[Yoji]

Apologies.. you all probably sick of this question... but everything I have read says it should work.. but does not for me.. so here goes (and go easy on me.. its my wifes kindle.. I am no expert).

So wife has paperwhite 11th generation (circa 2022).. in UK..
its on latest firmware .. 5.17.1.0.3(4351900007)
And using Calibre 7.26

So I read the popup when opening calibre.. and when I look at a book in library.. it shows the book cover perfectly..
When I look in device (in Calibre) it shows the book.. but cover is blank/generic.
So I did as the Calibre pop up says.. and disconnected.. and then reconnected and it did not correct automatically.. so I selected a random book in the device level... and pressed the "update the metadata" option in the device options.. and the book cover flashed up correctly.. but then was immediately blanked out again, so it looks like its the kindle itself blanking it (i.e. not something it does when online, I was in airplane mode for the tests).
No amount of connecting/disconnecting/reconnecting seems to fix it.
( I should say.. I only viewing in Calibre.. I dare not mess in the kindle itself.. if I lose my wifes place, she will kill me, and she complains its hard enough to manage at the best of times).

So is this the current state of play and it the same for everyone? or am I doing something wrong? If so, anyone have a nice clear and simple description of how to fix?

And on that (and just seeing the rumours of amazon removing the upload via USB option).. any recommendations re..."Dont be online.. ever, to make sure Amazon dont mess it up any more?"? I would be quite happy to do that and just download book manually for my wife if needs be..so whats "best practice"

Thanks in advance for your indulgance and sage advice.