Amazon removed books from my Kindle

[jlinear]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I suggest posting the entire system log and also the netlog.

I added entire system log and netlog. Directories seem to be changing at 1/20/24. Perhaps the "poof" event happened earlier than I thought. ??

[Gone]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

The deleting problem only seems to affect USB-transferred content.

Ok. But how do they transfer files?

Are they only converting books to some format compatible?

Are they using AZW3? KFX?

Are they editing the metadata with the correct Ids?

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

Ok. But how do they transfer files?

Do you have an issue with "USB-transferred content"? Gentle hint: Send to Kindle does not involve USB.

Originally Posted by Claude_C

Are they only converting books to some format compatible?

Are they using AZW3? KFX?

Are they editing the metadata with the correct Ids?

No, they are sending ePub files to their Kindle over USB to waste some space.

As for whether they are sending azw3/KF8 or KFX? I had both on my PW 10th gen. along with a couple of .mobi files and all of them disappeared. Looking at calibre's IDs, the ePubs have ISBN, Kobo ID and Amazon ASIN on most of them. I did not look at the files transferred to my Kindle to see which if any IDs were transferred.

Rather reminds me of that old quote from the Monty Python crew: "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by DNSB

No, they are sending ePub files to their Kindle over USB to waste some space.

In case someone is asleep, that's sarcasm.

Originally Posted by DNSB

Rather reminds me of that old quote from the Monty Python crew: "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

One of their stock jokes along with funny walks and spam. In reality everyone expected the [Spanish] Inquisition. They even worried about it in non-Catholic Countries. Though later "Protestant" Queen Anne was the worse in Britain/England. Though Queen Mary (Before Elisabeth, not WilliamAndMary) and Cromwell were bad.

I'm sure this issue is incompetence rather than malicious intent by Amazon. The local clock getting too far out and then sync going a bit crazy is a good theory by @jhowell
Some kindles don't provide any method for the user to set the time. No doubt Amazon will eventually avoid data sync till clock corrected? Though really the sync routine must have a bug because it shouldn't be removing files unless the user has marked them for removal on the web library. So timestamps, ASIN, ISBN etc should be irrelevant unless they match an actual ASIN of a file to be deleted. It should leaving unmatched IDs alone and also ignore matched ASIN unless they are already on a user created list (via website) to be deleted.

So the sync is broken. There are two opposite solutions:
1) Never turn on Wifi. You can still add regular bought content. Does not work for Prime/KU/Borrows of any kind. Only use USB.
2) Use WiFi sync daily and only send content by Send to Kindle (web or email). Never use USB.

I've used #1 for years (also on Kobo). I can see that option #2 suits many people.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DNSB

How long are you planning on leaving your PW3 in airplane mode (and probably asleep) since that was what triggered the removal on my PW 10th gen?

I'll put the books on tonight and then turn on WiFi and see what happens.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by jlinear

I did this on my 11th gen. Paperwhite today. My Calibre sideloaded AZW3 files were deleted, I believe, on 1/27/2024 or 1/28/2024. I extracted data from the "all_systems_logs" file pertaining to the dates 1/26/2024 - 1/29/2024 and created a zip file you can download. Perhaps you can discover something.

Download here:
https://1drv.ms/u/s!AqUNPNtnptBr1CUx...6flQU?e=9VVebZ

Do you have a full link and not some shortand? MR doe snot allow shorthands as we have no idea where they go.

[jlinear]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Do you have a full link and not some shortand? MR doe snot allow shorthands as we have no idea where they go.

That is the full shared link given by OneDrive. Their shorthand not mine.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by Quoth

I'm sure this issue is incompetence rather than malicious intent by Amazon. The local clock getting too far out and then sync going a bit crazy is a good theory by @jhowell.

Yes. The internet is rife with tech support recommending the frequent synchronization of a device's time with a time server to work around bugs in programs/games that communicate via network. It's not at all a stretch to think that a time drift of a several seconds could cause seemingly unrelated issues whenever connectivity is restored to a complex system.

All it would take is one developer (or a few) thinking that someone leaving WiFi off long enough for local time to drift to the point of becoming problematic is an extremely unlikely event. One not worth the time of protecting against with more code. And in the grand scheme of Kindle usership, they're probably right.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by jlinear

I added entire system log and netlog. Directories seem to be changing at 1/20/24. Perhaps the "poof" event happened earlier than I thought. ??

I looked at the new logs. It appears that the Kindle was connected to Amazon on January 20, 2024 after last connecting on June 2, 2023.

When the Kindle synced with the time server its clock was ahead by 9 minutes 29 seconds and had to be set backwards.

The log then shows multiple actions related to syncing with Amazon's servers during which there are signs of 14 books being deleted. ("ReaderSDKImpl:Information::Successfully deleted content")

It would be nice to have verification that this is the actual number of books that went missing on January 20 so that I know that I am looking in the right place. If so I will try to determine what triggered this action.

[jlinear]

Originally Posted by jhowell

It would be nice to have verification that this is the actual number of books that went missing on January 20 so that I know that I am looking in the right place. If so I will try to determine what triggered this action.

It is my pretty firm recollection that the "poof" event you are looking for happened a day or so before I first reported it on this site on 1/28/24. Can't remember what I did on January 20, but I don't believe that is the event in question. If you don't see anything of interest going on at or around 1/28/24 then I doubt the logs will be of help much. At any rate, thanks for looking. By the way, the event happened within seconds and I probably went immediately back into Airplane mode.

[Gone]

Originally Posted by DNSB

As for whether they are sending azw3/KF8 or KFX? I had both on my PW 10th gen. along with a couple of .mobi files and all of them disappeared. Looking at calibre's IDs, the ePubs have ISBN, Kobo ID and Amazon ASIN on most of them. I did not look at the files transferred to my Kindle to see which if any IDs were transferred.

Well, as stupid as I may be/look, I think that having the ebook with the correct Ids corresponding to an existing Kindle ebook might be important. (And the chosen format.) That's my main question for the people complaining about missing ebooks. It never gets mentioned in all details.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by jlinear

It is my pretty firm recollection that the "poof" event you are looking for happened a day or so before I first reported it on this site on 1/28/24. Can't remember what I did on January 20, but I don't believe that is the event in question. If you don't see anything of interest going on at or around 1/28/24 then I doubt the logs will be of help much. At any rate, thanks for looking. By the way, the event happened within seconds and I probably went immediately back into Airplane mode.

Thanks anyway for posting the logs.

[jlinear]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Thanks anyway for posting the logs.

You are very welcome.

[jlinear]

Originally Posted by Claude_C

Well, as stupid as I may be/look, I think that having the ebook with the correct Ids corresponding to an existing Kindle ebook might be important. (And the chosen format.) That's my main question for the people complaining about missing ebooks. It never gets mentioned in all details.

In my case, the ebooks were deleted instantaneously upon connection. As fast as you can say “poof.” If Amazon spent any time examining my content it sure happened fast. I think it deleted first and asked questions later.

[JSWolf]

I put on some eBooks converted by calibre and some by Kindlegen. The Kindlegen eBooks, I put on as dual-mobi and KF8 (split with KindleUnpack). I turned on WiFi and did a sync. I still have my side-loaded content.

Any way to get any of it to be deleted?