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

[any ANONYMOUS forum user]

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

./skindle [-d] [-v] -i <ebook file> -o <output file> [-k kindle.info file] [-p pid]

-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

http://www.mediafire.com/?wzjiimfmzdo

See also:
ebook DRM removal tools archive

[justaguy]

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

Sample usage:

skindle -i input.tpz -o output.tpz

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

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

[atourgates]

Originally Posted by Stream Recorder

Sample usage:

skindle -i input.tpz -o output.tpz

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

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

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?

[rmhartman]

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?

[slayda]

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

[dchay]

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.

Originally Posted by dchay

My problem is that I can't figure out how to make skindle executable instead of the ".tgz" format it's in now.

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

[dchay]

Originally Posted by Stream Recorder

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

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

I appreciate it!

[headala]

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!