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I have a newly bought Amazon Paperwhite, but when I connect it to my PC, Ubuntu does not recognize it.

What can I do?

Braiam
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Englender
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    Read [Managing Kindle Fire with on 12.04 via Micro-USB](http://askubuntu.com/questions/177555/managing-kindle-fire-with-on-12-04-via-micro-usb) . I think your problem is the same. – Antigona Jan 04 '13 at 16:14
  • What firmware version for **Kindle Paperwhite**? eg. 5.3.1 (My own device does connect to **12.04**.) – david6 Jan 24 '13 at 09:38
  • @Antigona: The **Paperwhite** does not appear to be using **MTP**, under 5.3.1 or 5.3.3 firmware. Also supports Calibre. – david6 Jan 24 '13 at 10:03

4 Answers4

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I suggest trying different cables, it finally solved my problem in the end after having lost some time (Paperwhite connecting to Ubuntu Xenial).

Store-bought cables laying around appeared to only be capable of charging the device. A Huawei P9 lite original cable was the one that finally made the connection.

ggfial
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I've stumbled upon the same problem. After installing mtpfs all worked fine.

sudo apt-get install mtpfs

Don't forget to remove and insert the usb cable again.

FYI: Mine is a Kindle Touch.

Fabricio Buzeto
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    From what I can tell, the Paperwhite does not use MTP. It uses USB Mass Storage. Simply plugging the device in should work. I see no options for what protocol to use, either, on my Paperwhite. – dobey Apr 25 '13 at 17:56
  • This answer is a solution if you have a "normal" Kindle. I have Kindle 5 and it worked for me. – elbear Dec 10 '13 at 18:32
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    I have a "normal" kindle too and that didn't work, it was already installed. – wranvaud Mar 21 '16 at 04:07
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    mtpfs and USB mass storage both do not work on Xenial, still, with a Paperwhite. Would appreciate any solutions. – Hinz Nov 16 '17 at 15:56
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Make sure to turn off the Airplane Mode on your kindle. For me, this solved it, but it took me a while to realize that it was on.

There can many reasons why one could have a problem with the USB connection, and this is one of them. Apparently, the airplane mode also disables USB, and not only network connection.

George
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    This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post. - [From Review](/review/low-quality-posts/931936) – slava Mar 17 '19 at 09:20
  • With all due respect, it does. Not only it solved for me (thus why I answered this very old question), it is a simple but sometimes missed problem. Either way, the "Not an answer" from the review queue is the wrong flag if you still think the answer isn't sufficient. – George Mar 17 '19 at 12:25
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You should just be able to install calibre sudo apt-get install calibre, and manage your Kindle Paperwhite. I don't have a new-ish kindle to test with, but that method has worked with the older kindles, and I don't think they changed it much.

Yet Another User
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    Doesn't work in Xenial. I guess Calibre just relies on MTP or USB mass storage to work, which it doesn't with my Paperwhite. – Hinz Nov 16 '17 at 15:55