Problem getting book from Calibre to Kindle

Zikerzee · 10-16-2012, 12:04 PM

Hi--

So I have two kindles, a touch and a keyboard and I was trying to transfer a book from the touch to the keyboard and one from the keyboard to the touch. In Calibre both books show up and I can read them there, but when I have tried to read them on the other kindle nothing shows up, I've tried re-converting it to MOBI and connecting directly, but for some reason I can't get it to work. Any thoughts on how to fix this?

Zikerzee · 10-16-2012, 12:43 PM

The error I keep getting on the Kindles is:

Unable to Open Item
The selected item could not be opened. If you purchased this item from Amazon, delete the item and download it again from Archived Items on Home.

Synamon · 10-16-2012, 02:57 PM

If the ebooks have DRM, you can't transfer them from one Kindle to another. You have to download a copy of the ebook coded for the correct Kindle from your Manage My Kindle page.

Zikerzee · 10-16-2012, 05:36 PM

Thanks Synamon-- I ran them through a plug-in in Calibre that was supposed to make them transferable and I can now read them in Calibre but just not on the other kindle, does that sound like it's somehow the DRM?

pidgeon92 · 10-16-2012, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zikerzee

Thanks Synamon-- I ran them through a plug-in in Calibre that was supposed to make them transferable and I can now read them in Calibre but just not on the other kindle, does that sound like it's somehow the DRM?

No, that doesn't make sense. If you can open them with Calibre, the DRM is gone and you should be able to open them on either Kindle.

I assume you uploaded the exact same file from calibre to each Kindle?

Fluribus · 10-16-2012, 06:51 PM

My suspicion is that the files got slightly scrambled somehow.

Do you have the latest version of Calibre? Have you tried deleting the books completely and starting over? Have you used every curse that you can think of? Have you knocked back a case of whiskey?

Zikerzee · 10-17-2012, 09:28 AM

Pidgeon-- Yes I've been uploading the exact same file that I can read on Calibre onto the kindles and it just doesn't work.
Fluribus-- I've updated Calibre, deleted the books from the Calibre and Kindle libraries, re-adopted them, can read them in Calibre just fine, resend them to the kindles and then i get that damn error message.... unfortunately i'm only part way through the case of whiskey, maybe that is the problem.

pidgeon92 · 10-17-2012, 11:54 AM

Are there any odd characters in the filename?

Is this the only ebook you have tried to load onto the Kindles after removing the DRM? If it works on other ebooks, then there is a problem with that file.

Serapeum · 10-17-2012, 02:33 PM

What file format are you trying to transfer?

Zikerzee · 10-17-2012, 05:07 PM

This is the first time i've tried this with post DRM books. The books are nothing exotic, "the brotherband chronicles" and "the dark is rising". I'm trying to upload them in MOBI format,

The original files were AZW3, but if you take off the 3 at the end, Calibre would accept them and you could read them in Calibre. It showed the format was MOBI as well.

pidgeon92 · 10-17-2012, 05:44 PM

The error message you are getting generally only appears when the DRM is still intact on the files.

How did you get the files into calibre? Did you take them off one of the Kindles, or did you download them from Amazon (specifying one of the Kindles as the ultimate destination after transferring via USB)?

I do wonder if the AZW3 format is the problem. When I download my Kindle books and liberate them, I download to my K2, so I don't get AZW3 files. Now I'm curious and will have to test this out.

pidgeon92 · 10-17-2012, 06:10 PM

So, I just updated calibre to 0.9.2, as I couldn't add an AZW3 ebook with the version I was on (0.8.39). Oddly, when I try to view the AZW3 book in calibre, instead of opening the ebook, it tries to add it again.

OK, got that problem fixed, have to change the Preferences -> Behavior to open an AZW3 file in the calibre viewer. Once this is done, you don't need to change the file extension on the file.

pidgeon92 · 10-17-2012, 07:59 PM

There's probably a better solution, but this works:

Convert the .mobi to epub in calibre. Delete the .mobi file in calibre. Convert the epub to .mobi. Upload the .mobi to the Kindle.

Zikerzee · 10-18-2012, 11:48 AM

I will try it, Thanks!

Zikerzee · 10-18-2012, 12:14 PM

Oh hot damn! it worked! Thanks Pidgeon!!!

