Query re: bugfix in Calibre 8.15 to Kindle "sidecar" files

GeekyGal · 08-20-2011, 01:26 AM

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Calibre developers.

I have a question re: one of the fixes in Calibre 8.15. "When deleting books from the Kindle also delete 'sidecar' .apnx and .ph1 files as the kindle does not clean them up automatically." [I assume - BTW - that means .PHL files, as my Kindle does not appear to have any files with the extension .PH1].

If the Kindle did not delete these "sidecar" files for pre- 8.15 versions of Calibre, should I delete them manually? Which files are sidecars and which are necessary? Can having the sidecars on the Kindle be the reason it hseems to have slowed down significantly since it got page numbering / .ANPX files that didn't need to be generated elsewhere?

I talked to Kindle tech support tonight to try to get some guidance on this and had the one and only terrible phone call with them ever. [Rant]. In almost an hour and three escalations of the call, I could not get anyone to answer the question I called to ask. What do the file extensions .EA, .PHL and .SA actually mean and which of them need to be on the Kindle itself after the book files had been moved off? No matter what I said, I could not get anyone to go off script or skip ahead to the part where I KNOW that books in the Archive do not take up space on the device. I also could not get anyone to understand that I was not -- no matter what they said -- going to take the "offer" of a reset to factory defaults.

Please, collective wisdom, do you know the answer to this? I did try to do RTFM and do the research there first.

Ron. · 08-20-2011, 02:15 AM

If the book (azw, mobi) is no longer on your kindle you do not need any of those files (apnx, phl, ea etc..) apnx is the page numbers, phl is popular highlights, ea ? ehh not sure but one of them is the (recommended for you) that displays at the end of the book.

pchrist7 · 08-20-2011, 02:17 AM

Just to inform you, I'm following this thread.
Forgetting about .apnx files, all the other file types you list, I only see on my K3 for files downloaded directly from AMZ to K3, OR sent by browser amz.com to my K3.
Have never deleted any books on K3 from calibre, so I don't have any "sidecars".
But I'll keep track of this thread - I just might learn something new

Thanks for spotting this !

Brgds, Per

kovidgoyal · 08-20-2011, 02:27 AM

As far as I know, once the main ebook file is deleted, it is safe to delete all the rest.

GeekyGal · 08-20-2011, 02:36 AM

Thank you, Ron and pchrist7. Reporting back:

I talked to another tech support person at Kindle CS, and have the following to add:

All of these files were described to me as links to Amazon's server.

.EA files are the "recommendation" files for the "People who bought this also bought" and "More from this Author" links at the end of a book.

.PHL files are the public highlights links. I don't use the public highlights feature, myself.

.SA is the file which stores the Collections / Tags information for each book.

Amazon suggested that since these files are all tiny, I should not delete any of them.

That said, if I can safely clean these out of my view as unnecessary sidecars, I'd be happy to do so.

Good spot, pchrist7. These *are* all files I got over either wi-fi or 3G from Amazon directly rather than Baen, Gutenberg or sending them to my PC or Mac and sideloading after a Calibre clean up. I delete files using Calibre to manage the K3 pretty frequently, but also delete manually. I'm going to delete a few books with each method to see what is left behind.

Happy weekend, to one and all,

Geeky

08-20-2011, 01:26 AM	#1
GeekyGal Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 13888 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kindle FireHD, Kindle3G, iPad, MacBook, iRex Illiad (ret)	Query re: bugfix in Calibre 8.15 to Kindle "sidecar" files Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Calibre developers. I have a question re: one of the fixes in Calibre 8.15. "When deleting books from the Kindle also delete 'sidecar' .apnx and .ph1 files as the kindle does not clean them up automatically." [I assume - BTW - that means .PHL files, as my Kindle does not appear to have any files with the extension .PH1]. If the Kindle did not delete these "sidecar" files for pre- 8.15 versions of Calibre, should I delete them manually? Which files are sidecars and which are necessary? Can having the sidecars on the Kindle be the reason it hseems to have slowed down significantly since it got page numbering / .ANPX files that didn't need to be generated elsewhere? I talked to Kindle tech support tonight to try to get some guidance on this and had the one and only terrible phone call with them ever. [Rant]. In almost an hour and three escalations of the call, I could not get anyone to answer the question I called to ask. What do the file extensions .EA, .PHL and .SA actually mean and which of them need to be on the Kindle itself after the book files had been moved off? No matter what I said, I could not get anyone to go off script or skip ahead to the part where I KNOW that books in the Archive do not take up space on the device. I also could not get anyone to understand that I was not -- no matter what they said -- going to take the "offer" of a reset to factory defaults. Please, collective wisdom, do you know the answer to this? I did try to do RTFM and do the research there first.

08-20-2011, 02:17 AM	#3
pchrist7 Addict Posts: 385 Karma: 6514 Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Denmark Device: Kindle 3 3G+Wifi, Oasis	Another geek listening Just to inform you, I'm following this thread. Forgetting about .apnx files, all the other file types you list, I only see on my K3 for files downloaded directly from AMZ to K3, OR sent by browser amz.com to my K3. Have never deleted any books on K3 from calibre, so I don't have any "sidecars". But I'll keep track of this thread - I just might learn something new Thanks for spotting this ! Brgds, Per

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08-20-2011, 02:15 AM	#2
Ron. Evangelist Posts: 448 Karma: 864744 Join Date: Mar 2011 Device: Kindle 3, LookBook, Nook Simple Touch	If the book (azw, mobi) is no longer on your kindle you do not need any of those files (apnx, phl, ea etc..) apnx is the page numbers, phl is popular highlights, ea ? ehh not sure but one of them is the (recommended for you) that displays at the end of the book.

08-20-2011, 02:27 AM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	As far as I know, once the main ebook file is deleted, it is safe to delete all the rest.

08-20-2011, 02:36 AM	#5
GeekyGal Enthusiast Posts: 40 Karma: 13888 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kindle FireHD, Kindle3G, iPad, MacBook, iRex Illiad (ret)	Thank you, Ron and pchrist7. Reporting back: I talked to another tech support person at Kindle CS, and have the following to add: All of these files were described to me as links to Amazon's server. .EA files are the "recommendation" files for the "People who bought this also bought" and "More from this Author" links at the end of a book. .PHL files are the public highlights links. I don't use the public highlights feature, myself. .SA is the file which stores the Collections / Tags information for each book. Amazon suggested that since these files are all tiny, I should not delete any of them. That said, if I can safely clean these out of my view as unnecessary sidecars, I'd be happy to do so. Good spot, pchrist7. These are all files I got over either wi-fi or 3G from Amazon directly rather than Baen, Gutenberg or sending them to my PC or Mac and sideloading after a Calibre clean up. I delete files using Calibre to manage the K3 pretty frequently, but also delete manually. I'm going to delete a few books with each method to see what is left behind. Happy weekend, to one and all, Geeky

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