Restrictions on sideloading? - Page 2

jhowell · 10-29-2015, 05:01 PM

This help page at amazon.com has instructions for sideloading content onto a Fire tablet. Different media goes to different directories:

Quote:

(Abridged)

1. From your computer, locate the content you want to transfer from your computer to your Fire Tablet.

2. Connect your device to your computer with the micro-USB cable that came with your device. If you've set a lock screen password on your device, you may need to unlock your device before it can be opened on your computer.

3. Open the device folder (titled Fire) on your computer, and then open the Internal storage folder.

4. Locate the downloaded file on your computer, and then drag and drop the compatible file you want to transfer into the applicable folder:

Audiobooks: AA, AAX
Books: AZW (.azw3), MOBI (non-DRM), KF8
Documents: TXT, PDF, PRC, DOC, DOCX, HTML5, CSS3
Music: MP3, non-DRM AAC (.m4a), MIDI, PCM/WAVE, OGG, WAV, AC-3, E-AC-3, AMR-NB, AMR-WB
Pictures: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP
Movies: MP4, 3GP, VP8 (.webm), M4V, MKV

5. Disconnect your device from your computer.

ETA: Fire tablet owners can use the Manage Your Content and Devices page at Amazon to download books directly to their PC and then sideload them. (The usefulness of this is limited, but it does provide a way to load your books into calibre.)

kennyc · 10-29-2015, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

This help page at amazon.com has instructions for sideloading content onto a Fire tablet. Different media goes to different directories:

Yes, but that's not the issue I'm asking about. Please see the first (few) posts. Sorry if it wasn't clear, sideloading works fine, it's the Fire to recognize the books.

And yes, I've been sideloading to my Kindle Fire since the day I got it.

jhowell · 10-29-2015, 05:13 PM

Sorry I too was unclear. The point I was trying to make is that Amazon lists only a specific directory where you are supposed to sideload books. They do not mention any ability to use the SD card for that purpose, as far as I can see.

kennyc · 10-29-2015, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

Sorry I too was unclear. The point I was trying to make is that Amazon lists only a specific directory where you are supposed to sideload books. They do not mention any ability to use the SD card for that purpose, as far as I can see.

Right.

I actually was unaware that the new one even had an SD Card til this came up elsewhere.....I'm perfectly happy with my K2 and Original Fire.

tomsem · 11-04-2015, 12:42 PM

You can always have books on the SD card and copy them to the 'supported' locations on internal storage as desired, using ES Explorer etc.

I've been meaning to experiment with this, wondering if you can add a symlink in the 'supported' locations on internal storage that points to external storage. Maybe that's enough to have it detect things on SD.

kennyc · 11-04-2015, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomsem

You can always have books on the SD card and copy them to the 'supported' locations on internal storage as desired, using ES Explorer etc.

I've been meaning to experiment with this, wondering if you can add a symlink in the 'supported' locations on internal storage that points to external storage. Maybe that's enough to have it detect things on SD.

Yes, but even using ES File Explorer (or installing it) is sometimes too much for naive users.

I think that was the status/state of the user in the post(s) elsewhere that prompted this thread.

Notjohn · 11-22-2015, 10:43 AM

I am testing out a new Fire HD 8, and I have encountered some issues. Because my computer somehow couldn't "see" my earlier Fire HD (7 inch, 2012 model), I downloaded and became fond of Dooblou WiFi app. I fire it up, then browse to my tablet on my computer, and from there have complete control over selecting and uploading books.

The odd thing is that I can't "see" some of the books. I am uploading to the directory /sd/Books, but none of the books I downloaded from Amazon (Manage Your Digital Content and Devices) appear there. Nor can I find them anywhere else! Yet they appear on my Library, as do the ones I uploaded from my desktop computer.

Another oddity: I uploaded a mobi file of a book I'm working on, and it doesn't appear in the Library, though I can clearly see the mobi file in the tablet's /sd/Books/ directory. So I went back to Calibre and saved it as an AZW3 file -- and that does appear in the Library! So I deleted the mobi version.

I also uploaded a PDF that I had read in the older tablet. It shows in the /sd/Books/ directory, but I can't find it in the Library. (It worked just fine in the older tablet.)

