MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Old Mobi format broken in latest Kindle for Android.

bizzybody · 01-25-2012, 06:39 AM

The current (3.3.2) and just previous updates to Kindle Reader for Android have broken support for the Mobipocket format as it was prior to Amazon buying Mobipocket and releasing the original Kindle device.

IIRC, there's an asterisk where a dollar sign used to be, that's pretty much the difference between the two file formats.

The books show up in the list but try to open one and the app will either force close or it opens to location -1 of 1 and there's no text or images, just a blank screen.

The latest version I've been able to find that *doesn't* have this problem is 3.2.0.35

I *could* run over 200 books through some program to tweak the little change that's all the difference there is between pre and post Kindle Mobipocket format - but it would be far better to get Amazon to undo whatever it is they've changed which broke this.

(I checked and I have 218 old format Mobi books on my Samsung Epic 4G. 218 books Amazon has rendered unreadable with their last two updates to their android app!)

Some publishers, like Baen, still have large numbers of Mobipocket books in their catalogs that have not yet been updated to the Kindle format version.

Were I one of those publishers, I'd be complaining to Amazon- because I'd certainly be getting complaints from customers about being unable to open older books on the latest release of the Kindle app for Android. (I sent an e-mail to Baen yesterday explaining the problem and where the fault lies, with Amazon.)

To see what happens, get one of the Mobipocket books from one of the older CDs at baencd.thefifthimperium.com The old format ones have a .PRC extension. The new format ones have the .mobi extension and work properly with any Mobipocket or Kindle software.

If you've never checked out the Baen Free Library, or Baen ebooks, that publisher has included CD-ROMs in several hardcover editions and allows all the content of those discs to be freely distributed in all the formats Baen offers. The site linked above has all the contents of all the CD-ROMs, 100% free and legal.

01-25-2012, 06:39 AM	#1
bizzybody Addict Posts: 296 Karma: 7742186 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Idaho, USA Device: Various PalmOS PDAs, Android Phones, Sharper Image Literati	Old Mobi format broken in latest Kindle for Android. The current (3.3.2) and just previous updates to Kindle Reader for Android have broken support for the Mobipocket format as it was prior to Amazon buying Mobipocket and releasing the original Kindle device. IIRC, there's an asterisk where a dollar sign used to be, that's pretty much the difference between the two file formats. The books show up in the list but try to open one and the app will either force close or it opens to location -1 of 1 and there's no text or images, just a blank screen. The latest version I've been able to find that doesn't have this problem is 3.2.0.35 I could run over 200 books through some program to tweak the little change that's all the difference there is between pre and post Kindle Mobipocket format - but it would be far better to get Amazon to undo whatever it is they've changed which broke this. (I checked and I have 218 old format Mobi books on my Samsung Epic 4G. 218 books Amazon has rendered unreadable with their last two updates to their android app!) Some publishers, like Baen, still have large numbers of Mobipocket books in their catalogs that have not yet been updated to the Kindle format version. Were I one of those publishers, I'd be complaining to Amazon- because I'd certainly be getting complaints from customers about being unable to open older books on the latest release of the Kindle app for Android. (I sent an e-mail to Baen yesterday explaining the problem and where the fault lies, with Amazon.) To see what happens, get one of the Mobipocket books from one of the older CDs at baencd.thefifthimperium.com The old format ones have a .PRC extension. The new format ones have the .mobi extension and work properly with any Mobipocket or Kindle software. If you've never checked out the Baen Free Library, or Baen ebooks, that publisher has included CD-ROMs in several hardcover editions and allows all the content of those discs to be freely distributed in all the formats Baen offers. The site linked above has all the contents of all the CD-ROMs, 100% free and legal. Last edited by bizzybody; 01-25-2012 at 06:44 AM.