Sideloading Audiobooks

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by rtiangha

I wonder if it'd be possible to recompile and replace the multimedia libraries with one that has support for more codecs. I'd try it myself, but I don't have one of these devices and no plans to get one any time soon (my Glo HD is still going strong).

Kobo has a plugin structure which is how this works. Writing a plugin for other codecs is what is needed. Unfortunately, Kobo do not really support others adding plugins and don't publish specs for it. If you replicate what is in libm3pz.so (hopefully I have remembered the file name properly) for other formats, it should be possible to make other codecs work.

[Nikoz]

Originally Posted by xor_

Works on my German Libra 2. At least the pure mp3 music playing part. Haven't tried audiobooks yet because I don't have any at this point.

I'm in a restricted country as well; I used a free credit to buy an audiobook from kobo and couldn't download it from the web account nor find it on the desktop app: it turns out we can only listen to them on phones or tablets.
So we can only read sideloaded audiobooks - if only the application that reads mp3z files could remember the position in the file. I think I'll try to cut each file in 1- or 2min chunks.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by Nikoz

I'm in a restricted country as well; I used a free credit to buy an audiobook from kobo and couldn't download it from the web account nor find it on the desktop app: it turns out we can only listen to them on phones or tablets.

I'm a bit surprised that if you are in a country where you can buy ebooks, that they aren't enabled on the device. Hopefully that will change shortly. But, I would contact Kobo and check what is happening.

[Nikoz]

Originally Posted by davidfor

I'm a bit surprised that if you are in a country where you can buy ebooks, that they aren't enabled on the device. Hopefully that will change shortly. But, I would contact Kobo and check what is happening.

From what I understand, audiobooks are blocked on e-readers only because of a law pushed by a lobby (of big booksellers I would think) but it's hard to find details about this, and it's not really advertised on the audiobooks or e-readers website. For example Kobo's says we can listen to audiobooks with their e-readers but there's an asterisk which notes that audiobooks are "available only in certain countries". Audible file format (AAX) is on the list of of supported file formats on the Kindle paperwhite, but the description does not mention reading audiobooks at all. You can buy audiobooks from Audible and the Kobo audiobook website but pictures and mentions of e-readers are conspicuously missing from their websites, and in fact you can only listen to them on tablets and phones (and apparently desktop, for audible books).

[Deobulakenyo]

Someone made a video tut of this

[GreatSyxsuke]

I just tried this with my Libra 2 and it does not show the mp3z files I added. One has just a single file in it and the other has 10 or so. I followed the directions exactly like in the video and when I eject, there is nothing new in My Books. I even did a reboot to see if that might trigger an import but still no listing of mp3z "books".

[Deobulakenyo]

Originally Posted by GreatSyxsuke

I just tried this with my Libra 2 and it does not show the mp3z files I added. One has just a single file in it and the other has 10 or so. I followed the directions exactly like in the video and when I eject, there is nothing new in My Books. I even did a reboot to see if that might trigger an import but still no listing of mp3z "books".

I personally tried this on my Libra 2 and the file played and was listed under Mybooks. Since it was an mp3 file, the album cover was even shown on the screen while it is playing.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by GreatSyxsuke

I just tried this with my Libra 2 and it does not show the mp3z files I added. One has just a single file in it and the other has 10 or so. I followed the directions exactly like in the video and when I eject, there is nothing new in My Books. I even did a reboot to see if that might trigger an import but still no listing of mp3z "books".

This is on a Sage but here's what I see when playing a test MP3Z file generated from a freebie audio book my wife had.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by GreatSyxsuke

I just tried this with my Libra 2 and it does not show the mp3z files I added. One has just a single file in it and the other has 10 or so. I followed the directions exactly like in the video and when I eject, there is nothing new in My Books. I even did a reboot to see if that might trigger an import but still no listing of mp3z "books".

All I can say is that it works here. All I did was zipped up some mp3 files and then changed the extension to "mp3z". I don't know what happens if you have subdirectories in the file. And there cab be issues with the file names used.

And for the record, the device does not import books after a reboot. This is triggered when disconnecting from the PC.

[Uncle Robin]

Originally Posted by Deobulakenyo

[
Someone made a video out of this

Thanks for sharing the video, it made the process so simple even I could grasp it. The audio works fine too, but unfortunately it seems that one can read a book OR [B] listen to a book, but it is not possible to do both at the same time. I had hoped I might be able to to listen to Il Gattopardo while reading along on my Sage, but I was not able to do so. Back to using my ereader with my PC supplying the audio, I guess.

[rantanplan]

I guess this is a Kindle/Audible only feature.

