'Consolidating' Calibre Library?

LadyLou · 02-13-2014, 10:22 AM

I recently had an external Hard Drive die and my Calibre Library was on it.

I had used 'Clickfree' device to backup all drives so was able to restore the Calibre Library to my 'C' Drive.

However, I changed the path to reflect this change in Calibre and sure enough my Library was displayed, however, all my books were 'empty', ie no content!.

I know from using I-tunes that if I 'consolidate' my Library I can, in theory at least, delete my music files from elsewhere on my computer, but it would appear not to be the case in Calibre.

I have had to start a new Calibre Library and am in the process of importing my book files from various places on my drives again.

Can anyone please advise what I should have done, and how to prevent this happening again.

DuskyRose · 02-13-2014, 11:04 AM

I think you could go into the "Library" icon, click the down arrow to pull up the menu. Then choose "Switch/Create Calibre Library".

Then browse to the new location for each library in the browser box privided and chose "Use the previously Existing Library at the new location".

IIRC, that's what I did when I moved my libraries from one hard drive to the other.

HarryT · 02-13-2014, 01:17 PM

Yes, that's exactly the way to do it.

LadyLou · 02-13-2014, 02:03 PM

Hi, I think that is what I did, I found several folders for Calibre Library and tried them all, many I could see were not complete with the latest editions (up to when the hard drive went down), but the one I found that had been edited just prior to the hard drive going down was the first one I tried to open, which it did, however, my problem still is that although all the books showed as normal, when I tried to open (read) them there was no content!

theducks · 02-13-2014, 02:13 PM

A proper calibre library (restore) has a set 'structure'

Top folder: the Library name
inside:
metadata.db (this is what you see in the GUI)
Author folders
Inside Authors: Titles (##) the number matches the internals of the DB (and breaks name ties)

Inside titles are the book formats (0 or more. 0 is an 'empty book'), cover as shown in the GUI, metadata.opf (the backup of the data you see in the GUI)

Take a look inside (under the skirts). Is this what you see?

kacir · 02-13-2014, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LadyLou

Hi, I think that is what I did, I found several folders for Calibre Library and tried them all, many I could see were not complete with the latest editions (up to when the hard drive went down), but the one I found that had been edited just prior to the hard drive going down was the first one I tried to open, which it did, however, my problem still is that although all the books showed as normal, when I tried to open (read) them there was no content!

try to find the folder with the latest version of the library
Inspect the folders. There should be some folders with authors names and metadata.db file. Inside folders with names of authors there should be folders with the book names and a number in a bracket. Inside those folders there should be individual files for the book, cover and file metadata.opf.
Create a new empty library and import the books from the directory where the old damaged library is.

BetterRed · 02-13-2014, 02:35 PM

the ducks & kacir - especially the book numbers - OPs problems sounds a bit like the google drive problem

@LadyLou - have you ever sucessfully restored a calibre library from your "Clickfree" device before now?

Statements such as the following from page 15 of the Clickfree User Guide 'bother' me

Quote:

7. If you are restoring files to somewhere other than the original locations, before it overwrites an existing file on your computer with one of the same name from the backed-up files, Clickfree asks if you want to replace the existing file with the same name file from the backup. You can choose to:

Keep both copies of this one file – click Keep Both. Clickfree renames the backed-up
file by adding ‘ (2)’ to the end of the file name, then restores the renamed file.

If Clickfree does something similar with folder names then that could be the source of your troubles

BR

LadyLou · 02-14-2014, 07:57 AM

I am going to look into your responses closer over the next few days as I am not 'techie' but willing to learn.

I have never tried any kind of restore from Clickfree previously, so that too could be my problem.

One further thing I need to know, once I have imported a book into the Library, is it stored within the Calibre Library and can I therefore 'move' the original file to external storage or do I lose the connection to the Library if I move the original file position.

Many thanks for your helpful replies.

HarryT · 02-14-2014, 07:58 AM

Calibre stores its own copy of the book. You can do whatever you like with the original after you've added the book to the Calibre library.

LadyLou · 02-22-2014, 12:50 PM

Many thanks to you all, I now have a much better understanding of Calibre.

02-13-2014, 10:22 AM	#1
LadyLou Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 100 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Sony Touch	'Consolidating' Calibre Library? I recently had an external Hard Drive die and my Calibre Library was on it. I had used 'Clickfree' device to backup all drives so was able to restore the Calibre Library to my 'C' Drive. However, I changed the path to reflect this change in Calibre and sure enough my Library was displayed, however, all my books were 'empty', ie no content!. I know from using I-tunes that if I 'consolidate' my Library I can, in theory at least, delete my music files from elsewhere on my computer, but it would appear not to be the case in Calibre. I have had to start a new Calibre Library and am in the process of importing my book files from various places on my drives again. Can anyone please advise what I should have done, and how to prevent this happening again.

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02-13-2014, 11:04 AM	#2
DuskyRose Guru Posts: 727 Karma: 9209502 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Virginia Device: Boox Palma, Kdle Scribe & Paperwhite, Kobo Eclipsa 2e & Libra 2, Ipads	I think you could go into the "Library" icon, click the down arrow to pull up the menu. Then choose "Switch/Create Calibre Library". Then browse to the new location for each library in the browser box privided and chose "Use the previously Existing Library at the new location". IIRC, that's what I did when I moved my libraries from one hard drive to the other.

02-13-2014, 01:17 PM	#3
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Yes, that's exactly the way to do it.

02-13-2014, 02:03 PM	#4
LadyLou Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 100 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Sony Touch	Hi, I think that is what I did, I found several folders for Calibre Library and tried them all, many I could see were not complete with the latest editions (up to when the hard drive went down), but the one I found that had been edited just prior to the hard drive going down was the first one I tried to open, which it did, however, my problem still is that although all the books showed as normal, when I tried to open (read) them there was no content!

02-13-2014, 02:13 PM	#5
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,883 Karma: 55267620 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	A proper calibre library (restore) has a set 'structure' Top folder: the Library name inside: metadata.db (this is what you see in the GUI) Author folders Inside Authors: Titles (##) the number matches the internals of the DB (and breaks name ties) Inside titles are the book formats (0 or more. 0 is an 'empty book'), cover as shown in the GUI, metadata.opf (the backup of the data you see in the GUI) Take a look inside (under the skirts). Is this what you see?

02-14-2014, 07:57 AM	#8
LadyLou Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 100 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Sony Touch	I am going to look into your responses closer over the next few days as I am not 'techie' but willing to learn. I have never tried any kind of restore from Clickfree previously, so that too could be my problem. One further thing I need to know, once I have imported a book into the Library, is it stored within the Calibre Library and can I therefore 'move' the original file to external storage or do I lose the connection to the Library if I move the original file position. Many thanks for your helpful replies.

02-14-2014, 07:58 AM	#9
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Calibre stores its own copy of the book. You can do whatever you like with the original after you've added the book to the Calibre library.

02-22-2014, 12:50 PM	#10
LadyLou Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 100 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: Sony Touch	Many thanks to you all, I now have a much better understanding of Calibre.

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