Announcing: MobiHandler (a Windows program)

[Blossom]

I have the same issue. I use Mobipocket Reader as my default reader for mobi/prc books and have the default reader icon, no extra tab in properties.
The Authors\Titles columns are the only thing that works.

[PoP]

Originally Posted by alansplace

all icon sizes display the same default mobipocket reader icon. but your post made me curious.

so i changed the default app for mobi files (which i won't do permanently) to kindle for pc.

well then the graphical icon was displayed. it appears that alissa's mobihandler app is dependent on kindle for pc.

Now I am curious too. I thought I was seeing *my* covers but at random I looked at a folder in my calibre library:


I have no idea where the icon comes from, the metadata shown by calibre shows the cover I expected:

....upon further experimentation after i change back to default to reader.exe a few (perhaps 10% or less do not) change back to the reader.exe icon.

Thumbnails? Cache?

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by PoP

Now I am curious too. I thought I was seeing *my* covers but at random I looked at a folder in my calibre library:

I have no idea where the icon comes from, the metadata shown by calibre shows the cover I expected:

Thumbnails? Cache?

well the quick answer would be that since you changed covers with calibre on that book you haven't done a conversion (even mobi to mobi works) and a conversion is how calibre puts the new graphic in the mobi file.

yep, i thought of 'Thumbnails? Cache?' too. just thought i'd let alissa decide what to do.

[PoP]

Originally Posted by alansplace

well the quick answer would be that since you changed covers with calibre on that book you haven't done a conversion

Exactly. Thanks for pointing. When I manualy copy the book in the Kindle, I see the embedded cover. When I use Calibre to copy it, I see the Calibre library cover. Had not realised Calibre also copied the metadata.

[Alissa]

Thank you Pop, Alan, and Blossom, for testing, analysis, and reporting the issues.

MobiHandler has no direct dependency with K4PC or any other eBook reader programs, but it does depend on the Windows file association, that an eBook reader program may alter upon its installation. K4PC 1.5 changed its own association settings from K4PC 1.4, and the MobiHandler was affected. I guess Mobipocket Reader alters the file association by its own way, that is incompatible with MobiHandler.

I will examine what it does and try to fix the issue soon.

BTW, I have uploaded a new version of MobiHandler, 1.1.1259, on SkyDrive as always. It is a collection of several bug fixes. The most significant change is, if you have K4PC installed, and some of your MOBI/AZW files have no cover image in them, those files are shown by the "blue book" K4PC default icon other than the white paper icon.

I don't think version 1.1.1259 works well with Mobipocket Reader, though.

Alissa

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by Alissa

Thank you Pop, Alan, and Blossom, for testing, analysis, and reporting the issues.

MobiHandler has no direct dependency with K4PC or any other eBook reader programs, but it does depend on the Windows file association, that an eBook reader program may alter upon its installation. K4PC 1.5 changed its own association settings from K4PC 1.4, and the MobiHandler was affected. I guess Mobipocket Reader alters the file association by its own way, that is incompatible with MobiHandler.

I will examine what it does and try to fix the issue soon.

BTW, I have uploaded a new version of MobiHandler, 1.1.1259, on SkyDrive as always. It is a collection of several bug fixes. The most significant change is, if you have K4PC installed, and some of your MOBI/AZW files have no cover image in them, those files are shown by the "blue book" K4PC default icon other than the white paper icon.

I don't think version 1.1.1259 works well with Mobipocket Reader, though.

Alissa

you're welcome.

the blue book icon is ascetically pleasing and a welcome change.

looking forward to your analysis and fix so mobihandler plays nice with mobipocker.

[Alissa]

Originally Posted by Alissa

BTW, I have uploaded a new version of MobiHandler, 1.1.1259

I made a silly mistake, causing the version 1.1.1259 not to work on Windows XP.

The bug doesn't affect Windows Vista and Windows 7 users.

Even on Windows XP, if you have Microsoft Windows Search installed, you will not be affected.

I'm uploading a corrected version soon. Please don't download 1.1.1259.

Alissa

[Alissa]

Originally Posted by Alissa

I'm uploading a corrected version soon.

Done. The corrected version, 1.1.1261, is ready for download on my SkyDrive page.

Alissa

[Alissa]

Originally Posted by alansplace

looking forward to your analysis and fix so mobihandler plays nice with mobipocker.

I think it's done.

As always, the new version, 1.1.1266, is on my SkyDrive page. Please note, however, this version is not well tested and may contain more bugs than usual. I decided to release it now, because I will be busy for a while, and I will have no time to work on MobiHandler for about two weeks beginning this weekend.

