Converting KFX copied from Android Kindle Reader

[frisket]

I need to de-DRM and convert a book I bought because I can't read it on a hand-held device at my age. I have installed the DeDRM, KFX Input, Gather KFX-ZIP, Package KFX, and KFX metadata reader plugins into Calibre 2.55.0 on Linux.

But all the instructions I have found keep referring to a "KFZ-ZIP" file. I don't have one: on the Android device, the files are in a directory in
storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.amazon.kindle/files which I have uploaded to my desktop system, and that directory contains

a DRM voucher .ast file
six .kfx files
autocompletecache.ser
EndActions.data.<dirname>.asc

If I use Add Books and select all files in the directory, Calibre says it is adding nine books, which it does (!) treating each file as a separate book, with one of the .kfx files correctly identified with the title and cover image, but opening it simply opens the disk directory where Calibre has imported it, instead of opening a reader window. Converting it throws the error that the component .kfx files must be in a KFX-ZIP file, but it's not clear what else that should contain, or what its structure should be. There's also nothing to say whether or not the plugins I installed were actually used.#

I'm probably Doing This Wrong™ but so far I haven't found any information about how to do it right...

[jhowell]

The process of importing KFX format into calibre is complicated. I attempted to cover it in the documentation for the KFX Input plugin. Here is what is relevant to your situation.

The various files that make up the book in KFX format are automatically combined into a KFX-ZIP archive during import by the Gather KFX-ZIP plugin, which is a component of the KFX Input plugin. In order for that to locate all of the files that make up the book they must remain in their original directory structure. In the case of Kindle for Android that means that the files must be within a folder with a name like "B123456789", as they were on the Android device.

During import select any of the files in that folder that has a ".kfx" extension. The Gather KFX-ZIP plugin will find the rest and combine them properly.

The next hurdle for you will be DRM removal. It might not be possible with books obtained from the Kindle for Android app. I suggest asking for help at Apprentice Harper's GitHub if you run into trouble with that. (Instructions for DRM removal are not allowed on MobileRead.)

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Added: Refer to the Dealing with Kindle for PC/Mac 1.19 and KFX in calibre thread for ways to avoid KFX format. That may be a better option for you.

[frisket]

Thanks very much. I did assume that the files were being gathered, but there is no evidence or progress-trace that this is happening, so there was no way for me to know if it had worked or not.

I'll check about the DRM. I think the format supplied was the only one they ship now.

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by frisket

Thanks very much. I did assume that the files were being gathered, but there is no evidence or progress-trace that this is happening, so there was no way for me to know if it had worked or not.

The reason for import failure can be obtained from a log file. Click the calibre Preferences drop-down menu and choose "Restart in debug mode". Re-import the book and then close calibre. A log file will appear.