Amazon has removed Download & Transfer option

[lkmiller]

I can no longer do so on this particular PC, as I need a more recent version of calibre and the NoDRM plugin and KFXIn plugin, neither of which are supported on this PC.

Are you on Windows 7? DeDRM 10.0.9 and the latest KFX Input work with the last version of calibre that runs on Windows 8 (5.44).

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

Are you on Windows 7?

Yes, that is the case with this PC.

My Windows 8/10 PC died a while back, and I'm still not using my new Windows 11 PC for much ... in fact it is problematic where to use it currently. I made a special table for my bed, but I rarely feel like using it there. My Win 7 PC has an awful lot of things I use on it, so it is hard to migrate ... mentally.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by jonathan2022

Have you ever tried Linux. Xubuntu works on older computers. Version 24.04 (year and month) is supported for 3 years and supports the latest calibre. I haven't tried kindle 2.40 yet on it . You use a program called wine to install windows programs.

Yes, a number of times.

The last version, which I still have on a USB stick in my desk draw, is a Live version of Mint. That was quite usable. But I cannot use Linux full time, as I use a programming language all the time, AutoIt, that is not supported on that OS, and except for simple programs won't run through Wine etc ... not properly anyway.

I use a lot of my programs daily etc, that I have crafted and wouldn't be without them, they are too important to my PC usage.

If I was a young man, I might have given Linux a better go, except I don't have the right mindset ... not nerdy enough ... my brain doesn't work that way ... it's also why I essentially only use AutoIt, a programming language that almost anyone can use. I've been using it for more than 10 years now, and never intend to use anything else.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Only if the firmware version is low enough.

What firmware version is your PW2 running?

Well, seeing as my usage is tied to occasionally using Wifi, especially now, I have no control over the firmware being updated every time I connect, so I imagine it is the latest firmware for the Paperwhite.

My belief wasn't based on what Amazon could do, but the sense of doing it. The Paperwhite 2 doesn't have a large amount of storage, so for Amazon to force KFX files onto it, is a very uncaring act by them, and as I said previously, bordering on being the final nail in the coffin for my buying of Kindle ebooks.

Amazon have treated me (us) badly too many times, and I have a good long list of grievances against them now. They clawed back some of that when they started showing ebook titles on their confirmation emails again, along with information inside the email, but getting rid of Download & Transfer via USB was a serious bad thing for them to do, and now using up too much space on my Paperwhite, just puts them well into the red as uncaring bite the hand that feeds you greedy selfish s#####ads.

About 4 to 5 years ago, I was on the cusp of buying a new Kindle device maybe, but luckily a local store had some Kobo devices, and my wife and I went that way, and I am so glad we did ... despite the issues we've had with those two devices ... we've learnt to work around them.

My next e-ink device will be another Kobo ... or maybe something else, but not Kindle.

[Quoth]

I'd have imagined KFX ebooks are smaller than AZW3, especially if there are colour images, as Amazon tailors KFX to the destination and it's a compiled format. I could check as I have a PW3 and Keyboard gen3. I can't easily make KFX, but I can read them on Linux.

Anything after the PW1 is liable to get KFX, and FW updates with backported KFX must be about 6 years or more old for PW2 and PW3. The AZW3 was backported to all but K1, K2, and DX family by about 2017. It's still the best for conversion as most novels are uploaded as epub and AZW3 is very similar to epub. KFX is highly processed.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Timboli

Yes, that is the case with this PC.

My Windows 8/10 PC died a while back, and I'm still not using my new Windows 11 PC for much ... in fact it is problematic where to use it currently. I made a special table for my bed, but I rarely feel like using it there. My Win 7 PC has an awful lot of things I use on it, so it is hard to migrate ... mentally.

Why not upgrade to 64-bit Windows 10?

[Graham44]

Originally Posted by Timboli

Yes, a number of times.

The last version, which I still have on a USB stick in my desk draw, is a Live version of Mint. That was quite usable. But I cannot use Linux full time, as I use a programming language all the time, AutoIt, that is not supported on that OS, and except for simple programs won't run through Wine etc ... not properly anyway.
.

Do you have a spare PC or laptop you could possibly put Mint on? I use Mint on both my laptop and desktop but I came from using just Android tablets before switching over to Mint so the switch was easy for me, plus I'm not an intensive computer user (don't need one for work etc) I digress, the reason I mentioned a spare computer is I see quite often on the Mint forum people wanting to switch to Mint from Windows but there aren't directly comparable programs for some of the one's they are used to on Windows, there is usually an alternative or workaround (but not all the time) but it takes a fair bit of trial and error and the only practical way of doing this is to have a spare computer to mess around on until you discover if there are any workable solutions.

