Can't Remove Books

[TWHanson1]

I'm using Dropbox for one of my libraries. It works fine for adding books, i.e. when I add a book in Calibre, the book and all of its folders and files show up in my Dropbox and in Calibre on any computer I log on to.

The problem occurs when I remove a book from my library. The book goes away on my computer in Calibre as it should, but is not removed from Dropbox, and therefore remains on Calibre for any other computer I log on to.

I'm using Windows 10 on one computer and Windows 8 on another. The problems seems to be independent of whichever computer I log on to.

Any ideas? Thanks.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by TWHanson1

I'm using Dropbox for one of my libraries. It works fine for adding books, i.e. when I add a book in Calibre, the book and all of its folders and files show up in my Dropbox and in Calibre on any computer I log on to.

The problem occurs when I remove a book from my library. The book goes away on my computer in Calibre as it should, but is not removed from Dropbox, and therefore remains on Calibre for any other computer I log on to.

I'm using Windows 10 on one computer and Windows 8 on another. The problems seems to be independent of whichever computer I log on to.

Any ideas? Thanks.

I haven't used Dropbox to sync, but I do use Google Drive. I've noticed that when I delete a book from Calibre, a pop-up appears from Google Drive asking me if I want to delete the folder. If I don't confirm, it won't delete it. Though when I open the Google Drive interface from the notification tray, all the missed notifications are there allowing me to delete them at that time.

Could you be missing similar notifications? Or could Dropbox's Windows app not be showing them to you?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by TWHanson1

I'm using Dropbox for one of my libraries. It works fine for adding books, i.e. when I add a book in Calibre, the book and all of its folders and files show up in my Dropbox and in Calibre on any computer I log on to.

The problem occurs when I remove a book from my library. The book goes away on my computer in Calibre as it should, but is not removed from Dropbox, and therefore remains on Calibre for any other computer I log on to.

I'm using Windows 10 on one computer and Windows 8 on another. The problems seems to be independent of whichever computer I log on to.

Any ideas? Thanks.

Do you do the syncing in this order?

1. After removing the book on one computer, close Calibre, activate Dropbox (Dropbox must not be syncing while Calibre is open!), wait till the syncing is done and close Dropbox (or pause syncing)

2. Activate Dropbox on another computer, wait till the syncing is done, close Dropbox (or pause syncing) and then open Calibre

[TWHanson1]

That may well be the case, thanks. BTW, what app on Google Drive do you use for your library?

[TWHanson1]

No, I leave Calibre and Dropbox open all the time on both computers. So what's the danger if Dropbox syncs while Calibre is open?
Thanks.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by TWHanson1

No, I leave Calibre and Dropbox open all the time on both computers. So what's the danger if Dropbox syncs while Calibre is open?
Thanks.

There will almost certainly be conflicted copies if both Calibre and Dropbox access the database at the same time. It's strongly recommended to pause syncing while Calibre is open, otherwise you may have to deal with a messed up library sooner or later.

Btw, it's also a good idea to run Library Maintenance occasionally.

[TWHanson1]

OK, I think you solved the problem! Thanks Sirtel.

[rxmom03]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I haven't used Dropbox to sync, but I do use Google Drive. I've noticed that when I delete a book from Calibre, a pop-up appears from Google Drive asking me if I want to delete the folder. If I don't confirm, it won't delete it. Though when I open the Google Drive interface from the notification tray, all the missed notifications are there allowing me to delete them at that time.

Can we use Google Drive now to sync with Calibre? I didn't think we could, although I may be hopelessly behind on things. Going over to the Calibre forum to search!

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by TWHanson1

That may well be the case, thanks. BTW, what app on Google Drive do you use for your library?

I just use Google Drive: https://www.google.com/drive/download/

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by rxmom03

Can we use Google Drive now to sync with Calibre? I didn't think we could, although I may be hopelessly behind on things. Going over to the Calibre forum to search!

To be clear: I don't sync to Calibre on any other computer. I just use Google Drive to back up my Calibre library.

From the way Dropbox synching was described by Sirtel, Google Drive seems much simpler. It just runs all the time.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

To be clear: I don't sync to Calibre on any other computer. I just use Google Drive to back up my Calibre library.

From the way Dropbox synching was described by Sirtel, Google Drive seems much simpler. It just runs all the time.

Playing on a test setup with two VMs running calibre and connecting to a copy of my library on Dropbox for the first test and on Google Drive for the second test managed to glitch the library in both cases. My test case was importing books on both VMs simultaneously which left the cloud copy of the library in very sad shape. Anyone into unscrambling eggs?

I think I'm going to stick with my current setup where I backup my calibre libraries using import/export all data and those backups are synced to the cloud.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DNSB

I think I'm going to stick with my current setup where I backup my calibre libraries using import/export all data and those backups are synced to the cloud.

Which is more or less what I do (though the back-up is automated by Google Drive). If disaster falls on me, I'd download all the books again rather than trying to link Calibre to Drive directly.

[Sirtel]

I keep back-ups of my library that are not synced to any cloud, on my PC and on two external HDs. But my "working" library is synced to Dropbox because it's the most convenient solution for me (I work with my library on both my PC and my Surface tablet, of course not at the same time). There is really no other option for such an arrangement. I tried with a flash drive, but that was terribly slow. And it's too bothersome to connect and disconnect the external disks to my computers several times a day. So it has to be Dropbox. I never run Dropbox and Calibre at the same time, nor do I run Dropbox on my PC and my Surface at the same time. One has to be careful.

[TWHanson1]

Really helpful dialog. After going over your replies, I'm beginning to think that I shouldn't sync my library at all. I really didn't want to sync my entire library anyway, rather, just a few books copied to cloud folders (Dropbox, Drive, etc.). What I don't understand is how to create this library in Calibre. How do I refer to the Drive or Dropbox location when Calibre asks for the path of my newly created library?

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by TWHanson1

Really helpful dialog. After going over your replies, I'm beginning to think that I shouldn't sync my library at all. I really didn't want to sync my entire library anyway, rather, just a few books copied to cloud folders (Dropbox, Drive, etc.). What I don't understand is how to create this library in Calibre. How do I refer to the Drive or Dropbox location when Calibre asks for the path of my newly created library?

Right-click on the Library icon (should be on the main toolbar), Switch/create library, Use the previously existing library at the new location. Enter the path to your cloud library.