The Amazon Kindle has been out for two months. Now seemed like a good time to post a beginner's guide to content.

First things first: Kindle Edition e-books are only slightly different from DRM'ed Mobipocket e-books. If not for the DRM, the Kindle would be just another Mobipocket e-reader. You need to know this, otherwise you might be puzzled by the following.


Mobipocket Desktop 6.0 will recognize the Kindle as a reading device, and synchronize your e-books and RSS feeds correctly. This is important because Mobipocket disabled this feature in next version of the Desktop software (6.1), where the Kindle is no longer recognized as a reader device but only as a USB drive. You can download Mobipocket Desktop 6.0 here (http://mason.gmu.edu/~nhoffeld/Mobipocket6.zip). A note of caution: If you already have a later version of Mobipocket Desktop, you will need to uninstall it first. Be careful though. If you are using the current installation to support your existing DRM'ed Mobipocket e-books, you will need to re-download them after you reinstall the older Mobipocket software. If you can't download your e-books again for whatever reason, you perhaps shouldn't uninstall the existing software.


There are over 34k newsfeeds available through Mobipocket Desktop. The process is simple to set up; you select the feeds, and set them to be downloaded onto your device. Downloading the feeds to your Kindle is automatic. Click here (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19569) for a partial list of feeds that have full articles attached.


Because the Kindle and Mobipocket e-book formats are basically identical, it is possible to buy an e-book in Mobipocket and (with some work) load it onto your Kindle. However, I currently know of only two retailers where you can officially do this (if you want to know why, click here (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?p=142714#post142714)). These are Fictionwise (http://www.fictionwise.com) and BooksOnBoard (http://www.booksonboard.com). It may also work at your local library, if it offers Mobipocket e-books.

There are several steps required. The first is to tell the retailer the PID of your Kindle. If you have Mobipocket Desktop 6.0 installed, you can find the Kindle's PID under the reading devices menu. Next, you need to download igorsk's hack (http://skochinsky.googlepages.com/azw-0.1.zip), and a python interpreter (http://www.python.org/download/). For more information, click here (http://igorsk.blogspot.com/2007/12/mobipocket-books-on-kindle.html). If you have trouble, ask for help here (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17239).


One neat feature of the Kindle is its ability to download e-books from the Internet directly onto your device. Feedbooks (http://www.feedbooks.com) has an e-book guide full of links to free e-books. Personally I think it's one of the best sites on the Internet. You can download the guide here (http://www.feedbooks.com/kindleguide) and learn more here (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17465). Munsey's (http://www.munseys.com) is another site with excellent quality content. They also have a mobile version of their site here (http://www.munseys.com/joomla/).


This last part is about my preferred e-book format, Microsoft .LIT (Microsoft Reader). I prefer this format because it lets me protect my e-book investment. While I certainly won't explain how to strip DRM, I will say that to convert your purchased .LIT e-books, you need to download and install two components: ConvertLIT (http://www.google.com/search?q=convertlit) and Mobipocket Creator (http://www.mobipocket.com/en/DownloadSoft/ProductDetailsCreator.asp). When you run ConvertLIT, it will explode the .LIT file into its single parts. After this you need to click on the OPF file; Mobipocket Creator should open automatically. Then all you have to do is click on "make the book". The output will be a nearly perfect conversion.


P.S. There are a few things I left out, like the Kindle Easter Eggs (http://igorsk.blogspot.com/2007/12/hacking-kindle-part-3-root-shell-and.html). But I think I included enough to get a beginner off to a good start!

You are a great man. I wish you wrote it earlier. You basically summarized all the tricked I learned in the past two weeks since I got my kindle...

Highly recommend for the newbie.

*extra karma points for Nate* ... you can do it too if you like his tutorial ;)

If all you want is the RSS feeds, you may want to look into installing the OLD "Mobipocket Web Companion". It was part of the Reader install before 5.0,which is still available on the Mobipocket site. It will do RSS feeds nicely, as well as a lot of very nice newspapers snarfed directly. It can be configured to email this result to the Kindle. (Or you can run a batch script to move the stuff to the Kindle as a hard drive.)

It's not part of 4.9. If you have a copy, I'd appreciate it if you'd post it here.

If all you want is the RSS feeds, you may want to look into installing the OLD "Mobipocket Web Companion". It was part of the Reader install before 5.0,which is still available on the Mobipocket site. It will do RSS feeds nicely, as well as a lot of very nice newspapers snarfed directly. It can be configured to email this result to the Kindle. (Or you can run a batch script to move the stuff to the Kindle as a hard drive.)
I don't get the advantage of "Mobipocket Web Companion" over the currently eNews... Isn't eNews based on RSS as well?

There would be an advantage if it could indeed email the file. It doesn't seem to be capable of emailing the file generated by the news feeds. Anyway, it's old and does less than
the current software.

If anyone wants to mess with it, I found it here:
http://www.tucows.com/preview/76800


P.S. For a 6 year old piece of software, it's not bad.

You can also use the mobile version of Feedbooks on your Kindle: http://feedbooks.mobi

Not as convenient as the guide, but you can access some other features this way. For example, you can list the top downloaded books for a genre.

I'll add the possibility to sign in on the mobile version this week: this way you'll be able to leave comments about a book, or get a customized list of recommended books.

You can also use the mobile version of Feedbooks on your Kindle: http://feedbooks.mobi

Not as convenient as the guide, but you can access some other features this way. For example, you can list the top downloaded books for a genre.

