Cannot export/import in calibre, portable version 2.71.0

phunnylinguist · 10-31-2016, 09:59 AM

I previously had a Calibre library on both a Windows 7 as well as a Macbook Pro (both 64bit FWIW). Each had content the other didn't, so I went and downloaded the latest version of Calibre Portable to keep, or try to keep, one place where I could access titles. Yes. I realize that Calibre portable is Windows-only.

Now it was no doubt due to my ignorance which led to (as I recall) installing the portable version on a thumb drive and subsequently opening the Windows version on the desktop computer, but I soon discovered that *all* of the content in the Windows Calibre Library was gone!

I found metadata.db in the Windows desktop and attempted to use it as a source for perhaps loading the portable library but it didn't work.

At that point I was at a loss as to how to proceed, especially after noticing that the installed portable on the thumb drive had both a Calibre portable exe in addition to a Calibre exe file. Now, it may have been at this point that I double-clicked the Calibre exe while the portable was already open.

I then ejected the thumb drive and inserted it into my Macbook Pro so as to copy the OS X Calibre library onto it but prior to that I deleted the Calibre portable folder in my Macbook Pro.

After copying the contents of the Macbook Pro Calibre Library I dismounted it, re-downloaded calibre portable in Windows but did not install at that point.
Once the thumb drive was successfully visible in Windows I double-clicked calibre portable.exe. At that time I was aware that only one instance of Calibre should be open and running. When I right-clicked on the Calibre icon in the Calibre toolbar and selected import/export (in the hope that somehow I would be able to populate the thumb drive with previously saved content) I saw an alert windows which read:

ERROR: Cannot export/import
- You are running calibre portable, all calibre data is already in the calibre portable folder. Export/Import is unavailable.

To say the least it's troubling to lose over a gigabyte of previously saved documents. While I tried and was able to add a couple of titles to portable manually, one at a time, I'd really like to know if or how it might be possible to 'batch load' more than one.

Other than that desire, I'm hoping against hope that somehow I would be able to find and recover my previous Windows 7 Calibre Library.

kovidgoyal · 10-31-2016, 12:43 PM

https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...libre-is-blank

phunnylinguist · 11-01-2016, 08:00 AM

Thanks for the prompt reply, Kovid. I had found the troubleshooting process you linked to; I even printed it out but with negative results. I did not record or save the various error messages generated when attempting to enlist the then-existing metadata.db file. I recall that the previous size of the Windows 7 Calibre Library was in excess of 1GB. I suspected something wasn't right when (again, I suspect, after having opened both portable.exe and calibre.exe) I noticed the metadata.db file size of approx 128Kb.

Perhaps it was my lack of knowledge when opening more than one version of Calibre. If that's the case I blame myself, as it appears that at this point I might never be able to find, much less save the previous Windows Library.

kovidgoyal · 11-01-2016, 08:37 AM

Your first step is to find a folder with a metadata.db in it whose size is 1GB.

If/when you find that folder, all you have to do in calibre is point it to that folder, as described in the FAQ I linked to.

If you cannot find such a folder, there is nothing calibre can do.

10-31-2016, 09:59 AM	#1
phunnylinguist Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 66952 Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Baton Rouge, LA Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Cannot export/import in calibre, portable version 2.71.0 I previously had a Calibre library on both a Windows 7 as well as a Macbook Pro (both 64bit FWIW). Each had content the other didn't, so I went and downloaded the latest version of Calibre Portable to keep, or try to keep, one place where I could access titles. Yes. I realize that Calibre portable is Windows-only. Now it was no doubt due to my ignorance which led to (as I recall) installing the portable version on a thumb drive and subsequently opening the Windows version on the desktop computer, but I soon discovered that all of the content in the Windows Calibre Library was gone! I found metadata.db in the Windows desktop and attempted to use it as a source for perhaps loading the portable library but it didn't work. At that point I was at a loss as to how to proceed, especially after noticing that the installed portable on the thumb drive had both a Calibre portable exe in addition to a Calibre exe file. Now, it may have been at this point that I double-clicked the Calibre exe while the portable was already open. I then ejected the thumb drive and inserted it into my Macbook Pro so as to copy the OS X Calibre library onto it but prior to that I deleted the Calibre portable folder in my Macbook Pro. After copying the contents of the Macbook Pro Calibre Library I dismounted it, re-downloaded calibre portable in Windows but did not install at that point. Once the thumb drive was successfully visible in Windows I double-clicked calibre portable.exe. At that time I was aware that only one instance of Calibre should be open and running. When I right-clicked on the Calibre icon in the Calibre toolbar and selected import/export (in the hope that somehow I would be able to populate the thumb drive with previously saved content) I saw an alert windows which read: ERROR: Cannot export/import - You are running calibre portable, all calibre data is already in the calibre portable folder. Export/Import is unavailable. To say the least it's troubling to lose over a gigabyte of previously saved documents. While I tried and was able to add a couple of titles to portable manually, one at a time, I'd really like to know if or how it might be possible to 'batch load' more than one. Other than that desire, I'm hoping against hope that somehow I would be able to find and recover my previous Windows 7 Calibre Library.

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10-31-2016, 12:43 PM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,858 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...libre-is-blank

11-01-2016, 08:00 AM	#3
phunnylinguist Enthusiast Posts: 38 Karma: 66952 Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Baton Rouge, LA Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Thanks for the prompt reply, Kovid. I had found the troubleshooting process you linked to; I even printed it out but with negative results. I did not record or save the various error messages generated when attempting to enlist the then-existing metadata.db file. I recall that the previous size of the Windows 7 Calibre Library was in excess of 1GB. I suspected something wasn't right when (again, I suspect, after having opened both portable.exe and calibre.exe) I noticed the metadata.db file size of approx 128Kb. Perhaps it was my lack of knowledge when opening more than one version of Calibre. If that's the case I blame myself, as it appears that at this point I might never be able to find, much less save the previous Windows Library.

11-01-2016, 08:37 AM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,858 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Your first step is to find a folder with a metadata.db in it whose size is 1GB. If/when you find that folder, all you have to do in calibre is point it to that folder, as described in the FAQ I linked to. If you cannot find such a folder, there is nothing calibre can do.