the format files are missing

jorgelampreia · 02-09-2018, 08:44 AM

Hi Guys,

Something happened to my Calibre Library. I don´t know when but not a long time ago.

I got a new Kindle yesterday. I was transferring some of my Calibre books to this new device and some of them were "sending me" very strange messages in the process.

I went through my Calibe Library and these books had no size in the Size (Mby) Calibre Column.

I clicked some of them and all come out with the message:

"title_of_the_book" has no available formats.

Then, I went to their folares - outside calibre - and the only file present there was "metadata.opf".

It seems that in these cases the mobi or any other file format previous present including the cover file went away.

I am running High Sierra OS and the lattest Calibre version.

Have you ever seen this?

Cheers

Jorge

HarryT · 02-09-2018, 09:01 AM

Without knowing what the "strange messages" said, it's difficult to make a useful diagnosis. Do you remember what the wording of the message said?

Adoby · 02-09-2018, 09:05 AM

Orphan books / database entries.

This can happen when you move a calibre library between different operating systems and/or different filesystems that handle character cases different. In Linux (and I assume Mac) the book titles "This Is A Title" and "This is a Title" specify different books. In Windows they specify the same book.

Orphan files / database entries can also appear if you restore a library from backup or copy an old library to the folder of a new library. Or perhaps(?) if some anti virus or cloud backup program kept files locked when you updated metadata. A mix-up.

One way to handle this can be to create a new empty library, with the same structure as the old library, and then use Calibre to MOVE (= copy and delete after copy) all books in the old library to the new library. Note errors and afterwards look in the old library folder to see if there are some orphan folders / books left. If that is the case you can manually add those books to the new library. Hopefully that fix the problem for you.

JSWolf · 02-09-2018, 09:12 AM

Restore from the backup.

jorgelampreia · 02-16-2018, 04:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Without knowing what the "strange messages" said, it's difficult to make a useful diagnosis. Do you remember what the wording of the message said?

Yes of course. I wrote:

"title_of_the_book" has no available formats.

Cheers

JL

jorgelampreia · 02-16-2018, 04:08 AM

Thank you for your help.

Considering you answer and assuming that my Calibre database was fine before, do you think, and I am just asking for an opinion, that the change in filesytem introduced with the High Sierra OS was responsible for the "killing" of some of those entries in my database?

Cheers

JL

Adoby · 02-16-2018, 05:27 AM

No. Not unless the new file system had a different case sensitivity than the old. I doubt that. Or if you have made backups to some other file system (USB-stick formatted with FAT32?) and restored them.

Errors on a HDD may also cause you to loose data when the errors are fixed. But most likely you should be informed if that happens.

HarryT · 02-16-2018, 05:30 AM

Just a thought: you don't have your Calibre library on a shared network drive, or a folder that's being synced with Cloud storage (Dropbox, etc), do you?

Adoby · 02-16-2018, 05:51 AM

I did some research. It seems that the case sensitivity indeed could have been changed when when Mac OS was updated. That may be what caused books to be orphaned.

HarryT · 02-16-2018, 05:55 AM

If you look at a book which says that it has no formats available, and you then look in the actual file system folder in the Calibre library, do you see the book files there?

theducks · 02-16-2018, 09:52 AM

Assuming the books are there:

Try the Quality Check plugin: Fix: Check and repair Book Paths.
It is worth a shot

pdurrant · 02-16-2018, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adoby

I did some research. It seems that the case sensitivity indeed could have been changed when when Mac OS was updated. That may be what caused books to be orphaned.

You'd have to work really hard to change the case sensitivity of your disk. It would involve a full backup/format/restore. A simple update of the Mac OS won't do it.

BetterRed · 02-16-2018, 04:46 PM

See https://apple.stackexchange.com/ques...se-insensitive

Quote:

HFS+ (the Mac filesystem) is usually configured to be case insensitive but case preserving. This means that the file system will consider foo and FoO to be the same, but when you create a new file it will remember which letters where [sic] capitalized and which were not.

