Is it easy to remove DRM protection? - Page 11

abookreader · 12-09-2010, 01:42 PM

Quote:

If one were to drag an AZW file (from kindle4pc's library) into Calibre with the appropriate plugin, nothing more needs to be done to remove the drm? The resulting mobi file is drm-free?

correct

I don't convert anything until I'm ready to put it on a device. If I have an ePub file it sits like that unless I decide I want to put it on my Kindle. Then I convert and email to the Kindle. Same way with the AZW files - I don't convert until I'm ready to load it onto my Sony Pocket.

I suppose that if an announcement was made that a certain format is going to become obsolete and no longer supported (LIT?) then at that point I might query my Calibre database to find any books that I had only in that format and convert them to something current - just as a safety measure.

beckywc · 12-09-2010, 03:07 PM

The plug-in doesen't seem to work on AZW1 formated files, I get an error code. Any suggestions?

DiapDealer · 12-09-2010, 03:13 PM

Quote:

The plug-in doesen't seem to work on AZW1 formated files, I get an error code. Any suggestions?

That's a topaz book. There are no plugins for that... only standalone tools.

beckywc · 12-09-2010, 04:28 PM

OH okay, I see TPZ and AZW1 I didn't know they were the same thing.

KevinH · 12-09-2010, 05:00 PM

Hi,

Actually, .azw1 == Topaz but ...

Topaz can also be given extensions of .prc, and .azw. So many times, the only way to tell is to take a copy of the ebook file and open it in Word (or OpenOffice.org Writer) and look for the string "TPZ0" at the start of the file. If they are Topaz they will have that string.

wallcraft · 12-09-2010, 07:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FF2

If this were the case, then hypothetically further speaking, what format would folks chose to convert to make sure the format could be read in the future?

First, keep the MOBI version and use Calibre to convert to whatever else when needed. The usual alternative target today is ePub, because most EInk readers (except the Kindles) support ePub.

FF2 · 12-09-2010, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

First, keep the MOBI version and use Calibre to convert to whatever else when needed. The usual alternative target today is ePub, because most EInk readers (except the Kindles) support ePub.

Well, I managed to get my archived books to the pc. I'm merely ADDING them now - so mobi format will be the initial result. I've found a surprising number of them are probably topaz since I get a DECODE error from Calibre. But at least it continues processing the others in groups. Is there an easy way to identify the topaz actual book Titles rather than the B00xxxxxxxxx filename? Which is the name Calibre assigns too them with obviously useless metadata.

Thanks

wallcraft · 12-09-2010, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FF2

Is there an easy way to identify the topaz actual book Titles rather than the B00xxxxxxxxx filename?

If you open them with an editor the author and title will be in plain text relatively close to the start of the file. It might be easier to search on the ASIN (the B00... number) at Amazon.

However, for the few .azw1 files I have imported to Calibre the author and title metadata has been populated correctly. I had to download a cover image, but Calibre was able to do this from the extracted metadata.

FF2 · 12-09-2010, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

If you open them with an editor the author and title will be in plain text relatively close to the start of the file. It might be easier to search on the ASIN (the B00... number) at Amazon.

However, for the few .azw1 files I have imported to Calibre the author and title metadata has been populated correctly. I had to download a cover image, but Calibre was able to do this from the extracted metadata.

They are all AZW extensions but no readable data is inside the files when using a viewer program other than that TPZ0 at the front of the file. Calibre shows them all as UNKNOWN and placed them in unknown folder. I did look them up and came up with titles and authors. No metadata shows in Calibre for them either. 26 out of about 170 or so titles are unknown.

Thanks for the asin info.

DiapDealer · 12-09-2010, 11:27 PM

Quote:

No metadata shows in Calibre for them either. 26 out of about 170 or so titles are unknown.

Calibre will read the metadata from encrypted Topaz books with no problem. Unfortunately, it only recognizes *.azw1 files and *.tpz files as actually being Topaz files. Calibre will always try the Mobi Metadata Reader plugin on .azw and .prc files... which will result in the 'unknown' metadata you are experiencing when importing Topaz files that K4PC downloaded as an .azw.

