Using Calibre with multiple readers

[rgoulde]

How do those of you with multiple e-readers in the family keep track of which protected ebook goes with which reader? Obviously non protected books would only have one copy in Calibre but an amazon published book for instance would only work on the device it was downloaded for - e.g. the copy my wife downloaded from our amazon archive would be different from the copy my device would download. Does Calibre somehow know how to keep each copy separate and keep up with which device it goes to or do I have to do that manually somehow?

[itimpi]

I believe that you have to do that manually. You probably want to allow for duplicate copies of books in Calibre, and then use tags to tell which one belongs to which reader.

Of course you may decide to simply let Amazon store them for you and download them as required. That way the device issue is handled transparently as long as all your devices are linked to the same amazon account.

[toddos]

Maybe use multiple libraries?

• Shared DRM-free library
• Your DRM library
• Wife's DRM library

Or better, rip the DRM off and don't worry about it anymore.

[ilovejedd]

DRM gets stripped as soon as I download an ebook. I probably wouldn't buy ebooks if that option wasn't available.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by rgoulde

amazon published book for instance would only work on the device it was downloaded for - e.g. the copy my wife downloaded from our amazon archive would be different from the copy my device would download.

I don't have Kindle but I thought you could have multiple devices associated to one account. There is really no reason you and your wife should have different drm on your books. Misconception corrected in next post by CWatkinsNash.

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

DRM gets stripped as soon as I download an ebook. I probably wouldn't buy ebooks if that option wasn't available.

I agree with you on this topic.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by dwanthny

I don't have Kindle but I thought you could have multiple devices associated to one account. There is really no reason you and your wife should have different drm on your books.

The Kindle DRM is tied to the device PID or app, not the account, so each is different.

OP, if you don't want to remove the DRM and/or don't want to maintain different libraries, take a look at the Reading Lists plugin in the plugin subforum. When you add a book to calibre, you can then assign it to the list for that particular device. It does a lot of other great stuff too, but I'm only touching on the functionality you may find useful for this particular issue.

You can assign a tag to be added to a specific column for each list as well, which it will add/remove as books are added/removed to the list. This is nice because then you can manipulate the info just like other data in the tag browser (sort, filter, etc). In this way, it's similar to just using tags, but adds some structure to the process.

As this house has multiple ereaders, I've used it for a similar purpose. Not because of DRM (there's none left on mine) but because my roommate and I don't read the same types of books. In the end, though, I just created a new library for his books.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

DRM gets stripped as soon as I download an ebook. I probably wouldn't buy ebooks if that option wasn't available.

Completely agree with this. DRM is only a hindrance as I wouldn't be able to read all my books on all my devices. And I don't want my books to decide for me what device I should use...

So, my tip if you want multiple readers and Calibre: strip the DRM.

[jscarpa14]

How do you do that? I mean strip the DRM. IE if I downloaded the Free Book Friday Feature Book on the nook but haven't bought a card for it yet to increase the limited storage and didn't want to read the book yet could I take it off my nook and store in my calibre library with a normal file name instead of the babble of numbers it is in the file structure of my nook?

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by jscarpa14

How do you do that? I mean strip the DRM.

We are forbidden to give or link to detailed instructions on the topic. However if you Google Apprentice Alf's Blog you should find the info you need.

Originally Posted by jscarpa14

IE if I downloaded the Free Book Friday Feature Book on the nook but haven't bought a card for it yet to increase the limited storage and didn't want to read the book yet could I take it off my nook and store in my calibre library with a normal file name instead of the babble of numbers it is in the file structure of my nook?

If I understand you correctly the answer is Yes. You can do this whether you strip the drm or not, but if you don't strip the drm you are limited what readers with which you can read the book.

[jscarpa14]

Thanks

[cybmole]

i see no sense in keeping duplicates of the original, i.e. with DRM, versions in the calibre library as they are stored for you forever ( or until Amazon goes bust) in the Amazon cloud. you can delete from/reload to reader as often as you like, in 60secs or less over wifi. So why not just put a single DRM stripped copy into calibre, that will work with every Kindle you have.

Also, once you've read Alf & set things up, DRM is removed automatically as you add each book to calibre - you'd have to keep disabling the plug in in order to add the original complete with DRM.

[mbovenka]

Originally Posted by cybmole

So why not just put a single DRM stripped copy into calibre, that will work with every Kindle you have.

Yep. That's what I do; when I buy a book, I download it to my Kindle, and import it off it into Calibre, stripping off DRM in the process. I read the DRM-infested original on my Kindle, and delete it when done.

Amazon has a cloud copy of the original, and I have a desinfected copy in my Calibre database I can do with as I see fit.

[cybmole]

Originally Posted by mbovenka

Yep. That's what I do; when I buy a book, I download it to my Kindle, and import it off it into Calibre, stripping off DRM in the process. I read the DRM-infested original on my Kindle, and delete it when done.

Amazon has a cloud copy of the original, and I have a desinfected copy in my Calibre database I can do with as I see fit.

it's a great system but I am not sure if other e-book sellers offer the same "forever" cloud storage.

I don't even have a Kindle now, I buy & DL into Kindle for PC, then copy into calibre, convert to epub, read on Sony. my only concern is that one day Amazon may tweak their DRM & I'll have to wait for plug-ins to be updated.

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by cybmole

my only concern is that one day Amazon may tweak their DRM & I'll have to wait for plug-ins to be updated.

They've taken similar measures before, and yes, Alfers had to wait for updates. However, the changes usually attack how the tools work rather than the changing much about the DRM itself. What isn't clear is whether it's a genuine effort by Amazon to stop the ability to liberate, or a move that they could show to the publishers and say, "Well, we tried to make it harder to circumvent..."

I would imagine, since they offer the option of DRM to publishers/authors, they have an obligation to at least attempt to make it sturdy enough to work in the majority of cases.