Amazon-Cover-Bug folder makes book covers disappear

[Jen]

Calibre: 4.17 64bit
Windows: 10 Home
Kindle Device: Paperwhite 4 (2019)
Kindle Firmware: 5.12.4

I recently noticed that when I sideload books from Calibre to my Kindle (i.e. connect Kindle by USB and select "send to device" in Calibre), my book covers would appear on my Kindle for a second or two and then disappear, to be replaced by a generic rectangle with the book title on it.

I then noticed that it was only happening with recent books. The ones I sideloaded a year or two ago had their covers showing up just fine. When I poked around, I found that when I sideload from Calibre, Calibre creates a folder on my Kindle called "amazon-cover-bug", and it stores thumbnails of the books I've just sent to my device. If I simply delete that folder from my Kindle files, my book covers immediately reappear on my Kindle, and everything works as it should.

The reason I'm submitting this as a bug is because the folder is re-created every time I sideload another batch of books, and I have to re-delete it for my book covers to appear in grid view on my Kindle. I've searched around Reddit and the web, and a lot of people are having this same problem. They've tried removing the ASIN, adding the ASIN, using the Polish tool, checking JS+, and nothing seems to work well for everyone. Many of them just suggest converting AZW3s to Mobi and then emailing the Mobi files to their Kindle email address. And that's fine if you don't mind losing the AZW3 features and don't have Calibre set to include the series name, etc in the book title when it sends books to Kindle.

I guess what I'm proposing is that you remove whatever is creating the "amazon-cover-bug" folder and the thumbnails in it. Or do whatever is needed so that it doesn't cause our covers to disappear. If that's not possible, then giving users a setting option, so we can choose yes/no whether we want that folder to be created, would be awesome. I know I would just turn it off, so I can keep using all the awesomeness Calibre allows and still be able to see my book covers on Kindle.

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

See https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html#covers-for-books-i-send-to-my-e-ink-kindle-show-up-momentarily-and-then-are-replaced-by-a-generic-cover

 status invalid

[Jen (jellynjen)]

I should have known you would incorrectly assume I hadn't read all of https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq.html#covers-for-books-i-send-to-my-e-ink-kindle-show-up-momentarily-and-then-are-replaced-by-a-generic-cover and https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=329945 prior to submitting this. I did, in fact, read those and quite a lot more, and it's not a solution.

Honestly, it feels like I'm back working in product management, when my software developers would glance at a bug ticket, assume the person who submitted it hadn't done any research at all, and just closed the ticket while ignoring the information submitted.

1. Send the book to the Kindle with calibre -- I DID THAT.
2. Disconnect the Kindle and wait for Amazon to destroy the cover -- I DID THAT, TOO.
3. Reconnect the Kindle to calibre -- YEP, DID THAT AS WELL.

My book covers NEVER reappeared. I read for anywhere from 6-18 hours every day, and after 4 days of no book covers on just 3 books I sideloaded, which is plenty of time for Amazon to destroy covers and all that fun, I figured out the easy/obvious fix of just deleting that amazon-cover-bug folder.

As I said in my original ticket, if you can't remove that bit of programming that creates this folder and actually CAUSES the problem for me, then it would be nice if you could at least just make it an optional setting.

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

I dont see how having an extra folder on the device could possibly
CREATE the problem. And I cannot replicate with my Kindles, nor can any
other calibre users.

And why dont you go be rude to Amazon's PRODUCT MANAGERS who created this
issue in the first place.

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

Oh and your "OPTION" to not create the folder already exists, simply
downgrade calibre to 4.16, all old versions of calibre are linked to
from the download page. When you do you will discover that your
covers will still not show up.

[Jen (jellynjen)]

I wasn't trying to be rude to anyone, but I did explain in my initial ticket that deleting the folder resolved the problem, and you simply pointed me to a workaround that creates that folder in the first place and doesn't address its remaining on the device or being part of our issue at all. Surely you can see how frustrating that dismissal would be. It doesn't make sense to me, either, that the presence of one folder would cause this kind of problem, but the fact that deleting that folder immediately resolves the problem points to something being off kilter.

