Help Understanding How CC Moves Files from External HD to Kindle using iPad Pro.

[Tight]

Here's the situation. The Calibre Library will be stored on an external HD. However the ONLY Mac in the mix will be a new iPad Pro. The goal is to move books from the external HD to a Kindle. As you know, there is no way to hook up an external HD to an iPad and have it recognized. Although I haven't tried it, I don't think even a USB-C adaptor hooking a USB external HD will be "seen".

So can someone explain the workflow for how Calibre Companion, if installed on the iPad, could move files to a Kindle Paperwhite? I'm also looking at a SanDisk 200GB Connect Wireless Stick Flash Drive as a potential intermediary, but am not sure how that will interface (or even work reliably). The Calibre Library is 26 GB, so storing it on an external HD is desirable.

[ilovejedd]

Do you have an Android phone by any chance? That's simpler than finding a workaround for iOS restrictions.

Easier thing to do if you're iOS only is put Calibre Portable on external HDD and just use friends' or public computers (maybe in public library?) to transfer books from HDD to your Kindle.

As the name implies, Calibre Companion is a companion to Calibre. It's not meant to replace Calibre.

[stumped]

Why not just email the books to your Amazon cloud using send to Kindle,
Then you can download them from cloud to Kindle as needed.
No need for cc or for the intermediate devices. All you need is that external hd attached to something that can send emails,and attach one book to each email. Yes you have to do them one at a time but you can only read one book at a time anyway

Copying the books to other cloud solutions e.g. dropbox then getting them via the Kindle browser is another option

[chaley]

Originally Posted by Tight

Here's the situation. The Calibre Library will be stored on an external HD. However the ONLY Mac in the mix will be a new iPad Pro. The goal is to move books from the external HD to a Kindle. As you know, there is no way to hook up an external HD to an iPad and have it recognized. Although I haven't tried it, I don't think even a USB-C adaptor hooking a USB external HD will be "seen".

So can someone explain the workflow for how Calibre Companion, if installed on the iPad, could move files to a Kindle Paperwhite? I'm also looking at a SanDisk 200GB Connect Wireless Stick Flash Drive as a potential intermediary, but am not sure how that will interface (or even work reliably). The Calibre Library is 26 GB, so storing it on an external HD is desirable.

First point: there isn't any supported way of moving books from any version of CC to another device.

Second point: CC on the Fire will not "see" any device connected by an OTG cable. It can see SD cards.

The two together say that the "right" way to do what you want is to put your calibre library on an SD card, put that card into your Fire, then use CC's "Cloud Local Library Connection" to retrieve books from that library copy.

I don't know why having a "Mac in the mix" is important.

[stumped]

But The target device is a kindle paperwhite e ink, says the first post, ,not a fire tablet,
So the above solution is not right?
And cc need not be part of the answer??

[chaley]

Originally Posted by stumped

But The target device is a kindle paperwhite e ink, says the first post, ,not a fire tablet,
So the above solution is not right?
And cc need not be part of the answer??

You are right. My bad -- I read "Kindle" as "Fire" because that is the only Amazon device CC works with. Unless something has changed in non-Android Kindle-land, CC has no role to play at all.

[theducks]

The Fire has a Browser.
Calibre has a content server

So just grab the books that way or from the cloud.

IMHO It is time to get anything other than Apple. Their Walled garden has evolved into a Prision

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by theducks

The Fire has a Browser.
Calibre has a content server

So just grab the books that way or from the cloud.

IMHO It is time to get anything other than Apple. Their Walled garden has evolved into a Prision

Alas, iOS will not run Calibre.

That said, I'm not sure of the OP's skills but a Raspberry Pi is a very economical way to run a Calibre server.

[Tight]

Thanks to all who replied, I really didn't understand what CC is (still don't actually) and thought it was a form of Calibre for iOS. I gather that there really isn't an iOS version of Calibre. I have never used the Kindle browser, so I don't know how it "sees" the library if I upload it to Dropbox. Don't have or use Amazon Cloud. Yes, it is a Kindle Paperwhite and not a Fire.

Although I am a bit confused by some of the replies, it sounds like the iPad won't play a role at all in facilitating transfer of the files from an HD to the Kindle and the process will have to rely on the Kindle Browser to transfer then?

I will have to research what a Calibre server is and how it functions and how it is different than having the Library on Dropbox. Odd that there is no easy and elegant way to put books on a Kindle from a Calibre Library without using a computer with Calibre installed. However since I've always done it that way myself, I could be missing a way to do that I'm not familiar with.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by Tight

Although I am a bit confused by some of the replies, it sounds like the iPad won't play a role at all in facilitating transfer of the files from an HD to the Kindle and the process will have to rely on the Kindle Browser to transfer then?

I will have to research what a Calibre server is and how it functions and how it is different than having the Library on Dropbox. Odd that there is no easy and elegant way to put books on a Kindle from a Calibre Library without using a computer with Calibre installed. However since I've always done it that way myself, I could be missing a way to do that I'm not familiar with.

Unfortunately, iOS is very restrictive so yes, the iPad is pretty much out of the equation. Calibre Companion interfaces with Calibre running on a PC (or Dropbox or OneDrive) to get books from Calibre (or the cloud) to Calibre Companion (on the iOS device). CC is more like a client device similar to the Kindle Paperwhite.

The Calibre (content) server I referred to is just a built-in component of Calibre. I believe you can turn it on via Connect/Share. You'd still need something to run Calibre, though (e.g. old PC or Raspberry Pi). Alternately, there's COPS https://blog.slucas.fr/projects/cali...ds-php-server/ for something more lightweight.

