Troubleshooting How to put Kindle puchases into Calibre

[LadyLou]

A few weeks ago I was attempting to add my Kindle Books into Calibre, and was totally confused.

Some of you attempted to help, but unfortunately at that time I was admitted to hospital unexpectedly, so apologies for starting a new thread, and also if I appeared to ignore anyone who posted to help.

Updating Calibre today i also noticed I had an update for a plug-in, which to my knowledge I have never had (plug ins) before.

Anyway, attempted to install and was met with a could not install error which it said to post here? so here goes:

calibre, version 4.0.0
ERROR: Install plugin failed: A problem occurred while installing this plugin. This plugin will now be uninstalled. Please post the error message in details below into the forum thread for this plugin and restart calibre.

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\dialogs\plugin_updater.py", line 732, in _install_clicked
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\preferences\plugins.py", line 418, in check_for_add_to_toolbars
ZipImportError: bad local file header: C:\Program Files\Calibre2\\app\pylib.zip

If I remember from my previous attempt this was a very difficult action to fulfil (kindle to Calibre) I mean, but I may have been in the wrong frame of mind at the time, so am going to attempt one more time to see if this can be done, if only for clarity as I am finding myself starting to read a book already read, which is so frustrating!! All my books in one place would be so much easier.

Many thanks - and, as previously I am not especially computer savvy, so no big words please

[Barbara1955]

https://filehippo.com/download_kindle_for_pc/history/

Pick one & DL to your PC. [TURN OFF in Tools Auto Up Date] When popup ask if you want up date click on Remind Later... Sign in & Download ebooks to your PC.
Open Calibre Click on left hand upper corner to get ebooks when the next screen come up go into Docs file & then click Kindle ebooks file when it opens ....at this point you can click on each in turn or click hold to highlight ALL Then in the bottom box click on OPEN At that point they will transfer into Calibre. Hope this was what you were looking for.

[Quoth]

No need to install PC Reader, which is Amazon Spyware. It doesn't even work on some OS.

Go to your Amazon Devices page and select Download / Transfer via PC for each book. This gives AZW instead of KFX.
Copy and paste your Amazon ereader serial number into a textfile.

If you want to read the Amazon files on a Kobo, or manage them completely with onscreen preview in Calibre, then you need the specific Alf plugin for Kindle. It uses the Kindle serial number, which is also printed on a Kindle and in the settings, but confusion of 0 and O and maybe I, 1 and l means copy & paste from your Amazon account settings is easier.

Do not give copies of any Amazon or other copyrighted work to anyone else.

[Deskisamess]

You won't get the download and transfer option if you don't have an actual Kindle device.

The Kindle for PC app is quite safe. When a Kindle book is downloaded to the K4PC app, the book files reside on the hard drive of the computer. You find the file for each book that is the Kindle Content bit...you can drag that file right into Calibre. A decent grasp of the file management system of the PC is necessary.

If you're wanting to liberate the file from the DRM, you'll need to look to other sources for the exact steps. It can't be posted here on Mobile Read. Google Apprentice Alf.

It's best to post in the Calibre forums for help with Calibre.

[Quoth]

"The Kindle for PC app is quite safe"
Security wise maybe, not privacy. I wrote Spyware, not Malware. Also the site listed in the link isn't Amazon increasing the security risk.

The current Amazon download doesn't actually work or install on some Operating systems.

I know the majority of ebooks are read on a tablet or phone, but I had the impression the OP has an actual Kindle, perhaps I was mistaken.

[LadyLou]

Thank you for your replies, I do indeed have a 3 year old Kindle Paperwhite to which I usually download my Amazon purchases.

I had trouble as I recall, last time when trying to download the Kindle Ap for PC, so am going to search and see if I still have it on my PC and go from there.

[JSWolf]

And upgrade to Calibre 4.2. A lot of things were fixed.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by LadyLou

Thank you for your replies, I do indeed have a 3 year old Kindle Paperwhite to which I usually download my Amazon purchases.

So turn off WiFi and/or 3G.
Go to account and select Download for Transfer via PC and when it asks for which device, select your kindle from the list of devices, not an app.

Direct download to Kindle is a different system / file type than copy via USB (so called "sideloading"). The format and DRM is different too.

You can then copy files via File manager/Explorer or import to Calibre and copy. Calibre 3.48 or 4.2 will work. I have the same model of Paperwhite. So has wife.

In future when buying, use Download to PC for USB Transfer. We all do that here.
I actually read my Amazon purchases on a Kobo or Sony PRS350 in ePub format. I just use the Kindle to test ebooks I make and buy from Amazon. Obviously sometimes I have to remove DRM (I'm not in USA and I never give other people copies).

A Publisher can decide that a Kindle title has no DRM. However Amazon often only honour that when you chose "Download to PC for transfer via USB".