Calibre Won't Convert Valid .doc File

Cartaphilus · 01-25-2010, 08:07 AM

I have a file I downloaded in .rar format. When I tried to convert it, Calibre told me it couldn't find a valid format. I un-rar'd the file into its .doc format and tried to convert it, but got the same error. When I tried to open the .doc with OpenOffice, it opened perfectly.

I actually downloaded 15 files from the same source. Five of them converted OK. Ten had the problem I just described. The ten failures were all in .doc format.

One set of the offending rar/doc sets is attached. I'd appreciate any help.

TIA...

Moderator Note:

Attachment deleted. This is a copyrighted book; you must not upload copyrighted material to MR.

Thank you.

mbovenka · 01-25-2010, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cartaphilus

II actually downloaded 15 files from the same source. Five of them converted OK. Ten had the problem I just described. The ten failures were all in .doc format.

Just a guess: the ones that didn't convert were in real Word DOC format, and the ones that did were actually in RTF format, although they had a .doc extension? The one you sent was a real Word DOC file, and Calibre doesn't support that. Just save the offending ones as RTF, and feed those to Calibre.

I've had that happen to me as well.

EstherJH · 01-25-2010, 09:11 AM

I recognize this problem as well. As mbovenka says, you need to save them as RTF and then load them into Calibre. That should fix the problem.

Cartaphilus · 01-25-2010, 11:40 AM

Dog-he said-gone! That was it. I just saved one of them as an .rtf and it converted just fine. I'm a relative newbie to Calibre (and fast becoming a devotee of St. Kovid...) and I've downloaded a lot of files with a .doc extension that haven't given me any trouble. So they must have been .rtfs masquerading as .docs. That lead me to believe that .docs worked just fine.

Thanks to both of you for the pointer.

user_none · 01-25-2010, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cartaphilus

So they must have been .rtfs masquerading as .docs.

Most likely the files were created with Wordpad. It claims to support .doc files but it just saves as rtf and uses the .doc extension.

01-25-2010, 08:07 AM	#1
Cartaphilus Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Kindle	Calibre Won't Convert Valid .doc File I have a file I downloaded in .rar format. When I tried to convert it, Calibre told me it couldn't find a valid format. I un-rar'd the file into its .doc format and tried to convert it, but got the same error. When I tried to open the .doc with OpenOffice, it opened perfectly. I actually downloaded 15 files from the same source. Five of them converted OK. Ten had the problem I just described. The ten failures were all in .doc format. One set of the offending rar/doc sets is attached. I'd appreciate any help. TIA... Moderator Note: Attachment deleted. This is a copyrighted book; you must not upload copyrighted material to MR. Thank you. Last edited by HarryT; 01-26-2010 at 02:47 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Valid ePub, but not valid enough for iBooks	MichaelGray	ePub	46	01-14-2011 08:22 AM
Hebrew Doc file to epub	logie072	ePub	3	08-27-2010 11:31 AM
Calibre + doc +OSX = cannot convert?	rcuadro	Calibre	2	02-17-2010 08:58 AM
calibre 0.6.17 can't convert any file	Phil_C	Calibre	9	10-11-2009 09:02 PM
Why does Calibre need to go to the web to convert a zipped HTML file?	FizzyWater	Calibre	4	06-30-2008 12:51 AM

01-25-2010, 09:11 AM	#3
EstherJH Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 850 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Netherlands Device: Kindle Paperwhite	I recognize this problem as well. As mbovenka says, you need to save them as RTF and then load them into Calibre. That should fix the problem.

01-25-2010, 11:40 AM	#4
Cartaphilus Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Kindle	Dog-he said-gone! That was it. I just saved one of them as an .rtf and it converted just fine. I'm a relative newbie to Calibre (and fast becoming a devotee of St. Kovid...) and I've downloaded a lot of files with a .doc extension that haven't given me any trouble. So they must have been .rtfs masquerading as .docs. That lead me to believe that .docs worked just fine. Thanks to both of you for the pointer.

Advert

Advert