# Kindle won't connect to computer....



## Whidbeyislandgirl (Apr 19, 2009)

My Kindle won't connect to my computer! I was using Calibre a couple of hours ago to play with metadata and such, I'd plug it in, get the usb screen, then it would go back to my home screen. I'd try it again, it would work. I'd download a couple of books, then get an error message, can't remember what it said, and my home screen would pop up on my Kindle. Unplugged it, plugged it back in, on and on it went. Finally wouldn't connect at all. The light on the Kindle comes on, I see the lightning bolt in the battery, but it won't go to the usb screen, then the bolt goes away from the battery, but the light stays on. Battery is nearly fully charged. I've tried both the white usb cable that came with my Kindle and one from a car charger and the same thing happens. 

Any suggestions? I've got 400 more books to download getting ready for the upgrade...... Help!

Edited to add I tried a different usb port on the back of the computer and it didn't work either.


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Have you tried resetting the Kindle? That works for most problems that come up.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

What intinst said and you might want to reboot your computer too.


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## Whidbeyislandgirl (Apr 19, 2009)

intinst said:


> Have you tried resetting the Kindle? That works for most problems that come up.


Restarting the Kindle didn't help, I'll restart the beast next.....


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## Whidbeyislandgirl (Apr 19, 2009)

Restarted the computer, got the Kindle connected, got the usb screen, Calibre was reluctant, took me six tries to get it to open. I'll see how many books I can download this time....


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## Whidbeyislandgirl (Apr 19, 2009)

Tried to send a book to my Kindle and got a message that says "Error communicating with device" and my Kindle went back to the home screen. The book appears to have downloaded though. Unplugged the usb from my Kindle, plugged it back in, got five books downloaded and was kicked out again. What is going on??


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## Whidbeyislandgirl (Apr 19, 2009)

Can you hear me screaming?? I get a book or two downloaded, get kicked out, unplug, plug in, unplug, plug in, get it connected, download a book or two and out we go again.

This is going to take me forever!


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## marianneg (Nov 4, 2008)

Try manually moving books onto the Kindle (drag and drop into the Documents folder) so you can eliminate (or not) Calibre as the source of the problem.


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

You might try to get a brand new usb cable or quite possibly the port on your Kindle is faulty. Since there's only one you can't test it. My advice would be to call Kindle CS. They' re _very_ helpful.


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## Granvillen (Dec 12, 2009)

Just go to the Kindle Troubleshooting page, I had the same issue and following their instructions I had it fixed in no time.


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## Whidbeyislandgirl (Apr 19, 2009)

Tried the troubleshooting page suggestion of restarting the Kindle and computer which didn't help. I called cs and was told it was the white cable and they would replace that. But it's not only the white cable, I have a black on from my car charger and it does the same thing. I can connect using the black cable, get a book or two from Calibre, then it gives me and error message and goes back to the home screen. He said they can't support the non Amazon cable, so would send me a new charger, I can try that, if it doesn't work call back and they'll see about replacing the Kindle. In the mean time I'll fight with it some more.....


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## stormmaster (Jun 12, 2010)

Sounds like a loose USB connection to me. I have a hard drive, much abused, whose USB connection is a bit worn down. I've probably tripped on the cord and yanked the cable out forcibly a few times. If the plug is just so, it will connect, and then as soon as the cable jiggles a bit, the drive would disconnect and reconnect intermittently. A bit of tape solved that, but eventually I just got a new one.

Try this: plug the cord into the Kindle, then the cable into a different USB port than you usually use. See if that helps. If it still has the same problem, try pressing down or pulling up GENTLY on the cable, where it plugs into the computer. You can also try the same on the plug that goes into Kindle. If its a bad connection, one of those should fix it temporarily.

Good luck!


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## Khale (Feb 17, 2010)

I had the same problem and it turned out to be the cable I was using.


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## s0nicfreak (Jun 10, 2010)

Try using a different USB port, and if you can, a different computer.


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## Kindle Convert (Nov 8, 2008)

s0nicfreak said:


> Try using a different USB port


This was an issue for me. I'm using Vista on a laptop and the Kindle would not be recognized on the "obvious" USB port (the one upfront on the left) , but when I plugged it into one the USB ports toward the back (on the right) of the laptop it my Kindle was recognized right away.


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## Whidbeyislandgirl (Apr 19, 2009)

I ended up transfering everything in Calibre to my laptop at work and using that instead. Not a problem with it connecting at all, I suspect it's the old piece of (beep) computer we have at home! Although we did get the screensaver hack installed using the home computer, only had to disconnect and reconnect about five times......


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