Bad Side-loaded book breaks Kindle Indexer

Herjar · 01-04-2013, 04:18 PM

Hi,

I just got a Kindle Paperwhite and wanted to try the collection manager.
I installed:
-Jailbreak
-Kindlet Jailbreak
-Collection Manager

It worked fine after I installed it. I created some collections in calibre and exported them to the Kindle. I imported them with CM and it all worked fine. I could see all collections and all books.

I then send some more books to the Kindle, and now I can't see any of my books (new or old), only the collections. I tried every different sorting option. I can only see some newspapers I uploaded, and only if I sort by author. I can see most of the books inside the collections, so they are there.

I then try to open CM again to see if I can fix something there, but it is stuck every time on the "www.ixtab.tk" screen.

I delete all the collections, and delete all the books with calibre (can see them there). I also delete collection manager.

I try to send some more books to the Kindle, but can't see any of them anymore. Seems like something is corrupt.

Anyone have any idea? Should I just do a "Reset Device"? And is everything back to stock then? Jailbreak removed?

knc1 · 01-04-2013, 04:27 PM

Slow down. Only one or two books at a time.

Your device is probably busy indexing the books you sent.
It should let you back in when it is finished with the indexing.

Herjar · 01-04-2013, 04:33 PM

I only sent 2 books the last time. It must have been 45+ min now and they are still not showing. Before I installed anything 2 books would show up almost immediately.

I'll leave it alone for some more time and see what happens, but I have a feeling it won't do any good.

geekmaster · 01-04-2013, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herjar

I only sent 2 books the last time. It must have been 45+ min now and they are still not showing. Before I installed anything 2 books would show up almost immediately.

I'll leave it alone for some more time and see what happens, but I have a feeling it won't do any good.

Try rebooting your kindle. Then tell us if your books showed up.

Herjar · 01-04-2013, 06:06 PM

Sorry I should have mentioned that.
I have restarted the Kindle many times and it doesn't help. I can still see the books in calibre though, just not on the Kindle.

ixtab · 01-04-2013, 06:19 PM

Step 1: Perform a factory reset, then put all the books back on your Kindle without filing them into collections. Report back if everything works as it should.

Step 2: If it does, import the collections from calibre using CM. See if everything works correctly afterwards.

If - and only if - step 1) works smoothly, but step 2) doesn't, then CM might be the culprit... ("might", because it also only uses the underlying Kindle framework functionality. It could just as well be a problem with the framework itself.)

Herjar · 01-04-2013, 06:57 PM

Thank you for your help ixtab. I did what you said and it's now working again, collections and everything.

I have an idea what might have caused it. When I was in CM I turned on "Display collections only". I assumed that was only for display in CM, but maybe that somehow turned standard for the entire Kindle? I could see the collections, just not any books.
I couldn't get into CM after the books were gone so I couldn't try to turn it off again. Maybe I'm just rambling, but maybe it is worth checking out. I'm staying away from that option from now just in case and hopefully it will work fine now.

ixtab · 01-04-2013, 06:59 PM

@Herjar: that option most definitely did not cause your problem. It only changes the CM view of the database, and does not do anything to the database itself.

Herjar · 01-06-2013, 08:42 AM

Same thing happened again today. Everything worked fine yesterday, but when I today sent 2 books and some news I downloaded with calibre I can't see any of my books any more. If I sort by 'Recent' or 'Title' I can't see any items. If I sort by 'Author' I can see all the news and the collections, but no books. I can see the books inside the collections and I can open them, but they are nowhere on the main screen.

I created some collection with calibre that I imported with CM yesterday and it worked fine. Today I didn't create or update any collections when I sent the new books. I only downloaded some news which I also sent. Maybe there is a bug there. I don't know, but I think I'm going to stick to stock firmware for now. Too much hassle just for some collections (something which should be standard from Amazon really).

When I reset the Kindle is the JB etc. still installed on it?

ixtab · 01-06-2013, 08:55 AM

Your symptoms actually clearly indicate that this has absolutely nothing to do with the Jailbreak or CM, but is some kind of problem with the stock firmware itself

Anyway, a reset does not remove the jailbreak. See the jailbreak thread for "complete removal" instructions.

