Updated to 2.3, plug-ins disappeared or are non-functional

[Eugenie]

I have calibre installed on my Mac (OS 10.9.4 Mavericks). I had three calibre plug-ins (four if you count the Plug-in Updater).

After updating to calibre v2.3, two of these plug-ins are missing or are non-functional. Can someone enlighten me as to what happened?

1. Manage Sony x50 Reader Book List - now non-functional

• appears in the Plug-in Updater list as an installed plug-in, but I can't get it to appear in the Toolbar (either with or without device connected).
  
• this plug-in allowed me to choose the 3 books that appear on the home screen of my Sony Reader PRS-650.

2. Plug-in to update the read/unread status of books on the Sony Reader x50 - disappeared

• I can't recall the exact name of this plug-in (and I can't seem to find it in the Plug-ins Index published within this forum). It no longer appears in the Toolbar (either with or without device connected), nor is it shown in the Plug-in Updater list.
  
• this plug-in allowed me to set which books were read and which were unread. Unread books would appear with a "new" icon on my Sony Reader PRS-650.

I thought that if a plug-in were no longer compatible with calibre 2.3, the user would be prompted to uninstall it. Is it normal behaviour for a plug-in to just disappear if it has become outdated? Or is this a Mac OS 10.9 issue?

Thank you for any help you can provide.

[JSWolf]

Those plugins have not been updated to work with Calibre 2.x and Qt5. That's all there is to it.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Eugenie

I thought that if a plug-in were no longer compatible with calibre 2.3, the user would be prompted to uninstall it. Is it normal behaviour for a plug-in to just disappear if it has become outdated? Or is this a Mac OS 10.9 issue?

It is normal for it to be silently "uninstalled".

In fact, it is installed, but fails to load. It will be listed in the debug output, and should show up in the plugin updater as installed so you can update it to a 2.x-compatible version when available.

[Eugenie]

Ah, thank you. That explains it... except for the 2nd paragraph of eschwartz's post:

In fact, it is installed, but fails to load. It will be listed in the debug output, and should show up in the plugin updater as installed so you can update it to a 2.x-compatible version when available.

In the case of my 2nd plugin, this is not proving to be true at all. Not only is it no longer listed in my Plugin Update list, but it does not appear in the debug log.

The debug log only shows my first plugin: The Manage Sony x50 Reader Book List

Edit: eschwartz is right. Plug-ins that don't work will fail to load, but they STILL appear in the debug log and in the plug-in updater. I was mistaken about having a 2nd plug-in. I only had one plug-in, and it DID appear where eschwartz indicated. (See my later post.)

[BetterRed]

@Eugenie - here is the list of ported/not ported Plug-ins ==>> Stats for porting of calibre plugins to Qt 5

There are only a few that haven't been updated - sadly you seem to use at least one of them - hopefully someone which a plug-in developer skills will volunteer to update them.

BR

[theducks]

Go back to 1.48 and those PI will magically reapear.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

@Eugenie - here is the list of ported/not ported Plug-ins ==>> Stats for porting of calibre plugins to Qt 5

That page only lists the plugins that are in the index post. There are a few that have a thread are not in the index. I suspect the second of Eugenie's missing plugins is one of these. The plugin should be listed in the preferences.

There are only a few that haven't been updated - sadly you seem to use at least one of them - hopefully someone which a plug-in developer skills will volunteer to update them.

If a user of any of the rest hasn't complained about them, I doubt they will be done. At this point, I would assume no one is using them.

Eugenie: I suggest you make a post in the threads for the plugins. That should bring it to the attention of the author. Or send them a PM. If they aren't around, or can't do it for some reason, we can see what can be done.

[BetterRed]

@davidfor - as I read the calibre - Usage Statistics less 4% of users are using 2.x (not sure if that's installed or active base)

@Eugenie the debug log should have the both PI names

BR

[Eugenie]

BetterRed, thank you for the link to updated plug-ins. Unlike the Plug-ins Index that appears in the calibre plugins sub-forum, this link tells me which plug-ins are compatible with calibre 2.3.

And davidfor, thank you for your excellent suggestion to contact the developer of the plug-in to request an update either via the plug-in's thread or via a PM. I will do that.

There is just one thing that is still a mystery to me:

As I mentioned, I can't recall the name of my 2nd plug-in because it has disappeared from my Plug-in Updater List. This makes it difficult to find it under "All Plug-ins" or to search for it in these forums. [Edit: See my next post. I was mistaken; there was no 2nd plug-in. One plug-in handled both functions.]

I ran calibre in debug mode both with and without my Sony Reader device connected, and the debug log doesn't show this 2nd plug-in. [Edit: It didn't show it because there was no 2nd plug-in.]

Does anyone know where calibre stores installed plug-ins on the computer's hard drive? (I'm running calibre on Mac OS 10.9.4.) This might lead me to the name of the plug-in if I look for it on my back-up drive (where I have the earlier version of calibre). [Edit: Don't need this info.]

[eschwartz]

Preferences ==> Advanced ==> Miscellaneous ==> Open calibre configuration directory.

Look in the folder "plugins".

[Eugenie]

First, thank you very much eschwartz. That worked.

Second, I think I am losing my mind (or my memory, or both). All this time I have been wondering what's going on with my 2 plug-ins. Neither has been updated to work with calibre v2.3, which is fine. But why was one still visible in calibre (Manage Sony x50 Reader Book List, which lets me choose which 3 books appear on my Reader 650 home screen), while the 2nd one (which updates the read/unread status of the books on my Reader 650) just uninstalled itself and disappeared?

Well, it turned out there never was a 2nd plug-in. When I opened the configuration directory > plug-ins, I found a .json file for ManageSonyX50BookList. When I viewed it, I saw the following (in part):

{
    "booksList": {
        "books": "selection", 
         "strategy": [
          "oldest"
        ]
...
    "unreadList": {
        "books": {
          "query": "not (#read:yes)"
     }

So the Manage Sony x50 Reader Book List plug-in handled both functions -- it updated my Book List and my Unread List. D'oh, double red face for me.

And eschwartz et al, the calibre behaviour is exactly what you stated.

Thank you! Thank you! You have saved me lots of searching time for a plug-in I never had.

The only thing left to wonder is why I didn't see the Plug-in Updater plug-in within the configuration directory > plug-ins. Is that one considered a "non-third-party" plug-in, so it's stored in a different place?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Eugenie

The only thing left to wonder is why I didn't see the Plug-in Updater plug-in within the configuration directory > plug-ins. Is that one considered a "non-third-party" plug-in, so it's stored in a different place?

Get Plugins is now (for a long time) built in.

[Eugenie]

What would I do without this calibre forum? I'd be lost every time there is a major update (and sometimes it doesn't even take that ).

[BetterRed]

@Eugenie - I did wonder if it might be the old plug-in never was there trick ==>> Antigonish

BR

[Eugenie]

Heh heh. Nice poem; I like it. Are you the author by any chance?