Troubleshooting Kindle disappearing covers solution.

[Allymando]

Hi, I'm a new member, although I've been viewing/reading various threads on the forum since I bought my first Kindle e-reader about 18 months ago. I decided to join the forum today because I wanted to share this info. I believe I've stumbled on an easy fix for the very annoying “disappearing book covers” issue with side loaded books that first started appearing towards the end of May.

Up until now I’ve been dealing with this issue using the method originally posted on the forum by Androzes. This involves going into the Kindle's system files and saving copies of the cover thumbnails of any newly uploaded books to a folder your computer. You then use these saved thumbnails to replace the crap generic Amazon thumbnails. This method totally works, but is quite time consuming and laborious.

So here’s the good news. About a week ago I had loaded some books on to my Kindle Paperwhite using Calibre. When I ejected the Kindle from my computer, for some reason or other, it decided to stick on the sleep screen, so I held in the power button to restart it. Once it was up and running again I switched off Airplane Mode and expected to see the book covers disappear as usual, as the Kindle connected to Amazon’s servers …… only they didn’t!

I’ve done this a few times now, i.e. With the Kindle in Airplane mode I’ve connected it to my computer, loaded some books on to it and then detached it from the computer. I then restarted the Kindle using the "Restart" option in the Settings menu. Once the Kindle’s restarted, I switch off Airplane Mode and let the Kindle connect with Amazon … and the book covers remain intact. It really is that simple ….. after you’ve finished uploading your books, you just need to do a restart to stop them disappearing!

P.S. Just an extra bit of info. I always wait until all the newly uploaded books have finished indexing before I restart the Kindle.

[Skydog]

Thanks to Kovid, the cover fix was incorporated into an earlier version of Calibre.

[Dr. Drib]

Were you referring to the4.x versions (which I know about), or did you mean he went back and added it to the 3.x versions as well?

[Allymando]

Originally Posted by Skydog

Thanks to Kovid, the cover fix was incorporated into an earlier version of Calibre.

Yes, I know that a "disappearing covers" fix was added to the most up to date versions of Calibre. ( ... from 4.17 onwards.) Unfortunately that was not a solution for me as I own an older computer running Windows 7 and I can only use Calibre 3.48

What I'm trying to convey to other Kindle owners is that no fix is necessary. You simply only need to restart your Kindle, once your newly added books have finished indexing, to stop the covers disappearing.

I've looked at what happens in the system files. When your newly added books have finished indexing, in the thumbnails folder you have a cover thumbnail JPG file, plus an additional Partial Download 0KB file, for each new book. It's the interaction of these Partial Download files with Amazon's servers that causes the covers to get deleted and replaced. A restart deletes these Partial Download files and stops the original covers being replaced by Amazon.

It's very easy for anyone who's dubious to try side loading a few books on to their Kindle and try the procedure I've outlined for themselves.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Allymando

Yes, I know that a "disappearing covers" fix was added to the most up to date versions of Calibre. ( ... from 4.17 onwards.) Unfortunately that was not a solution for me as I own an older computer running Windows 7 and I can only use Calibre 3.48

What I'm trying to convey to other Kindle owners is that no fix is necessary. You simply only need to restart your Kindle, once your newly added books have finished indexing, to stop the covers disappearing.

I've looked at what happens in the system files. When your newly added books have finished indexing, in the thumbnails folder you have a cover thumbnail JPG file, plus an additional Partial Download 0KB file, for each new book. It's the interaction of these Partial Download files with Amazon's servers that causes the covers to get deleted and replaced. A restart deletes these Partial Download files and stops the original covers being replaced by Amazon.

It's very easy for anyone who's dubious to try side loading a few books on to their Kindle and try the procedure I've outlined for themselves.

I think I would rather delete the Partial Download files than restart the kindle.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by Skydog

Thanks to Kovid, the cover fix was incorporated into an earlier version of Calibre.

I'm just experiencing the missing covers on side loaded AZW3 Files and i'm on the latest Calibre version, I just updated. Am i missing something? If the cover issue has been fixed its not working for me.

[Gandulf]

Had an issue as well, not sure if it is the correct way, but I just used pc to delete the ebook and other files, ran polish on calibre to update cover and sent the azw3 file. Fixed problem for now at least.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Josieb1

I'm just experiencing the missing covers on side loaded AZW3 Files and i'm on the latest Calibre version, I just updated. Am i missing something? If the cover issue has been fixed its not working for me.

Are you following the calibre FAQ instructions to reconnect after sending books: Covers for books I send to my e-ink Kindle show up momentarily and then are replaced by a generic cover?

Are the cover thumbnails showing up briefly and then disappearing? If not you might be encountering a different problem.

[Josieb1]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Are you following the calibre FAQ instructions to reconnect after sending books: Covers for books I send to my e-ink Kindle show up momentarily and then are replaced by a generic cover?

Are the cover thumbnails showing up briefly and then disappearing? If not you might be encountering a different problem.

I haven't been around for a few months so no I hadn't seen those instructions. I have now, and have followed, them and everything is okay.

[ricardosan]

same problem and same solution. Thanks for the idea