Perhaps you haven't received other tickets about it, but I am not the only person who's having this issue. When I was searching for a solution, I found a number of others who are having the exact same problem. Once I saw that deleting the folder resolved my issue, they tried deleting it and had the same success. Later I found another user who'd already discovered that deleting the folder fixed everything for him and has been blogging about it. At that point, it seemed a ticket would be appropriate, since our issue was different than the one addressed in your FAQs.

Several of us have also complained to Amazon; I did so after first seeing your instruction to do so in the FAQs, but as I'm sure you can imagine, they're not all that concerned with how books obtained from other sources behave on their devices. My impression over the years has been that you're typically responsive, and as this appeared to be a different cover issue than the one you'd previously addressed, the group I've been troubleshooting with thought one of us should submit it.

Obviously if it can't be replicated, it can't be addressed. I'll just tell the group that you know about it and to keep deleting the folder.

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

Is your Kindle firmware up to date?? If not try updating it.

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

And for reference, the latest firmware version is 5.12.5.

[Jen (jellynjen)]

Mine was only up to 5.12.4 and not showing any other updates were
available -- apparently it can take them a couple of weeks to push
firmware updates to all registered devices? But I grabbed the bin
file from Amazon and manually updated. I'm still seeing the same
issue.

On Tue, Jun 2, 2020 at 3:41 AM Kovid Goyal <email address hidden> wrote:
>
> And for reference, the latest firmware version is 5.12.5.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1881696
>
> Title:
> Amazon-Cover-Bug folder makes book covers disappear
>
> Status in calibre:
> Invalid
>
> Bug description:
> Calibre: 4.17 64bit
> Windows: 10 Home
> Kindle Device: Paperwhite 4 (2019)
> Kindle Firmware: 5.12.4
>
> I recently noticed that when I sideload books from Calibre to my
> Kindle (i.e. connect Kindle by USB and select "send to device" in
> Calibre), my book covers would appear on my Kindle for a second or two
> and then disappear, to be replaced by a generic rectangle with the
> book title on it.
>
> I then noticed that it was only happening with recent books. The ones
> I sideloaded a year or two ago had their covers showing up just fine.
> When I poked around, I found that when I sideload from Calibre,
> Calibre creates a folder on my Kindle called "amazon-cover-bug", and
> it stores thumbnails of the books I've just sent to my device. If I
> simply delete that folder from my Kindle files, my book covers
> immediately reappear on my Kindle, and everything works as it should.
>
> The reason I'm submitting this as a bug is because the folder is re-
> created every time I sideload another batch of books, and I have to
> re-delete it for my book covers to appear in grid view on my Kindle.
> I've searched around Reddit and the web, and a lot of people are
> having this same problem. They've tried removing the ASIN, adding the
> ASIN, using the Polish tool, checking JS+, and nothing seems to work
> well for everyone. Many of them just suggest converting AZW3s to Mobi
> and then emailing the Mobi files to their Kindle email address. And
> that's fine if you don't mind losing the AZW3 features and don't have
> Calibre set to include the series name, etc in the book title when it
> sends books to Kindle.
>
> I guess what I'm proposing is that you remove whatever is creating the
> "amazon-cover-bug" folder and the thumbnails in it. Or do whatever is
> needed so that it doesn't cause our covers to disappear. If that's not
> possible, then giving users a setting option, so we can choose yes/no
> whether we want that folder to be created, would be awesome. I know I
> would just turn it off, so I can keep using all the awesomeness
> Calibre allows and still be able to see my book covers on Kindle.
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/calibre/+bug/1881696/+subscriptions

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

Sorry, then I am out of ideas. Stick to calibre 4.16 for the nonce, it
does not have the workaround.

[Jen (jellynjen)]

It's finally working for me!!! It took about 10 minutes for my covers to reappear. But then I sent a couple more books, and their covers reappeared almost instantly with your workaround.

