Viewer not working on Calibre Portable v. 5.6 (2020)

KristaG · 12-09-2020, 02:09 PM

I am using Calibre Portable 5.6 (the latest version). When I was using the previous version 5.5 (shortly after the new version number popped up in the bottom corner as available, I believe), my viewer stopped working. When I tried to view an e-book with the built-in reader, nothing happened. I tried double clicking the line entry and Menu Open, and neither worked. I upgraded, and the same thing happens. The "busy" circle spins for a split second and then stops, and that's it.
I looked into previous Forum questions on this problem, but they date from 2016 and a much older version of Calibre, and there were other details of that problem set that don't occur with me. For instance, my ebook editor still opens, and I can load books and edit medadata. I can do anything that I normally do except read, I think.
I run Bit Defender antivirus on my computer, if that makes a difference.
Any suggestions?

georgemk · 12-09-2020, 04:21 PM

Turn Bit Defender off and then try again. Let us know what happens.

BetterRed · 12-09-2020, 04:22 PM

Try disabling BitDefender or excluding the Calibre Portable directory from its purview, AV software is a common cause of these sort of issues.

BR

JSWolf · 12-09-2020, 04:34 PM

If the problem is Bit Defender, uninstall it and find something else to use. No AV should be causing a problem with Calibre.

KristaG · 12-10-2020, 06:29 PM

Uninstalled Bitdefender and restarted. No change. I can't figure out why the viewer stopped working one day during previous version, and still won't work in current version. I didn't change anything that might have touched on Calibre Portable, and I guess it wasn't Bitdefender.
I appreciate all the responses. Any other suggestions?

BetterRed · 12-10-2020, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KristaG

Uninstalled Bitdefender and restarted. No change. I can't figure out why the viewer stopped working one day during previous version, and still won't work in current version. I didn't change anything that might have touched on Calibre Portable, and I guess it wasn't Bitdefender.
I appreciate all the responses. Any other suggestions?

Try running in Windows Safe Mode - if it works another task in interfering, probably something in your statrt up.

BR

KristaG · 12-29-2020, 02:57 PM

I see also, from other threads, that others are unable to open their ebook viewers, not just me. I hope someone finds a fix for this that a reasonable user (who is not a programmer) can implement. I didn't even understand the responses to those posts.
Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to help me out.

Krista

deb27 · 02-28-2021, 09:49 AM

I've had this same problem for months now. No luck solving it. The only way I can get it to run is to reboot in safe mode and then reboot normally. The viewer will open properly...for a while. And then after a while get stuck at "Loading book...". Yes I use Bit Defender. I've had no luck turning off the features. Switching to a new AV is really not an option at this time - especially since it may not even fix the problem.

JSWolf · 02-28-2021, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deb27

I've had this same problem for months now. No luck solving it. The only way I can get it to run is to reboot in safe mode and then reboot normally. The viewer will open properly...for a while. And then after a while get stuck at "Loading book...". Yes I use Bit Defender. I've had no luck turning off the features. Switching to a new AV is really not an option at this time - especially since it may not even fix the problem.

Are you using a laptop with dual display chips? If so, switch to the other display chip and see if Calibre works. Also make sure you are running the current version.

deb27 · 02-28-2021, 04:23 PM

You figured it out!!!!

I'm not using a laptop but I am using multiple displays on my windows 10 desktop. And moving Calibre to the monitor that Windows identifies as "1" allows the e-book viewer to open. This is very interesting because it's the second application I've had this problem with. The other being Ultimaker Cura. I wonder what Microsoft did?

But now I have a different problem. I tested 2 books. One is AZW3 format. Size 600K. First attempt to open it took 1 minute 53 seconds with the message "preparing for first read". I closed it and reopened it. This time it said "loading book please wait" and it took 2 minutes 53 seconds. Yup...a full minute longer.

So then I tried a mobi format book. Also around 600k in size. This one took 25 seconds to load the first time and 2 minutes and 28 seconds the second time.

Those times are really excessive for small books.

