Problems using both epub and Kindle format books using CC & the Win8.1 Kindle PC app

jukin · 04-02-2014, 09:11 PM

Apologies for being long-winded but this is actually pretty hard to articulate (since I haven't slept for about 40 hours - 'nother story).

I have been using CC for almost a year and love it. I have an Android tablet and use Moon Reader + as my e-reader. I prefer to buy my ebooks from Amazon (I have a Nook HD+) as I have never liked B&N's online store. Anyway, what I have been doing up until now is downloading a Kindle ebook from Amazon onto my PC using the Android Kindle app. I then converted the mobi, awz etc. book to epub and then downloaded it to CC using the Content Server connection to Calibre. I use Windows 8.1 on my PC on which the Kindle app buries downloaded books right down at the bottom of the mine shaft. I got around that by installing the Windows 7 version of the Kindle app. The location of downloaded ebooks was much easier to find (under appdata) and so I was able to import them into Calibre, convert them to epub and it was game over.

Yesterday I got a pop up from the Kindle app saying the version was no longer valid and that I had to upgrade. Now here's my problem, how can I get CC to see both epub and mobi/awz etc titles? I'm sure it's not a problem for CC but where the problem occurs is in identifying the downloaded Kindles titles and importing them into Calibre withut having to convert them. The easy answer is to use CC just for epub titles and llet the Android Kindle app handle the Kindle titles and read them using that app. The problem is that the Android Kindle app has zero organizing options, you just get lumps of books ordered by author, title or date downloaded, which doesn't appear to work BTW. So I really would like to be able to import Kindle titles too but in order to do that I have to have some idea of where Amazon stores them now.

If anyone can make sense of my post and has some idea of how I can achieve this, please share.

Thanks a lot for your help.

chaley · 04-03-2014, 02:11 AM

I confess to some confusion.

You say that you have been downloading books to your PC using the Amazon Android app. I suspect that you meant the Amazon PC app? It sounds like you then waving an ApprenticeAlf tool over the books so you can convert them to epub? And now you can't do that because Amazon is being clever, so you want to put the original amazon files into CC?

If I have this right then I think it is sufficient to tell CC that it can handle the amazon book types. You do this in CC's folders and extensions settings. Add the amazon types you are interested in. The difficulty is finding where the Amazon Android app is putting the books. The older apps put the books in /kindle/. The newer ones put the books in /Android/data/com.amazon.kindle/files/ and IIRC use a .prc extension.

If the question is "where does the Amazon Win8 Metro app stores its books", then I have no idea. I have a Win7 machine that I use to download my Amazon purchases. My Win8 laptop never sees them. Perhaps someone else knows?

If I have this totally wrong then let me know.

jukin · 04-03-2014, 06:36 AM

Thanks for your reply Chaley, you've actually nailed it. The Amazon PC app on Windows 8 pretty much hides the location of downloaded Kindle books - perhaps by re-encoding the titles and file type. It's not being unable to locate the books outside of the Amazon PC or Android apps that is really frustrating. I need to know where the books are for CC to be able to import their details. Oh well, just add this frustration to the list of others that have appeared since ebooks licensing restrictions.

PS: Either I'm being incredible stupid or there's no option to edit the thread title, which is why it makes no sense (finger trouble).

chaley · 04-03-2014, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jukin

Thanks for your reply Chaley, you've actually nailed it. The Amazon PC app on Windows 8 pretty much hides the location of downloaded Kindle books - perhaps by re-encoding the titles and file type. It's not being unable to locate the books outside of the Amazon PC or Android apps that is really frustrating. I need to know where the books are for CC to be able to import their details. Oh well, just add this frustration to the list of others that have appeared since ebooks licensing restrictions.

One idea: if you have a spare copy of WinXP to Win7 around, run it in a virtual machine (VirtualBox for example) on your win8 laptop. You would then run the associated Kindle app in the VM, which should give you access to your books.

