"Error communicating with device" When Deleting

enuddleyarbl · 03-13-2016, 06:19 PM

Was going through my Kindle Voyage in Calibre and deleting some books. After a couple, I got the following error and the Kindle disconnected from the computer. Could be a fluke, but I thought I'd report it.

EDIT1: Rebooted the Kindle, reconnected it to the computer, tried deleting some more, and got the same error. I *think* that after doing some number of deletes, the Kindle disconnects itself from the OS and then the next time I try to delete, I get that error (which would make sense since there's nothing left to communicate with). Not sure what's causing the Kindle to disconnect.

EDIT2: Happened again on a second Kindle Voyage. This time, all my deletes succeeded (so no error message). But, after that, the Kindle just disconnected again. Could be an OS thing, so I'll try connecting the Kindle to just the computer and letting it sit for a bit.

EDIT3: Not a very good test, but just adding and deleting things to the Kindle from the OS doesn't seem to cause the problem. Looks like it's limited to Calibre.

Code:

calibre, version 2.53.0
ERROR: Error: Error communicating with device

[Errno 13] Permission denied: '/media/dave/Kindle/'

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/device.py", line 87, in run
  File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/device.py", line 533, in _sync_booklists
  File "site-packages/calibre/devices/usbms/driver.py", line 435, in sync_booklists
  File "os.py", line 157, in makedirs
OSError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/media/dave/Kindle/'

Using Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon x64.

theducks · 03-13-2016, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveLessnau

Was going through my Kindle Voyage in Calibre and deleting some books. After a couple, I got the following error and the Kindle disconnected from the computer. Could be a fluke, but I thought I'd report it.

EDIT1: Rebooted the Kindle, reconnected it to the computer, tried deleting some more, and got the same error. I *think* that after doing some number of deletes, the Kindle disconnects itself from the OS and then the next time I try to delete, I get that error (which would make sense since there's nothing left to communicate with). Not sure what's causing the Kindle to disconnect.

EDIT2: Happened again on a second Kindle Voyage. This time, all my deletes succeeded (so no error message). But, after that, the Kindle just disconnected again. Could be an OS thing, so I'll try connecting the Kindle to just the computer and letting it sit for a bit.

EDIT3: Not a very good test, but just adding and deleting things to the Kindle from the OS doesn't seem to cause the problem. Looks like it's limited to Calibre.

Code:

calibre, version 2.53.0
ERROR: Error: Error communicating with device

[Errno 13] Permission denied: '/media/dave/Kindle/'

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/device.py", line 87, in run
  File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/device.py", line 533, in _sync_booklists
  File "site-packages/calibre/devices/usbms/driver.py", line 435, in sync_booklists
  File "os.py", line 157, in makedirs
OSError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/media/dave/Kindle/'

Using Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon x64.

The error say you do not have (any longer) permission to do file operations.
Something has blocked Calibres access.

Do check the FAQ on the calibre help page

kovidgoyal · 03-13-2016, 10:09 PM

That indicates your device is failing. When there are filesystem errors, linux either remounts the filesystem readonly, or unmounts the filesystem entirely, either of which will cause the permission denied errors.

Look at the dmesg log on your system.

enuddleyarbl · 03-14-2016, 11:27 AM

OK. Looking for filesystem issues, I plugged the Kindle into my computer and ran mount from Terminal to see where it was mounted:

dave@dave-mint ~ $ mount
...
/dev/sdc1 on /media/dave/Kindle type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uid=1000,gid=1000,shortname=mixed ,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush,uhelper=udisks2)

That puts it at /dev/sdc1. So, I ran fsck to repair (interactively) that device. That found the "dirty bit" set (probably from my unmounting it improperly at some point). So, I told it to fix that:

sudo fsck.vfat -r /dev/sdc1
[sudo] password for dave:
fsck.fat 3.0.26 (2014-03-07)
0x41: Dirty bit is set. Fs was not properly unmounted and some data may be corrupt.
1) Remove dirty bit
2) No action
? 1
Perform changes ? (y/n) y
/dev/sdc1: 3346 files, 104504/398580 clusters

Hopefully, that will stop the problem from popping up again.

kovidgoyal · 03-14-2016, 11:30 AM

Toggling the dirty bit does not do anything. It's just an indicator.

03-13-2016, 06:19 PM	#1
enuddleyarbl Guru Posts: 734 Karma: 1077122 Join Date: Sep 2013 Device: Kobo Forma	"Error communicating with device" When Deleting Was going through my Kindle Voyage in Calibre and deleting some books. After a couple, I got the following error and the Kindle disconnected from the computer. Could be a fluke, but I thought I'd report it. EDIT1: Rebooted the Kindle, reconnected it to the computer, tried deleting some more, and got the same error. I think that after doing some number of deletes, the Kindle disconnects itself from the OS and then the next time I try to delete, I get that error (which would make sense since there's nothing left to communicate with). Not sure what's causing the Kindle to disconnect. EDIT2: Happened again on a second Kindle Voyage. This time, all my deletes succeeded (so no error message). But, after that, the Kindle just disconnected again. Could be an OS thing, so I'll try connecting the Kindle to just the computer and letting it sit for a bit. EDIT3: Not a very good test, but just adding and deleting things to the Kindle from the OS doesn't seem to cause the problem. Looks like it's limited to Calibre. Code: calibre, version 2.53.0 ERROR: Error: Error communicating with device [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/media/dave/Kindle/' Traceback (most recent call last): File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/device.py", line 87, in run File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/device.py", line 533, in _sync_booklists File "site-packages/calibre/devices/usbms/driver.py", line 435, in sync_booklists File "os.py", line 157, in makedirs OSError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/media/dave/Kindle/' Using Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon x64. Last edited by enuddleyarbl; 03-13-2016 at 06:59 PM.

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03-13-2016, 10:09 PM	#3
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	That indicates your device is failing. When there are filesystem errors, linux either remounts the filesystem readonly, or unmounts the filesystem entirely, either of which will cause the permission denied errors. Look at the dmesg log on your system.

03-14-2016, 11:27 AM	#4
enuddleyarbl Guru Posts: 734 Karma: 1077122 Join Date: Sep 2013 Device: Kobo Forma	OK. Looking for filesystem issues, I plugged the Kindle into my computer and ran mount from Terminal to see where it was mounted: dave@dave-mint ~ $ mount ... /dev/sdc1 on /media/dave/Kindle type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,uid=1000,gid=1000,shortname=mixed ,dmask=0077,utf8=1,showexec,flush,uhelper=udisks2) That puts it at /dev/sdc1. So, I ran fsck to repair (interactively) that device. That found the "dirty bit" set (probably from my unmounting it improperly at some point). So, I told it to fix that: sudo fsck.vfat -r /dev/sdc1 [sudo] password for dave: fsck.fat 3.0.26 (2014-03-07) 0x41: Dirty bit is set. Fs was not properly unmounted and some data may be corrupt. 1) Remove dirty bit 2) No action ? 1 Perform changes ? (y/n) y /dev/sdc1: 3346 files, 104504/398580 clusters Hopefully, that will stop the problem from popping up again.

03-14-2016, 11:30 AM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,850 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Toggling the dirty bit does not do anything. It's just an indicator.