Database problems

tdp1947 · 03-27-2015, 01:11 PM

I have been using Calibre for about 2 years and absolutely love it. I keep my ebooks on an external hard drive. I don't do anything fancy and only open Calibre to peruse the titles and synopses and decide what books to download to my tablet and to add new books to my library of a couple thousands of titles. Each time that I open the program I usually get a notification that a newer version is available (great job, developers!) which I would religiously install until a few months back when I was told that the future releases will no longer support Windows XP.
I recently migrated to a Windows 7 PC, and having kept my Calibre library on an external drive I thought I would be I thought I would have no problems. When my newly downloaded Calibre started and was pointed to the old library, I was notified that the database was corrupted and needed to be repaired. It went through three passes only fail at the very end.
Help, please.

kovidgoyal · 03-27-2015, 10:59 PM

Failed with what error message?

tdp1947 · 03-31-2015, 10:19 AM

Did not expect an answer from the guru himself. Here are the details:

calibre, version 2.22.0
ERROR: Failed: Restoring database failed, click Show details to see details

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\db\restore.py", line 125, in run
File "site-packages\calibre\db\restore.py", line 273, in replace_db
WindowsError: [Error 5] Access is denied

kovidgoyal · 03-31-2015, 10:24 AM

Something on your system is blocking calibre, try running the restore from the comamnd line, like this

calibredb restore_database -r

And if you get the same erro there, then likely the permissions on your calibre library files need to be fixed.

tdp1947 · 03-31-2015, 01:17 PM

Hooray. Got it fixed. First ran the restore as you've suggested, but it quickly came bask with the same errors, then I ran it again after a cd into the calibre directory. Now everything's hunky-dory. Thanks.

bob_bookworm · 06-18-2015, 03:02 PM

Apologies for my ineptitude... I find myself in the very same situation as tdp1947, with the same error message.

Tried running the restore from the command line, I could see some process got to 100%, and then the 'dos window' closed and nothing else happened.

So I tried restoring from inside calibre, and got the usual error message.

The problem is I don't know how to fix the permissions on my calibre library, which is what our master and guru was suggesting.
...and I am the one and only administrator of my PC.

Help, please!

eschwartz · 06-18-2015, 06:23 PM

You could *try* running calibre with administrative permissions.

theducks · 06-18-2015, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob_bookworm

Apologies for my ineptitude... I find myself in the very same situation as tdp1947, with the same error message.

Tried running the restore from the command line, I could see some process got to 100%, and then the 'dos window' closed and nothing else happened.

So I tried restoring from inside calibre, and got the usual error message.

The problem is I don't know how to fix the permissions on my calibre library, which is what our master and guru was suggesting.
...and I am the one and only administrator of my PC.

Help, please!

This is an OS level problem (frequently happens when restoring from CD-DVD media after a crashed disk)'

setting <os> file permissions , and/or 'taking ownership'

bob_bookworm · 06-19-2015, 05:23 AM

Thanks for the replies, but as I was trying to explain in my bad English the point is that I don't know how to 'take ownership' or 'run calibre with administrative permissions'.
Would you please elaborate on that?

eschwartz · 06-19-2015, 10:45 AM

Right-click on the calibre icon and select Run As Administrator.

bob_bookworm · 06-19-2015, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Right-click on the calibre icon and select Run As Administrator.

Thank you, it took me a while before realizing it was really a dumb question.

Anyway my ebooks are definitely gone... I am about to start rebuilding from my kindle, where I kept 50% or so of the whole library.

eschwartz · 06-19-2015, 11:37 AM

Gone, as in the files no longer exist on the drive?

theducks · 06-19-2015, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob_bookworm

Thank you, it took me a while before realizing it was really a dumb question.

Anyway my ebooks are definitely gone... I am about to start rebuilding from my kindle, where I kept 50% or so of the whole library.

You might not be able to see the books (files) if you do not have proper Ownership or rights, Calibre would have created (with warning) a new Library folder if it could not 'see' the other one

Change your Main Library Name. That way, it will be easy to spot when something burped. The default name (Calibre Library) will show

I use MainLib (Really original

, I know)

bob_bookworm · 06-19-2015, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Gone, as in the files no longer exist on the drive?

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

You might not be able to see the books (files)...

No no, they are still there, by 'gone' I meant irretrievably corrupted, or so it seems.

