Troubleshooting Sorting problems on my K3

xmiyux · 11-26-2010, 07:38 PM

This afternoon my Kindle has simply stopped sorting my collections in any sort of order that makes sense. Previously if I was reading a book in a collection then that collection showed up as the first collection on page 1.

It is no longer doing that.

For instance, I am currently reading a book in a collection called Biography. I have 14 collections and it is at the spot #12 of 14. I open up that collection and there are two books. The one I am currently reading is second (and I have never even opened the one it is putting at the top). This is in spite of the screen within the collection saying it is sorting "By Most Recent First."

So I open up my book, read a page or two and then hit Home. Now that collection is #11 of 14. So then I choose a book in the collection that is currently #1 of 14. I open it up, read a couple pages, back out to Home, and now that collection is #10 of 14 (the last spot on the first page).

The thing is making no sense to me and driving me insane. I called Amazon customer support and they had me update to the 3.0.3 firmware and said that might fix the problem. It didn't. I called back and they seem genuinely puzzled about the whole issue. Their only suggestion was that I restore to factory default (and therefore lose all my booksmarks and notes) and it might be fixed.

Has anyone else had this issue? Anyone heard of it?

JMikeD · 11-26-2010, 11:35 PM

I've had similar problems, and it seems to be caused by strange clock behavior. I've generally fixed it by setting the clock, doing a restart, then opening any books that are out of proper sort order. They are then in correct order. It's not a permanent cure. I've had the problem come back after a few weeks.

Pushka · 11-27-2010, 12:15 AM

use calibre to edit the metadata and for a series, make the first book in the series the most recently published. You can also add symbols to the titles, then on the home page, sort by title, and this forces the kindle to sort in your preferred way.

xmiyux · 11-27-2010, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMikeD

I've had similar problems, and it seems to be caused by strange clock behavior. I've generally fixed it by setting the clock, doing a restart, then opening any books that are out of proper sort order. They are then in correct order. It's not a permanent cure. I've had the problem come back after a few weeks.

That is strange - my Kindle has also been losing time on the clock. I can set it to automatically update or I can set it manually and within a couple days it will be off by hours. Yesterday I set the time in in 8 hours the clock had only advanced by like 90 minutes or so. Amazon CSR said the time is set by the cell phone towers and that they might have been off. :lol: They also said getting the new update should fix that issue... I'm still waiting to see if it did.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pushka

use calibre to edit the metadata and for a series, make the first book in the series the most recently published. You can also add symbols to the titles, then on the home page, sort by title, and this forces the kindle to sort in your preferred way.

My issue isn't so much having it sorted exactly the way I want. To be honest, if the collections were alphabetical I would be fine. I will happily adapt to whatever sorting the device does - I just want it to be consistent. The fact it isn't makes me worry something is wrong with the device itself.

desertblues · 11-27-2010, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xmiyux

That is strange - my Kindle has also been losing time on the clock. I can set it to automatically update or I can set it manually and within a couple days it will be off by hours. Yesterday I set the time in in 8 hours the clock had only advanced by like 90 minutes or so. Amazon CSR said the time is set by the cell phone towers and that they might have been off. :lol: They also said getting the new update should fix that issue... I'm still waiting to see if it did.

My issue isn't so much having it sorted exactly the way I want. To be honest, if the collections were alphabetical I would be fine. I will happily adapt to whatever sorting the device does - I just want it to be consistent. The fact it isn't makes me worry something is wrong with the device itself.

If this is an obvious question and you have already done it, please excuse me, but did you synchronize (even if you didn't buy books)?

xmiyux · 11-27-2010, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertblues

If this is an obvious question and you have already done it, please excuse me, but did you synchronize (even if you didn't buy books)?

Thanks for the help! I typically turn on the wifi/3g every couple days to snag samples so it syncs with Amazon every few days.

DiapDealer · 11-27-2010, 11:29 AM

Almost all sort-order issues are caused by time and time zone mismatches (or not syncing for very long periods of time). Make sure that you have your correct country selected (on your "Manage My Kindle" Amazon page)... and that you have the correct Time zone selected (WiFi Kindle 3). Sync the Kindle after all that has been verified.

And yes... sometimes getting connected to a different cell tower (Kindle 3G) can fix (or trash) your time settings. Amazon CS wasn't blowing smoke when they said:

Quote:

Amazon CSR said the time is set by the cell phone towers and that they might have been off.

xmiyux · 11-27-2010, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Almost all sort-order issues are caused by time and time zone mismatches (or not syncing for very long periods of time). Make sure that you have your correct country selected (on your "Manage My Kindle" Amazon page)... and that you have the correct Time zone selected (WiFi Kindle 3). Sync the Kindle after all that has been verified.

And yes... sometimes getting connected to a different cell tower (Kindle 3G) can fix (or trash) your time settings. Amazon CS wasn't blowing smoke when they said:

It appears manually turning on wifi and then hitting the Sync and Check For Items button may have fixed the problem. I was under the impression that it auto-synced when wifi was on so I don't know if I ever hit that option before. In the past I would queue up samples or purchases on the PC and then turn on the wifi later that day and it would automatically push the books to my device. I didn't think manually syncing was necessary.

Obviously I was wrong. :lol:

As for the time thing, I assumed it was blowing smoke because I think the device has been on 3G once or twice since I got it several months ago. I have wifi pretty much everywhere (and honestly probably didn't even need to buy the 3G version) so couldn't imagine how that would affect the clock.

Thanks for the help guys. I was going mad trying to Google up solutions and couldn't find anyone even acknowledging having a problem like this. I thought I was nuts.

desertblues · 11-27-2010, 01:57 PM

Good for you; enjoy your Kindle.

xmiyux · 11-27-2010, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertblues

Good for you; enjoy your Kindle.

