Amazon removed books from my Kindle

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Paperbackstash

Thankfully this issue really is rare whether you use wi-fi or not. It hasn't happened to me again since the last time about 2 years back.

It is rare for people who have wifi on most of the time or at least often. If you're the type who keeps wifi off most of the time (like I was) because they sideload most of their books and want to conserve battery, then the deleting would happen every time they turn wifi on again.

[muggleMode]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

It is rare for people who have wifi on most of the time or at least often. If you're the type who keeps wifi off most of the time (like I was) because they sideload most of their books and want to conserve battery, then the deleting would happen every time they turn wifi on again.

Perhaps a solution would be to save the book folder on the PC in case this happens.
or maybe mark a file in the folder as read-only.

[jlinear]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

It is rare for people who have wifi on most of the time or at least often. If you're the type who keeps wifi off most of the time (like I was) because they sideload most of their books and want to conserve battery, then the deleting would happen every time they turn wifi on again.

Recently had this happen to my Scribe which had been in Airplane mode for several weeks. Just for the halibut, I connected my 11th gen Paperwhite which had also been in Airplane mode for weeks to my WiFi. POOF! All Calibre sided-loaded AZW3 content gone. I checked the directory structure afterwards. Author folders were present but their content was erased. I don't know if this happens every time. But it sure gives me second thoughts about using Amazon e-readers. Just sold my Scribe. Keeping my Paperwhite only so I can download my purchased e-books via USB. Now using my Kobo e-readers.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by muggleMode

Perhaps a solution would be to save the book folder on the PC in case this happens.
or maybe mark a file in the folder as read-only.

amazon isn't shy about ignoring read-only.

[hondabf]

I do buy the idea that Amazon does this because the Kindle's device/firmware sometimes forgets that sideloaded books don't have to have the same metadata/information, than the books they have at their store, which results in the Kindle go crazy and nuke the documents folder (even the ones with a correct ASIN metadata).

And maybe it's something similar with the bought books... the Kindle's software confuses itself with mismatched synced data with one or two books, and instead of fixing it accordingly, it takes the fastest option which is for some reason, the nuking option?

Amazon should know this issue by now, and maybe they do, and don't want to fix it to further lead people to only have a clean only-Kindle library, something like "urghh! this happened because of those damn sideloaded books". I mean yes, there are people who still have their entire library wiped, despite having only-bought Kindle books, but that passes off mostly as a "whoopsie"... but since most people have one or two sideloaded books on their Kindle, it will likely make people think the former.

To me, it wouldn't sound that far fetched.

Do we know if this also happens with unregistered Kindles?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by hondabf

Do we know if this also happens with unregistered Kindles?

Unregistered Kindles are unlikely to connect to Amazon?
Blacklisted one won't.
If you lose kindle and think it's stolen and report it, Amazon will blacklist/block it. They won't unblock if you find it. It's then crippled for ever with no series or collections.

[haertig]

Seems it is a good idea for customers to protect themselves from this type of Amazon behavior (with local backups, DeDRM) no matter how rare or "it doesn't affect me" they think it may be. The Amazon camel has its nose under the tent. A nose that is fairly well hidden and largely harmless at this time (just an occasional nuisance for a small group). But I'm not one who's going to wait around until it sticks another part of its anatomy in there, and then exclaim how surprised I was by this.

Discussion about when it happens, how it happens, and why it happens seems mostly a mental and entertainment exercise - because evidently it DOES happen. So protection from it would seem paramount to me. I wouldn't assume that the camel is content with just it's nose in there simply because that's the only part anybody has observed yet. That camel could lunge and be fully inside your tent in a heartbeat. Not much you can do about it at that point. My advice would be to get your camel recovery kit in order before the lunge. I would guess than many posters here have had their camel kits ready for a long time already, so this is somewhat of a "preaching to the choir" post. But there are new posters that join forums who may not be aware.

[hondabf]

Originally Posted by haertig

Seems it is a good idea for customers to protect themselves from this type of Amazon behavior (with local backups, DeDRM) no matter how rare or "it doesn't affect me" they think it may be. The Amazon camel has its nose under the tent. A nose that is fairly well hidden and largely harmless at this time (just an occasional nuisance for a small group). But I'm not one who's going to wait around until it sticks another part of its anatomy in there, and then exclaim how surprised I was by this.

