realigning Calibre with DeDRM

[Jacques Q.]

Hello.
Let's face it: Calibre plays 100% legal (although I am 100% certain that Amazon, Adobe and the like would really, really appreciate its disappearance from the surface of the earth), but the DeDRM plugin that can be obtained on GitHub and through various channels DOES provide a very, very useful tool for those of us (many I'm sure) who can't stand DRMs. I for one, when I buy a Kindle book on Amazon, rush to Calibre, make it fully convertible, DeDRM it and convert it to both EPub and Mobi, then I transfer the Mobi version to any Kindle I wish and plainly delete the AZW/KFX file altogether. So yes, I paid for the book, but no, I will not have its use limited to such or such platform or device because Jeff Bezos (or somebody else) says so (and don't ask me too hard whether I don't sometimes then, especially for books by now deceased authors, upload the EPub version to some, say, Russian site where others may stumble upon it and feel free to use it, that's something different).
In the light of this, I now have to use quite a few contorsions in order to keep this running : not only use no later version of Kindle for PC than 1.24 (people used to say 1.17 because they said 1.19 already put an end to anything being done, but with both KFX Input and DeDRM plugins, it is - mostly - manageable with 1.24), BUT I ALSO have to keep away from any Calibre update version 5.0 or later, because DeDRM just won't work after version 4.23.
And frankly, I think this is going in the wrong direction. I have no idea what technical obstacles are in the way, but I am absolutely certain that leaving open at least the possibility to run the latest operational version of DeDRM with the latest operational version of Calibre would be a very good move.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Jacques Q.

In the light of this, I now have to use quite a few contorsions in order to keep this running : not only use no later version of Kindle for PC than 1.24 (people used to say 1.17 because they said 1.19 already put an end to anything being done, but with both KFX Input and DeDRM plugins, it is - mostly - manageable with 1.24), BUT I ALSO have to keep away from any Calibre update version 5.0 or later, because DeDRM just won't work after version 4.23.
And frankly, I think this is going in the wrong direction. I have no idea what technical obstacles are in the way, but I am absolutely certain that leaving open at least the possibility to run the latest operational version of DeDRM with the latest operational version of Calibre would be a very good move.

A bit late to the party, are we? As for the issues with the DeDRM plugin, 6.8.0 was written in Python2 and calibre 5 uses Python3 which means that DeDRM needs good chunks of the code rewritten before it will work with calibre 5. That work is in progress but it's going to take a while. If nothing else, there are portions of the code that are not easy to follow much less re-write. And I am using K4PC 1.29 with no problems to download books from Amazon and import to calibre.

[Jacques Q.]

Well, thanks for the answer. I am late to the party indeed, and I must add that your explanation reads a bit like Martian to me. What I understand is that the problem lies with DeDRM and not with Calibre. All right.
Now regarding Kindle for PC, if I use 1.29, I get the files imported from Amazon as "KFX_ZIP" (or "AZW_ZIP", can't remember exactly) in Calibre, they can't be read, much less converted - which doesn't happen with 1.24.

[theducks]

the ZIP indicates FAIL
which, if you had digested the Sticky, is because THE DRM PI do not work with Calibre5 (which switched coding language with lots of advanced discussions)

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Jacques Q.

Well, thanks for the answer. I am late to the party indeed, and I must add that your explanation reads a bit like Martian to me. What I understand is that the problem lies with DeDRM and not with Calibre. All right.
Now regarding Kindle for PC, if I use 1.29, I get the files imported from Amazon as "KFX_ZIP" (or "AZW_ZIP", can't remember exactly) in Calibre, they can't be read, much less converted - which doesn't happen with 1.24.

If you take a look in the Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 and KFX in calibre thread, in message #968, there's a batch file that will start Kindle for PC and disable it's ability to download KFX. Check the message before for that for the genesis of this file.

This is a workaround to 1.29's updated KFX encryption after the previous method was decrypted.

[Jacques Q.]

Originally Posted by DNSB

If you take a look in the Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 and KFX in calibre thread, in message #968, there's a batch file that will start Kindle for PC and disable it's ability to download KFX. Check the message before for that for the genesis of this file.

This is a workaround to 1.29's updated KFX encryption after the previous method was decrypted.

Thanks a lot indeed for this. I did download that file but unfortunately I don't know how to "make it work". Should I run it before opening Kindle for PC 1.29? Does it work with Windows or just Linux?
A step-by-step explanation on how to achieve the expected result would be really great. Else I'll have to stick with 1.24 for now, hoping that it doesn't go the way 1.17 did recently (that is, if you recreate it after getting rid of the bloody "forced" 1.29 update, there is apparently no way it will still recognize your Amazon account/password any more.
Sorry if I sound a bit dumb, but I am not one of the technically gifted...

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Jacques Q.

Thanks a lot indeed for this. I did download that file but unfortunately I don't know how to "make it work". Should I run it before opening Kindle for PC 1.29? Does it work with Windows or just Linux?
A step-by-step explanation on how to achieve the expected result would be really great. Else I'll have to stick with 1.24 for now, hoping that it doesn't go the way 1.17 did recently (that is, if you recreate it after getting rid of the bloody "forced" 1.29 update, there is apparently no way it will still recognize your Amazon account/password any more.
Sorry if I sound a bit dumb, but I am not one of the technically gifted...

