"Exceeded" Allowable Clippings for a Book

[catsongs]

I was "taking good notes" on a book for a class.

Finished the book and found that, towards the end of the book, nothing was included in the My Clippings text file... I'd exceeded the "allowable" clipping level...

The problem: I've still got to report to the class... and now 1/3 of my notes are not in a text file I can work with.

I did "reload" the book from Amazon via WhisperNet, but the Kindle seems to remember...

Any thoughts? Or am I going back re-typing what I've "underlined"... like... with an old-fashioned book...

Thanks!

Cat

[daffy4u]

I don't know if this relates to how you were working but it looks like books with DRM restrict how much clipping (and highlighting) you can do. From a previous post of mine.

Here's an interesting post I read recently about the limit for text clipping.

dog says:
I know there is a limit ,but not sure how much. Here is an old posting from a reader about clippings:

I did a test with a DRM'd Amazon book and a non-DRM'd book.

Using text size 1, with the Amazon book I was able to clip 39 pages. I got the error on the 40th page.

Using text size 1, with a non-DRM'd book, I clipped 80 pages with no problem. My fingers got tired so I quit, but I think you can draw your own conclusions. I did this AFTER the first test, so the limit is not in the myclippings.txt file itself. All the clips from both tests were in there.

Were you clipping a lot of pages along with typing notes?

[catsongs]

I was taking pretty extensive "notes": underlining + notes. Guess I blew it!

A pity... really like/need that function... feel constrained now...

Thanks!

Cat

[wallcraft]

The MobiPerl command mobi2mobi will print out the clipping limit, but in Hex. For example I saw 0xa (10), 0x1e (30) and 0x64 (100) in three AZWs. You can use Google to convert: search for "0x1e to decimal". Note that this limit can be in DRM-free AZWs from the Kindle Store (which all seem to have a limit of 100), but isn't usually in DRM-free MOBIs from other places.

If you use mobidedrm to strip the DRM, the clipping limit is still there. If you then run the MOBI through Calibre, it is no longer there but I don't know for sure that this means there is no limit.

[catsongs]

Not sure what Calibre is. Thanks!
Cat

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by catsongs

Not sure what Calibre is.

It manages DRM-free ebooks, including conversions between formats. It has its own forum here. If you have Calibre installed, then the command any2mobi will convert many ebook formats into MOBI. In this case I converted a MOBI into another MOBI, but because Calibre re-analyses the ebook much of the original metadata (including the clipping limit) is lost in the conversion. Note that any2mobi only works on DRM-free ebooks so you need to use mobidedrm first, which I why I suggested the command line program (any2mobi) from Calibre rather than its GUI. If you know how to use mobidedrm, any2mobi is very similar.

[daffy4u]

You can try working in parts. After you've worked on half of the book, transfer the "MyClippings.txt" file from your Kindle to your computer. Pick up where you left off and a new "MyClippings.txt" will be generated. Merge the 2 files and you should be good.

[catsongs]

Again, thanks for all the feedback. Appreciated!

Cat

[shelleyp]

A point of clarification, since I just hit this problem: copying the My Clippings file and deleting the old one will not "re-set" the count. The next time you try and save a page as a clipping, you'll get the same error.

Thinking that there might be a cache of the number of clippings somewhere, I tried rebooting but still hit the limit.

[sirbruce]

Deleting the MBP file might reset the count, but you'd lose all your highlights, bookmarks, etc.

[shelleyp]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

Deleting the MBP file might reset the count, but you'd lose all your highlights, bookmarks, etc.

I wish it were so, but I tried that also, and it failed. The Kindle must maintain the count of clippings, notes, etc per book in a hidden file somewhere.

I can't believe that this device is so crippled that one can't make legitimate use of it.

I also can't believe that Amazon doesn't document this "feature" in the sales or TOS, so people know how limited it is _before_ they buy it.

No more DRM books for me. If it's not DRM free, I'll get it from the library.

[shelleyp]

Originally Posted by shelleyp

No more DRM books for me. If it's not DRM free, I'll get it from the library.

Just noticed the above, and that even non-DRM books from Amazon have a default clipping limit size.

How disappointing.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by shelleyp

Just noticed the above, and that even non-DRM books from Amazon have a default clipping limit size.

How disappointing.

Out of curiosity, on average, how much of a book do you think you're clipping for your notes? 5 percent? 10 percent? More?

[shelleyp]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Out of curiosity, on average, how much of a book do you think you're clipping for your notes? 5 percent? 10 percent? More?

I just counted in the file. The limit was 40 clippings. Following is a typical clipping:

"busy, modern family would consist of bananas sliced into corn flakes with milk. It wasn’t just the recipe that broke new ground. It was also the coupons, pioneered by the company, packed inside cereal boxes (redeemable for free bananas that the cereal companies, not the fruit importer, paid for). The company made sure that children knew about bananas, too. It set up an official “education department,” devoted to publishing textbooks and curriculum materials that subtly provided information about the fruit. United Fruit also added a new element to its political strategy. If military action was impractical (U.S. troops might be unavailable or force precluded by situations on the ground), Central America’s geography became an ally. The region’s countries were small and easy to move between. There were plenty of natural ports on both the eastern and western coasts, and bananas could be grown just about anywhere land could be cleared and a railroad could be laid. If a government became particularly balky, the company would simply threaten to go next door. But one thing United Fruit couldn’t control was nature. Not long after bananas added themselves as a third party in cereal and milk, the troubles growers were beginning to have with an aggressive malady became public. One headline in The New York Times read: “Banana Disease Ruins Plantations—No Remedy is Available—Whole Regions Have Been Laid Waste and Improvements Abandoned by"

[wallcraft]

As an alternative to my "use Calibre" advice above, note that mobi2mobi (from MobiPerl) can remove the clipping limit (EXTH record type 401) entirely (like Calibre) or change its value. It can do this even if your AZW file has DRM. It does not remove the rest of the DRM, but it does remove/edit the limit. I don't know what effect this has if you have existing clippings and highlights, because the .mbp file might get automatically deleted if the AZW file is replaced.