Frequently Asked Questions

[scarlet slipper]

Originally Posted by itimpi

You should never manually remove file from the Calibre file system as this leads to the calibre database and underlying file system getting out-of-step and this can lead to strange results.

If you want to get the file out of Calibre you should use Calibre to do it. In your case probably the best thing to do is use the Connect to Folder option to select a folder to be used as a simulated device, and then having done that you can use the Send to Device option to transfer books.

What I described below about making a new folder doesn't do anything about actually adding that file to the Kindle pc app. The file is there in kindle format, but syncing doesn't add it to the Kindle app and changing to Kindle-B under Tools/Options/Content/Change where device looks for local content doesn't add the book, either. I am obviously misunderstanding your suggestion.

[itimpi]

Originally Posted by scarlet slipper

Do I need to do this with all books and then change the "get content"option in Kindle to look to the Kindle-B folder? And will this process remain the same when I finally own the reader?

That is what I would do.

When you get the real Kindle, then you would not use the Connect to folder facility, but the workflow would be very similar. Instead when you plug your Kindle in via USB, calibre will auto-detect it's presence. At that time the Kindle Device icon will appear on the main toolbar, and you can transfer books using Send to Device.

There are other ways of transferring books to a Kindle Such as using it's networking capabilities - but that is a different story

[itimpi]

Thinking about it, I am not sure that Kindle for PC provides an automated way of side-loading from local file store. What I have done in the past is double-clicked .mobi file in the Send to Folder location, and that has promptly opened the file in the Kindle app and transferred it into the Kindle library. I do not really use Kindle for PC in anger as I mainly read books on my iPad, so there may be a better and more automated way that I am not aware of.

[jangell2]

I've got a lit book that has some funky stuff at the beginning. It shows up as a cover in Calibre and when I had a cover and convert, the added cover is there and so is the funky stuff. It looks to be a poor image of text.

Is there a way in Calibre to edit lit files (or the mobi I convert to) to remove this funky stuff.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by jangell2

I've got a lit book that has some funky stuff at the beginning. It shows up as a cover in Calibre and when I had a cover and convert, the added cover is there and so is the funky stuff. It looks to be a poor image of text.

During the lit to mobi conversion you can try checking the remove first image option under structure detection. If that funky stuff at the beginning of the book is a image this will remove it.

[jangell2]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

During the lit to mobi conversion you can try checking the remove first image option under structure detection. If that funky stuff at the beginning of the book is a image this will remove it.

That worked. thanx.

[jangell2]

I want to be able to insert the metadata into my Amazon purchased books. I don't like the wait to go online to get the description of the book that I'm thinking of reading.

I added a book from the kindle to the calibre libary, added the metadata, removed the drm during a mobi to mobi conversion and sent it to the device.

Instead of replacing the existing book on the device, it was added to the kindle, so now I've got two of the book. Is there a way for it to replace the existing book?

Ok, I see that now I've got an .azw and a .mobi. I presume the latter came from calibre. Can calibre create an azw and than replace the existing azw?

[deb27]

Similar to jangell2, I want to get the metadata that's in Calibre to appear in the book on my K2 Kindle. I did the following:
In Preferences -> Conversion -> Common Options -> Structure Detection I checked the "Insert metadata as page at start of book".
Then I selected a book and Converted (using the default values).
The result was a .mobi version.
In Calibre, I opened the mobi version. Sure enough, all the metadata was nicely displayed at the beginning of the book.
I connected my K2 to the PC and added the book to my device.
Open the book on the kindle and there's no meta data. I pressed prev page to ensure I was all the way back to location 1. I see the cover, the TOC and then the text of the book begins. There is no metadata.
I even tried deleting the book from the Kindle and re-adding it (to make sure I hadn't accidentally failed to add it the first time.) Still no metadata.

What did I do wrong?

Calibre version 0.7.42. Kindle version 2.5.6 (501108064)

[jangell2]

1st, is the book you are converting still DRM'd? Calibre won't convert DRM books (unless you have the plug-in for that).

2nd, what is the file extension of the book you are converting. If it is .azw (as I think most if not all purchased Amazon books are), Calibre converted it to a .mobi and that's what you moved to the kindle. However, you are probably still looking at the .azw file which wasn't altered. So now you've got two versions of the book on the kindle.

This later situation is what I've encountered.

