Calibre 2.6/7 strange bug with copying

[alexsz]

Hello,

Sometimes the copy function ceases to function. I am able to resolve it with reboot of the operating system. I am using Windows 8.1 with calibre portable installer.

[BetterRed]

Do you mean the Copy to library function? If not that, then what Copy function?

What do you mean by 'sometimes [...] ceases to function'? Does it hang, pop an error message, do nothing, copy some of the selected books and not others etc.

BR

[alexsz]

Hello BetterRed,

Copy text function stops functioning, so basically I can't copy anything from a certain ebook. I fix that when i close all opened ebooks as well as the library and issue "cmd /c echo.|clip" to restart windows clipboard service.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by alexsz

Hello BetterRed,

Copy text function stops functioning, so basically I can't copy anything from a certain ebook. I fix that when i close all opened ebooks as well as the library and issue "cmd /c echo.|clip" to restart windows clipboard service.

@alexsz - seems like you have something 'interfering' with your clipboard, hopefully its not malign. If this was a bug in calibre, this forum would have a flood of 'complaints'.

Browse the Miscellaneous section of Frequently Asked Questions in the manual. It mentions a few 3rd party products that have been known to cause problems when they run alongside calibre. If you're running anything mentioned there, try closing it.

If no luck with the FAQ, try disabling everything possible in startup, along with any 3rd party shell extensions, and/or see what happens in Safe Mode with no network. If that solves the problem, then you'll have to determine the 'culprit' by a process of elimination.

FWIW: I run 4 clipboard related programs at startup - ClickTo, ClipboardFusion, Textify, and Shelltoys - none of which prevent me Copying Text from calibre.

Just to be sure, you might want to use your installed AV software AND one or two others such as Malwarebytes and Trend Micro's HouseCall to check for malware.

BR

[alexsz]

Hello,

I don't have any clipboard assistances or pretty much anything else than base OS and antivirus. This issue wasn't present on 2.5 and lesser versions.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by alexsz

Hello,

I don't have any clipboard assistances or pretty much anything else than base OS and antivirus. This issue wasn't present on 2.5 and lesser versions.

@alexsz - given the following facts:

• Calibre version 2.5 was released over two 2 years ago, since then there have been 66 new releases.
• Approximately 2.5 million of calibre's 3 million active users run Windows.
• You are the only person reporting this problem.

Surely you must agree that the probability of it being a bug in calibre would have to be extremely low.

• Did you try running calibre in Safe mode?
• Did you try disabling everything in Start up and 3rd party shell extensions
• Have you run a thorough malware scan as I suggested?
• Have you run a system file check? [Do this first ==>> MS link]
• Have you tried doing a system restore to a point in time before the problem showed up?
• Have you tried re-installing an older version of calibre that you think didn't have the problem, ==>> Previous calibre releases.
  
  You'll need to uninstall the version you have before you can install an older version. Your libraries and settings will remain in place, but given there is something odd happening you might want to take a backup of them first.

BR

[JSWolf]

One thing to try before any of BetterRed's suggestions is to try the current version of Calibre in safe mode. That means you'll be running a clean Calibre in case any of the plugins could be the problem.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

One thing to try before any of BetterRed's suggestions is to try the current version of Calibre in safe mode. That means you'll be running a clean Calibre in case any of the plugins could be the problem.

Good thought, but why not tell the OP how to do it. RTFM won't work 'cos the only Safe Mode I see in there refers to rebooting the computer into safe mode. Never mind I'll do it

@alexsz - you need to run this command calibre --ignore-plugins, either at the command line or in the Run box (Winkey+R).

Added - see next post

BR

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

One thing to try before any of BetterRed's suggestions is to try the current version of Calibre in safe mode. That means you'll be running a clean Calibre in case any of the plugins could be the problem.

On reflection that's an idle thought. We're talking about copying text from the ebook-viewer which is a separate executable, and the only viewer plugin I am aware of is an experimental TTS PI.

BR

[alexsz]

I fixed the problem. I went to version 1.48. Lost too many days in my life trying to debug broken stuff and keep doing so at my current work occupation. Anyway thanks for the help. Take care!