Converting from Zip to MOBI - Sections not detected

NorthboundTrain · 06-09-2011, 09:16 PM

Calibre: 0.8.4
OS: Ubuntu 10.04

I'm converting from ZIP to MOBI, for uploading to a Kindle 3. My problem is that the conversion is losing the section information; when I view the MOBI file in Calibre, <Ctrl>-<PgDn> does not take me to the next chapter. Using the same source files, ZIP to EPUB does convert correctly. I ran the ZIP to MOBI conversion with Debug on and the toc.ncx file gets generated fine (at least as far as I can tell). Any ideas what I could be doing wrong? Thanks!

kovidgoyal · 06-10-2011, 02:51 AM

That is a limitation of viewing MOBI files in the calibre viewer. As long as clicking the TOC button in the viewer brings up the table of contents, your MOBI is fine.

itimpi · 06-10-2011, 02:52 AM

Note that the Calibre viewer is really only an EPUB viewer - any other format is first converted to EPUB before the viewer loads it. This means that the Calibre viewer is only indicative of what the MOBI file will look like on a real Kindle.

This means that when you use the Calibre viewer to open a MOBI file Calibre will first do an MOBI->EPUB conversion and it could be there that the information is being lost/changed. It may be fine in the MOBI file and you cannot test that without actually loading it into a real Kindle (or one of the Amazon supplied Kindle emulators for other platforms).

ldolse · 06-10-2011, 02:53 AM

Crossed posts with Kovid and Itimpi - the Calibre viewer is not the best way to see if a Mobi file converted perfectly - in order to display it Calibre converts from mobi back to an internal format that's similar to epub.

Use the Kindle Previewer to see a book exactly as it will display on a Kindle with Navpoints, etc:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...cId=1000234621

itimpi · 06-10-2011, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ldolse

Use the Kindle Previewer to see a book exactly as it will display on a Kindle with Navpoints, etc:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...cId=1000234621

I thought of suggesting that, but I noticed that OP was using Ubuntu. As far as I know the Kindle Previweer is only available for Windows and Mac OSX?

RecQuery · 06-10-2011, 05:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itimpi

I thought of suggesting that, but I noticed that OP was using Ubuntu. As far as I know the Kindle Previweer is only available for Windows and Mac OSX?

Kindle for PC will work on Linux if you have Wine 1.3

itimpi · 06-10-2011, 06:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RecQuery

Kindle for PC will work on Linux if you have Wine 1.3

Good information.

Do you know if the Kindle Previewer will work under Wine? It gives a better emulation of a real Kindle so can be better for testing what it will look like on the physical device.

NorthboundTrain · 06-10-2011, 10:01 AM

Thanks for the help! I gave up on the round-trip to the Kindle too soon, I guess, and hit up against the MOBI/Calibre limit. Dang, could have saved a couple of hours and a few grey hairs, but all's well that ends well -- it all works, now. Thanks again!

kovidgoyal · 06-10-2011, 10:29 AM

Kindle Previewer works fine with wine.

06-09-2011, 09:16 PM	#1
NorthboundTrain Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kindle 3	Converting from Zip to MOBI - Sections not detected Calibre: 0.8.4 OS: Ubuntu 10.04 I'm converting from ZIP to MOBI, for uploading to a Kindle 3. My problem is that the conversion is losing the section information; when I view the MOBI file in Calibre, <Ctrl>-<PgDn> does not take me to the next chapter. Using the same source files, ZIP to EPUB does convert correctly. I ran the ZIP to MOBI conversion with Debug on and the toc.ncx file gets generated fine (at least as far as I can tell). Any ideas what I could be doing wrong? Thanks!

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06-10-2011, 02:51 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,857 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	That is a limitation of viewing MOBI files in the calibre viewer. As long as clicking the TOC button in the viewer brings up the table of contents, your MOBI is fine.

06-10-2011, 02:52 AM	#3
itimpi Wizard Posts: 4,552 Karma: 950151 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Sony PRS-950, iphone/ipad (Marvin/iBooks/QuickReader)	Note that the Calibre viewer is really only an EPUB viewer - any other format is first converted to EPUB before the viewer loads it. This means that the Calibre viewer is only indicative of what the MOBI file will look like on a real Kindle. This means that when you use the Calibre viewer to open a MOBI file Calibre will first do an MOBI->EPUB conversion and it could be there that the information is being lost/changed. It may be fine in the MOBI file and you cannot test that without actually loading it into a real Kindle (or one of the Amazon supplied Kindle emulators for other platforms).

06-10-2011, 02:53 AM	#4
ldolse Wizard Posts: 1,337 Karma: 123455 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Malaysia Device: PRS-650, iPhone	Crossed posts with Kovid and Itimpi - the Calibre viewer is not the best way to see if a Mobi file converted perfectly - in order to display it Calibre converts from mobi back to an internal format that's similar to epub. Use the Kindle Previewer to see a book exactly as it will display on a Kindle with Navpoints, etc: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.htm...cId=1000234621

06-10-2011, 10:01 AM	#8
NorthboundTrain Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: Kindle 3	Thanks for the help! I gave up on the round-trip to the Kindle too soon, I guess, and hit up against the MOBI/Calibre limit. Dang, could have saved a couple of hours and a few grey hairs, but all's well that ends well -- it all works, now. Thanks again!

06-10-2011, 10:29 AM	#9
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,857 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Kindle Previewer works fine with wine.

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