Problems with first time Calibre user

meremark · 01-01-2011, 10:49 PM

I'm new to the whole ebook thing. I have Sony PRS-650 and after some problems with the software Sony supplied (nicely fixed by the helpful users of this forum) I decided I should have a look at Calibre given the rap it's been given. I'm using mac OSX 10.6. I have downloaded it and moved ebooks from where I found them in MY documents folder but every time i try to view one I either get an error message like this...

UnicodeDecodeError:'utf8' codec can't decode byte 0x94 in position 53: invalid start byte

or a message saying that this ebook is protected by DRM. These were all either legit free books from google or ones I paid for.
Any ideas?

kssmorse · 01-01-2011, 11:24 PM

Hopefully somebody can confirm this, but I believe that you cannot use Calibre to view/read DRM'd books. You can primarily use it to move the DRM'd books on or off of your device.

DoctorOhh · 01-01-2011, 11:57 PM

Welcome to Mobileread!

Quote:

Originally Posted by meremark

UnicodeDecodeError:'utf8' codec can't decode byte 0x94 in position 53: invalid start byte

Assuming this error is when trying to read a book from Google books, submit a bug report and attach a book this is happening with. Info on how to submit a bug report here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by meremark

or a message saying that this ebook is protected by DRM.

Calibre can not convert or view books that are restricted by DRM. However, calibre can manage DRM books and send them to your reader.

If you wish to view DRM restricted books on your computer you must use Sony or Adobe Digital Editions software.

01-01-2011, 10:49 PM	#1
meremark Member Posts: 12 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: NSW, Australia Device: Sony Reader PRS-650	Problems with first time Calibre user I'm new to the whole ebook thing. I have Sony PRS-650 and after some problems with the software Sony supplied (nicely fixed by the helpful users of this forum) I decided I should have a look at Calibre given the rap it's been given. I'm using mac OSX 10.6. I have downloaded it and moved ebooks from where I found them in MY documents folder but every time i try to view one I either get an error message like this... UnicodeDecodeError:'utf8' codec can't decode byte 0x94 in position 53: invalid start byte or a message saying that this ebook is protected by DRM. These were all either legit free books from google or ones I paid for. Any ideas?

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01-01-2011, 11:24 PM	#2
kssmorse Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 588 Join Date: Jul 2008 Device: Sony prs505	Hopefully somebody can confirm this, but I believe that you cannot use Calibre to view/read DRM'd books. You can primarily use it to move the DRM'd books on or off of your device.

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