Question about getting books onto Voyage as "books"

[krazy4katz]

Hi smart people,

I am in the process of transferring lots of books that I have in Calibre to my Voyage. They were originally downloaded from MobileRead as mobi and sent to my KK. I transferred one book from Calibre via email and it came through as a "document". Is this because I emailed it? Would it come through as a "book" if I side loaded it? Or is it the format? I converted the mobi to AZ3 but Calibre did not give me a choice of formats when I emailed it.

The book looked fine on the Voyage, by the way. I would just rather have it classified as a book.

Thank you in advance,

[eschwartz]

emailed books will ALWAYS be marked as Personal Documents, Amazon applies this as a post-processing fix.

For sideloaded books, calibre will set the cdetype from PDOC to EBOK if you set
Preferences ==> Conversion ==> Output Options ==> MOBI Output
Personal Doc tag == [EBOK]
Make sure "Enable sharing of book content via Facebook, etc." is unchecked. Do this in AZW3 Output as well.

Finally, select all calibre books, hit Edit Metadata, and check the option "Remove stored conversion settings for the selected books". Otherwise calibre will cache the previous values and your settings will not apply to any previously-sent books.



Alternatively, the [GUI Plugin] Quality Check has an option
Fix ==> Fix ASIN for Kindle Fire


You will need to sideload the book via calibre, so calibre can add a cover image to the appropriate area.

[krazy4katz]

Thank you sir! Will try your suggestions.

[Leilani]

I'm hoping somebody can help because I'm tearing my hair out.

I've had a Voyage for a month or so. I know how to edit the Documents folder on the Voyage since I was used to cleaning up my KK.

I buy from other sources besides Amazon, so for example, have lots of mobi files from Fictionwise.

Back in December, I had done what eschwartz suggested with 'Finally, select all calibre books, hit Edit Metadata, and check the option "Remove stored conversion settings for the selected books". Otherwise calibre will cache the previous values and your settings will not apply to any previously-sent books.'

I've been sideloading books that I removed the stored conversion and it seems they're not appearing in the All Items or Docs listing on the Voyage, but when I go in and check the Documents file, they're there.

What's strange is that I bought a bunch of books (mobi) from AllRomance last weekend, adding them to Calibre and then sideloading them. They appear but it seems like the books that I removed the stored conversion settings aren't seeming to appear but new books are ok. I don't know if it's a coincidence since I just realized that I wasn't seeing books I'd sideloaded in December.

I just tried reloading an old file that wasn't showing on the Voyage and reran through Calibre and sideloaded and it's still not showing in the All Items list, although it's in a file folder in the Document folder. I don't know what to try next.

My Calibre output settings are default to mobi
Preferences ==> Conversion ==> Output Options ==> MOBI Output
Personal Doc tag == [EBOK]
Make sure "Enable sharing of book content via Facebook, etc." is unchecked. Do this in AZW3 Output as well.
__

I'm also having an issue that I sideloaded an Amazon book that I had converted to Mobi and accidentally downloaded from the Cloud as well. I ended up with two copies of the book. I went into the Documents folder and deleted both. Now I still have both listed on the Kindle but get an error saying it was removed. Are there hidden files I can't see that's causing them to show on the device? They are not in the Documents folder.

It seemed so easy to manage the books with the KK when I just sideloaded from Calibre and didn't have to deal with this Cloud bunk. Unfortunately I love the size and auto brightness and other Voyage features. But I'm frustrated

[Leilani]

Now it seems like any book I try to sideload, even though it shows up in the Voyage Documents directory is not listed On Device\All Items or Docs \ Recent \Title or Author in to be able to be added to a Collection - I'm on Calibre v. 2.13.

I don't understand what changed between last week and this week with the sideloaded books not showing up in the list. These are purchased books.

Please any suggestions. Should I just start over and Reset the Device?

[eschwartz]

First, do not convert Amazon books to MOBI for sideloading. There is no reason to, as it is either already a MOBI, or else it is the superior AZW3.


In general, it is a bad idea to sideload a book that is already on the device, since the framework can get badly confused. One copy of a book should be the limit.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

First, do not convert Amazon books to MOBI for sideloading. There is no reason to, as it is either already a MOBI, or else it is the superior AZW3.

