# Plug my Kindle into my iMac and it doesn't show the Kindle anywhere



## Bren S. (May 10, 2009)

Ok so I've never really had a reason to do anything between computer and Kindle, but I would like to now.

I plug in my Kindle via usb and it doesn't show up at all anywhere??

I am running Snow Leopard.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Have you:

1. Tried this Kindle on another computer, and
2. Used any other USB devices on this computer?

Does the Kindle go into USB mode (as shown by the Kindle screen)?

Mike


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## Bren S. (May 10, 2009)

Hi Mike

It shows this time that it went into usb Drive Mode, which it didn't show when I tried it before,and the Kindle shows up on my desktop.

So now if I want to get books from other sites, what format do they have to be in in order to get them on my Kindles via usb??

Do I just save them in my documents on my Mac and then drag and drop them into the documents folder on my Kindle?

Lots of questions I know, but I want to give books from other sites a try.


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

Yes to all of the above questions... mobi / prc / pdf / txt files should all work fine. Also, make sure none of the books you buy elsewhere have DRM. Only Amazon DRM'd files will work.


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## Bren S. (May 10, 2009)

Ok thanks.

I tried downloading a book from Smashwords and after it downloads "text edit or text editor" opens it instead of letting me choose saving it to documents.

I have no clue why it is doing that.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I would download only non-DRM PRC or MOBI files. PDFs don't do well on the Kindle, in my opinion. TXT will work, but are so bare-bones that I steer clear of them, as I have to do editing to make them readable (but I'm super-picky about that sort of thing).

If your text editor opens the file immediately, you have the Save File dialogue box set to Open instead of Save. Probably a bad idea.


Mike


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## Bren S. (May 10, 2009)

Oh I know it is a bad idea, and when I click to download something I make sure "save" is selected and not open.
However, somewhere after that it decides to open it automatically, and for the life of me I have no idea how to change that.
I guess I can call Apple if I can't figure it out.


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## Michael R. Hicks (Oct 29, 2008)

Sugar said:


> Oh I know it is a bad idea, and when I click to download something I make sure "save" is selected and not open.
> However, somewhere after that it decides to open it automatically, and for the life of me I have no idea how to change that.
> I guess I can call Apple if I can't figure it out.


Are you just clicking, or using control+click? If you do that, you can select "save link as," which should let you save the file wherever you want and (hopefully) avoid your Mac trying to open it with another app. I'd just save it to a folder on your hard drive first as sort of a local archive copy, then copy it to your Kindle (I usually just drag it between two Finder windows, one where the file is on the hard drive, the other in the Kindle's Documents folder, which is where you put the book files).

Also, I noticed this with my K2: if it's in sleep mode with the screensaver on when I plug it into the USB port, it won't show up in Finder. I have to wake it up (slide/release the power button) before I connect it, then it shows up fine.

And as Mike indicated, the best formats to use are non-DRM'd PRC or MOBI files, as those are basically native for the Kindle. The other formats might give you unexpected results...


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## Bren S. (May 10, 2009)

When I was at Smashwords last night and wanted to get a free book there,I clicked on the download link on the book's page.It brought up a window that asked if I wanted to "open with"...or "save". 

I clicked save. Is that not the right way to do it?

After it downloaded it right away opened it.


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## Michael R. Hicks (Oct 29, 2008)

Sugar said:


> When I was at Smashwords last night and wanted to get a free book there,I clicked on the download link on the book's page.It brought up a window that asked if I wanted to "open with"...or "save".
> 
> I clicked save. Is that not the right way to do it?
> 
> After it downloaded it right away opened it.


Aha! Okay, if you're using Safari, this may be the problem: http://browsers.about.com/od/safar1/ht/safarisafefiles.htm


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Michael R. Hicks said:


> Aha! Okay, if you're using Safari, this may be the problem: http://browsers.about.com/od/safar1/ht/safarisafefiles.htm


I forgot about that! I use Safari so rarely that I didn't remember that was the default. I turned it off long ago and promptly forgot about it.

Mike


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## corkyb (Apr 25, 2009)

What browser do you use if you have a mac?  I like Safari but am open to other suggestions.
Paula ny


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

corkyb said:


> What browser do you use if you have a mac? I like Safari but am open to other suggestions.
> Paula ny


I use Firefox. My husband has been using Camino, which I haven't tried (being a creature of habit - or maybe I'm just an old dog...)


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## barth (Jan 19, 2010)

Sugar, on my new (to me) DX, I've loaded non-DRM Mobi and PDF files. If they are not in that format, I use calibre to convert them in Mobi format. I then plug the DX to the computer, and I drag the newly formatted file to the document folder of my Kindle. I disconnect the DX from the computer and I then see the new book added to my list.

I love my DX!

Real


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## Michael R. Hicks (Oct 29, 2008)

I've used both Firefox and Safari, and finally settled on Firefox: it has a lot of nifty plug-ins that I like to use...


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## Bren S. (May 10, 2009)

Ok as it turns out my using Chrome for Mac was the issue with things opening  automatically.
I did check the settings in Safari,and changed them. Thanks for that link.
I checked Firefox and there is a setting on it that shows open automatically as well,and I got rid of that and then there is a place that allows for it asking specifically where you want the file you download every single time, so I clicked that.
I have been able to get 3 books from smashwords onto my Kindle.
However 2 of the 3 appear on my home page as tmp and then a long string of letters and numbers.
Anyone know why that is?Have they maybe just not indexed yet?


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

A .tmp extension means it hasn’t finished downloading the file yet.

Mike


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