It's a bit of a catch-22... you have to know it's a Topaz book, in order to change the file extension, so Calibre can determine it's a Topaz book (and thus use the Topaz metadata reader plugin).

FF2 · 12-10-2010, 01:03 AM

Diapdealer

Ah, it is very clear now. You need to know the file's extension so you can know the file's extension. Makes perfect sense. I changed their extensions and most then imported. Two were problems and I am not going to worry about them at this time.

I also had one very large file which also choked things.

I have more than enough to read and with Calibre and drm, I also have sufficient computer puzzles to play with so I'm make a lifetime of it all.

TallMomof2 · 12-10-2010, 10:36 AM

So far, I've found that if you download a Topaz ebook to your PC it will have the extension .tpz. I recently downloaded all my Amazon books for personal archival purposes and every Topaz book came with the .tpz extension. If it makes any difference I downloaded the ebooks for my Kindle1.

DiapDealer · 12-10-2010, 10:47 AM

Quote:

So far, I've found that if you download a Topaz ebook to your PC it will have the extension .tpz. I recently downloaded all my Amazon books for personal archival purposes and every Topaz book came with the .tpz extension. If it makes any difference I downloaded the ebooks for my Kindle1.

Yes. Usually a Topaz file downloaded to your Kindle or your PC will have a *.tpz extension, but not always.
Unfortunately, unless you have a pre 2.5 firmware device, the files downloaded to your Kindle or your PC won't help you at all when it comes to DRM liberation. Only the files downloaded to K4PC/Mac/Whatever will work... and those topaz files can be named almost anything: .azw, .prc, .azw1, ... etc.

sadievan · 12-10-2010, 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

Calibre will read the metadata from encrypted Topaz books with no problem. Unfortunately, it only recognizes *.azw1 files and *.tpz files as actually being Topaz files. Calibre will always try the Mobi Metadata Reader plugin on .azw and .prc files... which will result in the 'unknown' metadata you are experiencing when importing Topaz files that K4PC downloaded as an .azw.

It's a bit of a catch-22... you have to know it's a Topaz book, in order to change the file extension, so Calibre can determine it's a Topaz book (and thus use the Topaz metadata reader plugin).

Changing the extension and then importing into Calibre with plugins does not remove the DRM though, correct?

Carol

DiapDealer · 12-10-2010, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sadievan

Changing the extension and then importing into Calibre with plugins does not remove the DRM though, correct?

That is correct.

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12-09-2010, 03:07 PM	#152
beckywc Addict Posts: 272 Karma: 1050426 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: California Device: iPad Mini w/Retina, Kindle 3, Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, & Asus Transformer	The plug-in doesen't seem to work on AZW1 formated files, I get an error code. Any suggestions?

12-09-2010, 04:28 PM	#154
beckywc Addict Posts: 272 Karma: 1050426 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: California Device: iPad Mini w/Retina, Kindle 3, Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, & Asus Transformer	OH okay, I see TPZ and AZW1 I didn't know they were the same thing.

12-09-2010, 05:00 PM	#155
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 9,070 Karma: 6361556 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	Hi, Actually, .azw1 == Topaz but ... Topaz can also be given extensions of .prc, and .azw. So many times, the only way to tell is to take a copy of the ebook file and open it in Word (or OpenOffice.org Writer) and look for the string "TPZ0" at the start of the file. If they are Topaz they will have that string.

12-10-2010, 01:03 AM	#161
FF2 Wizard Posts: 1,105 Karma: 1025784 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: WiFi Kindle3	Diapdealer Ah, it is very clear now. You need to know the file's extension so you can know the file's extension. Makes perfect sense. I changed their extensions and most then imported. Two were problems and I am not going to worry about them at this time. I also had one very large file which also choked things. I have more than enough to read and with Calibre and drm, I also have sufficient computer puzzles to play with so I'm make a lifetime of it all.

12-10-2010, 10:36 AM	#162
TallMomof2 Kindlephilia Posts: 2,017 Karma: 1139255 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Snowpacolypse 2010 Device: Too many to count	So far, I've found that if you download a Topaz ebook to your PC it will have the extension .tpz. I recently downloaded all my Amazon books for personal archival purposes and every Topaz book came with the .tpz extension. If it makes any difference I downloaded the ebooks for my Kindle1.