Mobipocket Decoder Tool

[ericore]

I bought a prc ebook which is DRMed from mobipocket.com
I wish to deDRM it to eventually convert it to word doc so I can tweak it to my liking.
I have searched the forums for hours without much success.
I do not possess a kindle.
I have the python scripts.
I have verified the the book's pid matches my computer's pid as it should, verified with pid_checksum.py
When I run the command: python MobiDeDRM.py "a.prc" "b.mobi" "device_pid"
I get the error, no key found maybe pid is incorrect.

That is bs, the pid is correct.
So I am completly confused at this point.

[ProfJulie]

I'm posting this here for anyone else who might encounter this issue with a Mobipocket formatted ebook:

I recently purchased a couple of eBooks that were in the mobipocket format and were DRM encrypted. When I ran Mobidedrm on the files, the books were not unencrypted, so I was puzzled. When I opened the books in Mobipocket Reader on my computer, I was prompted for a password. So these books were not only DRM encrypted, but also required a password every time I opened them on my computer, which was quite annoying.

Since I had to input a password every time I opened the books on my desktop I wondered how this would work on the Cybook.

Instead of copying the books directly to my SD card (which is my usual practice) I sent the books to my Cybook through the desktop Mobipocket software option (right click on the book and select "Send"), then the password was not required when I opened the books on my Cybook.

Apparently, sending the books to the Cybook strips the password requirement out of the file. When I copied the books back to my computer, the password was no longer necessary to open the books in Mobipocket Reader on the desktop. I ran Mobidedrm on those versions of the books and the books were unencrypted successfully.

[pilotbob]

I'm am curious... what is the password? Were you asked to enter a password somewhere when you bought them? How did you know what the password was?

This doesn't make much sense to me.

BOb

[ProfJulie]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

I'm am curious... what is the password? Were you asked to enter a password somewhere when you bought them? How did you know what the password was?

This doesn't make much sense to me.

BOb

When I bought the books, I was given a user name (my email address) and password (provided on the email receipt). I thought these would be used to access my online account with the bookseller, and in fact, I can view and redownload my books from the website with the user name and password.

But when I attempted to open the books in Mobipocket Reader on my computer, I was prompted for a user name & password there. Since the only username & password I had was the ones that were assigned when I bought the books, I used those and they worked. This is the first time I have purchased books from this vendor, so I'm not sure if I'll get a new password every time I purchase books from this vendor or if the same password will apply for any other books I'll purchase there.

[pilotbob]

Julie.. I see. So you are using the username/password to the store you bought the books at? What if you are not online? Are you saying you can't open the ebooks? Is this a new version of the reader software that you got recently? This only happens on some books, or all books?

Are you sure your Mobipocket PID of your PC is installed in the store? Some people have reported that they have changed sometime when reformatting a PC or other changes to the OS.

BOb

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by ProfJulie

But when I attempted to open the books in Mobipocket Reader on my computer, I was prompted for a user name & password there. Since the only username & password I had was the ones that were assigned when I bought the books, I used those and they worked.

Some stores give you the MOBI without adding your PID. The first time you open it, Windows MobiPocket Reader redownloads the "correct" version. This is only supposed to happen once. Are you opening the ebook by selecting the MOBI file in its opriginal directory, and if so is it in a directory other than the MobiPocket ebook directory (by default this is My Documents\My eBooks)? The copy in the MobiPocket ebook directory should contain your PIDs.

When the MOBI servers went down a couple of years ago there were a few reports of MOBI ebooks that did not work because they always "called home". These seem to have been bugs, I don't think MOBI ebooks are typically configured this way.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by ericore

I bought a prc ebook which is DRMed from mobipocket.com

Is this your first DRMed MOBI? Make sure it opens with Windows MobiPocket Reader, and then use the WMR PID in mobidedrm. If you don't have another MOBI ebook to try, perhaps the version of Python is incorrect. One that is known to work is Python 2.6 or 2.6.X (Python 3.X won't work). Note that you should to need to start the command line with "python", because when Python is installed script.py is recognized as a Python script and run by Python automatically.

[igorsk]

Password encryption is different from DRM encryption but uses similar approach (AFAIR decryption key is derived from the password instead of the PID). Mobidedm won't decrypt such files as it doesn't know how to handle them.

[ProfJulie]

I have used mobidedrm to unencrypt many eBooks for many months now and have done so with no problems whatsoever. These two books I purchased from a bookseller I had never used before and this is the first time I have encountered this issue. My computer is running Mobipocket Reader, version 6.2 build 608.

The books were encrypted AND they had a password. The only way I could get mobidedrm to work was by sending the books to my Cybook and then by copying them back to my computer (as I described). Maybe this is something unique with this particular vendor.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by ProfJulie

But when I attempted to open the books in Mobipocket Reader on my computer, I was prompted for a user name & password there. Since the only username & password I had was the ones that were assigned when I bought the books, I used those and they worked. This is the first time I have purchased books from this vendor, so I'm not sure if I'll get a new password every time I purchase books from this vendor or if the same password will apply for any other books I'll purchase there.

I've had this same thing happen at Books On Board.

[IceHand]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I've had this same thing happen at Books On Board.

Do you remember which publisher the books were from?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by IceHand

Do you remember which publisher the books were from?

No, it was a long time ago and I don't think it has anything to do with the publisher. It's a 'feature' of the newer versions of Mobi Reader where you don't need to register a PID with stores. I know there was a post from someone having a similar problem with a book from Diesel (fixed now because they added the ability to manually enter PIDs on their site).

BoB explains it like this...

When you buy a MobiPocket Reader (PX) eBook through BooksOnBoard, Mobipocket Reader 6 automatically recognizes most devices, avoiding the need to always keep track of PIDs. If, however, you use a device that is not recognized by MobiPocket Reader 6, such as an eBookMan or have a Mac, Linux system or other devices not supported in the latest Mobipocket version, you can still use them with Mobipocket Reader 6 but will need to manually configure the PIDs for your devices.

...apparently some stores aren't letting you manually enter a PID.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

...apparently some stores aren't letting you manually enter a PID.

There does seem to be a way to do this at eBookMall, although they don't make it easy to find (Mobipocket FAQs).

The real question, though, is why the password is required more than once per ebook.

[ProfJulie]

Originally Posted by wallcraft

There does seem to be a way to do this at eBookMall, although they don't make it easy to find (Mobipocket FAQs).

The real question, though, is why the password is required more than once per ebook.

Well, I think I figured that part out....When I disconnected my laptop from the internet and then opened up the book in Mobipocket Reader, I was not prompted for my login and password. Seems that if there is an internet connection, opening the book prompts a search on the website for information about the book. If I open the book with no internet connection, I see a quick message about "no internet connection found" (or something like that) and then the book opens.

[lemon lime]

Hmm... I bought three books from thebookgap.com, and they don't ask for a PID for downloading, either. To open the books, I only needed to provide my password for one book, once. To decrypt them, I just used the PID for the Mobipocket Reader on my pc, and it worked fine.