Register Guidelines E-Books Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   MobileRead Forums > E-Book Formats > Kindle Formats

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 07-05-2008, 09:58 PM   #1
etitameh
Enthusiast
etitameh doesn't litteretitameh doesn't litter
 
Posts: 47
Karma: 122
Join Date: Jul 2008
Device: Kindle
Question mobiperl for dummies?

Quote:
Originally Posted by wiki
After you have installed ActivePerl start the "Perl Package Manager" (from the program menu) and install packages. A package can also be installed from a cmd prompt with "ppm install packagename".
okay, i don't really think i'm a dummy, but apparently i am when it comes to mobiperl! i'm attempting to follow the instructions in the mobiperl sticky and its wiki page, but i'm stuck. i've downloaded and installed activeperl 5.8.8, but i don't know where to find the perl package manager that's referenced in the next step, where to type in 'ppm install,' or where to find the packages the instructions say to install... i've been going in search loops for a while now and getting progressively more frustrated, so thought i'd give a call for help, in the hopes that some kind soul can provide a 'mobiperl for dummies' to get me through.
etitameh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-05-2008, 10:24 PM   #2
carld
Wizard
carld ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carld ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carld ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carld ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carld ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carld ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carld ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carld ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carld ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carld ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.carld ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Posts: 2,698
Karma: 4748723
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Kindle Paperwhite
I'm going to assume you're running Windows, if not this won't apply.

Download mobiperl-win-0.0.38.zip from Here. Unzip it and copy which ever programs you want to use into the directory where your ebooks are stored. These are compiled Windows binaries that don't require a separate Perl installation. It's working well for me.

Carl
carld is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 07-05-2008, 10:33 PM   #3
etitameh
Enthusiast
etitameh doesn't litteretitameh doesn't litter
 
Posts: 47
Karma: 122
Join Date: Jul 2008
Device: Kindle
sorry, i meant to post that i am, indeed, using windows -- vista, to be exact.

thank you soooo much for the link, carl -- i'm off to grab it now, and will report back on my (hopeful) success.

edit: hooray! i downloaded it, unzipped it, moved it into my ebooks folder, and all seems well... well, except i'm not sure what to do with it now, lol. the main reason i want it is to change titles in .prc files, but when i try to run/open mobi2mobi, it flashes a dos-type screen for a second or 2, and then doesn't do anything else. i also tried using the mobi2mobiGUI from the forums, but am unclear exactly what to do with that, too. >sigh< the more i mess with this, the more dummy-like i feel!

i'd appreciate more guidance, even if it's a "no, no, dear, look over HERE!"

Last edited by etitameh; 07-05-2008 at 10:53 PM.
etitameh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-2008, 12:14 AM   #4
Leep
Guru
Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Leep's Avatar
 
Posts: 739
Karma: 1018859
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Near Seattle
Device: kindle1, K3, K3G (thanks MR), iTouch, Kindle Touch
You will want to run Mobi2mobi from a command prompt window.
From the Start button, choose accessories and you will find it there.
from within the command prompt window, change your directory to where you have mobi2mobi.exe and your ebook you want to fix. For example, if it is on your desktop in a directory called ebooks, you would type cd desktop\ebooks
Once you have the correct directory, let's assume that the name of the book you want to fix is GoneWiththeWind.prc . The command to change the title would be: mobi2mobi.exe GoneWiththeWind.prc --outfile "Gone With the Wind.mobi" --title "Gone With the Wind"

Note: If you are trying to get it to work with the Kindle, you will need to run kindlefix.py first to get an .azw file and then your command would be: mobi2mobi.exe GoneWiththe Wind.azw --outfile "Gone With the Wind.azw" --title "Gone With the Wind"
Let us know if you have any further problems

Cheers
Leep is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-2008, 12:22 AM   #5
etitameh
Enthusiast
etitameh doesn't litteretitameh doesn't litter
 
Posts: 47
Karma: 122
Join Date: Jul 2008
Device: Kindle
so far, at least, .prc files are working just fine on my kindle. does mobi2mobi not do prc to prc 'conversions?' all i really want is to mess with the title, author, etc, not to actually convert to any other type of ebook, if it's not needed.

i'll play around with it and see what i can manage to figure out. thanks for the pointer to the command prompt and the example!

EDIT: thanks sooo much! it's working wonderfully for .prc to .prc, making all of the changes i wanted, and still easily usable in mobipocket reader... i haven't tried the new files on my kindle yet, but i will shortly.

one more question (you knew there had to be more, right??) -- is there any way to copy/paste into a command prompt? i'm assuming not, yet hoping so, lol.

Last edited by etitameh; 07-06-2008 at 12:32 AM.
etitameh is offline   Reply With Quote
Advert
Old 07-06-2008, 12:31 AM   #6
Leep
Guru
Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Leep's Avatar
 
Posts: 739
Karma: 1018859
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Near Seattle
Device: kindle1, K3, K3G (thanks MR), iTouch, Kindle Touch
You don't have to change the file extension to .mobi. Just make the title .prc if you wish. Some prc books work on Kindle, some don't depending on where you get them. Those downloaded from this forum and feedbooks work just fine on the Kindle. Also, if you want to change the author, just add in: --author "whoever may be" to your string as you change the title.

cheers
Leep is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-2008, 12:41 AM   #7
etitameh
Enthusiast
etitameh doesn't litteretitameh doesn't litter
 
Posts: 47
Karma: 122
Join Date: Jul 2008
Device: Kindle
yep, with your example for guidance i made the leap to '--author' on my own. and i'll certainly keep kindlefix in mind if i *do* run into any problems with .prc files on my kindle! thanks again for your help... any info on whether i can copy/paste into a command prompt? i'm renaming things because they're long and cumbersome, and they're, well, long and cumbersome, lol.

