Problem with eReader PDBs

[rojikewl]

Hello everybody. I recently upgraded from Calibre 4.13 with DeDRM 6.5.1 to the current versions--Calibre 7.26.0 and DeDRM 10.0.9. I wasn't sure how to move my customization data to the new version of the plugin, so I simply copied the calibre-adeptkey.der and dedrm.json files to the new plugins folder. This seems to have worked, as all of my customization fields seem to be properly populated.

With my new setup I've confirmed that my Kindle ebooks are being added to my library as expected. However, when I add eReader PDBs, DeDRM doesn't seem to be doing anything. If I recall correctly, with the old version a PDB would be converted to a PMLZ that could then be converted to other formats. Now, however, PDBs are added but they remain DRM-protected, with no PMLZ created. Is there something I need to change in settings to get the conversion to PMLZs?

Also, have there been any significant changes to PDB conversions since version 6.5.1? With that version certain characters (quotation marks, dashes, hard hyphens, apostrophes and probably several others) in my PDBs were not converted properly and had to be fixed manually. I am under the impression that this was not something for which a fix was likely to be developed, but . . . maybe the conversions work much better now?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

[ElleKayEm]

Is your ereader key still in there? Can't imagine anything has changed -- except maybe you're the first to test that part of the code since calibre/DeDRM switched to Python 3.

For new Kindle books, you'll need DeDRM 10.0.9 and the KFX Input plugin.

[ElleKayEm]

If you are updating calibre and DeDRM over the previous installation, the settings will still be there. The card numbers wouldn't be saved. Just used to create the key. You could specifically save the pdb key but the dedrm.json file will have all the saved keys. I'd guess that the ereader pdb section was probably neglected in the translation to Python 3. Maybe try the last Python 2 versions: calibre 4.23 and DeDRM 6.8.1. Altough probably the same as far as pdb goes as the versions you mention. Once you have the DRM-free pmlz, you could see how the current calibre converts them.

[rojikewl]

Great idea! Thanks so much for your comments and suggestions. What is the best way to update the plugin? Is it enough to replace the DeDRM.zip file in the plugins directory with the one for the desired version?

[ElleKayEm]

There is a load from file button under Preferences > Plugins.

[rojikewl]

I downloaded DeDRM 6.8.1 and installed the plugin, which registered as DeDRM 6.8.0 in Calibre 4.23. Is this discrepancy expected? In any case, I didn't see any improvement using the PMLZs generated by Calibre 4.23 using DeDRM 6.8.0 and then converted to AZW3s by Calibre 7.26.0. I also again tried doing the conversion from PBD to PMLZ using DeDRM 10.0.9 and Calibre 7.26.0. DeDRM seems to ignore PDBs, even after I manually re-imported my eReader keys. I have submitted an issue on this.

[ElleKayEm]

They probably did forget to update the version number inside 6.8.1. There is very little difference between it and 6.8.0.

Not really surprised that there isn't any change from the versions you were originally using or that no one has previously realized the current DeDRM isn't handling pdb. I think the last time I encountered that format was around 2009 or 2010 when B&N switched to epub.