Tools_v5.1

[HarryT]

We can't provide help with DRM removal. If you ask your question in the same place you downloaded the tools from, people there will be able to assist you.

Originally Posted by Catlady

I had let my Amazon books pile up for a couple of months and so today decided to strip and convert. I've done this through Calibre ever since the plug-in became available--but today none of the books would convert; I got error messages telling me the books were all locked with DRM. So I updated to the latest version of Calibre, updated to the 5.1 tools and added the plug-in--and STILL got error messages.

All the books had azw extensions. I changed them to mobi extensions, solely on a whim because I couldn't think of anything else to do, and then, lo and behold, Calibre converted them to epub. A few of them turned out to be topaz, but they too converted when they had the mobi extension.

This doesn't make any sense to me, especially since I didn't see anything about a problem with azw files in the readme files. Do I really need to change file extensions now? Weird.

I've encountered a variation of this, Catlady. After upgrading to the new version of Kindle 4 PC, I ran a test batch of various newly-purchased .azw3 and .azw files through the 5.1 toolset plugin for Calibre. It looked like all ~12-15 files converted successfully to .epub format, and I was able to open them fine on the same computer that I ran the conversions on, but then when I transferred them to Computer #2 (which does not have the toolset) for extra editing in Sigil, the files refused to open at all, giving an error message about DRM. Brought the files back to Computer #1 and they opened again just fine.

Ultimately I got around it by opening the .epub files on Computer #1, copy-pasting contents into fresh .epub files in Sigil, and then moving these fresh files to Computer #2. Still, I'm a little unsettled by the whole thing - never ran into this problem before, very weird.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I had let my Amazon books pile up for a couple of months and so today decided to strip and convert. I've done this through Calibre ever since the plug-in became available--but today none of the books would convert; I got error messages telling me the books were all locked with DRM. So I updated to the latest version of Calibre, updated to the 5.1 tools and added the plug-in--and STILL got error messages.

All the books had azw extensions. I changed them to mobi extensions, solely on a whim because I couldn't think of anything else to do, and then, lo and behold, Calibre converted them to epub. A few of them turned out to be topaz, but they too converted when they had the mobi extension.

This doesn't make any sense to me, especially since I didn't see anything about a problem with azw files in the readme files. Do I really need to change file extensions now? Weird.

I have been having to do this for the last couple of weeks.
Apache

[sabredog]

Ditto here.

When I was forced to upgrade to the latest version of Kindle for PC (due to the installed older version refusing to load), the older version tools in Calibre refused to convert the AZW3 files I had to covert. Updating those tools fixed the issue for me at least....

[alecE]

Late to the party as always, but heartfelt thanks to Alf & all the others for these tools.

[sadievan]

Originally Posted by Catlady

I had let my Amazon books pile up for a couple of months and so today decided to strip and convert. I've done this through Calibre ever since the plug-in became available--but today none of the books would convert; I got error messages telling me the books were all locked with DRM. So I updated to the latest version of Calibre, updated to the 5.1 tools and added the plug-in--and STILL got error messages.

All the books had azw extensions. I changed them to mobi extensions, solely on a whim because I couldn't think of anything else to do, and then, lo and behold, Calibre converted them to epub. A few of them turned out to be topaz, but they too converted when they had the mobi extension.

This doesn't make any sense to me, especially since I didn't see anything about a problem with azw files in the readme files. Do I really need to change file extensions now? Weird.

In Calibre go to Preferences\Behaviors and make sure AZW and AZW3 has a check mark by it and then click 'apply'.

Carol

[drofgnal]

I always refuse request to upgrade kindle for mac. No problems.

[Bald Eagle]

That may not work anymore. About 3 weeks ago my trusty K4PC version 1.4 refused to start (of course it was the day before vacation and I had just decided to buy one more book).
Versions 1.5-1.8 likewise died without even showing the splash screen, version 1.9.1 at last complained about being too old to run. Finally version 1.10.1 did start; fortunately The Tools were up to the challenge and I could take my book with me .

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Bald Eagle

That may not work anymore. About 3 weeks ago my trusty K4PC version 1.4 refused to start (of course it was the day before vacation and I had just decided to buy one more book).
Versions 1.5-1.8 likewise died without even showing the splash screen, version 1.9.1 at last complained about being too old to run. Finally version 1.10.1 did start; fortunately The Tools were up to the challenge and I could take my book with me .

In fairness, older versions of Kindle for PC did display a warning for about a month in advance that it would stop working on 21st July.

[Catlady]

First, many thanks for the help.

I tried Sadievan's suggestion:

In Calibre go to Preferences\Behaviors and make sure AZW and AZW3 has a check mark by it and then click 'apply'.

I only found a list of file types for Calibre's internal viewer, and though that didn't seem quite right, I dutifully checked the boxes for azw and azw3. And then loaded some of the Kindle files that wouldn't convert last night in their original form. And they converted, no problem.

Then I removed the books, went back and unchecked the azw and azw3 boxes, and loaded the Kindle files again. And now they STILL converted, no problem. Made sure the boxes were still unchecked, and they are. So I don't know what the heck was going on yesterday and why everything works fine today.

I did notice that yesterday all the files with the azw extension were showing in Calibre as azw. Today they were showing as azw3, mobi, and htmlz.

I have also been interested to see that others had the problem of Kindle for PC not loading anymore--that happened to me yesterday too. I had to install a newer version to download my Amazon books. Then after the problems with Calibre not converting the files, I reinstalled the old version again, thinking I'd have to convert the pre-Calibre-plug-in way.

It looks like this tools package has a non-Calibre option that doesn't require the old version of Kindle for PC, so I'm assuming I can safely update the Kindle for PC software? It's pretty annoying that it just stopped working with no warning--I wasted a heck of a lot of time trying to figure out what might be wrong with my computer!

The upshot of all of this is that I'm going to be even more unlikely to purchase an e-book from Amazon, regardless of price--it's way too much hassle.

Now I have to deal with my backlog of BN books--more fun!

Thanks again!

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by HarryT

In fairness, older versions of Kindle for PC did display a warning for about a month in advance that it would stop working on 21st July.

I last used it in May. So I had no idea last night why it wouldn't work.

[drofgnal]

Kindle for mac doesn't appear to have any problems. I quickly imported about 8 books from the cloud to calibre and no problems. I haven't changed calibre, kindle for mac or tools for over a year now.

[spindlegirl]

Having recently joined the ranks of strippers and converters, I want to add my thanks!

[emmad]

Um can I ask where the usual place is?

[FizzyWater]

We can't say. Google Apprentice Alf.