Kindle Paperwhite 2024 not recognised by Calibre

[macnoodle]

This seems to be a widespread issue, and I have seen posts from people with *exactly the same problem that I have, but none of the things that have so far been suggested worked for me, so I thought I’d post this as a thread of its own. The error message that pops up in Calibre is very specific, so I hope that someone with coding experience can point me in the right direction. Here is my sad story:

My brand-new Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition is not being detected by Calibre, no matter what I try (different cables, different USB ports, nothing works). I’m using the latest version of Calibre with the latest version of MacOS, on a MacBook Pro M1 Pro (Apple Silicon). Resetting the Kindle to factory defaults works, but only temporarily, and of course it wipes any downloaded and sideloaded content from the Kindle in the process. After a factory reset Calibre will detect the Kindle exactly once, then never again! I suspect this has something to do with Amazon cracking down on DRM removal. This is what Calibre reports when the Kindle is disconnected (it is only “detected“ by Calibre upon disconnecting):

Failed to get storage info for device.

Traceback (most recent call last):

File "calibre/gui2/device.py", line 112, in run

File "calibre/gui2/device.py", line 532, in _get_device_information

File "calibre/devices/mtp/base.py"

, line 24, in synchronizer

File "calibre/devices/mtp/unix/driver.py", line 358, in free_space libmtp.MTPError: Failed to get storage info for device.

I’m not sure what to do with that or if it can be patched in a future Kindle firmware update or a Calibre software update, but a Kindle (or any other e-reader) that won’t talk to Calibre is of no use to me, so my new Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition will be going back to Amazon. It is a real shame - I really like the new screen and the device overall, but Amazon’s greed is ultimately going to cost them in the long run. I would have happily bought the Matcha basic Kindle in addition to this new Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition, but instead I’ll be returning it for a refund if a solution cannot be found before the return window closes.

[kovidgoyal]

That error typically happens when your device is open in another program already. Make sure calibre is the only program that is running that is trying to access MTP devices.

[macnoodle]

That’s the thing - both MacBook Pro and Kindle were freshly restarted, there is absolutely nothing running on the laptop and nothing connected via any of the USB ports other than the Kindle, yet the same problem persists..

[kovidgoyal]

And can you browse your kindle in another program like android file transfer or openmtp?

[macnoodle]

Yes. No problem accessing the folders on the Kindle via OpenMTP. It will not automatically pop up though - I have to refresh the Kindle in OpenMTP after it has been plugged in.

If I reset the Kindle to factory default, it will work with Calibre almost instantly. No wait at all. But only once. Then it will never connect again. (At least that's what happened last time).

[Quoth]

You can't have OpenMTP enabled (or any MTP driver/app inc Kindle Desktop) on Mac, if you want to use Calibre. Same on Linux, you have to make sure an MTP device doesn't mount.

[macnoodle]

Originally Posted by Quoth

You can't have OpenMTP enabled (or any MTP driver/app inc Kindle Desktop) on Mac, if you want to use Calibre. Same on Linux, you have to make sure an MTP device doesn't mount.

Sure, but my problem remains even when OpenMTP has been disabled. I even uninstalled OpenMTP and everything to do with it, and *still the Kindle would not connect.

Everyone keeps repeating that I can only use one MTP connection at a time. That’s what I’m doing. It is not fixing the problem! I’m asking for other ideas, because it’s clearly something else.

[kovidgoyal]

Then your kindle is defective return it to amazon and ask for a replacement.

[macnoodle]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Then your kindle is defective return it to amazon and ask for a replacement.

Looks that way. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate you taking the time.

Just FYI: I reset the Kindle again, and again it worked *once! Immediately after a factory reset, it connects the very first time it is plugged in. After that, it comes back with the same exact message I posted in my original post.

I will be returning the Kindle for a full refund. Not sure if I'll get another one to replace it yet, to be perfectly honest. I don't really want to reward Amazon for making devices that make downloading via USB, directly from Amazon, impossible.

[macnoodle]

FYI:

It was not a faulty Kindle! Partly out of stubbornness and partly out of sheer morbid curiosity, I decided to order another brand-new Kindle Paperwhite SE 2024 (with a Black Friday discount this time around ) and it behaves exactly like my previous unit!

Has anyone had any luck using Calibre on Mac OS with the new 2024 Kindles? Could it be my Calibre install that is somehow causing this???

[Strether]

I don't have any trouble, but I use Android File Transfer which shows up in the dock when I plug the Kindle into the computer. I remove it from the dock and after thinking about it for a bit, Calibre recognizes it and I can transfer books to the Kindle.

Jim

[macnoodle]

Originally Posted by Strether

I don't have any trouble, but I use Android File Transfer which shows up in the dock when I plug the Kindle into the computer. I remove it from the dock and after thinking about it for a bit, Calibre recognizes it and I can transfer books to the Kindle.

Jim

Interesting! I just plugged my brand-new Kindle into my MacBook Pro and it took 30 minutes for Calibre to recognise it!

[mastier]

I just installed 7.22 from the website into home folder on Ubuntu 24.04
I got the following error

Spoiler:

$ ./calibre
Device 0 (VID=1949 and PID=9981) is UNKNOWN in libmtp v1.1.21.
Please report this VID/PID and the device model to the libmtp development team
libusb_claim_interface() reports device is busy, likely in use by GVFS or KDE MTP device handling alreadyLIBMTP PANIC: Unable to initialize device
Error while trying to open MTPDevice(busnum=1, devnum=55, vendor_id=6473, product_id=39297, bcd=547, serial='GN433W08432303BS', manufacturer='Amazon', product='Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition') (Driver: <calibre.devices.mtp.driver.MTP_DEVICE object at 0x79d7959a0710>)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre/devices/mtp/unix/driver.py", line 218, in open
File "calibre/devices/mtp/base.py", line 24, in synchronizer
File "calibre/devices/mtp/unix/driver.py", line 170, in create_device
libmtp.MTPError: Unable to open MTP device with busnum=1 and devnum=55, tried 1 such devices

During handling of the a

[Comfy.n]

I was curious about LIBMTP PANIC in the log and found this:
https://github.com/phatina/simple-mt...ent-1480271481

likely a permission error

[kovidgoyal]

No it will most likely be that something else in the users environment has opened the device the desktop env or file manager or similar. This being linux the choices are endless.