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.. include:: global.rst
.. _faq:
Frequently Asked Questions
==========================
.. contents:: Contents
:depth: 1
:local:
Ebook Format Conversion
-------------------------
.. contents:: Contents
:depth: 1
:local:
What formats does |app| support conversion to/from?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|app| supports the conversion of many input formats to many output formats.
It can convert every input format in the following list, to every output format.
*Input Formats:* CBZ, CBR, CBC, CHM, DJVU, DOCX, EPUB, FB2, HTML, HTMLZ, LIT, LRF, MOBI, ODT, PDF, PRC, PDB, PML, RB, RTF, SNB, TCR, TXT, TXTZ
*Output Formats:* AZW3, EPUB, FB2, OEB, LIT, LRF, MOBI, HTMLZ, PDB, PML, RB, PDF, RTF, SNB, TCR, TXT, TXTZ
.. note ::
PRC is a generic format, |app| supports PRC files with TextRead and MOBIBook headers.
PDB is also a generic format. |app| supports eReder, Plucker, PML and zTxt PDB files.
DJVU support is only for converting DJVU files that contain embedded text. These are typically generated by OCR software.
MOBI books can be of two types Mobi6 and KF8. |app| fully supports both. MOBI files often have .azw or .azw3 file extensions.
DOCX files from Microsoft Word 2007 and newer are supported.
.. _best-source-formats:
What are the best source formats to convert?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In order of decreasing preference: LIT, MOBI, AZW, EPUB, AZW3, FB2, DOCX, HTML, PRC, ODT, RTF, PDB, TXT, PDF
I converted a PDF file, but the result has various problems?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PDF is a terrible format to convert from. For a list of the various issues you will encounter when converting PDF, see: :ref:`pdfconversion`.
.. _char-encoding-faq:
How do I convert my file containing non-English characters, or smart quotes?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are two aspects to this problem:
1. Knowing the encoding of the source file: |app| tries to guess what character encoding your source files use, but often, this is impossible, so you need to tell it what encoding to use. This can be done in the GUI via the :guilabel:`Input character encoding` field in the :guilabel:`Look & Feel` section. The command-line tools all have an :option:`--input-encoding` option.
2. When adding HTML files to |app|, you may need to tell |app| what encoding the files are in. To do this go to :guilabel:`Preferences->Advanced->Plugins->File Type plugins` and customize the HTML2Zip plugin, telling it what encoding your HTML files are in. Now when you add HTML files to |app| they will be correctly processed. HTML files from different sources often have different encodings, so you may have to change this setting repeatedly. A common encoding for many files from the web is ``cp1252`` and I would suggest you try that first. Note that when converting HTML files, leave the input encoding setting mentioned above blank. This is because the HTML2ZIP plugin automatically converts the HTML files to a standard encoding (utf-8).
What's the deal with Table of Contents in MOBI files?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first thing to realize is that most ebooks have two tables of contents. One is the traditional Table of Contents, like the ToC you find in paper books. This Table of Contents is part of the main document flow and can be styled however you like. This ToC is called the *content ToC*.
Then there is the *metadata ToC*. A metadata ToC is a ToC that is not part of the book text and is typically accessed by some special button on a reader. For example, in the calibre viewer, you use the Show Table of Contents button to see this ToC. This ToC cannot be styled by the book creator. How it is represented is up to the viewer program.
In the MOBI format, the situation is a little confused. This is because the MOBI format, alone amongst mainstream ebook formats, *does not* have decent support for a metadata ToC. A MOBI book simulates the presence of a metadata ToC by putting an *extra* content ToC at the end of the book. When you click Goto Table of Contents on your Kindle, it is to this extra content ToC that the Kindle takes you.
Now it might well seem to you that the MOBI book has two identical ToCs. Remember that one is semantically a content ToC and the other is a metadata ToC, even though both might have exactly the same entries and look the same. One can be accessed directly from the Kindle's menus, the other cannot.
When converting to MOBI, calibre detects the *metadata ToC* in the input document and generates an end-of-file ToC in the output MOBI file. You can turn this off by an option in the MOBI Output settings. You can also tell calibre whether to put it and the start or the end of the book via an option in the MOBI Output settings. Remember this ToC is semantically a *metadata ToC*, in any format other than MOBI it *cannot not be part of the text*. The fact that it is part of the text in MOBI is an accident caused by the limitations of MOBI. If you want a ToC at a particular location in your document text, create one by hand. So we strongly recommend that you leave the default as it is, i.e. with the metadata ToC at the end of the book. Also note that if you disable the generation of the end-of-file ToC the resulting MOBI file may not function correctly on a Kindle, since the Kindle's use the metadata ToC for many things, including the Page Flip feature.
If you have a hand edited ToC in the input document, you can use the ToC detection options in calibre to automatically generate the metadata ToC from it. See the conversion section of the User Manual for more details on how to use these options.
Finally, I encourage you to ditch the content ToC and only have a metadata ToC in your ebooks. Metadata ToCs will give the people reading your ebooks a much superior navigation experience (except on the Kindle, where they are essentially the same as a content ToC).
.. note::
The newer AZW3 format has proper support for a metadata ToC. However, the
Kindle firmware tends to malfunction if you disable the generation of the
end-of-file inline ToC. So it is recommended that you leave the generated
ToC alone. If you create an AZW3 file with a metadata ToC and no
end-of-file generated ToC, some features ont he Kindle will not work, such
as the Page Flip feature.
The covers for my MOBI files have stopped showing up in Kindle for PC/Kindle for Android/iPad etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is caused by a bug in the Amazon software. You can work around it by going
to Preferences->Output Options->MOBI output and setting the "Enable sharing
of book content" option. If you are reconverting a previously converted book,
you will also have to enable the option in the conversion dialog for that
individual book (as per book conversion settings are saved and take
precedence).
Note that doing this will mean that the generated MOBI will show up under
personal documents instead of Books on the Kindle Fire and Amazon whispersync
will not work, but the covers will. It's your choice which functionality is
more important to you. I encourage you to contact Amazon and ask them to fix
this bug.
How do I convert a collection of HTML files in a specific order?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In order to convert a collection of HTML files in a specific oder, you have to
create a table of contents file. That is, another HTML file that contains links
to all the other files in the desired order. Such a file looks like::
<html>
<body>
<h1>Table of Contents</h1>
<p style="text-indent:0pt">
<a href="file1.html">First File</a><br/>
<a href="file2.html">Second File</a><br/>
.
.
.