Finally, I have a question about LUCI files. What in tarnation are those? Evidently one is created for each book I have actually opened and looked at. Is that how the pages-read information is stored?

Thanks for any enlightenment!

jgaiser · 11-22-2015, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notjohn

The odd thing is that I can't "see" some of the books. I am uploading to the directory /sd/Books, but none of the books I downloaded from Amazon (Manage Your Digital Content and Devices) appear there. Nor can I find them anywhere else! Yet they appear on my Library, as do the ones I uploaded from my desktop computer.

Books from Amazon are at /sd/Android/data/com.amazon.kindle/files/Books -- And the titles are obfuscated so you'll have a hard time figuring out which book is which name.

HarryT · 11-22-2015, 02:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Books from Amazon are at /sd/Android/data/com.amazon.kindle/files/Books -- And the titles are obfuscated so you'll have a hard time figuring out which book is which name.

Are they obfuscated, or is it like Kindle for PC, where the filename is simply the ASIN of the book? (Ie its "Bxxxxxxxxx" Amazon identifier?)

jgaiser · 11-22-2015, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Are they obfuscated, or is it like Kindle for PC, where the filename is simply the ASIN of the book? (Ie its "Bxxxxxxxxx" Amazon identifier?)

Actually, you're probably right. Don't usually bother with the files, because as far as I know there still hasn't been a break of the Fire DRM. File names don't appear to make sense. Easier to just send to my Kindle Keyboard is I want to clean up the files.

jhowell · 11-22-2015, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Are they obfuscated, or is it like Kindle for PC, where the filename is simply the ASIN of the book? (Ie its "Bxxxxxxxxx" Amazon identifier?)

The files are grouped, one directory per book, named by the ASIN.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Don't usually bother with the files, because as far as I know there still hasn't been a break of the Fire DRM.

Without going into how one would remove it, I will say that the DRM used is identical to that of the Kindle for Android app.

As with e-ink Kindles, Amazon allows the download of books directly from their website for Fire tablet owners. Potentially useful in the post-KFX world.

(ETA: The above applies to Fire OS 5. I don't know about the earlier versions.)

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10-29-2015, 05:13 PM	#18
jhowell Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,497 Karma: 84420419 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Tampa Bay, Florida Device: Kindles	Sorry I too was unclear. The point I was trying to make is that Amazon lists only a specific directory where you are supposed to sideload books. They do not mention any ability to use the SD card for that purpose, as far as I can see.

11-04-2015, 12:42 PM	#20
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,478 Karma: 26425959 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	You can always have books on the SD card and copy them to the 'supported' locations on internal storage as desired, using ES Explorer etc. I've been meaning to experiment with this, wondering if you can add a symlink in the 'supported' locations on internal storage that points to external storage. Maybe that's enough to have it detect things on SD.

11-22-2015, 10:43 AM	#22
Notjohn mostly an observer Posts: 1,515 Karma: 987654 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: Kindle	I am testing out a new Fire HD 8, and I have encountered some issues. Because my computer somehow couldn't "see" my earlier Fire HD (7 inch, 2012 model), I downloaded and became fond of Dooblou WiFi app. I fire it up, then browse to my tablet on my computer, and from there have complete control over selecting and uploading books. The odd thing is that I can't "see" some of the books. I am uploading to the directory /sd/Books, but none of the books I downloaded from Amazon (Manage Your Digital Content and Devices) appear there. Nor can I find them anywhere else! Yet they appear on my Library, as do the ones I uploaded from my desktop computer. Another oddity: I uploaded a mobi file of a book I'm working on, and it doesn't appear in the Library, though I can clearly see the mobi file in the tablet's /sd/Books/ directory. So I went back to Calibre and saved it as an AZW3 file -- and that does appear in the Library! So I deleted the mobi version. I also uploaded a PDF that I had read in the older tablet. It shows in the /sd/Books/ directory, but I can't find it in the Library. (It worked just fine in the older tablet.) Finally, I have a question about LUCI files. What in tarnation are those? Evidently one is created for each book I have actually opened and looked at. Is that how the pages-read information is stored? Thanks for any enlightenment!