[iOS] Nothing works on the Calibre Companion :-(

[lukewest]

I am using the following systems/settings:

1) An iPhone 7 plus with iOS 10.2, and
2) Calibre Companion IOS installed
3) App connection to Dropbox (confirmed from within Dropbox > Security)
4) Calibre 2.74.0 on my MacBook Pro, running Sierra
5) The Calibre library is on my personal Dropbox, as "Calibre Library" in the root filesystem.
6) In this folder are the metadata.db and metadata_db_prefs_backup.json (confirmed from the command line and from within the web interface for Dropbox) [Separate thread]

Nothing works for me.

(adding in some more information)

The Mac and the iPhone are on the same home network.
There are no firewalls blocking internal traffic

Subnet: 10.202.1/24

Content server:
I started content server on 10.202.1.44:8080
I open this in a browser on the Mac and get the Calibre interface.
I open this on a browser on my iPhone and get the Calibre interface
I try to open the Calibre Companion and get a failure

Wireless server:
I started wireless server on 10.202.1.44:9090
I open this in a browser on the Mac and get an invalid response (ERR_INVALID_HTTP_RESPONSE).
I try to open the Calibre Companion and get a failure

So far I have bought an app an nothing works :-(

Any help would be appreciated...!

[lukewest]

I have troubleshot (is that a word?) this.

I found that if there are NO books on the IOS device, then the Dropbox integrations breaks.

I manually entered the IP and Port and connected the webserver (the default IP came from somewhere... but no IP range I know) and downloaded one book.

Then - everything changed.

I can connect on all the services.

Strange bug

[chaley]

Originally Posted by lukewest

I found that if there are NO books on the IOS device, then the Dropbox integrations breaks.

That is indeed strange. At some point Steve (who is doing iOS CC -- I do Android CC) will need to look at that.

I manually entered the IP and Port and connected the webserver (the default IP came from somewhere... but no IP range I know) and downloaded one book.

Then - everything changed.

I can connect on all the services.

Strange bug

What this says to me is that CC is unable to find calibre using the two automatic methods available:

1. Send a broadcast out on the network. If calibre is there and listening, it answers with its IP address and port.
2. Send a "bonjour" (mDNS) query. If the network allows bonjour then the calibre computer will (usually) answer with the right IP address and port.

There is some new evidence that the broadcast solution doesn't work (well) if the iDevice has both a WiFi and a cellular connection active. We know from hard experience with Android CC that bonjour is unreliable, mostly because some routers and firewalls block it. My guess is that for you, neither one works. Entering the calibre IP address into CC fixes it because CC now knows which network interface to use and where calibre is located on that network.

In any event, I am glad it is now working for you.