Calibre will not sync to iTunes or Device

[John B]

I am running Windows Xp SP3 and Calibre 0.8.3

I am using iTunes 10.2.2 and an Apple iPhone 3GS. I only have the one device attached. I have iBooks installed as well as Stanza. Prior to the latest update the books would sync to iBooks if that has any relevance here.

I have tried all the steps in the FAQ twice as well as uninstalling and re-installing Calibre. The "spinner" does not appear to be working when clicking on "Connect to iTunes." It does not respond when clicking "Connect to Device."

[GRiker (griker-deactivatedaccount)]

Is iTunes already running when you start calibre? If not, try that and report any different results.

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

Changing the component for this bug.

 assignee griker
 tag apple-driver
 status triaged

[John B (jacb2004)]

Yes it is, and the response is still non-existent.

On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 2:56 PM, GRiker <email address hidden> wrote:

> Is iTunes already running when you start calibre? If not, try that and
> report any different results.
>
> ** Changed in: calibre
> Assignee: (unassigned) => GRiker (griker)
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/791530
>
> Title:
> Calibre will not sync to iTunes or Device
>
> Status in calibre: e-book management:
> New
>
> Bug description:
> I am running Windows Xp SP3 and Calibre 0.8.3
>
> I am using iTunes 10.2.2 and an Apple iPhone 3GS. I only have the one
> device attached. I have iBooks installed as well as Stanza. Prior to
> the latest update the books would sync to iBooks if that has any
> relevance here.
>
> I have tried all the steps in the FAQ twice as well as uninstalling
> and re-installing Calibre. The "spinner" does not appear to be
> working when clicking on "Connect to iTunes." It does not respond
> when clicking "Connect to Device."
>
> To unsubscribe from this bug, go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/calibre/+bug/791530/+subscribe
>

--
"Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he
will be warm for the rest of his life."

[GRiker (griker-deactivatedaccount)]

If you're comfortable patching your installation of calibre, I've created a special itunes driver that should help me pinpoint the reason for the failure. This won't be the fix, but it will help me isolate the problem.

Download the attached driver.py to your desktop.

Open a Windows Explorer window, then navigate to c:\Program Files\Calibre2\pylib.zip. Double-click pylib.zip to expand it, then continue down to the calibre\devices\apple folder.

Copy the downloaded driver.py into the apple folder.

Start calibre, capturing the debug text as before, attach it to this ticket.

G

[Ryan Berkaw (ryan-n)]

I am having the identical problem, and also tried uninstalling/reinstalling. I've followed all the steps, but when I click to Connect to iTunes is just simply does nothing. I do have iTunes already running. I'm new to Calibre, so this is not a case of it having worked and now it is not.

I'm posting this here since I believe it is the same problem (except I'm on Windows 7 and not XP). If I should open a separate bug report, just let me know.

I've attached my debug log as well. It documents me opening Calibre and then trying to Connect to iTunes twice.

GRiker, should I also run that special driver or will that not work on Windows 7?

[GRiker (griker-deactivatedaccount)]

Ryan, please install the patched driver and post another debug log. The diagnostic changes are specifically for windows.

G

[Ryan Berkaw (ryan-n)]

This is weird... but I am not able to add that file to the zip. (I'm using WinRAR.) I get the error message "Cannot create __rzi_02.902"

At first I thought the problem was the file was marked read-only. I changed that, but still get that message.

Any thoughts? Or, can you send me the entire updated zip?

[GRiker (griker-deactivatedaccount)]

Kovid changed the structure of the distributed Windows package, so apparently we can't easily patch individual files.

There are two options: install the source as described at http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/develop.html#windows-development-environment, or wait until the next release (usually every Friday), and I will add the revised driver to the regular distribution.

G

[GRiker (griker-deactivatedaccount)]

Kovid reports that it is possible to modify the contents of the pylib.zip file by right-clicking the file, then selecting 'Take ownership'. I haven't tried this, but if you are able to do this and add the driver.py file to the apple folder, run in debug mode and attach the results. The revised driver is now added to the main project, and will be in the next release.

G

[John B (jacb2004)]

Okay, here is the latest debug log. Pretty sure I followed your directions exactly.

[GRiker (griker-deactivatedaccount)]

You need to select 'Connect to iTunes' before closing calibre. You should see something like

ITUNES_ASYNC:__init__()
 ITUNES:_launch_iTunes():
  Instantiating iTunes

in the debug log. Your first posted log had this; your second one does not.

G

[John B (jacb2004)]

Sorry, I thought I had done so.

Here is the log again.

[GRiker (griker-deactivatedaccount)]

I've made another revision to the driver, please install it using the same technique, replacing the first version, then report back with results.

G

[John B (jacb2004)]

Same thing as before. No response from the spinner/Calibre when attempting to connect to iTunes

[GRiker (griker-deactivatedaccount)]

Please try Updated apple driver version 3, same drill.

[John B (jacb2004)]

Now Calibre won't open.

Error Message: Python function terminated unexpectedly

invalid syntax (driver.py, line 2388) (Error Code: 1)

[GRiker (griker-deactivatedaccount)]

Sorry, typo. Try again with version 4.

G

[John B (jacb2004)]

Here's the latest.

[GRiker (griker-deactivatedaccount)]

I've looked at this from a couple of different angles, and I can only conclude that the iTunes installation is somehow corrupt, at least with respect to responding to automation calls. The latest version 4 patch simply attempts to ask iTunes to print the iTunes version number and name of the main window, which fails. That's not good.

My only recommendation at this point would be to reinstall iTunes. There are many working installs of calibre + iTunes, so I don't think this is a wide-spread problem. I'm current with iTunes 10.2.2 and the latest calibre, and it works fine for me with Windows 7. I doubt this is an XP vs Vista vs Windows 7 issue.

If you don't want to reinstall iTunes, you have one other option which bypasses the calibre/iTunes connection - you can use the content server to transfer books to your iDevice.

G

[Ryan Berkaw (ryan-n)]

I just reinstalled iTunes and that did it. Should have tried that back when I reinstalled Calibre as well.

Thanks for the help.

[GRiker (griker-deactivatedaccount)]

Thanks for the followup. I will make some revisions to the diagnostics to recommend reinstalling iTunes when that failure condition is recognized.

G

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

Fixed in branch lp:calibre. The fix will be in the next release. calibre is usually released every Friday.

 status fixreleased