Calibre Companion connecting unit / computer

[jayp2013mobile]

Calibre Companion connecting Kindle unit / computer

I have a Kindle Fire HD 7" unit. I use Calibre as an e-book management tool on all my computers and I employ the app Calibre Companion 3.6.10 (157) on my Kindle unit.

I can connect without problem to my main desktop computer running Windows 7 using the wireless option provided by my network. Sync works perfectly.

I tried unsuccessfully to connect to my old portable computer running VISTA Home Premium through the USB cable having selected Calibre Companion content server option since this computer does not offer a wireless option.

The "On Device" column opens up but it remains empty.

Any suggestions ?

[eschwartz]

Moderator Notice

As this is a question about Calibre Companion, I am moving this thread to the Calibre Companion subforum.

[eschwartz]

Calibre Companion does not offer a wired connection capability.
The Content Server is a networking function, not a USB file transfer function.

[theducks]

You router should support wired connections (at least 1)

The question, will it allow more that one at a time (supports NAT) ? (really old Modems used the PC to make the Modem connect to the ISP. You got 1 IP for use). Since the Tablet and Computer CAN paiir, this should be good


All that is required is that you end up on the same subnet (192.168.NNN.XYZ)
NNN must be the same, XYZ must be different for every device, wired AND wireless

[chaley]

Originally Posted by jayp2013mobile

I tried unsuccessfully to connect to my old portable computer running VISTA Home Premium through the USB cable having selected Calibre Companion content server option since this computer does not offer a wireless option.

Are you saying that this old laptop does not connect to the network (cable or wireless), or that calibre on the laptop does not have the "Start wireless device option"?

As theducks said, the computer running calibre can use a cabled network connection as long as it connects to the wireless router. If it has no network connection at all then CC cannot be used.

If the second then you need to update calibre.

If something else then we need more information.

[jayp2013mobile]

"Are you saying that this old laptop does not connect to the network (cable or wireless), "

A Network icon does appear under this old computer.

"or that calibre on the laptop does not have the "Start wireless device option"? "

Calibre does have a "Start wireless device option".

Each time, I hook the Kindle to the computer, it ask for the drivers required, request me to insert a disk which I do not have, and then unsuccessfully goes looking for the needed drivers.

The final suggestion is that I go see on the product website.

Any recommendation?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by jayp2013mobile

"Are you saying that this old laptop does not connect to the network (cable or wireless), "

A Network icon does appear under this old computer.

Can you surf the internet from this old computer? If you cannot then it will probably be impossible to make CC work.

"or that calibre on the laptop does not have the "Start wireless device option"? "

Calibre does have a "Start wireless device option".

Have you started the wireless device as described in CC's "How do I setup Calibre Companion to connect to calibre" FAQ?

Each time, I hook the Kindle to the computer, it ask for the drivers required, request me to insert a disk which I do not have, and then unsuccessfully goes looking for the needed drivers.

The final suggestion is that I go see on the product website.

Any recommendation?

I am confused. I thought you were trying to use CC to connect, but the above implies that you are using a USB cable to try to connect the Fire to the old computer.

Are you using CC? If so, follow the steps in the connection FAQ linked to above. If it doesn't work "out of the box" then check the firewall on the old computer as described in the FAQ.

[jayp2013mobile]

The problem seems solved: I can now connect and transfert ebooks from my portable onto my Kindle unit.

Thank you all for your advice and help.

Have a good Holiday Season.

[jayp2013mobile]

My Kindle Fire HD 7 software was recently updated to Fire 05.5.1.1. As a result, I seem unable to properly connect my Kindle unit to my Calibre 2.52.0 version on my main desktop computer running Win 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1. Yet when I connect the same unit to my Portable computer running Vista Home Premium Service Pack 2, the interface works fine. Any suggestion on how to get it right ?

[chaley]

My Fire 5th generation running 5.1.1 connects without problem to calibre 2.52 on Win7 Pro.

My guess is that the firewall or antivirus on your desktop computer no longer allows calibre to accept connections from CC. Calibre updates sometimes are flagged as new programs, especially if you are running a third-party AV.

Another possibility: after the update the Fire is connecting to a wireless network that doesn't allow connections to a cabled machine (the main desktop) but does allow connections to other wireless devices (the portable). Be sure that the Fire is connecting using a trusted SSID + password.

[jayp2013mobile]

How do I get the firewall or antivirus on your desktop computer to allow ?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by jayp2013mobile

How do I get the firewall or antivirus on your desktop computer to allow ?

You can't adjust chaleys desktop. That is what firewalls prevent

You need to consult YOUR firewall documentation (help) on how to whitleist (allow) CALIBRE.EXE through.
If you are using WiFi, make sure you are still connecting to the same SSID (and not a neighbors or via your Data plan).
Unfortunately for users, some updates discard or change working settings with NO Direct notice to the user.
All you know is it now fails with no clue they did something

[chaley]

Originally Posted by jayp2013mobile

How do I get the firewall or antivirus on your desktop computer to allow ?

Our FAQ answer How do I setup Calibre Companion to connect to calibre? might provide some clues, especially if you are using stock Windows tools.

[jayp2013mobile]

I was able to connect but a lot of titles I recently sent from Calibre to my Kindle are not displayed as "On Device" in the Calibre screen even though they are listed on the tablet. Do I simply resend them ? Would that affect the title's annotations ? Any comment or suggestion ?

[jayp2013mobile]

I had to use the wireless connect option to get a connection but some 265 titles were left out.