Why Does SHUTDOWN Take So Long?!

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by gxn1

Spoiler:

He was dismissive of this problem I am having and basically saying it doesn't happen -- while I have been having this constantly happen with Calibre for months now whenever I try to shut it down after using it.

That was NOT helpful. Nor was your response helpful.

And, as I said, I have read a lot of the comments and topics in this Forum and it has left me cynical about even bothering to report a BUG like this.

As far as being FREE, as I said, I have donated to Calibre, far more than I have paid for many other programs, because I like it -- overall -- and have used it for going on 2 decades.

AND FYI... I just restarted Calibre using the Start with NO 3rd-PARTY PLUGINS option and, golly-gee! it STILL took about 2 minutes to shutdown for me.

So it would seem this is NOT a 3rd-party plug-in problem. So, YES, I do think this is a Calibre Bug.

PLUS, I forgot to mention, when it is shutting-down, if I do anything else, even touch a key, Calibre -- in the process of shutting down, then become "Non-Responsive" -- and then I am forced to use the Task Manager to shut it down.

Because of that, I have just taken to using the Task Manager to shut Calibre down.

**

If it was a calibre bug, it would happen to most users. Based on the comments in this thread, that is not the case. So something must be interfering with calibre on your computer.

Is your library on a networked drive or on a cloud drive? Do you use a syncing or backup program that's running in the background? Those are the usual culprits for database issues.

[PeterT]

Gxn1: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help us track down the issue. Just run calibre in debug mode (you'll find that option in calibre preferences) and post the resulting log.

[BetterRed]

@gxn1 - restart in debug mode (there's an option in the Preferences drop down menu), then quit and wait, the log will display, copy it and post here - here's mine:

Spoiler:

ApplicationPaletteChange event ignored
Using calibre Qt style: True
ApplicationPaletteChange event received
calibre Debug log
calibre 8.16  embedded-python: True
Windows-10-10.0.19045-SP0 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '10', '10.0.19045')
Python 3.11.14
Windows: ('10', '10.0.19045', 'SP0', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Interface language: None
EXE path: C:\Program Files\Calibre2\calibre-debug.exe
Successfully initialized third party plugins: BRMenu Menu (1, 2, 0) && Backup Configuration Folder (1, 1, 2) && Calibre Config Reports (2, 0, 9) && Count Pages (1, 14, 4) && Drop Search Results (1, 0, 15) && Favourites Menu (1, 3, 1) && Find Duplicates (1, 10, 9) && Job Spy (1, 0, 239) && Modify ePub (1, 8, 8) && Scroll Book Details (1, 0, 2) && View Manager (1, 10, 3)
calibre 8.16  embedded-python: True
Windows-10-10.0.19045-SP0 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '10', '10.0.19045')
Python 3.11.14
Windows: ('10', '10.0.19045', 'SP0', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Interface language: None
EXE path: C:\Program Files\Calibre2\calibre-debug.exe
Successfully initialized third party plugins: BRMenu Menu (1, 2, 0) && Backup Configuration Folder (1, 1, 2) && Calibre Config Reports (2, 0, 9) && Count Pages (1, 14, 4) && Drop Search Results (1, 0, 15) && Favourites Menu (1, 3, 1) && Find Duplicates (1, 10, 9) && Job Spy (1, 0, 239) && Modify ePub (1, 8, 8) && Scroll Book Details (1, 0, 2) && View Manager (1, 10, 3)
QPA platform: windows
devicePixelRatio: 1.5
logicalDpi: 96.0 x 96.0
physicalDpi: 104.87741935483871 x 104.50285714285712
[0.00] Starting up...
[0.00] Initializing db...
[0.22] db initialized
[0.22] Constructing main UI...
[1.22] GUI main window shown
Job Spy has begun initialization...
orig_option = prefs.get[option_key]:  True
Tweak Library Name:  Books
'read_file_metadata' global.py file prefs.set  FROM:  True  TO:  True
'read_file_metadata' global prefs[option_key] value changed FROM:  True  TO:  True
author_sort_copy_method >>> default tweaks.py method is:  invert
current  tweaks['title_series_sorting']:  library_order
--->>>apply_title_series_sorting_by_library:   libname IS tweaked; new value for:  Books    is:  library_order
title_series_sorting changed FROM:  library_order  TO:  library_order
Calibre, and hence Job Spy, was gracefully shut down last time?  True
Last time daemon started:  never
Last time daemon failed:  never
Total daemon starts inception_to_date:  0
Total daemon failures inception-to-date:  0
Key 'Ctrl+Alt+A' for shortcut Discuss book with AI is already used by Show a menu of all available actions., ignoring
JS: ===>>> change_gui_alternating_row_colors()
Job Spy has finished initialization...
Key 'Ctrl+Alt+A' for shortcut Discuss book with AI is already used by Show a menu of all available actions., ignoring
Key 'Ctrl+Alt+A' for shortcut Discuss book with AI is already used by Show a menu of all available actions., ignoring
[1.66] main UI initialized...
[1.66] Started up in 1.66 seconds with 9 books
[22.44] Shutdown starting...
[22.73] [Backup Configuration Folder]: starting backup process
[24.09] [Backup Configuration Folder]: wrote config backup to C:\_AppData\Calibre\backup-Config_64bit\2025-12-06 -- 09-27-15.zip. Size: 15,491,103 bytes.
[24.11] [Backup Configuration Folder]: finished
[26.14] Shutdown complete, quitting...

As can be seen my shut down time is 3.7 seconds,


Aside: why do I get the messages about Ctrl+Alt+A?

As soon as I installed 8.16 I set the Discuss book with AI shortcut to None.

additional Environment variable CALIBRE_NO_NEW_DEFAULT_SHORTCUTS

BR

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by gxn1

I don't use the "Backup configuration" plug-in, whatever that it.

About the only plug-ins I have installed are ones to get more metadata and additional covers.

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but take a close look at the message you saw during calibre's shutdown which you posted in your first message:

Shutting down
Running database shutdown plugins. This could take a few seconds...

The line in which I've bolded part of the contents is produced by the Backup Configuration Folder plugin by Charles Haley. When you look at the plugin, it's description is "Backup the current calibre configuration folder when calibre is closed"

I tried disabling that plugin on my calibre install and the Running database shutdown plugins message disappeared. Re-enabled it and the message re-appeared.

The first attached image shows the plugin in Preferences => Plugins under the Library closed header. The second and third show what I see when the plugin is enabled and when it is disabled.

"To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture."—Thomas Paine

And yes, I do like the full form of the quote, not the more often seen:

"To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason is like administering medicine to the dead."—Thomas Paine