Troubleshooting Converting books from Public Library

Pat.Bloomfield · 04-08-2011, 05:09 PM

[FONT="Arial"][/FON
I hope members of this forum will forgive me for a simple question that may well have been asked before.
I recently purchased a Kindle (the Wi-Fi version) and, with hope in my heart, downloaded a book from the Toronto Public Library in the belief that Calibre would convert it to a format that my Kindle can read. I picked Shroud for a Nightingale, an Adam Dalgleish detective story, added it to the list of my Calibre main page, and clicked "convert individual book". The immediate reply was that the book is in a format the Calibre cannot read. Yet I had asked for the download in the E-pub format.
Now the Library tells me that E-books it lends cannot be read on a Kindle because of restrictions by Amazon. But I had read that there ways to circumvent this problem using a good conversion program. And I had never expected a problem in a download to a computer since that is the way so many E-books are read.
Am I doing something wrong? Can anybody guide me?
Pat.Bloomfield.

abookreader · 04-08-2011, 05:44 PM

Welcome to MobileRead Pat.
Your question as you can imagine is quite common. The solution involves in removing the DRM from the book and then converting it to Mobi format. There are some legal/moral complications to this which are discussed extensively here if you wish to search and read.

The rules of this board prevent giving direct help in the removing of DRM ... although if you are able to download and read the book in Adobe Digital Edition and you have a working Calibre library, you are almost there.

To continue, Google the phrase "Apprentice Alf Blog" and read the entry on DRM and the Perplexed. Follow his directions.

CRussel · 04-08-2011, 07:26 PM

As abookreader says, you're almost there. I use my Kindle to read books from the BC Library system (need to see if that Dalgleish is there - it's one I've missed somehow.) Apprentice Alf is the missing piece, and the instructions there are pretty good. Almost as good as the ones I wrote up for my own family's use, which were specifically written with the BC Library in mind.

Pat.Bloomfield · 04-08-2011, 09:14 PM

To abookreader and Charlie: Thanks very much for your prompt replies. I shall try Apprentice Alf Blog. I am a little unsure about the legal and moral complications. What I do know is that, if I went up to my local library and borrowed a hard copy of this book I would be taking a legitimate action available to all citizens.
Pat

JSWolf · 04-08-2011, 10:13 PM

There is a rather large thread going on about stripping DRM and converting library eBooks and the answer is, it's illegal depending on what state you live in.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=127602

GoSharks · 04-09-2011, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat.Bloomfield

To abookreader and Charlie: Thanks very much for your prompt replies. I shall try Apprentice Alf Blog. I am a little unsure about the legal and moral complications. What I do know is that, if I went up to my local library and borrowed a hard copy of this book I would be taking a legitimate action available to all citizens.
Pat

As with all things in life that are not black and white, you are best following your own moral compass. There are plenty of people on this forum that feel the need to act the part of Big Brother, take take them with a grain of salt....I hope you enjoy your Kindle and all of its functionality!

CRussel · 04-09-2011, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

There is a rather large thread going on about stripping DRM and converting library eBooks and the answer is, it's illegal depending on what state you live in.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=127602

Go play somewhere else. Neither of us lives in ANY state. We live in Provinces, since we're both Canadian, as clearly anyone who can read would know. And DRM removal for personal use in Canada is not illegal, nor would it be if the proposed new law had passed before we had an election called.

abookreader · 04-09-2011, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat.Bloomfield

To abookreader and Charlie: Thanks very much for your prompt replies. I shall try Apprentice Alf Blog. I am a little unsure about the legal and moral complications. What I do know is that, if I went up to my local library and borrowed a hard copy of this book I would be taking a legitimate action available to all citizens.
Pat

No problem Pat. I honestly just mentioned it in an attempt to avoid another 42 pages of the exact same arguments "It's legal.No it's not.It's immoral.No it's not!" being made over and over. Probably futile because this is a topic where people really enjoy their opinions.

You will find that nearly everybody here on the Kindle board pretty much follows their own conscience in this matter.

Pat.Bloomfield · 04-15-2011, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

As abookreader says, you're almost there. I use my Kindle to read books from the BC Library system (need to see if that Dalgleish is there - it's one I've missed somehow.) Apprentice Alf is the missing piece, and the instructions there are pretty good. Almost as good as the ones I wrote up for my own family's use, which were specifically written with the BC Library in mind.

