Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 and KFX in calibre - Page 9

DoctorOhh · 05-12-2017, 03:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richard.presser

The above scenarios are well and good for old eBooks; however, new ones appear to require the KFX format. Are there plans to support the KFX format in Calibre? This seems to me to be the long term solution.

Calibre doesn't support any DRMed book. You can ask over on Apprentice Alf's blog to see if there is any headway in deciphering the new format / DRM. That is where the current DeDRM plugin was hatched.

jhowell · 05-12-2017, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richard.presser

The above scenarios are well and good for old eBooks; however, new ones appear to require the KFX format.

I know of no books that require KFX format. There are some, such as the Kindle in Motion titles, that have enhanced features when delivered in KFX format. But as far as I know all of these books are delivered in the older formats to devices and apps that do not support KFX.

If you know anything different, I would be interested to hear about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by richard.presser

Are there plans to support the KFX format in Calibre? This seems to me to be the long term solution.

Unfortunately it isn't something that can be done at this time. The main problem is that all books in KFX format delivered by Amazon have DRM and no solution to remove that DRM currently exists. There is an open issue on Apprentice Harper's github regarding this. Without this, the ability to convert from KFX to other e-book format would be useless.

I have looked into the possibility of converting from KFX should DRM removal eventually become available. I have come to the conclusion that while this is possible it would be a fairly large amount of work to implement since KFX is highly processed from the original format. In the end the result would not be as true to the original format as can be obtained by converting from KF8/AZW3, which can already be done with no additional development needed.

amc · 05-14-2017, 04:10 AM

Method 2 - Disable KFX support in Kindle for PC/Mac

I used method 2 on my windows 10 laptop. It worked perfectly! Thank you!!!

Smartie · 05-14-2017, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amc

Method 2 - Disable KFX support in Kindle for PC/Mac

I used method 2 on my windows 10 laptop. It worked perfectly! Thank you!!!

I am running
ren %localappdata%\Amazon\Kindle\application\renderer-test.exe renderer-test.xxx

and got error
"A duplicate file name exists, or the file
cannot be found."

could you tell me exactly command and under which folder you run it?

Thanks in advance

lkmiller · 05-15-2017, 07:48 PM

The command just changes the extension of renderer-test.exe to .xxx. Copy %localappdata%\Amazon\Kindle\application\ into the File Explorer address bar and take a look.

richard.presser · 05-19-2017, 02:09 AM

Yes, I may have misunderstood the issue. I have a workaround using my complex set-up, which sees Windows 10 running under VMWare Fusion on an MBP. I have the latest Kindle version on Windows, which enables the new or reactivated ability to copy text from within Kindle and an old version under MacOS that gives me the old format that I copy across to Windows that will load into Calibre. Not a solution for everyone, but it's working for me, at least until KFX is imposed everywhere... I appreciate the feedback.

jcsalomon · 05-19-2017, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

The main problem is that all books in KFX format delivered by Amazon have DRM and no solution to remove that DRM currently exists.

Is it DRM, or just an obfuscated format for which translators have not yet been written?

pdurrant · 05-19-2017, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcsalomon

Is it DRM, or just an obfuscated format for which translators have not yet been written?

It's DRM, but using a fixed key known to all Kindle devices that support KFX.

There's also a format translation issue, but the first step would be for someone to reverse-engineer the DRM, to produce an unencrypted version for the new format.

jhowell · 05-19-2017, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

It's DRM, but using a fixed key known to all Kindle devices that support KFX.

Books that are marked "Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited" appear to all use the same decryption key. Books that do not have that designation cannot be transferred between devices in KFX format and may possibly have different encryption keys. There is currently no way to be sure.

HRR · 05-26-2017, 04:51 PM

If I want to try Method 2, where do I put the command for PC, i.e., in C:\ or somewhere else?

DoctorOhh · 05-27-2017, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HRR

If I want to try Method 2, where do I put the command for PC, i.e., in C:\ or somewhere else?

Anywhere at the command prompt, C:/ is fine. It simply renames renderer-test.exe to renderer-test.xxx. You can do this via the file manager by finding that file and renaming it manually.

