Dual boot question

Sharone · 02-23-2009, 04:36 AM

Hi guys

I have a dual-boot machine and i use both OS equally. Will I be able to access the same library database if i have all my ebooks on a third (shared) hard disk?

-sharone

itimpi · 02-23-2009, 05:11 AM

I see no reason why not. I keep my database on a NAS drive, and can access it with no problems from any machine or OS on my home network. I haver also accessed it via OS's running in VMs (Virtual Machines) running on some of the machines. Calibre preferences are stored locally so may need setting up separately on each machine/OS combination.

Sharone · 02-23-2009, 05:25 AM

cool thanks for that

I thought this was the case but thought there was a chance that the database might be OS specific & only accessible within the OS.

Good work so far kovidgoyal!!

kovidgoyal · 02-23-2009, 01:08 PM

the only caveat is case sensitivity. You have to make sure you use he database only on case insensitive filesystems or only on case sensitive filesystems, dont mix and match.

lomax · 06-08-2009, 12:32 PM

Specifically, I have Windows 7 & Ubuntu 9.04 running in dual boot. I have my ebooks and calibre metafile on an NTFS mounted second hard drive. What's the best way of installing and using calibre on my Ubuntu system? Will the case-insensitive issue mess up the calibre installed on my Windows system? Would I need to make a complete copy of my ebooks folder and just treat it completely separate?

kovidgoyal · 06-08-2009, 12:35 PM

The case sensitivity issue will cause problems. I don't recall if there is an option you can use to make NTFS case insensitive on linux, if there is use that and you should be fine.

itimpi · 06-08-2009, 02:00 PM

As long as you do not simply change the case of a book title in the Calibre metadata then you should be OK.

If you need to change the case, temporarily rename the book (add an X on the name or something like that) and then rename it back. That way even on the NTFS system the case will match the metadata.

theducks · 10-19-2009, 08:01 PM

Anybody have a tip sheet for setting up Calibre in Ubuntu Jaunty (Dual Boot) with the DB on XPpro (NTFS), point and shoot to the XP drive location fails

Gwen Morse · 08-30-2010, 10:57 PM

Could problems with case sensitivity be why I'm losing ebooks in my Calibre library?

I had thought it was Dropbox, but I've moved my library out of my Dropbox path.

Situation: I have a laptop dual booting Fedora 13 and Windows 7 64-bit. I run Calibre on both and use Calibre in both OSes to update Metadata.

I don't believe all I'm doing is changing the case of titles, but it may be possible. What is definately happening is that after I update metadata on particular ebooks, they disappear from the directory. I routinely switch from Windows to Linux and back again over the course of a day (depends on if I want to play PC games or not). I don't know when they disappear, I'm starting the whole process over again from a backup to try to check it out.

A side effect of what's happening is that the tag "format:false" does _NOT_ show these empty directories. I only realize they're empty when, after spending a day updating metadata on (for example) my 50-ish Piers Anthony books I think "Hmmm...maybe I'd like to reread one of those books" and when I go to convert it to mobi format I get an error message about missing a format to convert. Looking in the source directory, I see it's empty. The file was there before the Metadata update.

It could be a case sensitivity issue, it could be I was running conflicting versions of Calibre (do both OSes have to have the SAME EXACT version or can one be a version or two behind?)

I can limit myself to only using Windows for now, but, it sure would be nice if there would be a way to track down the cause of the deletes!

Gwen

theducks · 08-30-2010, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

Could problems with case sensitivity be why I'm losing ebooks in my Calibre library?

I had thought it was Dropbox, but I've moved my library out of my Dropbox path.

Situation: I have a laptop dual booting Fedora 13 and Windows 7 64-bit. I run Calibre on both and use Calibre in both OSes to update Metadata.

I don't believe all I'm doing is changing the case of titles, but it may be possible. What is definately happening is that after I update metadata on particular ebooks, they disappear from the directory. I routinely switch from Windows to Linux and back again over the course of a day (depends on if I want to play PC games or not). I don't know when they disappear, I'm starting the whole process over again from a backup to try to check it out.

A side effect of what's happening is that the tag "format:false" does _NOT_ show these empty directories. I only realize they're empty when, after spending a day updating metadata on (for example) my 50-ish Piers Anthony books I think "Hmmm...maybe I'd like to reread one of those books" and when I go to convert it to mobi format I get an error message about missing a format to convert. Looking in the source directory, I see it's empty. The file was there before the Metadata update.

It could be a case sensitivity issue, it could be I was running conflicting versions of Calibre (do both OSes have to have the SAME EXACT version or can one be a version or two behind?)

I can limit myself to only using Windows for now, but, it sure would be nice if there would be a way to track down the cause of the deletes!

Gwen

Case Sensitivity will cause BIG problems (been there done that, my foot still hurts :/ ) XP/Ubuntu dual boot same library

DoctorOhh · 08-31-2010, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

Could problems with case sensitivity be why I'm losing ebooks in my Calibre library?

Yes, Kovid talked about this with another user losing files in a different thread yesterday.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

If you want to share the same library between linux and windows, put it on a windows filesystem and mount it as case insensitive in linux.

I don't have any experience but I'll take him at his word.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

I had thought it was Dropbox, but I've moved my library out of my Dropbox path.

At least with Dropbox it was easy to restore the file.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

It could be a case sensitivity issue, it could be I was running conflicting versions of Calibre (do both OSes have to have the SAME EXACT version or can one be a version or two behind?)

I'm betting there are rare cases when being off a version or two can screw things up like when changing between major versions. I always try to keep both my machines running the same version, better safe then sorry.

Good Luck.

Gwen Morse · 08-31-2010, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwanthny

Yes, Kovid talked about this with another user losing files in a different thread yesterday.

