I'm going to repeat a post here that also appears in the "Song of Ice and Fire" thread. It refers to a couple of Kindle problems and how to preserve your book files in Backup. It's better in a separate thread so those of you who have the Kindle can benefit from experiences and can find it. Shouldn't just be lost in a thread about a Book. Both Paul and I have talked about this Kindle problem there. So, here's the copied message: (See Paul's humorous account in the other Thread).
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Paul this "freezing" seems to be a common Kindle problem. It's happened to me twice and I have no idea what caused it either time. Kinda scary, even though Amazon says they have all your stuff backed up. Fine for whatever you bought from them, but if you've added any books from other sources, you would lose those. SO…what to do? Back up your Kindle Document folder on your Computer. I ran mine onto a 180gig external HD that wasn't being used for anything else (WAY more space than you'll ever need…just make any HD file for it). Tested it by deleting a couple of books from the Kindle (one in .AZW and one in .TXT) then copied them back to the device from the Hard drive backup. Works great.
Backup is easy. Plug in the Kindle via USB….access the device in the list of "removable drives" (should appear automatically as soon as it's plugged in) open the folders….click on "documents" in that list and everything on the Kindle will appear (in alphabetical form). Highlight one title…Ctrl-A to choose them all….Ctrl-C to copy…go to the folder or drive you choose for backup…Ctrl-V to Paste it all. (or use the right-click function list).
There will be 2 or 3 parts to every title (.AZW + .MBP + .PHL)…if you ever need to run one back in, highlight all files that are listed with a title. Copy….Paste into the Kindle "document" folder. 2 of these are only 1 or 2k in size and it's possible that Kindle will automatically replace them if you don't copy them back in. I've tried it both ways and either works. I get tired of scrolling through all the older books I've finished but hate to just delete or archive them. This way, I can delete anything and get it back later if it's needed. The backup file will also probably be on your main Backups…double protection (I need to add my little external drive to the list for Image copy to the Main Backup HD). Sigh…all this backup-crap would get tedious if it weren't so easy and automatic.
EJECT the Kindle before unplugging the USB cable. Right click on the "Kindle drive" and choose EJECT in the list of functions. NEVER unplug before doing this…the list of FUBAR stuff that will happen is legion. You must Eject and unplug before the title will appear on the "Home" page title list of the device.
ALL KINDLE USERS….Remember…If you freeze, just hold the power slider switch in the ON position for 15 sec. Let it go and the device will reboot (you can watch the progress bar on the main screen as it does). There are only 2 titles in the TROUBLESHOOTING section of the User's Guide. This instruction is the first.
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Anybody with useful Kindle user experiences, please add them here. One thing I need to add is a caution about Kindle-addiction. When mine froze I was totally distraught…as close to minor depression as I ever get (which is not very close) . I couldn't THINK about anything else. Unfortunately, I SHOULD have been thinking about reading the User Manual . Damn! 6 hours of my life wasted on phantom stress.
LOL can relate to the addicted part. Was paranoid about getting it fixed and even though wasn't going to or was using it that night was a tad distraught knowing I couldn't til I got somewhere that I could get internet access on the lap top– That old comercial where the verizon man keeps say that "can you hear me now" crud. Out in the middle of the badlands you do NOT get verizon internet at a lot of places. Even thugh that is getting a lot better.
Also you can put the Kindle program on your computer where you can read also. It does come with a few extra stuff on it. You can save the same books on each and pass them back and forth two. One nice thing is if you have a program that writes PDF files you can turn about ny thing like manuels and stuff into pdf and then load them on to the kindle. I have all our railroad shedules, rule book, hazmat material on it.
I had a shock this morning when I was attempting to download a book from Amazon. Kept getting weird messages about the Wi-fi being too far away etc. What was up with that? Tried and kept getting failures. Instead of doing it in the bedroom as usual, I actually came and sat right NEXT to the Wi-fi router. That's when the screen zapped back to that "tree" picture with a message that the device was being updated. I had no idea it did that automatically. Of course, I don't stay connected to the Wi-fi unless I'm downloading …wastes battery power. Just so happened the update caught me when I had it activated.
Took about 5 min to upload the update and then it rebooted. I suppose I should get back to the Guide to see how often to expect this.
Thanks, Just went an turne it on. Didn't start any updates but will leave on till go to work in couple hours.
Don't worry about it, Paul. The new revision 3.1 only adds PAGE NUMBERS to Kindle books. Of course that feature has to be already IN the publications and IF it is, the numbers only show up if you activate it with the Select Button. Personally, I don't want it. I'm so used to judging progress by the % display that pages are non-sequitur for my needs. People are grousing that the numbers take up valuable space in the lower page corners. Can't please everybody,
I went browsing for the meaning of those 2 little files that are attached to the .AZW main book file. So, here's what I found: "PHL – is an XML file that identifies a position offset of popular highlights in the book, and the frequency number for each. That's probably been there for awhile, since the popular highlights feature was introduced for K2/DX."
"MBP: Bookmarks, notes etc are saved in an .mbp file." So there's no big deal there. I didn't try it, but one Blog message said that if you restore an .AZW without the other 2…Kindle will regenerate them.