[ViktorShchedrin]

I know this has been asked before, but I have searched and I couldnt find much to help me out. many thanks Worldwalker suggested to make message more clear.

I using XP SP3 Windows PC + calibre 0.7.42

I found Calibre great program and i have not idea to say any suggestion to Kovid and i have not idea to ask to modify Calibre working directory.

I read these

Last name, first name in calibre folder tree structure
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/arc.../t-112044.html

and thanks MSWallack

Calibre book adding: Regular expression request...
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79365
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...5&postcount=15

and i found linux software
epub rename using epub metadata
http://ui3.info/d/proj/epubname.html

and may be i can't understand everything in one time, so, i need help. Simple help if possible

I have 2questions, 1st related t my epub local disk directories, 2nd - to manage Calibre i can't found the answer

1st question is - i have about 10000 epubs file name as below
Title - AuthorFirst AuthorLast.epub
others
Title - AuthorLast AuthorFirst.epub
others
AuthorLast - Title.epub

I think it will good if i will found program to sort all files to - full path

\FirstLetterAuthorLast\AuthorLast, AuthorFirst AuthorMiddle\AuthorLast, AuthorFirst AuthorMiddle - Title [Series #].epub

so, if someone to know the program which can do that, please help

2nd question is - when i add book to Calibre i would like to to have Authors displayed sorted as

[AuthorLast, AuthorFirst AuthorMiddle]

how should I manage the tweak to have it ?

Thank you.

[pandapanda]

I'm going through playing with metadata for books in Calibre. Does this get permanently added to the books or is it just when they're viewed in Calibre? If not is there some way to embed it?

If I bulk edit metadata to capitalise Title is there some way to make it do it to Title Sort too rather than having to go through individual records and click the button when the Title Sort is red?

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by pandapanda

I'm going through playing with metadata for books in Calibre. Does this get permanently added to the books or is it just when they're viewed in Calibre? If not is there some way to embed it?

The last time I checked there were three or four ways to embed the metadata into a book. Keep in mind not all formats can embed all or any metadata.

1. Convert the book. Epub-epub or Mobi to Mobi will always embed the metadata.
2. Save to disk feature embeds the metadata while exporting the book to disk.
3. Send to device will embed the metadata while exporting the book to the device.
4. I also believe metadata now gets updated when emailing the book too.

There have been occasions when a particular book seemed stubborn, i.e. sending a book to a Kindle didn't update the title. When this happens doing a mobi to mobi conversion will fix it.

Originally Posted by pandapanda

If I bulk edit metadata to capitalise Title is there some way to make it do it to Title Sort too rather than having to go through individual records and click the button when the Title Sort is red?

That's a great question, I couldn't find an existing way. Let's hope someone else drops by with a definitive answer.

[jangell2]

I've added a zip file to Calibre which contains and html file that I want to convert. When I try to convert to mobi I get the following message:
ERROR: ERROR: Unhandled exception: <b>OSError</b>:[Errno 13] Permission denied

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\convert\single.py", line 252, in accept
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\convert\metadata.py", line 218, in commit
File "site-packages\calibre\library\database2.py", line 1481, in set_metadata
File "site-packages\calibre\library\database2.py", line 457, in set_path
File "site-packages\calibre\library\database2.py", line 925, in format
File "site-packages\calibre\startup.py", line 186, in local_open
OSError: [Errno 13] Permission denied

Why would permission be denied? This is in Calibre's own libary. No other application would have it. I've tried closing and reopening Calibre with the sasme results.

[kovidgoyal]

See http://calibre-ebook.com/user_manual...n-denied-error

[D_G_]

Multi part question here:

1. Since I can only use the older (0.7.28) version with the G4 powerpc that I use as a server, would there be any issue moving my current version (0.7.42) database over to it?

2. If I run ONLY the calibre-server portion of calibre, would there be an issue if the database was changed while this was running? i.e. run the server on my G4, but connect to the same library/database from my laptop via a shared drive. I assume the server portion doesn't alter the database, but that doesn't mean it would all work smoothly.

3. If there is no problem with 2. would there be an issue using the server from the older version of calibre but doing any library management with the current version? i.e. if 2 is possible, would I stick to using 0.7.28 everywhere, or would the most current version still be useable for managing the library?

4. If 2. isn't possible, what might be the best way to allow my library to be served from my "always-on" G4, but managed from my laptop?

Thanks,

DG