DRM error

K.B. · 01-20-2009, 12:18 AM

Calibre came highly recommended (thanks Dear Author!) and looks to be exactly what I've been looking for, if I could just get it to work

I have approximately 600 ebooks, most of them purchased directly from epublishers, in .prc. I do have some purchased through retailers that have DRM protection, but I'm not worried about those right now. I've tried adding books to the library one at a time, small batches (5-15) and once with the whole directory. Each time, about half of the books came through with some or all of their meta data, and can be viewed. The rest, however, give me the "This book is protected by DRM error". At this point, I'd be fine with adding in the data by hand, but I'm assuming that not being able to view the books means I will also not be able to convert them so that they can be read on my iPhone, which makes it all sort of pointless.

I am using Vista and have the latest version of Calibre. I've tried deleting the books, uninstalling the program and reinstalling it, a couple of times, but it made no difference.

Any help would be much appreciated.

KB

(also, I might as well be greedy and ask if there is any way to pull the data in from the Mobipocket library, if it can't be read directly from the files, for whatever reason?)

kovidgoyal · 01-20-2009, 12:20 AM

calibre doesn't support DRMed books, that would be illegal. You have to remove the DRM from them first.

kovidgoyal · 01-20-2009, 12:24 AM

Also calibre should be reading all the metadata from MOBI books. If it's not, that's a bug. Open a ticket at the calibre website and attach the file, and I will fix the bug

K.B. · 01-20-2009, 12:25 AM

Right, but they're not DRM.

kovidgoyal · 01-20-2009, 12:26 AM

Ah, in that case open a ticket and attach one of these files that is causing the DRM error

K.B. · 01-20-2009, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Also calibre should be reading all the metadata from MOBI books. If it's not, that's a bug. Open a ticket at the calibre website and attach the file, and I will fix the bug

Oh, that would be nice

Umm, sorry, I know I'm clueless here, but what file should I attach?

wallcraft · 01-20-2009, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K.B.

Right, but they're not DRM.

Right click on the ebook in library (ebook) view within Windows MobiPocket Reader and select Properties -> Summary. What does the encryption line say?

wallcraft · 01-20-2009, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K.B.

what file should I attach?

A .prc or .mobi ebook file that is giving an error. Attach this to a ticket in Calibre's Trac

K.B. · 01-20-2009, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallcraft

Right click on the ebook in library (ebook) view within Windows MobiPocket Reader and select Properties -> Summary. What does the encryption line say?

Ok, it says "content encrypted". Some of them say "Non encrypted" which may explain why I'm losing Meta data on some files, but not others? I checked the ones that should have the DRM, and they say "PID encrypted".

wallcraft · 01-20-2009, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by K.B.

Ok, it says "content encrypted". Some of them say "Non encrypted" which may explain why I'm losing Meta data on some files, but not others? I checked the ones that should have the DRM, and they say "PID encrypted".

Content encrypted files have encryption, but only using the generic MOBI key (not a PID-specific key). This means that can be read by any MobiPocket Reader software, on any device, but not by any non-MobiPocket software. There is a version of mobidedrm.py that strips content encryption, see Mobipocket Decoder Tool #176.

If you want Calibre to format shift your MOBI files they must be DRM-free. The python script mobidedrm does this, but note that it is thought to be illegal to strip DRM from ebooks in many countries.

Calibre should be able to catalog DRMed MOBIs, including the metadata (since this is not encrypted). So it may still be worth submitting a Calibre ticket for one of your content encrypted ebooks.

K.B. · 01-21-2009, 02:23 PM

If I'm reading you guys right, the "content encrypted" files have DRM, just a different kind than the PID? It seems weird since most of the "content encrypted" files were purchased from the same place as the "non encrypted" files. But ok. So without stripping the DRM, I can't open the "PID encrypted" or "content encrypted" files to view, but I should be seeing all the data for the library, correct?

Thank you both for your help, I'll do the ticket with one of the files.

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01-20-2009, 12:18 AM	#1
K.B. Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPhone/Nokia 9300	DRM error Calibre came highly recommended (thanks Dear Author!) and looks to be exactly what I've been looking for, if I could just get it to work I have approximately 600 ebooks, most of them purchased directly from epublishers, in .prc. I do have some purchased through retailers that have DRM protection, but I'm not worried about those right now. I've tried adding books to the library one at a time, small batches (5-15) and once with the whole directory. Each time, about half of the books came through with some or all of their meta data, and can be viewed. The rest, however, give me the "This book is protected by DRM error". At this point, I'd be fine with adding in the data by hand, but I'm assuming that not being able to view the books means I will also not be able to convert them so that they can be read on my iPhone, which makes it all sort of pointless. I am using Vista and have the latest version of Calibre. I've tried deleting the books, uninstalling the program and reinstalling it, a couple of times, but it made no difference. Any help would be much appreciated. KB (also, I might as well be greedy and ask if there is any way to pull the data in from the Mobipocket library, if it can't be read directly from the files, for whatever reason?)

01-20-2009, 12:20 AM	#2
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,149 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	calibre doesn't support DRMed books, that would be illegal. You have to remove the DRM from them first.

01-20-2009, 12:24 AM	#3
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,149 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Also calibre should be reading all the metadata from MOBI books. If it's not, that's a bug. Open a ticket at the calibre website and attach the file, and I will fix the bug

01-20-2009, 12:25 AM	#4
K.B. Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPhone/Nokia 9300	Right, but they're not DRM.

01-20-2009, 12:26 AM	#5
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,149 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Ah, in that case open a ticket and attach one of these files that is causing the DRM error

01-21-2009, 02:23 PM	#11
K.B. Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPhone/Nokia 9300	If I'm reading you guys right, the "content encrypted" files have DRM, just a different kind than the PID? It seems weird since most of the "content encrypted" files were purchased from the same place as the "non encrypted" files. But ok. So without stripping the DRM, I can't open the "PID encrypted" or "content encrypted" files to view, but I should be seeing all the data for the library, correct? Thank you both for your help, I'll do the ticket with one of the files.

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