"DRM… Digital Rights Management (DRM) which prevents copying from one device to another is of course the bane of e-reader owners. LOTS of articles on handling that on the 'net. Like the DVD movie stuff, there's nothing that determined geeks can't get past.
What I DID find was CALIBRE (pronounced Caliber…Brit program…go figure). IT's FREE…and VERY, very useful. It will convert just about any e-book file format you'll encounter into usable form for any kind of e-reader (even into mobi). Now, I've been doing .lit…RTF…HTML and a few others into .TXT which Kindle handles fine. Well, maybe not FINE (FINE translated into…'Fracked in Extreme'). You get some wonky page formatting and spelling (words running together occasionally)…but it's readable and free. Calibre does conversion and many other things. For a freeware program it's extremely complex. If you need to convert, take a look at it. Nothing to lose. Even the .TXT files I did with it are SO much better formatted and readable.
Book Backup- To get off one's ass and put the book back up on the shelf.
That's my kind of "back-up" too.
Works very well, but I didn't reach quite far enough once, and it crashed.
I rebooted the book out from under the shelf and re-installed the back-up procedure and it's worked perfectly ever since.
Nothing funnier than a pair of old geezers trying to ignore progress. So, while you guys are piling the books on that shelf, who's out in the barn unhitching the horse from the buggy and filling those "oil lamps" so you can have light to read after dark? Jeez. I hope I never grow up to be so cynical about change.
Now, If I can just learn to use that "Python" program I downloaded, the fun will start. No, I'm not gonna waste time telling you what it's for. Just another tool in the unceasing learning process.
A lady goes to the bar on a cruise ship and orders a Scotch with two drops of water.
As the bartender gives her the drink she says,
'I'm on this cruise to celebrate my 80th birthday and it's today…'
The bartender says, 'Well, since it's your birthday, I'll buy you a drink. In fact, this one is on me.'
As the woman finishes her drink, the woman to her right says, 'I would like to buy you a drink, too.'
The old woman says, 'Thank you. Bartender, I want a Scotch with two drops of water.'
'Coming up,' says the bartender
As she finishes that drink, the man to her left says, 'I would like to buyyou one, too.'
As he gives her the drink, he says, 'Ma'am, I'm dying of curiosity. Why the Scotch with only two drops of water?'
The old woman replies, 'Sonny, when you're my age, you've learned how to hold your liquor.
Holding your water, however, is a whole other issue.'
'OLD' IS WHEN…
Your friends compliment you on your new alligator shoes
and you're barefoot.
'OLD' IS WHEN…
A sexy babe or hunk catches your fancy
and your pacemaker opens the garage door.
'OLD' IS WHEN…
You are cautioned to slow down by the doctor instead of by the police
'OLD' IS WHEN... 'Getting a little action' means you don't need to take any fiber today.
'OLD' IS WHEN…
'Getting lucky' means you find your car in the parking lot.
'OLD'IS WHEN… An 'all nighter' means not getting up to use the bathroom.
Yesterday I had an appointment to see the urologist for a Prostate exam. Of course I was a bit on edge because all my friends have either gone under the knife or had those pellets implanted..
The waiting room was filled with patients.As I approached the receptionist's desk, I noticed that the receptionist was a large unfriendly woman who looked like a Sumo wrestler.
I gave her my name. In a very loud voice, the receptionist said,"YES, I HAVE YOUR NAME HERE;YOU WANT TO SEE THE DOCTOR ABOUT IMPOTENCE,RIGHT?" All the patients in the waiting room snapped their heads around to look at me, a now veryembarrassed man. But as usual, I recovered quickly, and in an equally loud voice replied,
'NO, I'VE COME TO INQUIRE ABOUT A SEX CHANGE OPERATION,BUT I DON'T WANT THE SAME DOCTOR THAT DID YOURS."
Yesterday I had an appointment to see the urologist for a Prostate exam. Of course I was a bit on edge because all my friends have either gone under the knife or had those pellets implanted..
The waiting room was filled with patients.As I approached the receptionist's desk, I noticed that the receptionist was a large unfriendly woman who looked like a Sumo wrestler.
I gave her my name. In a very loud voice, the receptionist said,"YES, I HAVE YOUR NAME HERE;YOU WANT TO SEE THE DOCTOR ABOUT IMPOTENCE,RIGHT?" All the patients in the waiting room snapped their heads around to look at me, a now veryembarrassed man. But as usual, I recovered quickly, and in an equally loud voice replied,
'NO, I'VE COME TO INQUIRE ABOUT A SEX CHANGE OPERATION,BUT I DON'T WANT THE SAME DOCTOR THAT DID YOURS."
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. I couldn't THINK about anything else. Unfortunately, I SHOULD have been thinking about reading the User Manual 
. Damn! 6 hours of my life wasted on phantom stress.
You get some wonky page formatting and spelling (words running together occasionally)…but it's readable and free. Calibre does conversion and many other things. For a freeware program it's extremely complex. If you need to convert, take a look at it. Nothing to lose. Even the .TXT files I did with it are SO much better formatted and readable.
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