Kindle Scribe

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

Windows can see the Kindle, but seems confused as to what's inside.

It is possible that the user data partition was corrupted prior to the update. That was possible with the original method of USB connection, especially if the USB connection was interrupted without disconnecting through the user interface first.

Now with MTP the partition is no longer directly exposed over USB which decreases the chance of further problems of this sort but it also prevents fixing anything that is already wrong.

I suggest doing a factory reset which should rebuild the partition.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by jhowell

It is possible that the user data partition was corrupted prior to the update. That was possible with the original method of USB connection, especially if the USB connection was interrupted without disconnecting through the user interface first.

Now with MTP the partition is no longer directly exposed over USB which decreases the chance of further problems of this sort but it also prevents fixing anything that is already wrong.

I suggest doing a factory reset which should rebuild the partition.

I'll think about that. Thanks!

[NiLuJe]

Wasn't the MTP switch accompanied by a re-format of the userstore as ext4 (that would certainly explain all the content going poof ^^)?

(I seem to recall that being true for factory resets, but I have no idea if they haven't actually forced it. If not, the likely culprit, as @jhowell said, is a filesystem integrity issue, causing a re-format).

[tomsem]

Content going poof was happening on some non-Scribe Kindles, I believe. Only side-loaded content was affected, no reports to the contrary that I have seen.

As for whether Scribe storage has been reformatted along with switch to MTP, how would anyone know? Without any information one way or another, my prior would be that it is not.

[jlinear]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Content going poof was happening on some non-Scribe Kindles, I believe. Only side-loaded content was affected, no reports to the contrary that I have seen.

Just had this happen on my Scribe. It had been in Airplane mode for several weeks. I joined Kindle Unlimited and connected to WiFi to download some content. And POOF, all Calibre side-loaded AZW3 content disappeared from the menu. I should have investigated to see if my content was actually deleted or if it was just a menu issue. Instead, I reset my Scribe. Was on 5.16.5 when it happened. Updated to 5.16.6. Haven't tried connecting to WiFi since.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by jlinear

Just had this happen on my Scribe. It had been in Airplane mode for several weeks. I joined Kindle Unlimited and connected to WiFi to download some content. And POOF, all Calibre side-loaded AZW3 content disappeared from the menu. I should have investigated to see if my content was actually deleted or if it was just a menu issue. Instead, I reset my Scribe. Was on 5.16.5 when it happened. Updated to 5.16.6. Haven't tried connecting to WiFi since.

I wish I had kept one of my Kindles on the previous version so I could have done some experimentation. But I probably would not have had the patience for a several week long experiment. I have never bothered to keep any of them in Airplane mode, and I generally update them manually whenever there is an update. They don’t seem to update themselves, ever. With the 5.16.5 update I think I waited a couple of weeks for my Scribe to update, and gave up waiting.

I do think the update will solve issues with ‘disappearing side loaded content’, now that Kindle and computer share a common understanding about what time it is (for the newer Kindles which got the time/date feature).

I have never side loaded enough to experience any problems with disappearing books or thumbnail images.

But I did notice that it wasn’t possible to simply overwrite nbk files: even with WiFi off, it would remove the nbk because it was ‘old’ (according to some local sync database). I had to change modify date into the future to get it to ‘stick’. I think something similar could happen with sideloaded books and thumbnails.

One question: did your side-loaded AZW3’s have ASIN metadata in them?

[jlinear]

Originally Posted by tomsem

One question: did your side-loaded AZW3’s have ASIN metadata in them?

I use Calibre to download metadata for each book. I do that as a rule for every Kindle book I purchase. I then send the AZW3 file to Scribe. If Calibre sends ASIN metadata along with that file then the answer to your question is yes.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by jlinear

I use Calibre to download metadata for each book. I do that as a rule for every Kindle book I purchase. I then send the AZW3 file to Scribe. If Calibre sends ASIN metadata along with that file then the answer to your question is yes.

If it’s from Amazon, then you would need to explicitly remove ASIN, or else I think it will try to sync reading position, upload and export notes etc. if and when it connects. IIRC, this has been used to be something you could add to a non Amazon book to confer those behaviors.

But if weeks go by before it has an opportunity to sync, there might be conditions where it gets removed, e.g. if you downloaded the DRMed AZW3 for some other Kindle than the one you side loaded to. I’m just trying to come up with theories; might test on my Kindle Touch (which I don’t mind putting into Airplane mode for a few weeks for purposes of experimentation).