I'll add the possibility to sign in on the mobile version this week: this way you'll be able to leave comments about a book, or get a customized list of recommended books.

I just realized that you have the RSS->enewspaper service. Could you add mobipocket format? It would be a plus to provide auto email service to kindle too...

I just realized that you have the RSS->enewspaper service. Could you add mobipocket format? It would be a plus to provide auto email service to kindle too...

Yes we will add Mobipocket support, but I don't think we'll add email service. Instead it'll work like our guide/mobile website. Just open the file listing your RSS subscriptions, click on the link and you get the file on your Kindle.

I just wanted to say that I've been informed of another source of Mobipocket format ebooks for the Kindle: Ebooks.com (http://www.ebooks.com). It just checked myself; it accepts a Kindle PID. Also, we have at least one member who has loaded Mobipocket ebooks from his public library on to his Kindle.

My public library uses the OverDrive servers and I've successfully loaded books and opened them on my Kindle.

I was buying a book from booksonboard.com. As I was trying to put in my PID in my account, it said that I had a invalid PID because of that *. Would anyone please let me know what did I do wrong? Or booksonboard simply stop accepting Kindle PID. I was buying a secure mobi(FR) type file, and was trying to setup a device in the FR device catagory. After downloading, I tried kindlefix on the file and got the message that the PID didn't match, that how I found out my PID was not allowed to be entered with the * character by booksonboard.

Delete the FR one, and try to register it as OD. It's the OD servers that allow the *.

Hi Nate,

Thanks for your pointers. I havent got the kindle yet but Ill most probably have it in my hand by next week, so I am researching about stuff ...

I wanted to ask you guys,

Is it possible to convert stuff I have bought from amazon into pdfs? I want to have them in my digital book archive next to my PDF files.

Thanks in advance

Yes, but we don't discuss it here because the procedure is equally useful to the pirate and the legitimate user. I will give you a hint, and let you figure it out on your own. Look here (http://igorsk.blogspot.com/2007/12/hacking-kindle-part-3-root-shell-and.html).

Thanks alot man. This seems like it will take some time to digest but it looks really interesting.

Take care

I found another Mobipocket retailer that Kindle owners can use. The list now includes:

Ebookmall (http://www.ebookmall.com)
Fictionwise (http://www.fictionwise.com)
ebooks.com (http://www.ebooks.com)
BooksOnBoard (http://www.booksonboard.com)
I cannot recommend the last one.

I installed Mobipocket Desktop 6.0 on my Vista machine. It recognizes when I plug in my smartphone - but when I plug in my Kindle it dosnt recognize it. Has anybody seen this?

In the about it says it Version : 6.0 Build 580.

Do you think in the new Kindles they did something to make it not recognize?!

I'll find out tomorrow when my replacement Kindle arrives. I'm running XP but I would imagine the outcome should be similar.

If they really block MobiPocket Desktop from now on, shouldn't every Kindle be affected ? They can automatically push firmware updates using EVDO.

You'd think so but at least on my dead screen Kindle MobiPocket Desktop 6.0 still recognizes my Kindle and displays its PID.

It makes sense to "upgrade" the MobiPocket Desktop to exclude the Kindle instead of pushing out a firmware release via EVDO. When you open MobiPocket Desktop it will tell you if there is new version available and ask if you want to install it. Most people will upgrade automatically, I know that I did. But I was able to uninstall 6.1 and reinstall 6.0.

Amazon was probably getting complaints from Kindle owners that they weren't able to add their Kindle PID at MobiPocket to read DRMed ebooks. I know that I was told that MobiPocket Desktop does not support the Kindle from both MobiPocket and Amazon. Shortly after that 6.1 arrived with the Kindle only showing up as an USB drive.

I'm hoping that the PID is still based on the serial number so igorsk's fix will work if 6.0 doesn't recognize my new Kindle.

I'll find out probably tomorrow afternoon, US East Coast time.

The PID would have to be based off of the serial number. Any other scheme would open the door to people finding a way to change the PID of their device. We all know where that would lead. I seem to recall that mobipocket bases its PID off hardware serial. As for the rest, I installed Mobi 6.0 on Vista the other day. It did not recognize my Kindle. I was disappointed.

Must be something with Vista. I just received my replacement Kindle and 6.0 found it and gave me the PID. BTW, I'm using XP SP2.

Hi all! Just got my kindle and wanted to say that mobipocket 6.0 (from here) is not recognizing for me on Vista either. Bummer!

I forgot that I had MobiPocket on my Vista tablet computer and it didn't find my Kindle either.

If you want the PID just use igorsk's script. It works.

If you want the PID just use igorsk's script. It works.

Oooo -- what and where is that? I don't have any mobipocket desktop installed (I'm on a mac) but I'd love to know my Kindle's ID. I can find a PC if I need to (okay, it's also on my desk, but I only use it once a quarter or less), to run said script. But I really don't want to bother installing the desktop thing.

There are threads on this Forum, but the direct link to the script is Mobipocket Books on Kindle (http://igorsk.blogspot.com/2007/12/mobipocket-books-on-kindle.html). Be sure to read the comments for pastebin bonus scripts.

Look here (http://igorsk.blogspot.com). You'll also need a python interpreter, which you can find here (http://www.python.org/download/).

Hi all! Just got my kindle and wanted to say that mobipocket 6.0 (from here) is not recognizing for me on Vista either. Bummer!

Same thing. Vista itself sees the Kindle just fine but Mobipocket doesn't, dang. Worked fine under XP.