</p>
</body>
</html>
Then, just add this HTML file to the GUI and use the convert button to create
your ebook. You can use the option in the Table of Contents section in the
conversion dialog to control how the Table of Contents is generated.
.. note:: By default, when adding HTML files, |app| follows links in the files
in *depth first* order. This means that if file A.html links to B.html and
C.html and D.html, but B.html also links to D.html, then the files will be
in the order A.html, B.html, D.html, C.html. If instead you want the order
to be A.html, B.html, C.html, D.html then you must tell |app| to add your
files in *breadth first* order. Do this by going to Preferences->Plugins
and customizing the HTML to ZIP plugin.
The EPUB I produced with |app| is not valid?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|app| does not guarantee that an EPUB produced by it is valid. The only
guarantee it makes is that if you feed it valid XHTML 1.1 + CSS 2.1 it will
output a valid EPUB. |app| tries hard to ensure that EPUBs it produces actually
work as intended on a wide variety of devices, a goal that is incompatible with
producing valid EPUBs, and one that is far more important to the vast majority
of its users. If you need a tool that always produces valid EPUBs, |app| is not
for you.
How do I use some of the advanced features of the conversion tools?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can get help on any individual feature of the converters by mousing over
it in the GUI or running ``ebook-convert dummy.html .epub -h`` at a terminal.
A good place to start is to look at the following demo file that demonstrates
some of the advanced features
`html-demo.zip <http://calibre-ebook.com/downloads/html-demo.zip>`_
Device Integration
-------------------
.. contents:: Contents
:depth: 1
:local:
What devices does |app| support?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|app| can directly connect to all the major (and most of the minor) ebook
reading devices, smarthphones, tablets, etc. In addition, using the
:guilabel:`Connect to folder` function you can use it with any ebook reader
that exports itself as a USB disk. You can even connect to Apple devices (via
iTunes), using the :guilabel:`Connect to iTunes` function.
.. _devsupport:
How can I help get my device supported in |app|?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If your device appears as a USB disk to the operating system, adding support for it to |app| is very easy.
We just need some information from you:
* Complete list of ebook formats that your device supports.
* Is there a special directory on the device in which all ebook files should be placed? Also does the device detect files placed in sub directories?
* We also need information about your device that |app| will collect automatically. First, if your
device supports SD cards, insert them. Then connect your device to the computer. In calibre go to :guilabel:`Preferences->Advanced->Miscellaneous`
and click the "Debug device detection" button. This will create some debug output. Copy it to a file
and repeat the process, this time with your device disconnected from your computer.
* Send both the above outputs to us with the other information and we will write a device driver for your
device.
Once you send us the output for a particular operating system, support for the device in that operating system
will appear in the next release of |app|. To send us the output, open a bug report and attach the output to it.
See `calibre bugs <http://calibre-ebook.com/bugs>`_.
My device is not being detected by |app|?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow these steps to find the problem:
* Make sure that you are connecting only a single device to your computer
at a time. Do not have another |app| supported device like an iPhone/iPad
etc. at the same time.
* If you are connecting an Apple iDevice (iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone), use
the 'Connect to iTunes' method in the 'Getting started' instructions in
`Calibre + Apple iDevices: Start here <http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118559>`_.
* Make sure you are running the latest version of |app|. The latest version
can always be downloaded from `the calibre website <http://calibre-ebook.com/download>`_.
You can tell what version of |app| you are currently running by looking
at the bottom line of the main |app| window.
* Ensure your operating system is seeing the device. That is, the device
should show up in Windows Explorer (in Windows) or Finder (in OS X).
* In |app|, go to Preferences->Ignored Devices and check that your device
is not being ignored
* If all the above steps fail, go to :guilabel:`Preferences->Miscellaneous` and click
:guilabel:`Debug device detection` with your device attached and post the output as a
ticket on `the calibre bug tracker <http://bugs.calibre-ebook.com>`_.
My device is non-standard or unusual. What can I do to connect to it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In addition to the :guilabel:`Connect to Folder` function found under the Connect/Share button, |app| provides a ``User Defined`` device plugin that can be used to connect to any USB device that shows up as a disk drive in your operating system. Note: on windows, the device must have a drive letter for calibre to use it. See the device plugin ``Preferences -> Plugins -> Device Plugins -> User Defined`` and ``Preferences -> Miscellaneous -> Get information to setup the user defined device`` for more information. Note that if you are using the user defined plugin for a device normally detected by a builtin |app| plugin, you must disable the builtin plugin first, so that your user defined plugin is used instead.
How does |app| manage collections on my SONY reader?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When |app| connects with the reader, it retrieves all collections for the books on the reader. The collections
of which books are members are shown on the device view.
When you send a book to the reader, |app| will add the book to collections based on the metadata for that book. By
default, collections are created from tags and series. You can control what metadata is used by going to
:guilabel:`Preferences->Advanced->Plugins->Device Interface plugins` and customizing the SONY device interface plugin. If you remove all
values, |app| will not add the book to any collection.
Collection management is largely controlled by the 'Metadata management' option found at
:guilabel:`Preferences->Import/Export->Sending books to devices`. If set to 'Manual' (the default), managing collections is left to
the user; |app| will not delete already existing collections for a book on your reader when you resend the
book to the reader, but |app| will add the book to collections if necessary. To ensure that the collections
for a book are based only on current |app| metadata, first delete the books from the reader, then resend the
books. You can edit collections directly on the device view by double-clicking or right-clicking in the
collections column.
If 'Metadata management' is set to 'Only on send', then |app| will manage collections more aggressively.
Collections will be built using |app| metadata exclusively. Sending a book to the reader will correct the
collections for that book so its collections exactly match the book's metadata, adding and deleting
collections as necessary. Editing collections on the device view is not permitted, because collections not in
the metadata will be removed automatically.
If 'Metadata management' is set to 'Automatic management', then |app| will update metadata and collections
both when the reader is connected and when books are sent. When calibre detects the reader and generates the
list of books on the reader, it will send metadata from the library to the reader for all books on the reader
that are in the library (On device is True), adding and removing books from collections as indicated by the
metadata and device customization. When a book is sent, |app| corrects the metadata for that book, adding and
deleting collections. Manual editing of metadata on the device view is not allowed. Note that this option
specifies sending metadata, not books. The book files on the reader are not changed.
In summary, choose 'manual management' if you want to manage collections yourself. Collections for a book
will never be removed by |app|, but can be removed by you by editing on the device view. Choose 'Only on
send' if you want |app| to manage collections when you send a book, adding books to and removing books from
collections as needed. Choose 'Automatic management' if you want |app| to keep collections up to date
whenever the reader is connected.