It is appreciated if you guys can test it.

1.1.1266 should work on its own, with Amazon Kindle for PC (1.4 and 1.5), and with Mobipocket Reader for PC. If you install/uninstall K4PC or Mobipocket Reader after installing MobiHandler, some file association may be broken. Try Repairing MobiHandler in the case.

I love to know any issues or difficulties you experienced with 1.1.1266.

Have fun (with care)

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by Alissa

I think it's done.

As always, the new version, 1.1.1266, is on my SkyDrive page. Please note, however, this version is not well tested and may contain more bugs than usual. I decided to release it now, because I will be busy for a while, and I will have no time to work on MobiHandler for about two weeks beginning this weekend.

It is appreciated if you guys can test it.

1.1.1266 should work on its own, with Amazon Kindle for PC (1.4 and 1.5), and with Mobipocket Reader for PC. If you install/uninstall K4PC or Mobipocket Reader after installing MobiHandler, some file association may be broken. Try Repairing MobiHandler in the case.

I love to know any issues or difficulties you experienced with 1.1.1266.

Have fun (with care)

cool! well done.

in my experimentation with using 1.1.1266 i've discovered a whole lot of amazon files (azw, prc, azw1 & tpz) that appear to not contain a cover. is there a way to look at these files w/o de-drm-ing them?

[PoP]

Originally Posted by alansplace

cool! well done.

in my experimentation with using 1.1.1266 i've discovered a whole lot of amazon files (azw, prc, azw1 & tpz) that appear to not contain a cover. is there a way to look at these files w/o de-drm-ing them?

@alansplace: I noticed that too but I think these truly don't contain a cover since once I load it in the Kindle, FW-Right on the title doesn't show any cover.

@Alissa: By the way 1.1.1266 works fine for me (I have K4PC v1.4).

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by PoP

@alansplace: I noticed that too but I think these truly don't contain a cover since once I load it in the Kindle, FW-Right on the title doesn't show any cover.

@Alissa: By the way 1.1.1266 works fine for me (I have K4PC v1.4).

yep, but i'd like a convenient way to check if there's one embedded. even better how to stuff a cover into one or all of those without resorting to d-drm-ing the file.

[alansplace]

i may have spoken too soon. i just downloaded Hybrid (free from amazon) and it displayed an amazon icon on my pc, instead of the cover, but when i added it to calibre, calibre displayed a cover. so i sent the azw file to my kindle and there appeared a graphical cover also. maybe something got broken when the fix for mobireader got put in place?

[Alissa]

Originally Posted by alansplace

i may have spoken too soon. i just downloaded Hybrid (free from amazon) and it displayed an amazon icon on my pc, instead of the cover, but when i added it to calibre, calibre displayed a cover. so i sent the azw file to my kindle and there appeared a graphical cover also. maybe something got broken when the fix for mobireader got put in place?

Thank you alan for testing and giving proper feedback. My finding, however, is that I can see the cover thumbnail of the book "Hybrid" that I just bought (for $0.00) from Amazon.com for testing. I tested it on Windows XP, Windows 7 32 bit, and Windows 7 64 bit, and all three environments gave the same results. It works for me.

So, the bug should be dependent on something that is different between my PCs and yours. I want to know what is it.

Well, I think I have never told this, but recent versions of MobiHandler have a detailed debug trace feature built in, although it is turned off by default. I think the debug trace is helpful to know what's happening. Can you perform the following steps? (I'm sorry they are slightly complicated, but following the steps is important.)

1. Create an empty Windows folder in your convenient place. You can give it any name, but I refer to it as "New Folder".
2. Copy the .azw file of "Hybrid" to the "New Folder" alone.
3. Close the "New Folder".
4. Open the folder that MobiHandler is installed. It should be "C:\Program Files\Alissa\MobiHandler\" in most environments. If you are using 64 bit OS, it should be "C:\Program Files (x86)\Alissa\MobiHandler". The folder may be on a driver other than "C:" under some rare circumstances.
5. There should be a file of name "debug.reg". (The ".reg" part may not be shown.) Double click on it. It may ask you whether you really want to import registry settings. Please answer "OK".
6. Restart your PC.
7. Open the "New Folder" immediately after the restart (before opening any other folder that contains other .azw/.mobi/.prc files.)
8. Change your view to thumbnails if it is not.
9. Click on the file for "Hybrid". (Don't double click on it, though.)
10. Close the "New Folder".
11. Open "C:\Program Files\Alissa\MobiHandler" again, and double click on "Undebug.reg".
12. Restart your PC again.
13. Now, open your "Pictures" folder. It is in "My Document" folder in Windows XP, or in "Document" folder in Windows 7. You can also access to it through the task area by clicking on "Pictures" under "Library".
14. There should be a file of name "mobihandlerlog.txt". Open it by double clicking.
15. Copy and paste the content to a reply in this thread.

