DRM workaround: Kindle for Android

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Alderon57

Are other people having this issue? Or have I done something wrong in the procedure? I have checked online every month since January looking for a solution. Thanks.

If done right, the deDRM should be working. Did you obtain the backup file and install it in the plugin settings? What version of the deDRM plugin and Calibre are you using?

[Alderon57]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

If done right, the deDRM should be working. Did you obtain the backup file and install it in the plugin settings? What version of the deDRM plugin and Calibre are you using?

I did the first time, but not since. Does that have to be done every time I have new books to convert? If so, I misunderstood.
I have the correct versions of the software.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Alderon57

I did the first time, but not since. Does that have to be done every time I have new books to convert? If so, I misunderstood.
I have the correct versions of the software.

No, it has to be done only the first time, but if deDRM isn't working, obviously something went wrong. How large was your backup file?

And I didn't ask whether you had the correct versions; I asked which versions. Could you give us the version numbers of your deDRM plugin and Calibre?

[Alderon57]

Originally Posted by Sirtel

No, it has to be done only the first time, but if deDRM isn't working, obviously something went wrong. How large was your backup file?

And I didn't ask whether you had the correct versions; I asked which versions. Could you give us the version numbers of your deDRM plugin and Calibre?

Sorry. My backup file was 33.28MB.
Calibre is v6.2.1 and DeDRM is v7.2.1

Any suggestions are appreciated.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Alderon57

Sorry. My backup file was 33.28MB.
Calibre is v6.2.1 and DeDRM is v7.2.1

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Of the 3 books that didn't want to get their DRM removed, did they download to the Kindle app on Bluestacks just fine? And you can open them there and read them? If so, you may have not imported your backup into the dedrm plugin correctly. Try importing it again - if it says key already exists, then it is the books that are hinky.

[booklover2005]

Hello again everyone,

I have successfully managed to get every step of this accomplished except for actually getting the Kindle app to open in Bluestacks. I am using Kindle 4.16.0.75 as recommended, and Bluestacks version 5. When I open the Kindle app, it gives me an orange button that says "Start Reading," but when I click on it I just get the loading circle and then Bluestacks completely crashes. I have tried uninstalling everything and reinstalling, and redoing every single step, but I can't seem to make it over this mountain hahaha. Has anyone experienced this?

Thank you!

[Alderon57]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Of the 3 books that didn't want to get their DRM removed, did they download to the Kindle app on Bluestacks just fine? And you can open them there and read them? If so, you may have not imported your backup into the dedrm plugin correctly. Try importing it again - if it says key already exists, then it is the books that are hinky.

Wow! Great catch! I must have messed up this step, because I re-imported the backup and now everything works as expected!
I can't thank you enough for this help. Best Regards!

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by booklover2005

Hello again everyone,

I have successfully managed to get every step of this accomplished except for actually getting the Kindle app to open in Bluestacks. I am using Kindle 4.16.0.75 as recommended, and Bluestacks version 5. When I open the Kindle app, it gives me an orange button that says "Start Reading," but when I click on it I just get the loading circle and then Bluestacks completely crashes. I have tried uninstalling everything and reinstalling, and redoing every single step, but I can't seem to make it over this mountain hahaha. Has anyone experienced this?

Thank you!

Yes, when I used Android11 in Bluestacks. Try again with Nougat instead.

[Ma'am-I-Am]

Originally Posted by Alderon57

Sorry. My backup file was 33.28MB.
Calibre is v6.2.1 and DeDRM is v7.2.1

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Latest DeDRM tool is 10.0.3
Look to the far right for "Latest" button.
https://github.com/noDRM/DeDRM_tools
Install just like you did DeDRM. If you can't remember, there's a Read Me First text file included in the zip.
See if that makes any difference.

[Montana Harper]

Originally Posted by booklover2005

I have successfully managed to get every step of this accomplished except for actually getting the Kindle app to open in Bluestacks. I am using Kindle 4.16.0.75 as recommended, and Bluestacks version 5. When I open the Kindle app, it gives me an orange button that says "Start Reading," but when I click on it I just get the loading circle and then Bluestacks completely crashes. I have tried uninstalling everything and reinstalling, and redoing every single step, but I can't seem to make it over this mountain hahaha. Has anyone experienced this?

Not exactly the same, but very similar. When I first installed Bluestacks it wasn't connecting to the internet, so it gave me the behavior you describe when trying to log in to Kindle, except that BS didn't crash for me, just eventually gave me an error after ages of the spinning circle. Not sure if it's relevant to you, or if it's a matter of you using Android 11 instead of Nougat (as mentioned by another poster), but I solved the problem by rebooting my computer after installing BS.

[Montana Harper]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

Try to enable the connection and leave it on when closing BS. Then reopen, see if the port stayed the same.

ETA2: ... I suggest you try to create a shortcut to your instance, and start and stop from there (the multi instance manager has an option to create a shortcut for you).

Even with the connection enabled and/or using the shortcut, the port still changes. Possibly it's the version of BS (5.11) I'm using? It doesn't matter if it's Nougat or Pie, though; I've tried both of them. I can't disable the various Win10 Pro VM features (Hyper-V, etc.) without breaking other necessary programs, or I'd be using BS 5.09 and BSTweaker.

Ah, well. I guess it'll just be a multi-step process for me each time. Thanks for helping me troubleshoot!

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Montana Harper

Even with the connection enabled and/or using the shortcut, the port still changes. Possibly it's the version of BS (5.11) I'm using? It doesn't matter if it's Nougat or Pie, though; I've tried both of them. I can't disable the various Win10 Pro VM features (Hyper-V, etc.) without breaking other necessary programs, or I'd be using BS 5.09 and BSTweaker.

Ah, well. I guess it'll just be a multi-step process for me each time. Thanks for helping me troubleshoot!

Yeah, the virtualization is probably what does it. I have mine off. On the other hand, if it is always in the similiar range, just go through all ports in there and attempt to connect, then disconnect afterwards. I think a loop should be easy enough to do if you google the syntax.

ETA: the used port is always visible in Bluestack's config file. It can be read from there and extracted. Everytime it changes, e.g. after a restart, the config file changes. I got so far as to find the line with the port automatically. Now I just need to get the port out of the string and clean my code up so that it looks nice.

ETA2: Working now, will post a new reply.

[archz2]

Fantastic! This method really worked well! I found it little intimidating at first. Sharing a quick and dirty illustrated guide for using the 'backup.ab' file to make the process seem less intimidating and difficult.

[p38lightning]

Wow! Fascinating read but I think I am getting to old for all this! Currently using a Meebook P78 Pro. When I could no longer d/l KU titles published after 1/3 to my Kindle for PC (locked to an earlier version), I simply added a new Kindle for Android to the P78 and d/l ONLY those titles that will not d/l to the PC version. Am I satisfied with that reasonably simple solution, no but it does work. All I ever did was convert Mobi/Azw3 titles to ePub in Calibre so as to have everything I read for my personal use (not further dissemination) in that format for universal use on whatever reader I was using.

[Allen20]

It seems the books in Print Replica format don't work in this method and after removing DRM, the format isn't working properly. Any idea?