Can I fix a corrupt .mobi file?

[Older]

Hi,
Happy New Year.
Hope I am in the right place to get an answer.
When I try to open a .mobi book in Calibre, I get... 'calibre, version 2.46.0
ERROR: Could not open ebook: Unknown book type: '\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00'

The complete error message is:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\viewer\main.py", line 37, in run
File "threading.py", line 763, in run
File "site-packages\calibre\ebooks\oeb\iterator\book.py", line 112, in __enter__
File "site-packages\calibre\customize\conversion.py", line 241, in __call__
File "site-packages\calibre\ebooks\conversion\plugins\mobi_in put.py", line 33, in convert
File "site-packages\calibre\ebooks\mobi\reader\mobi6.py", line 79, in __init__
MobiError: Unknown book type: '\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00'

Is there any way I can get into the file to rectify the book type and what would I put instead of all the noughts? I tried Winrar and Winzip without success and changing from mobi to pdc didn't work either.

I'm on a PC with Windows 7.

Thanks for any help.

[Rizla]

Try opening it in hex editor or notepad. Compare the header and end to several healthy mobi files and change it to that. back up file first oviously.

[DaltonST]

'\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00' might possibly be a File Signature.

File signatures are data used to identify or verify the content of a file. Such signatures are also known as 'magic numbers'.

Example: ico 00 00 01 00
Example: jpg FFD8
Example: pdf \x25\x50\x44\x46


It is possible that the extension is .mobi but it is not at all a real .mobi file.

What I suggest is to open the binary ebook file with a text editor (e.g. Notepad), and inspect the first line for an indication of what the file type really is.

A few examples from one of my libraries:

epub: mimetypeapplication/epub+zip PK

mobi: BOOKMOBI

pdf: pdf

cbz: PK


Based on what you find, try renaming the file extension to what it seems to really be, and opening it with an application that can open that file type.



DaltonST

[PeterT]

If you have Alf in place do ensure its up to date; I'm sure people have seen corruption in the past from Alf's tools.

[Older]

Unfortunately the file won't open in Notepad and in Dreamweaver it's all gobbledygook, so I can't decipher any code at all. It seem that it's pretty well corrupted.
Any other suggestions would be gratefully accepted and thanks both for your help so far.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Older

Unfortunately the file won't open in Notepad and in Dreamweaver it's all gobbledygook, so I can't decipher any code at all. It seem that it's pretty well corrupted.
Any other suggestions would be gratefully accepted and thanks both for your help so far.

Mobi is a compressed format. It will look odd with a standard editor.
(And saving from an TXT editor, will probably damage it more)

The instructions called for a HEX editor. That allows Byte level edits

[phossler]

if you need a good simple hex editor, I like xvi32 at http://www.chmaas.handshake.de

[PeterT]

Dumb question; where did the mobi originate?

[Older]

Originally Posted by PeterT

Dumb question; where did the mobi originate?

P2P download

[Older]

Originally Posted by phossler

if you need a good simple hex editor, I like xvi32 at http://www.chmaas.handshake.de

Thanks. Downloaded it and unfortunately all I get when opening the file is 00 in every box. I reckon thid file is a bit of a no hoper.

Thanks all the same, thus will be useful another day.

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Older

P2P download

Well, now, that almost sounds like a pirated book.

And, you have now discovered one of the lesser reasons to avoid torrents.
(At least you didn't get a virus. Better luck next time. )

[BeeTee-Ess]

I think the clue is in the ERROR line - all those zeros in the book type.

The file may have a .mobi extension, but I think you will find it is not actually a .mobi file at all.

[Older]

Thanks, I'll try varios and see where it leads me.