03-28-2010, 04:08 PM | #16 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 19,832
Karma: 11844413
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Tampa, FL USA
Device: Kindle Touch
|
Quote:
But can be easily mitigated by being careful (manual). Also, Dropbox in addition to syncing also retains older versions of files. So, if the metadata.db file does get corrupted you can always go back to a previous version. You could probably also easily mitigate it buy using a .bat file to start calibre. It can write a "inuse.txt" dummy file in the dropbox/calibre... and delete it on exit. In this case if the batch files sees the text file there it will exit with an error that calibre is in use on another PC. BOb |
|
03-28-2010, 04:39 PM | #17 | |
I'm Super Kindle-icious
Posts: 6,734
Karma: 2434103
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia
Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis
|
Quote:
Bouncing between the installations I have of Calibre on each computer hasn't caused me a problem so far. Calibre is not open on all computers at the same time. |
|
Advert | |
|
03-28-2010, 05:24 PM | #18 | |
Wizard
Posts: 2,895
Karma: 6995721
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain
Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S
|
Quote:
|
|
03-28-2010, 05:32 PM | #19 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 19,832
Karma: 11844413
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Tampa, FL USA
Device: Kindle Touch
|
Quote:
When you edit your config in calibre and specify a new location for your ebooks, if it is empty it will move your old library. I'm not sure what it does if there is an existing library there. But, I would assume it would just use that one from now on. BOb |
|
03-28-2010, 05:36 PM | #20 | |
I'm Super Kindle-icious
Posts: 6,734
Karma: 2434103
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia
Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis
|
Quote:
In my case, I know I won't always have internet access when I'm away from home (even though I can tether my laptop/netbook to my cell phone) and I want to make sure I have access to my books at all times. I'm not familiar with the Peer Syncing BOb is talking about so I have to investigate it. |
|
Advert | |
|
03-28-2010, 05:46 PM | #21 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 19,832
Karma: 11844413
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Tampa, FL USA
Device: Kindle Touch
|
Quote:
Dropbox syncs the data to the cloud and other computers. It is not strictly remote/cloud storage like iDisk or iDrive or something like that. BOb BTW: The peer-to-peer stuff doesn't change anything other than making it faster if computers you are syncing are on the same LAN. |
|
03-28-2010, 06:01 PM | #22 | |
I'm Super Kindle-icious
Posts: 6,734
Karma: 2434103
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Long Drive, Calinadia Candafornia
Device: KDXG, KT, Oasis
|
Quote:
Thanks for the eye-opener! |
|
03-28-2010, 07:04 PM | #23 | |
Wizard
Posts: 2,895
Karma: 6995721
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain
Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S
|
Quote:
|
|
03-28-2010, 08:14 PM | #24 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,895
Karma: 6995721
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain
Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S
|
What do you know - when I deleted my calibre library from my netbook and pointed Calibre at dropbox, I was syncing the wrong file!! I was able to get rid of this file on my laptop, too. I right now I sm uploading my file from my laptop, and typing on my netbook - and it is showing each file as it is added. Yay! Now I see why I will always have my library on each computer.
|
03-28-2010, 08:43 PM | #25 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 19,832
Karma: 11844413
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Tampa, FL USA
Device: Kindle Touch
|
|
03-28-2010, 09:33 PM | #26 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,409
Karma: 4132096
Join Date: Sep 2008
Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App
|
Thanks so much for your help, Pilot Bob! Just to clarify...
If I am only running Calibre on one computer and all I want to do is have a backup somewhere in case of accident, I can store the library in the Dropbox folder, proceed with Calibre business as usual, everything is stored on my machine but in the Dropbox folder and it gets backed up and life is grand? Once a week or so I will probably back it up to USB key anyway. But is that the gist of it? |
03-28-2010, 09:51 PM | #27 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,895
Karma: 6995721
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Idaho, on the side of a mountain
Device: Kindle Oasis, Fire 3d Gen and 5th Gen and Samsung Tab S
|
Yes! Unfortunately, my DH is kinda mad, because I have tied up all the bandwith in our house. Let's see, I am uploading all my books from my laptop, and simultaneously uploading those books to my netbook and my desktop. And I am on MR . . .
|
03-28-2010, 10:34 PM | #28 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 19,832
Karma: 11844413
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Tampa, FL USA
Device: Kindle Touch
|
Quote:
BOb |
|
03-28-2010, 11:08 PM | #29 |
Wizard
Posts: 2,409
Karma: 4132096
Join Date: Sep 2008
Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App
|
Excellent! I have invested a lot in my books and I love them, so I am happy to know it is this easy and everything will be all backed up! Thanks, Pilot Bob! I never would have learned about Dropbox if it was not for this forum.
|
03-29-2010, 05:20 AM | #30 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 12,018
Karma: 7257323
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Notts, England
Device: Kobo Libra 2
|
Hello all,
To reiterate what starson17 said, when you are using dropbox to share calibre libraries between machines, be aware that you should not have calibre open on more than one of them at a time. If open more than once, it is possible to lose changes or worse. The problem arises because each version of calibre thinks it owns the metadata database and feels free to change it whenever it wants, sometimes when the user didn't make any changes. Also, the calibre viewers store bookmarks in the books, causing them to change. When a file changes, dropbox attempts to copy that file to all the other 'dropboxes'. If it discovers that a file has been changed in another dropbox, then one of the copies wins (not clear which) and the other is renamed something like foo (XXX's conflicted copy as of ...) If the file is metadata.db, then your library and database are probably out of sync, and changes have possibly been lost.You can tell if something has gone wrong by looking for files with 'conflicted' in the name. If you see them, then some cleanup is necessary. Because I am a bit paranoid about simultaneous changes, I keep my one-true-library on my main machine outside of dropbox. From time to time I use a replicator (smart copy program) to duplicate the library into my dropbox, which then syncs to the other clients (two laptops and another desktop). Changes made by other dropbox clients are ignored, unless I choose to replicate them back into my one-true-copy. |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Multiple computers one db? | giddion | Calibre | 15 | 05-20-2011 08:11 PM |
Syncing across multiple computers | Sridhar | Calibre | 4 | 07-10-2010 11:27 AM |
Sync Library on two computers | BrianG | Calibre | 8 | 01-04-2010 06:59 PM |
Duplicate books - multiple formats | mranlett | Calibre | 5 | 09-26-2009 07:02 AM |
Multiple computers and Calibre | starrigger | Calibre | 11 | 03-19-2009 12:14 PM |