send to device format preference

[cybmole]

how do I set up calibre so that send to device auto selects.mobi format for my Kindle and does not ask me to choose a format every time ?

if that's not possible can I at least edit the format options so that .mobi is option 1, i.e. remove the .azw option as I have no .azw in my calibre library

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by cybmole

how do I set up calibre so that send to device auto selects.mobi format for my Kindle and does not ask me to choose a format every time ?

Set your Preferred output format to mobi, setting found at Preferences - Behavior.

I could be wrong, you might have to go to the device plugin and customize it by putting mobi at the top.

[cybmole]

[QUOTE=dwanthny;1136207]Set your Preferred output format to mobi, setting found at Preferences - Behavior.

IQUOTE]

that's already set, but I still get asked.
I think the above parameter is a preference used when converting book formats ,not for device send ?

there's a kindle (1) plug in - but calibre says it does not need customisation ???

I am not finding that kindle customise screen which you pictured anywhere in my preferences, is it a v7.21 beta addition , or in a wizard somewhere ?

also I think I had this workign OK a couple of weeks ago - maybe I unset something, or maybe it was after also conected my son's Sony reader,thus making calibre aware that there are two devies in the house, with different default formats ???

[Manichean]

Originally Posted by cybmole

that's already set, but I still get asked.
I think the above parameter is a preference used when converting book formats ,not for device send ?

there's a kindle (1) plug in - but calibre says it does not need customisation ???

Just checked, it's customizable here. Are you sure you got the device interface plugin?

Originally Posted by cybmole

I am not finding that kindle customise screen which you pictured anywhere in my preferences, is it a v7.21 beta addition , or in a wizard somewhere ?

Go to preferences -> plugins -> device interface.

Originally Posted by cybmole

also I think I had this workign OK a couple of weeks ago - maybe I unset something, or maybe it was after also conected my son's Sony reader,thus making calibre aware that there are two devies in the house, with different default formats ???

I believe that if you don't actively change settings yourself, Calibre doesn't change it's settings.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by cybmole

I am not finding that kindle customise screen which you pictured anywhere in my preferences, is it a v7.21 beta addition , or in a wizard somewhere ?

Preferences - Advanced - Plugins - Device interface plugins - Kindle2/3 - Customize plugin

These settings never change by themselves so your default is currently azw.

[cybmole]

OK guys - found it - I was looking at output plugins not at device plugins, so I found the kindle 2/3 one & set it to mobi only. hopefully that will work.

suprised that it is not setup like that by default, as mobi is the only non-DRM book format you can usefully send to device.

[Manichean]

Originally Posted by cybmole

OK guys - found it - I was looking at output plugins not at device plugins, so I found the kindle 2/3 one & set it to mobi only. hopefully that will work.

suprised that it is not setup like that by default, as mobi is the only non-DRM book format you can usefully send to device.

Well, it works like that: Calibre checks for the first format in the list, if it's available, it's sent to the device. Then it checks for the second format and so on. You should, to my knowledge, only see a selection prompt if it couldn't find any formats it could send.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by Manichean

Well, it works like that: Calibre checks for the first format in the list, if it's available, it's sent to the device. Then it checks for the second format and so on. You should, to my knowledge, only see a selection prompt if it couldn't find any formats it could send.

well no - I edited the plug in so that it would only send .mobi & .prc ( that latter was an accidental tick but read on please.

then I tried sending a book. I was offered those to formats & asked to choose, even though mobi was the only format on the list that I had that book in. ( I had it in mobi & epub)

so I edited preferences again, this time correctly making .mobi the only format.

tried send to device again ,this time was shown a screen inviting me to choose from 1 of 1 listed formats ( mobi).

not a big deal - just a pointless extra screen.

so I reckon maybe that if calibre has a book(s) in 2 or more formats, then it always asks you to choose one when you send book to device, no matter what you do on preferences screens.

[Manichean]

Originally Posted by cybmole

so I reckon maybe that if calibre has a book(s) in 2 or more formats, then it always asks you to choose one when you send book to device, no matter what you do on preferences screens.

No, it doesn't. At least not if it is behaving normally... I have some books that I have two supported formats of, and when trying to transfer, the ePub (which is my preferred format and set as such in the preferences) gets sent automatically.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by cybmole

so I reckon maybe that if calibre has a book(s) in 2 or more formats, then it always asks you to choose one when you send book to device, no matter what you do on preferences screens.

Are you clicking on the send-to-device icon, or are you choosing send-specific-format?

Reason I ask: if you are clicking on the button and you are getting asked, then something is broken. Clicking the button is supposed to always pick the highest priority preferred format available. And it works for me, every time, on both my Sony and on the Folder Device.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by chaley

Are you clicking on the send-to-device icon, or are you choosing send-specific-format?

Reason I ask: if you are clicking on the button and you are getting asked, then something is broken. Clicking the button is supposed to always pick the highest priority preferred format available. And it works for me, every time, on both my Sony and on the Folder Device.

i tried it both ways - just clicking the button and selecting send specific format, & yes I'm pretty sure it used to work without asking me, also - but not now..

most likely it's not "broken" more likely there's some other preference which also influences this behaviour

the 1st calibre version i used was 7.17 & I reckon it was "working" then,.since then I've done 3 program updates + played around with various settings.

Hmm - save to disc also behaves strangely - if I select save mobi format only to disc, which appears as a drop down option -then it works without further ado, but if I jsut click save to disc it asks for a directory, & then says saving - but the test book does not appear in the target directory . - ah, i think that's because somewhere, somehow, I configured "save to disc" to only do epub, as I was saving books for my son's sony reader. but I can't find how I did that now! - ah - its on the save to disc preferences. I have that set to epub.

so maybe because I have save to disc = epub and send to device = mobi, calibre is confused , or needs a restart to fully implement plug in customisations?

I'll maybe test it again tomorrow after a full PC shut down & restart.

it's no big deal for me to have to click one extra "OK" when sending books to Kindle.

[Manichean]

I just figured this out by accident: In the dropdown of "Send to device", you need to set the preferred storage medium in the default send to device action, not in the submenu "Send specific format". See attached.

[cybmole]

wow thanks - some of these preferences are spectactularly well hidden :-)

[cybmole]

UPDATE - the above fix does not help - I still get the extra screen:

[cybmole]

solved - you could make an adventure game out of this stuff.

it's exactly what you said, not what I read into it!

the settings have to be default action = send to device, main memory. NOT send to device, specific format. the latter ( confusingly) TURNS ON the which format ? screen for every transfer.