If you use multiple installations of calibre to manage your reader, then option 'Automatic management' may not
be what you want. Connecting the reader to one library will reset the metadata to what is in that library.
Connecting to the other library will reset the metadata to what is in that other library. Metadata in books
found in both libraries will be flopped back and forth.
Can I use both |app| and the SONY software to manage my reader?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, you can use both, provided you do not run them at the same time. That is, you should use the following sequence:
Connect reader->Use one of the programs->Disconnect reader. Reconnect reader->Use the other program->disconnect reader.
The underlying reason is that the Reader uses a single file to keep track
of 'meta' information, such as collections, and this is written to by both
|app| and the Sony software when either updates something on the Reader.
The file will be saved when the Reader is (safely) disconnected, so using one
or the other is safe if there's a disconnection between them, but if
you're not the type to remember this, then the simple answer is to stick
to one or the other for the transfer and just export/import from/to the
other via the computers hard disk.
If you do need to reset your metadata due to problems caused by using both
at the same time, then just delete the media.xml file on the Reader using
your PC's file explorer and it will be recreated after disconnection.
With recent reader iterations, SONY, in all its wisdom has decided to try to force you to
use their software. If you install it, it auto-launches whenever you connect the reader.
If you don't want to uninstall it altogether, there are a couple of tricks you can use. The
simplest is to simply re-name the executable file that launches the library program. More detail
`in the forums <http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65809>`_.
How do I use |app| with my iPad/iPhone/iPod touch?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Over the air
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The easiest way to browse your |app| collection on your Apple device
(iPad/iPhone/iPod) is by using the |app| content server, which makes your
collection available over the net. First perform the following steps in |app|
* Set the Preferred Output Format in |app| to EPUB (The output format can be
set under :guilabel:`Preferences->Interface->Behavior`)
* Set the output profile to iPad (this will work for iPhone/iPods as well),
under :guilabel:`Preferences->Conversion->Common Options->Page Setup`
* Convert the books you want to read on your iDevice to EPUB format by
selecting them and clicking the Convert button.
* Turn on the Content Server by clicking the :guilabel:`Connect/Share` button
and leave |app| running. You can also tell |app| to automatically start the
content server via :guilabel:`Preferences->Sharing over the net`.
There are many apps for your iDevice that can connect to |app|. Here we
describe using two of them, iBooks and Stanza.
Using Stanza
***************
You should be able to access your books on your iPhone by opening Stanza. Go to
"Get Books" and then click the "Shared" tab. Under Shared you will see an entry
"Books in calibre". If you don't, make sure your iPad/iPhone is connected using
the WiFi network in your house, not 3G. If the |app| catalog is still not
detected in Stanza, you can add it manually in Stanza. To do this, click the
"Shared" tab, then click the "Edit" button and then click "Add book source" to
add a new book source. In the Add Book Source screen enter whatever name you
like and in the URL field, enter the following::
http://192.168.1.2:8080/
Replace ``192.168.1.2`` with the local IP address of the computer running
|app|. If you have changed the port the |app| content server is running on, you
will have to change ``8080`` as well to the new port. The local IP address is
the IP address you computer is assigned on your home network. A quick Google
search will tell you how to find out your local IP address. Now click "Save"
and you are done.
If you get timeout errors while browsing the calibre catalog in Stanza, try
increasing the connection timeout value in the stanza settings. Go to
Info->Settings and increase the value of Download Timeout.
Using iBooks
**************
Start the Safari browser and type in the IP address and port of the computer
running the calibre server, like this::
http://192.168.1.2:8080/
Replace ``192.168.1.2`` with the local IP address of the computer running
|app|. If you have changed the port the |app| content server is running on, you
will have to change ``8080`` as well to the new port. The local IP address is
the IP address you computer is assigned on your home network. A quick Google
search will tell you how to find out your local IP address.
You will see a list of books in Safari, just click on the epub link for
whichever book you want to read, Safari will then prompt you to open it with
iBooks.
With the USB cable + iTunes
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Use the 'Connect to iTunes' method in the 'Getting started' instructions in `Calibre + Apple iDevices: Start here <http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118559>`_.
This method only works on Windows XP and higher, and OS X 10.5 and higher. Linux is not supported (iTunes is not available in linux) and OS X 10.4 is not supported.
How do I use |app| with my Android phone/tablet or Kindle Fire HD?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are two ways that you can connect your Android device to calibre. Using a USB cable -- or wirelessly, over the air.
The first step to using an Android device is installing an ebook reading
application on it. There are many free and paid ebook reading applications for
Android: Some examples (in no particular order):
`FBReader <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.geometerplus.zlibrary.ui.android&hl=en>`_,
`Moon+ <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.flyersoft.moonreader&hl=en>`_,
`Mantano <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mantano.reader.android.lite&hl=en>`_,
`Aldiko <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aldiko.android&hl=en>`_,
`Kindle <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.amazon.kindle&feature=related_apps>`_.
Using a USB cable
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Simply plug your device into the computer with a USB cable. |app| should
automatically detect the device and then you can transfer books to it by
clicking the Send to Device button. |app| does not have support for every
single android device out there, so if your device is not automatically
detected, follow the instructions at :ref:`devsupport` to get your device
supported in |app|.
.. note:: With newer Android devices, the USB connection is only supported on
Windows Vista and newer and Linux. If you are on Windows XP or OS X,
you should use one of the wireless connection methods.
Over the air
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The easiest way to transfer books wirelessly to your Android device is to use
the `Calibre Companion <http://www.multipie.co.uk/calibre-companion/>`_
Android app. This app is maintained by a core calibre developer and allows
|app| to connect to your Android device wirelessly, just as though you
plugged in the device with a USB cable. You can browse files on the device
in |app| and use the :guilabel:`Send to device` button to transfer files to
your device wirelessly.
|app| also has a builtin web server, the :guilabel:`Content Server`.
You can browse your |app| collection on your Android device is by using the
calibre content server, which makes your collection available over the net.
First perform the following steps in |app|
* Set the :guilabel:`Preferred Output Format` in |app| to EPUB for normal Android devices or MOBI for Kindles (The output format can be set under :guilabel:`Preferences->Interface->Behavior`)
* Convert the books you want to read on your device to EPUB/MOBI format by selecting them and clicking the Convert button.
* Turn on the Content Server in |app|'s preferences and leave |app| running.
