[opensuse] Kindle/Wine problem

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Stan Goodman

21 Aug 2011 21 Aug '11

12:13

I recently downloaded and installed on my desktop machine the current KindleForPC (1.6.1). This release has the minor problem that it can't open books(!), which makes it useless. Fortunately, I have the installer for v1.5.0, which I know to be fundtional because it is running well on my laptop machine. Both machines run oS v11.4. I uninstalled the v1.6.1 Kindle from Wine by deleting the directory ~/.wine/..../Kindle as suggested by some of the advice I found through Google, then dropping the installer on the Wine configuration window; this is how I have previously installed Kindle on both machines in more than one installation. But the drop operation fails -- the installer icon is overlaid by a "Don't" road traffic sign. I assume that I need to do something lese in the bowels of the pseudo- Windows structure to convince it to accept the replacement installation. Can someone tell me what? -- Stan Goodman Qiryat Tiv'on Israel -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

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C

21 Aug 21 Aug

12:34

On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 14:13, Stan Goodman wrote:

...

I recently downloaded and installed on my desktop machine the current KindleForPC (1.6.1). This release has the minor problem that it can't open books(!), which makes it useless.

Odd, I'm using 1.6.1 on my system (installed in CrossOver, but still, that's still essentially Wine (with a nice/usable application installer UI on top), and it works just fine.

...

I uninstalled the v1.6.1 Kindle from Wine by deleting the directory ~/.wine/..../Kindle as suggested by some of the advice I found through

Do you have other things installed in that Wine instance? If not, then just delete the entire .wine directory and start fresh. If you do, and don't want to delete the entire .wine tree, then force it to use a new Wine prefix See docs here or example: http://wiki.jswindle.com/index.php/Wine_Prefixes You shoudl run each Windows app in it's own Wine instance rather than mixing them up with each other... Wine prefixes is the way to go unless you're using CrossOver which takes care of that or you.

...

Google, then dropping the installer on the Wine configuration window; this is how I have previously installed Kindle on both machines in more than one installation. But the drop operation fails -- the installer icon is overlaid by a "Don't" road traffic sign.

Drop operation? Anytime I install in vanilla Wine, I open a terminal and type wine Is this what you mean? C. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Stan Goodman

16:23

On Sunday 21 August 2011 15:34:21 C wrote:

...

On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 14:13, Stan Goodman wrote:

...
I recently downloaded and installed on my desktop machine the current KindleForPC (1.6.1). This release has the minor problem that it can't open books(!), which makes it useless.

Odd, I'm using 1.6.1 on my system (installed in CrossOver, but still, that's still essentially Wine (with a nice/usable application installer UI on top), and it works just fine.

But if you look in the Wine website, you'll see a list of "issues", by app and release, and one of these describes exactly the behavior I have encountered. It isn't special to me.

...

...
I uninstalled the v1.6.1 Kindle from Wine by deleting the directory ~/.wine/..../Kindle as suggested by some of the advice I found through

Do you have other things installed in that Wine instance? If not, then just delete the entire .wine directory and start fresh. If you do, and don't want to delete the entire .wine tree, then force it to use a new Wine prefix See docs here or example: http://wiki.jswindle.com/index.php/Wine_Prefixes You shoudl run each Windows app in it's own Wine instance rather than mixing them up with each other... Wine prefixes is the way to go unless you're using CrossOver which takes care of that or you.

No, the only windows thing I want is Kindle. I would have been happier had the Kindle been written in Java, so the field would have been level for everyone. I don't know why they didn't do that.

...

...
Google, then dropping the installer on the Wine configuration window; this is how I have previously installed Kindle on both machines in more than one installation. But the drop operation fails -- the installer icon is overlaid by a "Don't" road traffic sign.

Drop operation? Anytime I install in vanilla Wine, I open a terminal and type wine Is this what you mean?

No. The way I have been installing Kindle is: Call Wine Configuration from Kicker Open the Applications tab Drag the installer to the window and drop it. What I think has happened is that deleting the .Kindle directory is not enough, and that there is some ritual that must be performed in the "registry" or some other Windows type place that I know nothing about. I will review your suggestions, thank you for them. If they don't lead to a quick solution, I think the way to go is to uninstall Wine altogether (easy, because there is nothing in it except fhe Kindle); make sure that there is no .wine directory, then reinstall Winde anew, with Kindle v1.5.0 (because I know it works).

...

C.

-- Stan Goodman Qiryat Tiv'on Israel -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

C

16:47

On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 18:23, Stan Goodman wrote:

...

...
Odd, I'm using 1.6.1 on my system (installed in CrossOver, but still, that's still essentially Wine (with a nice/usable application installer UI on top), and it works just fine.

