Kindle Fire and Calibre

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by cecdc7731

Is there a plug-in that will do this change automatically and put the file in the Fire folder that we would designate (Newsstand, Books, Docs)?

It does not matter which of the two folders (Books and Documents) an ebook is in. It will show up under Books or Docs depending on the metadata in the ebook (e.g. is it marked as a PDOC or not). When I transfer ebooks via USB using Calibre, they show up withing a minute or so of disconnecting from USB. It is probably best to touch the disconnect button on the Fire before unplugging from USB, but this should not be necessary.

It should not matter if the file is .mobi or .prc, but perhaps you have discovered a trick that helps (rename to .prc and put in the Books folder).

Make sure your ebooks are not under Docs on the home screen. If not under Books or Docs, try rebooting (i.e. turn off the Fire). That usually works if nothing else does.

[Gingerbread]

How can you see if a book is marked as a PDOC or not? To have kindle put a book in the books section instead of the documents section does it need to be marked as a PDOC or does it need to not be marked? How can you change whether it is marked or not?

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by Gingerbread

How can you see if a book is marked as a PDOC or not? To have kindle put a book in the books section instead of the documents section does it need to be marked as a PDOC or does it need to not be marked? How can you change whether it is marked or not?

The easiest way is probably Java Mobi Metadata Editor. That post tells you how to change PDOC, but note that later posts in that thread clarify that you need to hit enter after changing PDOC and before SAVE.

So far as I can tell, if cdetype is EBOK, the MOBI will show up in the Books app and otherwise (no cdetype or PDOC) it will be in the Docs app.

This topic has proved to be very contentious, with contradictory experience reported by different users. Most of them have not actually checked the cdetype though. Another gotcha is that the Fire does not reliably update its databases for a new version of the same ebook. So it is best to test on a new ebook.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

So far as I can tell, if cdetype is EBOK, the MOBI will show up in the Books app and otherwise (no cdetype or PDOC) it will be in the Docs app.

I currently have cdetype as 'blank' and *all* converted books appear in the Books app.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

I currently have cdetype as 'blank' and *all* converted books appear in the Books app.

I downloaded two MOBIs from the Patricia Clark Memorial Library, Piper, H. Beam: Murder in the Gunroom. v2, 27 Sep 2008 and Various: Ten Detective Aces Sampler 5. V1. 6 Mar 2012. As usual, they don't have a cdetype entry at all. So I added a cdetype with no value using Java Mobi Metadata Editor. I then copied these "new" versions to the Documents folder on my Fire via USB. They both show up under Docs. In previous tests, I copied MOBIs from the Patricia Clark Memorial Library to my Fire. They had no cdetype entry at all, and they also show up under Docs.

Note that this was not using Calibre. Calibre always(?) adds a cdetype of either EBOK or PDOC to a MOBI that is written via Send to disk or Send to device.

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Note that this was not using Calibre. Calibre always(?) adds a cdetype of either EBOK or PDOC to a MOBI that is written via Send to disk or Send to device.

Hmm..? Only use Calibre. Personal Doc Tag was PDOC by default, is now empty. I find neither PDOC or EBOK in exploded epub. ??

[theducks]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Hmm..? Only use Calibre. Personal Doc Tag was PDOC by default, is now empty. I find neither PDOC or EBOK in exploded epub. ??

Those only appear internally in MOBI type files

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Hmm..? Only use Calibre. Personal Doc Tag was PDOC by default, is now empty. I find neither PDOC or EBOK in exploded epub. ??

I started out with a similar misunderstanding of the PDOC issue for Calibre. I summarize what I now think is the case in PDOC to EBOK without converting?:

In Preferences -> Output options -> MOBI output. There is a "Personal doc tag" option. This is typically set to [PDOC], but it can have any value you want. The way this works is that if this tag is associated with your ebook in Calibre and you are writing a copy then cdetype is set to PDOC and otherwise it is set to EBOK.

A blank (empty) "Personal doc tag" option does always get you an EBOK. So it is a safe choice.

[wallcraft]

I have finally found one case where a PDOC is always produced in the output MOBI ebook from Calibre. If the original is a MOBI, and it has cdetype set to PDOC then the output from Calibre will still have the PDOC. In this case, a MOBI to MOBI conversion will remove the PDOC from Calibre's internal version and any subsequent MOBI Sent to device or to disk will then have EBOK (assuming the "Personal doc tag" isn't present).

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by theducks

Those only appear internally in MOBI type files

Doh!!!!

Back to the problem. So how come if I have PDOC set in Calibre it ends up in Docs, but it it's blank it ends up in Books (everytime). Something is different between my setup and wallcraft's.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by jgaiser

Doh!!!!

Back to the problem. So how come if I have PDOC set in Calibre it ends up in Docs, but it it's blank it ends up in Books (everytime). Something is different between my setup and wallcraft's.

Are you mailing or side loading? #1 : your friends at Amazon fix your files...The sell Books

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Note that this was not using Calibre. Calibre always(?) adds a cdetype of either EBOK or PDOC to a MOBI that is written via Send to disk or Send to device.

When updating metadata in MOBI files calibre does not change the cdetype unless the PDOC tag matches. In other words, the bulletproof procedure for ensuring that your mobi files show up in books on your Fire is:

1) Delete the PDOC field in the calibre options
2) Do a MOBI to MOBI conversion
3) Send the file to your Fire with send to device

[jgaiser]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

1) Delete the PDOC field in the calibre options
2) Do a MOBI to MOBI conversion
3) Send the file to your Fire with send to device

This... Sideloaded.

[Cheyanne]

Hi, I've been using Calibre for awhile and love it. I have a Kindle and my daughter has a nook, it works great for both. My other daughter got a Kindle fire (the $159 one) and it won't show up in Calibre when I plug it in. I made sure the plugin for fire was green and it's fine. The kindle fire shows up in my computer when I plug it it. I just updated Calibre today so I have the newest version. I read all the post in this forum and still can't get it to recognize the KF. I tried converting the mobi(took out EDOC) then tried to just put the file in the KF book folder and it says file type not supported. And it's a mobi file or when converted again, an "original mobi" file. I see there are people that have the fire and it works in Calibre for them. What am I doing wrong? Thanks for any help! I love Calibre and it's worked so good for the other devices.

[itimpi]

What OS are you running on your PC? The Kindle Fire requires MTP support, and that is not available with Calibre on Windows XP for instance.