HERE'S THE PROBLEM... I checked in the settings on my device before I ever contacted you, and it indicated that no further updates were available. Even though Amazon released 5.12.5 in April, they STILL haven't pushed it out to all users. So some users, if they look on their device, will think they're up-to-date. They may not even know they can download the bin file and manually update, probably because they don't know that an update exists yet. Obviously, that's totally Amazon's fault, but you might get more tickets from people like me who just can't get your workaround to work for them.

I messaged everyone I know who's been having the same problem. Two of them (so far) said their devices showed no update available, just like mine did. So I told them where to find the bin file, had them manually install it, and now your workaround is working for them, too.

I know that 5.12.5 doesn't apply to all models of Kindle, but perhaps you could mention in your FAQ workaround bit that if it's not working for them, people should check Amazon's page, not just their device, for the latest firmware update. Might save you from having to deal with tickets like mine.

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

Well glad it is working for you. I will make a note about updating
firmware to the FAQ entry.

[Simon Mott (tsumaru720)]

Hi
I have one of the basic model Kindle's. I've used Calibre to convert some EPUB books to MOBI (And AZW3). When I side load them onto my device, the covert art disappears (Much like what the OP said)

Kindle Firmware: 5.13.1
Calibre Version: 4.23 [64bit]
OS: Windows 10

If however I remove the amazon-cover-bug whilst the device is in USB transfer mode - as soon as I eject, the cover art is back again.

My Kindle firmware is newer than the one suggested in this report - Is it possible to prevent this folder from being created (have it as an option?)

Seems to be like it was intended to work around a bug that has possibly now been fixed?

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

What this workaround does is recopy the calibre generated cover thumbnail for all books sent by calibre on every connect. I dont see how it could possibly *cause* covers to disappear, since all it does is actually set the covers. I dont think your issue is related to this folder, and again, I have received no other bug reports of this nature. Try resetting your device.

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

And remember that the way it works is, you connect the first time, send the books with calibre. Disconnect, wait for the covers to disappear, then you re-connect and let calibre detect the device and connect to it. Then disconnect again and the covers re-apper and stay for good.

[Simon Mott (tsumaru720)]

Alright, well I think your last reply was more helpful there - specifically the part about waiting for it to disappear and then simply reconnect/disconnect.

The kindle is new (less than 3 weeks old). I picked a side loaded book and removed it from my device for now to test with

The other books I had copied over earlier _still_ have their artwork on their own (as i'd removed that folder earlier); I wonder if the different behaviour for me around this folder is the books I am side-loading are from a different "large" provider so could be possible that amazon can match the artwork correctly based on the existing metadata on its own? Versus a book that someone else might have that isnt tagged with enough information to be matched, and thus this problem then comes into play?

That being said, these are the steps I took for anyone else that stumbles upon this

1) I loaded Calibre, and connected my kindle
2) Calibre correctly recognises the book is missing
3) Right click the book and click send to device - (Specific format -> Mobi)
4) Transfer is complete - Folder "amazon-cover-bug" now exists, with only one image; The book I just copied
5) Eject device from Calibre but keep calibre running
6) Kindle does its thing, shows the new book with the image briefly - image disappears and we get the stock kindle book logo (Kindle is connected to Wifi/Internet at this stage)
7) Unplug & Replug kindle so that it goes back into USB transfer mode
8) Can happily look at device in calibre again, but have taken no additional actions at this time
9) Eject device in calibre again
10) book cover is now there

I wonder if its worth updating the FAQ to make this latter part of the process clearer?

Thanks for your time and patience :)

[Marcos Vargas (smokey1961)]

Hello, All.

The solution has been working for very well for me for some time now, and I have been very happy with my results... up until I started working with several of my Kindle Oasis 32GB.

I have had no problems getting and/or configuring my Calibre-generated covers onto my device(s). The problem I have been encountering recently is that the Calibre app has stopped generating new covers for installation to my device.

I have an extensive library (18,000+ eBooks), and Calibre successfully generates covers for just a little less than 11,000 books. After that, Calibre no longer sends the covers to the Kindles. I have tried doing this on different Kindle Oasis (I own 5), but the same thing happens: just shy of 11,000 covers appear on the device. Also, the order in which I send the books to the Kindle doesn't matter. I have sent 14,000 eBooks in: A-Z; Z-A; author first and last; title first and last; date and publisher. No matter what I do, Calibre will send covers for the first 10,xxx eBooks to the device and the rest will have a generic book cover.