Now on your Android device, open the browser and browse to
http://192.168.1.2:8080/
Replace ``192.168.1.2`` with the local IP address of the computer running
|app|. If your local network supports the use of computer names, you can
replace the IP address with the network name of the computer. If you have
changed the port the |app| content server is running on, you will have to
change ``8080`` as well to the new port.
The local IP address is the IP address you computer is assigned on your home
network. A quick Google search will tell you how to find out your local IP
address. You can now browse your book collection and download books from |app|
to your device to open with whatever ebook reading software you have on your
android device.
Some reading programs support browsing the Calibre library directly. For
example, in Aldiko, click My Catalogs, then + to add a catalog, then give the
catalog a title such as "Calibre" and provide the URL listed above. You can now
browse the Calibre library and download directly into the reading software.
Can I access my |app| books using the web browser in my Kindle or other reading device?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|app| has a *Content Server* that exports the books in |app| as a web page. You can turn it on under
:guilabel:`Preferences->Network->Sharing over the net`. Then just point the web browser on your device to the computer running
the Content Server and you will be able to browse your book collection. For example, if the computer running
the server has IP address 63.45.128.5, in the browser, you would type::
http://63.45.128.5:8080
Some devices, like the Kindle (1/2/DX), do not allow you to access port 8080 (the default port on which the content
server runs. In that case, change the port in the |app| Preferences to 80. (On some operating systems,
you may not be able to run the server on a port number less than 1024 because of security settings. In
this case the simplest solution is to adjust your router to forward requests on port 80 to port 8080).
I get the error message "Failed to start content server: Port 8080 not free on '0.0.0.0'"?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The most likely cause of this is your antivirus program. Try temporarily disabling it and see if it does the trick.
I cannot send emails using |app|?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because of the large amount of spam in email, sending email can be tricky, as different mail servers use different strategies to block email.
The most common problem is if you are sending email directly (without a mail relay) in |app|. Many servers (for example, Amazon) block email
that does not come from a well known relay. The most robust way to setup email sending in |app| is to do the following:
* Create a free GMail account at `Google <http://www.gmail.com>`_.
* Goto Preferences->Email in |app| and click the "Use Gmail" button and fill in the information asked for.
* |app| will then use GMail to send the mail.
* If you are sending to your Kindle, remember to update the email preferences
on your Amazon Kindle page to allow email sent from your GMail email
address. Also note that Amazon does not allow email delivery of AZW3 and
new style (KF8) MOBI files.
Even after doing this, you may have problems. One common source of problems is that some poorly designed antivirus
programs block |app| from opening a connection to send email. Try adding an exclusion for |app| in your
antivirus program.
.. note:: Google can disable your account if you use it to send large amounts of email. So, when using GMail to send mail |app| automatically restricts
itself to sending one book every five minutes. If you don't mind risking your account being blocked you can reduce this wait interval by
going to Preferences->Tweaks in |app|.
Why is my device not detected in linux?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|app| needs your linux kernel to have been setup correctly to detect devices. If your devices are not detected, perform the following tests::
grep SYSFS_DEPRECATED /boot/config-`uname -r`
You should see something like ``CONFIG_SYSFS_DEPRECATED_V2 is not set``.
Also, ::
grep CONFIG_SCSI_MULTI_LUN /boot/config-`uname -r`
must return ``CONFIG_SCSI_MULTI_LUN=y``. If you don't see either, you have to recompile your kernel with the correct settings.
My device is getting mounted read-only in linux, so |app| cannot connect to it?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Linux kernels mount devices read-only when their filesystems have errors. You can repair the filesystem with::
sudo fsck.vfat -y /dev/sdc
Replace /dev/sdc with the path to the device node of your device. You can find the device node of your device, which
will always be under /dev by examining the output of::
mount
Why does |app| not support collections on the Kindle or shelves on the Nook?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Neither the Kindle nor the Nook provide any way to manipulate collections over a USB connection.
If you really care about using collections, I would urge you to sell your Kindle/Nook and get a SONY.
Only SONY seems to understand that life is too short to be entering collections one by one on an
e-ink screen :)
Note that in the case of the Kindle, there is a way to manipulate collections via USB,
but it requires that the Kindle be rebooted *every time* it is disconnected from the computer, for the
changes to the collections to be recognized. As such, it is unlikely that
any |app| developers will ever feel motivated enough to support it. There is however, a |app| plugin
that allows you to create collections on your Kindle from the |app| metadata. It is available
`from here <http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118635>`_.
.. note:: Amazon have removed the ability to manipulate collections completely in their newer models, like the Kindle Touch and Kindle Fire, making even the above plugin useless. If you really want the ability to manage collections on your Kindle via a USB connection, we encourage you to complain to Amazon about it, or get a reader where this is supported, like the SONY or Kobo Readers.
I am getting an error when I try to use |app| with my Kobo Touch/Glo/etc.?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Kobo has very buggy firmware. Connecting to it has been known to fail at
random. Certain combinations of motherboard, USB ports/cables/hubs can
exacerbate this tendency to fail. If you are getting an error when connecting
to your touch with |app| try the following, each of which has solved the
problem for *some* |app| users.
* Connect the Kobo directly to your computer, not via USB Hub
* Try a different USB cable and a different USB port on your computer
* Try a different computer, in particular the Kobo does not work well with
some Windows XP machines. If you are on Windows XP, try a computer with a
newer version of windows.
* Try upgrading the firmware on your Kobo Touch to the latest
* Try resetting the Kobo (sometimes this cures the problem for a little while, but then it re-appears, in which case you have to reset again and again)
* Try only putting one or two books onto the Kobo at a time and do not keep large collections on the Kobo
Library Management
------------------
.. contents:: Contents
:depth: 1
:local:
What formats does |app| read metadata from?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|app| reads metadata from the following formats: CHM, LRF, PDF, LIT, RTF, OPF, MOBI, PRC, EPUB, FB2, IMP, RB, HTML. In addition it can write metadata to: LRF, RTF, OPF, EPUB, PDF, MOBI
Where are the book files stored?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you first run |app|, it will ask you for a folder in which to store your books. Whenever you add a book to |app|, it will copy the book into that folder. Books in the folder are nicely arranged into sub-folders by Author and Title. Note that the contents of this folder are automatically managed by |app|, **do not** add any files/folders manually to this folder, as they may be automatically deleted. If you want to add a file associated to a particular book, use the top right area of :guilabel:`Edit metadata` dialog to do so. Then, |app| will automatically put that file into the correct folder and move it around when the title/author changes.
