Portable Calibre won't run from external HD.

Kythe42 · 01-08-2018, 11:07 PM

I use the portable version of Calibre version 3.13 and have it backed up on my external hard drive. My laptop is out for repairs, so I attempted to run Calibre on another computer from my external hard drive, but nothing happens when double clicking on the calibre-portable.exe file.

I don't know if it matters, but my laptop is Windows 8.1 and the computer I'm currently using is Windows 10. I hope someone can help because the program isn't really portable if I can't run it from anywhere.

theducks · 01-09-2018, 12:07 AM

I thought there was a BAT file that you need to use, which has the proper switches for the exe

BetterRed · 01-09-2018, 12:37 AM

@Kythe42 - how do you 'back it up to the hard drive'?

I install and use portable on USB sticks and hard drives on 'stranger' machines quite regularly. I've had a couple of occasions where the host machine (Win 7 or Win10) was configured to prevent execution from external devices, pretty sure I got a message.

I think there's a setting in the Group Policy Editor that comes with Windows Pro edition, for Home edition its a registry hack Ψ²

I've never had to use a BAT file to use portable - just double clicked (or similar) on <whatever>\Calibre Portable\calibre-portable.exe.

BR

Kythe42 · 01-09-2018, 01:33 AM

Thanks for the replies.

I don't know anything about a BAT(not even entirely sure what that is).

I back up my files to the hard drive using Sync Toy, so they are just copies of the files rather than an image based backup. I have a couple of other portable programs that I had no trouble running from the external hard drive.

Unfortunately there was no error message. I just saw an hourglass icon for a few seconds and then nothing. I have two copies of Calibre Portable for different purposes, and the same thing happened with both.

kovidgoyal · 01-09-2018, 02:13 AM

portable works fine from external hard disks. If it's not starting it's most likely some issues with permissions on the portable folder or one of its sub-folders. You might be able to get more debug information by opening a command prompt and running

X:\Calibre Portable\Calibre\calibre-debug.exe -g

Change the path above to match your portable location.

Kythe42 · 01-09-2018, 02:42 AM

When attempting to do this, it wouldn't work. It said it wasn't recognized as an internal or external command, batch file or operable program. The thing is though that it didn't show the whole path when giving that error. It cut everything off after the first space in the path, but I can't imagine spaces are a problem when there are spaces in the example path you gave. Are apostrophes an issue for the command prompt? There is one in my top level folder.

theducks · 01-09-2018, 03:04 AM

Punctuation is not a great idea in a path name

kovidgoyal · 01-09-2018, 03:05 AM

Precede the spaces witha backspash or enclose the entire path in quotes.

"X:\Calibre ...\calibre-debug.exe" -g

DoctorOhh · 01-09-2018, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

I've never had to use a BAT file to use portable - just double clicked (or similar) on <whatever>\Calibre Portable\calibre-portable.exe.

This might be his problem. He needs to run calibre-portable.exe not calibre.exe.

Kythe42 · 01-09-2018, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Precede the spaces witha backspash or enclose the entire path in quotes.

"X:\Calibre ...\calibre-debug.exe" -g

Thank you, this worked. Attached are the results. When it finished running, it loaded calibre, but there was only an empty library there.

kovidgoyal · 01-09-2018, 01:22 PM

Yes, that's because it is not running in portable mode. Since it fails when runnning in portable mode, it indicates there are issues, probably permissions issues with the libraries in the portable folder. Unfortunately, there is no good way to get error messages for those. You can try switching manually to those libraries from the calibre-debug instance you have running and see if you get a useful error

Kythe42 · 01-09-2018, 06:29 PM

Alright, I did this and it did give an error that I'm really not happy with. It said that the path is too long and must be under 89 characters. I never had this issue running from my laptop, but all of my backed up/synced files are in a folder on the external hard drive making the path longer. I'd be willing to shorten the top level folder since the path isn't that much over(92 characters), but changing it would cause a bunch of issue for other things.

My other copy of Calibre Portable has path name that's just under the limit, and that will let me manually select the library, but it still won't let me run the calibre-portable.exe file after doing that, so I'm not sure exceeding the path limit is the reason why that file won't run.

BetterRed · 01-09-2018, 07:27 PM

@Kythe42 - Try renaming the "Calibre Portable" folder to "CalPort". When the laptop comes back from the repair shop do the same there - portable upgrade installs can cope with that

BR

Kythe42 · 01-09-2018, 07:41 PM

Thanks for the suggestion, but renaming the folder to CalPort doesn't seem to have done anything.

BetterRed · 01-09-2018, 08:19 PM

What file system is the portable drive using, and what sort of drive is it ?

