Nook no longer connecting to Calibre

[amber_missy]

Hi all

I'm in the UK and use a Nook Simple Touch.

I'm using Calibre for e-book management, and everything was great until recently, when my nook started to fail to connect to my laptop / Calibre properly.

I keep getting an error.
"calibre, version 8.16.1
ERROR: Error: Error communicating with device

Failed to access files in the main memory of your device. You should contact the device manufacturer for support. Common fixes are: try a different USB cable/USB port on your computer. If you device has a "Reset to factory defaults" type of setting somewhere, use it. Underlying error: [Errno 13] Permission denied: 'E:\\driveinfo.calibre'

Traceback (most recent call last):
* File "calibre\devices\usbms\driver.py", line 152, in get_device_information
* File "calibre\devices\usbms\driver.py", line 132, in _update_driveinfo_file
PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: 'E:\\driveinfo.calibre'

The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:

Traceback (most recent call last):
* File "calibre\gui2\device.py", line 110, in run
* File "calibre\gui2\device.py", line 541, in _get_device_information
* File "calibre\devices\usbms\driver.py", line 161, in get_device_information
* File "calibre\devices\usbms\driver.py", line 142, in raise_os_error
OSError: Failed to access files in the main memory of your device. You should contact the device manufacturer for support. Common fixes are: try a different USB cable/USB port on your computer. If you device has a "Reset to factory defaults" type of setting somewhere, use it. Underlying error: [Errno 13] Permission denied: 'E:\\driveinfo.calibre'"

I have tried resetting the nook, tried different USB data cables, and I am still getting the error.

I have backed everything from my nook microUSB onto my hard-drive, but would rather just get it working, rather than have to start again with a different e-book reader.

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance

[haertig]

You said you tried a different cable, but did you try a different USB port? If you were using a port on the back of your computer, try one on the front panel if available.

Also, make sure you are using a known good data cable. Some USB cables are charging only and they do not contain the data wires (this is important if you are searching for a replacement cable from a random snarl of cables in some never-used drawer somewhere).

---

Check the USB port on your Nook with a flashlight and a magnifying glass. Is it dirty in there? Pocket lint maybe accumulated in the plug and the connector cannot fully seat to make a good connection? You can maybe clean out the plug with a fine toothpick. Or a bristle that you steal off a hairbrush or toothbrush. Technically, you should not stick anything metallic down in the port because you could short something. But I have done that in desperation before and suffered no ill effects (more luck than anything). I used a very fine sewing needle because there was lint packed in the plug like you wouldn't believe. Nothing else was working to clean it out. Get creative in "clean out tool" creation. You might be able to use a sharp knife and scrape off a thin splinter of plastic from an expired old credit card. Ideally, you want something very thin, stiff, and non-metallic to use to clean the port. And something that won't break off while in there, complicating the problem. Another thought I just had - toothpicks are generally too fat. Buy you might be able to shave one down to a thinner sliver if you're handy with a knife.

---

Do you have a friend close by that also uses Calibre? A quick test would be to try connecting your Nook to their Calibre installation, running on their computer, using their USB port, using their cable.

Also, bring their eReader (be it a Kindle, a Nook, or whatever) over to your house and try connecting it to your Calibre, running on your computer, using your USB port, and your cable.

Testing like this might help you uncover where the problem lies.

---

Assuming you are running Windows, you could also try things under Linux. You can create a bootable Linux system on a thumbdrive, install the Linux version of Calibre, boot your computer with that (well, you'll have to boot it before you can install Calibre!), and do some more testing. This level of troubleshooting is probably not required, but might be of help if you aren't able to isolate the cause of your problem otherwise.

Good luck!

[JSWolf]

As for charge only cables, those are not all that common. So that really should not be a problem.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

As for charge only cables, those are not all that common. So that really should not be a problem.

