Got my Kindle today...

[Mister Earl]

... and already I want to destroy it. I want to annihilate it so completely every single Amazon worker flinches simultaneously.

Got the kindle in the mail. I read the directions. Nope, no whispernet in Iraq, so I gotta do everything the ol' USB way. No problem. I buy four books off the internet and download them to my machine. I plug in the ol' Kindle, and then the frustration happens. First, I had to disable AVG because it wanted to run a scan on it and it was making it take twenty minutes to finish before windows explorer would recognize I'd plugged something in. Then, it simply calls it a removable disk drive (?). According to the documentation, there should be a folder in there called books that I'd copy the files to. According to explorer, there are no folders. I cannot create any. And finally, when I just try to copy a book file on over to the kindle, I get some crazy error telling me that the file isn't there anymore. I've rebooted the Kindle five times. I've rebooted my laptop five times. I am officially out of ideas and thoroughly wroth.

Anyone got any ideas, before I decide to whip this thing at the next IED I come across?

~Mr. Earl

[Mister Earl]

Extra info: I cannot register the kindle, in the kindle. I'm registered on the web page and it's already got my kindle attached to my account. I can't make the kindle see this because there's no whispernet in Iraq. I'm wondering if the kindle thinking it isn't registered might be why I'm seeing no folders, and other assorted weirdness. Then again, there's already the kindle guide on it, and I *should* at least see that, and I do not. Still out of ideas, still wroth...

[Fazor]

It's not formatted for Mac with a PC laptop, or vise versa, is it?

[SeanF]

Extra info: I cannot register the kindle, in the kindle. I'm registered on the web page and it's already got my kindle attached to my account. I can't make the kindle see this because there's no whispernet in Iraq. I'm wondering if the kindle thinking it isn't registered might be why I'm seeing no folders, and other assorted weirdness. Then again, there's already the kindle guide on it, and I *should* at least see that, and I do not. Still out of ideas, still wroth...

I think, because of the lack of whispernet, you need to call Amazon customer support and have them walk you through a manual registration.

EDIT: Found this on another site:

You can register your Kindle from Amazon's site. Log in. If you're on the main Amazon page, there's a small link in the upper right corner to "Your Account." Click that. There's a block called "Digital Content" and under the heading "Digital Management" you'll see, "Manage Your Kindle." Click that. Under the section "Your Kindles," you'll see a link "Register a new Kindle." It will ask you for your serial number, which is on the back of your Kindle. Then follow the rest of the steps.

EDIT AGAIN: I suppose that's what you've already done, though...

[Mister Earl]

Not that I am aware of. But my google-fu is showing some results... it may be a vista & USB problem. Researching that now...

[Fazor]

Sean's answer sounds intelligent. Try that.

[Mister Earl]

I got an email in to Amazon tech support, SeanF. Still waiting on a reply. I imagine it'll be a day or two before then. Lots of time to pick away at it, I suppose.

[Mister Earl]

Apparently, when you buy a kindle, they register it with your account. I see it on the "Manage my kindle" page. The kindle by itself says it is unregistered, which doesn't suprise me, since I can't use whispernet.

New note: When the kindle says "USB DRIVE MODE" my Vista laptop doesn't see it. When the kindle reverts to a different page, and kicks itself out of that mode, THEN I see it in Vista, only as a nonfunctioning drive I can't copy to or browse. The amazon knowledge base doesn't mention anything like this. It seems my situation is unique.

[tdvance]

Kindle is probably meant to be used with Whispernet. Mass produced items have the normal use cases, and the "corner cases" that are rare, but are supported because there is some need for them. But using those corner cases is often not easy and fraught with bugs (partly because not enough testers...I mean customers, test them).

Now, Amazon has always been pretty good with tech support the few times I needed it--so I expect something should come of it.

The thing I wonder is, they say they've fixed the problem with pages turned by accident too easily (huge page-turn button, easy to hold down for a few seconds and send you 10 pages ahead, then slow to page back, wait for page to show, see it's still not the right page, page back again...since it's not obvious how many pages ahead you went unless you memorize the numbers at the bottom every time you're on a new page). So, is the new Kindle better in that respect?

[gsbain]

I am one of the authors at the KindleZen blog and twitter stream, and I would like to help, but interactive is likely best for this issue. Can you direct message me with contact info?

[Mister Earl]

gsbain, I'm stationed in Iraq right now. Just me calling home succeedes maybe once out of four times. It'd be near impossible to contact me directly, I'm afraid. But let me descrive my latest symptoms:

I connect the Kindle to my laptop. The Kindle shows it in USB mode. My computer does nothing for approximately two minutes (Sometimes during this phase it claims it's loading drivers. It references two: Mass storage USB, and Kindle). After the few minutes elapse, the Kindle goes OUT of USB mode, and then my laptop adds a drive letter. Here's where it gets wierd: The new drive letter is labelled "Removable Disc Drive" and opening that drive shows nothing. No folders, no files. If I try to create a file or folder on it, I get an error saying the location does not exist.

