Is Amazon deleting side loaded books?

[hengyu]

Does anyone know the cutoff for how long the Kindle can be in airplane mode before this happens?

I was on airplane mode for like 3 weeks and when I disabled it to try to get the firmware update it just nuked all my books.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by hengyu

Does anyone know the cutoff for how long the Kindle can be in airplane mode before this happens?

No, no one knows for certain.

[Quoth]

You can download and "sideload" kindle firmware, but only later versions

Official link https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custo...MQC26VQQMM8XSW

[Mr Avid]

Originally Posted by hengyu

Does anyone know the cutoff for how long the Kindle can be in airplane mode before this happens?

I was on airplane mode for like 3 weeks and when I disabled it to try to get the firmware update it just nuked all my books.

My kindle has been in airplane mode for years. When I want firmware updates, I sideload them.

[Avwriter]

Originally Posted by hengyu

Does anyone know the cutoff for how long the Kindle can be in airplane mode before this happens?

I was on airplane mode for like 3 weeks and when I disabled it to try to get the firmware update it just nuked all my books.

From experience, it seems to be somewhere between 1 and 2 weeks. As long as I go online once a week or so, my side-loaded content stays on the device.

[slm]

On a different thread, the suggestion was that the purge happens when the time on the device differs too much from the time on the Cloud server. That difference, which result from the inaccuracy of the on-board clock, differs from device to device.

[DNSB]

I checked that theory out and even when I deliberately set the time incorrectly on my PW4, enabled airplane mode and then set it aside for a couple of weeks, it did not wipe the files when I woke it and turned airplane mode off. When I had the time set properly and left it for 4 or 5 weeks (I actually forgot about it since it's mostly used when formatting ebooks for others). When I woke it and turned off airplane mode, most of my sideloaded books disappeared.

[thiago.eec]

My Kindle Paperwhite is online as long as I can remember (because of Kindle Unlimited) and no sideloaded books were ever deleted.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by thiago.eec

My Kindle Paperwhite is online as long as I can remember (because of Kindle Unlimited) and no sideloaded books were ever deleted.

Your Kindle needs to be offline for a while if you want to see your books deleted.

[thiago.eec]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

Your Kindle needs to be offline for a while if you want to see your books deleted.

That's it, then. It is always online.

[drhooves]

I forgot about this problem, and sync'ed my kindle when I bought an ebook today. I've used calibre to convert epubs to mobi, but then copy the files manually to the kindle documents folder. I shy away from most apps that "sync", 'cause usually I don't get the expected results.

Since I leave wireless off most of the time to extend battery life, this issue doesn't pop up too often. But if I use the "send to kindle" on the Amazon side, turn on wireless and sync, then any of the manually (side-loaded) books on the device get deleted.

I guess Amazon doesn't consider your kindle storage to be sacred or personal. No respect for boundaries.

Fortunately, I only had two books I was reading that got whacked, and replacing them was easy from my PC copies. Now the challenge will be to remember to copy the file from a new ebook down to my PC (which I think is an option), and then copy it to the kindle. Next time.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by drhooves

I forgot about this problem, and sync'ed my kindle when I bought an ebook today. I've used calibre to convert epubs to mobi, but then copy the files manually to the kindle documents folder. I shy away from most apps that "sync", 'cause usually I don't get the expected results.

Since I leave wireless off most of the time to extend battery life, this issue doesn't pop up too often. But if I use the "send to kindle" on the Amazon side, turn on wireless and sync, then any of the manually (side-loaded) books on the device get deleted.

I guess Amazon doesn't consider your kindle storage to be sacred or personal. No respect for boundaries.

Fortunately, I only had two books I was reading that got whacked, and replacing them was easy from my PC copies. Now the challenge will be to remember to copy the file from a new ebook down to my PC (which I think is an option), and then copy it to the kindle. Next time.

There is a solution to this problem. Because you have a Kindle, this will take some manual work. Also, you have to use calibre. And you will lose any highlights you have on sideloaded eBooks.

What you have to do is install the Reading List plugin for calibre. That way you can automatically keep track of what eBooks are on your Kindle that you side loaded from calibre. Also, you have to create a custom column to keep track of your reading position. Before you sync, you have to have a look at where you are in every book you are in the process of reading and take note and put that info into the custom column be it page number or reading location. That's your choice.

When you turn on WFi and sync, if you lose any eBooks, go to calibre and add all of the eBooks you have marked as being on your Kindle to the Reading List to be added to your Kindle. Do not connect your Kindle to the computer until after this is done. Then Reading List can automatically add those eBooks back to your Kindle. The final step is to go into each eBook you previous were reading and set them for where you left off.

Now you are back to where you were except for any highlights/bookmarks you may have had.