The log file should contain tens of lines containing cryptic info. You need to be a programmer and to read the MobiHandler source code to understand what they mean, but I promise there are no privacy or credit card info. Relax.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by Alissa

Thank you alan for testing and giving proper feedback. My finding, however, is that I can see the cover thumbnail of the book "Hybrid" that I just bought (for $0.00) from Amazon.com for testing. I tested it on Windows XP, Windows 7 32 bit, and Windows 7 64 bit, and all three environments gave the same results. It works for me.

So, the bug should be dependent on something that is different between my PCs and yours. I want to know what is it.

Well, I think I have never told this, but recent versions of MobiHandler have a detailed debug trace feature built in, although it is turned off by default. I think the debug trace is helpful to know what's happening. Can you perform the following steps? (I'm sorry they are slightly complicated, but following the steps is important.)

1. Create an empty Windows folder in your convenient place. You can give it any name, but I refer to it as "New Folder".
2. Copy the .azw file of "Hybrid" to the "New Folder" alone.
3. Close the "New Folder".
4. Open the folder that MobiHandler is installed. It should be "C:\Program Files\Alissa\MobiHandler\" in most environments. If you are using 64 bit OS, it should be "C:\Program Files (x86)\Alissa\MobiHandler". The folder may be on a driver other than "C:" under some rare circumstances.
5. There should be a file of name "debug.reg". (The ".reg" part may not be shown.) Double click on it. It may ask you whether you really want to import registry settings. Please answer "OK".
6. Restart your PC.
7. Open the "New Folder" immediately after the restart (before opening any other folder that contains other .azw/.mobi/.prc files.)
8. Change your view to thumbnails if it is not.
9. Click on the file for "Hybrid". (Don't double click on it, though.)
10. Close the "New Folder".
11. Open "C:\Program Files\Alissa\MobiHandler" again, and double click on "Undebug.reg".
12. Restart your PC again.
13. Now, open your "Pictures" folder. It is in "My Document" folder in Windows XP, or in "Document" folder in Windows 7. You can also access to it through the task area by clicking on "Pictures" under "Library".
14. There should be a file of name "mobihandlerlog.txt". Open it by double clicking.
15. Copy and paste the content to a reply in this thread.

The log file should contain tens of lines containing cryptic info. You need to be a programmer and to read the MobiHandler source code to understand what they mean, but I promise there are no privacy or credit card info. Relax.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation!

sure, i just finished your very well written list of step-by-step instructions, here are the results:


0b84:0b44:MobiHandler 1.1.1266
0b84:0b44:0001:CClassFactoryBase
0b84:0b44:0001:QueryInterface:{00000001-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}:IClassFactory
0b84:0b44:0001:CreateInstance
0b84:0b44:0002:MobiHandler
0b84:0b44:0002:QueryInterface:{886D8EEB-8CF2-4446-8D02-CDBA1DBDCF99}:IPropertyStore
0b84:0b44:0001:~CClassFactoryBase
0b84:0b44:0002:QueryInterface:{886D8EEB-8CF2-4446-8D02-CDBA1DBDCF99}:IPropertyStore
0b84:0b44:0002:QueryInterface:{B824B49D-22AC-4161-AC8A-9916E8FA3F7F}:IInitializeWithStream
0b84:0b44:0002:Initialize(IStream *, DWORD)
0b84:0b44:0003:MobiBook(stream)
0b84:0b44:0002:QueryInterface:{886D8EEB-8CF2-4446-8D02-CDBA1DBDCF99}:IPropertyStore
0b84:0b44:0002:QueryInterface:{886D8EEB-8CF2-4446-8D02-CDBA1DBDCF99}:IPropertyStore
0b84:0b44:0002:QueryInterface:{886D8EEB-8CF2-4446-8D02-CDBA1DBDCF99}:IPropertyStore
0b84:0b44:0002:QueryInterface:{71604B0F-97B0-4764-8577-2F13E98A1422}unsupported)
0b84:0b44:0002:QueryInterface:{C8E2D566-186E-4D49-BF41-6909EAD56ACC}:IPropertyStoreCapabilities
0b84:0b44:0002:GetValue:{7A55582B-BD8C-4475-B94C-B87A388A7899} 100 (System.StatusIcons)
0b84:0b44:0003:~MobiBook
0b84:0b44:0002:~MobiHandler
0b84:0dac:Finalizing module

you're welcome