FileNotFoundError (Windows)

[Bertrand]

Windows 11 pro, calibre 7.4.0
The library is on an external SSD drive, and as usual, everything was working fine... until now.

For the past few days, I have this problem : "FileNotFoundError".
I drag and drop epubs in the main interface, edit metadata, and when I click Ok I have now this error.


So what can I do ?
Thanks for your help.

Spoiler:

calibre, version 7.4.0
ERREUR : Exception non gérée: <b>FileNotFoundError</b>:[WinError 3] Le chemin d’accès spécifié est introuvable: 'I:\\Calibre\\Andre Helena\\Les voyageurs du vendredi (22647)'

calibre 7.4  embedded-python: True
Windows-10-10.0.22631-SP0 Windows ('64bit', 'WindowsPE')
('Windows', '10', '10.0.22631')
Python 3.11.5
Windows: ('10', '10.0.22631', 'SP0', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Interface language: fr
Successfully initialized third party plugins: DeACSM (0, 0, 16) && DeDRM (10, 0, 9) && Action Chains (1, 19, 3) && Comments Cleaner (1, 12, 1) && Count Pages (1, 13, 4) && Diaps Editing Toolbag (0, 4, 0) && Editor Chains (1, 1, 4) && EpubCheck (0, 2, 5) && Extract ISBN (1, 6, 0) && Favourites Menu (1, 3, 0) && Find Duplicates (1, 10, 8) && Kobo Books (1, 10, 2) && Kobo Utilities (2, 16, 13) && KoboTouchExtended (3, 6, 7) && Modify ePub (1, 8, 2) && Open With (1, 8, 1) && Quality Check (1, 13, 8) && SmartEject (2, 5, 0) && View Manager (1, 10, 2) && Walk Search History (1, 5, 3)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "calibre\utils\copy_files.py", line 286, in copy_tree
  File "shutil.py", line 759, in rmtree
  File "shutil.py", line 603, in _rmtree_unsafe
  File "shutil.py", line 600, in _rmtree_unsafe
FileNotFoundError: [WinError 3] Le chemin d’accès spécifié est introuvable: 'I:\\Calibre\\Andre Helena\\Les voyageurs du vendredi (22647)'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "calibre\gui2\metadata\single.py", line 637, in accept
  File "calibre\gui2\metadata\single.py", line 620, in apply_changes
  File "calibre\gui2\metadata\basic_widgets.py", line 429, in commit
  File "calibre\db\legacy.py", line 920, in func
  File "calibre\db\cache.py", line 88, in call_func_with_lock
  File "calibre\db\cache.py", line 1645, in set_field
  File "calibre\db\cache.py", line 1659, in update_path
  File "calibre\db\backend.py", line 1975, in update_path
  File "calibre\utils\copy_files.py", line 290, in copy_tree
  File "shutil.py", line 759, in rmtree
  File "shutil.py", line 603, in _rmtree_unsafe
  File "shutil.py", line 600, in _rmtree_unsafe
FileNotFoundError: [WinError 3] Le chemin d’accès spécifié est introuvable: 'I:\\Calibre\\Andre Helena\\Les voyageurs du vendredi (22647)'

[kovidgoyal]

That's a strange error, it indicates some other program is modifying data in the calibre library folder at the same time as calibre. Try excluding the folder from and file sync and/or antivirus programs.

[Bertrand]

Thanks Kovid.

All calibre files/folders were already excluded from the antivirus and I have no sync programs running.

Just out of curiosity, I copied the library to another external drive, and the same thing happened.
Then I copied it to the C drive... and it works.

So, for now, let's say my problem is partially (because I don't understand why it happened so suddenly) solved. I will continue to investigate, I can't see/find anything running on my computer doing this thing to my library.

[Quoth]

Is the external drive the same format as the internal? It needs to be NTFS for Windows and whatever the native is on Linux (often Ext4) or Mac (depends on OS age). Using FAT32 or exFAT might not work.

You mention C, so probably Windows.

[Bertrand]

Yes, they are all NTFS.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Bertrand

Yes, they are all NTFS.

That's good, though adds to the mystery!

Maybe it's file ownership or permissions?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Bertrand

Windows 11 pro, calibre 7.4.0
The library is on an external SSD drive, and as usual, everything was working fine... until now.

Were there any recent updates to software?

Best place to look is the Control Panel. Yes it's still there, look in Programs and Features and sort on the "Installed on" column.

Originally Posted by Bertrand

Yes, they are all NTFS.

Do you use a 3rd party file manager, or shell extensions that provide file management tools?

If so do whatever is needed to disable them — e.g. remove from startup, disable in Task Manager, uninstall etc — then restart and try to run calibre.

Shell extensions, including those that come with some 3rd party file managers have been known to burrow through Safe Mode walls.

BR

[JSWolf]

Reboot the computer in Safe Mode and try your library that's not working. If it works, something you have installed is the problem.

[Bertrand]

Thank you all for all the suggestions.

I don't have a 3rd party file manager, but I have a few shell extensions...
Safe Mode sounds like a good idea to begin, I never think of doing that.

I'll try all this as soon as I can spare the time.

Thanks again.

[alumoi]

A little late to the party, but what's with all those strange characters in the file name?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by alumoi

A little late to the party, but what's with all those strange characters in the file name?

This?

FileNotFoundError: [WinError 3] Le chemin d’accès spécifié est introuvable: 'I:\\Calibre\\Andre Helena\\Les voyageurs du vendredi (22647)'

Something broke in error message. the file is I:\Calibre\Andre Helena\Les voyageurs du vendredi (22647)
Introuvable means impossible to find 'I:\Calibre\Andre Helena\Les voyageurs du vendredi (22647)'

the \\ is escaping \

[Bertrand]

Some news.

What did i do ? Nothing.

Last Sunday, I wanted to take a closer look at my problem.
I made a copy of my library and moved it back to my external drive.

Surprise: everything was working again. No more error messages.
It's been a week now and everything's working normally.

Case closed (for now...), mystery unsolved.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Bertrand

Some news.

What did i do ? Nothing.

Last Sunday, I wanted to take a closer look at my problem.
I made a copy of my library and moved it back to my external drive.

Surprise: everything was working again. No more error messages.
It's been a week now and everything's working normally.

Case closed (for now...), mystery unsolved.

Maybe it was a corrupt database.