I have actually converted books bought from Amazon to mobi...mostly because of bad formatting. I don't have the time to dig through an ebook to find out how to "fix" it...especially since 99 times out of 100 just converting to mobi will fix it. To me, there is nothing "superior" about AZW3 - the only thing it seems to do is allow authors and publishers to try to do things to the fonts and paragraphs that aren't needed, and can sometimes make it so that I have a harder time reading.

Shari

[JSWolf]

Why do you have a Kindle if you don't like KF8 (AZW3)?

[eschwartz]

It also allows in-place edits without lossy conversion, including updating the cover and inserting a book jacket.

And just because fonts can be abused does not make them bad.

A single source book, converted to both AZW3 and MOBI, will result in a legacy MOBI and a superior AZW3. Obviously some source books are better than others.

[Leilani]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

First, do not convert Amazon books to MOBI for sideloading. There is no reason to, as it is either already a MOBI, or else it is the superior AZW3.

I'm not converting the mobi files, just having a backup file, I am converting the azw files though.

Any suggestions as to why they're (non-Amazon mobis) not appearing in the All Items view on the Voyage?

Originally Posted by eschwartz

In general, it is a bad idea to sideload a book that is already on the device, since the framework can get badly confused. One copy of a book should be the limit.

I think you're absolutely right about this. Maybe the file has gotten corrupted? I've added a new column in Calibre that's a Y/N if the book is in the Cloud so I don't accidentally sideload a Cloud file. I didn't have to deal with the Cloud with the Keyboard (just worked through Calibre) so this has been a learning experience to say the least.

I haven't called Amazon yet about the corrupted file. Do you have any suggestions of how to fix this? Are there hidden files somewhere I don't see that I could delete?

And what's really weird, while on the Voyage in the Cloud view, both files are listed (empty). I can tell because I use [] around series and Amazon just uses (). In the Cloud view, there's a checkmark on both files.

Thank you for your time and responses.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why do you have a Kindle if you don't like KF8 (AZW3)?

For a number of reasons--I like the hardware, I love the fact that I can send ebooks from other stores, or documents, or web pages to my Kindle cloud and read them on my device without ever having to plug the device into my computer. I love the fact that I can buy a book for my mother and send it directly to her device, as long as she is in an area that has 3G service.

I've tried other devices - the first portable device I read on was my Palm pilot. I bought a Kindle 1 when they first came out, and have had almost every model since. I also had one of the first Nooks, and I just wasn't a fan. I read on it for almost a month before I gave it to my son...I think it's still sitting in a box somewhere. I've read on phones, and tablets, and Kobos and an Onyx Lynx. I still have the Kobo HD and the Onyx Lynx, and do read on them occasionally, but I just keep going back to my Kindles. I rarely have to fiddle with hardware settings on the Kindles, where on my Kobo and Lynx I seem to spend more time fiddling than I do reading.

Any other questions?

Shari

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by shalym

For a number of reasons--I like the hardware, I love the fact that I can send ebooks from other stores, or documents, or web pages to my Kindle cloud and read them on my device without ever having to plug the device into my computer. I love the fact that I can buy a book for my mother and send it directly to her device, as long as she is in an area that has 3G service.

As far as Reader hardware goes, Kobo has one upped Amazon ever since the Kobo Glo and has not stopped doing so. You can grab web pages using the Kobo without needing to email anything. Using the web browser, you can put eBooks on a site such as Dropbox and download from there. You have to use WiFi for that. There is no 3G. But how often are you going to be someplace where you'd be away from WiFi for any length of time without knowing in advance? Not very often if at all. As for eBooks from other stores, you have more store you can buy eBooks from because it's ePub.

I rarely have to fiddle with hardware settings on the Kindles, where on my Kobo and Lynx I seem to spend more time fiddling than I do reading.

That's because there are barely any settings. You basically have few choices. With a Kobo, you have more settings so you can set things more to your liking. I found I did fiddle around a bit with the H2O settings. But now that I have them the way I like, I don't have to change things much. One thing I really like with the H2o is the font size settings. The gap between sizes is not too much. That was a problem with Sony and it's a problem with Kindles. I have the font set to the way I like most of the time, but if I am in bed reading, I might up the font size a little. I don't go from my reading size to too big.

