Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 and KFX in calibre

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by kp6ic

i have Kindle for PC 1.24.3 (51068). i installed kfx input plugin and still can't convert my book. when i try to convert my book i get the following message"...this book is locked by drm...". what should i do?

Discussion of the mechanics of DRM removal is not allowed on MobileRead. Ask for help at either Apprentice Alf's blog or Apprentice Harper's GitHub.

(I see you updated your question and the problem is now solved.)

Originally Posted by kp6ic

i read the first post and used the method 4. the fourth method allows downloading kfx files and says nothing about them having to be drm-free.

All books delivered by Amazon in KFX format contain DRM. That is covered in the first post of the KFX Input plugin thread.

[tomgreg]

Method one worked for me. OSX 10.12. Thanks!

[jgt1942]

Originally Posted by Grizzlybear48

I am very sorry to inform you that a rollback to "Amazon for Kindle" version 17 helps only for the first time after you have installed it! Even unchecking the "automatic update" - box doesn`t help, because the next time you start the program, it automatically updates to version 19! So what to do? Always reinstalling version 17 again and again?

Last night I uninstalled v1.25 and installed "KindleForPC-installer-1.17.44170.exe" on my Windows 10 PC. I unchecked the box for automatic updates. This morning I closed Kindle and restarted it. Much to my surprise it automatically updated to v1.25. I will continue to look through the thread to see if there is a solution.

[lkmiller]

Kindle for PC 1.17 recently asked me if I wanted to update, but still gave me the option to skip. I've had this version since whenever I was forced to update from my previous version.

ETA: Uncheck the box and save BEFORE uninstalling 1.25. Then make sure it's unchecked again and save once you've reinstalled the older version.

[jgt1942]

Originally Posted by Jo69

I have stuck with the 1.17 version of the kindle App on my pc and tablet.
So far I can still convert.
However I find when I press sync some of the older books I have deleted in Amazon do not go.

Have you found a solution for this issue? I have the same issue. I'm still reading through the thread, possibl the solution has been reported.

[jgt1942]

Originally Posted by saucerdesigner

Even though I had unchecked the option to automatically install updates, kindle went ahead and installed one anyway.

Fortunately, I had saved the 1.17 installer, uninstalled the updated version (PC) and reinstalled 1.17.

I had the same issue on my Win10 x64 PC and found a solution that seems to be working.

1. I opened Kindle and confirmed that I had 1.17.0.44170 installed
2. Checked the box to automatically install updates and saved (DO NOT CLOSE Kindle)
3. I then UNchecked the box and again saved (Now it is OK to close Kindle)
4. I closed Kindle, restarted Kindle and confirmed I still had 1.17.0.44170

Prior to this, even though the box was unchecked Kindle would still install the latest version. I've been running Kindle for a few days since the change and almost every day I've opened and closed Kindle and sometimes rebooted my PC and still I have 1.17.0.44170 installed.

BTW I used method 1 in the first post of this thread.

[jgt1942]

So far I'm able to get all the Kindle books I've downloaded from Amazon using 1.17.0.44170 and so far the newer versions have not automatically installed after applying the workaround I mentioned in #473 above.

I've also been able to copy the entire Kindle library (1634 books) to Calibre.

However, I have noticed one issue. Last night in my Kindle library (R:\Libraries\Kindle) on my Win10 x64 PC all of the files in the library had an extension of .azw, tonight I see some additional files with an extension of:

1. .phl
2. .mbp
3. .mbpV2
4. .apnx

R:\Libraries\Kindle\B008A8W5IE_EBOK.phl
R:\Libraries\Kindle\B008ALR6GC_EBOK.apnx
R:\Libraries\Kindle\B008ALR6GC_EBOK.azw
R:\Libraries\Kindle\B008ALR6GC_EBOK.phl
R:\Libraries\Kindle\B008B9HPLY_EBOK.apnx
R:\Libraries\Kindle\B008B9HPLY_EBOK.azw

Does anybody have an idea what these files are?

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by jgt1942

SDoes anybody have an idea what these files are?

They are files used by Kindle for PC to keep track of various bits of info about the books. If you need a detailed explanation, search the wiki. E.g. APNX

[jgt1942]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

They are files used by Kindle for PC to keep track of various bits of info about the books. If you need a detailed explanation, search the wiki. E.g. APNX

Much thanks. I thought that something got messed up. Now I feel much better about the entire process.

[jgt1942]

Suggestion for adding books from the Kindle folder (library) to Calibre on the PC (Sorry but I don't speak Apple and don't know if there is a similar solution.)
1) Download and install the "Everything" search tool from https://www.voidtools.com/downloads/
2) Open Everything (When you first open Everything it quickly scans your hard drives, builds an index DB, and saves it for future use.) and search for "R:\Libraries\Kindle" .azw
The quotes are necessary the "R:\Libraries\Kindle" identifies where Everything is to search and the .azw identifies what strings you will search for. You can save the search strings as a Bookmark. I have a rather large amount of storage (about 55TB) and find this is the MOST used application on my PC. I have saved numerous search strings (Bookmarks) for searches I often need. Once you start using it and reading the help I think that you will find this to be a very useful application.
3) In the search results single-click on the "Date Modified" column header to sort on the date. Now you will see all of the most recently added books.
4) Select the desired books, drag-n-drop the selected books to the Calibre window and the books will be added.

[Smartie]

Today, Kindle for Windows was updated, the version is 1.25.1(52064). The calibre is version 3.36. I deleted renderer-test file from the folder. but still I cannot import Kindle file even after I re download kindle file

Any thought?

Thanks in advance

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by Smartie

Today, Kindle for Windows was updated, the version is 1.25.1(52064).

See the first post in this thread. That version of Kindle for PC has changes that prevent books from being successfully imported from it.

[Smartie]

Originally Posted by jhowell

See the first post in this thread. That version of Kindle for PC has changes that prevent books from being successfully imported from it.

Thanks. Restore to 1.24.

Hopefully Calibre will fix this soon

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Smartie

Thanks. Restore to 1.24.

Hopefully Calibre will fix this soon

It has nothing whatsoever to do with Calibre, so Calibre can't "fix" it. The format of the KFX DRM "voucher" files has changed. Calibre does not, and never has, removed DRM.

Any change would need to be in the DRM removal tools.

[jgt1942]

Originally Posted by pmjeff21

I just followed these steps of removing the newer Kindle for PC app, installing the old, etc. My "classics" which are public domain convert from AWZ to EPUB just fine, but books I bought recently (Tim Ferriss, Tools of Titans, for example) give me the DRM error in Calibre.

I don't have any branded devices, just a Windows 10 Phone (Lumia 930) and a Surface Pro 4. Amazon killed off their app, so now I'm stuck with unreadable books except for the clunky PC version of Kindle.

Any ideas of what I'm doing wrong? I'm brand new to Calibre and this whole EPUB & DRM thing.

Step 1 in jhowell's post worked for me. See the very first post in this thread.