My Calibre Library complete disappeared... any help?

[LadyKate]

I've found that periodic "static" backups are also handy. Because of this I use winrar and rar my entire library folder every now and then saving it to a usb device that I can store off site.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by LadyKate

I've found that periodic "static" backups are also handy. Because of this I use winrar and rar my entire library folder every now and then saving it to a usb device that I can store off site.

Bad idea (IMHO). The larger your library gets the longer it takes to RAR it. Plus, backing it up will take longer and longer. And you cannot use a program such as FreeFileSync to do the backup. You get very little space savings. The hassle is not worth it.

You can get an Amazon Basics 256GB A2 microSD card for $32.99. That will do quite well for backups. It does come with an SD adapter.

[theducks]

Calibre can do the Archive (RAR)from the Library icon
Export/import All data. This even does the Preferences

[BetterRed]

↑ ↑ ↑

You can't extract a single file or folder from a calibre archive, not easily anyway, but you can from a RAR. Just point WinRAR, 7Zip, whatever, at it and drag what you want onto your desktop.

I have never needed to restore an entire calibre library, the books for an author at most, but usually a single format or cover file.

BR

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

↑ ↑ ↑

You can't extract a single file or folder from a calibre archive, not easily anyway, but you can from a RAR. Just point WinRAR, 7Zip, whatever, at it and drag what you want onto your desktop.

I have never needed to restore an entire calibre library, the books for an author at most, but usually a single format or cover file.

BR

And you can extract anything from the library if you just COPY the library. If running Windows, FreeFileSync makes copying the library a breeze especially after the first time. That way you only copy what has changed.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And you can extract anything from the library if you just COPY the library. If running Windows, FreeFileSync makes copying the library a breeze especially after the first time. That way you only copy what has changed.

Yes but any 'archive' container (RAR,Zip...), makes sure that all the pieces stay with their partners.

We have been doing this a long while, so we KNOW how to break things and avoid those.

KISS

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by theducks

Yes but any 'archive' container (RAR,Zip...), makes sure that all the pieces stay with their partners.

We have been doing this a long while, so we KNOW how to break things and avoid those.

KISS

KISS is to not compress the library.

[PeterT]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

And you can extract anything from the library if you just COPY the library. If running Windows, FreeFileSync makes copying the library a breeze especially after the first time. That way you only copy what has changed.

But if you've dropped a book and FFS has already propogated the deletion to it's copy then you can't restore that book.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by PeterT

But if you've dropped a book and FFS has already propogated the deletion to it's copy then you can't restore that book.

First, I don't have FFS running all the time. Second, that's what multiple backup copies are for. Third, and most important, Dropbox keeps the file version history for 180 days (I have the pofessional plan).

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by PeterT

But if you've dropped a book and FFS has already propogated the deletion to it's copy then you can't restore that book.

And if you'd RARed your library and replaced the existing RAR copy, you can't restore that book.

And with FFS, I do not suggest automating it. I suggest do it manually. So if you do delete this book before updating the backup, then you can restore this book.

But if you have two backups, you have3 more time to restore a delete book providing it was part of the older backup.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Bad idea (IMHO). The larger your library gets the longer it takes to RAR it. Plus, backing it up will take longer and longer. And you cannot use a program such as FreeFileSync to do the backup. You get very little space savings. The hassle is not worth it.

Eh, it's a bit more finicky than that.

ePub is based on zip, so you wouldn't get too much space savings from that -- compressing an already-compressed file is kinda pointless (in fact, it's well possible for it to increase the size).

Other formats vary - PDFs seem to vary depending on how well it was already compressed, plain text and HTML compresses fairly well, not sure about the Amazon formats.

Also, the more files you compress, the more that the compression software can find abcabcabc's to crunch down into abc[3].

In any case, doing an occasional manual rar backup of my library (as opposed to just loose folders), even with a recovery record*, shaved off enough space for me to bother doing it. Though I do set it up to run when I'm about to go to sleep.

* I'd use 7z, but it lacks a recovery record.

[JSWolf]

I backup on another hard drive and a microSD card. Thanks to Amazon's mistake, I have a spare 256GB A2 microSD card I can use for backing up.

[chaley]

Moderator Notice
Folks, this isn't a thread for you to expound on your favourite backup method(s). The OP asked how to get their library back, not how to back it up. Any help with the original question?

[JSWolf]

@DoodleBird, do you have any backups of your library? Have you taken a look at your library structure with a file explorer to see what's there?

[ownedbycats]

In the worst case, I think you can create a new library and then use the 'add from folders and sub-folders' option. If I'm remembering right, that should import the existing metadata of anything with OPFs and then import the rest as-is.

But backup metadata.db and try 'restore database' first. If the OPFs exist it'll put things back.