Remove DRM from PDB ebook from B&N (Barnes & Noble),...

[Julian]

I just got an iPad so I want to move to iBooks for reading all my stuff but I have some old favourites that I bought in eReader DRM format a while back and can't get in ePub so I want to convert them myself.

From reading this thread, and a few things that I've seen elsewhere, I think that the following might work but I'd like to check:

1) Use erdr2pml.py to get unlocked PML files from my locked PDBs.
2) Use Calibre to go from PML to ePub.
3) I assume that the resulting ePub will be recognised by iTunes and the iBook reader.

Will the above work? Is it the most efficient solution and is it likely to get me the best formatting for the resulting ePub or is there a better alternative?

Will I lose anything in the conversion (e.g. cover art)? Some of my commercially purchased books have neglected to fill in the Author field. Will this approach give me the option to add in an author tag for my final ePub versions (or in some cases edit a badly formatted author tag that exist in some of my books)?

- Julian

Originally Posted by Julian

I just got an iPad so I want to move to iBooks for reading all my stuff but I have some old favourites that I bought in eReader DRM format a while back and can't get in ePub so I want to convert them myself.

From reading this thread, and a few things that I've seen elsewhere, I think that the following might work but I'd like to check:

1) Use erdr2pml.py to get unlocked PML files from my locked PDBs.
2) Use Calibre to go from PML to ePub.
3) I assume that the resulting ePub will be recognised by iTunes and the iBook reader.

Will the above work? Is it the most efficient solution and is it likely to get me the best formatting for the resulting ePub or is there a better alternative?

Will I lose anything in the conversion (e.g. cover art)? Some of my commercially purchased books have neglected to fill in the Author field. Will this approach give me the option to add in an author tag for my final ePub versions (or in some cases edit a badly formatted author tag that exist in some of my books)?

You will need an EPUB ebook for your iPad. Calibre is a good program for converting books, and it supports converting to EPUB.

Note that iPad has a screen similar to computer monitors, so if you read a lot or spend lots of time behind a computer screen, it is better to read from an eInk reader.

[Julian]

Originally Posted by Stream Recorder

You will need an EPUB ebook for your iPad. Calibre is a good program for converting books, and it supports converting to EPUB.

Note that iPad has a screen similar to computer monitors, so if you read a lot or spend lots of time behind a computer screen, it is better to read from an eInk reader.

Thanks. It sounds like I'm on the right track.

Regarding reading, thanks for the advice but I'm actually far more hard-core than was apparent from my last post when it comes to ereading. I also wasn't completely accurate regarding my intentions.

I've been reading ebooks quite extensively since 1999 when I got my first Palm V and have read on various PDAs and smart phones ever since. If my eyes and brain can tolerate those devices then they can tolerate pretty much anything. My inaccuracy was that although I am converting these books for the iPad it's only to play around and test whether it works in preparation for my next real reading device which will be, if all the rumours are true, the next generation iPhone; I'm sure that, compared to some of the other devices that I've used successfully in the past, that will be just fine.

- Julian

[nstavrogin]

Here's an issue I haven't seen addressed yet:

I followed all 10 steps as outlined, but I keep getting "Error: Incorrect Name and/or Credit Card." The e-book was purchased by my girlfriend with a B&N gift card, not a credit card, so I don't know if that affects things at all.

I've tried putting in her full name, part of her name, her email address, the words "gift card," with no success. I've used the full gift card number and the last 8 digits with all of the above options. Has anyone used a gift card before and successfully removed the DRM?

[any ANONYMOUS forum user]

Originally Posted by nstavrogin

Here's an issue I haven't seen addressed yet:

I followed all 10 steps as outlined, but I keep getting "Error: Incorrect Name and/or Credit Card." The e-book was purchased by my girlfriend with a B&N gift card, not a credit card, so I don't know if that affects things at all.

I've tried putting in her full name, part of her name, her email address, the words "gift card," with no success. I've used the full gift card number and the last 8 digits with all of the above options. Has anyone used a gift card before and successfully removed the DRM?

A couple of people mentioned in the The Dark Reverser blog that they were able to remove DRM from PDB ebooks purchased with gift cards from B&N. Ask your girlfriend about the name she was using to purchase and make sure you enter the card number correctly.

[Julian]

I'm trying to use erdr2pml.py to crack a legally purchased ereader book but I seem to be failing at the very first step. I run the command and it seems to be processing for maybe 2 seconds and then I get the following error:

File "E:\Temp\Books\eRdr2Pml.py", line 1
   {\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang2057{\fonttbl{\f0\fswiss\fcharset0 Aria
l;}}
   ^
SyntaxError: unexpected character after line continuation character.

I'm running on Windows XP Pro and my language is UK English.

Any ideas?

- Julian

Originally Posted by Julian

I'm trying to use erdr2pml.py to crack a legally purchased ereader book but I seem to be failing at the very first step. I run the command and it seems to be processing for maybe 2 seconds and then I get the following error:

File "E:\Temp\Books\eRdr2Pml.py", line 1
   {\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang2057{\fonttbl{\f0\fswiss\fcharset0 Aria
l;}}
   ^
SyntaxError: unexpected character after line continuation character.

I'm running on Windows XP Pro and my language is UK English.

Any ideas?

Try to download the eRdr2Pml.py, not to copy-paste it.

[Julian]

Originally Posted by Stream Recorder

Try to download the eRdr2Pml.py, not to copy-paste it.

Fantastic! Thanks so much for the quick help, on a weekend too; that worked perfectly, the decode happened with no errors. I now have images from my book in the _img directory and I've quickly opened the .pml file in wordpad and it's all readable text so this is 100% mission accomplished as far as my first objective is concerned. Now I need to go and play with Calibre to do the final conversion to epub.

Thanks again.

- Julian

[55kevy]

I have downloaded erdr2pml.py, downloaded and installed python, and from the command prompt set at the directory where the .pdb I want to convert and the erdr2pml.py are located I enter:

c:\users\me\my docs\my ebooks\dir erdr2pml.py samedir\book.pdb samedir "My Name" mycreditcardnumber

And get a nice message that erdr2pml is from Dark Reverser and is to convert .pdb to .pml and the syntax and that you only have to enter the last 8 digits of cc number. But there is no conversion. I've tried this without the full directory path in front of the book file and get the same message. Should the erdr2pml.py file be stored in the same directory as the python? or what else am i doing wrong?

Originally Posted by 55kevy

I have downloaded erdr2pml.py, downloaded and installed python, and from the command prompt set at the directory where the .pdb I want to convert and the erdr2pml.py are located I enter:

c:\users\me\my docs\my ebooks\dir erdr2pml.py samedir\book.pdb samedir "My Name" mycreditcardnumber

And get a nice message that erdr2pml is from Dark Reverser and is to convert .pdb to .pml and the syntax and that you only have to enter the last 8 digits of cc number. But there is no conversion. I've tried this without the full directory path in front of the book file and get the same message. Should the erdr2pml.py file be stored in the same directory as the python? or what else am i doing wrong?

Try to place erdr2pml.py and your book.pdb into the same directory. And use simple names for your ebooks and directories (without spaces, special characters,...) Then it should work as described in the post above:

erdr2pml.py book.pdb samedir "Name" CCN

or just

erdr2pml.py book.pdb "Name" CCN