Metadata about the books is stored in the file ``metadata.db`` at the top level of the library folder This file is is a sqlite database. When backing up your library make sure you copy the entire folder and all its sub-folders.
The library folder and all it's contents make up what is called a |app| library. You can have multiple such libraries. To manage the libraries, click the |app| icon on the toolbar. You can create new libraries, remove/rename existing ones and switch between libraries easily.
You can copy or move books between different libraries (once you have more than one library setup) by right clicking on a book and selecting the :guilabel:`Copy to library` action.
How does |app| manage author names and sorting?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author names are complex, especially across cultures, see `this note <http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names.en.php?changelang=en>`_ for some of complexities. |app| has a very flexible strategy for managing author names. The first thing to understand is that books and authors are separate entities in |app|. A book can have more than one author, and an author can have more than one book. You can manage the authors of a book by the edit metadata dialog. You can manage individual authors by right clicking on the author in the Tag Browser on the left of the main |app| screen and selecting :guilabel:`Manage authors`. Using this dialog you can change the name of an author and also how that name is sorted. This will automatically change the name of the author in all the books of that author. When a book has multiple authors, separate their names using the & character.
Now coming to author name sorting:
* When a new author is added to |app| (this happens whenever a book by a new author is added), |app| automatically computes a sort string for both the book and the author.
* Authors in the Tag Browser are sorted by the sort value for the **authors**. Remember that this is different from the Author sort field for a book.
* By default, this sort algorithm assumes that the author name is in ``First name Last name`` format and generates a ``Last name, First name`` sort value.
* You can change this algorithm by going to Preferences->Tweaks and setting the :guilabel:`author_sort_copy_method` tweak.
* You can force |app| to recalculate the author sort values for every author by right clicking on any author and selecting :guilabel:`Manage authors`, then pushing the `Recalculate all author sort values` button. Do this after you have set the author_sort_copy_method tweak to what you want.
* You can force |app| to recalculate the author sort values for all books by using the bulk metadata edit dialog (select all books and click edit metadata, check the `Automatically set author sort` checkbox, then press OK.)
* When recalculating the author sort values for books, |app| uses the author sort values for each individual author. Therefore, ensure that the individual author sort values are correct before recalculating the books' author sort values.
* You can control whether the Tag Browser display authors using their names or their sort values by setting the :guilabel:`categories_use_field_for_author_name` tweak in Preferences->Tweaks
Note that you can set an individual author's sort value to whatever you want using :guilabel:`Manage authors`. This is useful when dealing with names that |app| will not get right, such as complex multi-part names like Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra or when dealing with Asian names like Sun Tzu.
With all this flexibility, it is possible to have |app| manage your author names however you like. For example, one common request is to have |app| display author names LN, FN. To do this, and if the note below does not apply to you, then:
* Set the ``author_sort_copy_method`` tweak to ``copy`` as described above.
* Restart calibre. Do not change any book metadata before doing the remaining steps.
* Change all author names to LN, FN using the Manage authors dialog.
* After you have changed all the authors, press the `Recalculate all author sort values` button.
* Press OK, at which point |app| will change the authors in all your books. This can take a while.
.. note::
When changing from FN LN to LN, FN, it is often the case that the values in author_sort are already in LN, FN format. If this is your case, then do the following:
* set the ``author_sort_copy_method`` tweak to ``copy`` as described above.
* restart calibre. Do not change any book metadata before doing the remaining steps.
* open the Manage authors dialog. Press the ``copy all author sort values to author`` button.
* Check through the authors to be sure you are happy. You can still press Cancel to abandon the changes. Once you press OK, there is no undo.
* Press OK, at which point |app| will change the authors in all your books. This can take a while.
Why doesn't |app| let me store books in my own directory structure?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The whole point of |app|'s library management features is that they provide a search and sort based interface for locating books that is *much* more efficient than any possible directory scheme you could come up with for your collection. Indeed, once you become comfortable using |app|'s interface to find, sort and browse your collection, you wont ever feel the need to hunt through the files on your disk to find a book again. By managing books in its own directory structure of Author -> Title -> Book files, |app| is able to achieve a high level of reliability and standardization. To illustrate why a search/tagging based interface is superior to folders, consider the following. Suppose your book collection is nicely sorted into folders with the following scheme::
Genre -> Author -> Series -> ReadStatus
Now this makes it very easy to find for example all science fiction books by Isaac Asimov in the Foundation series. But suppose you want to find all unread science fiction books. There's no easy way to do this with this folder scheme, you would instead need a folder scheme that looks like::
ReadStatus -> Genre -> Author -> Series
In |app|, you would instead use tags to mark genre and read status and then just use a simple search query like ``tag:scifi and not tag:read``. |app| even has a nice graphical interface, so you don't need to learn its search language instead you can just click on tags to include or exclude them from the search.
To those of you that claim that you need access to the filesystem to so that you can have access to your books over the network, |app| has an excellent content server that gives you access to your calibre library over the net.
If you are worried that someday |app| will cease to be developed, leaving all your books marooned in its folder structure, explore the powerful "Save to Disk" feature in |app| that lets you export all your files into a folder structure of arbitrary complexity based on their metadata.
Finally, the reason there are numbers at the end of every title folder, is for *robustness*. That number is the id number of the book record in the |app| database. The presence of the number allows you to have multiple records with the same title and author names. It is also part of what allows |app| to magically regenerate the database with all metadata if the database file gets corrupted. Given that |app|'s mission is to get you to stop storing metadata in filenames and stop using the filesystem to find things, the increased robustness afforded by the id numbers is well worth the uglier folder names.
If you are still not convinced, then I'm afraid |app| is not for you. Look elsewhere for your book cataloguing needs. Just so we're clear, **this is not going to change**. Kindly do not contact us in an attempt to get us to change this.
Why doesn't |app| have a column for foo?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|app| is designed to have columns for the most frequently and widely used fields. In addition, you can add any columns you like. Columns can be added via :guilabel:`Preferences->Interface->Add your own columns`.
Watch the tutorial `UI Power tips <http://calibre-ebook.com/demo#tutorials>`_ to learn how to create your own columns.
You can also create "virtual columns" that contain combinations of the metadata from other columns. In the add column dialog use the :guilabel:`Quick create` links to easily create columns to show the book ISBN, formats or the time the book was last modified. For more details, see :ref:`templatelangcalibre`.
Can I have a column showing the formats or the ISBN?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yes, you can. Follow the instructions in the answer above for adding custom columns.