10-16-2012, 12:04 PM	#1
Zikerzee Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: kindle keyboard	Problem getting book from Calibre to Kindle Hi-- So I have two kindles, a touch and a keyboard and I was trying to transfer a book from the touch to the keyboard and one from the keyboard to the touch. In Calibre both books show up and I can read them there, but when I have tried to read them on the other kindle nothing shows up, I've tried re-converting it to MOBI and connecting directly, but for some reason I can't get it to work. Any thoughts on how to fix this?

10-17-2012, 05:44 PM	#11
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	The error message you are getting generally only appears when the DRM is still intact on the files. How did you get the files into calibre? Did you take them off one of the Kindles, or did you download them from Amazon (specifying one of the Kindles as the ultimate destination after transferring via USB)? I do wonder if the AZW3 format is the problem. When I download my Kindle books and liberate them, I download to my K2, so I don't get AZW3 files. Now I'm curious and will have to test this out. Last edited by pidgeon92; 10-17-2012 at 05:50 PM.

10-17-2012, 06:10 PM	#12
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	So, I just updated calibre to 0.9.2, as I couldn't add an AZW3 ebook with the version I was on (0.8.39). Oddly, when I try to view the AZW3 book in calibre, instead of opening the ebook, it tries to add it again. OK, got that problem fixed, have to change the Preferences -> Behavior to open an AZW3 file in the calibre viewer. Once this is done, you don't need to change the file extension on the file. Last edited by pidgeon92; 10-17-2012 at 08:06 PM.

10-17-2012, 07:59 PM	#13
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	There's probably a better solution, but this works: Convert the .mobi to epub in calibre. Delete the .mobi file in calibre. Convert the epub to .mobi. Upload the .mobi to the Kindle. Last edited by pidgeon92; 10-17-2012 at 08:05 PM.

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10-16-2012, 12:43 PM	#2
Zikerzee Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: kindle keyboard	The error I keep getting on the Kindles is: Unable to Open Item The selected item could not be opened. If you purchased this item from Amazon, delete the item and download it again from Archived Items on Home.

10-16-2012, 02:57 PM	#3
Synamon Lunatic Posts: 1,691 Karma: 4386372 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Land of the Loonie Device: Kindle Paperwhite and Keyboard, Kobo Aura, iPad mini, iPod Touch	If the ebooks have DRM, you can't transfer them from one Kindle to another. You have to download a copy of the ebook coded for the correct Kindle from your Manage My Kindle page.

10-16-2012, 05:36 PM	#4
Zikerzee Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: kindle keyboard	Thanks Synamon-- I ran them through a plug-in in Calibre that was supposed to make them transferable and I can now read them in Calibre but just not on the other kindle, does that sound like it's somehow the DRM?

10-16-2012, 06:51 PM	#6
Fluribus Guru Posts: 891 Karma: 8893661 Join Date: Feb 2012 Device: Kindle	My suspicion is that the files got slightly scrambled somehow. Do you have the latest version of Calibre? Have you tried deleting the books completely and starting over? Have you used every curse that you can think of? Have you knocked back a case of whiskey?

10-17-2012, 09:28 AM	#7
Zikerzee Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: kindle keyboard	Pidgeon-- Yes I've been uploading the exact same file that I can read on Calibre onto the kindles and it just doesn't work. Fluribus-- I've updated Calibre, deleted the books from the Calibre and Kindle libraries, re-adopted them, can read them in Calibre just fine, resend them to the kindles and then i get that damn error message.... unfortunately i'm only part way through the case of whiskey, maybe that is the problem.

10-17-2012, 11:54 AM	#8
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	Are there any odd characters in the filename? Is this the only ebook you have tried to load onto the Kindles after removing the DRM? If it works on other ebooks, then there is a problem with that file.

10-17-2012, 02:33 PM	#9
Serapeum Member Posts: 22 Karma: 473300 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Moon Reader+	What file format are you trying to transfer?

10-17-2012, 05:07 PM	#10
Zikerzee Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: kindle keyboard	This is the first time i've tried this with post DRM books. The books are nothing exotic, "the brotherband chronicles" and "the dark is rising". I'm trying to upload them in MOBI format, The original files were AZW3, but if you take off the 3 at the end, Calibre would accept them and you could read them in Calibre. It showed the format was MOBI as well.

10-18-2012, 11:48 AM	#14
Zikerzee Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: kindle keyboard	I will try it, Thanks!

10-18-2012, 12:14 PM	#15
Zikerzee Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2012 Device: kindle keyboard	Oh hot damn! it worked! Thanks Pidgeon!!!

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