But if you look in the Wine website, you'll see a list of "issues", by app and release, and one of these describes exactly the behavior I have encountered. It isn't special to me.

Which is why I mentioned I use CrossOver to run Kindle. Wine is fine, but there is a lot of benefit to using Crossover (there is a small license fee though)... especially if you don't care what's going on, and want things to just work (assuming the app in question works in some version of Wine to begin with).

...

No. The way I have been installing Kindle is: Call Wine Configuration from Kicker Open the Applications tab Drag the installer to the window and drop it.

Oh... ok, I've never tried it this way. I just launch from command line when I want to install something in vanilla wine (rare since in almost all cases Crossover works better for me).

...

I will review your suggestions, thank you for them. If they don't lead to a quick solution, I think the way to go is to uninstall Wine altogether (easy, because there is nothing in it except fhe Kindle); make sure that there is no .wine directory, then reinstall Winde anew, with Kindle v1.5.0 (because I know it works).

You don't need to uninstall Wine... since you only have Kindle installed in Wine, just delete ALL of /home/$USER/.wine As in remove the whole .wine directory. Next time you launch Wine, it'll recreate the .wine directory as a new fake Windows structure with no leftovers from any previous install. Then just install whatever version of Kindle works for you. If it messes up and you want to start clean again, delete .wine. Reinstalling Wine will only rewrite the stuff installed in the root, and that will have no effect on anything in your /home.. which is where the problem lies. C. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Stan Goodman

25 Aug 25 Aug

14:51

On Sunday 21 August 2011 19:23:11 Stan Goodman wrote:

...

On Sunday 21 August 2011 15:34:21 C wrote:

...
On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 14:13, Stan Goodman

wrote:

...
...
I recently downloaded and installed on my desktop machine the current KindleForPC (1.6.1). This release has the minor problem that it can't open books(!), which makes it useless.

Odd, I'm using 1.6.1 on my system (installed in CrossOver, but still, that's still essentially Wine (with a nice/usable application installer UI on top), and it works just fine.

But if you look in the Wine website, you'll see a list of "issues", by app and release, and one of these describes exactly the behavior I have encountered. It isn't special to me.

...
...
I uninstalled the v1.6.1 Kindle from Wine by deleting the directory ~/.wine/..../Kindle as suggested by some of the advice I found through

Do you have other things installed in that Wine instance? If not, then just delete the entire .wine directory and start fresh. If you do, and don't want to delete the entire .wine tree, then force it to use a new Wine prefix See docs here or example: http://wiki.jswindle.com/index.php/Wine_Prefixes You shoudl run each Windows app in it's own Wine instance rather than mixing them up with each other... Wine prefixes is the way to go unless you're using CrossOver which takes care of that or you.

No, the only windows thing I want is Kindle. I would have been happier had the Kindle been written in Java, so the field would have been level for everyone. I don't know why they didn't do that.

...
...
Google, then dropping the installer on the Wine configuration window; this is how I have previously installed Kindle on both machines in more than one installation. But the drop operation fails -- the installer icon is overlaid by a "Don't" road traffic sign.

Drop operation? Anytime I install in vanilla Wine, I open a terminal and type wine Is this what you mean?

No. The way I have been installing Kindle is: Call Wine Configuration from Kicker Open the Applications tab Drag the installer to the window and drop it.

What I think has happened is that deleting the .Kindle directory is not enough, and that there is some ritual that must be performed in the "registry" or some other Windows type place that I know nothing about.

I will review your suggestions, thank you for them. If they don't lead to a quick solution, I think the way to go is to uninstall Wine altogether (easy, because there is nothing in it except fhe Kindle); make sure that there is no .wine directory, then reinstall Winde anew, with Kindle v1.5.0 (because I know it works).

...
C.

Kindle-in-Wine now loads, and icons are displayed for the 16 books that I own, some "Downloaded", some "Archived". Some of these in either catagory can be opened, and some cannot. Of the latter, an attempt to open them displays the message: "Unable to connect to download your Kindle book,,,", while others display "The program Kindle.exe has encountered a serious problem and must close". So in bothe cases, Kindle (or Wine) can't find the network. But I do not find in either any configuration setting that controls communication or network. Other than Kindle/Wine (Kindle is the only program on Wine) the system sees and uses the outside world; I am writing this on the same system. This is openSuSE v11.4. Kindle for PC is v1.6.1 What may be preventing access to the network? -- Stan Goodman Qiryat Tiv'on Israel -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Ken Schneider - openSUSE

15:52

On 08/25/2011 10:51 AM, Stan Goodman pecked at the keyboard and wrote:

...