Herjar · 01-06-2013, 09:24 AM

Maybe, but it only started happening after I jailbreaked it and started creating collections. I'll try to use it with stock FW for a while and report back if it happens again.

twobob · 01-06-2013, 09:26 AM

doesn't honestly sound like anything to do with CM or the JB.
hope it works out for you

Herjar · 01-06-2013, 10:55 AM

You were right, the culprit was not JB or CM. It was a side-loaded book. When that book is present on the Kindle no books at all show up. When I remove it all the books are shown again.

I tried a mobi-to-mobi conversion, but same thing happened again. I can read it fine on the PC so not sure what is wrong with it.

Is this normal on a Kindle? I would have thought only the corrupt book would be hidden, not every book on it.

Thanks for your help guys. Finally figured it out.

geekmaster · 01-06-2013, 11:08 AM

That bug sounds like it could be exploited for useful purposes. Your particular suspicious book would need to be investigated to see what is causing that unexpected behavior, before it can be explored to find its hidden powers.

Perhaps a "naughty book" cloaking device? Or maybe a future jailbreak vector, should the need arise...

ixtab · 01-06-2013, 11:11 AM

Can you give any more information about that book? Is it named "Kindle Sabotage" or something like that?

Depending on where you got the book from, complain to the publisher, and maybe also report to Amazon that this book screws up the kindle. As a workaround, try to convert it to epub, then back to mobi, or use some "stranger" intermediate formats like RTF.

It may just be something with the contained html/css, metadata, etc.

Actually, while developing the jailbreak, I managed to (unintentionally) *crash* the Kindle using a few simple CSS commands. All that I tried to do was to center the "==>JAILBREAK<==" text, both horizontally and vertically. Some specific CSS instructions (don't remember what, though) really (consistently, and repeatably) crashed the reader application.

You may be having a similar problem, but affecting (most probably) the indexer.

01-04-2013, 04:18 PM	#1
Herjar Member Posts: 13 Karma: 483444 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: none	Bad Side-loaded book breaks Kindle Indexer Hi, I just got a Kindle Paperwhite and wanted to try the collection manager. I installed: -Jailbreak -Kindlet Jailbreak -Collection Manager It worked fine after I installed it. I created some collections in calibre and exported them to the Kindle. I imported them with CM and it all worked fine. I could see all collections and all books. I then send some more books to the Kindle, and now I can't see any of my books (new or old), only the collections. I tried every different sorting option. I can only see some newspapers I uploaded, and only if I sort by author. I can see most of the books inside the collections, so they are there. I then try to open CM again to see if I can fix something there, but it is stuck every time on the "www.ixtab.tk" screen. I delete all the collections, and delete all the books with calibre (can see them there). I also delete collection manager. I try to send some more books to the Kindle, but can't see any of them anymore. Seems like something is corrupt. Anyone have any idea? Should I just do a "Reset Device"? And is everything back to stock then? Jailbreak removed?

01-06-2013, 10:55 AM	#13
Herjar Member Posts: 13 Karma: 483444 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: none	You were right, the culprit was not JB or CM. It was a side-loaded book. When that book is present on the Kindle no books at all show up. When I remove it all the books are shown again. I tried a mobi-to-mobi conversion, but same thing happened again. I can read it fine on the PC so not sure what is wrong with it. Is this normal on a Kindle? I would have thought only the corrupt book would be hidden, not every book on it. Thanks for your help guys. Finally figured it out. Last edited by Herjar; 01-06-2013 at 10:55 AM. Reason: typo

01-06-2013, 11:08 AM	#14
geekmaster Carpe diem, c'est la vie. Posts: 6,433 Karma: 10773668 Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Multiverse 6627A Device: K1 to PW3	That bug sounds like it could be exploited for useful purposes. Your particular suspicious book would need to be investigated to see what is causing that unexpected behavior, before it can be explored to find its hidden powers. Perhaps a "naughty book" cloaking device? Or maybe a future jailbreak vector, should the need arise... Last edited by geekmaster; 01-06-2013 at 11:10 AM.

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01-04-2013, 04:27 PM	#2
knc1 Going Viral Posts: 17,212 Karma: 18210809 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Central Texas Device: No K1, PW2, KV, KOA	Slow down. Only one or two books at a time. Your device is probably busy indexing the books you sent. It should let you back in when it is finished with the indexing.

01-04-2013, 04:33 PM	#3
Herjar Member Posts: 13 Karma: 483444 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: none	I only sent 2 books the last time. It must have been 45+ min now and they are still not showing. Before I installed anything 2 books would show up almost immediately. I'll leave it alone for some more time and see what happens, but I have a feeling it won't do any good.