How do I move my |app| library from one computer to another?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Simply copy the |app| library folder from the old to the new computer. You can
find out what the library folder is by clicking the calibre icon in the
toolbar. The very first item is the path to the library folder. Now on the new
computer, start |app| for the first time. It will run the Welcome Wizard asking
you for the location of the |app| library. Point it to the previously copied
folder. If the computer you are transferring to already has a calibre
installation, then the Welcome wizard wont run. In that case, right-click the
|app| icon in the tooolbar and point it to the newly copied directory. You will
now have two |app| libraries on your computer and you can switch between them
by clicking the |app| icon on the toolbar. Transferring your library in this
manner preserver all your metadata, tags, custom columns, etc.
Note that if you are transferring between different types of computers (for
example Windows to OS X) then after doing the above you should also right-click
the |app| icon on the tool bar, select Library Maintenance and run the Check
Library action. It will warn you about any problems in your library, which you
should fix by hand.
.. note:: A |app| library is just a folder which contains all the book files and their metadata. All the metadata is stored in a single file called metadata.db, in the top level folder. If this file gets corrupted, you may see an empty list of books in |app|. In this case you can ask |app| to restore your books by doing a right-click on the |app| icon in the toolbar and selecting Library Maintenance->Restore Library.
The list of books in |app| is blank!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In order to understand why that happened, you have to understand what a |app|
library is. At the most basic level, a |app| library is just a folder. Whenever
you add a book to |app|, that book's files are copied into this folder
(arranged into sub folders by author and title). Inside the |app| library
folder, at the top level, you will see a file called metadata.db. This file is
where |app| stores the metadata like title/author/rating/tags etc. for *every*
book in your |app| library. The list of books that |app| displays is created by
reading the contents of this metadata.db file.
There can be two reasons why |app| is showing a empty list of books:
* Your |app| library folder changed its location. This can happen if it was
on an external disk and the drive letter for that disk changed. Or if you
accidentally moved the folder. In this case, |app| cannot find its library
and so starts up with an empty library instead. To remedy this, do a
right-click on the |app| icon in the |app| toolbar and select Switch/create
library. Click the little blue icon to select the new location of your
|app| library and click OK.
* Your metadata.db file was deleted/corrupted. In this case, you can ask
|app| to rebuild the metadata.db from its backups. Right click the |app|
icon in the |app| toolbar and select Library maintenance->Restore database.
|app| will automatically rebuild metadata.db.
I am getting errors with my calibre library on a networked drive/NAS?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**Do not put your calibre library on a networked drive**.
A filesystem is a complex beast. Most network filesystems lack various
filesystem features that |app| uses. Some dont support file locking, some dont
support hardlinking, some are just flaky. Additionally, |app| is a single user
application, if you accidentally run two copies of |app| on the same networked
library, bad things will happen. Finally, different OSes impose different
limitations on filesystems, so if you share your networked drive across OSes,
once again, bad things *will happen*.
Consider using the |app| Content Server to make your books available on other
computers. Run |app| on a single computer and access it via the Content Server
or a Remote Desktop solution.
If you must share the actual library, use a file syncing tool like
DropBox or rsync instead of a networked drive. If you are
using a file-syncing tool it is **essential** that you make sure that both
|app| and the file syncing tool do not try to access the |app| library at the
same time. In other words, **do not** run the file syncing tool and |app| at
the same time.
Even with these tools there is danger of data corruption/loss, so only do this
if you are willing to live with that risk. In particular, be aware that
**Google Drive** is incompatible with |app|, if you put your |app| library in
Google Drive, **you will suffer data loss**. See `this thread
<http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=205581>`_ for details.
Miscellaneous
--------------
.. contents:: Contents
:depth: 1
:local:
I want |app| to download news from my favorite news website.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you are reasonably proficient with computers, you can teach |app| to download news from any website of your choosing. To learn how to do this see :ref:`news`.
Otherwise, you can request a particular news site by posting in the `calibre Recipes forum <http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=228>`_.
Why the name calibre?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Take your pick:
* Convertor And LIBRary for Ebooks
* A high *calibre* product
* A tribute to the SONY Librie which was the first e-ink based ebook reader
* My wife chose it ;-)
|app| is pronounced as cal-i-ber *not* ca-li-bre. If you're wondering, |app| is the British/commonwealth spelling for caliber. Being Indian, that's the natural spelling for me.
Why does |app| show only some of my fonts on OS X?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|app| embeds fonts in ebook files it creates. Ebook files support embedding
only TrueType and OpenType (.ttf and .otf) fonts. Most fonts on OS X systems
are in .dfont format, thus they cannot be embedded. |app| shows only TrueType
and OpenType fonts found on your system. You can obtain many such fonts on the
web. Simply download the .ttf/.otf files and add them to the Library/Fonts
directory in your home directory.
|app| is not starting on Windows?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There can be several causes for this:
* If you get an error about calibre not being able to open a file because it is in use by another program, do the following:
* Uninstall calibre
* Reboot your computer
* Re-install calibre. But do not start calibre from the installation wizard.
* Temporarily disable your antivirus program (disconnect from the Internet before doing so, to be safe)
* Look inside the folder you chose for your calibre library. If you see a file named metadata.db, delete it.
* Start calibre
* From now on you should be able to start calibre normally.
* If you get an error about a Python function terminating unexpectedly after upgrading calibre, first uninstall calibre, then delete the folders (if they exists)
:file:`C:\\Program Files\\Calibre` and :file:`C:\\Program Files\\Calibre2`. Now re-install and you should be fine.
* If you get an error in the welcome wizard on an initial run of calibre, try choosing a folder like :file:`C:\\library` as the calibre library (calibre sometimes
has trouble with library locations if the path contains non-English characters, or only numbers, etc.)
* Try running it as Administrator (Right click on the icon and select "Run as Administrator")
* **Windows Vista**: If the folder :file:`C:\\Users\\Your User Name\\AppData\\Local\\VirtualStore\\Program Files\\calibre` exists, delete it. Uninstall |app|. Reboot. Re-install.
* **Any windows version**: Try disabling any antivirus program you have running and see if that fixes it. Also try disabling any firewall software that prevents connections to the local computer.
If it still wont launch, start a command prompt (press the windows key and R; then type :command:`cmd.exe` in the Run dialog that appears). At the command prompt type the following command and press Enter::
calibre-debug -g
Post any output you see in a help message on the `Forum <http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=166>`_.
|app| freezes/crashes occasionally?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are several possible things I know of, that can cause this:
* You recently connected an external monitor or TV to your computer. In
this case, whenever |app| opens a new window like the edit metadata
window or the conversion dialog, it appears on the second monitor where
you dont notice it and so you think |app| has frozen. Disconnect your
second monitor and restart calibre.
