Calibre & Fire HD8 (5th gen)

[Sgt912]

I haven't used Calibre in a while and had a message to update the software, which I did.
When I last used it some time ago, I could connect both my wife's and my own Kindle Fires and it would show all of the books on the devices.
Now, when I attach the Kindle Fires, Calibre knows they're there and if I go into the configuration menu item, it shows the details of the devices - model and serial no. etc, so connection between laptop and Kindle Fires isn't a problem.
However, despite there being several books downloaded from Amazon to the devices and I can see them in the Kindles, they don't show up in Calibre.
When I look in the root directory of the devices, the 'Books' folder is there, but it's empty (hidden files should be shown, but there's just nothing there.
Have Amazon changed the way they store books on the devices or the locations of the books and/or is Calibre no longer able to access the storage location(s) of the (proper) Amazon books on the Kindle Fires?

[jhowell]

The root "books" folder is for you to sideload books that you download from Amazon's website. (Not very useful for an internet connected tablet.)

Books that the device downloads itself are in deeper in the folder tree. On my Fire tablet there is a folder for each book named:
\Fire\Storage device\Android\data\com.amazon.kindle\files\Books\ amzn1.account.{account#}\{ASIN}

Most books these days will be in KFX format using a file-naming conversion that is not supported by calibre. Also, there is no way to remove DRM from books on a Fire tablet even if they are recognized.

[georgemh]

But you can remove DRM on your PC with Calibre, and then put the resulting file on your Kindle in Books. I do that anyways because I put books on my SD card.

[ruseorama]

Dear All,

First post so apologies if I bend any forum guidelines first time in. I have used Calibre and CC happily for years, but I am now unable to update a library on a HD8 using the latest versions of CC and Calibre on a MacBook Pro running 10.14.6.

Calibre hangs after 5 mins 7 Secs exactly. Never any different. I have posted the messages from Calibre running in debug mode below. The app on the Fire continues to run oblivious of the failure.

I posted this to Kovid previously but the error is in the Py and error handling in the app. Any help with the core issues greatly appreciated.

kind regs,
Ruseorama/Russell




calibre, version 4.12.0
ERROR: Error: Error communicating with device

There was a timeout while communicating with the device in function: Device did not respond in reasonable time

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/device.py", line 90, in run
File "site-packages/calibre/gui2/device.py", line 513, in _books
File "site-packages/calibre/devices/smart_device_app/driver.py", line 50, in _synchronizer
File "site-packages/calibre/devices/smart_device_app/driver.py", line 1284, in books
File "site-packages/calibre/devices/smart_device_app/driver.py", line 50, in _synchronizer
File "site-packages/calibre/devices/smart_device_app/driver.py", line 642, in _call_client
File "site-packages/calibre/devices/smart_device_app/driver.py", line 674, in _receive_from_client
TimeoutError: There was a timeout while communicating with the device in function: Device did not respond in reasonable time

[stumped]

they way it hangs, always at same place/same time, suggest that records which calibre or CC is trying to access on the Fire device may be corrupted or unreadable
is this timeout independent of what book or books you try to send ?
does it in fact time out just from connecting, before you try to transfer any books ?
are you using CC with connect to content server or connect as a wireless device, or have you tried both ?
is CC the current amazon app store version ?

have you tried clear cache & clear data in CC, then set it up again

and also to troubleshoot whether its calibre or CC, what happens if you don't use the app but try to transfer books from calibre to device using USB