Kindle Paperwhite not recognized as "Kindle device"

dpecos · 07-11-2025, 05:51 AM

Hi!

I just got a new Kindle, the latest Paperwhite, and I was struggling to get the page numbers working (no APNX file was being generated, although it was configured to, and no errors appeared in the log.

After some digging, and comparing the logs with an export to my old kindle, I saw that (most probably) the issue is that the new Paperwhite is being detected as an standard MTP_DEVICE, thus the settings regarding page numbers not applying.

These are the details of my device (I've masked the serial number):

Spoiler:

Quote:

These are the logs of the export to the Paperwhite (no APNX generation):

Spoiler:

And these are from the old kindle:

Spoiler:

Is there anyway I can force Calibre to use the "plugboard"?

Regards,

Dani.

kovidgoyal · 07-11-2025, 08:06 AM

yes amazon changed kindles to be mtp based. And no apnx generation is not supported for mtp devices. And you can use MTP_DEVICE in your plugboard in your config.

dpecos · 07-11-2025, 10:42 AM

Why is the APNX generation not supported for MTP devices?

I transferred one of the APNX files generated for my old kindle to the new one (within the Sidecar directory) using Dolphin (plasma’s file explorer) and its MTP plugin, and it worked fine with my new Paperwhite.

So it should be possible to transfer this file using MTP from calibre. I understand APNX generation does not happen on device, right?

Happy to raise a PR if you could point me to the file where this should happen 🤓

theducks · 07-11-2025, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpecos

Why is the APNX generation not supported for MTP devices?

I transferred one of the APNX files generated for my old kindle to the new one (within the Sidecar directory) using Dolphin (plasma’s file explorer) and its MTP plugin, and it worked fine with my new Paperwhite.

So it should be possible to transfer this file using MTP from calibre. I understand APNX generation does not happen on device, right?

Happy to raise a PR if you could point me to the file where this should happen 🤓

MTP use blocks the access needed. This is DELBERATE by Amazon.

kovidgoyal · 07-11-2025, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dpecos

Happy to raise a PR if you could point me to the file where this should happen 🤓

Sure feel free to do so. Relevant code is in mtp/driver.py

dpecos · 07-11-2025, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

MTP use blocks the access needed. This is DELBERATE by Amazon.

But that would mean that i should not have been able to upload the APNX file using Dolphin with MTP either, but i did, so there has to be a way.

I’ll check what Dolphin is doing in term of MTP and will try to replicate.

jhowell · 07-11-2025, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theducks

MTP use blocks the access needed. This is DELBERATE by Amazon.

That applies to cover thumbnail images, not APNX files.

dpecos · 07-15-2025, 02:02 AM

I have a working piece of code that generates APNX files and uploads them when sending books to MTP devices, you can see the diff here:

https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...calibre:master

I have a few questions:
- I haven't worked on the UI to configure this feature yet, and given how different the dialog for MTP is from the kindle one, I was wondering what would be your preference in terms of UX: maybe a new tab with the 3 extra settings for APNX?
- I'm not a python dev, so please let me know if there is anything wrong with my code
- This is the first time I code for calibre, and I may had made some incorrect assumptions in terms of the supported devices (or other things). I've tried to limit this functionality to MTP Kindles, would that be ok?

Looking forward to your feedback!

Dani.

kovidgoyal · 07-15-2025, 09:44 AM

Looks generally fine. Couple of minor notes:
1) Use PersistentTemporaryFile from calibre.ptemfile rather than the stdlib tempfile module
2) Instead of except: use except Exception: other you catch things like keyboardinterrupts and so on
3) use with rather than try..finally

Yes a separate tab is fine. And yes this is MTP only, the USBMS based kindle driver already handles apnx itself.

dpecos · 07-15-2025, 04:34 PM

I just raised a PR with my changes

I've tested a few books with my device, and so far so good.

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07-11-2025, 08:06 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,345 Karma: 27182818 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	yes amazon changed kindles to be mtp based. And no apnx generation is not supported for mtp devices. And you can use MTP_DEVICE in your plugboard in your config.

07-11-2025, 10:42 AM	#3
dpecos Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2025 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Why is the APNX generation not supported for MTP devices? I transferred one of the APNX files generated for my old kindle to the new one (within the Sidecar directory) using Dolphin (plasma’s file explorer) and its MTP plugin, and it worked fine with my new Paperwhite. So it should be possible to transfer this file using MTP from calibre. I understand APNX generation does not happen on device, right? Happy to raise a PR if you could point me to the file where this should happen 🤓

07-15-2025, 02:02 AM	#8
dpecos Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2025 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	I have a working piece of code that generates APNX files and uploads them when sending books to MTP devices, you can see the diff here: https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...calibre:master I have a few questions: - I haven't worked on the UI to configure this feature yet, and given how different the dialog for MTP is from the kindle one, I was wondering what would be your preference in terms of UX: maybe a new tab with the 3 extra settings for APNX? - I'm not a python dev, so please let me know if there is anything wrong with my code - This is the first time I code for calibre, and I may had made some incorrect assumptions in terms of the supported devices (or other things). I've tried to limit this functionality to MTP Kindles, would that be ok? Looking forward to your feedback! Dani.

07-15-2025, 09:44 AM	#9
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,345 Karma: 27182818 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Looks generally fine. Couple of minor notes: 1) Use PersistentTemporaryFile from calibre.ptemfile rather than the stdlib tempfile module 2) Instead of except: use except Exception: other you catch things like keyboardinterrupts and so on 3) use with rather than try..finally Yes a separate tab is fine. And yes this is MTP only, the USBMS based kindle driver already handles apnx itself.

07-15-2025, 04:34 PM	#10
dpecos Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2025 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	I just raised a PR with my changes I've tested a few books with my device, and so far so good.

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