Corpsegoddess · 05-31-2017, 06:33 PM

Thank you! The command line worked like a charm on my Windows 10 laptop.

rangi63 · 06-08-2017, 07:46 AM

Thank you so much for this post. I had been having nothing but trouble with Calibre and Kindle e books for a month or so. I didn't realise I had a new version of PC for kindle which was stopping me from converting any books on calibre. I had even resorted to downloading a azw converter. I didnt buy it though and then today I download a new book and get ready to convert it an it tells me its a KFX format. Luckily I was diverted to this site.My new books downloaded as AZW but converted easy enough to Mobi.I have gone back to 1.17.0 an it works fine.

odamizu · 06-13-2017, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhowell

... Download version 1.17 of Kindle. It is safest to download it directly from Amazon, instead of going to a third party site. Direct links are https://s3.amazonaws.com/kindleforpc...1.17.44170.exe for PC and https://s3.amazonaws.com/kindleforma...rMac-44182.dmg for Mac.

Does anyone have the direct download link for 1.19.2 for Mac? (I played with the numbers in the above link, but couldn't get anything to work.)

I'm still on 1.17 and don't intend to update, but I'd like to have 1.19.2 as a backup since there's a workaround for this version, just in case case Amazon stops supporting 1.17.

Thank you

lkmiller · 06-13-2017, 03:27 PM

I'm still on 1.17 myself, but I think I've seen someone say that the fix for 1.19 continues to work for later versions.

05-14-2017, 04:10 AM	#123
amc Junior Member Posts: 8 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2008 Device: Sony PRS-700	Thank you! Method 2 - Disable KFX support in Kindle for PC/Mac I used method 2 on my windows 10 laptop. It worked perfectly! Thank you!!!

06-08-2017, 07:46 AM	#133
rangi63 Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2011 Device: kindle	Thank youi so much Thank you so much for this post. I had been having nothing but trouble with Calibre and Kindle e books for a month or so. I didn't realise I had a new version of PC for kindle which was stopping me from converting any books on calibre. I had even resorted to downloading a azw converter. I didnt buy it though and then today I download a new book and get ready to convert it an it tells me its a KFX format. Luckily I was diverted to this site.My new books downloaded as AZW but converted easy enough to Mobi.I have gone back to 1.17.0 an it works fine.

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05-15-2017, 07:48 PM	#125
lkmiller Laura Posts: 1,574 Karma: 23597272 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kobo Sage, Kobo Elipsa, Nook Glowlight 4 Plus, Kindle Oasis 2	The command just changes the extension of renderer-test.exe to .xxx. Copy %localappdata%\Amazon\Kindle\application\ into the File Explorer address bar and take a look.

05-19-2017, 02:09 AM	#126
richard.presser Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2017 Device: iPhone7 Plus, etc..	Yes, I may have misunderstood the issue. I have a workaround using my complex set-up, which sees Windows 10 running under VMWare Fusion on an MBP. I have the latest Kindle version on Windows, which enables the new or reactivated ability to copy text from within Kindle and an old version under MacOS that gives me the old format that I copy across to Windows that will load into Calibre. Not a solution for everyone, but it's working for me, at least until KFX is imposed everywhere... I appreciate the feedback.

05-26-2017, 04:51 PM	#130
HRR Enthusiast Posts: 29 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Greenwood Village, Colorado,USA Device: iPad Air & iPad Pro	If I want to try Method 2, where do I put the command for PC, i.e., in C:\ or somewhere else?

05-31-2017, 06:33 PM	#132
Corpsegoddess Groupie Posts: 190 Karma: 168826 Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Vancouver, BC Device: Kobo Aura One	Thank you! The command line worked like a charm on my Windows 10 laptop.

06-13-2017, 03:27 PM	#135
lkmiller Laura Posts: 1,574 Karma: 23597272 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: Kobo Sage, Kobo Elipsa, Nook Glowlight 4 Plus, Kindle Oasis 2	I'm still on 1.17 myself, but I think I've seen someone say that the fix for 1.19 continues to work for later versions.