Which is why not many people know they exist, and have no idea why things aren't working when they stumble into one. Most likely, if you bought the cable yourself, it will handle data, even if at a slower speed than expected. It's the cables that came as an accessory with some device you bought way in the past that can be more suspect. e.g., Some desk lamps are powered with a USB cable. If that cable got thrown into your spare parts drawer with other USB cables, it could be the snake waiting to bite you when you pull it out not realizing its heritage and considering that it might not transmit data. Similar to a crossover ethernet cable or a RS232 null modem cable. If you grab one by mistake you can waste some time figuring out why they won't work for your application.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by haertig

Which is why not many people know they exist, and have no idea why things aren't working when they stumble into one. Most likely, if you bought the cable yourself, it will handle data, even if at a slower speed than expected. It's the cables that came as an accessory with some device you bought way in the past that can be more suspect. e.g., Some desk lamps are powered with a USB cable. If that cable got thrown into your spare parts drawer with other USB cables, it could be the snake waiting to bite you when you pull it out not realizing its heritage and considering that it might not transmit data. Similar to a crossover ethernet cable or a RS232 null modem cable. If you grab one by mistake you can waste some time figuring out why they won't work for your application.

Usually the USB cables that comes with things can be too short or be USB-C to USB-A and I won't use those. However, you could be correct that some could be charge only.

One problem I've seen with some USB-C cables is they are slow and you don't know this until after you've bought it. I bought a while ago a multifunction cable that has USB-C, micro-USB, and two lightning connectors. The USB-C part of the cable was slow. I gave it to my mother-in-law after I bought a better multifunction cable. She's fine with the speed of the USB-C cable. Plus, they have two iPhone's and one iPad that have lightning ports.

One problem with USB-C cables can be the connection between the socket and the cable. Sometimes the cable can be a tiny bit loose.

[haertig]

There are a ton of USB "phone charging cables" out there that also transmit data ... but at only 480Mb/s. You have to check closely when you buy. Especially at Amazon, where a search generally takes you to less expensive off-brand products placed at the top of the results list.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

One problem I've seen with some USB-C cables is they are slow and you don't know this until after you've bought it. I bought a while ago a multifunction cable that has USB-C, micro-USB, and two lightning connectors.

Micro-B and the even older mini-A can only do USB2 speeds. No faster. So if you see one of those connectors on your cable, it will never be "fast". A multi-function cable with more than one connector on one end of it could theoretically be wired so that the micro-B connector is slow but the other connectors are fast. I don't know if multi-function cables are actually wired this way or not, but they theoretically could be. I would guess that unless the multi-function cable is an expensive high end one, that it is probably just wired so all connectors run at the speed of the slowest connector.

There is a variation of the micro-B connector, called "micro-B AB" I believe, that can do USB3 speeds. It is bigger than a standard micro-B connector. You used to see this type of connector on external USB3 hard drives. I guess they named it this weird and confusing concoction of letters because a male micro-B connector can plug into a female micro-B AB receptacle, but not the other way around. So the female micro-B AB receptacle was backwards compatible with the original micro-B male plug.

USB-A connectors can be USB2 or USB3. Ditto for USB-C connectors. The USB-A connectors that can do USB3 speeds are usually blue in color, or marked "SS" (for "Super Speed").

USB connectors are a mess for determining speeds they can handle. It's (currently) either 480 Mbps (USB2 speed), 5 Gbps, 10 Gbps, or 20 Gbps (USB3 speeds). Or it could be 40 Gbps or I think even 80 Gbps if it's Thunderbolt or USB4.

You can see on the little micro sized PC I just bought (pics below) that on the back it has both 10 Gbps and 5 Gbps USB-A ports. The 5 Gbps ones are labeled simply "SS". The 10 Gbps ones are labeled "SS10". On the front panel it has one USB-A "SS10" port and one USB-C "SS20" port (20 Gbps).

At least the above labeling method tells you something in an obvious way. Other companies label their 5 Gbps ports "USB3.2 Gen1", their 10 Gbps ports "USB3.2 Gen2", and their 20 Gbps ports "USB3.2 Gen 2x2". And then for good measure, they throw in alternate designations for these speeds using USB3.1 or USB3.0 rather than USB3.2. Some companies just call all the different USB3 speeds "SS". Other companies don't even label them anything, they're just blue in color and you get to guess the speed. Some might mention, or might not mention, that it's actually a Thunderbolt port. But then they don't mention whether it's Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4. Often times the user manual or system spec sheet will tell you what the heck kind of port it is, but not always.

It's a mess trying to determine port speed these days. But if it's micro-B or mini-B, it is no faster than USB2. You know that for sure.

I wish all cables were labeled like the one in the third pic below. You know the speed for data transfer, and the wattage for fast charging. But very few are.