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davidfor · 12-04-2013, 08:35 PM

There are two sources for books on the Kobo devices. They can be sideloaded using calibre or by simply copying the files to the device. Or, they can be downloaded directly from the Kobo server. If they came from the Kobo server, they were purchased from the Kobo shop.

As you are seeing the "virtual books" error, you must be trying to copy the books from the Kobo server. These cannot be copied from the Kobo ereaders because calibre cannot handle them fully. Part of this is that they are not a format that calibre has complete support for, but the main issue is DRM. Most of the books have DRM using a scheme owned by Kobo. This means there is nothing we can do with them once they are taken off the Kobo devices. Hence the message when trying to add them to the library.

To do what you want, you should be able to download the epub version of the book from your library on the Kobo store. Most books they sell also have an epub version. When you look at your library listed in the Kobo store, there will be a button to download these. The button will have either "Download epub" or "Adobe DRM epub". The former do not have DRM and will download directly to the PC. The latter will need Adobe Digital Editions to download. Once downloaded, the DRM free books can be added to calibre and converted to formats that the Kindle can handle. The books with DRM would need to have the DRM removed before the conversion. I suggest looking for "Apprentice ALF" for details.

12-04-2013, 08:35 PM	#2
davidfor Grand Sorcerer Posts: 24,905 Karma: 47303824 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Sydney, Australia Device: Kobo:Touch,Glo, AuraH2O, GloHD,AuraONE, ClaraHD, Libra H2O; tolinoepos	There are two sources for books on the Kobo devices. They can be sideloaded using calibre or by simply copying the files to the device. Or, they can be downloaded directly from the Kobo server. If they came from the Kobo server, they were purchased from the Kobo shop. As you are seeing the "virtual books" error, you must be trying to copy the books from the Kobo server. These cannot be copied from the Kobo ereaders because calibre cannot handle them fully. Part of this is that they are not a format that calibre has complete support for, but the main issue is DRM. Most of the books have DRM using a scheme owned by Kobo. This means there is nothing we can do with them once they are taken off the Kobo devices. Hence the message when trying to add them to the library. To do what you want, you should be able to download the epub version of the book from your library on the Kobo store. Most books they sell also have an epub version. When you look at your library listed in the Kobo store, there will be a button to download these. The button will have either "Download epub" or "Adobe DRM epub". The former do not have DRM and will download directly to the PC. The latter will need Adobe Digital Editions to download. Once downloaded, the DRM free books can be added to calibre and converted to formats that the Kindle can handle. The books with DRM would need to have the DRM removed before the conversion. I suggest looking for "Apprentice ALF" for details.