[GUI Plugin] KindleUnpack - The Plugin

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by mark4asp

2. A recent book (bought last week) was not recognised as being in mobi format, the the file menu didn't even provide the option to convert

In this type of situation you should see one of two messages in the plugin's menu: 1) 'No suitable format to unpack.' or 2) 'Error encountered with X format.' (X being the format of the particular book giving you issues)

Are you seeing either of those messages?

3. The 3rd book produced no files, but gave an error message (below)

Looks like an embedded font issue in a KF8 book.

[JSWolf]

I've found a bug in the plugin. I just converted a KF8/AZW3 file to ePub and the embedded fonts are now corrupt. They are fine when I tweak the KF8, but in the ePub, they are no good.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I've found a bug in the plugin. I just converted a KF8/AZW3 file to ePub and the embedded fonts are now corrupt. They are fine when I tweak the KF8, but in the ePub, they are no good.

I think you'll find that the fonts are simply obfuscated, not corrupt. The embedded fonts still display fine when viewing the ePub in a reader capable of dealing with standard font obfuscation (such as ADE-based apps/devices).

If the fonts were obfuscated in the KF8 file, then they will be obfuscated in the ePub that Mobi_Unpack produces. This is not a bug ... it's a design choice. There's several easy ways to de-obfuscate those font files if that's something you have no qualms about doing, but you'll have to make that call (and do the homework) yourself. Mobi_Unpack won't do it for you.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I think you'll find that the fonts are simply obfuscated, not corrupt. The embedded fonts still display fine when viewing the ePub in a reader capable of dealing with standard font obfuscation (such as ADE-based apps/devices).

If the fonts were obfuscated in the KF8 file, then they will be obfuscated in the ePub that Mobi_Unpack produces. This is not a bug ... it's a design choice. There's several easy ways to de-obfuscate those font files if that's something you have no qualms about doing, but you'll have to make that call (and do the homework) yourself. Mobi_Unpack won't do it for you.

Why not just leave the fonts alone? There's nothing wrong with them when looked at in the KF8. They can be viewed with Windows font viewer just fine. But in the ePub, no way. If it's a design choice, it's the wrong choice. Why screw with the fonts when there is no need of it? The idea is to remove all traces of DRM and whatnot and all this does is just add in a layer of crap that we don't need and we don't want. This makes the fonts no longer standard font files which is what they should be. Please take out this font fiddling and leave the fonts alone.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Why not just leave the fonts alone? There's nothing wrong with them when looked at in the KF8. They can be viewed with Windows font viewer just fine.

Simply put.... Mobi_Unpack IS choosing to leave them alone. They ARE obfuscated in the original KF8. It's only the "tweak" feature of calibre that's unobfuscating them and allowing you to view/edit them in the first place. I suggest you continue to use that if you want to view/edit the font files.

The idea is to remove all traces of DRM and whatnot and all this does is just add in a layer of crap that we don't need and we don't want.

That is certainly not the idea behind Mobi_Unpack. Not at all. Mobi_Unpack is not designed to remove any DRM remnants or any encryption whatsoever. It is designed to unpack the contents of the MOBI/KF8 with as little alteration to the original contents as possible. Period. I repeat: Mobi_Unpack is not "adding" a layer of anything that wasn't there to begin with.

I'm afraid you'll just have to be disappointed with mobi_unpack. Further conversation about this particular issue would be rather pointless.

[JSWolf]

You say that Tweak Book is sorting out the fonts so they are now normal fonts when the KF8 is exploded and that when the KF8 is converted to ePub, the plugin is doing nothing to the fonts.

If that's so, then why aren't the fonts in the ePub coming out normal when Tweak Book is used?

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

If that's so, then why aren't the fonts in the ePub coming out normal when Tweak Book is used?

I don't care. Use other tools if this one doesn't suit you.