On Sunday 21 August 2011 19:23:11 Stan Goodman wrote:

...
On Sunday 21 August 2011 15:34:21 C wrote:

...
On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 14:13, Stan Goodman

wrote:

...
...
I recently downloaded and installed on my desktop machine the current KindleForPC (1.6.1). This release has the minor problem that it can't open books(!), which makes it useless.

Odd, I'm using 1.6.1 on my system (installed in CrossOver, but still, that's still essentially Wine (with a nice/usable application installer UI on top), and it works just fine.

But if you look in the Wine website, you'll see a list of "issues", by app and release, and one of these describes exactly the behavior I have encountered. It isn't special to me.

...
...
I uninstalled the v1.6.1 Kindle from Wine by deleting the directory ~/.wine/..../Kindle as suggested by some of the advice I found through

Do you have other things installed in that Wine instance? If not, then just delete the entire .wine directory and start fresh. If you do, and don't want to delete the entire .wine tree, then force it to use a new Wine prefix See docs here or example: http://wiki.jswindle.com/index.php/Wine_Prefixes You shoudl run each Windows app in it's own Wine instance rather than mixing them up with each other... Wine prefixes is the way to go unless you're using CrossOver which takes care of that or you.

No, the only windows thing I want is Kindle. I would have been happier had the Kindle been written in Java, so the field would have been level for everyone. I don't know why they didn't do that.

...
...
Google, then dropping the installer on the Wine configuration window; this is how I have previously installed Kindle on both machines in more than one installation. But the drop operation fails -- the installer icon is overlaid by a "Don't" road traffic sign.

Drop operation? Anytime I install in vanilla Wine, I open a terminal and type wine Is this what you mean?

No. The way I have been installing Kindle is: Call Wine Configuration from Kicker Open the Applications tab Drag the installer to the window and drop it.

What I think has happened is that deleting the .Kindle directory is not enough, and that there is some ritual that must be performed in the "registry" or some other Windows type place that I know nothing about.

I will review your suggestions, thank you for them. If they don't lead to a quick solution, I think the way to go is to uninstall Wine altogether (easy, because there is nothing in it except fhe Kindle); make sure that there is no .wine directory, then reinstall Winde anew, with Kindle v1.5.0 (because I know it works).

...
C.

Kindle-in-Wine now loads, and icons are displayed for the 16 books that I own, some "Downloaded", some "Archived". Some of these in either catagory can be opened, and some cannot. Of the latter, an attempt to open them displays the message: "Unable to connect to download your Kindle book,,,", while others display "The program Kindle.exe has encountered a serious problem and must close".

So in bothe cases, Kindle (or Wine) can't find the network. But I do not find in either any configuration setting that controls communication or network. Other than Kindle/Wine (Kindle is the only program on Wine) the system sees and uses the outside world; I am writing this on the same system.

This is openSuSE v11.4. Kindle for PC is v1.6.1

What may be preventing access to the network?

Try the free eval version of CrossOver and see if you still have problems. Then we will know if the problem is with the Kindle app or wine. -- Ken Schneider SuSe since Version 5.2, June 1998 -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Stan Goodman

19:42

On Thursday 25 August 2011 18:52:02 Ken Schneider - openSUSE wrote:

...

...
Kindle-in-Wine now loads, and icons are displayed for the 16 books that I own, some "Downloaded", some "Archived". Some of these in either catagory can be opened, and some cannot. Of the latter, an attempt to open them displays the message: "Unable to connect to download your Kindle book,,,", while others display "The program Kindle.exe has encountered a serious problem and must close".

So in bothe cases, Kindle (or Wine) can't find the network. But I do not find in either any configuration setting that controls communication or network. Other than Kindle/Wine (Kindle is the only program on Wine) the system sees and uses the outside world; I am writing this on the same system.

This is openSuSE v11.4. Kindle for PC is v1.6.1

What may be preventing access to the network?

Try the free eval version of CrossOver and see if you still have problems. Then we will know if the problem is with the Kindle app or wine.

Now I've downloaded and installed CrossOver (the bin file, as there is no rpm package for x86_64), and installed Kindle on it. The CO installation was very messy. There was a mass of errors from Perl, informing me of deprecated lines, ending with "cxdiag failed". Not an inspiring installer. Failure or not, CO opened, and Kindle for PC installed on it. Kindle malfunctions exactly as it does under Wine. Now the Kindle/CO window has disappeared, and it isn't clear how to get it back, since the Kindle/Wine window will open instead. I would have to remove Kindle from Wine to do this, no doubt, but that's not for today, if at all. -- Stan Goodman Qiryat Tiv'on Israel -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

C

20:18

On Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 21:42, Stan Goodman wrote:

...