I don't have any experience but I'll take him at his word.

Good Luck.

I'll try to find that thread, then. It helps to know this is a known problem.

DoctorOhh · 08-31-2010, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwen Morse

I'll try to find that thread, then. It helps to know this is a known problem.

To find the thread just click the little blue box where I quoted kovid above.

Gwen Morse · 09-14-2010, 02:32 PM

This appears to have been the problem. I've only used Calibre under Windows since learning about the case sensitivity issue and no more ebooks have disappeared.

I guess at this point it's safe to copy my library back to my Dropbox folder. I had moved it out of there thinking that Dropbox was responsible for the missing books.

giannib · 10-30-2010, 11:19 AM

Hi all,
I've setup CALIBRE on ubuntu partition, then copied the library to NTFS - win7, to be used as shared by the 2 OSs.

It gave me some errors on file+folders names being too long, it amaze me NTFS has such limitations

02-23-2009, 04:36 AM	#1
Sharone Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 498109 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Cybook Gen3, Kindle (3) Keyboard	Dual boot question Hi guys I have a dual-boot machine and i use both OS equally. Will I be able to access the same library database if i have all my ebooks on a third (shared) hard disk? -sharone

08-30-2010, 10:57 PM	#9
Gwen Morse Addict Posts: 254 Karma: 59872 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: New York, USA Device: Kindle 3 (wifi) + nokia n900 tablet phone	Could problems with case sensitivity be why I'm losing ebooks in my Calibre library? I had thought it was Dropbox, but I've moved my library out of my Dropbox path. Situation: I have a laptop dual booting Fedora 13 and Windows 7 64-bit. I run Calibre on both and use Calibre in both OSes to update Metadata. I don't believe all I'm doing is changing the case of titles, but it may be possible. What is definately happening is that after I update metadata on particular ebooks, they disappear from the directory. I routinely switch from Windows to Linux and back again over the course of a day (depends on if I want to play PC games or not). I don't know when they disappear, I'm starting the whole process over again from a backup to try to check it out. A side effect of what's happening is that the tag "format:false" does _NOT_ show these empty directories. I only realize they're empty when, after spending a day updating metadata on (for example) my 50-ish Piers Anthony books I think "Hmmm...maybe I'd like to reread one of those books" and when I go to convert it to mobi format I get an error message about missing a format to convert. Looking in the source directory, I see it's empty. The file was there before the Metadata update. It could be a case sensitivity issue, it could be I was running conflicting versions of Calibre (do both OSes have to have the SAME EXACT version or can one be a version or two behind?) I can limit myself to only using Windows for now, but, it sure would be nice if there would be a way to track down the cause of the deletes! Gwen Last edited by Gwen Morse; 08-30-2010 at 11:02 PM.

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02-23-2009, 05:11 AM	#2
itimpi Wizard Posts: 4,552 Karma: 950151 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-950, iphone/ipad (Marvin/iBooks/QuickReader)	I see no reason why not. I keep my database on a NAS drive, and can access it with no problems from any machine or OS on my home network. I haver also accessed it via OS's running in VMs (Virtual Machines) running on some of the machines. Calibre preferences are stored locally so may need setting up separately on each machine/OS combination.

02-23-2009, 05:25 AM	#3
Sharone Enthusiast Posts: 42 Karma: 498109 Join Date: Mar 2008 Device: Cybook Gen3, Kindle (3) Keyboard	cool thanks for that I thought this was the case but thought there was a chance that the database might be OS specific & only accessible within the OS. Good work so far kovidgoyal!!

02-23-2009, 01:08 PM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,826 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	the only caveat is case sensitivity. You have to make sure you use he database only on case insensitive filesystems or only on case sensitive filesystems, dont mix and match.

06-08-2009, 12:32 PM	#5
lomax Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: Sony PRS-505	Specifically, I have Windows 7 & Ubuntu 9.04 running in dual boot. I have my ebooks and calibre metafile on an NTFS mounted second hard drive. What's the best way of installing and using calibre on my Ubuntu system? Will the case-insensitive issue mess up the calibre installed on my Windows system? Would I need to make a complete copy of my ebooks folder and just treat it completely separate?

06-08-2009, 12:35 PM	#6
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,826 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	The case sensitivity issue will cause problems. I don't recall if there is an option you can use to make NTFS case insensitive on linux, if there is use that and you should be fine.

06-08-2009, 02:00 PM	#7
itimpi Wizard Posts: 4,552 Karma: 950151 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-950, iphone/ipad (Marvin/iBooks/QuickReader)	As long as you do not simply change the case of a book title in the Calibre metadata then you should be OK. If you need to change the case, temporarily rename the book (add an X on the name or something like that) and then rename it back. That way even on the NTFS system the case will match the metadata.

10-19-2009, 08:01 PM	#8
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 29,754 Karma: 54401244 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	Anybody have a tip sheet for setting up Calibre in Ubuntu Jaunty (Dual Boot) with the DB on XPpro (NTFS), point and shoot to the XP drive location fails

09-14-2010, 02:32 PM	#14
Gwen Morse Addict Posts: 254 Karma: 59872 Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: New York, USA Device: Kindle 3 (wifi) + nokia n900 tablet phone	This appears to have been the problem. I've only used Calibre under Windows since learning about the case sensitivity issue and no more ebooks have disappeared. I guess at this point it's safe to copy my library back to my Dropbox folder. I had moved it out of there thinking that Dropbox was responsible for the missing books.

10-30-2010, 11:19 AM	#15
giannib Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Android	Hi all, I've setup CALIBRE on ubuntu partition, then copied the library to NTFS - win7, to be used as shared by the 2 OSs. It gave me some errors on file+folders names being too long, it amaze me NTFS has such limitations

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