downloading kobo books

[A Lurker]

Back in 2018 I purchased about a dozen books from the Kobo website. I downloaded them to my PC's hard drive and imported them into Calibre. I recently lost most of those files and would like to re-download them. (To be clear, I do not have a Kobo device. I am trying to download the files to my laptop, which I was able to do successfully in the past.)

When I log into the Kobo website I see my previous purchases. The thumbnail for each book has three dots in the lower right corner. When I click on those dots it brings up a menu that includes a "download" option. When I click on that it brings up a dialog box that tells me I'm about to download a DRM epub file. Perfect. That's exactly what I want! Easy-peasy.

But when I click "download file" it does not download an epub file. Instead it downloads an .acsm file, whatever that is. Specifically it downloads: "URLLink.acsm". I've tried all dozen books in my Kobo library and gotten the same frustrating result.

When I click on "read now" I am able to pull up the books in my browser. However, when I click on "details" I got a 404 error that says: "Sorry, this item is no longer available. You can look for other items by this author or about this topic using the search bar above." Does Kobo have a policy that if a book you previously purchased is later removed from the store, it will no longer be available to re-download?

Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone thing there could be another reason (besides the book no longer being for sale) that's preventing me from re-downloading them?

I could be mistaken, but I believe any books you purchase from Amazon are available to re-download in perpetuity, even if the seller removes it from the store.

[Sirtel]

DRMed epubs always download as ACSM files. They must be opened with Adobe Digital Editions to get the actual epub.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by A Lurker

...But when I click "download file" it does not download an epub file. Instead it downloads an .acsm file, whatever that is. Specifically it downloads: "URLLink.acsm". I've tried all dozen books in my Kobo library and gotten the same frustrating result. ...

This is normal, as Sirtel says, you'll need Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) or the DeASCM plugin for Calibre -- since you use Calibre DeACSM plugin might be the most direct route. Tolinos and PocketBooks have ADE (or something like it) built into them, so all you need for those eReaders is the .acsm file (but you'll still need an Adobe ADE account). The ePubs aren't actually stored on Kobo's site, they're stored on Adobe's site (or somewhere?), the .acsm file is just the "key" that allows you to download them.

If you have a Kobo eReader, you can also download the KePub file directly to it and use the Obok "plugin" to move it to Calibre. ("Plugin" in quotes because I'm not sure if Obok is a plugin or some kind of app.)

[John F]

Originally Posted by rcentros

...

If you have a Kobo eReader, you can also download the KePub file directly to it and use the Obok "plugin" to move it to Calibre. ("Plugin" in quotes because I'm not sure if Obok is a plugin or some kind of app.)

And I'm guessing you don't need a Kobo eReader; you could use Kobo's Desktop/PC app.

[A Lurker]

Originally Posted by John F

And I'm guessing you don't need a Kobo eReader; you could use Kobo's Desktop/PC app.

Thanks. If I install the Kobo desktop app, will it be easy to locate the directory with the EPUB files so that I can import them into Calibre?

[gbm]

My personal recommendation is to get the DeACSM plugin--install using Preferences-Plugins Get new plugins--then go to NoDrm's get hub download and install DeDrm plugin. This will download the epub into calibre without having to use ADE or Kobo desktop app.

If you use the Kobo desktop app will still need to install the Obok pulugin.

bernie

Originally Posted by A Lurker

Thanks. If I install the Kobo desktop app, will it be easy to locate the directory with the EPUB files so that I can import them into Calibre?

[John F]

Originally Posted by gbm

My personal recommendation is to get the DeACSM plugin--install using Preferences-Plugins Get new plugins--then go to NoDrm's get hub download and install DeDrm plugin. This will download the epub into calibre without having to use ADE or Kobo desktop app.

If you use the Kobo desktop app will still need to install the Obok pulugin.

bernie

I agree with gbm. I was just guessing at an alternative.