I tried Wine briefly to try and get a program I used to use ages ago (nothing essential) and had absolutely no luck whatsoever, it seemed Wine has a fairly limited range of programs it works well with and judging by other peoples experience on the Mint website they ran into the same problem, it seems Wine works well with a small number of programs, sort of OK with slightly more programs and badly/ not at all with a large number of programs (judging by other peoples experiences)

Anyway what I mean to say in my ramblings is apart from your specialist programs if you had Mint on a spare computer you might find yourself using it for day to day tasks such as emails, web browsing more than you might think as it's such a nice OS to use, just a thought

[lkmiller]

KFX started showing up on the Paperwhite 2 almost a decade ago in 2015. It wasn't much of an issue until it came to Kindle for PC with version 1.19 in 2017. That was when it started becoming harder to avoid.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why not upgrade to 64-bit Windows 10?

Just not suitable for my particular PC.

In fact I had to disable the free auto update to Win 10 many years ago, for that reason and because I had a slow web connection. Had to do the same to my wife's Win 8 laptop. Wasn't fun when you had about 4 PCs doing that, making it lousy to use the web. And it was also the matter of principle ... no permission was asked.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I'd have imagined KFX ebooks are smaller than AZW3, especially if there are colour images, as Amazon tailors KFX to the destination and it's a compiled format. I could check as I have a PW3 and Keyboard gen3. I can't easily make KFX, but I can read them on Linux.

Well, I can only go by two things.

1. I keep running out of space on my Paperwhite, when I shouldn't be.

2. When I was using KindleForPC, the KFX files were something like 3 or 4 times larger than AZW3 files.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

KFX started showing up on the Paperwhite 2 almost a decade ago in 2015. It wasn't much of an issue until it came to Kindle for PC with version 1.19 in 2017. That was when it started becoming harder to avoid.

I'm not sure that's true, for two reasons.

1. Why are some of my old ebooks on the device, currently being converted, and they only seem to do so when I free up space.

2. I have gone into the Documents folder on many occasions, and it is only recently that I saw KFX files. I used to have to go into it to fix missing images, which meant finding the right ebook file name and renaming my image file copy to that. I've probably not done that now for about 4 or 5 years, and it is probably only the last 4 years that my device has been full.

[Timboli]

Originally Posted by Graham44

Anyway what I mean to say in my ramblings is apart from your specialist programs if you had Mint on a spare computer you might find yourself using it for day to day tasks such as emails, web browsing more than you might think as it's such a nice OS to use, just a thought

I guess I wasn't clear enough.

I used that live Linux Mint USB stick a good number of times. I found it worked well enough etc.

My programs, the ones I created myself, are programs I use everyday, so I would have to be swapping back and forth between two different logins or PCs if I also used Linux ... not gonna happen.

While Linux isn't bad, on Windows I am a serious Power User, and on Linux I would never be that. My mind doesn't work in the right way to use Linux at that level. I don't like the naming conventions etc etc. I use AutoIt because it uses everyday person naming, that almost any PC user can make sense of.

I don't program in C variants or Python or any of the many other programming languages out there, because my mind does not suit them, we clash. I don't think like they do, can't think like they do.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I'd have imagined KFX ebooks are smaller than AZW3, especially if there are colour images, as Amazon tailors KFX to the destination and it's a compiled format.

In every comparison I've done, the KFX is significantly larger. Converting some color image to both color and graysscale JPEG images results in only slightly smaller grayscale images.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Timboli

I'm not sure that's true, for two reasons.

1. Why are some of my old ebooks on the device, currently being converted, and they only seem to do so when I free up space.

2. I have gone into the Documents folder on many occasions, and it is only recently that I saw KFX files. I used to have to go into it to fix missing images, which meant finding the right ebook file name and renaming my image file copy to that. I've probably not done that now for about 4 or 5 years, and it is probably only the last 4 years that my device has been full.

I think I know what you have been experiencing.

I have a kindle that I got not for reading, but to do experimenting with, I've also used D&T to avoid KFX for years. I designated the experimental kindle as the default target for D&T. My workflow was to disinfect the original azw3 after copying the infected original to the kindle. Then I enabled wifi on the kindle in order for it to download page numbers and XRAY from amazon. Frequently, the KFX would be downloaded and the azw3 would be deleted, even as I had the book open. I am certain this is what happened both because I watched it and kindles have no azw3 to KFX conversion capability.

I noticed that if I turned a few pages, made some bookmarks, notes, and highlights before enabling wifi, the azw3 remained intact, presumably to save the changes I made that get recorded in the .sdr directory.

I think in your case there was no room to download the KFX. Now that you are using your kindle to download books after freeing up some space, relying on the false assumption that its age alone is sufficient to avoid KFX, it downloads KFX and follows amazon's agenda of replacing azw3 to KFX on old books whenever possible (without getting permission).

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by Timboli

I'm not sure that's true, for two reasons.

1. Why are some of my old ebooks on the device, currently being converted, and they only seem to do so when I free up space.

2. I have gone into the Documents folder on many occasions, and it is only recently that I saw KFX files. I used to have to go into it to fix missing images, which meant finding the right ebook file name and renaming my image file copy to that. I've probably not done that now for about 4 or 5 years, and it is probably only the last 4 years that my device has been full.

In your unique case, perhaps not. In my case and many others', yes, we started seeing KFX in 2015 on all Kindles running firmware that supported it including the Paperwhite 2.