Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 and KFX in calibre

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by maddz

Have you a link for 1.17? I lost my DMG in a hard drive crash and was only able to find 1.19 at the time. I'm currently on 1.23.

A search for the file name (KindleForMac-44182.dmg) shoudl find sites that still have it around. You can then check the SHA-256 checksum of the file you download to make sure it hasn't been tampered with.

I found a good link on the second page of results.

[jhowell]

Amazon has released Kindle for PC and Mac version 1.29.

The What's New screen has the generic "stability improvements and bug fixes." In my quick test of Kindle for PC I did not notice any obvious differences from the previous version.

Because the software has changed I doubt that the patch from apprenticesakuya to disable KFX will still work on this version. I am curious to learn whether the other workaround to avoid KFX on the Mac will function.

[mexofeed1]

Originally Posted by jhowell

I have updated the first post in this thread with SHA-256 hashes. Better safe than sorry.

Thanks!

[mexofeed1]

Also, a lot of Hindi books (not necessarily textbooks) are not downloadable with KindleForPC 1.26. I will be eagerly awaiting the crack of KFX v4

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by mexofeed1

Also, a lot of Hindi books (not necessarily textbooks) are not downloadable with KindleForPC 1.26. I will be eagerly awaiting the crack of KFX v4

Hindi has been supported in KFX format on Kindle for PC going back to at least version 1.21.

Please share the ASIN of a book in Hindi that cannot be downloaded using K4PC 1.26.

[odamizu]

Originally Posted by jhowell

... Because the software has changed I doubt that the patch from apprenticesakuya to disable KFX will still work on this version. I am curious to learn whether the other workaround to avoid KFX on the Mac will function.

Ran quick test. chmod -x still works on Mac. apprenticesakuya's patch does not.

Curious if Amazon released this version simply to thwart apprenticesakuya's patch on PC.

[rcv]

Couldn't get a Kindle book converted in Calibre with the latest verion of "Kindle for PC". Got the 1.70 version, checked the SHA-256 hash, and installed it.
Works perfectly - thank you.

[lkmiller]

Comment over at Alf's blog saying they found themselves logged out of Kindle for Mac 1.17 on a Mojave VM, and then they couldn't log back in. I'm still logged in and able to download books with Kindle for PC 1.17 on Windows 10. Anyone having issues?

ETA: The person over at the blog came back to say they got it sorted. So it looks like it was a false alarm for now.

[Amazondoc]

Ugh.

Just now my Calibre failed to deDRM an azw file for the first time in a long while.

Mac OS 10.15.4
Calibre 4.13.0
Kindle for Mac 1.27.0

I'm currently downloading the newest Calibre, and I'll be catching up on the latest developments in this thread real soon, so I don't really expect any advice from you guys right now. I'm just bitching 'cause it's annoying!

[Amazondoc]

Update: Whew! Calibre 4.20.0 saves the day.

Major props to all the busy busy coders who keep fighting the good fight for us! :-)

[anacreon]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Preventing undesired app updates

The Kindle app can be aggressive about updating itself to the latest version. Even after the option to automatically install updates is deselected the software sometimes will update itself unexpectedly. Here are some tips on preventing this:

If the program updates to an undesired version then run it and uncheck the setting to automatically install updates under
Tools->Options->General and save preferences before uninstalling.

Once the desired Kindle version has been reinstalled go to the setting to automatically install updates, check and then uncheck it again, and save preferences.

When running the app if a dialog pops up indicating that a newer version is available chose the option to "skip this version".

The re-installation process may need to be repeated multiple times before the desired version will stick.

This doesn't seem to work anymore: this morning, when I opened Kindle installed automatically 1.29.0 (58059), even though I've been on 1.24.511068 with the automatic updates unchecked since September 2019 with no problem: I'd always been asked before.

I'll apply your procedure again, and cross my fingers that it doesn't happen again and again.

[JSWolf]

I just ran Kindle 1.71.1 for Windows and I got a requester asking if I wanted to update to 1.29 and I was able to decline. Maybe you got the same requester and accidentally allowed the update..

[mexofeed1]

Originally Posted by jhowell

Hindi has been supported in KFX format on Kindle for PC going back to at least version 1.21.

Please share the ASIN of a book in Hindi that cannot be downloaded using K4PC 1.26.

Here are three: B07PMS31QQ, B01MFF73MC, and B07HPD68CM.

These are the steps I took:

1. Start a new Windows Virtual Machine with Hyper-V (I wanted to make sure nothing on my PC was messing it up).
2. Install KindleForPC-installer-1.26.55076. I checked to make sure the hash was correct.
3. Sign in to my Amazon account.
4. Try to download any of the three books. I get the following error:
   
   Other books don't have that error.

[mexofeed1]

Originally Posted by anacreon

This doesn't seem to work anymore: this morning, when I opened Kindle installed automatically 1.29.0 (58059), even though I've been on 1.24.511068 with the automatic updates unchecked since September 2019 with no problem: I'd always been asked before.

I'll apply your procedure again, and cross my fingers that it doesn't happen again and again.

I often check AppData\Local\Amazon\Kindle\updates\. KindleForPC will download an installer for the latest version there and then install it when you next start the program. If you delete the installer from that folder, it will ask if you want to the skip the version or not. If you click skip, it usually won't bother you again until Amazon releases a new KindleForPC.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by mexofeed1

Here are three: B07PMS31QQ, B01MFF73MC, and B07HPD68CM.

Since first book on your list was under a dollar I bought a copy and tried it on my Windows 10 PC using Kindle for PC version 1.26. I was able to download it in KFX format without any error.

I can't explain why it does not work in your system. Possibly something to do with the VM?