Amazon rejecting MOBI-books sent via mail

[tirion]

Hey everybody!

I have an issue with Amazon currently.
Whenever I send an ebook (MOBI format) to my Kindle (no matter if via Calibre itself or directly via mail from Outlook or Gmail), I get the standard rejection mail from Amazon, telling me that there was a problem with the document.

(Btw, I couldn't find any thread regarding this, so might be just me.
I really would appreciate some pointers, though, since I really want to be able to sync the last read page across devices!)

I tried all settings for the MOBI output.
I set it to new, old and both.
I used different tags: EBOK, PDOC and even left it empty.
And yes, I also played around with, I believe, all combinations of those.

I'm also on the newest Calibe version 4.6 (I noticed the problem first with version 4.2)

I think the problem lies within Calibre because of the following:
I tried to send an older book, which already was in my library and it worked perfectly fine.
Then I deleted the MOBI and converted it again. This new MOBI I tried to send to my Kindle the same way as before the older one. And now I got the error mail from Amazon

Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong here?

[kovidgoyal]

There have not been any changes to MOBI output in calibre in years. But feel free to check by downgrading 4.1 and seeing if the problem goes away.

[stumped]

probably you, ( or the calibre upgrade process) altered some setting that affects conversion, but I can't think which one .

or Amazon have sneaked in a recent change.

I admit to some lack of current expertise here, the last time I needed to use Send Mobi to Kindle via amazon, my calibre was still at 3.x ( or even 2.x) so all I can say for sure is what you already said: that is used to work [ with mobi old, not with mobi new, IIRC]

[tirion]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

There have not been any changes to MOBI output in calibre in years. But feel free to check by downgrading 4.1 and seeing if the problem goes away.

You are of course right. I uninstalled 4.6 with geekuninstaller and tried 4.1 which gave me the same result unfortunately.

Originally Posted by stumped

probably you, ( or the calibre upgrade process) altered some setting that affects conversion, but I can't think which one .

or Amazon have sneaked in a recent change.

I have the same issue with a very fresh installation, so I suppose I can rule that out.
If Amazon changed something, I guess the forum would be reflect that, wouldn't it?


I'm really a bit lost.
I tried now to move it to my Kindle via USB, but it can't be opened either and when I want to open it, this error message pops up:
"Unable to Open Item
The selected item could not be opened. If you purchased this item from Amazon, delete the item and download it again from the Cloud on Home."

I tried a couple of books (also some which I already successfully converted, moved to my Kindle and read in the past) and settings and nothing seemed to work.
I can however open and read it within Calibre directly.
Is there a possibility that something is wrong with the epub version of the book?
Then again, why did it work before with the same epub!?

Btw, the same happens with the installation on my Laptop.
Honestly, I have no idea what to do or check next. No clue what so ever about the root of this problem.

[stumped]

do you have more than one amazon account ?

the kindle error suggests that is it seeing DRM but if you can read the book in calibre than that is wrong. a soft reset or reboot of kindle may clear it

( unless you are moving the epub and not the mobi to Kindle - that wont work

what happens if you try to read the problem books with Kindle for PC on your PC?

[stumped]

stepping back a little
you have some DRM free epubs - yes?
you want to read those on kindle but you get errors with send to, and with copy via USB
how about you try with a new clean install of current calibre on laptop i.e. you wipe all the calibre config stuff in app data before installing, then you do a conversion to mobi using all default calibre settings. see if you can send that, and also see if you can read that conversion in Kindle for PC...

[tirion]

Originally Posted by stumped

stepping back a little
you have some DRM free epubs - yes?
you want to read those on kindle but you get errors with send to, and with copy via USB
how about you try with a new clean install of current calibre on laptop i.e. you wipe all the calibre config stuff in app data before installing, then you do a conversion to mobi using all default calibre settings. see if you can send that, and also see if you can read that conversion in Kindle for PC...

YOU DID IT!!
The fresh library did the trick! I tried it first with the manual that comes with Calibre, then one of the books which caused problems and it works like a charm, just as usual!

Thanks a lot man! Now it retrospective it is a bit obvious, but you know.. hindsight is 20/20
Thank you for that christmas gift

[tirion]

Not enough that it is working again, now I'm not only getting a perfect sync with the furthest read page, but also the cover
I thought that this is no longer possible. Amazing!

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by tirion

Not enough that it is working again, now I'm not only getting a perfect sync with the furthest read page, but also the cover
I thought that this is no longer possible. Amazing!

Covers will show if you use the original MOBI format (calibre's MOBI old). In exchange you lose some formatting options.

[tirion]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Covers will show if you use the original MOBI format (calibre's MOBI old). In exchange you lose some formatting options.

I had the exact same understanding.
I changed the conversion setting to "new" and still had the cover shown on my Kindle (I actually had then two different versions of the book on my Kindle).

Maybe just a coincidence because of the available cover from the "old" MOBI

Anyhow, it works like a charm. Just as usual. I guess the problem came from having the library in the cloud.

[stumped]

Originally Posted by tirion

... I guess the problem came from having the library in the cloud.

if you'd told us that 10 posts ago, it would have gone faster !

it's been said here so many times before but don't operate your calibre live library in a cloud. its a disaster waiting to happen, or in your case, a disaster that did happen.

still, glad its fixed

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by tirion

I changed the conversion setting to "new" and still had the cover shown on my Kindle (I actually had then two different versions of the book on my Kindle).
...
I guess the problem came from having the library in the cloud.

The comment I made previously about covers being shown only for old MOBI applies to emailed books. It works differently depending on whether you email a book to your account or side load it via USB. My understanding of the original problem report was that you were emailing. Now it appears you are sideloading.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by tirion

Not enough that it is working again, now I'm not only getting a perfect sync with the furthest read page, but also the cover
I thought that this is no longer possible. Amazing!

Looking back at this I am even more confused about what you are doing. If you are emailing you will only get covers for MOBI-old format. If you are side loading you will not get sync between devices.

[tirion]

Quick update:
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I can't seem to find any valid pattern. Fresh installation with fresh library does sometimes create valid MOBIs. But I just need to change the MOBI output to "new" and it does not work anymore as it should. No matter if via mail or sideloaded.

So I had a book converted and sent without a problem on standard settings.
I changed MOBI output to "new" and got the error.
Changed it back and I got the error as well.
I have no idea what so ever.

Originally Posted by stumped

if you'd told us that 10 posts ago, it would have gone faster !

it's been said here so many times before but don't operate your calibre live library in a cloud. its a disaster waiting to happen, or in your case, a disaster that did happen.

still, glad its fixed

I actually wasn't aware of that. Of course it occured to me, that if I access the library from more than one side, there might be trouble. But as long as I keep using only one instance of Calibre to access the library at a time, I should be safe - or so i thought.

Is there a valid option for having the library in the cloud or something alike at least?

Originally Posted by jhowell

Looking back at this I am even more confused about what you are doing. If you are emailing you will only get covers for MOBI-old format. If you are side loading you will not get sync between devices.

Well, actually what I do is mailing it. Sideloading was just to check if there is an issue with the MOBI file or with the Amazon service.
For me now it appears, that with MOBI-new I get the covers on my Kindle as well. But I'm not sure if I'm a liable source right now. My Calibre instace is going haywire.

[kovidgoyal]

Amazon wrejects new MOBIs you have to stick to old. And remember that conversion settings are used from previous conversions in preference: https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/con...for-conversion