[Tugger]

I have just tried this plugin for the first time and it is giving me errors. I'm running the latest Calibre.
Yes I did restart Calibre!
This is on Win 7, 64 bit, 12GB of memory.

calibre, version 0.8.62
ERROR: MobiUnpack - The Plugin v0.5.1:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre_plugins.mobiunpack_plugin.extraction" , line 163, in unpack_ebook
File "calibre_plugins.mobiunpack_plugin.utilities", line 211, in unpackMOBI
File "calibre_plugins.mobiunpack_plugin.mobiunpack.mobi _unpack", line 950, in unpackBook
File "calibre_plugins.mobiunpack_plugin.mobiunpack.mobi _unpack", line 664, in process_all_mobi_headers
File "calibre_plugins.mobiunpack_plugin.mobiunpack.mobi _unpack", line 253, in loadSection
MemoryError
---------------------------------------

Any suggestions please?

[Tugger]

So is this plugin no longer supported/deprecated?

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Tugger

So is this plugin no longer supported/deprecated?

No. According to Calibre - Preferences - Plugins the latest version of this plugin was released on 18 Jun 2012 and the author is DiapDealer. DiapDealer last responded to a post in this thread 9 days ago. So asking if this plugin is "no longer supported/deprecated" is extremely passive aggressive.

It would have been more polite to add some details about your situation and ask again.

Does it happen with every book?
Was it a prc, mobi or azw?
How large is the book?
Is the book unique in any way, dictionary, bible, programming guide?
What is the origin/source of the book?

Since you reported a memory error I'm guessing you ran out of memory with this book and that this problem doesn't happen with other books.

With any luck someone with more might be along to help you further.

[Doitsu]

@JSWolf: This plug-in is primarily intended for users with solid reverse engineering skills. If you don't understand the limitations of reverse engineering don't use this plug-in.

Originally Posted by Tugger

I have just tried this plugin for the first time and it is giving me errors.

Did you also try to manually unpack the .mobi file with the stand-alone mobiunpack.py script?

[DiapDealer]

Hey guys ... just got back from vacation a day or so ago and I'm just getting around to catching up on some online stuff.

Anywho ... yes, this plugin is still being actively maintained and updated. I'm a little behind the times with staying in sync with the underlying stand-alone mobi_unpack engine, but I don't think the latest update(s) in the stand-alone code would change anything here.

Dwanthy asked some excellent questions. I would have asked them all—and the answers to all of them will be very helpful in debugging. In addition, to those questions, I would ask: is that ebook file viewable with calibre (or other mobi/kindle devices/apps) before unpacking? Because it sure looks/sounds like a corrupt/unexpected/unprecedented MOBI header.

The error is occurring in the underlying mobi_unpack code, so if you have the ability to run python scripts, you may want to try using the very latest stand-alone script (link in the first post in this thread) and see if it produces the same error. Enabling debug mode will provide even more detailed output that may help identify the issue.

The very best way to troubleshoot this would be if I had a free, legal copy of the ebook file in question. If it's a retail ebook and it's free or very, very cheap, feel free to give me the details on how I can lay my hands on it (or one that exhibits the same behavior). Just don't upload the file here if there are ANY questions about copyright/legality. Feel free to PM me if you have any copyright concerns.

[Tugger]

No rudeness was intended. I waited 6 days before asking. I am very happy to learn that DiapDealer is here and looking after it.

To answer some questions:
It is a mobi.
It is viewable in Calibre and a Kindle Keyboard.
It was generated by the Amazon InDesign Plugin, latest version, 0.971.
There is nothing special about the book, it is not large.
I have 12GB of memory, so it can't be that sort of memory that ran out.

I would be delighted to create a new mobi file of the start and chapter 1 of the book, and send it to you. Obviously I will check that it gives the same error. I will PM DiapDealer to ask where I should email it.

[DiapDealer]

Excellent. I've never dealt with a MOBI created with the InDesign plugin (that I know of), but keep in mind that even though it's available as one of Amazon's publishing programs... it is the only one that's still considered "beta"—whatever that suggests. Look forward to checking it out.

By any chance, have you produced other MOBIs with the ID plugin that Mobi_Unpack has worked with?

[Tugger]

Inexplicably the plugin now works perfectly every time. Even on the same book that it failed on before. Baffling.