Conversion from xhtml to mobi fails

[markvdvelde]

Hi all,
Using pyglossary I converted a dsl file to mobi and got a folder ("OEBPS") containing 1 opf file and lots of xhtml files. (I followed these instructions.) The last step is opening the opf file in Kindle Previewer and exporting the result to .mobi. However, when I open the opf file in Previewer, I get the following message: "Preview not supported in this device mode for the book. Switching to Tablet". And with Previewer switched to Tablet mode, all export options are greyed out.

Next I tried Calibre. I zipped the folder and added it to my library. But when I tried to convert it to .mobi, Calibre told me the following:

calibre, version 7.22.0 (win32, embedded-python: True)
Conversion error: Failed: Convert book 1 of 1 (Diccionario de uso del español María Moliner)

Spoiler:

Convert book 1 of 1 (Diccionario de uso del español María Moliner)
Processing archive...
Conversion options changed from defaults:
read_metadata_from_opf: 'C:\\Users\\markv\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\calibre_g 52i38ui\\88a2m23s.opf'
no_inline_toc: True
verbose: 2
output_profile: 'kindle_pw3'
Resolved conversion options
calibre version: 7.22.0
{'add_alt_text_to_img': False,
'allow_local_files_outside_root': False,
'asciiize': False,
'author_sort': None,
'authors': None,
'base_font_size': 0.0,
'book_producer': None,
'breadth_first': False,
'change_justification': 'original',
'chapter': "//*[((name()='h1' or name()='h2') and re:test(., "
"'\\s*((chapter|book|section|part)\\s+)|((prolog|p rologue|epilogue)(\\s+|$))', "
"'i')) or @class = 'chapter']",
'chapter_mark': 'pagebreak',
'comments': None,
'cover': None,
'debug_pipeline': None,
'dehyphenate': True,
'delete_blank_paragraphs': True,
'disable_font_rescaling': False,
'dont_compress': False,
'dont_package': False,
'duplicate_links_in_toc': False,
'embed_all_fonts': False,
'embed_font_family': None,
'enable_heuristics': False,
'expand_css': False,
'extra_css': None,
'extract_to': None,
'filter_css': '',
'fix_indents': True,
'font_size_mapping': None,
'format_scene_breaks': True,
'html_unwrap_factor': 0.4,
'input_encoding': None,
'input_profile': <calibre.customize.profiles.InputProfile object at 0x000001F44A956810>,
'insert_blank_line': False,
'insert_blank_line_size': 0.5,
'insert_metadata': False,
'isbn': None,
'italicize_common_cases': True,
'keep_ligatures': False,
'language': None,
'level1_toc': None,
'level2_toc': None,
'level3_toc': None,
'line_height': 0.0,
'linearize_tables': False,
'margin_bottom': 5.0,
'margin_left': 5.0,
'margin_right': 5.0,
'margin_top': 5.0,
'markup_chapter_headings': True,
'max_levels': 5,
'max_toc_links': 50,
'minimum_line_height': 120.0,
'mobi_file_type': 'old',
'mobi_ignore_margins': False,
'mobi_keep_original_images': False,
'mobi_toc_at_start': False,
'no_chapters_in_toc': False,
'no_inline_navbars': True,
'no_inline_toc': True,
'output_profile': <calibre.customize.profiles.KindlePaperWhite3Outpu t object at 0x000001F44A34D150>,
'page_breaks_before': "//*[name()='h1' or name()='h2']",
'personal_doc': '[PDOC]',
'prefer_author_sort': False,
'prefer_metadata_cover': False,
'pretty_print': False,
'pubdate': None,
'publisher': None,
'rating': None,
'read_metadata_from_opf': 'C:\\Users\\markv\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\calibre_g 52i38ui\\88a2m23s.opf',
'remove_fake_margins': True,
'remove_first_image': False,
'remove_paragraph_spacing': False,
'remove_paragraph_spacing_indent_size': 1.5,
'renumber_headings': True,
'replace_scene_breaks': '',
'search_replace': '[]',
'series': None,
'series_index': None,
'share_not_sync': False,
'smarten_punctuation': False,
'sr1_replace': None,
'sr1_search': None,
'sr2_replace': None,
'sr2_search': None,
'sr3_replace': None,
'sr3_search': None,
'start_reading_at': None,
'subset_embedded_fonts': False,
'tags': None,
'timestamp': None,
'title': None,
'title_sort': None,
'toc_filter': None,
'toc_threshold': 6,
'toc_title': None,
'transform_css_rules': '[]',
'transform_html_rules': '[]',
'unsmarten_punctuation': False,
'unwrap_lines': True,
'use_auto_toc': False,
'verbose': 2}
InputFormatPlugin: HTML Input running
on C:\Users\markv\AppData\Local\Temp\calibre_g52i38ui \jms_n5uy_pl_arc\OEBPS\content.opf
Parsing all content...
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "runpy.py", line 198, in _run_module_as_main
File "runpy.py", line 88, in _run_code
File "site.py", line 83, in <module>
File "site.py", line 78, in main
File "site.py", line 50, in run_entry_point
File "calibre\utils\ipc\worker.py", line 215, in main
File "calibre\gui2\convert\gui_conversion.py", line 38, in gui_convert_override
File "calibre\gui2\convert\gui_conversion.py", line 25, in gui_convert
File "calibre\ebooks\conversion\plumber.py", line 1129, in run
File "calibre\customize\conversion.py", line 245, in __call__
File "calibre\ebooks\conversion\plugins\html_input. py", line 113, in convert
File "calibre\ebooks\conversion\plumber.py", line 1349, in create_oebbook
File "calibre\ebooks\oeb\reader.py", line 97, in __call__
File "calibre\ebooks\oeb\reader.py", line 726, in _all_from_opf
File "calibre\ebooks\oeb\reader.py", line 371, in _spine_from_opf
calibre.ebooks.oeb.base.OEBError: Spine is empty

I guess there's an issue with the .opf file, but I've no idea what might be wrong. Has anyone encountered something like this? Thanks for your suggestions!

[kovidgoyal]

Ditch the OPF file if you want to convert a collection of HTML files follow the instructions in: https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...specific-order

[markvdvelde]

Thanks, I’ll try that. Just wondering if my Kindle will still recognize the .mobi as a dictionary, without the metadata in the opf

[kovidgoyal]

calibre doesnt support dictionary conversion anyway so it wont regardless.

[markvdvelde]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

calibre doesnt support dictionary conversion anyway so it wont regardless.

Allright, good to know. Saved me a lot of time