Frustrustrated newbie: Making progess?

[DaveA]

After spending another hour with Kindle CS, I have successfully downloaded one book to my Kindle, so at least I know that this one works.  I'm still having trouble downloading more books and will have to spend some time reading the suggestions sent to me in their emails.  I'll probably wind up pestering you nice people for more help, but it seems possible that I've made some progress.  Stay tuned.

[MariaESchneider]

We can only hope that the book you got is good enough to tide you over until you figure out the next one...but glad to see that this fourth one finally connected.  That's a step in the right direction.  Now, whatever you do, don't sit on the kindle.  With your run of luck, be extra careful!!!   

[wdeen]

Good to hear. My wife is a tech instructor with local school difference. Took her a few days to figure hers out.

[patrickt]

Of course, you didn't say which Kindle you have but I think they all come with a User's Manual already on the device.

[Betsy the Quilter]

As someone who has been doing Kindle support more or less full time on this forum for over three years, I can safely say that there's a lot of stuff that's NOT in the user's manual.  Troubleshooting in the manual is pretty basic.  Keep asking, Dave, glad you got it working!

Betsy

[ElaineOK]

The great thing about Kboards, there is always somebody online, and it is the friendlies place online (Thanks Harvey and the Mods).  Don't be shy.

Elaine
Norman, OK

[DaveA]

Well, I'm still not having much success downloading to my Kindle.  I have selected a book, and requested that it be downloaded via the USB cable.  It will download the book but not transfer it to my device.  Somewhere in the back of my brain I think I'm supposed to copy-and-paste, but I can't figure out how to do it.  Any advice?

[ElaineOK]

Why not just download it from your Kindle?  Is it something you didn't buy from Amazon?

If you have paid for it from Amazon, it should be in your archive, which is the last entry on your home screen.  Touch the archive, give it a second to load, then find the book, touch the title of the book; and in a minute or so it will appear on your home screen ready to read.

If you want to transfer from your pc to your kindle over a usb cable, you plug your kindle into your computer where it will show up as a drive (probably called Kindle or something equally obvious).  Then, you will copy and paste the book files you wish to transfer from wherever it downloaded to on your computer into the documents directory on your Kindle. 

Let me know what part of this didn't make sense, and I will be more detailed.
Elaine
Norman, OK

[DaveA]

Why not just download it from your Kindle?  Is it something you didn't buy from Amazon?

If you have paid for it from Amazon, it should be in your archive, which is the last entry on your home screen.  Touch the archive, give it a second to load, then find the book, touch the title of the book; and in a minute or so it will appear on your home screen ready to read.

If you want to transfer from your pc to your kindle over a usb cable, you plug your kindle into your computer where it will show up as a drive (probably called Kindle or something equally obvious).  Then, you will copy and paste the book files you wish to transfer from wherever it downloaded to on your computer into the documents directory on your Kindle. 

Let me know what part of this didn't make sense, and I will be more detailed.

Thank you, Elaine.  I'm truly sorry to be so dense.  The book was purchased from Amazon, but does not show up in my Archived Items (which shows zero items).  I think you're really close about transferring from the pc to the kindle.  The book is in My Recent Documents; I copied it and went to the Kindle drive but haven't been able to paste it.  Could you provide a step-by-step instruction for how to do this?  And should the Kindle be ejected from the drive or not?  (I'm not asking for much, am I.....)
Elaine
Norman, OK

[malligator]

Are you trying to paste it into the root folder or the Documents folder? You may not have write permission for the root folder.

[DaveA]

Okay, so if I "copy" the book I want from my Documents folder, where do I paste it?

[malligator]

Into the documents folder on your kindle.

[Grumbles]

Okay, so if I "copy" the book I want from my Documents folder, where do I paste it?

From Amazon's page (http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200375630):

Transferring Kindle content:

Once connected to a computer using a USB cable, your Kindle device will appear in the same location as external USB drives usually appear. For Windows users, this is typically in the "Computer" or "My Computer" menu. For Mac users, the drive will appear on the desktop.

Open the Kindle drive. You will see several folders inside, one of which will be named "documents." This is the folder you will move the downloaded file into.

Locate the downloaded file and copy it into the documents folder. You can generally copy files by clicking and dragging the file to the folder.

Safely eject your Kindle device from your computer and unplug the USB cable. Your content will appear on the Home screen.

[ElaineOK]

Two things.  First of all, to cut and paste, it should not be ejected from your computer.  When you click on "My Computer" you should see your computer's hard drive and another drive that will be kindle.  If you look in the Kindle drive, you should see a folder called documents.  That is your destination.  So, go back to my documents, click on the first file for the book, hold down your control button and click on the rest of the book's files.  Then, choose copy from the edit menu at the top of your window.  Then, go to the documents directory on your Kindle, click in the directory, then choose paste from Edit.  That should do the trick.

As for your archive.  It really should be there.  So, after trying the above.  Eject your kindle from your computer.  Then, from the home screen, tap on menu, then "Sync and Check for items".  If that doesn't populate your archive, then reset your kindle.  Push the power button in and hold it for 15 seconds (or thereabouts) and release it.  In a second you should see a screen that says Kindle and has the image of a guy sitting under a tree reading.  That image will clear in a minute or so and then you will have your home screen.  Now check your archive.

