Calibre forgot everything

Jerry0101 · 10-11-2023, 03:34 AM

Opened Calibre and it's back to standard configuration: i had to retype the calibre library folder but also it forgot language and doesn't show plugins. What's strange is that if i open preferences->misc and open configuration folder it's still C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\calibre and the plugins are all still there.
Only thing i remember i did is making a new admin for win10 and demote the current to user

gbm · 10-11-2023, 10:20 AM

You have to go in and change the user privileges for that folder. I do not know about windows--these days--but in Linux you would also have to give calibre privileges after that type of change.

brnie

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry0101

Opened Calibre and it's back to standard configuration: i had to retype the calibre library folder but also it forgot language and doesn't show plugins. What's strange is that if i open preferences->misc and open configuration folder it's still C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\calibre and the plugins are all still there.
Only thing i remember i did is making a new admin for win10 and demote the current to user

Jerry0101 · 10-17-2023, 07:48 AM

Sorry i read only now.
I gave user all privileges to program folder C:\Program Files\Calibre2 and user folder C:\Users\<user_folder> (which already had) but it's no use. I run the program as administrator and give admin PIN everytime.
Maybe it's worth noting one thing: I called "Jhon Doe" the admin, i used an email that starts with "andre" my old standard user is called "andrea". The andrea user already had a user folder in path "C:\Users\andre" . I read windows give the folder name the first 5 letters of username. At the creation of admin "Jhon Doe" its folder has been called "andre.DESKTOP-9ONOB31" . I think to differentiate with the already existent "andre".
Today i used this method https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...4-9adf9f8a6358
to change admin name. i noticed it was not Jhon Doe but equal to the Microsoft email. I changed it to "Jhon"
So it's a bit confusing but anything i did had not effect.
Here the screen. sorry for italian UI.
https://photos.onedrive.com/share/52...photo&e=aYKstc

Jerry0101 · 10-17-2023, 10:10 AM

In the end i don't have much trust in Calibre. When i'll return to the pc i'll install a plugin, have a look where/if it is stored somewhere and look what can i do to restore the main preferences.
God I think in 2023 i would've got rid of all the clunky early '00 pc based database managers. Maybe i'll return to buy books in stores.

JSWolf · 10-17-2023, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry0101

In the end i don't have much trust in Calibre. When i'll return to the pc i'll install a plugin, have a look where/if it is stored somewhere and look what can i do to restore the main preferences.
God I think in 2023 i would've got rid of all the clunky early '00 pc based database managers. Maybe i'll return to buy books in stores.

Log in as Admin. Move the calibre config directory someplace else where the normal account may have access. Then run calibre and when it creates the new config directory, in the normal account, copy the config directory to where it should be and you should be good to go. If you cannot copy the config, you'll have to log back in as admin and change the permission to give the other account access.

Quoth · 10-17-2023, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry0101

In the end i don't have much trust in Calibre. When i'll return to the pc i'll install a plugin, have a look where/if it is stored somewhere and look what can i do to restore the main preferences.
God I think in 2023 i would've got rid of all the clunky early '00 pc based database managers. Maybe i'll return to buy books in stores.

I've been using Calibre maybe for over 10 years and had no issues.

The only nasty early '00 pc based databases I knew were using Access on Windows. Often "game console" quality Win9x/ME instead of NT 4.0. Most businesses we dealt with skipped Win2K and waited till SP1 out on XP. Linux and Mac was rare. Mac OS9 and earlier was rubbish on security and poorer than NT on stability. OS X was a big step forward for Mac.

Jerry0101 · 10-17-2023, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Log in as Admin. Move the calibre config directory someplace else where the normal account may have access. Then run calibre and when it creates the new config directory, in the normal account, copy the config directory to where it should be and you should be good to go. If you cannot copy the config, you'll have to log back in as admin and change the permission to give the other account access.

I tried to follow your instructions but it didn't work or i didn't understand:

- i logged to Admin (Jhon)
- copied folder C:\Users\andre\AppData\Roaming\calibre to another location and deleted the original.
- Run calibre from Admin
- copied folder C:\Users\andre.DESKTOP-9ONOB31\AppData\Roaming\calibre (admin) to C:\Users\andre\AppData\Roaming\
-Overrided all data from the Calibre folder i saved early to C:\Users\andre\AppData\Roaming\calibre
-Logged from normal user and run calibre.
Nothing changed.

Jerry0101 · 10-17-2023, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quoth

I've been using Calibre maybe for over 10 years and had no issues.

The only nasty early '00 pc based databases I knew were using Access on Windows. Often "game console" quality Win9x/ME instead of NT 4.0. Most businesses we dealt with skipped Win2K and waited till SP1 out on XP. Linux and Mac was rare. Mac OS9 and earlier was rubbish on security and poorer than NT on stability. OS X was a big step forward for Mac.

