Dealing with Kindle ebooks in calibre

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

I mean, how many people use the Windows app to read? I imagine more people were still using the old Kindles which Amazon cut off for actual reading than people reading with the old or new Windows Kindle app. If you don't have an ereader, you're more likely using a mobile app on a phone or tablet, not a PC or Mac.

Amazon has the usage numbers. Even if you're disconnected from the internet the ereader or app will upload the stats when you next connect to download a book.

[riothamus]

So I have perhaps an unusual use case. I don't DeDRM kindle books in Calibre. I just have them added to my library so I can determine if I already own a book easily and keep my kindle and non-kindle purchases together in the same DB/list (mostly humble bundle). This has been easy to do with the previous version of K4PC because I can add the .azw files into Calibre and the metadata is added correctly and I just delete the book files and leave the book records. With the new Windows app, Calibre can't read the metadata. Anyone know of a way I can still add the book records and metadata to Calibre if I don't need to DeDRM?

Edit: I was able to get Satsuoni's MSIXKFXArchiver to work so I can use that if there's no option for just reading the metadata as before.

[Desertway]

Originally Posted by riothamus

So I have perhaps an unusual use case. I don't DeDRM kindle books in Calibre. I just have them added to my library so I can determine if I already own a book easily and keep my kindle and non-kindle purchases together in the same DB/list (mostly humble bundle). This has been easy to do with the previous version of K4PC because I can add the .azw files into Calibre and the metadata is added correctly and I just delete the book files and leave the book records. With the new Windows app, Calibre can't read the metadata. Anyone know of a way I can still add the book records and metadata to Calibre if I don't need to DeDRM?

Edit: I was able to get Satsuoni's MSIXKFXArchiver to work so I can use that if there's no option for just reading the metadata as before.

I use Calibre the same way, as a way to keep track of my library even though I don't deDRM. I used to use D&T, now I pull them directly off my Oasis and download the missing metadata inside Calibre.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by hobnail

Amazon has the usage numbers. Even if you're disconnected from the internet the ereader or app will upload the stats when you next connect to download a book.

I thought they would care more about the fact that it's possible to remove the DRM than usage. So I thought they'd just drop it. Follow in the footsteps of B&N.

[Rellwood]

Originally Posted by riothamus

So I have perhaps an unusual use case. I don't DeDRM kindle books in Calibre. I just have them added to my library so I can determine if I already own a book easily and keep my kindle and non-kindle purchases together in the same DB/list (mostly humble bundle). This has been easy to do with the previous version of K4PC because I can add the .azw files into Calibre and the metadata is added correctly and I just delete the book files and leave the book records. With the new Windows app, Calibre can't read the metadata. Anyone know of a way I can still add the book records and metadata to Calibre if I don't need to DeDRM?

Edit: I was able to get Satsuoni's MSIXKFXArchiver to work so I can use that if there's no option for just reading the metadata as before.

I had to install an android emulator on my Windows 10 machine. If you get one that has an older version of Android 9, you can download the K4PC app and run it. YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD BOOKS, but...install root file system manager, get root access on the emulator. Run the Kindle app, let it sync. Close the app, go into the root files for root/data/data/anazon.kindle (something like that), find Databases folder. In that folder there is a kindle.library.db file (or Kindle.catalog.db) I doing this from memory.

Copy that file to your computer. If you havent yet done so, install the SQL Database Browser free online. Once youve installed it, open that log up. Its a tone of work, but youll be able to browse through the books, collections, and all the metadata on your library. If you are handy with Excell, you can export the tables to a csv file, and manipulate them into a workable Calibre import to use with the list import plugin.

After reading this, I realize that this is a big task for someone who may not be used to doing any of these steps.

Ive been accessing all my metadata over the years through the kindlesyncmetadata.xml file located in the cache folder with the Kindle 4 PC app. Ive been manipulating it into calibre along with the collections (syncedcollections.db) file and importing them into Calibre going back to 2018 or so. Losing access to that is going to hurt because it was such an easy process to grab the data. This BS with the emulator is the only other option to get you up to date library data.

[Rellwood]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Given that I'm only using the Kindle app for downloads and DRM removal, it's working OK.

I got it to run outside an emulator. I followed some instructions and downloaded it from a mirror site the msixes file for the app and changed the minimum os that it needs. Runs on my Win 10 now, but I havent figured out how to pull books yet. Not a huge big deal because I get them off my older kindle with the 5.12.1.1 FW. I do want to figure it out though so I get the original color books.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by lkmiller

I thought they would care more about the fact that it's possible to remove the DRM than usage. So I thought they'd just drop it. Follow in the footsteps of B&N.

Some of it may be just having more visibility in the Microsoft Store than having it be a download from amazon.*. There are many viable reading platforms for Windows, e.g. Surface Pro and tablets from other companies. It doesn't hurt that B&N dropped support for Windows, it's potentially a vacuum Amazon can fill.

[lkmiller]

Originally Posted by tomsem

Some of it may be just having more visibility in the Microsoft Store than having it be a download from amazon.*. There are many viable reading platforms for Windows, e.g. Surface Pro and tablets from other companies. It doesn't hurt that B&N dropped support for Windows, it's potentially a vacuum Amazon can fill.

Amazon had an app in the Microsoft store years ago which they dropped in favor of just having the desktop app. B&N went the other way, dropped their desktop app in favor of a Microsoft store app. Now they just have the mobile apps and Nook for Web. Expected Amazon to also close that loophole. Glad they didn't for whatever reason. At least not yet.