skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

skindle - is a freeware open source utility for removing DRM protection from KindleForPC ebooks.

You can run it on the computer on which KindleForPC is installed under the account that was used to purchase DRM protected content.

skindle requires your kindle.info file which can be found in something like:
<User home>\...\Amazon\Kindle For PC\{AMAwzsaPaaZAzmZzZQzgZCAkZ3AjA_AY}
where ... varies by platform but is "Local Settings\Application Data" on XP.

skindle will attempt to find this file automatically.


skindle implements the PID extraction, DRM key generation and decryption algorithms employed by the KindleForPC application. This
is a stand alone app that does not require you to determine a PID on your own, and it does not need to run KindleForPC in order to extract
any data from memory.

skindle is not dependent on any particular version of KindleForPC and does not need to run KindleForPC in order to extract a PID. The tool documents the structure of the kindle.info file and the data and algorthims that are used to derive per book PID values.

How to install skindle:
A compiled binary is included. Though it was built using cygwin, it should not require a cygwin installation in order to run it.

To build from source, you will need cygwin with gcc and make.

How to use skindle
-d optional, for topaz files only, produce a decompressed output file
-i required name of the input mobi or topaz file
-o required name of the output file to generate
-k optional kindle.info path
-v dump the contents of kindle.info
-p additional PID values to attempt (can specifiy multiple times)

You only need to specify a kindle.info path if skindle can't find
your kindle.info file automatically

How to download skindle
skindle-06.tgz
See also:
ebook DRM removal tools archive

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Sorry but I'm a bit confused:

If I download an ebook with Kindle4PC how do I use the skindle script? In particular, what do I put for the <input ebook>? I'm not sure where K4PC stores these books. If I run it without any arguments all i get is:

c:>skindle.exe
Attempting to locate kindle.info
Found kindle.info location

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Sample usage:
where skindle is in the same directory as input file input.tpz

All the parameters seems to be well described in the first post.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

I successfully ran the program on a .PRC file downloaded by Kindle 4 PC, but I can't seem to convert the resulting DRM-free file to anything else. I can re-open the converted file in Kindle Reader for Mac and PC, but Calibre fails at converting it to anything, or reading it.

Any tips?

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

I can not find the kindle.info file

My Kindle4PC, reports: Version 1.1.0 (30136)
(it is the latest, downloaded and installed only yesterday)

Did they modify Kindle4PC to no longer generate this file? What can I Do instead?

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

I assume that the format of the unDRMed .AZW is Mobipocket but what would the format of the unDRMed .TPZ be?

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Hi Guys,

I'm new at this and I'm hitting a snag. I'm using Windows 7 and for the life of me can't figure out how to get skindle working in order to make LZSkindle convert my kindle book.

I'm trying to take a purchased kindle book and convert it for my nook. So far I've downloaded and put LZSkindle in place and working (I think). When I run it, it's giving me an error that "skindle is not recognized as a command". I'm assuming this is because I didn't install skindle correctly. I found the skindle file online, downloaded it and put it in my c:/skindle folder. My problem is that I can't figure out how to make skindle executable instead of the ".tgz" format it's in now.

Any help you can offer would be really appreciated.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

.TGZ (.tar.gz) is an archive. You need to extract files from it. Download and install freeware 7zip, and unpack your files with it.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Thanks for the help, SR! That did it and everything's working great.

I appreciate it!

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Hi, could someone please tell me what kind of format the script outputs? I'm trying to convert it to ePub (with Calibre), but it tells me every time that "ERROR: Could not open ebook: This is an Amazon Topaz book. It cannot be processed."

I've tried outputting it as normal and decompressed; both give the same thing. However, if I go into the decompressed file with a txt editor, I can see the text in there after a header of ascii.

I know I must be missing something obvious; could someone please tell me what it is?

Thanks!

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

I think I have done what is required, extracted Skindle into a file on my desktop, copied the book title into the Input folder, and (maybe not needed) downloaded Kindle for PC to my machine.

However, the Output file remains empty when I try to use either LZ or EZ. I am not very sophisticated with this stuff so I don't know where to look for the problem.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

John-K9jgs

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

I was most annoyed when I downloaded a book in .prc format from Amazon and was unable to decrypt it using the standard unswindle method.

I realize skindle is for mobi and topaz, but is there any way to decrypt this annoying .prc development?