It doesn't run under Linux. It is not a Linux shell script, it is a Windows batch file. When you run it, it should remove the registry entry where K4PC stores whether or not to download KFX, start Kindle for PC (assuming it is in the default location), waits until K4PC creates that registry entry and replaces it with one that says your computer does not support KFX. So download KFX_begone3.zip, extract the kindle.cmd file and double click on it to start K4PC. You will see a screen scrolling up with ERROR: the system was unable to find specified registry key or value every second or so. After K4PC gets started, you'll see a line reading "The operation completed successfully" and then "Press any key to continue". Hitting any key does nothing but close the command windows. At that point K4PC (tested up to version 1.30) is ready to use without downloading KFX format files.

Please note that you should set a different device as the default on Amazon's Manage your devices and content. Otherwise, in the time between K4PC coming up and the registry value being changed, there is a chance that a book will be downloaded in KFX format. This will require you to right click/download each book.

As for re-installing 1.17? I've done that several times. De-register K4PC, uninstall it, install 1.17 and re-register. As far too many people have noticed, even if you remove the checkmark from automatically install updates, Amazon in their "divine" wisdom can and will decide to force an update.

[Jacques Q.]

Originally Posted by DNSB

It doesn't run under Linux. It is not a Linux shell script, it is a Windows batch file. When you run it, it should remove the registry entry where K4PC stores whether or not to download KFX, start Kindle for PC (assuming it is in the default location),

Ah ! There was the rub ! I had put K4PC in a place of its own with various versions of Calibre and other e-book-related software, not let it auto-install in the location it would have chosen. So I'll start anew, but this time let it choose its location.

Originally Posted by DNSB

waits until K4PC creates that registry entry and replaces it with one that says your computer does not support KFX. So download KFX_begone3.zip, extract the kindle.cmd file and double click on it to start K4PC. You will see a screen scrolling up with ERROR: the system was unable to find specified registry key or value every second or so. After K4PC gets started, you'll see a line reading "The operation completed successfully" and then "Press any key to continue". Hitting any key does nothing but close the command windows. At that point K4PC (tested up to version 1.30) is ready to use without downloading KFX format files.

I'll try to do just that quietly and step by step as soon as I have a KFX file to download (which doesn't happen every day).

Originally Posted by DNSB

Please note that you should set a different device as the default on Amazon's Manage your devices and content. Otherwise, in the time between K4PC coming up and the registry value being changed, there is a chance that a book will be downloaded in KFX format. This will require you to right click/download each book.

I'm not sure what this means. In my "Manage your devices" on Amazon, the default is one of my Kindles, not K4PC. Should I leave it like that, as I think I should if I understand properly, or list K4PC, or an other now unused Kindle device as default?

Originally Posted by DNSB

As for re-installing 1.17? I've done that several times. De-register K4PC, uninstall it, install 1.17 and re-register. As far too many people have noticed, even if you remove the checkmark from automatically install updates, Amazon in their "divine" wisdom can and will decide to force an update.

Yes, I used to do it too every time bl**dy Amazon forced an update on me, and it suited my needs just fine. But the last time(s) I did, my account/password combination was not recognised no matter what I did (even if I changed my password inbetween), so there I am having to use versions above 1.17 (which I could very easily do without) and trying to learn how to use the add-on you have been so very kind to introduce and explain to me.
Thanks a lot again indeed.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Jacques Q.

In my "Manage your devices" on Amazon, the default is one of my Kindles, not K4PC. Should I leave it like that, as I think I should if I understand properly, or list K4PC, or an other now unused Kindle device as default?

If you have a Kindle device registered to your Amazon account, even if you never use it, then there is no need to use Kindle for PC at all. See Method 3 in the thread Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 (and later) and KFX in calibre.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Jacques Q.

I'm not sure what this means. In my "Manage your devices" on Amazon, the default is one of my Kindles, not K4PC. Should I leave it like that, as I think I should if I understand properly, or list K4PC, or an other now unused Kindle device as default?

You understand correctly that leaving one of your Kindles as the default is what I was suggesting.

Though if you have an eInk Kindle, as @jhowell suggested, you can use the Download and transfer via USB to avoid th KFX issue.

[Jacques Q.]

Originally Posted by jhowell

If you have a Kindle device registered to your Amazon account, even if you never use it, then there is no need to use Kindle for PC at all. See Method 3 in the thread Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 (and later) and KFX in calibre.

Originally Posted by DNSB

You understand correctly that leaving one of your Kindles as the default is what I was suggesting.

Though if you have an eInk Kindle, as @jhowell suggested, you can use the Download and transfer via USB to avoid th KFX issue.

Thank both of you. You are right about there being no need for Kindle for PC, but I like to keep my e-books in the Amazon cloud (and the collections I created there, because unfortunately I never managed to understand how to create collections with Calibre, not to mention how to transfer them to a Kindle...), so the best way I figured was : get e-book from Amazon -> K4PC -> Calibre + DeDRM -> some Kindle + Amazon cloud (and delete original AZW3/KF8 file both from K4PC and Amazon account altogether).
But I'll look at the post mentioned by jhowell and see if I can indeed do without K4PC entirely.

[Jose63]

Hello guys,

I am missing the most important point in this conversation: how can I download the KFX_begone3.zip file? Is it working as of today, december 27th 2021?

Many thanks

Jose

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Jose63

I am missing the most important point in this conversation: how can I download the KFX_begone3.zip file? Is it working as of today, december 27th 2021?

It still works. For the latest version see this post: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sh...&postcount=966