OK, I wrote all this and then discovered the solution as I was writing it. So I'm going to post this anyway so that I can answer my own question for any other poor souls out there who run into this...
I've tried sending the following to my new kindle 8, all without any noticeable effect except that the files show up fine on USB mass storage (all done over USB - I keep my kindle permanently in airplane mode - some of which I copied by hand into the documents folder, others sent using the latest 2.69 calibre):
- A PDF file
- The same PDF file run through ghostscript to clean it up
- The same PDF file converted to mobi and sent to the kindle both by calibre
- The same PDF file converted to azw and sent to the kindle both by calibre
- Another PDF file from a different source
- A .mobi document generated by a script I wrote which has worked reliably for years
The files don't show up in the list of documents on the kindle. I have the kindle set to display "ALL" and "ALL ITEMS". My last kindle (7, I think) didn't have this issue.
I've tried rebooting the device. I've read everything I can find on this forum. So two questions / requests:
- Any clues?
- Can somebody point me at a .mobi or PDF online that definitely works on their kindle 8 when transferred via USB mass storage? (mass storage means Kindle plugged in and functioning like a USB hard disk / flash card / whatever to which you can just copy files)
I suspect that some sort of reindexing / table of contents regeneration is supposed to be happening, and that that's not happening for me...