I have connected the Kindle to a friends machine, and it worked fine, which tells me the problem isn't the Kindle, nor the USB cable. I'm certain it has something to do with my machine. I've tried connecting it to each USB slot on my machine, just on the off chance one was on the fritz. All got the same result. Also, I utilize other USB devices and never have problems.

Thanks for the help ahead of time!

[Mister Earl]

Got my second - and final - reply from Amazon support. They let me know in no uncertain terms that since the Kindle does work on a friend's computer, but not mine, the issue is no longer their problem. They closed the ticket and referred me to my laptop vendor. I've already emailed them, and the support I got there was even worse. I'm now completely out of ideas and hope. All I've got out of all of this, I suppose, is a three hundred dollar paperweight.

[slang]

Find a reporter... "Amazon abandons valiant soldier in warzone!".

[aurora]

Here's where it gets wierd: The new drive letter is labelled "Removable Disc Drive" and opening that drive shows nothing. No folders, no files. If I try to create a file or folder on it, I get an error saying the location does not exist.

This laptop is running Vista, isn't it? How can I tell, you ask?

I have something very similar to this happen when I first tried to plug a USB memory stick into my new Dell laptop running Windows Vista.

Stupid suggestion, but when this happens, try plugging it into a different USB port on the laptop and see what Vista does.

[Van Rijn]

Mister Earl, I don't know if this will be of help, but I googled on your problem, and found this thread on Kindle 2 (do you have a Kindle 2?) issues with USB under Vista. It's talking mostly about Vista 64 bit, but apparently some people have problems with 32 bit too (what version, specifically, do you have?). Sometimes there are issues because of different chip sets. The last (current) post has a response from Kindle support to someone with a laptop that is having problems with Kindle:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...6&postcount=25

Quoting:

I wanted to get back to you with the troubleshooting steps for you to try to get your kindle to be able to connect to your laptop. it seems these are power related issues and you should turn off WAN and fully charge it from the wall outlet before trying these steps:

1. Plug the laptop into the wall why you are trying to connect the kindle to ensure there is enough power.

2. Plugging the Kindle into a powered USB hub

3. Using a USB Y cord to plug the Kindle into two USB ports at the same time to draw enough power

4. Installing an add on USB card into the computer and using the ports on it

This might not be a practical option for you to try, but another person was able to access the Kindle by running a virtual Windows XP. Here's the post:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...9&postcount=12

[NavyNuke]

Mr. Earl,
I don't know if you have had any resolution to your problem regarding being able to connect it with your vista laptop, however...

From what I gather since I own a Kindle myself and I have had the same problem, the laptop USB does not provide enough power to be able to charge the Amazon Kindle. I have left the Amazon Kindle hooked into my laptop for over a day and the light still didn't turn green to let me know it was charged.

This is where the problem lies. I took a USB hub with it's own AC adapter and hooked it up to my laptop. I then hooked the Kindle into the USB hub and lo and behold, I was able to to open my Kindle on my HP Vista Laptop just like a removable drive.

When I connect my Kindle to any desktop USB port, it connects fine. If you want to use the Kindle with your Laptop, I'm very certain that utilizing a USB Hub with it's own AC Adapter will be able to solve the problem.

Feel free to let me know how this works out for you.

-Jason

[DonM435]

In some catalog or other, I saw a device that plugged into a wall socket and provided USB ports: not for data of course, but as a power source. At the time, it seemed to me rather useless, but there are times that I'd like to have one of these when all I want to do is recharge something. (I have so many devices plugged into every computer that there's rarely a USB port to spare for this purpose.)

[NavyNuke]

DonM435, those USB power devices can be handy, however, some devices won't accept a USB power source unless it is officially made for the device (Iphone and Ipod for example). In the case of the Apple Iphone and Ipod, what you get is an 'AC to 5V usb adapter' with a USB port, and they supply a usb cable with one end that fits onto the charging port of the device.

That is the downside to those USB power devices. I haven't tried one of those for the Amazon Kindle, but I am assuming that the Amazon Kindle may have the same problem the Apple products have since Amazon supplies that special 'AC to 5V usb adapter' and a micro-usb cable with their device.


DonM435 posted

"In some catalog or other, I saw a device that plugged into a wall socket and provided USB ports: not for data of course, but as a power source. At the time, it seemed to me rather useless, but there are times that I'd like to have one of these when all I want to do is recharge something. (I have so many devices plugged into every computer that there's rarely a USB port to spare for this purpose.)"