Kindle book cover thumbnails disappearing

[AlanHK]

Originally Posted by sadievan

Books that had covers were listed as: thumbnail_(Amazon’s ASIN#=Bxxx)_EBOK_portrait.jpg
Books that did not have covers were listed as: thumbnail_(Bunch of numbers and letters)_EBOK_portrait.jpg

When using the Kindlegen plugin for Sigil, you set the ASIN in the OPF of the epub:

for epub2: <dc:identifier opf:scheme="AMAZON">X</dc:identifier>

for epub3: <dc:identifier>urn:AMAZON:X</dc:identifier>

Then when the plugin creates the thumbnail, it makes it:
thumbnail_X_EBOK_portrait.jpg

"X" doesn't need to be the actual Amazon ASIN. Whatever you use becomes the ID that the Kindle uses for that book, and its cover. So it does need to be unique.
I put an abbreviated form of the title, so I can easily see if it matches:
<dc:identifier opf:scheme="AMAZON">MOBYDICK</dc:identifier>
If there is no ASIN in the epub OPF, then one is created on the fly when the AZW or mobi is created, different each time, thus the random names you see.

If you make your own pseudo ASIN, the Kindle won't substitute a cover from Amazon.

[MrSlow&Steady]

The fact that people are still talking about it here just shows that this problem is still really ongoing.

When I put in books from Calibre, the covers disappear. I connect my Kindle to Calibre and disconnect and the covers reappear. But THEN, the covers of the books I'm reading lose their covers and now I'm like "WTF do I do".

[Books converted]

Books converted to MOBI display on Kindle 2021, but no other format.
What is this logic??

[vseera]

Seems like the latest version of Calibre messed this up? I was getting book covers and everything for my azw3 books earlier but now no matter how many times I connect my Kindle or refresh metadata, the covers don't show up.

The workaround doesn't seem to be working for me

[kovidgoyal]

There are no changes to the workaround in calibre. If its not working then amazon messed it up because they are determined to discourage you from sideloading books. Keep your kindle in Airplane mode or better leave this monopolists ecosystem.

[ajkessel]

The sideload / disconnect / reconnect / sideload-again method worked for me, but only with KFX format files. MOBI and AZW3 failed to show cover thumbnails even with this method.

[samscud]

I tried messing around with this and here's what I found:

• A "Kindle Preview" generated MOBI file, sourced from an imported EPUB, shows the thumbnail correctly after sideloading on my Kindle, but the sleep screen doesn't show the cover.
• An AZW3 file converted online from either the MOBI or the EPUB shows the cover on the sleep screen, but doesn't show the cover in the library.

Unpacking the MOBI and AZW3 files, I noticed that mobi8/OEBPS/content.opf contains a reference in the metadata, to a "Cover ThumbNail Image" which is not present in the mobi8/OEBPS/Images folder (but IS present in the mobi7/OEBPS/Images folder).

I also noted that all the online services that I tried that convert to AZW3 have a <dc:contributor>calibre (5.37.0) [https://calibre-ebook.com]</dc:contributor>, so it looks like they use Calibre to perform the actual conversion.

I tried converting using Calibre 5.43.0, and a MOBI file had no sleep screen cover, and an AZW3 had no library thumbnail.

I didn't use Calibre to transfer to the Kindle, just copied the file over to the Kindle Documents folder.

I can unpack an AZW3, but don't know how to repack it, so... could anybody try adding the thumbnail image to the mobi8/OEBPS/Images folder of an AZW3 file to see if the thumbnail shows in the library?

[AlanHK]

Originally Posted by samscud

Cover ThumbNail Image"

Whenever I've seen one of these files in an ebook, it's been a very small image, smaller than the Kindle library cover which is normally 450 px high (for 300 dpi Kindles like Paperwhite at least).
I don't know what used it, never had a problem if I deleted it from the epub before generating an AZW or MOBI.

[jhowell]

Cover thumbnails on my Oasis are no longer being replaced by the generic cover image. I don't know when this started. I saw it mentioned on Reddit and decided to try it for myself today.

The person on Reddit who pointed it out assumed that the change was in the latest Kindle firmware. I doubt that.

It seems more likely to me that Amazon's servers have changed to no longer deliver a missing cover image file. This assumption can be tested by seeing if the problem has also gone away for those not running the latest firmware. (I don't have a device with appropriate firmware to check at the moment.)