I have been. As has my wife... which is why I bought her a Wifi K3 for Christmas. I have grown tired of trying to find mine to read and discover she is holed up in her office reading on it.

We don't share well.

Pushka · 11-27-2010, 05:56 PM

My collections sort properly even when the time is incorrect.

desertblues · 11-28-2010, 03:32 AM

I have the feeling it's the synchronizing that does it, but sometimes the collections also work better after properly setting the time and synchronizing. Has to be a glitch somewhere. Weird.

DiapDealer · 11-28-2010, 08:35 AM

I don't think the sorting issue is specific to collections. The issue is more noticeable when sorting individual books by "Last Read." Even if the Kindle framework shows the "correct" time, when things get out of sync, the Linux timestamp function (on the files themselves) seems unable to determine the time since "epoch" (1/1/1970). As such, the recently opened ebook gets timestamped 1/1/1970 which, of course, causes that ebook to be improperly moved to the end of the "Last Read" list.

Users have been experiencing this issue since the first generation of the Kindle -- either from not syncing for long periods of time or from picking up incorrect time (or timezone) data from different cell towers.

My wireless is turned off most of the time and I was plagued with this issue until I made a point of turning my wireless on at least once a week and manually syncing.

FF2 · 11-28-2010, 01:08 PM

I noticed just one time that my k3 got ahead of itself. I know my computer has the correct time but some files on the k3 showed TOMORROW'S date when viewed from Explorer.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Sorting	Pumbi	Calibre	2	10-25-2010 09:03 PM
Sorting in Calibre	alecE	Calibre	2	04-16-2010 08:56 PM
Title Sorting / Author Sorting	ahi	Sony Reader	0	09-14-2009 01:51 PM
Sorting Collections	notsure	Sony Reader	12	06-03-2009 06:05 PM
sorting	strahlemann	Sony Reader	0	11-19-2008 10:09 PM

11-26-2010, 07:38 PM	#1
xmiyux Enthusiast Posts: 31 Karma: 106 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: West Virginia Device: Kindle 3	Sorting problems on my K3 This afternoon my Kindle has simply stopped sorting my collections in any sort of order that makes sense. Previously if I was reading a book in a collection then that collection showed up as the first collection on page 1. It is no longer doing that. For instance, I am currently reading a book in a collection called Biography. I have 14 collections and it is at the spot #12 of 14. I open up that collection and there are two books. The one I am currently reading is second (and I have never even opened the one it is putting at the top). This is in spite of the screen within the collection saying it is sorting "By Most Recent First." So I open up my book, read a page or two and then hit Home. Now that collection is #11 of 14. So then I choose a book in the collection that is currently #1 of 14. I open it up, read a couple pages, back out to Home, and now that collection is #10 of 14 (the last spot on the first page). The thing is making no sense to me and driving me insane. I called Amazon customer support and they had me update to the 3.0.3 firmware and said that might fix the problem. It didn't. I called back and they seem genuinely puzzled about the whole issue. Their only suggestion was that I restore to factory default (and therefore lose all my booksmarks and notes) and it might be fixed. Has anyone else had this issue? Anyone heard of it?

11-26-2010, 11:35 PM	#2
JMikeD Evangelist Posts: 473 Karma: 15000 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: Various and sundry	I've had similar problems, and it seems to be caused by strange clock behavior. I've generally fixed it by setting the clock, doing a restart, then opening any books that are out of proper sort order. They are then in correct order. It's not a permanent cure. I've had the problem come back after a few weeks.

11-27-2010, 12:15 AM	#3
Pushka Wizard Posts: 1,119 Karma: 1019140 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Australia Device: kindle, Ipad, Iphone, Nexus and PPW	use calibre to edit the metadata and for a series, make the first book in the series the most recently published. You can also add symbols to the titles, then on the home page, sort by title, and this forces the kindle to sort in your preferred way.

11-27-2010, 01:57 PM	#9
desertblues Home for the moment Posts: 5,127 Karma: 27718936 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: travelling Device: various	Good for you; enjoy your Kindle.

11-27-2010, 05:56 PM	#11
Pushka Wizard Posts: 1,119 Karma: 1019140 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Australia Device: kindle, Ipad, Iphone, Nexus and PPW	My collections sort properly even when the time is incorrect.

11-28-2010, 03:32 AM	#12
desertblues Home for the moment Posts: 5,127 Karma: 27718936 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: travelling Device: various	I have the feeling it's the synchronizing that does it, but sometimes the collections also work better after properly setting the time and synchronizing. Has to be a glitch somewhere. Weird.

11-28-2010, 08:35 AM	#13
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 27,552 Karma: 193191846 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I don't think the sorting issue is specific to collections. The issue is more noticeable when sorting individual books by "Last Read." Even if the Kindle framework shows the "correct" time, when things get out of sync, the Linux timestamp function (on the files themselves) seems unable to determine the time since "epoch" (1/1/1970). As such, the recently opened ebook gets timestamped 1/1/1970 which, of course, causes that ebook to be improperly moved to the end of the "Last Read" list. Users have been experiencing this issue since the first generation of the Kindle -- either from not syncing for long periods of time or from picking up incorrect time (or timezone) data from different cell towers. My wireless is turned off most of the time and I was plagued with this issue until I made a point of turning my wireless on at least once a week and manually syncing.

11-28-2010, 01:08 PM	#14
FF2 Wizard Posts: 1,105 Karma: 1025784 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: WiFi Kindle3	I noticed just one time that my k3 got ahead of itself. I know my computer has the correct time but some files on the k3 showed TOMORROW'S date when viewed from Explorer.

Advert

Advert