* If you use RoboForm, it is known to cause |app| to crash. Add |app| to
the blacklist of programs inside RoboForm to fix this. Or uninstall
RoboForm.
* The Logitech SetPoint Settings application causes random crashes in
|app| when it is open. Close it before starting |app|.
* Constant Guard Protection by Xfinity causes crashes in |app|. You have to
manually allow |app| in it or uninstall Constant Guard Protection.
* Spybot - Search & Destroy blocks |app| from accessing its temporary files
breaking viewing and converting of books.
* You are using a Wacom branded USB mouse. There is an incompatibility between
Wacom mice and the graphics toolkit |app| uses. Try using a non-Wacom
mouse.
* On some 64 bit versions of Windows there are security software/settings
that prevent 64-bit |app| from working properly. If you are using the 64-bit
version of |app| try switching to the 32-bit version.
* If the crashes happen specifically when you are using a file open dialog,
like clicking on the Add Books button or the Save to Disk button, then
you may have an issue with the windows file open dialogs on your
computer. You can tell calibre to use its own file open dialogs by
setting the environment variable ``CALIBRE_NO_NATIVE_FILEDIALOGS=1``.
See `How to set environment variables in windows <http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000549.htm>`_.
Some |app| users have reported that uninstalling the SpiderOak encrypted
backup software also fixes these crashes.
If none of the above apply to you, then there is some other program on your
computer that is interfering with |app|. First reboot your computer in safe
mode, to have as few running programs as possible, and see if the crashes still
happen. If they do not, then you know it is some program causing the problem.
The most likely such culprit is a program that modifies other programs'
behavior, such as an antivirus, a device driver, something like RoboForm (an
automatic form filling app) or an assistive technology like Voice Control or a
Screen Reader.
The only way to find the culprit is to eliminate the programs one by one and
see which one is causing the issue. Basically, stop a program, run calibre,
check for crashes. If they still happen, stop another program and repeat.
Using the viewer or doing any conversions results in a permission denied error on windows
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Something on your computer is preventing calibre from accessing its own
temporary files. Most likely the permissions on your Temp folder are incorrect.
Go to the folder file:`C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\AppData\\Local` in Windows
Explorer and then right click on the file:`Temp` folder, select Properties and go to
the Security tab. Make sure that your user account has full control for this
folder.
Some users have reported that running the following command in an Administrator
Command Prompt fixed their permissions. To get an Administrator Command Prompt
search for cmd.exe in the start menu, then right click on the command prompt
entry and select Run as Administrator. At the command prompt type the following
command and press Enter::
icacls "%appdata%\..\Local\Temp" /reset /T
Alternately, you can run calibre as Administrator, but doing so will cause
some functionality, such as drag and drop to not work.
Finally, some users have reported that disabling UAC fixes the problem.
|app| is not starting on OS X?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One common cause of failures on OS X is the use of accessibility technologies that are incompatible with the graphics toolkit |app| uses.
Try turning off VoiceOver if you have it on. Also go to System Preferences->System->Universal Access and turn off the setting for enabling
access for assistive devices in all the tabs.
You can obtain debug output about why |app| is not starting by running `Console.app`. Debug output will
be printed to it. If the debug output contains a line that looks like::
Qt: internal: -108: Error ATSUMeasureTextImage text/qfontengine_mac.mm
then the problem is probably a corrupted font cache. You can clear the cache by following these
`instructions <http://www.macworld.com/article/139383/2009/03/fontcacheclear.html>`_. If that doesn't
solve it, look for a corrupted font file on your system, in ~/Library/Fonts or the like. An easy way to
check for corrupted fonts in OS X is to start the "Font Book" application, select all fonts and then in the File
menu, choose "Validate fonts".
I downloaded the installer, but it is not working?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Downloading from the Internet can sometimes result in a corrupted download. If the |app| installer you downloaded is not opening, try downloading it again. If re-downloading it does not work, download it from `an alternate location <http://sourceforge.net/projects/calibre/files/>`_. If the installer still doesn't work, then something on your computer is preventing it from running.
* Try temporarily disabling your antivirus program (Microsoft Security Essentials, or Kaspersky or Norton or McAfee or whatever). This is most likely the culprit if the upgrade process is hanging in the middle.
* Try rebooting your computer and running a registry cleaner like `Wise registry cleaner <http://www.wisecleaner.com>`_.
* Try downloading the installer with an alternate browser. For example if you are using Internet Explorer, try using Firefox or Chrome instead.
* If you get an error about a missing DLL on windows, then most likely, the
permissions on your temporary folder are incorrect. Go to the folder
:file:`C:\\Users\\USERNAME\\AppData\\Local` in Windows explorer and then
right click on the :file:`Temp` folder and select :guilabel:`Properties` and go to
the :guilabel:`Security` tab. Make sure that your user account has full control
for this folder.
If you still cannot get the installer to work and you are on windows, you can use the `calibre portable install <http://calibre-ebook.com/download_portable>`_, which does not need an installer (it is just a zip file).
My antivirus program claims |app| is a virus/trojan?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first thing to check is that you are downloading |app| from the official
website: `<http://calibre-ebook.com/download>`_. Make sure you are clicking the
download links on the left, not the advertisements on the right. |app| is a
very popular program and unscrupulous people try to setup websites offering it
for download to fool the unwary.
If you have the official download and your antivirus program is still claiming
|app| is a virus, then, your antivirus program is wrong. Antivirus programs use
heuristics, patterns of code that "look suspicious" to detect viruses. It's
rather like racial profiling. |app| is a completely open source product. You
can actually browse the source code yourself (or hire someone to do it for you)
to verify that it is not a virus. Please report the false identification to
whatever company you buy your antivirus software from. If the antivirus program
is preventing you from downloading/installing |app|, disable it temporarily,
install |app| and then re-enable it.
How do I backup |app|?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The most important thing to backup is the |app| library folder, that contains all your books and metadata. This is the folder you chose for your |app| library when you ran |app| for the first time. You can get the path to the library folder by clicking the |app| icon on the main toolbar. You must backup this complete folder with all its files and sub-folders.
You can switch |app| to using a backed up library folder by simply clicking the |app| icon on the toolbar and choosing your backup library folder. A backed up library folder backs up your custom columns and saved searches as well as all your books and metadata.
