Unable to drag and drop any book

caseym54 · 06-25-2023, 04:02 AM

I upgraded from 5.3? to 6.21 on 6/14. Suddenly, attempting to drag and drop any book file fails. My cursor becomes a slashed circle within the Calibre GUI, and no book is accepted. I can use the Add Books dialog to add a book, but that shouldn't be necessary.

Downgrading to 6.00 or to 5.44 doesn't fix this.

I'm pretty sure that this worked immediately after the upgrade, and MS pushed a Windows update on 6/20. Now, it doesn't. I've looked at permissions, but I don't see anything. What causes the slashed-circle icon withing Calibre?

Win10 Pro 22h2 19045.2965

Last two updates: KB5027215 and KB5027538

BetterRed · 06-25-2023, 04:33 AM

Drag drop into booklist working fine here, I'm running same version of windows 10, with the same recent updates.

Are you running calibre as Administrator, see penultimate para in ==>> https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...ror-on-windows.

Also try safe mode, could be a 3rd party tool, or shell extension.

BR

Oh,yes - the slashed circle cursor is generated by Windows as a result of how applications respond to Drag Over events. I see a slashed circle as I drag a file over the Tag browser, it changes to a Copy+ when I reach the book list window.

Another thing I'm wary of is file managers that have a "Replace File Explorer" feature. I use xplorer², but I would never enable that feature.

caseym54 · 06-25-2023, 07:47 PM

I suspect a Windows security update. They are always breaking things. As for alternative system software, I use XYPlorer and OpenShell.

When I find the time I will work through the Safe Mode sequence.

caseym54 · 06-25-2023, 11:33 PM

Well, so I went through the usual useless exercise with SafeMode (mostly using msconfig)

In SafeMode, with or without network, Calibre acts as it should. In Selective Boot with everything turned off, it does not allow drag & drop. In a basic video mode, it also does not. Not sure how to get anything out of that, as the issue seems to be some setting that is not active in SafeMode.

Pretty much what happens every time I head down that rabbit hole.

Comfy.n · 06-26-2023, 02:32 AM

I've seen that happen sometimes, mostly with portable installs. Solution was to right-click the calibre-portable.exe (or alt+enter) and adjust the compatibility setting to make it run in Windows 8 compatibility mode

Dsharma · 06-26-2023, 04:51 AM

One other thing you might consider is to check if any recent driver updates have occurred, especially for your mouse or touchpad. This could potentially affect drag & drop functionality.

Also, even though you've looked at permissions, it may be worth double-checking that your user account has full control permissions for the Calibre directory and files.

Lastly, you might want to see if there's an issue with the specific file types you're trying to drag and drop. Are all types of books not working, or just specific formats?

BetterRed · 06-26-2023, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caseym54

Well, so I went through the usual useless exercise with SafeMode (mostly using msconfig)

In SafeMode, with or without network, Calibre acts as it should. In Selective Boot with everything turned off, it does not allow drag & drop. In a basic video mode, it also does not. Not sure how to get anything out of that, as the issue seems to be some setting that is not active in SafeMode.

More likely a process that isn't active in Safe mode, probably a process that's run at startup.

Go into Task Manager and disable everything in the Startup tab and restart - assuming drag-drop works, enable the top half of the Start up list, if drag drop works the culprit is in the bottom half, else its in the top half. Rinse/repeat until the bad actor is found.

BR

caseym54 · 06-26-2023, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dsharma

One other thing you might consider is to check if any recent driver updates have occurred, especially for your mouse or touchpad. This could potentially affect drag & drop functionality.

Also, even though you've looked at permissions, it may be worth double-checking that your user account has full control permissions for the Calibre directory and files.

Lastly, you might want to see if there's an issue with the specific file types you're trying to drag and drop. Are all types of books not working, or just specific formats?

Yeah, I did that. There was a Logitech mouse thing added, but it was a week before it all went wrong. The last successful drag and drop was on the 21st. As for permissions, I run Calibre as admin and I am the owner of the Calibre folder and all contents with full privs. Still, sometimes Windows finds new ways to block stuff...