I have even tried sending the ebooks to my Kindle Oasis in small batches, but all with the same disappointing results. Even when I empty the Amazon-Cover-Bug folder after I successfully send 10,000 eBooks with covers to the device,when I try to send more, I notice the folder will only fill with several hundred more thumbnails and then will add no more. When I match the thumbnails in the folder with the books on my device, I notice that the thumbnails match the book covers on my device.

I have just now transferred 14,000 eBooks to my Kindle Paperwhite 32GB and am waiting the results on that.

Is there perhaps a cut-off or limit to how many cover thumbnails are generated by Calibre and, if so, can that limited be increased or bypassed?

I even tried generating the Amazon-Cover-Bug folder for those eBooks that did not have covers on another Kindle and computer, transferred the newly created folder into the root of the Kindle Oasis, and then sent the eBooks to the device in hopes that Calibre would send the covers from the Amazon-Cover-Bug onto the device.

But that didn't work either.

Thank you in advance for any help you can send my way. And thank you very much for the program. It is by far the most robust, comprehensively thought-out, user-friendly (for me), and well-developed library management software out there.

Cheers

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

There is no limit in calibre, you are most likely running into
filesystem limits or firmware limits on the device itself. If you run
calibre in debug mode you will most likely see errors in the debug log
corresponding to failures to write the cover thumbnails to the device
filesystem.

[Szymon Madej (szimonek)]

Hi,

I'm refreshing this bug, because Amazon made a big change in most recent firmware for Kindle Scribe.

Up to 5.16.2 firmware Kindle Scribe when connected to PC was visible as USB disk, and Calibre used kindle driver (src/calibre/devices/kindle/driver.py) to serve it.

Most recent firmware 5.16.3 for Kindle Scribe changed this. Now Kindle Scribe is mounted as MTP device and Calibre detects it as such and uses MTP driver (src/calibre/devices/mtp/driver.py) for it. This driver doesn't at all have code for storing covers in /amazon-cover-bug directory and doesn't have code that fixes covers stored in /system/thumbnails

So curently when I sideload any book to Kindle Scribe, Amazon code instantly breaks its thumbnail, what Calibre is ignoring and won't fix.

Some more information about it: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=355924

Device Information from Calibre:

{'device_version': '',
 'friendly_name': 'Kindle Scribe',
 'has_bulk_properties': True,
 'has_storage': True,
 'manufacturer_name': 'Amazon',
 'model_name': 'Kindle Scribe',
 'protocol': 'MTP: 1.00',
 'serial_number': '',
 'storage': [{'capacity': 59166679040,
              'capacity_objects': 0,
              'description': 'Internal Storage',
              'filesystem': 'Rodzajowy hierarchiczny',
              'free_objects': 0,
              'free_space': 58559283200,
              'id': 's10001',
              'name': 'Internal Storage',
              'rw': True,
              'type': 'fixed_ram'}],
 'type': 'phone'}

It should be easy to fix, since the code is already inside Calibre only in another driver.

Best regards
Szymon

[Kovid Goyal (kovid)]

The scribe is not sold in my country fixing this needs somebody with the
device to contribute code, if it is at all possible, it's quite likely
that amazon hid /system/thumbnails when switching to MTP. And its not as
simple as copying code from another driver, ans MTP works completely
differently from a filesystem.

[Szymon Madej (szimonek)]

Hi,

There is a bielieve that Amazon will soon propagate this change to other devices (i.e. Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Classic).

Directory /system/thumbnails is still visible and fully accessible through MTP. I can view and delete covers autogenerated in this directory. So for now, I can manually copy/delete books at/documents and copy/delete covers at /system/thumbnails through MTP connection.
Calibre can copy/delete books at /documents (through functions upload_books and delete_books from /src/calibre/devices/mtp/driver.py) but MTP driver doesn't contain code that copies covers to /system/thumbnails or /amazon-cover-bug

Best regards
Szymon