DeDRM & Big Sur
 

I have just upgraded my iMac to Big Sur which is working fine.

The only piece of software I have to sort out is DeDRM, can anyone advise the correct version of the software I should download, having looked on Apprentice Alf I am confused at the choices!!!!

So I am stuck....

I use Kobo on the desktop and on my iPad and my iMac also has Calibre installed to manage my books.

Not sure if any testing has been done on Big Sur for Kobo.

In any case, your best bet is Calibre 4.23 and the Obok plugin in tools v6.8.1.

Let us know if it works!

If not, ask for more detailed help on Alf's blog or Apprentice Harper's GitHub.

You can use the latest Calibre 5 and the 7.0.0b3 version. It's working for me to remove the DRM from ePub and KF8/Mobi.

Thank you both for your replies, I now have Calibre V4.23 + Obok tools and also Cal V5 loaded onto my iMac

@odamizu: in the past I had the DeDRM on desktop, I never used it with Calibre directly. Pray tell a 'thicko' how it works please?

@JSWolf, I'll try 4.23 first and then have a stab at V5.

As I say, I would open DeDRM directly to my desktop and put the books through the DRM strip, before the books popped into Adobe Editions and then into Calibre. I assume using Calibre with the plugin does away with the stand alone DRM strip via Alf's magic as it is now within Calibre?

They say your never too old to learn, I'm fast approaching 70 but some little bits of technology evade me at times!

@Carpman: Oh, I misunderstood. I thought you were using Kobo desktop app, in which case you would need the Obok plugin. But if you're downloading from Kobo into ADE, then you need the DeDRM plugin as JSWolf says.

Sadly, Alf's standalone desktop app is no longer supported and I suspect will not work on Big Sur without some effort.

If you're looking for detailed instructions on using the Calibre plugin, I think you'll need to ask on Alf's blog or Apprentice Harper's GitHub, as detailed instructions on using the tools are not allowed on MobileRead.

@JSWolf, when you say the latest Calibre 5 and the 7.0.0b3 version works for you, does that mean you've tested this on macOS Big Sur?

The standalone apps needed Python 2 32-bit. That will not run on Big Sur.

As for Calibre 5 and DeDRM beta 7.0.0b3, I'm using it with Windows 10. The thing is, you don't need to get new keys if you export your existing keys and import them in the beta.

Mac and Windows experience are not interchangeable. If you're going to post in the Apple forum, you should make it clear that your answers are based on Windows, not macOS.

I am running the standalone Mac app on Catalina, which requires 64-bit. It was easy enough to convert from 32-bit to 64-bit. However, I wouldn't be surprised if it won't run on Big Sur (due to code, not the 32-bit/64-bit thing).

Just because Calibre 5 and DeDRM 7.0.0.b3 is working for you on Windows 10 does not mean it will work the same on Big Sur.

However, since Carpman is already on Big Sur, there is no harm in them testing.

There are some fixes in 7.0.0b3 for importing Kindle for Mac keys on Big Sur.

It does work on my computer but I'm running Big Sur in a VM not on a physical machine. My testing was limited to importing 3 azw3 and 3 epub books just to see if it worked—the Big Sur upgrade left me with rather little free space on the virtual hard drive.

I'm running Big Sur on both my Macs. On my laptop, I have Calibre 5.6 and deDRM 7.0.0b3. It works fine for Kindle downloaded as a file. I haven't tried the Kobo import. The iMac is running Calibre 4-2.3 with deDRM 6.6.2. It works fine as well.

@pwalker8,
DeDRM 6.6.2 how did you get past Big Sur's security?
I have the download but get this message "You do not have permission to open the application “DeDRM”." Opening Sys Prefs does not allow me to 'open the file anyway' when I try to install the file.

DeDRM 7 is a plugin for Calibre, they stopped supporting the stand alone program. I simply use the plugin on both machines.

Try doing a right click on the DeDRM app and open it that way. I think that was the work around on Catalina, I haven't tried it on Big Sur.

DeDRM 7.0.0.b3, Calibre 5.6 and Big Sur are working for me. One thing to note and this took me about 15 mins to figure out - I could not figure out why once I downloaded the latest DeDRM there was no zip file as normal to load into Calibre.

Come to find out that my Mac settings were automatically unzipping the files. I went into Safari -> Preferences. In the "General" tab, I unchecked "Open 'safe' files after downloading". This stopped Safari from automatically unzipping the files. I have been using the plug-in for years so this threw me - just a small thing to point out.

Cool! What are you using it with? K4Mac 1.30.0 with or without chmod -x? Kindle books downloaded from Amazon website for transfer via USB? ADE 4.x? Thank you

@pwalker8, I am sorted, I had to purchase a book from Kobo, plugin in place and works fine with Big Sur.
Next step is to upgrade from Calibre 4.2.3, which is still working fine for my limited needs as I only use it as a book repository.

@chilady1, some things in Big Sur are not that obvious to find but I did find that little trick fairly early on in my Big Sur update.