If you want to backup the |app| configuration/plugins, you have to backup the config directory. You can find this config directory via :guilabel:`Preferences->Miscellaneous`. Note that restoring configuration directories is not officially supported, but should work in most cases. Just copy the contents of the backup directory into the current configuration directory to restore.
How do I use purchased EPUB books with |app| (or what do I do with .acsm files)?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Most purchased EPUB books have `DRM <http://drmfree.calibre-ebook.com/about#drm>`_. This prevents |app| from opening them. You can still use |app| to store and transfer them to your ebook reader. First, you must authorize your reader on a windows machine with Adobe Digital Editions. Once this is done, EPUB books transferred with |app| will work fine on your reader. When you purchase an epub book from a website, you will get an ".acsm" file. This file should be opened with Adobe Digital Editions, which will then download the actual ".epub" ebook. The ebook file will be stored in the folder "My Digital Editions", from where you can add it to |app|.
I am getting a "Permission Denied" error?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A permission denied error can occur because of many possible reasons, none of them having anything to do with |app|.
* You can get permission denied errors if you are using an SD card with write protect enabled.
* If you, or some program you used changed the file permissions of the files in question to read only.
* If there is a filesystem error on the device which caused your operating system to mount the filesystem in read only mode or mark a particular file as read only pending recovery.
* If the files have their owner set to a user other than you.
* If your file is open in another program.
* If the file resides on a device, you may have reached the limit of a maximum of 256 files in the root of the device. In this case you need to reformat the device/sd card referered to in the error message with a FAT32 filesystem, or delete some files from the SD card/device memory.
You will need to fix the underlying cause of the permissions error before resuming to use |app|. Read the error message carefully, see what file it points to and fix the permissions on that file.
Can I have the comment metadata show up on my reader?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Most readers do not support this. You should complain to the manufacturer about it and hopefully if enough people complain, things will change. In the meantime, you can insert the metadata, including comments into a "Jacket page" at the start of the ebook, by using the option to "Insert metadata as page at start of book" during conversion. The option is found in the :guilabel:`Structure Detection` section of the conversion settings. Note that for this to have effect you have to *convert* the book. If your book is already in a format that does not need conversion, you can convert from that format to the same format.
Another alternative is to create a catalog in ebook form containing a listing of all the books in your calibre library, with their metadata. Click-and-hold the convert button to access the catalog creation tool. And before you ask, no you cannot have the catalog "link directly to" books on your reader.
How do I get |app| to use my HTTP proxy?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By default, |app| uses whatever proxy settings are set in your OS. Sometimes these are incorrect, for example, on windows if you don't use Internet Explorer then the proxy settings may not be up to date. You can tell |app| to use a particular proxy server by setting the http_proxy environment variable. The format of the variable is: http://username:password@servername you should ask your network admin to give you the correct value for this variable. Note that |app| only supports HTTP proxies not SOCKS proxies. You can see the current proxies used by |app| in Preferences->Miscellaneous.
I want some feature added to |app|. What can I do?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You have two choices:
1. Create a patch by hacking on |app| and send it to me for review and inclusion. See `Development <http://calibre-ebook.com/get-involved>`_.
2. `Open a bug requesting the feature <http://calibre-ebook.com/bugs>`_ . Remember that while you may think your feature request is extremely important/essential, |app| developers might not agree. Fortunately, |app| is open source, which means you always have the option of implementing your feature yourself, or hiring someone to do it for you. Furthermore, |app| has a comprehensive plugin architecture, so you might be able to develop your feature as a plugin, see :ref:`pluginstutorial`.
Why doesn't |app| have an automatic update?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For many reasons:
* *There is no need to update every week*. If you are happy with how |app|
works turn off the update notification and be on your merry way. Check back
to see if you want to update once a year or so. There is a check box to
turn off the update notification, on the update notification itself.
* |app| downloads currently use `about 100TB of bandwidth a month
<http://status.calibre-ebook.com/downloads>`_. Implementing automatic
updates would greatly increase that and end up costing thousands of dollars
a month, which someone has to pay. And |app| is currently growing at `half
a million new installs a month <https://status.calibre-ebook.com>`_.
* If I implement a dialog that downloads the update and launches it, instead
of going to the website as it does now, that would save the most ardent
|app| updater, *at most five clicks a week*. There are far higher priority
things to do in |app| development.
* If you really, really hate downloading |app| every week but still want to
be up to the latest, I encourage you to run from source, which makes
updating trivial. Instructions are :ref:`available here <develop>`.
How is |app| licensed?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|app| is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3 (an open source license). This means that you are free to redistribute |app| as long as you make the source code available. So if you want to put |app| on a CD with your product, you must also put the |app| source code on the CD. The source code is available `for download <http://download.calibre-ebook.com>`_. You are free to use the results of conversions from |app| however you want. You cannot use either code or libraries from |app| in your software without making your software open source. For details, see `The GNU GPL v3 <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>`_.
How do I run calibre from my USB stick?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A portable version of calibre is available `here <http://calibre-ebook.com/download_portable>`_.
How do I run parts of |app| like news download and the content server on my own linux server?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First, you must install |app| onto your linux server. If your server is using a modern linux distro, you should have no problems installing |app| onto it.
.. note::
If you bought into the notion that a real server must run a decade old version of Debian, then you will have to jump through a few hoops. First, compile a newer version of glibc (>= 2.10) on your server from source. Then get the |app| linux binary tarball from the |app| google code page for your server architecture. Extract it into :file:`/opt/calibre`. Put your previously compiled glibc into :file:`/opt/calibre` as :file:`libc.so.6`. You can now run the calibre binaries from :file:`/opt/calibre`.
You can run the |app| server via the command::
/opt/calibre/calibre-server --with-library /path/to/the/library/you/want/to/share
You can download news and convert it into an ebook with the command::
/opt/calibre/ebook-convert "Title of news source.recipe" outputfile.epub
If you want to generate MOBI, use outputfile.mobi instead and use ``--output-profile kindle``.
You can email downloaded news with the command::
/opt/calibre/calibre-smtp
I leave figuring out the exact command line as an exercise for the reader.
Finally, you can add downloaded news to the |app| library with::
/opt/calibre/calibredb add --with-library /path/to/library outfile.epub
Remember to read the command line documentation section of the |app| User Manual to learn more about these, and other commands.
.. note:: Some parts of calibre require a X server. If you're lucky, nothing you do will fall into this category, if not, you will have to look into using xvfb.
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