Kindle 3 and Kindle PW recurring problem of books disappearing

[jmilica]

I have two Kindles 3 Wi-Fi and a Kindle PW. Around 2-3 months back I added some books on all three Kindles which caused all books to disappear from Kindle, yet Calibre said they were there. I deleted all books, restarted Kindle (I remember I did reset PW, don’t remember for Kindle 3) and started adding books one by one, ejecting Kindle each time to see if the books will disappear. When they would disappear, I would convert that particular problematic book from mobi to mobi or from azw3 to azw3 and add it again with no problems.
Since the first time I had this problem, it’s happening more and more often, especially when I get carried away and add three or four books at the same time. And then yesterday, I was adding one book just purchased from Amazon to Kindle 3 and it happened again.
ETA:Forgot to say that it was rebooting yesterday on it's own several times...

So, my question is – is the only solution in my case for safely adding books (using Calibre or putting file directly in documents folder) to my Kindles to simply always convert mobi to mobi and azw3 to azw3 files first? Or is there anything else I can do?

[soulfuldog]

Don't have any ideas for you, but has it only happened when you are adding books using Calibre, or does it also happen when you just drag & drop the books from your computer into the documents folder?

[jmilica]

It happened first time when I was loading books using Calibre. After it happened several times in a row, I decided to start adding books directly to documents folder.
Yesterdays case was the same - I just added the book directly to documents folder.

[hawhill]

A bit it sounds as if the FAT filesystem is somehow mangled. Did you try to run a filesystem check? Are there files with funny encodings on the device? What host OS are you using on your desktop?

[jmilica]

I use Mac OS X.
I could try it out on office PC running Windows XP (on which I don't have admin privileges) if FAT files are impossible to find on Mac.
But I have no idea how to do it on either Mac or Win?
ETA: I tried searching on Kindle for "xbyz", no results, if that means anything.

[hawhill]

Hm, I'm not very experienced with Mac OS, sorry. I'm pretty sure it has some tool to check FAT filesystem disks (this is what your Kindle presents to the host PC), but can't really tell how to find and run it. And I don't know how Mac OS behaves regarding file name encoding on FAT volumes.

[jmilica]

Thanks for trying! Maybe somebody else would have idea.
If not, I'll just keep converting files.

[ixtab]

Take a look at the latest answer here. I'm also not using Mac OS, but this explains things reasonably well and looks like it could solve your problem (if it is really caused by the filesystem, that is).

P.S. You'll want to use fsck_msdos for the Kindle.

[jmilica]

Originally Posted by ixtab

Take a look at the latest answer here. I'm also not using Mac OS, but this explains things reasonably well and looks like it could solve your problem (if it is really caused by the filesystem, that is).

P.S. You'll want to use fsck_msdos for the Kindle.

Thanks a lot for response.
I got extremely scared when I opened that page I am rather new Mac user. But, I will try to do whatever they are talking about and see if I can and if it works. Will report back if I manage.
ETA
OK. I get this:
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: FDisk_partition_scheme *1.5 GB disk1
1: DOS_FAT_32 Kindle 1.5 GB disk1s1

Now. Should i delete fat 32 file by typing
sudo fsck_msdos /dev/disk1s1?

Because when I type that I get

WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss
or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your
typing when using sudo. Type "man sudo" for more information.

[ixtab]

Originally Posted by jmilica

Thanks a lot for response.
I got extremely scared when I opened that page I am rather new Mac user. But, I will try to do whatever they are talking about and see if I can and if it works. Will report back if I manage.

Hehe... no need to be scared. Simply open a Terminal (should be found in the Utilities) and type the required commands:

diskutil list
(then figure out exactly which disk is the Kindle, as pointed out on that page, and)
sudo fsck_msdos /dev/diskXYZ

Some more links to get you started with the Terminal:
http://www.lowfokus.com/2009/10/24/s...minal-on-os-x/
http://www.macinstruct.com/node/47
http://osxdaily.com/2007/02/07/basic...tips-commands/

[ixtab]

Originally Posted by jmilica

OK. I get this:
/dev/disk1
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: FDisk_partition_scheme *1.5 GB disk1
1: DOS_FAT_32 Kindle 1.5 GB disk1s1
Now. Should i delete fat 32 file by typing
sudo fsck_msdos /dev/disk1s1?

Because when I type that I get

WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss
or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your
typing when using sudo. Type "man sudo" for more information.

Yes, sudo fsck_msdos /dev/disk1s1
You're not going to delete the partition, you're going to run the program fsck_msdos on it - which is what you want.

The Warning about sudo is a generic one. sudo gives you super user privileges, so you can potentially destroy your computer if you do enter the wrong commands. As long as you know what you are doing, you should be fine. The warning is really just a reminder that there is no safety net when running commands with sudo.

[jmilica]

Ok, after suddenly starting to believe in God and trying it out, getting this
sudo fsck_msdos /dev/disk1s1
** /dev/disk1s1
Can't open (Resource busy)

[ixtab]

Originally Posted by jmilica

Ok, after suddenly starting to believe in God and trying it out, getting this
sudo fsck_msdos /dev/disk1s1
** /dev/disk1s1
Can't open (Resource busy)

Try unmounting ("ejecting") the partition first. You can't check the integrity of a file system while it is in use.

[jmilica]

Originally Posted by ixtab

Try unmounting ("ejecting") the partition first. You can't check the integrity of a file system while it is in use.

When I eject it, it doesn't show up?
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.3 GB disk0
1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 499.4 GB disk0s2
3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3

[ixtab]

Originally Posted by jmilica

When I eject it, it doesn't show up?
#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER
0: GUID_partition_scheme *500.3 GB disk0
1: EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1
2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 499.4 GB disk0s2
3: Apple_Boot Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3

Ok, then try this:
http://rubenerd.com/unmount-without-eject/

(You'll have to unplug and re-plug the Kindle first, I assume)