Calibre 9 and Box Cloud Storage - Page 4

Sirtel · 02-10-2026, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevex

I understand that, but OneDrive is *not* a network drive / network connection, it is working always on your local drive and downloading / uploading as you open and close files. It's not doing any kind of simultaneous file access to the db from different locations.

If you run Calibre simultaneously from different devices on the same library, you will simply get different versions of the db files uploaded back to OneCloud, and you need later to decide which to keep.

I'll shut up now but I thought there's maybe a bit of misunderstanding going on here

It is still not recommended, as folks who are not careful and attentive can easily get their library majorly messed up with a cloud drive. For example, if you forget to check your conflicted files for a while or just have no time to do it, you may later be unable to decide which versions are the ones you want to keep.

gbm · 02-10-2026, 02:29 PM

Who ever told you that OneDrive is not a network drive is a liar or does not understand how the hardware works.

bernie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevex

I understand that, but OneDrive is *not* a network drive / network connection, it is working always on your local drive and downloading / uploading as you open and close files. It's not doing any kind of simultaneous file access to the db from different locations.

If you run Calibre simultaneously from different devices on the same library, you will simply get different versions of the db files uploaded back to OneCloud, and you need later to decide which to keep.

I'll shut up now but I thought there's maybe a bit of misunderstanding going on here

JSWolf · 02-10-2026, 03:49 PM

The problem with OneDrive is that the software is awful and can really mess up your system. The other problem comes when OneDrive is trying to sync files from your library such as the database and calibre needs to access the database or other files.

BetterRed · 02-10-2026, 04:38 PM

Sigh - my largest (180,000 'books', almost a terabyte of content) and busiest library (30-50 adds a week) has lived on OneDrive for almost two years.

Why? Because I want to get at it from my 256GB Surface Go from different locations - it is backed up via a one-way incremental copy (mirror) to a 6TB HDD attached to my desktop.

BR

JSWolf · 02-10-2026, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Sigh - my largest (180,000 'books', almost a terabyte of content) and busiest library (30-50 adds a week) has lived on OneDrive for almost two years.

Why? Because I want to get at it from my 256GB Surface Go from different locations - it is backed up via a one-way incremental copy (mirror) to a 6TB HDD attached to my desktop.

BR

There a solution for your Surface Go. Get an external SSD drive for your library.

BetterRed · 02-10-2026, 06:02 PM

Which I have to buy, remember to carry, and not leave behind.

Sirtel · 02-10-2026, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Which I have to buy, remember to carry, and not leave behind.

To say nothing of the fact that external drives can fail suddenly and if you are somewhere without your main PC and need to access your library...

I too keep a copy of my main library and a couple of my other libraries in Dropbox. But I don't keep Dropbox running while I work with those libraries, and I always make changes to the libraries on my main PC, as I no longer want to bother with conflicted files and the like.

And all my libraries are fully available locally, not residing only in the cloud (so-called on-demand files).

BetterRed · 02-10-2026, 06:59 PM

Can't remember the last time I had a hard disk fail, probably last century, I have an 80MB shirt pocket drive that I still use occasionally, it must be at least 30 years old.

Sirtel · 02-10-2026, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Can't remember the last time I had a hard disk fail, probably last century, I have an 80MB shirt pocket drive that I still use occasionally, it must be at least 30 years old.

You could drop it. My cat pushed one of mine from the shelf to the floor a few years ago and it broke. (Yes, I learned from my mistake and no longer keep my external drives where the cats could get at them).

DNSB · 02-10-2026, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stevex

I understand that, but OneDrive is *not* a network drive / network connection, it is working always on your local drive and downloading / uploading as you open and close files. It's not doing any kind of simultaneous file access to the db from different locations.

So you are saying that OneDrive and calibre are accessing the metadata.db database at the same time and that is not simultaneous access? Simultaneous access does not need to be done from a different machines when multiple processes on your local machine can screw the pooch without needing outside help.

BetterRed · 02-10-2026, 10:36 PM

Can you run two instances of calibre on the same computer?

No.

Why not?

Because there's nothing to mediate database update conflicts - you need a transaction monitor to do that, and there are none in the space in which calibre operate.

CICS on Windows, Tuxedo on MacOS, Tomcat on desktop Linux… AGHATS.

Nearest I ever got was Corba RPCs from Windows NT clients to a CICS server on MVS. M$ and a dying DEC put a stop to that. Poughkeepsie didn't like it at all… Raleigh quite liked, Hursley were keen. Dealing with Big Blue back then was like a dealing with a political party's factions.