[jlinear]

Originally Posted by tomsem

if you downloaded the DRMed AZW3 for some other Kindle than the one you side loaded to.

Well done. I have two Kindles. The latest Paperwhite I call “Condor” and my Scribe. I “Download & transfer via USB.” When it asks for which Kindle I should download to I select “Condor” not Scribe. Then “Added” the downloaded AZW3 file to Calibre stripping DRM. After using Calibre to add metadata and make some modifications (i.e. changes to margins, line-height, tablet format, etc.) I use Calibre to send the modified AZW3 file to Scribe. Perhaps sending a file downloaded for “Condor” to Scribe is a bad idea.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by jlinear

Well done. I have two Kindles. The latest Paperwhite I call “Condor” and my Scribe. I “Download & transfer via USB.” When it asks for which Kindle I should download to I select “Condor” not Scribe. Then “Added” the downloaded AZW3 file to Calibre stripping DRM. After using Calibre to add metadata and make some modifications (i.e. changes to margins, line-height, tablet format, etc.) I use Calibre to send the modified AZW3 file to Scribe. Perhaps sending a file downloaded for “Condor” to Scribe is a bad idea.

Time (or perhaps some more structured experimentation) will tell.

I do hope the clocks being synchronized will eliminate this source of trouble. It definitely made replacing notebook files less problematic (which is to say like it made it as one would have expected it to be in the first place).

[readthinksurvive]

does anyone have both kindle scribe and kobo elipsa ? could you see if the kindle scribe's fabric magnetic case (official one from amazon) fits the kobo elipsa?
i like how it is very versatile.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by readthinksurvive

does anyone have both kindle scribe and kobo elipsa ? could you see if the kindle scribe's fabric magnetic case (official one from amazon) fits the kobo elipsa?
i like how it is very versatile.

I have the Scribe with the folio case with magnets (Denim) that is from Amazon, and a harder case with hand loops in the back where it snaps in.

I also have a Kobo Elipsa with two different cases, one book style and one flip style.

The Elipsa might fit the flip case, but it has no magnets in the back that would hold the flip case on.

The hard cases are not interchangeable. The Scribe is just a bit wider, so the other cases won't fit.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I do think the update will solve issues with ‘disappearing side loaded content’, now that Kindle and computer share a common understanding about what time it is (for the newer Kindles which got the time/date feature).

Just a quick note, my Scribe officially updated to 5.16.6.1, which I had to let it do on it's own, since I couldn't manually get the update on the device itself.

When plugging it in, Windows see's the device, but I can no longer see anything on the inside.

Calibre still see's that it's there, but can't get any info from it otherwise. No books or book lists. I can't send anything to it from Calibre.

I had rebooted it to factory specs a couple of times before. That didn't help. So, new memory, new install of windows, new install of Calibre, Windows still says the driver is up-to-date, newly updated scribe... No change. I have to send everything through "Send to Kindle" or download from Amazon.

I'm not inclined at this time to do another factory reset, as I've got it comfortably loaded, and it'll take forever for Amazon to download everything again. So, I'm just going to enjoy it 'as is' for a while.

Unless someone suggests a new approach that sounds reasonable, and be something I haven't tried yet.

Otherwise, it's working fine.

[readthinksurvive]

Originally Posted by DuskyRose

I have the Scribe with the folio case with magnets (Denim) that is from Amazon, and a harder case with hand loops in the back where it snaps in.

I also have a Kobo Elipsa with two different cases, one book style and one flip style.

The Elipsa might fit the flip case, but it has no magnets in the back that would hold the flip case on.

The hard cases are not interchangeable. The Scribe is just a bit wider, so the other cases won't fit.

thank you

[kevinp]

Originally Posted by BionicGecko

My wife is left-handed and writes in the typical "claw" style favored by many lefties, i.e. her hand rests on the sheet above the line currently being written (basically to avoid getting ink on her hand). Whenever she writes in her usual way on the Scribe, her hand naturally tends to rest on the top part of the screen, which constantly brings down the top options drawer. This is very disruptive and basically renders the device completely unusable for her.

What did your wife ever figure out with this? I want to get a Scribe mainly for taking notes (my Paperwhite is fine for reading). I'm also a lefty that writes "upside down" - I never heard it described as "claw"! But, if I'm going to be fighting with the options coming down all the time, I may just have to pass.