Meanwhile I have managed to have approx. 50% of the original library synced back from my kindle.
It is a bit of a mess though, now what's left of it has long titles like these: "Winds of War [01] - The Winds of War", "Winds of War [02] - War and Remembrance", and so on...
...tweaks and twists I picked up here on mobileread to use on calibre and then have my ebook titles in the right order within kindle collections.
Anyway this is definitely something I can live with, even more so if the alternative could have been to have no library whatsoever

theducks · 06-19-2015, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bob_bookworm

No no, they are still there, by 'gone' I meant irretrievably corrupted, or so it seems.

Meanwhile I have managed to have approx. 50% of the original library synced back from my kindle.
It is a bit of a mess though, now what's left of it has long titles like these: "Winds of War [01] - The Winds of War", "Winds of War [02] - War and Remembrance", and so on...
...tweaks and twists I picked up here on mobileread to use on calibre and then have my ebook titles in the right order within kindle collections.
Anyway this is definitely something I can live with, even more so if the alternative could have been to have no library whatsoever

Have you checked the integrity of the Drive?Files do not always get written in contiguous blocks. A drive fault could damage that chain.

Is the drive self powered (from USB Only)? Your port might have marginal power. IMHO External powered (removable) drives are better. But... power bricks can also go bad (trashy power).

Can you pop the drive into a desktop system as a secondary/non-boot drive?

03-27-2015, 01:11 PM	#1
tdp1947 Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2015 Device: Samsung tablet/PC	Database problems I have been using Calibre for about 2 years and absolutely love it. I keep my ebooks on an external hard drive. I don't do anything fancy and only open Calibre to peruse the titles and synopses and decide what books to download to my tablet and to add new books to my library of a couple thousands of titles. Each time that I open the program I usually get a notification that a newer version is available (great job, developers!) which I would religiously install until a few months back when I was told that the future releases will no longer support Windows XP. I recently migrated to a Windows 7 PC, and having kept my Calibre library on an external drive I thought I would be I thought I would have no problems. When my newly downloaded Calibre started and was pointed to the old library, I was notified that the database was corrupted and needed to be repaired. It went through three passes only fail at the very end. Help, please.

03-31-2015, 10:24 AM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,845 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Something on your system is blocking calibre, try running the restore from the comamnd line, like this calibredb restore_database -r And if you get the same erro there, then likely the permissions on your calibre library files need to be fixed. Last edited by kovidgoyal; 03-31-2015 at 10:28 AM.

03-31-2015, 01:17 PM	#5
tdp1947 Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2015 Device: Samsung tablet/PC	Database problems Hooray. Got it fixed. First ran the restore as you've suggested, but it quickly came bask with the same errors, then I ran it again after a cd into the calibre directory. Now everything's hunky-dory. Thanks.

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03-27-2015, 10:59 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,845 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Failed with what error message?

03-31-2015, 10:19 AM	#3
tdp1947 Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2015 Device: Samsung tablet/PC	Did not expect an answer from the guru himself. Here are the details: calibre, version 2.22.0 ERROR: Failed: Restoring database failed, click Show details to see details Traceback (most recent call last): File "site-packages\calibre\db\restore.py", line 125, in run File "site-packages\calibre\db\restore.py", line 273, in replace_db WindowsError: [Error 5] Access is denied

06-18-2015, 03:02 PM	#6
bob_bookworm Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2012 Device: Kindle	Apologies for my ineptitude... I find myself in the very same situation as tdp1947, with the same error message. Tried running the restore from the command line, I could see some process got to 100%, and then the 'dos window' closed and nothing else happened. So I tried restoring from inside calibre, and got the usual error message. The problem is I don't know how to fix the permissions on my calibre library, which is what our master and guru was suggesting. ...and I am the one and only administrator of my PC. Help, please!

06-18-2015, 06:23 PM	#7
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	You could try running calibre with administrative permissions.

06-19-2015, 05:23 AM	#9
bob_bookworm Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2012 Device: Kindle	Thanks for the replies, but as I was trying to explain in my bad English the point is that I don't know how to 'take ownership' or 'run calibre with administrative permissions'. Would you please elaborate on that?

06-19-2015, 10:45 AM	#10
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Right-click on the calibre icon and select Run As Administrator.

06-19-2015, 11:37 AM	#12
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,422 Karma: 85397180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	Gone, as in the files no longer exist on the drive?

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