What am I Doing WRONG: Importing DRM eBook from Kindle to Calibre using K4MobiDeDRM

[maurices5000]

Ok, I found this link from Aprentice Alf

The simplest option for removing DRM: Calibre Plugins

I downloaded some tools in a zip file called tools_v2.3 from mediafire.com. I had to register and all that stuff.

I unzipped that file. There were 10 items in that tools_v2.3 zip folder.

I Opened the Calibre_Plugins folder and selected each zip one at at time.

"To configure a plugin, you must find it in the list of plugins. All the DRM removal plugins are in the File type plugins section of the Plugins section of the calibre prefereces. Click on the plugin in the list to select it, and then click on the Customize plugin button. In the dialog that then pops up, enter the required information, detailed below."

"2.If you have Amazon Kindle ebooks that were downloaded to your Kindle, you must enter your Kindle’s serial number into the customisation field of the K4MobiDeDRM plugin. If you have already entered a PID there, add the Kindle serial number as well, separating it from the PID with a comma."


When i searched for the K4MobiDeDRM, I could not find it even thought it was the first zip folder i selected and i saw the file. So i added it again and while it was there i pressed the Customize Pluggin button. I entered my Kindle Serial Number. I don't know what a PID is or where to get one and i saved the info. It appeared in the K4MobiDeDRM plugin.

I just searched for the plugin JUST NOW and i STILL CAN'T FIND IT!

Ok I attached my Kindle to the computer after reading some of the Calibre manual. I was able to view the items on my Kindle and it said it was DRM protected. I tried importing the eBook by right clicking on the eBook and pressing ADD. (Simply pressing the Add button didn't work the same way. It tried to send me to directories. That was confusing since the books were already pulled up in Calibre.) When i pressed ADD from the right click, i got an error. It said in the Titlebar "K4MobiDeDRM Plugin" So it found the plugin somewhere. The error message said: "Error Decoding: F:\Documents\eBookName-asin_B0028RJ6C8-type_EBOK-v_0.azw"

It loads the book but i can't do anything with it.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by README-K4MobiDeDRM-plugin.txt

Plugin for K4PC, K4Mac, standalone Kindles, Mobi Books, and for Devices with Fixed PIDs.

This plugin supersedes MobiDeDRM, K4DeDRM, and K4PCDeDRM and K4X plugins. If you install this plugin, those plugins can be safely removed.



This plugin is meant to remove the DRM from .prc, .azw, .azw1, and .tpz ebooks. Calibre can then convert them to whatever format you desire. It is meant to function without having to install any dependencies except for Calibre being on your same machine and in the same account as your "Kindle for PC" or "Kindle for Mac" application if you are going to remove the DRM from those types of books.


Installation:

Go to Calibre's Preferences page... click on the Plugins button. Use the file dialog button to select the plugin's zip file (K4MobiDeDRM_vXX_plugin.zip) and click the 'Add' button. You're done.

Please note: Calibre does not provide any immediate feedback to indicate that adding the plugin was a success. You can always click on the File-Type plugins to see if the plugin was added.



Configuration:

Highlight the plugin (K4MobiDeDRM under the "File type plugins" category) and click the "Customize Plugin" button on Calibre's Preferences->Plugins page. Enter a comma separated list of your 10 digit PIDs. Include in this list (again separated by commas) any 16 digit serial numbers the standalone Kindles you may have (these typically begin "B0...") This is not needed if you only want to decode "Kindle for PC" or "Kindle for Mac" books.



Troubleshooting:

If you find that it's not working for you, you can save a lot of time and trouble by trying to add the azw file to Calibre with the command line tools. This will print out a lot of helpful debugging info that can be copied into any online help requests. I'm going to ask you to do it first, anyway, so you might as well get used to it.



Open a command prompt (terminal) and change to the directory where the ebook you're trying to import resides. Then type the command "calibredb add your_ebook.azw". Don't type the quotes and obviously change the 'your_ebook.azw' to whatever the filename of your book is. Copy the resulting output and paste it into any online help request you make.



** Note: the Mac version of Calibre doesn't install the command line tools by default. If you go to the 'Preferences' page and click on the miscellaneous button, you'll see the option to install the command line tools.