I also have a B&N .pdb book that refuses to be decrypted.

I bought the books. I'm annoyed I can't read them on my third-party eBook reader.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

My problem is that my book is a Topaz file in a prc container and nothing I have can decrypt it (see above posts of mine for details). Have you had any luck/developments with yours?

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Where does Kindle For PC (Version 1.2.0) put the ebooks that you download? I can't seem to find them. Using the files that were downloaded for my Kindle give an error message because they have a different PID.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction...I have been using the free Kindle app on my iPhone for a couple of years now and have built up quite a library of Kindle books, but don't have a physical Kindle. I am looking at buying the Sony ebook reader and want to be able to read my Kindle books on it.

I've installed Kindle For PC and skindle and each time I run it I get the error no valid pids available failed to find drm key. I'm wondering if this is because I don't have a Kindle device but have just been using the iPhone app instead?

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get around this?

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

You will need to download all of your books again for the Kindle for PC program. When you look in your "Manage your Kindle" area at Amazon you will see a list of your books. There will be a "Deliver to" button. Choose the name you gave to your "Kindle for PC" when you registered it (or register it with Amazon if you haven't already). skindle will only work with the version of the ebook DLed for the PC where skindle is running. It will not work with the version of the ebook DLed to your iphone.

Note: Being a command line statement, skindle does not like blanks in the file names so replace them with a dash or underscore or just remove them.

For those dealing with unDRMing a file that is marked .prc, I have noticed some of my books marked .azw.prc. If this is what you're dealing with, just delete the .prc from the file name and treat it like any other .azw file. Should work with .tpz.prc in a similar way.

I have two .cmd scripts written that eliminate the need to open a command prompt. If interested, send me a PM or if enough interest is shown, I'll post here. A good script writer could probably make them a lot slicker but they work which is always my main goal.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

The two work together. Note; being lazy I just copied/modified a couple that I had for mobidedrm.py. With the skindle pair you need to be sure there is only one book of the type addressed in the folder. Otherwise you'll only end up with the last one deDRMed. I call them FixAllSAWZ.cmd (which calls the second one) & FixSAZWbk.cmd (which actually removes the DRM from a .azw ebook, puts the original into a foldee "originals" and puts the .prc (deDRMed mobipocket file) into the folder "NoDRM" where it is called temp.prc. You can rename it now or later in Calibre.

FixAllSAZW.cmd

for %%b in ("*.azw") do FixSAZWbk %%b

Finds all files in the current folder that have the .azw extension & calls FixSAZWbk.cmd. (be sure there is only .azw file in the folder)



FixSAZWbk.cmd

@echo off
skindle -i %1 -o temp.prc
move %1 Originals\
move /y temp.prc NoDRM\

Takes the output .azw file from FixAllSAWZ.cmd and uses skindle to remove the DRM and puts the deDRMed ebook (now called temp.prc) into the NoDRM folder & the original .azw file into the folder called Originals (assumes you have folders called NoDRM & Originals).


These need to be cleaned up to be more efficient (and I may do that later so that you end up with better file names based on the input file name and works with multiple files ) but for now they work - I usually only have one book to deDRM when I use these. Just double click on the file FixAllSAZW.cmd & you'll generate the file "temp.prc" in the folder "NoDRM" & move the original ebook file into the folder "Originals".

Remember that skindle does not want to find blanks in the ebook file name, so fix that before running these scripts.

Also remember these assume that you have skindle working properly.

Enjoy.

EDIT#1: By changing the "temp" (two places in FixSAZWbk.cmd) to %1 you can deDRM all the .azw files in your working folder with one running of the script. Your files in the NoDRM folder will look like "OriginalFile.azw.prc" & will be in the Mobipocket format.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Thanks so much for your quick reply! The spacing issue was the problem and once I eliminated those I was back in business.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Got "missing exth header" trying to remove DRM from a mobi .prc file.
Worked fine on others. Bought books in protected mobi format, removing DRM before I suck into Calibre.
skindle -i xxxx.prc -o xxxxx.mobi -p mobipidxxx
Worked fine on others.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Simple cmd or bat file
name it sk.cmd or sk.bat

cd \skindle
skindle -i %1 -o %2 [optional: -p mobipid or other pid)

usage: \skindle\sk newbook.prc newbook.mobi

You must first copy the .prc/.azw files to the \skindle folder.