I also read somewhere that the metro kindle app is storing books as ASIN_EBOK, where ASIN is the amazon ID and _EBOK is _EBOK. Don't know if it is true.

Quote:

PS: Either I'm being incredible stupid or there's no option to edit the thread title, which is why it makes no sense (finger trouble).

I can change it. What do you want to change it to?

jukin · 04-03-2014, 07:24 AM

Hi Chaley, thanks for your latest reply. I will try the virtual machine option and see how that works. As to thread title, could you please change it to something like "Problems trying to support both epub and Kindle format books with Calibre Companion with the Windows 8.1 Kindle PC app".

Can't think of any way to shorten it without losing too much context.

Thanks again Chaley.

chaley · 04-03-2014, 07:33 AM

Title changed. I had to shorten it to make it fit, but I think I kept the sense of what you wanted.

DoctorOhh · 04-03-2014, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jukin

PS: Either I'm being incredible stupid or there's no option to edit the thread title, which is why it makes no sense (finger trouble).

For future reference, in order to change the thread title you have to switch to the advanced editor. On your post click EDIT then when the edit window pops up click the Go Advanced button. Now you can simply edit the title and click Save Changes.

chaley · 04-03-2014, 10:56 AM

@DoctorOhh. I had remembered that that changed only the title at the top of the post, not the thread. Thanks for the hint.

@jukin: have you tried installing the latest win7 K4PC version (1.10.8) on your win8 machine? If you are having trouble getting it from Amazon then google for "amazon kindle pc download 1.10.8" to get a long list of download sites.

jukin · 04-03-2014, 12:41 PM

Brilliant, thank you! I had 1.10.6 and felt that any later version would act the same as thw Win 8 version, but thank God, it doesn't. Did a test download via the Kindle app and found it was located at the same place as for the earlier version. So thank you so much for your help. Problem solved 100%!

cybmole · 04-23-2014, 03:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaley

I confess to some confusion.

You say that you have been downloading books to your PC using the Amazon Android app. I suspect that you meant the Amazon PC app? It sounds like you then waving an ApprenticeAlf tool over the books so you can convert them to epub? And now you can't do that because Amazon is being clever, so you want to put the original amazon files into CC?

)

But that method should still work,. Amazon recently forced an upgrade to Kindle for PC but Alf's "tools" still work. ( I've not upgraded my toolkit for agas - if it ain't broke - don't fix it - but I see he's up to v6 now)

( I immediately tested with a fresh free book "purchase" & download after being told that K for PC had expired / forced to upgrade, but everything still worked.

K for PC is now 1.10.8 (40514) - You have to install that because older versions no longer run- grab a fresh copy from Amazon- they force this change about once per year

As always, visit Alf's blog for more info or to ask questions

04-02-2014, 09:11 PM	#1
jukin Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 12 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Philadelphia, PA Device: iPad Air 2, Kindle Fire HD 10	Problems using both epub and Kindle format books using CC & the Win8.1 Kindle PC app Apologies for being long-winded but this is actually pretty hard to articulate (since I haven't slept for about 40 hours - 'nother story). I have been using CC for almost a year and love it. I have an Android tablet and use Moon Reader + as my e-reader. I prefer to buy my ebooks from Amazon (I have a Nook HD+) as I have never liked B&N's online store. Anyway, what I have been doing up until now is downloading a Kindle ebook from Amazon onto my PC using the Android Kindle app. I then converted the mobi, awz etc. book to epub and then downloaded it to CC using the Content Server connection to Calibre. I use Windows 8.1 on my PC on which the Kindle app buries downloaded books right down at the bottom of the mine shaft. I got around that by installing the Windows 7 version of the Kindle app. The location of downloaded ebooks was much easier to find (under appdata) and so I was able to import them into Calibre, convert them to epub and it was game over. Yesterday I got a pop up from the Kindle app saying the version was no longer valid and that I had to upgrade. Now here's my problem, how can I get CC to see both epub and mobi/awz etc titles? I'm sure it's not a problem for CC but where the problem occurs is in identifying the downloaded Kindles titles and importing them into Calibre withut having to convert them. The easy answer is to use CC just for epub titles and llet the Android Kindle app handle the Kindle titles and read them using that app. The problem is that the Android Kindle app has zero organizing options, you just get lumps of books ordered by author, title or date downloaded, which doesn't appear to work BTW. So I really would like to be able to import Kindle titles too but in order to do that I have to have some idea of where Amazon stores them now. If anyone can make sense of my post and has some idea of how I can achieve this, please share. Thanks a lot for your help. Last edited by jukin; 04-02-2014 at 09:15 PM.