01-04-2013, 06:06 PM	#5
Herjar Member Posts: 13 Karma: 483444 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: none	Sorry I should have mentioned that. I have restarted the Kindle many times and it doesn't help. I can still see the books in calibre though, just not on the Kindle.

01-04-2013, 06:19 PM	#6
ixtab (offline) Posts: 2,907 Karma: 6736092 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: K3, K4, K5, KPW, KPW2	Step 1: Perform a factory reset, then put all the books back on your Kindle without filing them into collections. Report back if everything works as it should. Step 2: If it does, import the collections from calibre using CM. See if everything works correctly afterwards. If - and only if - step 1) works smoothly, but step 2) doesn't, then CM might be the culprit... ("might", because it also only uses the underlying Kindle framework functionality. It could just as well be a problem with the framework itself.)

01-04-2013, 06:57 PM	#7
Herjar Member Posts: 13 Karma: 483444 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: none	Thank you for your help ixtab. I did what you said and it's now working again, collections and everything. I have an idea what might have caused it. When I was in CM I turned on "Display collections only". I assumed that was only for display in CM, but maybe that somehow turned standard for the entire Kindle? I could see the collections, just not any books. I couldn't get into CM after the books were gone so I couldn't try to turn it off again. Maybe I'm just rambling, but maybe it is worth checking out. I'm staying away from that option from now just in case and hopefully it will work fine now.

01-04-2013, 06:59 PM	#8
ixtab (offline) Posts: 2,907 Karma: 6736092 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: K3, K4, K5, KPW, KPW2	@Herjar: that option most definitely did not cause your problem. It only changes the CM view of the database, and does not do anything to the database itself.

01-06-2013, 08:42 AM	#9
Herjar Member Posts: 13 Karma: 483444 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: none	Same thing happened again today. Everything worked fine yesterday, but when I today sent 2 books and some news I downloaded with calibre I can't see any of my books any more. If I sort by 'Recent' or 'Title' I can't see any items. If I sort by 'Author' I can see all the news and the collections, but no books. I can see the books inside the collections and I can open them, but they are nowhere on the main screen. I created some collection with calibre that I imported with CM yesterday and it worked fine. Today I didn't create or update any collections when I sent the new books. I only downloaded some news which I also sent. Maybe there is a bug there. I don't know, but I think I'm going to stick to stock firmware for now. Too much hassle just for some collections (something which should be standard from Amazon really). When I reset the Kindle is the JB etc. still installed on it?

01-06-2013, 08:55 AM	#10
ixtab (offline) Posts: 2,907 Karma: 6736092 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: K3, K4, K5, KPW, KPW2	Your symptoms actually clearly indicate that this has absolutely nothing to do with the Jailbreak or CM, but is some kind of problem with the stock firmware itself Anyway, a reset does not remove the jailbreak. See the jailbreak thread for "complete removal" instructions.

01-06-2013, 09:24 AM	#11
Herjar Member Posts: 13 Karma: 483444 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: none	Maybe, but it only started happening after I jailbreaked it and started creating collections. I'll try to use it with stock FW for a while and report back if it happens again.

01-06-2013, 09:26 AM	#12
twobob ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°){ʇlnɐɟ ƃǝs}Týr Posts: 6,586 Karma: 6299991 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: uti gratia usura (Yao ying da ying; Mo ying da yieng) Device: PW-WIFI\|K5-3G+WIFI\| K4\|K3-3G\|DXG\|K2\| Rooted Nook Touch	doesn't honestly sound like anything to do with CM or the JB. hope it works out for you

01-06-2013, 11:11 AM	#15
ixtab (offline) Posts: 2,907 Karma: 6736092 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: K3, K4, K5, KPW, KPW2	Can you give any more information about that book? Is it named "Kindle Sabotage" or something like that? Depending on where you got the book from, complain to the publisher, and maybe also report to Amazon that this book screws up the kindle. As a workaround, try to convert it to epub, then back to mobi, or use some "stranger" intermediate formats like RTF. It may just be something with the contained html/css, metadata, etc. Actually, while developing the jailbreak, I managed to (unintentionally) crash the Kindle using a few simple CSS commands. All that I tried to do was to center the "==>JAILBREAK<==" text, both horizontally and vertically. Some specific CSS instructions (don't remember what, though) really (consistently, and repeatably) crashed the reader application. You may be having a similar problem, but affecting (most probably) the indexer.