Can be run from command prompt or the Start-Run command in Win XP/Vista/Win7 (might need to configure later versions to show the Run command in the menu)

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

I get the following error when trying to run skindle:

Attempting to locate kindle.info
Found kindle.info location
Using UserName = "myUserName"
Using SystemDrive = "C:\"
Using VolumeSerialNumber = "NNNNNNNNNN"
Device PID: XXXXXXXX
PID for is: /plba2XN
No valid pids available, failed to find DRM key
An error occurred, unable to process input file!

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Edit: I figured it out. I just had to delete and then re-download the book in k4pc. Then all was well.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Hello all,

First post so please be gentle ;)

I bought the latest Kindle. I bought one book for it and it all worked no problem (and I downloaded some books free from the Gutenberg Project). Catch is, I am not living in the US and when I looked closer I noticed that one of three issues were coming up:

1-ebooks 'not available in your region' a bit too frequently
2-ALL the books that are available generally cost $2 to even $5 more
3-not all books are available in ebook format

So we can't do anything about #3. For #1 I am going to use a US address from a family member and gift card that new account money to buy books with. Catch is, that first book that I bought on the Kindle is now 'gone' since I had to deregister the Kindle to try and use this new US account.

Thats when I got introduced to the 'joy' of drm for things you have already bought and paid for. I still have that first book of course (the file on the computer) but have no way to read it on my Kindle. This little issue has motivated me to prevent getting locked in down the road with a ton of books in a format that can't get moved to the newest/latest/greatest reader when it comes along. As such I want to learn how to get this book (and all the others I buy) 'fixed' so I can read them on whatever reader I want.

So I downloaded Skindle and extracted it (uh, did that twice before finding the .exe). Moved all the files into the same directory (c:\skindle) and brought over the book I bought to that skindle directory. I renamed it 'book.azw' from the long name that Amazon had given it with all kinds of spacing. I then ran in the command prompt module in windows 7 (haven't done this in years) this:

This gets me 'Success! Enjoy!' at the bottom of some notices about serial numbers, device pid's etc.

I go into Calibre and it can 'add' this file but it can't convert it "because no suitable source format was found" nor can it send it to my Kindle for the same reason. And of course, I can't send the original version of the book to the Kindle having deregistered it from my international account to get to try the US account to save money - it says its unauthorized or somesuch and that I should buy it if I want to read it (uh, which I already did).

I think I must be close to 'success' but am missing a step or two. I suspect there are others this close so I posted in the sticky to try and keep it up near the top (where I found the thread).

So, what am I missing? Is this .tpz format the end goal? I opened the bookconvert.tpz with notepad in Windows and it looks like a scrambled mess but that may or may not mean its been 'fixed' yet for all I know; just wanted to add that info.

I just want to be able to have all my books rid of this problem right from the onset of buying ebooks; if I can't really get it sorted I might just give this reader away and go old school and buy books....printed on paper!

Regards and thanks.

Scott

edit....

I got it to work - I used:

Code:

---

c:\skindle -i b1.azw -o b2.azw

---

The catch...that 'fixed' the book I bought at Amazon originally. I just bought a second book with a gift card on the US account and downloaded the file to the computer. Same process as the step I just metioned but now I get 'PID for book is xxxxxx No valid pids available, failed to find DRM key An error occurred, unable to process input file!'

So the only differences -

I downloaded it from the US on a US account
This book had a long name-with-dashes like I just wrote there; I renamed it to b1.azw in the skindle directory for ease but this is pretty much what I did before
The biggie (?) - the Device PID is different now than what it was when I did that initial conversion on my first book because I registered the Kindle to the US account; still not sure this would matter

Any ideas? I thought the python/unswindle thing no longer worked and this skindle seems to be the replacement (and so easy) - well easy, when it worked for my one book - and a second one actually that I bought for zero beforehand but forgot to mention that one converted as well.

edit edit - well, I retried to convert an original drm file (the first book) now that I have a different registered Kindle and that file still converted. Sooo uh, hmmmm???

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

I think I have it all sorted (well nearly). What I was doing wrong was trying to Skindle non Amazon Kindle for PC books.