BR

theducks · Yesterday, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Can't remember the last time I had a hard disk fail, probably last century, I have an 80MB shirt pocket drive that I still use occasionally, it must be at least 30 years old.

The last time I had one 'just fail' was spectacular. I had a 5.25 drive in a desktop caddy and all of a sudden it started speeding up and was literally bouncing around on my desk before I got it turned off. It was my backup drive that had seen prior service.

In all other cases, they started making some sort of errors (timeout or bad blocks)

Mr_H_Poirot · Yesterday, 02:09 PM

Wow, 180,000 books!?

I'm really interested why people have such big libraries given one can't read that many books in a lifetime. Is it just that some users like to 'collect' electronic books and have them available 'in case' you want to read them?

Or is there a concern that books on standard e-books or gutenberg or wherever will become unavailable at some point and so won't be downloadable when you want to read them? So you are downloading vast amounts of such books now to safeguard against a future risk? [I find that standard e-books is often updating and improving books as people read them and find the odd error in formatting. So I wait until I want to read it as then I'll have the most polished version]

Or something else?

theducks · Yesterday, 02:19 PM

I also keep all the instruction manuals for appliances and equipment in my Library. It is a lot faster to find than rummaging in drawers and shelves.

Anyone seen my lost Diamond Media USB Vid adapter. I have the manual

(I have 2 of these, but can only find 1). I run the Calibre or Sigil Preview Pane on a Portrait monitor connected via this.

BetterRed · Yesterday, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_H_Poirot

Wow, 180,000 books!?
. . .

They're 'books', not books… they are (or were) public domain 'documents', and much of the content is audio/visual.

BR

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02-10-2026, 03:49 PM	#48
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 82,053 Karma: 150831497 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	The problem with OneDrive is that the software is awful and can really mess up your system. The other problem comes when OneDrive is trying to sync files from your library such as the database and calibre needs to access the database or other files.

02-10-2026, 04:38 PM	#49
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 22,324 Karma: 30621608 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Sigh - my largest (180,000 'books', almost a terabyte of content) and busiest library (30-50 adds a week) has lived on OneDrive for almost two years. Why? Because I want to get at it from my 256GB Surface Go from different locations - it is backed up via a one-way incremental copy (mirror) to a 6TB HDD attached to my desktop. BR

02-10-2026, 06:02 PM	#51
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 22,324 Karma: 30621608 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Which I have to buy, remember to carry, and not leave behind.

02-10-2026, 06:59 PM	#53
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 22,324 Karma: 30621608 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Can't remember the last time I had a hard disk fail, probably last century, I have an 80MB shirt pocket drive that I still use occasionally, it must be at least 30 years old.

02-10-2026, 10:36 PM	#56
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 22,324 Karma: 30621608 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Can you run two instances of calibre on the same computer? No. Why not? Because there's nothing to mediate database update conflicts - you need a transaction monitor to do that, and there are none in the space in which calibre operate. CICS on Windows, Tuxedo on MacOS, Tomcat on desktop Linux… AGHATS. Nearest I ever got was Corba RPCs from Windows NT clients to a CICS server on MVS. M$ and a dying DEC put a stop to that. Poughkeepsie didn't like it at all… Raleigh quite liked, Hursley were keen. Dealing with Big Blue back then was like a dealing with a political party's factions. BR

Yesterday, 02:09 PM	#58
Mr_H_Poirot Member Posts: 15 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2025 Device: Kobo Clara BW	Wow, 180,000 books!? I'm really interested why people have such big libraries given one can't read that many books in a lifetime. Is it just that some users like to 'collect' electronic books and have them available 'in case' you want to read them? Or is there a concern that books on standard e-books or gutenberg or wherever will become unavailable at some point and so won't be downloadable when you want to read them? So you are downloading vast amounts of such books now to safeguard against a future risk? [I find that standard e-books is often updating and improving books as people read them and find the odd error in formatting. So I wait until I want to read it as then I'll have the most polished version] Or something else?

Yesterday, 02:19 PM	#59
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,501 Karma: 62503986 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	I also keep all the instruction manuals for appliances and equipment in my Library. It is a lot faster to find than rummaging in drawers and shelves. Anyone seen my lost Diamond Media USB Vid adapter. I have the manual (I have 2 of these, but can only find 1). I run the Calibre or Sigil Preview Pane on a Portrait monitor connected via this.