...
Try the free eval version of CrossOver and see if you still have problems. Then we will know if the problem is with the Kindle app or wine.

Now I've downloaded and installed CrossOver (the bin file, as there is no rpm package for x86_64), and installed Kindle on it.

Why do you need a 64 bit package? The 32 bit RPM works just fine in a 64 bit system. That's the one I use in my 64 bit system and it installs without errors in openSUSE 11.4. I installed Kindle for PC 1.6 using the CrossTie from here: http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=6636 (rough equivalent of the 1-Click install concept), and it drops in smoothly... also without errors. Launch from the desktop icon that is added on install and Kindle comes up... all my books are there. I've done this install on several machines using the same CrossTie and Crossover and it works every time in openSUSE 11.4

...

Failure or not, CO opened, and Kindle for PC installed on it. Kindle malfunctions exactly as it does under Wine.

I can't even guess what's going wrong. I've tested this (Crossover and Kindle) again here tonight... on an openSUSE 11.4 default install (in a VBox session), on an 11.4 Tumbleweed, and on a 12.1 Milestone, and it works perfect each time.

...

Now the Kindle/CO window has disappeared, and it isn't clear how to get it back, since the Kindle/Wine window will open instead. I would have to remove Kindle from Wine to do this, no doubt, but that's not for today, if at all.

Remove Kindle from Wine to do what? Wine and Crossover are independent. If you launch the Kindle installed with Crossover (usually from the desktop icon) that does not use the vanilla Wine that's installed on your system... it uses it's one Wine version. If you want to tinker with the Crossover config and installed apps, go to your Application list in the menu of whatever Desktop Environment you're using, select Crossover, and then Manage Bottles. That said, if you installed Crossover from RPM (I can't speak for the BIN installer since I don't use it), and then used the Crosstie to install Kindle (which downloads the Kindle installer for you and installs it for you), and left everything at default settings... it really should be a "fire and forget" install.... C. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Stan Goodman

26 Aug 26 Aug

05:29

On Thursday 25 August 2011 23:18:22 C wrote:

...

On Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 21:42, Stan Goodman wrote:

...
...
Try the free eval version of CrossOver and see if you still have problems. Then we will know if the problem is with the Kindle app or wine.

Now I've downloaded and installed CrossOver (the bin file, as there is no rpm package for x86_64), and installed Kindle on it.

Why do you need a 64 bit package? The 32 bit RPM works just fine in a 64 bit system. That's the one I use in my 64 bit system and it installs without errors in openSUSE 11.4. I installed Kindle for PC 1.6 using the CrossTie from here: http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?app_id=6636 (rough equivalent of the 1-Click install concept), and it drops in smoothly... also without errors. Launch from the desktop icon that is added on install and Kindle comes up... all my books are there. I've done this install on several machines using the same CrossTie and Crossover and it works every time in openSUSE 11.4

Yes, I know that CO has its own instance of Kindle, located in a different directory. But at the moment, I do not see a separate icon for it, so that if I call it at all, it would have to be at a command line. Calling Kindle at a command line will inevitably find the one on Wine. It I want to do this at all, I would have to somehow disable the one in Wine. I'm not sure I want to trouble. Until now I have been reading Kindle books on the laptop, and there isn't any reason not to continue doing so. I haven't got that much spare time to try fruitlessly to track down inexplicable behaviors, and in the process waste also the time of helpful people in this forum. The laptop, BTW, runs v11.4 as well, with Kindle 1.5.0. Trying that version of Kindle on this desktop machine changed nothing, although that made the configuration exactly like that of the laptop. So it's a poltergeist, and beyond help. I have not tried your suggestion about CrossTie, because CrossOver was meant here to be only a temporary tool to check Wine, not a permanent replacement for Wine. CrossOver is a demo, good for only a month. Even if the demo were to finger Wine as the culprit, I would not be willing to shell out $40 for Standard CO......

...

...
Failure or not, CO opened, and Kindle for PC installed on it. Kindle malfunctions exactly as it does under Wine.

I can't even guess what's going wrong. I've tested this (Crossover and Kindle) again here tonight... on an openSUSE 11.4 default install (in a VBox session), on an 11.4 Tumbleweed, and on a 12.1 Milestone, and it works perfect each time.

...
Now the Kindle/CO window has disappeared, and it isn't clear how to get it back, since the Kindle/Wine window will open instead. I would have to remove Kindle from Wine to do this, no doubt, but that's not for today, if at all.

Remove Kindle from Wine to do what? Wine and Crossover are independent.