Good news for now. Of course this may have been unintentional and Amazon could always decide to change it back.


Added: After more testing I see that I was wrong in my assumption. Amazon's servers still deliver the missing cover image file for unknown books. So it does appear that my Kindle is actually now being less aggressive about trying to replace the cover.

[A Lurker]

Forgive me if this was mentioned earlier in the thread (I skimmed through, but didn't see it).

When I side-load books, I also add them to the Kindle/Amazon cloud (I think it's called Whispernet). This allows me to access the books not only on my Oasis, but also on my Kindle for iPhone app.

I've noticed that it's only my Kindle device that's missing the thumbnails for the book covers. My Kindle iOS app is still displaying the proper covers.

I'm not asking a question or looking for a solution (I see the solution for missing covers on Kindle is provided earlier in this thread). I'm simply noting / commenting on the inconsistent approach Amazon is taking. It's interesting that they're stripping covers off books you side-load to your Kindle, but not stripping covers off books side-loaded to your phone. I'm sure Kindle device firmware and the iOS/Android app are developed by two different divisions, but you'd think they'd coordinate.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by A Lurker

It's interesting that they're stripping covers off books you side-load to your Kindle, but not stripping covers off books side-loaded to your phone. I'm sure Kindle device firmware and the iOS/Android app are developed by two different divisions, but you'd think they'd coordinate.

The Kindle for PC/Mac apps just added support for synced personal documents and those apps follow the Kindle in not showing cover thumbnails. So the developers appear to be about evenly split.

[A Lurker]

Originally Posted by jhowell

The Kindle for PC/Mac apps just added support for synced personal documents and those apps follow the Kindle in not showing cover thumbnails. So the developers appear to be about evenly split.

Interesting. I typically use the web-based Kindle Cloud Reader if I want to read on a PC. That still only displays Amazon purchases, with no option to call up your documents.

[VeganGamer]

Hi! I'm brand new to Calibre and to Kindle, and I'm overwhelmed with both and hoping I can get some "lay person" advice. I have this issue of the covers deleting, and now I'm in a wormhole trying to figure everything out.

The workaround requires sending from a GMX (which I first heard of last night) to the kindle e-mail. I didn't set up a GMX when I first installed, and now I can't find a way to get back to that install screen on Calibre so I can actually set up the GMX and send them to Kindle. Do I need to delete Calibre from my PC and reinstall so I can have the chance to set up the GMX? Or, can someone point me in the right direction from the main library screen?

All the tutorial videos I'm finding online use the version of plugging in the kindle, but that's the scenario where the covers all disappear... and their library screens seem different than mine (Which is the latest version I downloaded from Calibre's website).

Sorry for such a basic question (from an obviously non pro-user). Feel free to move my post if I've posted in the wrong spot. I'm frankly overwhelmed by what should be a really easy task: send all the books I already own to the Kindle Paperwhite and then simply start reading them there. If I can't get my covers showing on Kindle, I'm wondering if it's just not the right device for me and if I should stick with my phone or consider another device. I have 27 days left to return it...). My phone works fine for reading, but I was considering eye-health and lack of distractions on the kindle.

Any thoughts (HELP) appreciated!
VG

[DNSB]

Do you already have a GMX email account? If not go to gmx.com and set one up. Once that is done, under GMX's email settings, enable POP3 and IMAP.

Once that is done, open calibre's Preferences (either from the toolbar or by entering CTRL-P). Select Sharing books by email. Click on the GMX button and then enter your credentials. Click on test email to ensure all is okay.

[VeganGamer]

DNSB - thanks a lot for the help! I figured out half the process, but still hitting a snag. Yes, I downloaded GMX, and then enabled POP3/IMAP (thanks for that reminder). The test e-mail from Calibre via gmx to my normal e-mail went through great.

Then, I added the GMX e-mail address onto the permitted e-mail addresses under my Amazon account. Unfortunately, the files are not arriving on the Kindle from Calibre though (I've tried about 50 files). If I send them from my gmail account directly, they go through right away (but without the covers...). Any ideas on how to troubleshoot? Or, am I missing a piece? I'm definitely sending to the correct e-mail address, and the e-mail address is permitted under Amazon...