Epubs, azw3 and mobis all have the same problem and they are all I care about.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

More likely a process that isn't active in Safe mode, probably a process that's run at startup.

Go into Task Manager and disable everything in the Startup tab and restart - assuming drag-drop works, enable the top half of the Start up list, if drag drop works the culprit is in the bottom half, else its in the top half. Rinse/repeat until the bad actor is found.

BR

Obviously. Using msconfig and task manager, I turn off ALL startups and all services (not all can be disabled). D&D does not work. But it works in either safe mode. There is a difference, obviously, but it's not clear how to address that.

I've also run driverquery to check for new drivers, but nothing has a recent date.

I am about to decide to make a copy of the Calibre database and settings, then gut Calibre from my system, registry and all, and reinstall (yet again).

ownedbycats · 06-26-2023, 06:16 PM

I've seen drag & drop get finicky with programs in admin-mode, so I'd try to run at user-level to see if you get the same results.

Also check the Logitech settings. I've had updates of the software screw up my mouse too.

I believe 6/14 was also immediately following Patch Tuesday (Windows updates) so that's another thing to look at.

BetterRed · 06-26-2023, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

I've seen drag & drop get finicky with programs in admin-mode, so I'd try to run at user-level to see if you get the same results.

See para 2 post #2

We know it's 'something' that doesn't get loaded in Safe Mode, what are the main 'somethings' don't get loaded in Safe Mode -- the programs in Startup. How do you figure out if it is one of them - by a methodical process of elimination - such as a binary chop through the startup list.

And it may not be because of change in software or hardware, it could be due an inadvertent change to a persistent setting in a start up task via a hotkey. When chaley provided a hotkey to throw kb focus to the Tag browser - I set it to Shift+Alt+T.

After a while Metadata Copy and Paste started to misbehave. Via a process of elimination I nailed the problem to down to one of my startup tasks, it used Shift+Winkey+T to toggle a persistent setting.

There's a fine, fine line between WinKey and Alt. I disabled the Shift+Winkey+T hotkey.

BR

Still have to pinch myself as reminder that Chrissie Amphlett died in 2013 - we were acquainted.

caseym54 · 06-29-2023, 09:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BetterRed

See para 2 post #2

We know it's 'something' that doesn't get loaded in Safe Mode, what are the main 'somethings' don't get loaded in Safe Mode -- the programs in Startup. How do you figure out if it is one of them - by a methodical process of elimination - such as a binary chop through the startup list.

As I said, I turned ALL startups and ALL (possible) services off and it did not help.

BetterRed · 06-30-2023, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by caseym54

Well, so I went through the usual useless exercise with SafeMode (mostly using msconfig)

In SafeMode, with or without network, Calibre acts as it should.

Which I assumed meant drag and drop worked as it should!

So if you cant track it down to a startup task, you should compare the tasklist in a barebones safe mode environment, with a tasklist with all startup tasks disabled - use the tasklist command.

Taking stabs in the dark won't solve the problem unless you're lucky, you have to do it methodically.

BR

Comfy.n · 06-30-2023, 05:05 AM

Sometimes I think this could be caused by Windows post-7 deliberately awful handling of file associations, which becomes increasingly untransparent and uncustomizable.

A while ago I was having issues with my default browser not opening .maff files (compressed saved webpages), neither by double-clicking local files in file explorer nor by dragging them to the browser window - i'd get that same infamous slashed circle.

As modifying the registry manually is a complex task, I was glad i found SetUserFTA, which helped me solve this specific case.