You only fiddle when there are settings to fiddle with until you find the settings you like.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

As far as Reader hardware goes, Kobo has one upped Amazon ever since the Kobo Glo and has not stopped doing so. You can grab web pages using the Kobo without needing to email anything. Using the web browser, you can put eBooks on a site such as Dropbox and download from there. You have to use WiFi for that. There is no 3G. But how often are you going to be someplace where you'd be away from WiFi for any length of time without knowing in advance? Not very often if at all. As for eBooks from other stores, you have more store you can buy eBooks from because it's ePub.

That's because there are barely any settings. You basically have few choices. With a Kobo, you have more settings so you can set things more to your liking. I found I did fiddle around a bit with the H2O settings. But now that I have them the way I like, I don't have to change things much. One thing I really like with the H2o is the font size settings. The gap between sizes is not too much. That was a problem with Sony and it's a problem with Kindles. I have the font set to the way I like most of the time, but if I am in bed reading, I might up the font size a little. I don't go from my reading size to too big.

You only fiddle when there are settings to fiddle with until you find the settings you like.

Did you miss the part where I have a Kobo Aura HD (Newer than the Glo, by the way) The only thing "superior" about the hardware is the size, in my opinion. I loathe IR touchscreens--it seems like I always either have to touch multiple times to get it to do what I want, or the screen is registering a touch from a corner of a blanket or something else, and turning pages when I don't want it to.

Of course I can access web pages on a Kobo from the browser...I can do the same from my Kindle. It's not the same. Unless you're talking about Pocket? Pocket would be great if I could send ANY page I wanted...can it do that yet? If so, I'll take another look at it. Can I take a document that I need to read for work and send it directly to my Kobo, without connecting it to the computer? Can I sync the reading locations for books that I don't buy from Kobo? Can I buy a book and send it directly to my mother's Kobo, no matter what store I buy it from? Can I do either of those last two things with Dropbox?

Yes...there are fewer configuration options on my Kindle, and I would love it if there were more font sizes to choose from. I'm not, however, willing to give up all of the other benefits of my Kindle to get a few more font sizes.

Shari

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Leilani

I'm not converting the mobi files, just having a backup file, I am converting the azw files though.

If you rename file.azw to file.mobi, it is a MOBI ebook. They are the same format with different file extensions.

Any Amazon book does not need to be reconverted, like I said. Unless you need to fix formatting issues, since calibre can homogenize the layout during conversion.

Any suggestions as to why they're (non-Amazon mobis) not appearing in the All Items view on the Voyage?



I think you're absolutely right about this. Maybe the file has gotten corrupted? I've added a new column in Calibre that's a Y/N if the book is in the Cloud so I don't accidentally sideload a Cloud file. I didn't have to deal with the Cloud with the Keyboard (just worked through Calibre) so this has been a learning experience to say the least.

I haven't called Amazon yet about the corrupted file. Do you have any suggestions of how to fix this? Are there hidden files somewhere I don't see that I could delete?

And what's really weird, while on the Voyage in the Cloud view, both files are listed (empty). I can tell because I use [] around series and Amazon just uses (). In the Cloud view, there's a checkmark on both files.

Thank you for your time and responses.

Well, a reset should definitely fix it... Perhaps you could also delete the database file, forcing the Kindle to rebuild everything from scratch (without wiping registration and the actual documents folder), problem is, that is in the hidden system partition so you need to be jailbroken.

I suspect the database got confused.
Without the ability to jailbreak a KV, factory resetting is probably your only option if the framework is this upset.

[Leilani]

I wanted to thank you eschwartz - I did set do a reset and that fixed the corrupted file so all is good.

It does seem like any non-Amazon books being sent are showing on the Voyage now and I'm being extra careful to not double-load the Amazon books from Calibre so I don't have a conflict.

Like anything new, takes a bit of time to adjust to - I was so used to the KK being so simple with Calibre collections but I really like the Auto light and other features of the Voyage and I've either gotten used to the pink at the top or it's not as pink as it was originally (this is the 3rd Voyage and the best of the bunch)