is there a guide for how to use an ereader in linux?

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by HarryT

True - especially when converting large books. I have a couple of very large books (Delphi collections) that Calibre is unable to convert on my current laptop (which has 4GB RAM) because it runs out of memory.

My next laptop will have 16GB RAM, so hopefully I should then be able to convert these books.

Assuming you will be running a 64-bit Calibre, you can convert these books. I converted two of the largest ones (Dickens, most text, and Baum, largest file) without problems, on a 6,5 year old computer with 8GB RAM. (It has had 8GB since it was built, as it i my photo editing PC.)

You will also need a somewhat recent version of Calibre. Somewhere along the road a bug was fixed that prevented extremely large books like the Delphi Classics from converting.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

Assuming you will be running a 64-bit Calibre, you can convert these books. I converted two of the largest ones (Dickens, most text, and Baum, largest file) without problems, on a 6,5 year old computer with 8GB RAM. (It has had 8GB since it was built, as it i my photo editing PC.)

You will also need a somewhat recent version of Calibre. Somewhere along the road a bug was fixed that prevented extremely large books like the Delphi Classics from converting.

It's not only file size that affects conversion. I can convert the Dickens one, which is 81MB (although it took about 4h to convert!). The two I can't convert are H. Rider Haggard (29MB) and Edgar Wallace (57MB). This is with the latest version of Calibre. I guess they must have a more complex internal structure.

[Katsunami]

I have both. On a PC with 8GB, they can be converted. (Assuming you haven't got a bazillion other tasks running. It's advisable to close down your 23 virtual machines and and any photo, video or audio editing software as well )

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I have both. On a PC with 8GB, they can be converted.

Thanks - that's good to hear!

[Billi]

Originally Posted by Difflugia

I hope nobody feels like I'm derailing the thread , but here's the beginning of a how-to for running Calibre with De-DRM in Linux. I hope it's general enough to avoid any problems with the MobileRead guidelines.

Yup, seems like being on-topic is the derailment!

Thanks and karma for your guidelines.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Thanks - that's good to hear!

Someone I know was trying to convert something in Calibre and it ran out of memory. I took a look at the eBook and noticed the CSS was a bit large. I used Sigil to remove all unused classes. The eBook was then able to be converted. You can have Calibre remove unused classes and then you can try to convert.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Amazing post! Thanks very much! Read it. In places it's still a little daunting (I am a certified non-techie) but I copied and pasted it and will give it a shot. Really appreciate it!

Thanks and you're welcome. If you get stuck, feel free to ask about it, either in-thread or via PM. If the questions are about DRM or The Tools, ask at Alf's blog and maybe PM me that you've asked (I don't check Alf's blog nearly as often as I do MobileRead).

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It depends what you do with Calibre and how many books you have in your library. So there is a good chance that you will eventually run into a memory issue.

Hmm.

Originally Posted by HarryT

True - especially when converting large books. I have a couple of very large books (Delphi collections) that Calibre is unable to convert on my current laptop (which has 4GB RAM) because it runs out of memory.

My next laptop will have 16GB RAM, so hopefully I should then be able to convert these books.

I'm not a formatter so I don't anticipate having a lot of books in the Calibre library or converting very large books. (If I have to, I can email them to you guys and you'll convert them for me, right?)

[Gregg Bell]

Originally Posted by Difflugia

Thanks and you're welcome. If you get stuck, feel free to ask about it, either in-thread or via PM. If the questions are about DRM or The Tools, ask at Alf's blog and maybe PM me that you've asked (I don't check Alf's blog nearly as often as I do MobileRead).

Thanks Difflugia. Appreciate that.

[bearymore]

Originally Posted by arjaybe

Do you have evidence for that? My OS is easy to use, doesn't give me headaches and has no dependency issues. Mind you, I've never been a Windows or Apple user, so I don't have any experience with their problems to compare to.

