Calibre constantly crashing - help?

[BunnyGal]

For some reason, Calibre has started constantly crashing. By constantly I mean that I cant do ANYTHING without getting the "calibre.exe has stopped working" error and then the "windows is looking for a solution" message appears, followed by the "a problem has caused this program to stop working correctly....." - A copy of the error is attached.

I am running the latest version, 1.45, although this problem began several versions ago on a much less frequent basis. It used to be perhaps a crash per hour; now I can't go 20 seconds without it crashing. If I sort - it crashes; click a field to edit (title, tag, author, etc.) it crashes, click a book to open it - it crashes. I have not made any hardware or software changes to my computer of any kind and I have not installed, removed or changed any plug-ins in Calibre. My library is large - over 6,000 books so I'm hoping that the crash isn't due to library size. I'm not aware of any size limits. The problem isn't limited to when I try to edit multiple books at once (such as edit a field of multiple books at once) - it happens even if I try to open or edit a field in a single book.
I'm running Windows 7 Pro. 64 bit.

I'm baffled by this because I've been using Calibre for a couple years without any issues. This problem began on an infrequent basis and has gotten so bad that I really cant use the software - everything I do causes a crash.

I've attached a print screen image of the error - it's a basic windows error.

Perhaps someone can tell me where to find a log with the cause of error listed? I dont know how to resolve this.

By the way - it doesn't matter if Calibre is the only program running after a clean boot - it still behaves the same so it doesn't seem to be a problem of having other programs running.

Help????

[theducks]

(re)Start in debug mode, that way calibre will have an internal log of what it was doing. Preferences: Restart in debug mode <at the bottom


Also, check the FAQ tips http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html about crashes

[BetterRed]

@BunnyGal You could also try running in Windows Safe Mode

Simple way to Safe Boot: Control Panel->Administrative Tools->System Configuration (or type msconfig in start menu search). Go into Boot tab, check Safe Boot and select Minimal. Restart Windows. To get back to normal boot, uncheck Safe Boot whilst you're in Safe Mode.

If that yields nothing useful, then it might be worth doing a System File Check, here's how ==>> How To Use SFC Scannow to Repair Windows System Files

Which edition of calibre are you using - 32bit, 64bit or portable?

BR

[BunnyGal]

Originally Posted by theducks

(re)Start in debug mode, that way calibre will have an internal log of what it was doing. Preferences: Restart in debug mode <at the bottom


Also, check the FAQ tips http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html about crashes

I ran the program in Debug mode and the moment I clicked a book, it crashed.
Here is the .txt file it created:

"calibre Debug log
calibre 1.45 isfrozen: True is64bit: False
Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1 Windows ('32bit', 'WindowsPE')
32bit process running on 64bit windows
('Windows', '7', '6.1.7601')
Python 2.7.5
Windows: ('7', '6.1.7601', 'SP1', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Starting up...
C:\Users\Lisa\Documents\My Kindle Content 1 is not a valid directory to watch for new ebooks, ignoring
Started up in 19.71 seconds with 6207 books
Worker Launch took: 0.203000068665"

Does this help?

I ran both Scandisk and SFC on my system before posting here and all is in order. Everything else is working perfectly; Calibre is the only problem child at the moment

[theducks]

Originally Posted by BunnyGal

I ran the program in Debug mode and the moment I clicked a book, it crashed.
Here is the .txt file it created:

"calibre Debug log
calibre 1.45 isfrozen: True is64bit: False
Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1 Windows ('32bit', 'WindowsPE')
32bit process running on 64bit windows
('Windows', '7', '6.1.7601')
Python 2.7.5
Windows: ('7', '6.1.7601', 'SP1', 'Multiprocessor Free')
Starting up...
C:\Users\Lisa\Documents\My Kindle Content 1 is not a valid directory to watch for new ebooks, ignoring
Started up in 19.71 seconds with 6207 books
Worker Launch took: 0.203000068665"

Does this help?

I ran both Scandisk and SFC on my system before posting here and all is in order. Everything else is working perfectly; Calibre is the only problem child at the moment

The 'error' shown says your (currently configured) Auto Add folder is not there. That is a simple fix. Preferences: Adding Books: (the Auto add tab) <point to a valid folder or clear the box contents>


I don't see a 'crash' in that log

[BunnyGal]

Also, check the FAQ tips http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html about crashes

I looked through the FAQ and found a couple possible reasons for my issue - however, all the programs listed as potential problems have been on my computer as long as Calibre and I never had the problem before.

1) "If you use RoboForm, it is known to cause calibre to crash. Add calibre to the blacklist of programs inside RoboForm to fix this. Or uninstall RoboForm."

I have/use RoboForm. I have the licensed/pro version and have had it for several years. It was on my computer before Calibre, but just in case I added every .exe file within the Calibre installation folder to the RoboForm blacklist.

2) On some 64 bit versions of Windows there are security software/settings that prevent 64-bit calibre from working properly. If you are using the 64-bit version of calibre try switching to the 32-bit version.