BR

01-08-2018, 11:07 PM	#1
Kythe42 Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 8440 Join Date: Aug 2013 Device: Android tablet	Portable Calibre won't run from external HD. I use the portable version of Calibre version 3.13 and have it backed up on my external hard drive. My laptop is out for repairs, so I attempted to run Calibre on another computer from my external hard drive, but nothing happens when double clicking on the calibre-portable.exe file. I don't know if it matters, but my laptop is Windows 8.1 and the computer I'm currently using is Windows 10. I hope someone can help because the program isn't really portable if I can't run it from anywhere.

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01-09-2018, 12:07 AM	#2
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,267 Karma: 61916422 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	I thought there was a BAT file that you need to use, which has the proper switches for the exe

01-09-2018, 12:37 AM	#3
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 22,018 Karma: 30277294 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@Kythe42 - how do you 'back it up to the hard drive'? I install and use portable on USB sticks and hard drives on 'stranger' machines quite regularly. I've had a couple of occasions where the host machine (Win 7 or Win10) was configured to prevent execution from external devices, pretty sure I got a message. I think there's a setting in the Group Policy Editor that comes with Windows Pro edition, for Home edition its a registry hack Ψ² I've never had to use a BAT file to use portable - just double clicked (or similar) on <whatever>\Calibre Portable\calibre-portable.exe. BR

01-09-2018, 01:33 AM	#4
Kythe42 Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 8440 Join Date: Aug 2013 Device: Android tablet	Thanks for the replies. I don't know anything about a BAT(not even entirely sure what that is). I back up my files to the hard drive using Sync Toy, so they are just copies of the files rather than an image based backup. I have a couple of other portable programs that I had no trouble running from the external hard drive. Unfortunately there was no error message. I just saw an hourglass icon for a few seconds and then nothing. I have two copies of Calibre Portable for different purposes, and the same thing happened with both.

01-09-2018, 02:13 AM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,609 Karma: 28549044 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	portable works fine from external hard disks. If it's not starting it's most likely some issues with permissions on the portable folder or one of its sub-folders. You might be able to get more debug information by opening a command prompt and running X:\Calibre Portable\Calibre\calibre-debug.exe -g Change the path above to match your portable location.

01-09-2018, 02:42 AM	#6
Kythe42 Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 8440 Join Date: Aug 2013 Device: Android tablet	When attempting to do this, it wouldn't work. It said it wasn't recognized as an internal or external command, batch file or operable program. The thing is though that it didn't show the whole path when giving that error. It cut everything off after the first space in the path, but I can't imagine spaces are a problem when there are spaces in the example path you gave. Are apostrophes an issue for the command prompt? There is one in my top level folder.

01-09-2018, 03:04 AM	#7
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,267 Karma: 61916422 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Punctuation is not a great idea in a path name

01-09-2018, 03:05 AM	#8
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,609 Karma: 28549044 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Precede the spaces witha backspash or enclose the entire path in quotes. "X:\Calibre ...\calibre-debug.exe" -g

01-09-2018, 01:22 PM	#11
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,609 Karma: 28549044 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Yes, that's because it is not running in portable mode. Since it fails when runnning in portable mode, it indicates there are issues, probably permissions issues with the libraries in the portable folder. Unfortunately, there is no good way to get error messages for those. You can try switching manually to those libraries from the calibre-debug instance you have running and see if you get a useful error

01-09-2018, 06:29 PM	#12
Kythe42 Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 8440 Join Date: Aug 2013 Device: Android tablet	Alright, I did this and it did give an error that I'm really not happy with. It said that the path is too long and must be under 89 characters. I never had this issue running from my laptop, but all of my backed up/synced files are in a folder on the external hard drive making the path longer. I'd be willing to shorten the top level folder since the path isn't that much over(92 characters), but changing it would cause a bunch of issue for other things. My other copy of Calibre Portable has path name that's just under the limit, and that will let me manually select the library, but it still won't let me run the calibre-portable.exe file after doing that, so I'm not sure exceeding the path limit is the reason why that file won't run.

01-09-2018, 07:27 PM	#13
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 22,018 Karma: 30277294 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@Kythe42 - Try renaming the "Calibre Portable" folder to "CalPort". When the laptop comes back from the repair shop do the same there - portable upgrade installs can cope with that BR

01-09-2018, 07:41 PM	#14
Kythe42 Zealot Posts: 122 Karma: 8440 Join Date: Aug 2013 Device: Android tablet	Thanks for the suggestion, but renaming the folder to CalPort doesn't seem to have done anything.

01-09-2018, 08:19 PM	#15
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 22,018 Karma: 30277294 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	What file system is the portable drive using, and what sort of drive is it ? BR