Last edited by etitameh; 07-06-2008 at 12:51 AM.
etitameh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-2008, 12:51 AM   #8
Leep
Guru
Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Leep's Avatar
 
Posts: 739
Karma: 1018859
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Near Seattle
Device: kindle1, K3, K3G (thanks MR), iTouch, Kindle Touch
Don't think that you can copy and paste, (can't remember back that far to my DOS days) but after you have done one book, you can hit the forward direction keys and they will repeat your previous key strokes which helps some
Leep is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-2008, 12:53 AM   #9
Leep
Guru
Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Leep's Avatar
 
Posts: 739
Karma: 1018859
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Near Seattle
Device: kindle1, K3, K3G (thanks MR), iTouch, Kindle Touch
Some of us are downloading ebooks checkedout from our online public libraries in mobipocket format - they definitely do need the kindlefix conversion to work on the Kindle

cheers
Leep is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-2008, 12:59 AM   #10
etitameh
Enthusiast
etitameh doesn't litteretitameh doesn't litter
 
Posts: 47
Karma: 122
Join Date: Jul 2008
Device: Kindle
thanks for that heads up. my local library doesn't seem to have save-able ebooks, but i haven't messed with that too much yet, either. i stumbled upon the trick of getting the last command entered by hitting my up arrow, and you're right, it does speed things up a bit. thanks for helping me get un-frustrated with this whole thing!
etitameh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-2008, 07:56 AM   #11
wallcraft
reader
wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.wallcraft ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
wallcraft's Avatar
 
Posts: 6,975
Karma: 5183568
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Mississippi, USA
Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD
Quote:
Originally Posted by etitameh View Post
any info on whether i can copy/paste into a command prompt? i'm renaming things because they're long and cumbersome, and they're, well, long and cumbersome, lol.
You can't copy in the command windows so far as I know, but you can paste text copied from another window. For example, copy the location of a directory from its open window and paste it after cd to change directory. The arrow keys allow you bring up old commands and edit the current command. Also, the tab key will complete a filename after a few letters. If there are several possible filenames it may require more letters, if you are changing the extension (e.g. .prc to .mobi) the tab will always get the exiting extension but the result can be edited.
wallcraft is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-2008, 11:40 AM   #12
etitameh
Enthusiast
etitameh doesn't litteretitameh doesn't litter
 
Posts: 47
Karma: 122
Join Date: Jul 2008
Device: Kindle
hmm, i wasn't able to get pastes to work, but i got in a good rhythm using the up arrow trick to call up the previous command. i think i've made all the changes i need to for the moment, so maybe i'll play with it on the next batch o books i need to tweak. thanks!
etitameh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-2008, 01:21 PM   #13
pilotbob
Grand Sorcerer
pilotbob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pilotbob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pilotbob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pilotbob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pilotbob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pilotbob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pilotbob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pilotbob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pilotbob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pilotbob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.pilotbob ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
pilotbob's Avatar
 
Posts: 19,832
Karma: 11844413
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Tampa, FL USA
Device: Kindle Touch
Quote:
Originally Posted by etitameh View Post
one more question (you knew there had to be more, right??) -- is there any way to copy/paste into a command prompt? i'm assuming not, yet hoping so, lol.
Yes. When you have the cmd window open if you click on the upper left corner you get a menu which allows you to paste. There is a key stroke to do it, but it is not ctlr-v... I think it is F3. You can also copy from a cmd window... from that same upper left corner choose "Mark" I think it is... then use the mouse to select/highlite what you want to copy... then press enter or choose "Select" from the menu.

A much better option is to get an open source app called console2. It is a wrapper around shells (like command.com, cygwin, powershell) that gives you tabbed windows and make cut/copy/paste much easier. http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/

I would also recommend putting all your ebook command line tools into a single folder and adding that folder to your path. This way, you can run the commands from the folders that contain your ebooks and you don't need to have the .exes in those folders too... nor do you have to copy the ebook files to where the .exes are.

BOb
pilotbob is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-2008, 02:21 PM   #14
etitameh
Enthusiast
etitameh doesn't litteretitameh doesn't litter
 
Posts: 47
Karma: 122
Join Date: Jul 2008
Device: Kindle
thanks, BOb! dunno if i'll get the console program you mentioned, but at least you've taught me how to access copy/paste, for which i'm grateful.
etitameh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-06-2008, 04:51 PM   #15
Leep
Guru
Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.Leep ought to be getting tired of karma fortunes by now.
 
Leep's Avatar
 
Posts: 739
Karma: 1018859
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Near Seattle
Device: kindle1, K3, K3G (thanks MR), iTouch, Kindle Touch
Thanks for the great tips Bob!

cheers
Leep is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Mobiperl Mobiperl - Perl tools for handling MobiPocket files tompe Kindle Formats 890 01-17-2021 06:16 PM
Mobi2Mobi Mobi2Mobi v0.13 - GUI for Mobiperl tools Jad Kindle Formats 476 03-15-2015 05:51 PM
MobiPerl is making me CrAzY! bonzodog Writers' Corner 5 09-01-2010 02:50 PM
MobiPerl: LIT2MOBI page breaks don't work =X= Kindle Formats 7 11-13-2008 11:08 AM
Mobiperl Image management in mobiperl Jellby Kindle Formats 1 09-13-2008 06:07 AM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 12:55 AM.


MobileRead.com is a privately owned, operated and funded community.