Elaine
Norman, OK

[Cyanide5000]

Figuring it out is half the fun! well at least it is for the geek in me, after a few hours i do get a bit primal and start bashing it like a mad monkey! You'll figure it out eventually tho

[DaveA]

Figuring it out is half the fun! well at least it is for the geek in me, after a few hours i do get a bit primal and start bashing it like a mad monkey! You'll figure it out eventually tho

When I figure it out, then it will be fun.  For now, it's nothing but frustrating.  I know that thousands of people use and enjoy their Kindles every day, and I only wish to be one of them.  I'll keep trying.

[krm0789]

You don't have wifi, correct? So unless your Kindle is 3G, your items aren't going to show up in your archive.

I do things a bit differently than Elaine when I help a coworker load books onto her Kindle, my theory being the less clicks the better & that maybe she'll grasp it one of these days:

1. Download the book to her desktop.
2. Plug in her Kindle.
3. Navigate to the Start menu > My Computer > Her Kindle > Her Kindle's Documents Folder.
4. Click and drag the book from her desktop into the Kindle's Documents Folder.
5. Eject Kindle.
6. Voila. Book is on Kindle.

Perhaps give that a try?

[DaveA]

You don't have wifi, correct? So unless your Kindle is 3G, your items aren't going to show up in your archive.

I do things a bit differently than Elaine when I help a coworker load books onto her Kindle, my theory being the less clicks the better & that maybe she'll grasp it one of these days:

1. Download the book to her desktop.
2. Plug in her Kindle.
3. Navigate to the Start menu > My Computer > Her Kindle > Her Kindle's Documents Folder.
4. Click and drag the book from her desktop into the Kindle's Documents Folder.
5. Eject Kindle.
6. Voila. Book is on Kindle.



Perhaps give that a try?

I followed the steps (I think) and still wound up with nothing.  You made it as simple as it could possibly be (so easy, even a caveman could do it).  I am normally not this disfunctional in dealing with my computer and am about at the end of my rope. 

[ElaineOK]

Can you describe what you do, what you see when you do it and what happens?
Although, I am still flummoxed why the books aren't showing in your archive.  Is your 3G wireless turned on?  In the top right hand corner of the home screen on the very top line, you should see 3G with connection bars next to it, the battery indicator to the right of that and finally the time to the farthest right. 
Elaine
Norman, OK

[Brownskins]

DaveA -

I've been trying to follow your progress through the 3 different threads... man, this is when I wish Amazon had a brick and mortar store or customer service desk available to its customers.  Honestly, everything should be easy... screenshots or pictures would probably help so that those trying to help can see what you are doing since it really shouldn't be complicated.  My last recourse advice would be:

1) To email the book to yourself (use your Kindle-specific email) and then you should receive the book in your Touch 3G; or
2) Turn on whispernet and make sure you select your Kindle Touch 3G as the default device to send the books to, cause everytime you purchase a book from Amazon, it shoould send it directly to your device without you having to do a manual drag and drop.

As Elaine said, make sure 3G shows up on your upper right hand corner.  That's when you know your 3G is on.

Best!

[DaveA]

Can you describe what you do, what you see when you do it and what happens?
Although, I am still flummoxed why the books aren't showing in your archive.  Is your 3G wireless turned on?  In the top right hand corner of the home screen on the very top line, you should see 3G with connection bars next to it, the battery indicator to the right of that and finally the time to the farthest right. 
Elaine
Norman, OK

You could be on to something here, Elaine.  On that very top line, it says "My Kindle" at the very left, with a battery indicator and time at the very right.  Nothing about 3G.  What do I need to do?

[ElaineOK]

Tap menu.  The popup menu should have on its second line (first line says just menu) Turn On Wireless.  Tap it.  Wait a few seconds.  Mine takes probably 10 seconds or more to come on -- it seems like a long time.  Now, Kindle can talk to Amazon directly with no need for computer involvement.  Now, put Kindle down and walk away.  Get a drink, go to the bathroom, check the mail.  Come back.  Now check your archive.  If there is nothing there, see the comment above for synching your archive.

Elaine
Norman, OK

[DaveA]

Tap menu.  The popup menu should have on its second line (first line says just menu) Turn On Wireless.  Tap it.  Wait a few seconds.  Mine takes probably 10 seconds or more to come on -- it seems like a long time.  Now, Kindle can talk to Amazon directly with no need for computer involvement.  Now, put Kindle down and walk away.  Get a drink, go to the bathroom, check the mail.  Come back.  Now check your archive.  If there is nothing there, see the comment above for synching your archive.

Elaine
Norman, OK

Because of my level of frustration, I was tempted to throw in the towel and return this (fourth) Kindle for a refund.  My wife dissuaded me from this, saying that she had bought it for me because she knew I really wanted it and that I should persist in getting it working.  So, Monday I'll be calling Kindle CS and ask to speak to a Kindle expert (thereby bypassing the first level of English-challenged staff).  I truly hope we'll be able to get this resolved!

By the way, I'm sorry for the multiple threads.  I'm a moderator on a UK-based aquarium enthusiasts forum and it's one of my pet peeves, trying to keep track of multiple threads about the same subject.  I'll try to do better.

[ElaineOK]

Do you have a Best Buy locally?  I've forgotten now where you live, but if you do, there should be someone there who can help you and see what it is that you are doing. 

Elaine
Norman, OK

[DaveA]

Do you have a Best Buy locally?  I've forgotten now where you live, but if you do, there should be someone there who can help you and see what it is that you are doing. 

Elaine
Norman, OK

Good advice, Elaine.  I'll go there Monday.