[GreatSyxsuke]

Originally Posted by davidfor

All I can say is that it works here. All I did was zipped up some mp3 files and then changed the extension to "mp3z". I don't know what happens if you have subdirectories in the file. And there cab be issues with the file names used.

And for the record, the device does not import books after a reboot. This is triggered when disconnecting from the PC.

Oh, I know it doesn’t do an import after a reboot. I worded it incorrectly, my thought process was perhaps a reboot would make it “see” there was a new file. Regardless, I have one mp3z file in the root (not .kobo) and one in a folder like the video but neither show up.

Do you have an example of an issue due to a file name? Perhaps that’s where my issue lies.

[davidfor]

Originally Posted by GreatSyxsuke

Oh, I know it doesn’t do an import after a reboot. I worded it incorrectly, my thought process was perhaps a reboot would make it “see” there was a new file. Regardless, I have one mp3z file in the root (not .kobo) and one in a folder like the video but neither show up.

Do you have an example of an issue due to a file name? Perhaps that’s where my issue lies.

Are you sure it isn't there? Sideloaded audiobooks don't show up as a separate type of book. If you purchase one from Kobo, the filters in the book list will have "Audiobook" added. But, sideloaded audiobooks just appear as a book. The type in the list will be "MP3Z". Check the filter you are using and the sort to make sure it definitely isn't there.

For the filename, some accented or extended character sets can cause problems. Keep it simple to start. The internal files follow the same rules. The only other thing would be to make sure you haven't put it somewhere you have added the ignore rule for. The root directory should be fine.

It could also be being blocked by something else. Does the importing screen show after you eject the device? If there is an error in another book, it can block importing more books. If this is the case, you will see the importing screen but probably won't see any new books added.

And for the record, I did check again when I saw this. I don't use audiobooks myself, so I had to recheck that it was working. Just in case.

[GreatSyxsuke]

Originally Posted by davidfor

Are you sure it isn't there? Sideloaded audiobooks don't show up as a separate type of book. If you purchase one from Kobo, the filters in the book list will have "Audiobook" added. But, sideloaded audiobooks just appear as a book. The type in the list will be "MP3Z". Check the filter you are using and the sort to make sure it definitely isn't there.

For the filename, some accented or extended character sets can cause problems. Keep it simple to start. The internal files follow the same rules. The only other thing would be to make sure you haven't put it somewhere you have added the ignore rule for. The root directory should be fine.

It could also be being blocked by something else. Does the importing screen show after you eject the device? If there is an error in another book, it can block importing more books. If this is the case, you will see the importing screen but probably won't see any new books added.

And for the record, I did check again when I saw this. I don't use audiobooks myself, so I had to recheck that it was working. Just in case.

I just checked again, filtering is set to All and I sorted by File Type. Everything is a Kobo EPUB except for the 3 PNGs for Plato, KOReader and kfmon. I reconnected it to my laptop, deleted the Audiobooks folder I created and checked the contents of the mp3z file I had for any characters like you mentioned. The file name is simple to begin with. After ejecting, it still doesn’t show up under My Books. The Importing screen hasn’t come up any time I’ve added an mp3z file to my Kobo, only after adding books.

This isn’t a dealbreaker, I just like knowing I have the option to sideload an audiobook or other mp3s if I get the itch.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

I guess this is a Kindle/Audible only feature.

I would disagree with it being a Kindle/Audible feature. Amazon seems to have dropped Kindle as part of the name for their Fire tablets and the Kindle eInk ereaders are not capable of read along.

In the case of Canada and most other countries, the Kindle eInk ereaders are not capable of playing back Audible audiobooks. To quote emails from Audible Canada:

Thank you for contacting Audible Canada. I hope you & your loved ones are safe & healthy!

I do understand your concern that you are not able to Audible content on a Paper white 5 using Bluetooth ear buds. I will surely assist you with this.

Please accept my sincere apology for the inconvenience this has caused to you.

At this time, "Kindle Paperwhite 5" is not compatible with our Audible software but we do have several other options that might work for you!

If you own an Android, iOS or Windows device, you have the option to install our Audible app and listen directly from your smartphone or tablet. Additionally, if you'd prefer to listen from your computer, you can stream your books directly from your Library without needing to download any files or connect any devices.

At this time, Kindle is not compatible with our Audible.ca software. We are always looking to expand our compatible devices catalog but since an extensive technical testing is required to perfect the final platform it may take a bit longer then expected to release a supported platform.

Oddly, when I queried about a Paperwhite 4, I got pretty much the identical message as when I queried if Audible Canada would be supporting the Paperwhite 5 for audio books.