I'm running the latest Calibre 5.12 (64 bit). And the only plugin I have is deDRM from apprentice alf. Of the 2 books I tried, one had the DRM stripped. The other never had DRM.

Windows 10 Pro, 64 bit, Intel i7-6700k, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960, 16G RAM, BitDefender AV

12-09-2020, 02:09 PM	#1
KristaG Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2015 Device: Kindle reader, Fire, Nook	Viewer not working on Calibre Portable v. 5.6 (2020) I am using Calibre Portable 5.6 (the latest version). When I was using the previous version 5.5 (shortly after the new version number popped up in the bottom corner as available, I believe), my viewer stopped working. When I tried to view an e-book with the built-in reader, nothing happened. I tried double clicking the line entry and Menu Open, and neither worked. I upgraded, and the same thing happens. The "busy" circle spins for a split second and then stops, and that's it. I looked into previous Forum questions on this problem, but they date from 2016 and a much older version of Calibre, and there were other details of that problem set that don't occur with me. For instance, my ebook editor still opens, and I can load books and edit medadata. I can do anything that I normally do except read, I think. I run Bit Defender antivirus on my computer, if that makes a difference. Any suggestions?

12-10-2020, 06:29 PM	#5
KristaG Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2015 Device: Kindle reader, Fire, Nook	Uninstalled Bitdefender and restarted. No change. I can't figure out why the viewer stopped working one day during previous version, and still won't work in current version. I didn't change anything that might have touched on Calibre Portable, and I guess it wasn't Bitdefender. I appreciate all the responses. Any other suggestions? Last edited by KristaG; 12-10-2020 at 06:31 PM.

12-29-2020, 02:57 PM	#7
KristaG Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2015 Device: Kindle reader, Fire, Nook	Tried Windows Safe Mode, with no results I see also, from other threads, that others are unable to open their ebook viewers, not just me. I hope someone finds a fix for this that a reasonable user (who is not a programmer) can implement. I didn't even understand the responses to those posts. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to help me out. Krista

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12-09-2020, 04:21 PM	#2
georgemk Addict Posts: 234 Karma: 291844 Join Date: Oct 2019 Device: Kobo Nia	Turn Bit Defender off and then try again. Let us know what happens.

12-09-2020, 04:22 PM	#3
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,565 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Try disabling BitDefender or excluding the Calibre Portable directory from its purview, AV software is a common cause of these sort of issues. BR

12-09-2020, 04:34 PM	#4
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,957 Karma: 128903250 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	If the problem is Bit Defender, uninstall it and find something else to use. No AV should be causing a problem with Calibre.

02-28-2021, 09:49 AM	#8
deb27 Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Kindle 2	I've had this same problem for months now. No luck solving it. The only way I can get it to run is to reboot in safe mode and then reboot normally. The viewer will open properly...for a while. And then after a while get stuck at "Loading book...". Yes I use Bit Defender. I've had no luck turning off the features. Switching to a new AV is really not an option at this time - especially since it may not even fix the problem.

02-28-2021, 04:23 PM	#10
deb27 Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Kindle 2	You figured it out!!!! I'm not using a laptop but I am using multiple displays on my windows 10 desktop. And moving Calibre to the monitor that Windows identifies as "1" allows the e-book viewer to open. This is very interesting because it's the second application I've had this problem with. The other being Ultimaker Cura. I wonder what Microsoft did? But now I have a different problem. I tested 2 books. One is AZW3 format. Size 600K. First attempt to open it took 1 minute 53 seconds with the message "preparing for first read". I closed it and reopened it. This time it said "loading book please wait" and it took 2 minutes 53 seconds. Yup...a full minute longer. So then I tried a mobi format book. Also around 600k in size. This one took 25 seconds to load the first time and 2 minutes and 28 seconds the second time. Those times are really excessive for small books. I'm running the latest Calibre 5.12 (64 bit). And the only plugin I have is deDRM from apprentice alf. Of the 2 books I tried, one had the DRM stripped. The other never had DRM. Windows 10 Pro, 64 bit, Intel i7-6700k, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960, 16G RAM, BitDefender AV