06-25-2023, 04:02 AM	#1
caseym54 Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: ABQ, NM, USA Device: Kindle Paperwhite 10G	Unable to drag and drop any book I upgraded from 5.3? to 6.21 on 6/14. Suddenly, attempting to drag and drop any book file fails. My cursor becomes a slashed circle within the Calibre GUI, and no book is accepted. I can use the Add Books dialog to add a book, but that shouldn't be necessary. Downgrading to 6.00 or to 5.44 doesn't fix this. I'm pretty sure that this worked immediately after the upgrade, and MS pushed a Windows update on 6/20. Now, it doesn't. I've looked at permissions, but I don't see anything. What causes the slashed-circle icon withing Calibre? Win10 Pro 22h2 19045.2965 Last two updates: KB5027215 and KB5027538

06-26-2023, 06:16 PM	#9
ownedbycats Custom User Title Posts: 9,571 Karma: 64960981 Join Date: Oct 2018 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra H2O, formerly Aura HD	I've seen drag & drop get finicky with programs in admin-mode, so I'd try to run at user-level to see if you get the same results. Also check the Logitech settings. I've had updates of the software screw up my mouse too. I believe 6/14 was also immediately following Patch Tuesday (Windows updates) so that's another thing to look at. Last edited by ownedbycats; 06-26-2023 at 06:20 PM.

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06-25-2023, 04:33 AM	#2
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 21,006 Karma: 27620706 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Drag drop into booklist working fine here, I'm running same version of windows 10, with the same recent updates. Are you running calibre as Administrator, see penultimate para in ==>> https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...ror-on-windows. Also try safe mode, could be a 3rd party tool, or shell extension. BR Oh,yes - the slashed circle cursor is generated by Windows as a result of how applications respond to Drag Over events. I see a slashed circle as I drag a file over the Tag browser, it changes to a Copy+ when I reach the book list window. Another thing I'm wary of is file managers that have a "Replace File Explorer" feature. I use xplorer², but I would never enable that feature. Last edited by BetterRed; 06-25-2023 at 05:29 AM.

06-25-2023, 07:47 PM	#3
caseym54 Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: ABQ, NM, USA Device: Kindle Paperwhite 10G	I suspect a Windows security update. They are always breaking things. As for alternative system software, I use XYPlorer and OpenShell. When I find the time I will work through the Safe Mode sequence.

06-25-2023, 11:33 PM	#4
caseym54 Member Posts: 19 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: ABQ, NM, USA Device: Kindle Paperwhite 10G	Well, so I went through the usual useless exercise with SafeMode (mostly using msconfig) In SafeMode, with or without network, Calibre acts as it should. In Selective Boot with everything turned off, it does not allow drag & drop. In a basic video mode, it also does not. Not sure how to get anything out of that, as the issue seems to be some setting that is not active in SafeMode. Pretty much what happens every time I head down that rabbit hole.

06-26-2023, 02:32 AM	#5
Comfy.n want to learn what I want Posts: 1,279 Karma: 6433040 Join Date: Sep 2020 Device: Calibre E-book viewer	I've seen that happen sometimes, mostly with portable installs. Solution was to right-click the calibre-portable.exe (or alt+enter) and adjust the compatibility setting to make it run in Windows 8 compatibility mode

06-26-2023, 04:51 AM	#6
Dsharma Enthusiast Posts: 48 Karma: 3254262 Join Date: Apr 2023 Device: Kindle	One other thing you might consider is to check if any recent driver updates have occurred, especially for your mouse or touchpad. This could potentially affect drag & drop functionality. Also, even though you've looked at permissions, it may be worth double-checking that your user account has full control permissions for the Calibre directory and files. Lastly, you might want to see if there's an issue with the specific file types you're trying to drag and drop. Are all types of books not working, or just specific formats?

06-30-2023, 05:05 AM	#13
Comfy.n want to learn what I want Posts: 1,279 Karma: 6433040 Join Date: Sep 2020 Device: Calibre E-book viewer	Sometimes I think this could be caused by Windows post-7 deliberately awful handling of file associations, which becomes increasingly untransparent and uncustomizable. A while ago I was having issues with my default browser not opening .maff files (compressed saved webpages), neither by double-clicking local files in file explorer nor by dragging them to the browser window - i'd get that same infamous slashed circle. As modifying the registry manually is a complex task, I was glad i found SetUserFTA, which helped me solve this specific case.

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