Sony Plugboard disappeared

[library addict]

I was sending some books to my Sony 650 and noticed they were added to my All Books in Order by Author and All Books in Order by Title collections, but not the series or tags (contemporary).

I looked in my Metadata Plugboards list and only the KoboTouch is listed. I am pretty sure I used to have a pluboard for the Sony. But it's been so long since I set that up I don't remember what it was. I know books were always added with the applicable series and tags.

And it was there on Sept 10th the last time I added books to my Sony.

I have updated to version 2.3 in the interim. I did not manually delete the plugboard as that is a setting I do not access on any sort of regular basis.

I do have a backup copy of my Calibre Preferences from back in March (I obviously need to remember to back that up more frequently), but no idea where the plugboard info is stored. And since I have updated Calibre to the new 2.0 version since if it is even possible to restore from an older Calibre Preferences backup.

Is there something in the new version that affected plugboards? I can try to go back through the older threads to see what I had the plugboard set as I know I used a template from MobileRead. Also it's odd the All Books by Author and All Books by Title still was added as I thought that was part of the plugboard.

Help.

[JSWolf]

What you can do is install the 1.48 portable version, restore your pre-2.0 settings there and get the plugboard settings to copy to your 2.3 setup.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

What you can do is install the 1.48 portable version, restore your pre-2.0 settings there and get the plugboard settings to copy to your 2.3 setup.

@library_addict - can I suggest you (indeed everyone) fold the backup of calibre settings into the process of backing up your calibre libraries.

To facilitate this you might want to change the location of the settings folder via the CALIBRE_CONFIG_DIRECTORY environment variable see ==>> calibre — Environment variables.

BR

[library addict]

I just don't understand where it went. It's not something I would think should just disappear

I installed the Calibre portable 1.48 on my other PC (just so I wouldn't get confused as to what was what), copied the "calibre" folder over, but when I click on Preferences-->metadata plugboards nothing is there.

I guess I will just try to manually recreate it. However, I do not see a listing for the PRS650 (the PRS505 is listed as is the PRST1) there is no generic listing for Sony. So what should I choose as device?

[BetterRed]

@library addict - you need to copy the contents of your PC 'calibre' folder into the portable 'Calibre Settings' folder on your laptop

See attachment

BR

[library addict]

OK. I didn't delete first.

But there still is nothing there when I click on plugboards. All of the other settings seem to be there (background color for the cover grid, etc).

I'm going to get a different backup from DVD-Rom and see of that helps.

[BetterRed]

@library addict - I don't use plugboards, so I'm not sure where they are kept - ie which file. If they are in any way library dependent then they may be in the library database rather than settings.

BR

[library addict]

Okay I'm not as bad as backups as I thought. The folder is dated March 2014, but the files were actually copied on 8/30/2014 (I always just copy the whole folder over when I do backups of the Calibre Preferences). So it was after version 2.0 was released.

However, when I install Calibre portable 2.0 on my other PC, delete the files in the Calibre Settings folder and copy the backup files there, then start Calibre Portable and click Preferences --> Metadata Plugboards, it still shows nothing there.

[library addict]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@library addict - I don't use plugboards, so I'm not sure where they are kept - ie which file. If they are in any way library dependent then they may be in the library database rather than settings.

BR

I have no clue where they are stored.

So I copied the metadata file over and now the Kobo plugboard shows, but not the Sony one. So the plugboards must be library dependent. The metadata file I used in the Calibre Portable was from 7-29-14. I know the epubs were sent correctly to my Sony (with tags, series, etc) until 9-10-2014.

So if it wasn't a plugboard for Sony how did they used to arrive there with the tags and series showing as collections? And why has it stopped? I could have sworn the "All Books in Order by Author" and "All Books in Order by Title" was something I set up with a plugboard. The books I sent today show in those as collections, but not the series and not the tags. I am so confused.

[eschwartz]

Plugboards are saved in the database.

To be sure, I checked and found them in "metadata_db_prefs_backup.json"

[BetterRed]

Makes sense - plugboards are about plugging non dc elements (eg custom columns) into dc elements in the book files that get sent to Devizes - are they not?

If wish there was map of what settings are where, at least to the level of 'in the library database' or 'in the configuration folder', we know for sure they're not in the Registry,

BR

[library addict]

I know the stuff I set up for Sony and the stuff I set up for Kobo were both working through Calibre version 2.2. So maybe something changed in 2.3?

I am going to try to dig up an old backup from before I got the Kobo and see if the Sony plugboard shows then.

I just don't remember when I set up the Kobo plugboard so the series info showed as part of the title if the Sony plugboard was listed, too. Maybe only one plugboard shows at a time? Sorry, I sort of understand how they work enough to make it do what I want (usually), but not the technical aspects of them.

And the backup from 7-29-14 doesn't show the Sony one and I know when I sent books to my Sony that day it worked correctly.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

Plugboards are saved in the database.

To be sure, I checked and found them in "metadata_db_prefs_backup.json"

Originally Posted by library addict

I know the stuff I set up for Sony and the stuff I set up for Kobo were both working through Calibre version 2.2. So maybe something changed in 2.3?

I am going to try to dig up an old backup from before I got the Kobo and see if the Sony plugboard shows then.

@library addict - so its your LIBRARY you need to restore not and the SETTINGS

If you're able I suggest you restore into that Calibre Portable on your laptop

If that's what you've done my apologies - just wanted to be sure that you caught the relevance of eschwartz's post.

BR

[library addict]

Yes, that's what I did on a date I know the epubs sent to my Sony were added to the series and tags as collections.

(a) the Sony plugboard still does not appear

(b) the sony plugboard must still be there somehow as the books I added today went into the collections "All Books in Order by Title" and "All Books in Order by Author" which are collections I know set up years ago via plugboard. The books were not added to collections by the series or tags which they normally are.

I am not sure why the plugboard is not listed. I am wondering of only one shows (I also have one I set up for my Kobo mini).

I can try to find a much older backup from before I had the Kobo to see what the Sony plugboard actually had. But the fact that the books were added into the collections "All Books in Order by Title" and "All Books in Order by Author" has me wondering if something else is wrong or what changed between Calibre 2.2 and Calibre 2.3 which is when the problem started.

[BetterRed]

@library addict - If you look in that library folder you restored you should see a file named metadata_db_prefs_backup.json open it with a decent editor - Notepad++ (Windows), Text Wrangler (MAC), Vim (Linuz) to see if it has anything resembling the plugboard - its plain text so should be easy to spot - I'd search for plugboard.

But I've reached the end of my knowledge of plugboards (what knowledge he asks) and I don't have Sony or anything like it. So I'll probably do a stage exit left now.

Good luck - BR