Can't seem to download metadata anymore...

[kunkel321]

I've only been really using Calibre for a few months. I've been able to bulk-download metadata for most of my books. That is, up until about a week ago. Now can't download any data for any book. I've been tinkering with my settings, so I may well have "broken" my setup. I went to my Configure Metadata download settings and did a "Restore Defaults." I don't have any Plugboards setup. I did set up a Custom Column, but I was able to do one or two bulk downloads since then. So I don't think that's the problem. Not sure though...

Any ideas what setting I might check?

EDIT: Hmm... I just tried to "re" download for a couple of books that already had their data retrieved. Metadata for those did seem to download and install. Then I tried it again for a few of my more-recently added books and no luck.. Here is the error info:

calibre, version 2.56.0
ERROR: Download failed: Failed to download metadata or covers for any of the 6 book(s).

John H. Walton-The Lost World of Adam and Eve Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate-IVP Academic (2016) (Failed metadata)
Pekka Saukko, Bernard Knight-Knight’s Forensic Pathology-CRC Press (2015) (Failed metadata)
Patricia Love, Steven Stosny-How to Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It-Harmony (2008) (Failed metadata)
David P. Goldman-How Civilizations Die And Why Islam Is Dying Too-Regnery Pub. (2011) (Failed metadata)
Mick Power-Understanding Happiness A critical review of positive psychology-Routledge (2015) (Failed metadata)
Patricia J. Brooks, Vera Kempe-Encyclopedia of Language Development-SAGE Publications, Inc (2014) (Failed metadata)

[theducks]

That just says
The metadata sources 'as configured' do not have any records that match.
You need a source (configured) that has those books
You have the Author, title, ISBN (or other ID) language, set wrong in existing metadata Any of those tighten the possible query results

[kunkel321]

Thanks Ducks! I guess you're right... The way I got them on the internet is with Author, Title, etc. all in the name of the file. (mostly pdfs). If I straighten that out by editing the metadata and putting things where they go, then Calibre is able to locate, download, and apply the additional metadata. It seems strange that so many worked in previous weeks, then none... But I guess it was just a coincidence. This leads to another question about how a person might parse "metadata-like" info upon importing into Calibre. I guess I'll start another thread for that though. Thanks again. -steve

EDIT: Won't need that other thread... There's a whole regex system for adding books.