Interface seeming erratic

cat-ears · 03-07-2011, 03:18 PM

I just got a Kindle, so I'm sorry if I'm asking noob questions, but:

1) When I read most books, the little dots under the title turn boldface as I go through them. I think these are chapter dots? But I just read a book (downloaded from Amazon) that had dots that didn't turn bold when I read it. What's that about?

2) If I buy a book from Amazon while my Kindle is off, then when I turn it on, even after turning on wireless, it doesn't appear immediately. Even if I go to menu and ask it to sync, the book doesn't appear. It eventually shows up if I go buy another book, but only then. This is... puzzling.

kranu · 03-08-2011, 01:03 AM

1) If you're talking about the dots showing in the homescreen, the bold is sort of like marker, so that you can visually see your progress of the book.

2) By Off, you mean just on standby, correct? (When there's pictures of dead people) In that case, I'm assuming that you're using Amazon.com. Make sure that you're sending it to your Kindle (not to another device). Also, check under archived items.

cat-ears · 03-08-2011, 05:18 AM

1) I see... but why are they different lengths for different books? And why didn't the dots for a particular book ever turn bold even though I read the whole thing?

2) Yeah, it was from Amazon, and I could not find it under "archived items" (I already looked there). As for what I mean by off/standby, I guess I mean that I bought a book when it was... powered down via the switch at the bottom (and I got the pictures of dead writers or pretty architecture), and then when I powered it up to interact with it, the book didn't appear. I don't have any other devices, and it did eventually get to my Kindle; I just don't know what made it delay until I bought another book from Amazon, at which point both of them showed up as new. (They were $0 books, so it was not a huge problem, but it was annoying.) This behaviour happened exactly the same way twice.

DiapDealer · 03-08-2011, 06:00 AM

Quote:

1) I see... but why are they different lengths for different books?

Because different books are different lengths?

cat-ears · 03-08-2011, 06:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Because different books are different lengths?

Okay, that's true, but it didn't appear to be the answer. Because I've downloaded some very short books that had a lot of dots, and some very long books that had fewer dots. Perhaps they're mislabelled (misdotted?) or something, but alternately, I wanted to know whether we're sure that the number of dots really correspond to length, or whether we're just guessing. I mean, is it documented somewhere?

Much as I do like the simplicity of the guide that shipped with it, I wish I knew where to find some more detailed instruction manuals for this thing...

DiapDealer · 03-08-2011, 07:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cat-ears

Because I've downloaded some very short books that had a lot of dots, and some very long books that had fewer dots. Perhaps they're mislabelled (misdotted?) or something

They are a representation of file size (or the number of 128 byte locations). Shorter books with lots of images or more html formatting may have dotted-lines (on the Home page) that are "longer" than the dotted-lines for books that actually have a larger word-count. I would suggest not focusing on them so much... they're just intended as window dressing.

kranu · 03-08-2011, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cat-ears

2) Yeah, it was from Amazon, and I could not find it under "archived items" (I already looked there). As for what I mean by off/standby, I guess I mean that I bought a book when it was... powered down via the switch at the bottom (and I got the pictures of dead writers or pretty architecture), and then when I powered it up to interact with it, the book didn't appear. I don't have any other devices, and it did eventually get to my Kindle; I just don't know what made it delay until I bought another book from Amazon, at which point both of them showed up as new. (They were $0 books, so it was not a huge problem, but it was annoying.) This behaviour happened exactly the same way twice.

Hmm that's odd. Try to restart your Kindle next time this occurs.

cat-ears · 03-09-2011, 10:14 AM

Thank you both. I'll try restarting next time, and we'll see.

03-07-2011, 03:18 PM	#1
cat-ears in a pretty little nest Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle DX	Interface seeming erratic I just got a Kindle, so I'm sorry if I'm asking noob questions, but: 1) When I read most books, the little dots under the title turn boldface as I go through them. I think these are chapter dots? But I just read a book (downloaded from Amazon) that had dots that didn't turn bold when I read it. What's that about? 2) If I buy a book from Amazon while my Kindle is off, then when I turn it on, even after turning on wireless, it doesn't appear immediately. Even if I go to menu and ask it to sync, the book doesn't appear. It eventually shows up if I go buy another book, but only then. This is... puzzling.

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03-08-2011, 01:03 AM	#2
kranu I <3 my Kindle Posts: 528 Karma: 51332 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: United States Device: Kindle 3G + WiFi	1) If you're talking about the dots showing in the homescreen, the bold is sort of like marker, so that you can visually see your progress of the book. 2) By Off, you mean just on standby, correct? (When there's pictures of dead people) In that case, I'm assuming that you're using Amazon.com. Make sure that you're sending it to your Kindle (not to another device). Also, check under archived items.

03-08-2011, 05:18 AM	#3
cat-ears in a pretty little nest Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle DX	1) I see... but why are they different lengths for different books? And why didn't the dots for a particular book ever turn bold even though I read the whole thing? 2) Yeah, it was from Amazon, and I could not find it under "archived items" (I already looked there). As for what I mean by off/standby, I guess I mean that I bought a book when it was... powered down via the switch at the bottom (and I got the pictures of dead writers or pretty architecture), and then when I powered it up to interact with it, the book didn't appear. I don't have any other devices, and it did eventually get to my Kindle; I just don't know what made it delay until I bought another book from Amazon, at which point both of them showed up as new. (They were $0 books, so it was not a huge problem, but it was annoying.) This behaviour happened exactly the same way twice.

03-09-2011, 10:14 AM	#8
cat-ears in a pretty little nest Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle DX	Thank you both. I'll try restarting next time, and we'll see.

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