RTF only converts when Kindle is attached

[evilknvl]

I have an odd problem. I'm using the latest version of Calibre with a Kindle and I'm trying to convert some RTF files to MOBI. When I select the files in the library view and hit convert an error "Failed to convert book".

What's odd is that if I plug in my kindle and hit "Send to Device" it asks me if I want to auto-convert before sending. I select OK and calibre converts the RTF file to MOBI with no problems. I'm baffled by this.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
Simon

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by evilknvl

Any thoughts?

My thoughts are to include the entire error when asking for help.

You can get the entire conversion log with error by clicking on the jobs in the lower right corner, selecting the job and clicking Show job details. That is show us the conversion log of a failed job with the device not connected.

[evilknvl]

Here you go. The more I look into this the more it looks like it just won't convert specific of these RTF files. The book that sucessfully auto-converted while sending to my device I just retested by deleting the MOBI and trying to convert RTF-MOBI with the kindle unplugged and it converted just fine.




calibre, version 0.7.48
ERROR: Conversion Error: <b>Failed</b>: Convert book 1 of 1 (The Dark Queen)

Convert book 1 of 1 (The Dark Queen)
Resolved conversion options
calibre version: 0.7.48
{'asciiize': False,
'author_sort': None,
'authors': None,
'base_font_size': 0.0,
'book_producer': None,
'change_justification': u'original',
'chapter': u"//*[((name()='h1' or name()='h2') and re:test(., 'chapter|book|section|part|prologue|epilogue\\s+', 'i')) or @class = 'chapter']",
'chapter_mark': u'pagebreak',
'comments': None,
'cover': None,
'debug_pipeline': None,
'dehyphenate': True,
'delete_blank_paragraphs': True,
'disable_font_rescaling': False,
'dont_compress': False,
'enable_heuristics': False,
'extra_css': None,
'fix_indents': True,
'font_size_mapping': None,
'format_scene_breaks': True,
'html_unwrap_factor': 0.4,
'input_encoding': None,
'input_profile': <calibre.customize.profiles.InputProfile object at 0x0591B1F0>,
'insert_blank_line': False,
'insert_metadata': False,
'isbn': None,
'italicize_common_cases': True,
'keep_ligatures': False,
'language': None,
'level1_toc': None,
'level2_toc': None,
'level3_toc': None,
'line_height': 0.0,
'linearize_tables': False,
'margin_bottom': 5.0,
'margin_left': 5.0,
'margin_right': 5.0,
'margin_top': 5.0,
'markup_chapter_headings': True,
'max_toc_links': 50,
'minimum_line_height': 120.0,
'mobi_ignore_margins': False,
'no_chapters_in_toc': False,
'no_inline_navbars': True,
'no_inline_toc': False,
'output_profile': <calibre.customize.profiles.KindleOutput object at 0x0591B510>,
'page_breaks_before': u"//*[name()='h1' or name()='h2']",
'personal_doc': u'[PDOC]',
'prefer_author_sort': False,
'prefer_metadata_cover': False,
'pretty_print': False,
'pubdate': None,
'publisher': None,
'rating': None,
'read_metadata_from_opf': 'c:\\users\\simon\\appdata\\local\\temp\\calibre_0 .7.48_tmp_i7i7zn\\calibre_0.7.48_jp7cwt.opf',
'remove_first_image': False,
'remove_paragraph_spacing': False,
'remove_paragraph_spacing_indent_size': 1.5,
'renumber_headings': True,
'replace_scene_breaks': u'',
'rescale_images': False,
'series': None,
'series_index': None,
'smarten_punctuation': False,
'sr1_replace': None,
'sr1_search': None,
'sr2_replace': None,
'sr2_search': None,
'sr3_replace': None,
'sr3_search': None,
'tags': None,
'timestamp': None,
'title': None,
'title_sort': None,
'toc_filter': None,
'toc_threshold': 6,
'toc_title': None,
'unwrap_lines': True,
'use_auto_toc': False,
'verbose': 2}
InputFormatPlugin: RTF Input running
on C:\Users\Simon\Test Library Take Two\Dragonlance - Villains 6\The Dark Queen (342)\The Dark Queen - Dragonlance - Villains 6.rtf
Converting RTF to XML...
Python function terminated unexpectedly

Invalid RTF: document doesn't start with {

Exception in token processing (Error Code: 1)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "site.py", line 103, in main
File "site.py", line 85, in run_entry_point
File "site-packages\calibre\utils\ipc\worker.py", line 110, in main
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\convert\gui_conversion.py", line 31, in gui_convert_override
File "site-packages\calibre\gui2\convert\gui_conversion.py", line 25, in gui_convert
File "site-packages\calibre\ebooks\conversion\plumber.py", line 904, in run
File "site-packages\calibre\customize\conversion.py", line 204, in __call__
File "site-packages\calibre\ebooks\rtf\input.py", line 269, in convert
File "site-packages\calibre\ebooks\rtf\input.py", line 131, in generate_xml
File "site-packages\calibre\ebooks\rtf2xml\ParseRtf.py", line 252, in parse_rtf
calibre.ebooks.rtf2xml.ParseRtf.InvalidRtfExceptio n:
Invalid RTF: document doesn't start with {

Exception in token processing

[ldolse]

According to this error this specific rtf file is corrupted. I'm not sure based on your second response if it fails with or without the Kindle.

You can try opening in MS Word - it sometimes can repair corrupted rtf files, and then save/export as filtered html from there and import the html back to Calibre.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by ldolse

e.

You can try opening in MS Word - it sometimes can repair corrupted rtf files, and then save/export as filtered html from there and import the html back to Calibre.

in my experience that repair rarely works, if ever. if a convert TO .rtf fails then its better to convert those specific files to txt instead, & accept some loss of formatting, then go txt to rtf or whatever via word.
I have never seen a convert FROM (good) .rtf fail

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by cybmole

in my experience that repair rarely works, if ever. if a convert TO .rtf fails then its better to convert those specific files to txt instead, & accept some loss of formatting, then go txt to rtf or whatever via word.
I have never seen a convert FROM (good) .rtf fail

He is trying to convert these FROM rtf TO mobi.

@evilknvl do as ldolse stated and try to open them in Word. If they open in Word then saving them as suggested might work.

[Manichean]

I'm confused by the fact that autoconvert when sending to the Kindle seems to work. Out of curiosity, what happens when you connect the Kindle, but try to manually convert? Do you still get an error?

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Manichean

I'm confused by the fact that autoconvert when sending to the Kindle seems to work. Out of curiosity, what happens when you connect the Kindle, but try to manually convert? Do you still get an error?

He already moved on and decided it has nothing to do with the Kindle being connected. ldolse has stated, according to the error log it is a corrupted rtf file.

We'll know more when/if the OP responds back.

[Manichean]

Ah, I missed that. I need more coffee, I guess. Nevermind, then.

[evilknvl]

Thanks for the advice on opening and resaving. It looks like opening a corrupted file with Word and re-saving it even as an RTF eliminates the problem. I haven't tried saving as HTML yet, I have at least 100 files throwing this error so I'm looking into how to write a batch file to fix them.

When I connected the Kindle I inadvertently grabbed another book in the same series without realizing it. Sorry for the confusion.

Thanks to everyone for the help.

Simon