Troubleshooting Where are my original books?

[kangxi]

Apologies if all this has already been asked & answered - I did look through past posts but couldn't see anything relevant.
I upgraded to a Kindle Paperwhite a while ago. I was surprised to find all the stuff from my old Kindle was available on the new one but thought no more about it. I've now installed Calibre on my desktop, but when I went to look at the contents of the new Kindle the only stuff that displayed in Calibre were the books I'd recently downloaded or emailed to it and not the stuff that had been imported the day I set it up. I opened up the Kindle with File Explorer but couldn't see see the old stuff anywhere. Where are all the old books stored? On the cloud somewhere, or an Amazon server? I'd like to migrate all my old stuff into Calibre so I can edit metadata, sort onto sets etc. How can I do that?

[tomsem]

When you set up the new Kindle there is no content there: you have to download it from your Library (or side load it).

Perhaps the UI is new to you, but by default the Downloaded filter is not set, so you see a listing of everything in your Library. It used to be a visible toggle between ALL and DOWNLOADED, but now you have to tap the filter icon in upper left and select Downloaded. At that point you'll see only the items that are Downloaded (subject to other filter conditions you can set).

Note that downloaded items also have a little checkbox icon on them to distinguish them from things that are in your library but have not been downloaded.

[Quoth]

Also you need to download direct from Amazon (Your account Content page) to computer, not direct on the PW, or the ebooks are crippled.

[kangxi]

Thanks for the info. As you correctly surmise I'm new to Calibre. Some of the terms are new as well - what is side loading? And jail breaking?
I found out where my missing files are - they're previous purchases and old downloads from Amazon & I can access them via my Amazon account. From there I can make a book appear and disappear from the Kindle PW but I can't seem to get an entire file to download to my Kindle even when I start to read the book. Is the file released from the Amazon website in chunks as I read through the book? Is so how do I read a complete book when I'm offline? (I'm shortly heading off to China where access to Amazon is restricted unless I use a vpn.) Calibre shows me those books but I can't add them to my library. Does that matter?

[Quoth]

Sideload means copy via USB, but actually any method (Mobile, WiFi, BT, SD card, USB) that's not a direct internet connection to the store of the company selling the ereader or suppling an app. Not all makes of ereaders have stores. You may buy ebooks or get PD ebooks from other than Amazon for a Kindle, then you can only sideload them. You can also sideload ebooks bought from Amazon that you first downloaded in a browser from the Amazon account.

Jailbreak is the process of making a Kindle or Nook able to accept user supplied settings not otherwise possible, or add 3rd party applications. A Kindle out of the box is like a VHS, CD player, record player etc, it only allows what Amazon has decided.

An iPad or iphone currently need a jailbreak to bypass Apple's store, but EU is fighting Apple on that. Most Android devices can install 3rd party APKs, bypassing Google's Playstore without a Jailbreak, but need one to install an alternate OS.

Kobo and many other ereaders (apart from Kindle and Nook) doesn't need a jailbreak, but there are few third party apps. Even if that wasn't true, the Kindle is more restricted without a jailbreak (inability to set series, collections, subtitles etc from computer/Calibre, but Kobo lets you set all those).

Mostly a new Kindle can't currently be jailbroken. Unless a new exploit is found, but then Amazon updates the firmware and if you turn on WiFi, ever, eventually Amazon forces an update. You need a Jailbroken Kindle to be able to install earlier firmware. Kobo models generally can install any earlier FW as long as it's not earlier than original for than model.

Like a VHS, or microwave oven, the Kindle is fixed in what it does without a jailbreak, which might not be available.

[Quoth]

Download ALL your ebooks, picking THAT new Kindle, in a browser on Windows, Linux, MacOS, Android, or iOS as long as what you download on to has a filebrowser that can "see" the Kindle when USB cable is connected.

Most will have DRM, so will only be readable on the chosen Kindle. The deDRM plugin from NoDRM for Calibre will let you read books you bought on any of your ereaders, now or the future, and not just Kindles. Only use it for books Amazon writes on page "You own this", don't use it for Prime or Kindle Unlimited or other borrowing systems or the author/publisher/estate isn't paid.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Only use it for books Amazon writes on page "You own this", don't use it for Prime or Kindle Unlimited or other borrowing systems or the author/publisher/estate isn't paid.

Despite Amazon showing "You purchased this book on...", as far as Amazon is concerned, you purchased a license to read that book and not the book. That license includes such niceties as adding or removing content, at any time without notice.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Despite Amazon showing "You purchased this book on...", as far as Amazon is concerned, you purchased a license to read that book and not the book. That license includes such niceties as adding or removing content, at any time without notice.

Yes, I know about Amazon's probably unenforceable fine print. If the supplier & Amazon is paid and the content is never shared to 3rd parties they actually will do nothing. I'm not buying electronic content without making a backup. It's very much more easily inaccessible or deleted than paper content.

Eventually the file will be public domain content.

My point is that subscription/borrowed content is certainly in a different category. You can only consume it as intended or it's fraud, because people arn't paid.·

[kangxi]

Many thanks for the info - I have quite the learning curve in front of me. I'll take time to process what you've all just said.

[Kindleing]

Originally Posted by kangxi

From there I can make a book appear and disappear from the Kindle PW but I can't seem to get an entire file to download to my Kindle even when I start to read the book. Is the file released from the Amazon website in chunks as I read through the book?

The answer to that question is "No", the book is not downloaded in chunks. The entire book should be downloaded to your Kindle as a complete file. You should be able to download as many of your books as you want before your trip. It has been a long time since I loaded books directly from Amazon; I normally use "Download and transfer via USB" so I can't suggest what might be going wrong. But that is not a behavior I have seen in the past.

[Quoth]

KFX format is designed to allow reading before the book has entirely downloaded (like due to a bad connection, or other reasons).

The Download & Transfer via Web Browser only downloads entire ebooks. It's far more definite than using the confusing interface on the actual Kindle.

Always download all the ebooks via web browser, especially if you are going to travel.

[kangxi]

You advise me to download any books I have from Amazon & transfer to my Kindle via USB. I didn't know I could do that, but I went back to my 'device & contents management page' on Amazon and found a drop-down menu with that option. Thanks! Now I can really get to grips with my untidy Kindle.