What is a "virtual book"?

bluepeter · 09-25-2024, 06:20 AM

There are a couple of e-books that I've bought from Kobo, but am unable to import into Calibre. I'm still able to see and read them on my Kobo e-readers.

It'd be nice to understand why I can't import them and whether there's any way around this.

If I download from Kobo, I get the normal URLLink.acsm file appearing in my Downloads folder. Adding it to Calibre, though, doesn't show me the usual information. Instead, it appears to show a book entitled URLLink by an Unknown author - see my first screenshot. I have the DeACSM plugin installed, and it normally works well.

If I open the device in Calibre and then try to add the book from it, I get an error message telling me that the book is virtual and cannot be added to Calibre - see the second screenshot.

Mr Avid · 09-25-2024, 06:45 AM

When you download from Kobo, you aren't getting an actual book. You need to open that file in Adobe Digital Editions and it will download the actual book which you can then use to import into Calibre.

bluepeter · 09-25-2024, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Avid

When you download from Kobo, you aren't getting an actual book. You need to open that file in Adobe Digital Editions and it will download the actual book which you can then use to import into Calibre.

No, that's not the problem. The DeACSM plugin that I mentioned makes the use of ADE unnecessary. With that, I can normally add the downloaded ACSM file to Calibre directly, and have done it that way many times. See https://github.com/Leseratte10/acsm-calibre-plugin .

kovidgoyal · 09-25-2024, 07:00 AM

A virtual book is a file ending with .kobo. These are dummy entries in the kobo filesystem that arent actual ebook files and thus cannot be added to calibre the normal way. I dont use kobos so I cant help you with how to get the book.

bluepeter · 09-25-2024, 07:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

A virtual book is a file ending with .kobo. These are dummy entries in the kobo filesystem that arent actual ebook files and thus cannot be added to calibre the normal way. I dont use kobos so I cant help you with how to get the book.

Thank you.

09-25-2024, 06:20 AM	#1
bluepeter Addict Posts: 243 Karma: 1028440 Join Date: May 2024 Location: Salisbury, UK Device: Clara BW, Mini, Libra H2O, Kindle (11G), Paperwhite (10G), Boox Poke 5	What is a "virtual book"? There are a couple of e-books that I've bought from Kobo, but am unable to import into Calibre. I'm still able to see and read them on my Kobo e-readers. It'd be nice to understand why I can't import them and whether there's any way around this. If I download from Kobo, I get the normal URLLink.acsm file appearing in my Downloads folder. Adding it to Calibre, though, doesn't show me the usual information. Instead, it appears to show a book entitled URLLink by an Unknown author - see my first screenshot. I have the DeACSM plugin installed, and it normally works well. If I open the device in Calibre and then try to add the book from it, I get an error message telling me that the book is virtual and cannot be added to Calibre - see the second screenshot. Attached Thumbnails

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09-25-2024, 06:45 AM	#2
Mr Avid Connoisseur Posts: 53 Karma: 10 Join Date: Sep 2024 Device: Kindle Oasis, Oasis 3, PocketBook Era	When you download from Kobo, you aren't getting an actual book. You need to open that file in Adobe Digital Editions and it will download the actual book which you can then use to import into Calibre.

09-25-2024, 07:00 AM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,345 Karma: 27182818 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	A virtual book is a file ending with .kobo. These are dummy entries in the kobo filesystem that arent actual ebook files and thus cannot be added to calibre the normal way. I dont use kobos so I cant help you with how to get the book.