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It still works for Amazon but it doesn't really work for books in their newer KFX format. It's best to use an older version of Kindle for PC or use their downlo

It still works for Amazon but it doesn't really work for books in their newer KFX format. It's best to use an older version of Kindle for PC or use their download and transfer to USB if you have a physical eInk Kindle to get an AZW3 file which should unlock no problem.

AdmiralAsshat 5y ago
Installers for older versions are becoming increasingly elusive, I've found. Anything newer than Kindle for PC v1.26 and DeDRM can't break the encryption. Installers for v1.17 or v1.19 can still be found, but on Linux those versions can't connect to Amazon because one of the SSL certs used by the app has expired. That leaves v1.21 as the "sweet spot", but most of the sites that used to host that installer EXE have mysteriously disappeared.
- Jiro 5y ago
  You can get the missing certificate from the links in https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=342186&uid=248652 https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=342186&uid... .
criddell 5y ago
That workaround gets you the text but it's missing a lot of the recent typographic improvements. It's fine for extracting text for TTS, but isn't ideal if what you are trying to do is maintain a DRM free archive of books you've purchased. It's like saying you can break BluRay DRM by recording the screen with your phone camera.
- sbst32 5y ago
  What kind of typographic improvements do you have in mind?
  - criddell 5y ago
    Stuff like drop caps, kerning that isn't terrible, hyphenation, and better word spacing. None of it matters if you are feeding the text to a speech synthesizer, but it can make a difference when reading.
    - salamandersauce 5y ago
      Some of that stuff you can get back by using an ePub version and reader from the AZW3 file which can typically be done using KindleUnpack. Some of it is less the file format and more the rendering engine used and they simply haven't bothered to backport it to their AZW3 renderers. Amazon does AFAIK precompute some stuff like hyphenation but not everything.
      - sbst32 5y ago
        The point is the KFX format does have all that natively.
        salamandersauce 5y ago
        And my point is that some of it not native (it's handled by the renderer) and it's possible to get back or similar enough (precomputing hyphenation).
        criddell 5y ago
        If you're willing to do a bunch of work, you may be able to recreate something close to the original KFX. AFAIK you won't get kerning though. That seems to be tied to the renderer used for KFX files. The other part is that there isn't a single definitive KFX file for a title. If you have an Oasis and I have a Paperwhite and we both download the same book, I believe we get different KFX files. There's no reason to doubt that there will be future Kindle devices that are even better with respect to typography and so you will need to re-download your library for that device. Today, KFX can sometimes be De-DRM'd but it's gotten to the point where it's a cat and mouse game. It works for a while then Amazon changes something and breaks it. I don't doubt that essentially uncrackable DRM is achievable. The real fix is legislative.

AdmiralAsshat 5y ago

Installers for older versions are becoming increasingly elusive, I've found. Anything newer than Kindle for PC v1.26 and DeDRM can't break the encryption. Installers for v1.17 or v1.19 can still be found, but on Linux those versions can't connect to Amazon because one of the SSL certs used by the app has expired. That leaves v1.21 as the "sweet spot", but most of the sites that used to host that installer EXE have mysteriously disappeared.

Jiro 5y ago
You can get the missing certificate from the links in https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=342186&uid=248652 https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=342186&uid... .

criddell 5y ago

That workaround gets you the text but it's missing a lot of the recent typographic improvements. It's fine for extracting text for TTS, but isn't ideal if what you are trying to do is maintain a DRM free archive of books you've purchased. It's like saying you can break BluRay DRM by recording the screen with your phone camera.

sbst32 5y ago
What kind of typographic improvements do you have in mind?
- criddell 5y ago
  Stuff like drop caps, kerning that isn't terrible, hyphenation, and better word spacing. None of it matters if you are feeding the text to a speech synthesizer, but it can make a difference when reading.
  - salamandersauce 5y ago
    Some of that stuff you can get back by using an ePub version and reader from the AZW3 file which can typically be done using KindleUnpack. Some of it is less the file format and more the rendering engine used and they simply haven't bothered to backport it to their AZW3 renderers. Amazon does AFAIK precompute some stuff like hyphenation but not everything.
    - sbst32 5y ago
      The point is the KFX format does have all that natively.
      - salamandersauce 5y ago
        And my point is that some of it not native (it's handled by the renderer) and it's possible to get back or similar enough (precomputing hyphenation).
        criddell 5y ago
        If you're willing to do a bunch of work, you may be able to recreate something close to the original KFX. AFAIK you won't get kerning though. That seems to be tied to the renderer used for KFX files. The other part is that there isn't a single definitive KFX file for a title. If you have an Oasis and I have a Paperwhite and we both download the same book, I believe we get different KFX files. There's no reason to doubt that there will be future Kindle devices that are even better with respect to typography and so you will need to re-download your library for that device. Today, KFX can sometimes be De-DRM'd but it's gotten to the point where it's a cat and mouse game. It works for a while then Amazon changes something and breaks it. I don't doubt that essentially uncrackable DRM is achievable. The real fix is legislative.