So I have now got the system;

1 - Buy Amazon book and have it sent to Kindle for PC

2 - go to users folder\my documents\my kindle content and cut book from there and paste into the c:\skindle directory

3 - rename it to something short like book1

4 - run 'skindle -i book1.azw -o bookdone.azw' where bookdone is a name you want to keep and easy to remember

5 - cut bookdone.azw to your 'drm free books' folder you made somewhere else and delete the book1.azw file if you like

6 - open Calibre, add bookdone.azw to your collection, connect kindle, add bookdone.azw to Kindle main memory

7 - done

Or at least, that has worked so far.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

My main problem is, everything worked fine. I entered .awz file and skindle found the kindle.info, devide PID and the DRM key. Everything was successful and the output file produced.

The problem is...what now? I want to be able to PRINT those awz books so want to be able to convert them into PDF. I've tried doing that using Calibri but it produced error 'this is amazon file blah blah', also tried to open it with Mobipocket reader (by changing the extension to .mobi), nothing happened.

How do I convert now the decryped azw file into PDF or something similar?

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Try changing the extension to .prc instead of .azw and then use Calibre to convert it to PDF. However I would convert to .rtf instead and use MS Word to print if I were doing it.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

I tried that already and Calibre says this is Amazon Topaz book and cannot be converted...and I've decrypted it already.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

You say you tried to open with Mobipocket Reader & nothing happened. Are you sure it was actually decrypted? If so, how do you know? Sounds like maybe it did not decrypt.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

It did decrypt, I know because I tried decrypting the decrypted file and then skindle reported an error as it was unable to find that DRM key. So the file I was trying to open was actually decrypted. Is there some special software to open azw files...or if you prefer I can send you the decrypted file so you can check it out, please PM me with your email.

Edit: I'm 100% sure the DRM key is removed but for some reason I can't simply change the file to .mobi and open it normally. Is Skindle still working? That's the question.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

I have the exact same problem as user Dare05 . I have a file that i decrypted. But i can't view it in Calibre ( says "this is an Amazon topaz book. It cannot be processed") Mobipocket reader says the file is corrupt. But i can open it using Kindle for PC. Can anyone please say what is going wrong?

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

I was just recently reviewing the skindle ReadMe file and noticed this argument;

-d optional, for topaz files only, produce a decompressed output file

The Topaz file might be compressed and that may be the problem. Try running skindle again using the original file and include this argument to uncompress and see if that makes a difference. I've never messed with Topaz files & this may not be the problem you're having.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Thanks for the input Slayda. But I already tried the decompression option. I made two files, one decompressed and the other without the decompression option. But both files behaved the same way, as stated in my earlier post. Have you guys tried converting anything recently? I am wondering if Amazon updated their drm. I remember there was an update for K4PC about a month and a half ago.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Hi,

I just downloaded a book from Amazon to my pc (windows xp) and I am trying to remove the drm (with skindle) without success. This is a replica of what I get on the screen:

and then windows sends a pop-up telling me skindle has made an error and has to close. This has happened several times already.

Anybody knows what I'm doing wrong, or how this could be solved?

Thank you very much in advance,

Simon

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

I just had a similar experience & here's what I've done (no solution yet if ever). When I DLed the book to K4PC it showed as a .azw type but when I DLed it to my computer for transfer to Kindle, it showed as a .tpz file. This seems strange to me. Is it an AZW book or a TPZ book? Still investigating. Will DL directly to Kindle (once the battery is recharged), transfer to computer and see what it looks like.

Edit: The ebook brought in from the Kindle had the extension of .azw1. Apparently this is a Topaz ebook and skindle is not working with it. I had my doubts that it would work with a Topaz ebook but this is the first one I've bought to try it with. A .azw ebook purchased at the same time had no problem with skindle.

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Does someone know what they use instead of CryptUnprotectData on the Mac?

I checked skindle and a few things that are different for sure:

The kindle.info is located here: string_32 is the same, but string_64 is different. The correct string is: From there I just have no clue what they use instead of CryptUnprotectData. The other info was available using lsof/opensnoop and strings.

skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Can someone please help me? I am new to this decoding thing! I am getting the books decoded (DRM removed), however some of my books are gibberish (not able to be read, gobbelty gook) afterwards. Is there something I'm not doing correctly? It is not all of my books that this is happening too? :confused: :confused: :confused: :mad: :mad:

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Were these books downloaded with Kindle for PC using your computer?

Re: skindle - remove DRM from KindleForPC ebooks (mobi and topaz)

 

Yes they were all downloaded via PC (Kindle for PC)!