[A Lurker]

Originally Posted by gbm

My personal recommendation is to get the DeACSM plugin--install using Preferences-Plugins Get new plugins--then go to NoDrm's get hub download and install DeDrm plugin. This will download the epub into calibre without having to use ADE or Kobo desktop app.

If you use the Kobo desktop app will still need to install the Obok pulugin.

bernie

I'm sorry... I'm having trouble following your directions.

From the Calibre preferences interface I was able to successfully install the DeACSM plugin.

Next I opened the link you provided for a MobileRead post. From there, I followed a link to GitHub. And that's where I get stuck. GitHub just lists a long slew of files with no obvious way to download any of them. And even if I could download them, I'm not sure which ones I'm supposed to download? What the heck do I do once I'm at GitHub?

Also, after I install this second plugin, how do I get the Kobo files to download directly into Calibre without the use of the Kobo desktop app? Do I go to the Kobo website and download from there?

(By the way, I do have the Obok plugin installed. That's how I previously imported Kobo books into Calibre. I just can't remember where Kobo stories the files on my hard drive.)

[gbm]

Go to the get hub page look at the middle of the screen to the right, you will see Releases:
below that v10.0.3:
click on the 10.0.3.
That will take you to a download page, download the DeDRM_tools_10.0.3.zip file. That contains the latest dedrm and obok plugins.

Yes go to Kobo my books click on the three dots download the acsm file--I rename it to bookname.acsm--save or select open with calibre. If you save the acsm to your disk then just drag and drop into calibre.

bernie

Originally Posted by A Lurker

I'm sorry... I'm having trouble following your directions.

From the Calibre preferences interface I was able to successfully install the DeACSM plugin.

Next I opened the link you provided for a MobileRead post. From there, I followed a link to GitHub. And that's where I get stuck. GitHub just lists a long slew of files with no obvious way to download any of them. And even if I could download them, I'm not sure which ones I'm supposed to download?
What the heck do I do once I'm at GitHub? Do I need a GitHub account?

Also, after I install this second plug in, how do I get the Kobo files to download directly into Calibre without the use of the Kobo desktop app? Do I go to the Kobo website and download from there?

(By the way, I do have the Obok plugin installed. That's how I previously imported Kobo books into Calibre. I just can't remember where Kobo stories the files on my hard drive.)

[A Lurker]

Thanks for responding so quickly. I downloaded the zip file and then in Calibre I went to Prefecences > Plugins > "Load Plugin From File" and selected both the DeDrm plugin and the Obok plugin. As far as I can tell, both were successfully installed.

But I still have no idea how I'm supposed to download files directly to Calibre without using the Kobo desktop app? I went to the Kobo website and tried downloading a book. As before, that simply downloaded an .acsm file to my downloads folder. I even tried importing that .acsm file into Calibre, but that did nothing.

So how do I download Kobo books to Calibre using the plugins you just recommended? (Alternatively, if I use the Kobo desktop app, how do I find the epub files on my hard drive to manually import into Calibre?)

[gbm]

You need to activate the deacsm plugin with your Adobe Id.
Follow the directions in this post.

I have used the Adobe Id I have used for 14 years with no problems.

bernie

Originally Posted by A Lurker

Thanks for responding so quickly. I downloaded the zip file and then in Calibre I went to Prefecences > Plugins > "Load Plugin From File" and selected both the DeDrm plugin and the Obok plugin. As far as I can tell, both were successfully installed.

But I still have no idea how I'm supposed to download files directly to Calibre without using the Kobo desktop app? I went to the Kobo website and tried downloading a book. As before, that simply downloaded an .acsm file to my downloads folder. I even tried importing that .acsm file into Calibre, but that did nothing.

So how do I download Kobo books to Calibre using the plugins you just recommended? (Alternatively, if I use the Kobo desktop app, how do I find the epub files on my hard drive to manually import into Calibre?)

[A Lurker]

Originally Posted by gbm

You need to activate the deacsm plugin with your Adobe Id.
Follow the directions in this post.

I have used the Adobe Id I have used for 14 years with no problems.

bernie

Thanks. That worked. I appreciate all of your assistance.