Converting epub to mobi is frustrating! I need an UPGRADE

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by dwig

While the newer Kindles don't support ePub directly, the new Amazon format AZW3 is a near 1:1 equivalent. Conversions are almost always excellent. To data, all of the flaws I've seen in AZW3s converted from ePub trace to flaws in the original ePub.

Very glad I read this thread. I had it in my head that "generic" mobi was the way to go. My first AZW3 to ePub conversion went beautifully. I haven't gone the other way yet, but I will. I just figured ePub and mobi didn't convert well between each format. Learn something new every day.

[Richwood]

Can be reader firmware related differences too apparently. I have downloaded a Mobi file to both a Kindle and two Kobo e-readers and it showed up fine on the Kindle and the newer Kobo but showed text errors on my Kobo Mini.

[Cinisajoy]

Originally Posted by Richwood

Can be reader firmware related differences too apparently. I have downloaded a Mobi file to both a Kindle and two Kobo e-readers and it showed up fine on the Kindle and the newer Kobo but showed text errors on my Kobo Mini.

Kobos are not designed for mobi.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Kobos are not designed for mobi.

Kobo does support Mobi as a reading format, however their overall support for the format isn't great.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

Kobos are not designed for mobi.

They list MOBI as a supported format, that results in a responsibility to not do a lousy job.

[PeterT]

I expect one challenge is the lack of official documentation on the internals of the mobi format

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[shalym]

Originally Posted by PeterT

I expect one challenge is the lack of official documentation on the internals of the mobi format

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Then why offer it as a "supported format"?

Shari

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by shalym

Then why offer it as a "supported format"?

Shari

A misguided marketing ploy, I would hazard a guess. To the uninformed, a reader that can read books in 20 different formats sounds better than a reader that can read only one or two. The informed user knows that reading a small number of formats well is actually much more important!

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

They list MOBI as a supported format, that results in a responsibility to not do a lousy job.

Kobo supports the mobi format as it was created by Mobipocket -- one clue is that the file that handles mobi format is named libpdb.so. Amazon made quite a few changes to the mobi format which, as far as I've been able to tell, are not publicly documented.

You lose the ability to highlight and use dictionaries with mobi format ebooks. You also suffer from the issue that in mobi format, images are specified in pixels so on new devices, what was intended to be a full screen image looks more like a thumbnail.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by barryem

I convert epub to plain mobi files all the time and I rarely have a problem. I use Calibre. I occasionally convert from PDF to mobi and again, usually not a problem although that fails at times.

Maybe I'm just not fussy about the outcome but I don't see the issue.

Barry

One thing I've noticed is that my mobi ebook files I purchased from Radio Archives (and presumably all mobi files?) will not take advantage of the Bold choices on the newest firmware update from Amazon.

Doing a bulk change to AZW3 and deleting the 'original-mobi' and 'mobi' files and then putting those AZW3 files onto my Kindle solved the problem.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

One thing I've noticed is that my mobi ebook files I purchased from Radio Archives (and presumably all mobi files?) will not take advantage of the Bold choices on the newest firmware update from Amazon.

Doing a bulk change to AZW3 and deleting the 'original-mobi' and 'mobi' files and then putting those AZW3 files onto my Kindle solved the problem.

Yep, and the FONT_RAMP hack doesn't work with mobis either.

I converted my books to mobis for years without problems. Well, I usually edit the formatting before conversion anyway. Since the Oasis 2 and the new firmware with boldness setting I also converted all my books to azw3.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by Richwood

Can be reader firmware related differences too apparently. I have downloaded a Mobi file to both a Kindle and two Kobo e-readers and it showed up fine on the Kindle and the newer Kobo but showed text errors on my Kobo Mini.

This kind of thing can happen!

I about tore my hair out over an epub I had made. It has a simple SVG title page. This displayed beautifully on my Kobo and in every epub reader app I'd tested on.

Then I converted it to Kindle format with Kindle Previewer and loaded it on my Voyage and half the title page text was missing!!!!! BUT (it gets weirder), the SAME EXACT FILE loaded on a older Kindle Touch displayed perfectly. And sent to the Kindle app on my tablet, also perfect. And perfect in Kindle Previewer. I still have no idea why the Kindle Voyage borks on that SVG title page, as I've not had issues with same in other ebooks I've made.

And yes, firmware on Voyage is up to date.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Richwood]

Originally posted to Amazon's Kindle Device Forum.

Sorry if this is old news. I did a search of the old posts and did not turn up anything.

I suspect that this is not officially Amazon supported but it works as I just tried it. Take a unprotected .EPUB file and rename it to .PNG. Email it to a Kindle E-reader with "convert" in the email title. Amazon will convert it to a readable Kindle AZW3 format. I just tried it with two book files, sent to my Kindle Voyage running firmware version 5.8.11. Total size about 3 MB as sent and they arrived in the Voyage in about a minute or less. Total size of the converted files only about 1/3 the original EPUB files. There seem to be limitations such as the original cover not being shown in Grid view and one of the books had the title page shown in very oversized font, spread over multiple pages, but the choices of font type, size and bolding for the book text are supported per a quick check. Once the book is opened the original cover is in the file and can be seen by paging back from the opening page. Hooking up USB to the Kindle and checking, each converted file shows up as two items, a .AZW3 file and a folder with a small .SDR file in it. Both are in the Documents folder on the Kindle e-reader.

There is a whole thread from earlier this year on Mobile Read Forums discussing it. Looks to me like a quick and dirty method of converting .EPUB files for the Kindle and simultaneously getting them into Amazon cloud storage. Hope that Amazon continues to support this. Probably get the same basic effect by using Calibre to convert EPUB to MOBI and then sending to Kindle with "convert" in the subject line.

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=288964

I am not sure what software that Amazon uses for their automatic file conversions but apparently it is quite versatile and the decision to not support EPUB conversions to a Kindle compatible format is a marketing one rather than a technical limitation of the software.

[hobnail]

Originally Posted by micholston

For changes to MOBI transformations, it's important to determine which MOBI design we're discussing.

Thread necro (2017).

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by syrianrue

One thing that really irritates me with my old kindle is of course because it doesn't support epub, and I do have a lot of epubs which I would have to convert them with calibre (and this converting process is not always perfect) so juggling between the three big formats: mobi, pdf, epub and having to convert pdf and epub to mobi each time and not necessarily getting the best result from the conversion has been really bothering me for quite some time

Sounds to me like you've mostly got ePubs, so I would look for a new or used ePub eReader. That means all others besides Kindles. If you live in the U.S., Kobo currently has the re-certified Clara in stock at $90. This is a very solid, 6" eReader with a nice, front-lit, warm HD screen. You can find "open box" Nook Glowlight 3's on eBay for $75. These have really nice, front-lit, warm HD screens as well.

https://us.kobobooks.com/collections...-kobo-clara-hd

https://www.ebay.com/itm/35243265786...gAAOSwWZVaz55E

You can also watch for sales when a new Clara drops to $90. Currently there aren't any, however.

You might also want to go with a bigger screen. (I personally like the 6" ones, but there are folks who swear by 7 or 8 inch screens.)

Good luck.