Hi,
Long time no see
I've used an Amazon Kindle from 2011 up to and including most of 2016 (Touch, Paperwhite 2012), but I bought most of my books through Kobo and other EPUB-retailers, between 2011 and 2015. At that point I had everything I ever wanted, needed, imagined, or could imagine wanting to have for the future. There where just a few books that seemed to be Amazon-only, so I bought them there.
Now I wanted to buy a few books that are Amazon-only, having not bought books there since 2014 (!) and I switched from Windows To Linux as my main operating system in the mean time. Let's say, if you need a Windows-program to run, it can be very hit and miss.
From this thread I gathered that the important K4PC versions are:
1.17: the last version that will never download KFX
1.24: the last version where KFX can be disabled by just disabling the renderer
1.26: the last version which can download KFX and DeDRM can still remove DeDRM
1.34: the last version where KFX can be disabled, by using a BAT-file.
So I went on a testing spree.
Old Kindle for PC versions:
https://filehippo.com/download_kindle-for-pc/history/
(I tested many versions against the SHA-256 keys given in the starting post, and all checked out; so I assume this site does not tamper with files and they are trustworthy. Still, downloads are at your own risk, because they don't come from Amazon.)
I'm not going to describe in detail what I tested and how because that would take me a day and an age; it already took me half a night and 3 hours this evening to get everything figured out, working, and verified. I'll write a short summary.
I used Lutris to make handling Wine a bit easier. Lutris is normally used to install games, but I often use it as a Wine prefix handler. (There's also an application called "Bottles" which can do this; it is easier, but has far less options than Lutris.) The final result was:
Tested versions:
KindleForPC-installer-1.16.44025.exe - not tested (comes with Winetricks)
KindleForPC-installer-1.17.44170.exe - fully working, after installing certificate
KindleForPC-installer-1.17.44183.exe - fully working, after installing certificate
KindleForPC-installer-1.19.46099.exe - installs, runs, can't connect (also certificate?)
KindleForPC-installer-1.20.47037.exe - fail, crash (even after creating the crashdump folder)
KindleForPC-installer-1.21.48017.exe - fail, "screen redraw loop"
KindleForPC-installer-1.23.50133.exe - fail, crash (even after creating the crashdump folder)
KindleForPC-installer-1.24.51068.exe - fail, "screen redraw loop"
KindleForPC-installer-1.26.55076.exe - fully working
KindleForPC-installer-1.34.63103.exe - installs, runs, didn't sign in or test further.
In the end I managed to get the two most important versions running: 1.17 and 1.26. 1.34 also installs and runs but I didn't test it further. I used a 64-bit WinePrefix in Lutris, with lutris-7.2 as runner. (Current latest Wine version.)
1.26 works out of the box. If you manage to extract the K4PC key with DeDRM and then import it into Calibre, KFX is de-DRM-able. (Hint: Calibre and the DeDRM plugin can't do it automatically. You'll need to do this in Wine's command line console, but I can't explain how, because it's against the rules.)
1.17 installs and runs, but then gives you the error that it cannot connect.
The reason is that Amazon uses a certificate for the server which has been revoked by Linux, because this certificate has been compromised. (This means it leaked, and other servers could present themselves as an Amazon server.) On Windows, this certificate seems to be active and if you install K4PC 1.17, it'll work. (I rebooted into my old Windows installation to check.) The solution is to re-install the certificate. I attached it under this post.
I found it through this thread:
https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=342186
And this is the certificate, if you want it straight from the source:
https://knowledge.broadcom.com/exter...lic-prima.html
Note that this certificate is NOT what decrypts your downloads: it just makes K4PC 1.17 connect to Amazon when running in Wine in Linux. I can't exactly describe how to install it because it is different for many linux distributions. On Debian Bullseye 11, you do the following:
- download the certificate file (the zip-file)
- extract it. This will give you a kindle117.crt file.
- put the crt-file in:
/usr/share/ca-certificates
- run this command in a terminal
sudo dpkg-reconfigure ca-certificates
Follow the instructions and tick the Kindle certificate for installation.
When you now start K4PC in Lutris/Wine, it should connect. (You also need to extract the K4PC key in Wine's command-line, same as with 1.26, and give it to the DeDRM plugin.)
In addition, I followed all the advice given to prevent updates:
- revoke writing rights for these folders (in your WinePrefix):
/drive_c/users/username/AppData/Local/Amazon/Kindle/
/drive_c/users/username/AppData/Local/Amazon/Kindle/updates (and everything in it)
/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/Amazon/Kindle/ (makes the kindle program folder immutable)
I'm not going to explain all this step by step because I assume a Linux-user knows exactly what to do here. Just make sure that you are IN THE CORRECT FOLDER if you execute "sudo chown -R -w *", because if you do that in the root folder, you'll nuke your installation. So "cd" into the proper Kindle directory/directories first, or give the full path instead of the asterisk. You've been warned.
So, it can be made to work. I have verified that:
- K4PC 1.17 runs, signs in, downloads books as AZW/KF8, and they are de-DRM-ed by the DeDRM plugin (after I gave it the key)
- K4PC 1.26 runs, signs in, and downloads in either KF8 or KFX depending on the book, but both are de-DRM-ed when imported into calibre (after you give DeDRM the key)
Good luck.
edit: In case people are questioning if it is actually possible to run two versions of K4PC next to one another on the same system: you can, on Linux, because both versions are sandboxed in their own Wine prefix. I added a screenshot showing both versions running side by side with the same books loaded. And yes, I only ever bought 13 books at Amazon... and over a thousand at Kobo and stores that don't even exist anymore.
Granted, installation on Windows is A LOT easier: you just install K4PC, Calibre, DeDRM, and if you have the right versions of each, you're good. This thing was a bear to set up, but at least both versions are, AFAIK, bullet-proof now. The Kindle app actually can't write anywhere else but the Cache directory and "My Kindle Content".
Now I just need to re-instate my credit card at Amazon (removed it when they got iDeal in the Netherlands and Germany), because apparently, I can't pay for books without one. Not even when I set my store to Netherlands. Zjeesz. I just want to buy 5 books. Welcome to digital reading if you want to _keep_ what you pay for...)