Why is it odd that there's no elegant way to copy books to the Paperwhite without a computer? It's really more meant as a gateway to sell Kindle books and services. The only cloud service it's expected to work well with is Amazon Kindle's.

By the way, if you have a "SanDisk 200GB Connect Wireless Stick Flash Drive", you could probably just put the Calibre Library on there and access it directly using the Kindle Paperwhite's experimental web browser. Might actually be easier than Dropbox. I'm not familiar with the SanDisk but I expect there should be a way to access its contents via web browser.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Tight

Thanks to all who replied, I really didn't understand what CC is (still don't actually) and thought it was a form of Calibre for iOS. I gather that there really isn't an iOS version of Calibre. I have never used the Kindle browser, so I don't know how it "sees" the library if I upload it to Dropbox. Don't have or use Amazon Cloud. Yes, it is a Kindle Paperwhite and not a Fire.

Although I am a bit confused by some of the replies, it sounds like the iPad won't play a role at all in facilitating transfer of the files from an HD to the Kindle and the process will have to rely on the Kindle Browser to transfer then?

I will have to research what a Calibre server is and how it functions and how it is different than having the Library on Dropbox. Odd that there is no easy and elegant way to put books on a Kindle from a Calibre Library without using a computer with Calibre installed. However since I've always done it that way myself, I could be missing a way to do that I'm not familiar with.

The main operation required here is Calibre.
Those Dropbox (or supported clouds) 'Libraries' have to be created by Calibre.
The 'server' is part of the main Calibre install (run from either the GUI, or running standalone)
The Kindle browser is found under 'Experimental" (on my K4 NT) on the Settings menu. I think it is labeled that, because it is NOT a full blown Browser (and they don't intend to make it so. I also suspect that what is there, was to support their e-book store front, with this as a bonus.)

[stumped]

the kindle browser is a basic browser but should be good enough to see either a calibre content server ( which requires calibre to be running on a PC with that activated ), or to see dropbox or similar

to use a cloud solution like dropbox, you ( well I ) copy the entire calibre library folder to a dropbox folder, using a one way mirror(sync) operation, and repeat that as needed.
the advantage of dropbox is that it is always there, just point the kindle browser at dropbox.com and login, the disadvantage is that is it only as up to date as your last copy/sync
to point the browser at kindle content server, you get the address of that from within calibre. e.g. on my LAN it is 192.168.0.82
I can't say for sure that either or both methods will work with a kindle, it is not something I have tested.
the fallback, if those do not work, is either USB, or amazon's send to kindle method where you email your books to amazon cloud. I assume that if you have books from amazon you have an amazon account to send them to. the "send to kindle" cloud is ( nowadays) separate from any amazon drive, it is just a destination for whitelisted email addresses to send books via email for a kindle device. see amazon help pages.

[Deskisamess]

I've never been able to consistently have the browser on my Oasis "see" Dropbox or access it. It's so slow and clunky, I stopped trying.

I have Calibre Companion on my iPad Pro. For those times I don't want to use Calibre on the computer to email a book to my Oasis, I can manage it all from my iPad.

On CC, I select the book, use the Read button at the top right of the screen, then select Save to Dropbox from the options that show.

Then I launch the email app, and attach the book from Dropbox and use the Send to Email address that my Oasis uses. (You can't link it directly out of Dropbox as that sends the link and not the file.)

This assumes the books in CC are the correct format for a Kindle. It also means they show in the DOC tab of the Kindle, and not in the BOOKS tab.

There is also an online Conversion site that allows you to select a book from Dropbox, and convert it, then save it back into Dropbox or use Send to Kindle, all from my iPad.

[Tight]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

By the way, if you have a "SanDisk 200GB Connect Wireless Stick Flash Drive", you could probably just put the Calibre Library on there and access it directly using the Kindle Paperwhite's experimental web browser. Might actually be easier than Dropbox. I'm not familiar with the SanDisk but I expect there should be a way to access its contents via web browser.

Yes,@ilovejedd, this is what I was speculating, particularly since my daughter (prospective owner of new iPad Pro) will be traveling internationally and frequently out of range of WIFI completely. Loading up the Kindle when she does have access (assuming either the Dropbox solution or on a LAN with Calibre installed on a Mac locally) is one way, but I'm researching how to facilitate her being able to work with files externally so she can offload them. If the SanDisk wireless function works and is reliable, then I can spend less $ and go for a 256 GB instead of a 512 GB. "Works" and "reliable" being the key words. Obviously no way to know except to test and try. Just how the Kindle will "see" the Library using its browser is the question.

The more detailed explanation of how CC works by posters is helpful, @Deskisamess your work-around with the iPad and CC is valuable also. To further clarify, none of the books in my Calibre Library were purchased from Amazon, and I don't have Amazon Cloud, I bypass that function. Also I've stripped out all other formats except mobi for the Kindle.

Very helpful comments, thank you all. I think I will have to purchase a SanDisk Wireless USB stick and see if it works the way I'm hoping to use it, otherwise it could turn out to be just an expensive flash drive.

[stumped]

can you not download a user manual for the planned wireless flash drive ?
e.g. the 1st one i found says thie ( and there's probably more detail within the pdf )
Works With
• USB 2.0 connection interface or higher
• Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4Ghz capable device
• iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch: iOS version 8.0 or higher
• Other Wi-Fi® enabled devices: a web browser, WebDAV client
• PC or Mac: Windows® 10, Windows® 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista®, or
Mac OS 10.6 or higher
a more cunning search - for "Sandisk connect wireless stick kindle" found a link to amazon where there are hundreds of reviews and 169 answered questions,
if none of those mention kindle it is free and easy to go there & post " will this work with my kindle paperwhite" into the ask a new question box