restore database help

[mabee]

Hi!
This is my second try at using calibre, and i´m really happy. Now my library is in order. I´ve been using it for about 3 months and i´ve added 15997 books, done conversions and reading in my pc. I was using calibre in a pendrive with a backup copy in my pc, but the library became too big for the pendrive, so i decided to send it to the pc. While using it from the pendrive the database suffered some problem i tried to run the calibre library maintenance and check the databse integrity but i get this error:ERROR: Error: Failed to check database integrity

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\actions\choose_library.py", line 94, in run
File "site-packages\calibre\library\database2.py", line 2452, in check_integrity
File "site-packages\calibre\library\sqlite.py", line 232, in run
DatabaseException: database disk image is malformed
RemoteTraceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\library\sqlite.py", line 181, in run
File "sqlite3\dump.py", line 49, in _iterdump
DatabaseError: database disk image is malformed

I´ve searched this forum and google but i could not find a fix, i also ran "calibredb restore_database" from command line but it seems like nothing is fixed. Also i updated to calibre 0.7.31 and it was not fixed, i´m running calibre in windows vista at the pc and at work from windows xp.
Could someone help me please?
Mabee

[chaley]

Questions:
- what version of calibre were you running when the problem happened? If it was before 0.7.21 (or there-abouts), the required OPF files will not have been generated, and restore_database won't do anything useful.

- Did you use the 'really do it' option when you ran the command?

- Could you post the output produced by calibredb restore_database?

[Perkin]

@chaley, Does the check need drive space, as if it's on a pen drive (as seems here), that's full, would that cause the check to fail?

[mabee]

Chaley:
Thank you for the quick answer.
I checked my library with treesize and all books have a metadata.opf file.
Also as far as i remember i was running version 0.7.28 when i ran the database check and i got an error message, my mistake was in not paying attention to it. I think i skipped installing a version and jumped to version 0.7.30 and then 0.7.31.
Could you send me the syntax for that "restore_database 'really do it' " command, i'm a newbie at command line in calibre. I won't be able to run that check till 11 pm (about 12 hours from now), and how do i get that "calibre restore_database" output?
Thank you,
Mabee

[Manichean]

See this manual entry. The output is whatever the program prints into the console after you started it.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Perkin

@chaley, Does the check need drive space, as if it's on a pen drive (as seems here), that's full, would that cause the check to fail?

Yes, the check does need space, but not a lot. My guess is around double the size of the metadata.db file.

@mabee: Manichean has the right of it. Good luck!

[mabee]

Originally Posted by Manichean

See this manual entry. The output is whatever the program prints into the console after you started it.

Manichean:
should i type in start>run>
calibredb restore_database --really-do-it, -r
?
Mabee

[Manichean]

Principially, that works. I'd suggest running "cmd" from start->run (or starting the command prompt from the start menu) and typing the command there. That way, you get to see the output it generates even after the program terminates- if you execute a console program via start->run, the output window gets closed as soon as that program is terminated.

[mabee]

Manichean:
Thank you for the "cmd" advice.
I started cmd, changed directory (cd) to the directory where metadata.db is and this:

C:\Users\***\Biblioteca de calibre>calibredb restore_database "really-do-it
"
Usage: calibredb.exe restore_database [options]

Restore this database from the metadata stored in OPF files in each
directory of the calibre library. This is useful if your metadata.db file
has been corrupted.

WARNING: This command completely regenerates your database. You will lose
all saved searches, user categories, plugboards, stored per-book conversion
settings, and custom recipes. Restored metadata will only be as accurate as
what is found in the OPF files.


Whenever you pass arguments to calibredb.exe that have spaces in them, enclose t
he arguments in quotation marks.

Options:
--version show program's version number and exit

-h, --help show this help message and exit

-r, --really-do-it Really do the recovery. The command will not run
unless this option is specified.


GLOBAL OPTIONS:
--library-path=LIBRARY_PATH, --with-library=LIBRARY_PATH
Path to the calibre library. Default is to use the
path stored in the settings.


Created by Kovid Goyal <kovid@kovidgoyal.net>

What did i do wrong?
I´m worrried.
Mabee

[itimpi]

According to your message, you left of the -- characters at the start of the --really-do-it option. As a result the command merely displayed it's help message giving the format of valid parameters and describing their purpose.

[mabee]

Itimpi:
Thank you for that, it really helped.
i ran the recover and my library is recovered.
I want to thank you to everyone who helped me solve this problem.
I wrote this step by step of what i did, in case someone else has this problem.
Steps to recover a metadata.db in windows
1. start > run > cmd (enter)
2. change directory until you are in your library folder.
3. Type: calibredb restore_database "--really-do-it" (enter).
4. This process takes some time, depending on your database size, be patient
5. It´s over when appears thins message: restoring database succeeded, old database file saved as: metadata_pre_restore.db, this is saved in your library folder.
6. If there were errors a detailed report (metadata_db_restore_report.txt in saved in your library folder.
7. Start calibre and go to library maintenance > check database integrity, if no error appears your database is recovered.

I think that now i have to close the thread, but i don´t know how, how is it done?
Mabee

[Manichean]

Originally Posted by mabee

3. Type: calibredb restore_database "--really-do-it" (enter).

Just as a side note: While they should do no harm, the quotation signs aren't needed.

[bookworm01]

I am very new to Calibre and know very little about computers. I have a Macbook and I accidentally deleted my library. I have no clue how to restore my books back onto my library. Can someone help me? Please explain in laymen's terms

[Sinner3k]

Thank you to everybody who contributed to this thread, it just saved my library! And with the easy to read instructions, I was able to restore the library while holding a newborn, which is a testament to how easy you guys made it. Somebody should sticky this thread.