Agreed. Ease of use is subjective and depends on what you are used to. I've been using OpenSuse for several years and find it intuitive and problem free. When forced to use a Windows machine I find it to be unintuitive, difficult to use, full of dependency problems, and generally irritating. I attribute a lot of that to the fact that I almost never use it.

As for my e-reader, I manage my Kobo Aura HD through Calibre. When I need to, I use Digital Editions 1.72 under Wine with no problem. I believe it is still available - I'd Google it. Incidentally, Wine is much easier to deal with if you buy Codeweavers' CrossOver - takes a lot of the configuration headaches out of it. As for VMWare, I do have a virtual Windows 7 machine running under VMPlayer, which is free and installs effortlessly. I use it very, very infrequently. As for Alf, the Calibre plugin works fine.

One more thing, most devices will run on Linux, at least OpenSuse, without the pain of installing device drivers. While Windows requires driver installation, they are plug and play on Suse.

[bearymore]

Originally Posted by rcentros

KDE was my first choice -- then I moved to Gnome when KDE had their first "big" change. But I've heard good things about the newest versions of KDE, it's actually much "lighter" than Gnome.

I use KDE 4.14 under OpenSuse. It's matured a lot since that first change you mention. It's all point and click for me at this point. As for QT5, OpenSuse 13.2 has that installed by default.

[glin]

Originally Posted by Difflugia View Post
Thanks and you're welcome. If you get stuck, feel free to ask about it, either in-thread or via PM. If the questions are about DRM or The Tools, ask at Alf's blog and maybe PM me that you've asked (I don't check Alf's blog nearly as often as I do MobileRead).

Where is Alfs'blog ? Is it the same as so-called Green Pirate's blog ? I found very much interesting data on the latter about Kobo and Linux, which I unfortunately enough did'nt copy immediately. By now, Green Pirate's website seems out of reach. Any information about these sites would be welcome.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by glin

Where is Alfs' blog? Is it the same as so-called Green Pirate's blog?

Alf's blog: https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com

I've never heard of Green Pirate, so I doubt they're related.

Originally Posted by glin

I found very much interesting data on the latter about Kobo and Linux, which I unfortunately enough did'nt copy immediately. By now, Green Pirate's website seems out of reach. Any information about these sites would be welcome.

If you're specifically interested in Kobo, check out the Obok plugin for Calibre.

[glin]

Originally Posted by Difflugia

Alf's blog: https://apprenticealf.wordpress.com

I've never heard of Green Pirate, so I doubt they're related.



If you're specifically interested in Kobo, check out the Obok plugin for Calibre.

Thanks. I took a look at Alf's, noting I had previously looked at it anyway... - but it seems Alf's tools and information are just for Windows and Mac users. So is it (if I am not mistaken) in Obok site.
What was extremely interesting for me on Green Pirate's blog was that it gave detailed information and procedures for Kobo and Linux users...
If anybody knows of something of the kind thanks in advance for any link.

[Difflugia]

Originally Posted by glin

Thanks. I took a look at Alf's, noting I had previously looked at it anyway... - but it seems Alf's tools and information are just for Windows and Mac users. So is it (if I am not mistaken) in Obok site.
What was extremely interesting for me on Green Pirate's blog was that it gave detailed information and procedures for Kobo and Linux users...
If anybody knows of something of the kind thanks in advance for any link.

Most of the documentation for the tools assumes Windows, but the tools work fine in Linux and the Calibre plugin works with a Linux installation of Calibre. The only problem that I've had with Linux is the actual extraction of keys from Windows software (Digital Editions and Kindle for PC), but I assure you that there are ways to make all of it work. Since we can't discuss the process in detail at Mobileread, though, you'll probably have to ask any more detailed questions by leaving a comment at Alf's blog.

I haven't been able to get the Kobo desktop software to work with Linux at all, but I have Adobe Digital Editions working with Wine. Most Kobo books can be downloaded into Digital Editions, so that's generally the route I take.