Hello from a new Sony PRS-505 owner in the UK

[alanjohngreen]

I think I will be glad I found this forum.

I have been looking for an eBook reader and could not find one in the UK so I finally sourced one on eBay in America and bought it - so far,so good.

Last night I downloaded the Sony software on to my PC then went to register on the Connect site so I could start buying eBooks and find I have to be resident in the USA- so far so bad.

So at the moment as far as I am aware I have an eBook reader but I am unable to buy eBooks for it.

I am sure the wonderful people on this forum will be able to sort me out with the solution.

[Patricia]

welcome to the forum, alanjohngreen.

I too am in the UK.

If you like free books then check out this forum's book upoad section for lots of public domain works in lrf format.


And one forum member, Leaping Gnome, will buy sony ebook store vouchers, which non-US residents can use. He accepts Paypal.

If your reader came with any sony ebook store credit, you can still claim it. Just ignore the screen asking for credit card details and click 'continue'.

[MickeyC]

Welcome to the Forum.

And good luck with the US Citizen Sony rule. Don't know why that is.

[alanjohngreen]

Thank you very much for that information, just what I was hoping for.

[alanjohngreen]

How do I contact Leaping Gnome?

[Patricia]

He's started a thread in the Flea Market section (currently 2nd post down) selling his old reader. Open it and click on his name.

[alanjohngreen]

Thank you for that information.

[amandajarrett]

I received my PRS-505 today and was wildly excited until I hit the US credit card snag. It seems to me that attempting to read ebooks from other sources on my Sony device would be as useful as trying to use my iPod without access to iTunes - in other words, feasibly possible but more trouble than it's worth. I've sent a begging email for LeapingGnome's help, so fingers crossed.

[SluggyJohnson]

Hi Alan,

I found myself in a similar position as you, i've ordered a 505 (it's still in customs) for my other half for christmas. I wanted to buy her a lot of modern titles and i hit the same snag as you're hitting now.

After a lot of begging and pleading several very helpfull people on here have pointed me in the right direction.

First off, yes you can go through the Sony Connect Website if you want to, but having to buy the vouchers via a third party might not be your cup of tea.

Another alternative is to buy Microsoft Reader files from any book site that sells them (nearly all) and convert them from (.lit) Reader file to (.lrf) Sony 505 type file.

First you will have to download Microsoft Reader and Validate the software. For this you may have to get a Microsoft passport login, it's free and easy to do (just follow the instructions on the website). Please be aware that the validation process is for the software only not your device.

Once you have the reader, you're then free to buy ebooks in that (.lit) format. They will be stored in your My Library of My Documents

You then need to head to https://libprs500.kovidgoyal.net/ and download libprs500. This program converts the files from (.lit) to (.lrf)

Also whilst you're at it Download Convertlit (aka clit). You need this program to remove the Digital Rights Management (DRM) which is the copyright software added to ebooks to prevent copying. Be sure not to put this in your My Library folder as it cannot create new folders in the one its downloaded to.

So it then goes something like this

1. Take your basic .lit file
2. Run convertlit to remove the DRM (this creates a second folder with the same name in Library)
3. Run the Libprs500 program and Add books. (go to my library and find the newly converted file)
4. Press convert ebooks and add any metadata (title,author,publisher etc) and add the cover picture (you'll find that in the newly created folder i my library)
5. As soon as you press ok, the program runs a conversion and converts to file to .lrf format. From there it can be loaded onto the prs-505.

I know it sounds a lot of hassle, but once you've done it a few times, it gets second nature.

This is my understanding of the process, hope this helps.

[alanjohngreen]

Originally Posted by SluggyJohnson

Hi Alan,

I found myself in a similar position as you, i've ordered a 505 (it's still in customs) for my other half for christmas. I wanted to buy her a lot of modern titles and i hit the same snag as you're hitting now.

After a lot of begging and pleading several very helpfull people on here have pointed me in the right direction.

First off, yes you can go through the Sony Connect Website if you want to, but having to buy the vouchers via a third party might not be your cup of tea.

Another alternative is to buy Microsoft Reader files from any book site that sells them (nearly all) and convert them from (.lit) Reader file to (.lrf) Sony 505 type file.

First you will have to download Microsoft Reader and Validate the software. For this you may have to get a Microsoft passport login, it's free and easy to do (just follow the instructions on the website). Please be aware that the validation process is for the software only not your device.

Once you have the reader, you're then free to buy ebooks in that (.lit) format. They will be stored in your My Library of My Documents

You then need to head to https://libprs500.kovidgoyal.net/ and download libprs500. This program converts the files from (.lit) to (.lrf)

Also whilst you're at it Download Convertlit (aka clit). You need this program to remove the Digital Rights Management (DRM) which is the copyright software added to ebooks to prevent copying. Be sure not to put this in your My Library folder as it cannot create new folders in the one its downloaded to.

So it then goes something like this

1. Take your basic .lit file
2. Run convertlit to remove the DRM (this creates a second folder with the same name in Library)
3. Run the Libprs500 program and Add books. (go to my library and find the newly converted file)
4. Press convert ebooks and add any metadata (title,author,publisher etc) and add the cover picture (you'll find that in the newly created folder i my library)
5. As soon as you press ok, the program runs a conversion and converts to file to .lrf format. From there it can be loaded onto the prs-505.

I know it sounds a lot of hassle, but once you've done it a few times, it gets second nature.

This is my understanding of the process, hope this helps.

Wow, that is a great help, thank you very much

[chilla]

Hi

Thanks for the instructions above, however i'm having a small problem:

I've downloaded both c lit and libprs500 but when I use c lit, instead of one file, I get a whole folder full of html files - if I upload any of them to libprs, it shows a file size of zero.

Am I doing this correctly? If so, where do I find the file to upload to the reader?

Thank you

[Patricia]

This thread might help:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18049

Originally Posted by chilla

Hi

Thanks for the instructions above, however i'm having a small problem:

I've downloaded both c lit and libprs500 but when I use c lit, instead of one file, I get a whole folder full of html files - if I upload any of them to libprs, it shows a file size of zero.

Am I doing this correctly? If so, where do I find the file to upload to the reader?

Thank you