Thanks very much for your offer, I tried Apprentice Alf and downloaded and unzipped the necessary file, but got stuck when it came to opening the Calibre_Plugins folder. I simply could not locate this folder. I may have made a mistake earlier on. I would appreciate your own instructions. They might give me the missing key. My E-mail is patrick.bloomfield@gmail.com. Any help very gratefully appreciated.
pat.bloomfield

bZkindle · 04-15-2011, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

Go play somewhere else. Neither of us lives in ANY state. We live in Provinces, since we're both Canadian, as clearly anyone who can read would know. And DRM removal for personal use in Canada is not illegal, nor would it be if the proposed new law had passed before we had an election called.

We'll be Americans soon enough...

jocampo · 04-15-2011, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bZkindle

We'll be Americans soon enough...

Actually, we all are americans

... as long as you live on America (South, Central, North) Is a big continent!

FF2 · 04-15-2011, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jocampo

Actually, we all are americans

... as long as you live on America (South, Central, North) Is a big continent!

Actually, HEMISPHERE!

Yes, I've always wondered by Canadians and Mexicans (and keep going south) are not Americans.

wyndslash · 04-15-2011, 10:42 PM

we are all humans

CRussel · 04-16-2011, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat.Bloomfield

Thanks very much for your offer, I tried Apprentice Alf and downloaded and unzipped the necessary file, but got stuck when it came to opening the Calibre_Plugins folder. I simply could not locate this folder. I may have made a mistake earlier on. I would appreciate your own instructions. They might give me the missing key. My E-mail is patrick.bloomfield@gmail.com. Any help very gratefully appreciated.
pat.bloomfield

Replied off-board. But this sounds like a simple Calibre problem, and if worst comes to worst, we can always have a discussion in the Calibre section of the board as long as we keep it to plug-ins in general.

04-08-2011, 05:09 PM	#1
Pat.Bloomfield Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle	Converting books from Public Library [FONT="Arial"][/FON I hope members of this forum will forgive me for a simple question that may well have been asked before. I recently purchased a Kindle (the Wi-Fi version) and, with hope in my heart, downloaded a book from the Toronto Public Library in the belief that Calibre would convert it to a format that my Kindle can read. I picked Shroud for a Nightingale, an Adam Dalgleish detective story, added it to the list of my Calibre main page, and clicked "convert individual book". The immediate reply was that the book is in a format the Calibre cannot read. Yet I had asked for the download in the E-pub format. Now the Library tells me that E-books it lends cannot be read on a Kindle because of restrictions by Amazon. But I had read that there ways to circumvent this problem using a good conversion program. And I had never expected a problem in a download to a computer since that is the way so many E-books are read. Am I doing something wrong? Can anybody guide me? Pat.Bloomfield.

04-08-2011, 10:13 PM	#5
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 80,782 Karma: 150249619 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	There is a rather large thread going on about stripping DRM and converting library eBooks and the answer is, it's illegal depending on what state you live in. https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=127602 Last edited by JSWolf; 04-08-2011 at 10:30 PM.

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04-08-2011, 05:44 PM	#2
abookreader Wizard Posts: 1,516 Karma: 2567610 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kindles - Keyboard, Fire, 2-US, iPhone, iPAD	Welcome to MobileRead Pat. Your question as you can imagine is quite common. The solution involves in removing the DRM from the book and then converting it to Mobi format. There are some legal/moral complications to this which are discussed extensively here if you wish to search and read. The rules of this board prevent giving direct help in the removing of DRM ... although if you are able to download and read the book in Adobe Digital Edition and you have a working Calibre library, you are almost there. To continue, Google the phrase "Apprentice Alf Blog" and read the entry on DRM and the Perplexed. Follow his directions.

04-08-2011, 07:26 PM	#3
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,323 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	As abookreader says, you're almost there. I use my Kindle to read books from the BC Library system (need to see if that Dalgleish is there - it's one I've missed somehow.) Apprentice Alf is the missing piece, and the instructions there are pretty good. Almost as good as the ones I wrote up for my own family's use, which were specifically written with the BC Library in mind.

04-08-2011, 09:14 PM	#4
Pat.Bloomfield Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: Kindle	To abookreader and Charlie: Thanks very much for your prompt replies. I shall try Apprentice Alf Blog. I am a little unsure about the legal and moral complications. What I do know is that, if I went up to my local library and borrowed a hard copy of this book I would be taking a legitimate action available to all citizens. Pat

04-15-2011, 10:42 PM	#13
wyndslash Wizard Posts: 2,951 Karma: 3000001 Join Date: Feb 2011 Device: Kindle 3 wifi, Kindle Fire	we are all humans