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

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by johnelle

This book is one of those that Kindle app won't download unless I do an update (no thanks). The transfer via Paperwhite link is compatible with the plugin and can be converted.

Because it was published 30 Jan 2023.

[lkmiller]

Only 2 things it could have been: either that copy wasn't for the Paperwhite or its serial wasn't correct.

ETA: I should say 2 most likely.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

Because it was published 30 Jan 2023.

But it was free to buy and most eBooks you buy can be downloaded from Amazon.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But it was free to buy and most eBooks you buy can be downloaded from Amazon.

I was answering why it was one of the books that couldn't be downloaded with the older app. Wouldn't matter if it was bought or one you could borrow.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But it was free to buy and most eBooks you buy can be downloaded from Amazon.

Free books are still affected by the date cutoff. I've been testing exclusively with them.

@jhowell: Would you mind updating Method 6 to mention that an Android device itself isn't required? I imagine people would go "but I use an iPhone..." and not bother clicking through.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

@jhowell: Would you mind updating Method 6 to mention that an Android device itself isn't required? I imagine people would go "but I use an iPhone..." and not bother clicking through.

Done.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by ownedbycats

Free books are still affected by the date cutoff. I've been testing exclusively with them.

"Free" books on Amazon and Kobo etc are mostly with DRM, just as if not free. You can't share or upload even free books without DRM if they are copyright. People have to download their own copy.

So they are a cheap way to test any set-up.

Umm, meant to reply to Jon @JSWolf

[Abrasrose]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

No sympathy from me. If you read a DeDRMed copy, the author doesn't get paid.

They do get paid. I purchase the book and then strip the DRM. I don't lend the books, I just add a rating to remind me if I liked the book. Since I've already bought it, they've been paid. Also, books have been lent out to friends for hundreds of years. No one worried about that then.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by Abrasrose

They do get paid. I purchase the book and then strip the DRM. I don't lend the books, I just add a rating to remind me if I liked the book. Since I've already bought it, they've been paid.

A KU borrow isn't a purchase.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Abrasrose

They do get paid. I purchase the book and then strip the DRM. I don't lend the books, I just add a rating to remind me if I liked the book. Since I've already bought it, they've been paid. Also, books have been lent out to friends for hundreds of years. No one worried about that then.

With physical books, when you lent your copy of the book to a friend, you could no longer read it until the friend returned the book to you. Now I can lend an ebook to 500 of my closest "friends" and keep a copy for myself. Of course, nothing is stopping those friends from gifting copies to their friends.

And please note that for Kindle Unlimited, the amount paid to the author by Amazon depends solely on the number of page reads reported to Amazon by Amazon's devices and apps. The author gets nothing if page reads are not reported.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by Abrasrose

They do get paid. I purchase the book and then strip the DRM. I don't lend the books, I just add a rating to remind me if I liked the book. Since I've already bought it, they've been paid. Also, books have been lent out to friends for hundreds of years. No one worried about that then.

Yes, absolutely remove DRM of books you've purchased. Author gets paid. But the person I was responding to was speaking of books they had only borrowed via KU. Then the author doesn't get paid.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by DNSB

With physical books, when you lent your copy of the book to a friend, you could no longer read it until the friend returned the book to you. Now I can lend an ebook to 500 of my closest "friends" and keep a copy for myself. Of course, nothing is stopping those friends from gifting copies to their friends.

While a lot of my childhood's been lost to time, I do remember my elementary school teachers handing out photocopies from (20-30 years out of date) textbooks...

[HowlerX]

Originally Posted by shamanNS

Ok, based on test with only this one free but published in 2023 book (and also couple of older books, published waaay before 2023. that I've bought previously) I've first confirmed that Kindle for PC version v1.34.1 indeed doesn't want to download that particular book and then I've tested to see if it would be possible to use an older / ( more like ancient ) version of Kindle for Android app (installed on rooted Android phone or rooted BlueStacks Android emulator) to download that book in format that could successfully be deDRM-ed.

The oldest apk I've found on the internet and tested was for "Amazon Kindle-7.6.0.39.apk" and when using that version of Android app the books are downloaded as KFX format (split into multiple files) but a version of KFX that is successfully deDRM-ed and imported into Calibre as single file / monolithic KFX (not KFX-ZIP, which is the end result if deDRM procedure is not successful). v8.x downloads KFX that can't be deDRM-ed. And this v7.6.0.39 successfully download that ASIN B0BNDDCQB9 book. (as KFX format)

I have no idea if there exist even older version of Android app than this v7.6.0.39 that is still functional (can still register and download books) that would perhaps download azw3 format instead of KFX.

So this setup would be somewhat cumbersome alternative for people who don't want to buy used Kindle e-Ink device or can't buy it for whatever reason.

Root permission is required in order to copy the /data/data/com.amazon.kindle/databases/map_data_storage.db file that is used by deDRM plugin.

Thanks! Finally got it to work! Could never get "adb backup" to work, but have a rooted phone and if I knew all I needed was that *.db file would have gotten it to work much sooner!

[breena31]

I tried method 3 and downloaded a book published in January 2023 to my e-ink kindle, but I must be doing something wrong because when I added it to calibre the DRM was still there. I checked the plugin and it has the serial number for this kindle on it, so I'm not sure what else I need to do. Any suggestions?

[DNSB]

Did you download the book using Download and Transfer via USB from a web browser? This will give you a format that can be deDRMmed. If you downloaded it to your Kindle, it will be not be in a format from which DRM can be removed unless you have a very old Kindle.