I've been a bit too iperbolic, what i'm mad about are personal database media managers made to run on anything for everybody, implying keeping data integrity on the home computer is a task for everyday people. Back when we used to own data Itunes, WMP, Winamp & Co made me lose more than one insomniac night. I know the pay for services model is more than a menace to our freedom but at least somebody else does all the dirty work.
And btw i'm a programmer myself that works on IBM AS/400 with DB2 and even if don't know much about databases i love the idea of working on a proprietary system, far from the nightmarish windows complications 8)

Now back to my problem!

Jerry0101 · 10-17-2023, 05:44 PM

Ok i figured it out partially:
Installed a plugin from normal user and it installed it in the
C:\Users\andre.DESKTOP-9ONOB31\AppData\Roaming\calibre
which is the Admin user folder.
So calibre seems to only use the admin folder.
Copied there my config folder, it works.
still if i open cofig folder from calibre it directs me to:
C:\Users\andre\AppData\Roaming\calibre
Not a big deal, just i don't know why this pedantery and if there is a way to change this irritating behaviour.
Thanks

BetterRed · 10-17-2023, 06:23 PM

If you want to put the calibre configuration folder somewhere other than %SYSDRIVE%\Users\<whoever>\Appdata\Roaming\calibre use the CALIBRE_CONFIG_DIRECTORY Environment variable

See https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/cus...ment-variables

BR

Jerry0101 · 10-17-2023, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

If you want to put the calibre configuration folder somewhere other than %SYSDRIVE%\Users\<whoever>\Appdata\Roaming\calibre use the CALIBRE_CONFIG_DIRECTORY Environment variable

See https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/cus...ment-variables

BR

Thank you, i’ll try this!

theducks · 10-17-2023, 09:22 PM

My experience in over 10Y (on Windows) is that calibre just works when a normal admin user install is done.

A normal user with admin rights is different than Administrator .

Many of the issues are when a user tries something different than just pick where a Library is stored.

10-11-2023, 03:34 AM	#1
Jerry0101 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2023 Device: Kobo Aura	Calibre forgot everything Opened Calibre and it's back to standard configuration: i had to retype the calibre library folder but also it forgot language and doesn't show plugins. What's strange is that if i open preferences->misc and open configuration folder it's still C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\calibre and the plugins are all still there. Only thing i remember i did is making a new admin for win10 and demote the current to user

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10-17-2023, 07:48 AM	#3
Jerry0101 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2023 Device: Kobo Aura	Sorry i read only now. I gave user all privileges to program folder C:\Program Files\Calibre2 and user folder C:\Users\<user_folder> (which already had) but it's no use. I run the program as administrator and give admin PIN everytime. Maybe it's worth noting one thing: I called "Jhon Doe" the admin, i used an email that starts with "andre" my old standard user is called "andrea". The andrea user already had a user folder in path "C:\Users\andre" . I read windows give the folder name the first 5 letters of username. At the creation of admin "Jhon Doe" its folder has been called "andre.DESKTOP-9ONOB31" . I think to differentiate with the already existent "andre". Today i used this method https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/...4-9adf9f8a6358 to change admin name. i noticed it was not Jhon Doe but equal to the Microsoft email. I changed it to "Jhon" So it's a bit confusing but anything i did had not effect. Here the screen. sorry for italian UI. https://photos.onedrive.com/share/52...photo&e=aYKstc

10-17-2023, 10:10 AM	#4
Jerry0101 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2023 Device: Kobo Aura	In the end i don't have much trust in Calibre. When i'll return to the pc i'll install a plugin, have a look where/if it is stored somewhere and look what can i do to restore the main preferences. God I think in 2023 i would've got rid of all the clunky early '00 pc based database managers. Maybe i'll return to buy books in stores.

10-17-2023, 05:44 PM	#9
Jerry0101 Member Posts: 13 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2023 Device: Kobo Aura	Ok i figured it out partially: Installed a plugin from normal user and it installed it in the C:\Users\andre.DESKTOP-9ONOB31\AppData\Roaming\calibre which is the Admin user folder. So calibre seems to only use the admin folder. Copied there my config folder, it works. still if i open cofig folder from calibre it directs me to: C:\Users\andre\AppData\Roaming\calibre Not a big deal, just i don't know why this pedantery and if there is a way to change this irritating behaviour. Thanks

10-17-2023, 06:23 PM	#10
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,619 Karma: 26960534 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	If you want to put the calibre configuration folder somewhere other than %SYSDRIVE%\Users\<whoever>\Appdata\Roaming\calibre use the CALIBRE_CONFIG_DIRECTORY Environment variable See https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/cus...ment-variables BR

10-17-2023, 09:22 PM	#12
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,880 Karma: 55267620 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	My experience in over 10Y (on Windows) is that calibre just works when a normal admin user install is done. A normal user with admin rights is different than Administrator . Many of the issues are when a user tries something different than just pick where a Library is stored.

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