When you format a disk with HFS+ you can chose whether the file system should case sensitive or not. If you chose to format with UFS (Unix FileSystem) it is always case sensitive, AFAIK

BR

02-09-2018, 08:44 AM	#1
jorgelampreia Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2018 Device: Kindle	the format files are missing Hi Guys, Something happened to my Calibre Library. I don´t know when but not a long time ago. I got a new Kindle yesterday. I was transferring some of my Calibre books to this new device and some of them were "sending me" very strange messages in the process. I went through my Calibe Library and these books had no size in the Size (Mby) Calibre Column. I clicked some of them and all come out with the message: "title_of_the_book" has no available formats. Then, I went to their folares - outside calibre - and the only file present there was "metadata.opf". It seems that in these cases the mobi or any other file format previous present including the cover file went away. I am running High Sierra OS and the lattest Calibre version. Have you ever seen this? Cheers Jorge Last edited by jorgelampreia; 02-09-2018 at 08:47 AM.

02-09-2018, 09:05 AM	#3
Adoby Handy Elephant Posts: 1,736 Karma: 26785668 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Southern Sweden, far out in the quiet woods Device: Thinkpad E595, Ubuntu Mate, Huawei Mediapad 5, Bouye Likebook Plus	Orphan books / database entries. This can happen when you move a calibre library between different operating systems and/or different filesystems that handle character cases different. In Linux (and I assume Mac) the book titles "This Is A Title" and "This is a Title" specify different books. In Windows they specify the same book. Orphan files / database entries can also appear if you restore a library from backup or copy an old library to the folder of a new library. Or perhaps(?) if some anti virus or cloud backup program kept files locked when you updated metadata. A mix-up. One way to handle this can be to create a new empty library, with the same structure as the old library, and then use Calibre to MOVE (= copy and delete after copy) all books in the old library to the new library. Note errors and afterwards look in the old library folder to see if there are some orphan folders / books left. If that is the case you can manually add those books to the new library. Hopefully that fix the problem for you. Last edited by Adoby; 02-09-2018 at 09:09 AM.

02-16-2018, 05:27 AM	#7
Adoby Handy Elephant Posts: 1,736 Karma: 26785668 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Southern Sweden, far out in the quiet woods Device: Thinkpad E595, Ubuntu Mate, Huawei Mediapad 5, Bouye Likebook Plus	No. Not unless the new file system had a different case sensitivity than the old. I doubt that. Or if you have made backups to some other file system (USB-stick formatted with FAT32?) and restored them. Errors on a HDD may also cause you to loose data when the errors are fixed. But most likely you should be informed if that happens. Last edited by Adoby; 02-16-2018 at 05:37 AM.

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02-09-2018, 09:01 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Without knowing what the "strange messages" said, it's difficult to make a useful diagnosis. Do you remember what the wording of the message said?

02-09-2018, 09:12 AM	#4
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,998 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Restore from the backup.

02-16-2018, 04:08 AM	#6
jorgelampreia Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Feb 2018 Device: Kindle	Thank you for your help. Considering you answer and assuming that my Calibre database was fine before, do you think, and I am just asking for an opinion, that the change in filesytem introduced with the High Sierra OS was responsible for the "killing" of some of those entries in my database? Cheers JL

02-16-2018, 05:30 AM	#8
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Just a thought: you don't have your Calibre library on a shared network drive, or a folder that's being synced with Cloud storage (Dropbox, etc), do you?

02-16-2018, 05:51 AM	#9
Adoby Handy Elephant Posts: 1,736 Karma: 26785668 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Southern Sweden, far out in the quiet woods Device: Thinkpad E595, Ubuntu Mate, Huawei Mediapad 5, Bouye Likebook Plus	I did some research. It seems that the case sensitivity indeed could have been changed when when Mac OS was updated. That may be what caused books to be orphaned.

02-16-2018, 05:55 AM	#10
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	If you look at a book which says that it has no formats available, and you then look in the actual file system folder in the Calibre library, do you see the book files there?

02-16-2018, 09:52 AM	#11
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,809 Karma: 54830978 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Assuming the books are there: Try the Quality Check plugin: Fix: Check and repair Book Paths. It is worth a shot

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