Kindle PW Won't Open Non-Amazon Books Transferred Through USB (MOBI,AZW3)

[Timg1089]

I have many non-DRM mobi books that were not purchased through amazon. I transfer these books to my Kindle PW from my PC by drag and drop to the documents folder using the micro USB connection. The books show up on the Kindle home screen (usually with a blank default cover or a scrambled version of the actual book cover) but when I try to open them I get the following error:

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 the Home Screen.

I have also tried using Calibre to transfer the books and I get the same problem. I tried converting them to AZW3 files with Calibre and I don't get the error but instead my Kindle freezes when I try to open the file, or it opens and freezes a few pages in. I even tried a mobi to mobi conversion, no good. These files work just fine using the Kindle PC app before and after converting them with Calibre, they are not corrupt.

The only thing that has worked so far is to email the mobi files to my kindle by using the *****@kindle.com email. The books show up on the home screen with the correct covers and open just fine. However, this can't be a permanent solution for me as I will soon be leaving for Job Corps and will have no wi-fi access and limited internet access in general so I can not rely on this method all of the time. A direct connection to my computer for file transfers is really what I need.

Also, I have tried rebooting and resetting my device, and calling customer service to no avail. A different cable makes no difference. Although I do currently have wifi and can add a bunch of books at this time through email, I am not entirely satisfied with this because something is clearly not working properly with my device.

Has anyone else experienced this problem, hopefully with some advice? Thanks in advance

[pidgeon92]

The only time I have ever seen the error "Unable to Open Item" is with DRMd ebooks.

Can you try re-downloading a couple of mobi files from the original source and see if they transfer and open on your Kindle successfully?

[Timg1089]

no luck

[pidgeon92]

No luck re-downloading, or no luck with them opening?

[Timg1089]

I redownloaded them but no luck opening. I know these files are not DRM'd. Plus, if they were, I don't think they would work when I email them to my device which does currently work.

[darryl]

I don't know what processing Amazon actually carry out in the email process. It may be that they do their own conversion or repair? If you import a book to Calibre are you able to read it with the Calibre ebook viewer? If not, what error message do you get? If you care to put one of the files in question on a hosting site and pm me a link I will see if I can find the problem. Even if I can't, others may be able to. Just don't post the link. Only PM.

[krazy4katz]

I am very naive about these things, but I do remember at some point having to convert mobi to mobi in Calibre to side load books on my kindle. I know it seems silly, but try that?

Good luck,
k4k

[Timg1089]

I can read the book in the calibre reader just fine as with the kindle pc app. I have also tried a mobi to mobi conversion already. Amazon definitely does a conversion when you email a book to your device because I email them as a mobi file but when I plug my kindle in to my pc they are azw, not azw3, just azw. I even tried to put a mobi file on the device and just rename it to .azw but that didn't work either.

The weird thing is that when I bought the kindle I manually put some of these exact books on the device through USB and it worked just fine. I ended up removing them for some reason or another and now it doesn't work for any e-book. I don't get it...

[duydangle]

Have you tried:
- Using calibre to send the books.
- Reset the Kindle PW?

[Timg1089]

I said I tried both of those in the original post...

[Timg1089]

I have no idea why but it's working just fine now. I didn't do anything different at all so I don't know if I would call it a fix but it is working. So confused lol

[Readirect]

You said you converted them with Calibre, but have you tried transferring them to the Kindle with Calibre?

The other thing is that you said you reset the Kindle but did you erase the Kindle documents folder contents before you tried transferring the books? You can do that via your PC/Mac. When all else has failed with strange actions on my Kindle (and there've been quite a few) THAT has always worked for me.

[noshertuck]

Originally Posted by Readirect

You said you converted them with Calibre, but have you tried transferring them to the Kindle with Calibre?

The other thing is that you said you reset the Kindle but did you erase the Kindle documents folder contents before you tried transferring the books? You can do that via your PC/Mac. When all else has failed with strange actions on my Kindle (and there've been quite a few) THAT has always worked for me.

I'm sorry, I'm not sure of the board etiquette when it comes to bumping old threads but I'm having the exact same issue as the OP. I used to have no problem side loading mobi files, then all of a sudden I couldn't open them (and had the same message) or I'd get partially through them and be unable to go on. I'm also getting a message when I connect my USB cable between my Kindle and computer that there may be errors and do I want to continue or scan for errors (so far I haven't scanned because I have no idea if it'll wipe my Kindle clean or what).

I've done all of the things the OP has too. Transferring via Calibre isn't even working right now, the only way I can get anything to work is sending things directly via my @kindle.com address. I haven't erased my Kindle documents folder contents. Won't I lose all of my books since that's where they are?

[Readirect]

Originally Posted by noshertuck

I'm sorry, I'm not sure of the board etiquette when it comes to bumping old threads but I'm having the exact same issue as the OP.

Have you tried converting to another format in Calibre then converting back? Poorly formatted ebooks can cause this problem although I've never seen it. The concept is to let Calibre fix any formatting issues in its conversion.

[dordale]

Originally Posted by Readirect

Have you tried converting to another format in Calibre then converting back? Poorly formatted ebooks can cause this problem although I've never seen it. The concept is to let Calibre fix any formatting issues in its conversion.

If it's a formatting issue, you shouldn't have to convert to another format first. In Calibre you can set it to format from the same format to the same format (ie mobi->mobi or azw3->azw3). I do this all the time with ePub->ePub so that I can set font, justification and margin preferences in my books.