

C:\Users\micro>calibre-debug -g
calibre 9.2.1  embedded-python: True
Windows-11-10.0.26200-SP0 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '11', '10.0.26200')
Python 3.14.2
Windows: ('11', '10.0.26200', 'SP0', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Interface language: None
EXE path: C:\Program Files\Calibre2\calibre-debug.exe
QPA platform: windows
devicePixelRatio: 1.25
logicalDpi: 96.0 x 96.0
physicalDpi: 113.41395348837209 x 113.41395348837209
ApplicationPaletteChange event ignored
Using calibre Qt style: True
ApplicationPaletteChange event received
[0.00] Starting up...
[0.00] Showing splash screen...
[1.23] splash screen shown
[1.42] Initializing db...
[8.18] db initialized
[8.18] Constructing main UI...
[11.81] GUI main window shown
[12.00] main UI initialized...
[12.00] Hiding splash screen
[12.01] splash screen hidden
[12.01] Started up in 12.01 seconds with 0 books

What's even more confusing is that there should be nearly 800 books in the library.

I've tried setting the environment variable QTWEBENGINE_CHROMIUM_FLAGS as described in https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...-e-book-viewer but that's had no effect. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling Calibre several times but with no success, the exact same thing happens in each new install.

I've tried installing Calibre portable on my second hard drive and that loads fine, but I have a completely separate issue with the portable version in that it can't see the network drive my library is saved on. The drive will open fine in Windows Explorer and I can navigate to the library folder with no issues, but when I try to add the file path in the 'Choose your calibre library' window it gives me an error that says "ERROR: Bad location: P:\Shared Documents\Books\Calibre Library is not an existing folder"

I'm out of my depth here! Can anyone suggest anything else to try - primarily with the non-portable version because that's the one that had my full 800 book library in, but I'm interested in what's going on with the portable version too!

Thank You!

[Sirtel]

Keeping your calibre library on a networked drive is not recommended:

https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...rked-drive-nas

[DNSB]

If for some reason, your main calibre window has moved off the screen, there are a couple of ways to try moving it back. This assumes that calibre is running and you can see the calibre icon in the taskbar.

1. Hold down the Shift key and right-click the app icon. You should see Move on the context menu. Click on move and then use the arrow keys to move the calibre window back onto the screen.
2. Use Windows Snap Screen. Click on the app icon then press the Windows key and the right or left arrow key. This should move the calibre window to the right or left side of your screen.
3. There are several other ways but I've found these two to be the most consistently useful.

[littlegreyboat]

I managed to sort this in the end. I copied my library to one of my local drives and then did another reinstall of Calibre choosing the new library location in the initial setup. I don't know if the library that was on the network drive had got corrupted and that was why it wasn't starting up. Thanks for your help anyways

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by littlegreyboat

I managed to sort this in the end. I copied my library to one of my local drives and then did another reinstall of Calibre choosing the new library location in the initial setup. I don't know if the library that was on the network drive had got corrupted and that was why it wasn't starting up. Thanks for your help anyways

If you look at the calibre FAQs and SQLite's site, both recommend not using an SQLite database on network attached storage.

There have been so many messages over the years where the basic message is: I've been using calibre stored on my NAS/cloud storage for years and now my library/database is corrupted, my library won't open, etc.

Store your library/database locally and keep one-way synced backup on network storage and, for my paranoia, on locally attached storage as well.