If you launch the Kindle installed with Crossover (usually from the desktop icon) that does not use the vanilla Wine that's installed on your system... it uses it's one Wine version.

If you want to tinker with the Crossover config and installed apps, go to your Application list in the menu of whatever Desktop Environment you're using, select Crossover, and then Manage Bottles.

That said, if you installed Crossover from RPM (I can't speak for the BIN installer since I don't use it), and then used the Crosstie to install Kindle (which downloads the Kindle installer for you and installs it for you), and left everything at default settings... it really should be a "fire and forget" install....

C.

-- Stan Goodman Qiryat Tiv'on Israel -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

C

06:33

On Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 07:29, Stan Goodman wrote:

...

at the moment, I do not see a separate icon for it

More than likely the desktop icon was re-written to point at the Crossover install. The easy way to tell is to look at the properties of the icon. If ti's the Crossover one, the Command field will point to Crossover in your home directory.

...

I have not tried your suggestion about CrossTie, because CrossOver was meant here to be only a temporary tool to check Wine, not a permanent replacement for Wine.

Crossties (if they are available) are the "right" way to install Crossover apps because the Crossties preconfigure the specific Wine instance and fine tune it for that specific app. The also often automatically download the (known working) Windows installer for you (ie you don't have to go find the installer on your own). C. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

zGreenfelder

25 Aug 25 Aug

16:59

On Thu, Aug 25, 2011 at 10:51 AM, Stan Goodman wrote:

...

On Sunday 21 August 2011 19:23:11 Stan Goodman wrote:

...
On Sunday 21 August 2011 15:34:21 C wrote:

...
On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 14:13, Stan Goodman

wrote:

...
...
I recently downloaded and installed on my desktop machine the current KindleForPC (1.6.1). This release has the minor problem that it can't open books(!), which makes it useless.

Odd, I'm using 1.6.1 on my system (installed in CrossOver, but still, that's still essentially Wine (with a nice/usable application installer UI on top), and it works just fine.

But if you look in the Wine website, you'll see a list of "issues", by app and release, and one of these describes exactly the behavior I have encountered. It isn't special to me.

...
...
I uninstalled the v1.6.1 Kindle from Wine by deleting the directory ~/.wine/..../Kindle as suggested by some of the advice I found through

Do you have other things installed in that Wine instance? If not, then just delete the entire .wine directory and start fresh. If you do, and don't want to delete the entire .wine tree, then force it to use a new Wine prefix See docs here or example: http://wiki.jswindle.com/index.php/Wine_Prefixes You shoudl run each Windows app in it's own Wine instance rather than mixing them up with each other... Wine prefixes is the way to go unless you're using CrossOver which takes care of that or you.

No, the only windows thing I want is Kindle. I would have been happier had the Kindle been written in Java, so the field would have been level for everyone. I don't know why they didn't do that.

I've never used the windows kindle software, so I'm not exactly sure what functionality you're looking for, but I'd suggest trying calibre (www.calibre-ebook.com) it will do basic management of your kindle, let you delete and update/upload (e.g. you could download .mobi files from project gutenberg and save them to your kindle) and fetch/upload feeds (ala the Astronomy picture of the day, or XKCD is setup as news feed, I believe). I can't say for certain how well it'll work on Suse; I use it pretty much exclusively on ubuntu -- I can say for certain that it does not play happily with CentOS 5.6 so your mileage will nearly certainly vary. it's not a direct fix, but it might be another way to skin the cat. -- Even the Magic 8 ball has an opinion on email clients: Outlook not so good. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

Stan Goodman

18:18

On Thursday 25 August 2011 19:59:49 zGreenfelder wrote:

...

've never used the windows kindle software, so I'm not exactly sure what functionality you're looking for, but I'd suggest trying calibre (www.calibre-ebook.com) it will do basic management of your kindle, let you delete and update/upload (e.g. you could download .mobi files from project gutenberg and save them to your kindle) and fetch/upload feeds (ala the Astronomy picture of the day, or XKCD is setup as news feed, I believe).

I can't say for certain how well it'll work on Suse; I use it pretty much exclusively on ubuntu -- I can say for certain that it does not play happily with CentOS 5.6 so your mileage will nearly certainly vary.

it's not a direct fix, but it might be another way to skin the cat.

You have targetted the wrong cat. Kindle for PC is not a way to feed or index a Kindle Reader, it is a Kindle Reader in software, that runs under Windows. Calibre is irrelevant for me because it can't read Kindle Books. Thanks anyway. -- Stan Goodman Qiryat Tiv'on Israel -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse+help@opensuse.org

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C
Ken Schneider - openSUSE
Stan Goodman
zGreenfelder