I am running Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, but that is not new. Calibre has run on this computer for years without issue. Oddly enough, I can't find any place within Calibre that tells me which version i'm running???
I believe the error log file identifies it, and I 'think' it's 32 bit, but i'm not sure. Can someone help me with this:

"isfrozen: True is64bit: False
Windows-7-6.1.7601-SP1 Windows ('32bit', 'WindowsPE')
32bit process running on 64bit windows
('Windows', '7', '6.1.7601')
Python 2.7.5
Windows: ('7', '6.1.7601', 'SP1', 'Multiprocessor Free')"

If it helps, below if my system info:


System ManufacturerDell Inc.ModelXPS 8500 Total amount of system memory24.0 GB RAMSystem type64-bit operating systemNumber of processor cores4Storage Total size of hard disk(s)3711 GBDisk partition (C593 GB Free (916 GB Total)Media drive (DCD/DVDDisk partition (E2729 GB Free (2795 GB Total)Graphics Display adapter typeAMD Radeon HD 7700 SeriesTotal available graphics memory14060 MBDedicated graphics memory2048 MBDedicated system memory0 MBShared system memory12012 MBDisplay adapter driver version13.152.1.8000Primary monitor resolution1920x1200DirectX versionDirectX 10Network Network AdapterMicrosoft Virtual WiFi Miniport AdapterNetwork AdapterDell Wireless 1703 802.11b/g/n (2.4GHz)Network AdapterRealtek PCIe GBE Family Controller

[BunnyGal]

Originally Posted by theducks

The 'error' shown says your (currently configured) Auto Add folder is not there. That is a simple fix. Preferences: Adding Books: (the Auto add tab) <point to a valid folder or clear the box contents>


I don't see a 'crash' in that log

I dont have the auto add feature enabled; never did so that's not the problem.

I copied and pasted the entire log generated after it crashed - in fact, when it crashed Calibre told me the exact location of the log file. I don't know why it's not listing the crash, but it did/does.

[BookJunkieLI]

It does look like you're using 32-bit Calibre. If you're comfortable with Windows File Manager then check where the calibre.exe file is installed. If it's in the Program Files(x86) it's a standard 32-bit install, Program Files (without the x86) is a standard 64-bit install. If it's in its own directory outside of any Program Files directory with the library as a sub-directory then it's a Portable install.

And it does look like at some point you enabled the auto add feature. That's what this section of the log file means.

Originally Posted by BunnyGal

Starting up...
C:\Users\Lisa\Documents\My Kindle Content 1 is not a valid directory to watch for new ebooks, ignoring

I recommend following BR's advice about starting Windows in SafeMode. If Calibre works then it's a conflict issue with another program. If it doesn't then it's a Calibre problem. If it's Calibre I suggest uninstalling, don't panic you won't lose your library, doing a clean install with a new empty library, then slowly re-importing the books from your original library. There's an exceedingly slim chance something you have in your library is causing the problem, but I'd exhaust all other possibilities first.

Just because something has always worked together before doesn't mean it will continue to work together in the future. With each update from Windows and the individual programs there's always the possibility of something that didn't conflict before becoming an issue.

[theducks]

If it crashed (self closed ) ) it told you where the log was.

If it does not say 64 at the bottom of the GUI, you are launching the 32 bit (as the log implies) version.

Just because a program was there for a long time, does not prevent updates from tripping things up today. A/V updates can happen daily.

[BunnyGal]

Originally Posted by theducks

If it crashed (self closed ) ) it told you where the log was.

It didn't 'self close', the message was that "calibre.exe has stopped working and windows is looking for a solution". After a few seconds another message of the program is unresponsive and must be closed. Then the calibre window went to the background and the foreground was the blue spinning circle (frozen program) with the "close program" button to the foreground and the "close program" button was the only option - no other buttons were accessable as the program itself went to the background and the spinning blue circle of death 'greyed' it out.
It was a frozen/not-responding problem with the 'close' button being the only one available.

I corrected the auto-add feature - I chose to auto add books and selected "My kindle content" as the folder to look in. However, when I selected "save" (or was it apply???) it reverted back to "My Kindle Content 1" which does not exist! Again I directed the auto-add feature to "my kindle content", applied it and restarted Calibre and so far it has stayed there. No idea why it was going to my kindle content 1 because there is no such folder - not even hidden

It would appear that my program was resolved by adding all the calibre executables in the install folder to the blacklist in RoboForm. Since I've done that, I haven't had another crash. I've been editing books for about an hour with no issues and prior everything I did caused the crash.

"Just because a program was there for a long time, does not prevent updates from tripping things up today. A/V updates can happen daily"

True - A/V does update daily, but that's the only thing I have set to auto update. I dont like the system resources all the various program auto updates steal so I disable them and check manually from time to time.
I dont have RoboForm set to auto-update; all updates are manual and since I like the version I have, I have not updated it in a long time. Since it was not a RoboForm update that was the issue, it would appear that a recent Calibre update (likely 3 versions ago) has some issue (or bigger issue) with RoboForm. I went from years of no issues running roboform and calibre together to not being able to use Calibre and Roboform was not updated - but Calibre was. Not saying the update was bad in any way - the updates on Calibre always make things better; however, as far as RoboForm goes - the update made them not play as well together

As long as things remain stable - the problem is fixed and was fixed by blacklisting Calibre in RoboForm. Hopefully this thread can help anyone else with a crashing issue identify a possible cause.

Thank you everyone for your help.

[theducks]

Just to clarify. That 'Stopped Working' is Windows supplied, not calibre.
Calibre has already gone south or is seriously (over) busy.

There may be something odd happening with Auto-add.
It polls the folder.
It claimed to ignore the not found folder on start. Did it still poll and go off to na-na land?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by BunnyGal

It would appear that my program was resolved by adding all the calibre executables in the install folder to the blacklist in RoboForm. Since I've done that, I haven't had another crash. I've been editing books for about an hour with no issues and prior everything I did caused the crash.

@BunnyGal - I worked at a large international bank around 2000, they had similar inconsistent, intermittent, compatibility problems with Roboform. The problems existed with both in-house developed line of business applications and 3rd party software. After calling in MS and Roboform to try to get a solution, it was replaced with - key<something>, and it didn't get in the way of the dev tools I was using, nor their LOB applications.

BR

[eschwartz]

keepass?

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

keepass?

Maybe - unlike Roboform it didn't put its oar in every five minutes where it wasn't wanted, and it could be centrally administered.

BR