04-03-2014, 02:11 AM	#2
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,741 Karma: 6997045 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	I confess to some confusion. You say that you have been downloading books to your PC using the Amazon Android app. I suspect that you meant the Amazon PC app? It sounds like you then waving an ApprenticeAlf tool over the books so you can convert them to epub? And now you can't do that because Amazon is being clever, so you want to put the original amazon files into CC? If I have this right then I think it is sufficient to tell CC that it can handle the amazon book types. You do this in CC's folders and extensions settings. Add the amazon types you are interested in. The difficulty is finding where the Amazon Android app is putting the books. The older apps put the books in /kindle/. The newer ones put the books in /Android/data/com.amazon.kindle/files/ and IIRC use a .prc extension. If the question is "where does the Amazon Win8 Metro app stores its books", then I have no idea. I have a Win7 machine that I use to download my Amazon purchases. My Win8 laptop never sees them. Perhaps someone else knows? If I have this totally wrong then let me know. Last edited by chaley; 04-03-2014 at 02:14 AM.

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04-03-2014, 06:36 AM	#3
jukin Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 12 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Philadelphia, PA Device: iPad Air 2, Kindle Fire HD 10	Thanks for your reply Chaley, you've actually nailed it. The Amazon PC app on Windows 8 pretty much hides the location of downloaded Kindle books - perhaps by re-encoding the titles and file type. It's not being unable to locate the books outside of the Amazon PC or Android apps that is really frustrating. I need to know where the books are for CC to be able to import their details. Oh well, just add this frustration to the list of others that have appeared since ebooks licensing restrictions. PS: Either I'm being incredible stupid or there's no option to edit the thread title, which is why it makes no sense (finger trouble).

04-03-2014, 07:24 AM	#5
jukin Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 12 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Philadelphia, PA Device: iPad Air 2, Kindle Fire HD 10	Hi Chaley, thanks for your latest reply. I will try the virtual machine option and see how that works. As to thread title, could you please change it to something like "Problems trying to support both epub and Kindle format books with Calibre Companion with the Windows 8.1 Kindle PC app". Can't think of any way to shorten it without losing too much context. Thanks again Chaley.

04-03-2014, 07:33 AM	#6
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,741 Karma: 6997045 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	Title changed. I had to shorten it to make it fit, but I think I kept the sense of what you wanted.

04-03-2014, 10:56 AM	#8
chaley Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,741 Karma: 6997045 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Notts, England Device: Kobo Libra 2	@DoctorOhh. I had remembered that that changed only the title at the top of the post, not the thread. Thanks for the hint. @jukin: have you tried installing the latest win7 K4PC version (1.10.8) on your win8 machine? If you are having trouble getting it from Amazon then google for "amazon kindle pc download 1.10.8" to get a long list of download sites.

04-03-2014, 12:41 PM	#9
jukin Connoisseur Posts: 81 Karma: 12 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: New Philadelphia, PA Device: iPad Air 2, Kindle Fire HD 10	Brilliant, thank you! I had 1.10.6 and felt that any later version would act the same as thw Win 8 version, but thank God, it doesn't. Did a test download via the Kindle app and found it was located at the same place as for the earlier version. So thank you so much for your help. Problem solved 100%!

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