DRM tools 2.3 is pretty old, so you should use DRM tools 3.2+ instead:
Download DRM Tools Archive

Calibre removes DRM when importing AZW (or any other) ebooks.

As for a PID,

Originally Posted by Aprentice Alf

a. If you have Mobipocket ebooks, where you either entered a PID on the retailer’s web site, or you must read them in Mobipocket Reader, you must enter the PID you entered on the retailer’s web site, or the PID of your installation of Mobipocket Reader into the customisation field of the K4MobiDeDRM plugin. The PID will be ten numbers and letters, with * or $ as the eighth character. If you have more than one PID, enter them separated by commas,

b. If you have Amazon Kindle ebooks that were downloaded to your Kindle, you must enter your Kindle’s serial number into the customisation field of the K4MobiDeDRM plugin. If you have already entered a PID there, add the Kindle serial number as well, separating it from the PID with a comma.

c. If you have Amazon Kindle ebooks that were downloaded to the copy of Kindle for PC or Kindle for Mac that was installed on this computer, you do not need to add anything extra into the customisation fields.

[maurices5000]

thanks that was a quick reply! I'll have to check it out when i get home.

The last post still does not tell me how to get the PID from Kindle's website. I'm very confused about that. it says

If you have already entered a PID there, add the Kindle serial number as well, separating it from the PID with a comma.

Well what if i have not already entered the PID? I have no idea what it is or where i get it from.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by maurices5000

Well what if i have not already entered the PID? I have no idea what it is or where i get it from.

You can get it from Kindle serial number by using

kindlepid.py <Kindle Serial Number>

You can also use KindlePID.pyw

But you don't need a PID for removing DRM from "Kindle for PC" or "Kindle for Mac" ebooks.


How to remove DRM from Kindle for PC ebooks

1. Install Calibre.
2. Install Kindle for PC (K4PC).
3. Start Kindle for PC. Enter the email address used for your Amazon account (not yourname@kindle.com) and your Amazon password.
4. Your purchased ebooks are not on your computer yet. Click the “Archived Items” to view them.
5. Right-Click on each ebook your want to remove DRM from and select “Add to Home”.
6. Close K4PC.
7. Download the MobiDeDRM plugin (or the DRM Tools Archive).
8. Run Calibre. Go to the Preferences. Click on the "Plugins" button. In the bottom of the screen there is a “Plugin file :” text box.
   Click on the button next to it to select the K4MobiDeDRM_vX.X.X_plugin.zip.
   Click the "Add" button. Close Preferences dialog.
9. Click the "Add books" button in Calibre or Drag-n-Drop your Kindle ebooks from "My Documents\My Kindle Content".
   The file names are all gibberish, so you may preffer to select all the ebooks (CTRL+A) and add them.
   Usually it takes up to 1 minute to remove DRM from a Kindle ebook.
10. Depending on the original formatting, some books mat not look as good as they should. You can fix this by selecting these ebooks and converting them to MOBI with Calibre. Just tick the "Ignore margins" checkbox in the conversion settings.

[maurices5000]

Thanks. This worked!

I went to this link to download the appropriate file.
http://www.2shared.com/file/wJ8RpDPt/tools_v34.html

That gave me the right tool.

Because the file was a 7z file, i had to download WinZip to unzip the file. then I added the Pluggin using the Add New Pluggin button at the bottom.

I also placed my serial number in the plugin using the Customize Plugin button at the bottom.

I closed Calibre and reopened it. I pulled my purchased book from the Kindle and i was able to convert it to MOBI and i placed it back as a MOBI to test to see if my Kindle would recognize it and it did.

Thanks!

[Thumpermat]

Hi all

I just did the same procedure as Maurices5000 (downloaded the e-book via K4PC, saved it on Home, etc.) , but when I want to convert my AZW e-book as a MOBI or EPUB, I receive the error message that the book is locked by DRM.

Any help would be appreciated

UPDATE: The new Calibre Plugin K4MobiDeDRM_v02.4 with the DeDRM Tools 3.5 solved the problem.