Troubleshooting Kindle Paperwhite won't remain in USB drive mode when connected to Linux machine

[China Diapers]

Hi.

Since doing a Debian Linux re-install on connecting my Kindle Paperwhite via USB cable it won't remain in USB drive mode. It occasionally enters USB drive mode then returns to the "YOUR LIBRARY" screen and at no point does the device appear as a drive on the OS or recognised in Calibre.

Connecting the device to a Windows machine via USB where it remains in USB drive mode and is recognised as a drive which eliminates the possibility that the issue is the cable.

I have installed the go-mtpfs Debian package.

Anybody have any ideas on how to resolve this?

[j.p.s]

What is the result of doing
dmesg | tail
before connecting the kindle over USB and again after?

Depending on how recent debian you are using, you may need to use
sudo demesg | tail

[China Diapers]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

What is the result of doing
dmesg | tail
before connecting the kindle over USB and again after?

Depending on how recent debian you are using, you may need to use
sudo demesg | tail

Before:

[138826.947094] [UFW BLOCK] IN=wlp3s0 OUT= MAC=18:cf:5e:1f:db:99:40:0d:10:e4:f0:c8:08:00 SRC=192.168.0.1 DST=224.0.0.252 LEN=36 TOS=0x00 PREC=0xC0 TTL=1 ID=22099 PROTO=2 
[138827.079705] [UFW BLOCK] IN=wlp3s0 OUT= MAC= SRC=192.168.0.25 DST=224.0.0.252 LEN=53 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=255 ID=44587 PROTO=UDP SPT=5355 DPT=5355 LEN=33 
[138827.331770] [UFW BLOCK] IN=wlp3s0 OUT= MAC= SRC=192.168.0.25 DST=224.0.0.252 LEN=53 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=255 ID=44614 PROTO=UDP SPT=5355 DPT=5355 LEN=33 
[138827.581741] [UFW BLOCK] IN=wlp3s0 OUT= MAC= SRC=192.168.0.25 DST=224.0.0.252 LEN=53 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=255 ID=44652 PROTO=UDP SPT=5355 DPT=5355 LEN=33 
[138828.081704] [UFW BLOCK] IN=wlp3s0 OUT= MAC= SRC=fe80:0000:0000:0000:1acf:5eff:fe1f:db99 DST=ff02:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001:0003 LEN=73 TC=0 HOPLIMIT=255 FLOWLBL=289705 PROTO=UDP SPT=5355 DPT=5355 LEN=33 
[138828.331643] [UFW BLOCK] IN=wlp3s0 OUT= MAC= SRC=fe80:0000:0000:0000:1acf:5eff:fe1f:db99 DST=ff02:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001:0003 LEN=73 TC=0 HOPLIMIT=255 FLOWLBL=289705 PROTO=UDP SPT=5355 DPT=5355 LEN=33 
[138828.581630] [UFW BLOCK] IN=wlp3s0 OUT= MAC= SRC=fe80:0000:0000:0000:1acf:5eff:fe1f:db99 DST=ff02:0000:0000:0000:0000:0000:0001:0003 LEN=73 TC=0 HOPLIMIT=255 FLOWLBL=289705 PROTO=UDP SPT=5355 DPT=5355 LEN=33 
[138876.504761] [UFW BLOCK] IN=tun0 OUT= MAC= SRC=10.45.0.1 DST=10.45.0.154 LEN=40 TOS=0x00 PREC=0x00 TTL=64 ID=52750 DF PROTO=TCP SPT=8090 DPT=60336 WINDOW=501 RES=0x00 ACK URGP=0 
[138943.429552] [UFW BLOCK] IN=wlp3s0 OUT= MAC=01:00:5e:00:00:01:40:0d:10:e4:f0:c8:08:00 SRC=192.168.0.1 DST=224.0.0.1 LEN=36 TOS=0x00 PREC=0xC0 TTL=1 ID=21506 PROTO=2 
[138944.965027] [UFW BLOCK] IN=wlp3s0 OUT= MAC=01:00:5e:00:00:01:40:0d:10:e4:f0:c8:08:00 SRC=192.168.0.1 DST=224.0.0.1 LEN=32 TOS=0x00 PREC=0xC0 TTL=1 ID=21508 PROTO=2

After in USB mode:

[139034.828823] usb 1-3: new high-speed USB device number 99 using xhci_hcd
[139034.974833] usb 1-3: New USB device found, idVendor=1949, idProduct=0004
[139034.974834] usb 1-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[139034.974836] usb 1-3: Product: Amazon Kindle
[139034.974837] usb 1-3: Manufacturer: Amazon
[139034.974838] usb 1-3: SerialNumber: G090G10562840DJ1
[139034.977835] usb-storage 1-3:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[139034.977889] scsi host5: usb-storage 1-3:1.0
[139035.007414] usb 1-3: USB disconnect, device number 99
[139035.304775] usb 1-3: new high-speed USB device number 100 using xhci_hcd

After not in USB mode:

[138981.415909] scsi 5:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Kindle   Internal Storage 0100 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[138981.416163] sd 5:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[138981.424909] sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
[138981.671924] usb 1-3: USB disconnect, device number 89
[138981.986721] usb 1-3: new high-speed USB device number 90 using xhci_hcd
[138982.106808] usb 1-3: Device not responding to setup address.
[138982.314761] usb 1-3: Device not responding to setup address.
[138982.522656] usb 1-3: device not accepting address 90, error -71
[138982.850654] usb 1-3: new high-speed USB device number 91 using xhci_hcd
[138988.402030] usb 1-3: device descriptor read/64, error -110

[NiLuJe]

dmesg -H please, because I'm way too lazy to parse epoch ts myself .

I'd double check your udev rules, in case something stupid is happening on USB plug and mistakenly matches on the Kindle...

EDIT: Did you also happen to upgrade your kernel? From which version to which version?

There's probably VFAT shenanigans happening on Kindle w/ recent kernels if something's doing nasty things on automount...

c.f., https://bugs.launchpad.net/calibre/+bug/1834641 & https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=203973

[j.p.s]

I would also try while calibre is not running.

[Quoth]

No problem here Mint 18.2, 18.3, 19 and 19.3: Kobo Libra and original H2O. Kindle DXG, Keyboard and PW3 OK.

With or without Calibre.