Discussion about when it happens, how it happens, and why it happens seems mostly a mental and entertainment exercise - because evidently it DOES happen. So protection from it would seem paramount to me. I wouldn't assume that the camel is content with just it's nose in there simply because that's the only part anybody has observed yet. That camel could lunge and be fully inside your tent in a heartbeat. Not much you can do about it at that point. My advice would be to get your camel recovery kit in order before the lunge. I would guess than many posters here have had their camel kits ready for a long time already, so this is somewhat of a "preaching to the choir" post. But there are new posters that join forums who may not be aware.

When you say "kits" are you're talking about the rescue packs from Niluje's snapshot thread, right??

I understood the camels analogy, but I am completely flabbergasted about the kit part, like which ones exactly I got the BinaryRenamer extension installed though, I don't know if that helps.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by hondabf

When you say "kits" are you're talking about the rescue packs from Niluje's snapshot thread, right??

I understood the camels analogy, but I am completely flabbergasted about the kit part, like which ones exactly I got the BinaryRenamer extension installed though, I don't know if that helps.

I think it means that you have deDRMed backups of all your books. Not necessarily a jailbroken Kindle (many users here don't jailbreak their Kindles; I didn't do it either when I used them).

[haertig]

I believe "kit" is a word you hear more often in the UK, but I'm not sure of its origins. In this context, I intended "kit" to mean "a collection of tools". Generic. The "tools" I was thinking about were (1) some way to remove DRM, and (2) some way to store the result locally. With "locally" meaning "under your control, not someone elses". It doesn't have to be truly "local", as long as you are the one who controls it, wherever it is.

I also have a survival "kit" that I take hiking. And an auto repair "kit" in the back of my truck. I also have a little black bag that I carry my "daily kit" in. That is certainly a generic use of the word. My "daily kit" includes a water bottle, my Kindle, charging stuff for my cell phone (and Kindle and tablet for that matter), sunglasses. Just "miscellaneous stuff" that is called "kit" in many places, but maybe not a familiar term for everyone here. We have members from all kinds of different locations around the world!

I'm guessing that most people have heard terms like "survival kit". The things you take around with you to ensure you make it back home in one piece. Maybe less common would be a sentence like, "Here is all the kit I take around with me on a daily basis." In this second example, "kit" is a synonym for "stuff", and I believe that is more how the British might use this word. But I could be wrong about where this usage came from.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by hondabf

When you say "kits" are you're talking about the rescue packs from Niluje's snapshot thread, right??

No.

DeDRM plugin from NoDRM GIT plus calibre plus files from Download to PC is the 'kit'. Only serial ID of registered Kindle needed plugin, not a jailbreak.

British English. Kit can mean a tool kit, camping gear, computer utilities, clothes (get your kit off) or uniform (clean up your kit). Depends on context. Or a set of parts to assemble into a model or full size working item. In 1920s a Kit radio needed no licence (radio licenses in UK till maybe 1970s!), and at one stage saved tax on buying a sports style car.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jlinear

Recently had this happen to my Scribe which had been in Airplane mode for several weeks. Just for the halibut, I connected my 11th gen Paperwhite which had also been in Airplane mode for weeks to my WiFi. POOF! All Calibre sided-loaded AZW3 content gone. I checked the directory structure afterwards. Author folders were present but their content was erased. I don't know if this happens every time. But it sure gives me second thoughts about using Amazon e-readers. Just sold my Scribe. Keeping my Paperwhite only so I can download my purchased e-books via USB. Now using my Kobo e-readers.

You really should not be using author based directories because as you see, you'll end up eventually with a bunch of empty directories as you read and delete the eBooks.

[JSWolf]

For anyone who would like to run a test. Take some ePub and run them through Kindleggen and put them on your Kindle. Do not use calibre at all.

Then run other ePub through calibre and put them on your Kindle. Turn on WiFi and let Amazon delete your eBooks and see if the Kindlegen created eBooks still remain.

Thanks.

P.S. Here is a link to Kindleen. It will be good for 7-days from now. https://we.tl/t-Vf2kMUqNGI This is a command-line based program for Windows.

[jlinear]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

You really should not be using author based directories because as you see, you'll end up eventually with a bunch of empty directories as you read and delete the eBooks.

What would you recommend?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by jlinear

What would you recommend?

My personal preference is metadata based searching. Much easier to use than a directory structure and takes fewer keystrokes/taps to locate a book. One example is that using metadata allows me to have an anthology with all the authors listed and searchable without needing an incredibly complex directory structure or worrying about file path/filename length limitations.