Palm Digital Ereader support, or lack of it!

Trep · 01-11-2005, 04:50 PM

I have a problem with Palm reader and have raised it with their support team. An automated reply was sent me on 17th December with ticket number. Since then NOTHING, despite two further emails from me.
Perhaps someone on this forum might have a simple way of solving the problem?!

I have changed up to a new palm T3 and changed my username in the process. I had an ebook from Palm Digital, with receipt dated 2002-10-31, since when my email address has changed.

The book and Palm reader worked fine on my old Palm 505. It does not work on my T3 tho' I have the two files, booknameExpdb and booknameKzpdb on it.

I log on to Palm Digital, put in my new email and discover my old purchase is not linked to my account.

I try the trial eReader Pro but it does not pick up the bookname files either.

Any suggestions welcome!

Trep

rlauzon · 01-11-2005, 05:32 PM

That's what you get for supporting DRM (Digital RESTRICTION Management).

One of the big problems with DRM is what happens if your ID changes? You lose everything that is locked to that ID.

I highly doubt that anyone from Palm Digital will contact you. It's in their best interest (until most people eschew DRM) to make you repurchase your eBooks.

Bob Russell · 01-11-2005, 05:52 PM

Actually, I have a different impression of the folks at eReader.com. They strike me as a very professional and good-natured group that really cares about customers and the general welfare of the market. They have chosen this DRM method partly because it is less restrictive than most and the marketplace (content providers) are not at the point where they would let go of DRM yet.

Give it some time and I think you'll find they'll get back to you. They're just slow sometimes. Submit another ticket if necessary.

As far as your particular files, you don't need to worry about the email if you can remember (or guess) the name you used when purchasing and the credit card number. I had a problem with some files because I didn't know what form of my name (caps or small, middle initial, first name or nickname, etc.) and which credit card # I had used way back then. I was very frustrated also. But I got lucky because with some (lots of) persistence and many trials I figured out all the necessary combos. Once a CC#/Name pair is accepted, all books under that pair are readable.

If that doesn't work for you, don't give up yet... I still think they will contact you. Check for a phone number on the site also, but unfortunately a lot of esellers don't seem to have phone support so if they don't answer email in a timely fashion you're stuck. Handango kept me waiting for a long time with a help request and I had given up. Finally they did take care of me, but I think it was a month or two later! That's not right, but it's the reality.

Good luck!

tddisc · 01-12-2005, 05:08 PM

Trep,

This actually has nothing to do with DRM, rights or restrictions.

First, the two files you have on your device, booknameEx.pdb and booknameKz.pdb, are not the actual book. They are files that save additional information, like notes, highlighting, and current location in the book. So, no, eReader will not list those files in the 'Open' dialog. You need the file bookname.pdb, that is the actual book. If you have that file, then all you need is the CC you used to purchase the book and you don't need to redownload it.

Since your new email isn't 'linked' to the old email as you say, can you log in using your old email address? Perhaps when you changed emails, a new account was created instead of updating the old.

It is too bad that you haven't gotten a reply, but I hope this helps.

TD

Trep · 02-01-2005, 02:05 PM

Many thanks for your combined suggestions on this problem which have enabled me to solve it (with no help from palm Digital Support who still have not followed up their original ticket !)

Basically I discovered I had two registrations on their database - one was the old, right one which had the record of my purchase and the other was the new one which I naively thought had superceded the old one. So having redownloaded the original book it now works fine.

01-11-2005, 04:50 PM	#1
Trep Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: London Device: Palm Tungsten T3	Palm Digital Ereader support, or lack of it! I have a problem with Palm reader and have raised it with their support team. An automated reply was sent me on 17th December with ticket number. Since then NOTHING, despite two further emails from me. Perhaps someone on this forum might have a simple way of solving the problem?! I have changed up to a new palm T3 and changed my username in the process. I had an ebook from Palm Digital, with receipt dated 2002-10-31, since when my email address has changed. The book and Palm reader worked fine on my old Palm 505. It does not work on my T3 tho' I have the two files, booknameExpdb and booknameKzpdb on it. I log on to Palm Digital, put in my new email and discover my old purchase is not linked to my account. I try the trial eReader Pro but it does not pick up the bookname files either. Any suggestions welcome! Trep

01-11-2005, 05:32 PM	#2
rlauzon Wizard Posts: 1,018 Karma: 67827 Join Date: Jan 2005 Device: PocketBook Era	DRM That's what you get for supporting DRM (Digital RESTRICTION Management). One of the big problems with DRM is what happens if your ID changes? You lose everything that is locked to that ID. I highly doubt that anyone from Palm Digital will contact you. It's in their best interest (until most people eschew DRM) to make you repurchase your eBooks.

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01-11-2005, 05:52 PM	#3
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	Actually, I have a different impression of the folks at eReader.com. They strike me as a very professional and good-natured group that really cares about customers and the general welfare of the market. They have chosen this DRM method partly because it is less restrictive than most and the marketplace (content providers) are not at the point where they would let go of DRM yet. Give it some time and I think you'll find they'll get back to you. They're just slow sometimes. Submit another ticket if necessary. As far as your particular files, you don't need to worry about the email if you can remember (or guess) the name you used when purchasing and the credit card number. I had a problem with some files because I didn't know what form of my name (caps or small, middle initial, first name or nickname, etc.) and which credit card # I had used way back then. I was very frustrated also. But I got lucky because with some (lots of) persistence and many trials I figured out all the necessary combos. Once a CC#/Name pair is accepted, all books under that pair are readable. If that doesn't work for you, don't give up yet... I still think they will contact you. Check for a phone number on the site also, but unfortunately a lot of esellers don't seem to have phone support so if they don't answer email in a timely fashion you're stuck. Handango kept me waiting for a long time with a help request and I had given up. Finally they did take care of me, but I think it was a month or two later! That's not right, but it's the reality. Good luck!

01-12-2005, 05:08 PM	#4
tddisc Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2005 Device: TT3 & iPaq 5555	Trep, This actually has nothing to do with DRM, rights or restrictions. First, the two files you have on your device, booknameEx.pdb and booknameKz.pdb, are not the actual book. They are files that save additional information, like notes, highlighting, and current location in the book. So, no, eReader will not list those files in the 'Open' dialog. You need the file bookname.pdb, that is the actual book. If you have that file, then all you need is the CC you used to purchase the book and you don't need to redownload it. Since your new email isn't 'linked' to the old email as you say, can you log in using your old email address? Perhaps when you changed emails, a new account was created instead of updating the old. It is too bad that you haven't gotten a reply, but I hope this helps. TD

02-01-2005, 02:05 PM	#5
Trep Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: London Device: Palm Tungsten T3	Many thanks for your combined suggestions on this problem which have enabled me to solve it (with no help from palm Digital Support who still have not followed up their original ticket !) Basically I discovered I had two registrations on their database - one was the old, right one which had the record of my purchase and the other was the new one which I naively thought had superceded the old one. So having redownloaded the original book it now works fine.

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