Converting Amazon Kindle For PC Books Now Possible

Wednesday, December 23. 2009

Converting Amazon Kindle For PC Books Now Possible

UPDATE 2/11/2010: Updated the included unswindle to the latest version, fixes errors on unDRMed books.
UPDATE 2/27/2010: Added specification that users install the 32-bit version of python 2.6 for Windows, even on 64-bit systems.

People have been asking me if there’s a way to convert Kindle books downloaded with Amazon’s Kindle For PC application pretty much since the day it was released. Sadly, despite a lot of tinkering on my part, there was no elegant solution^* until now.

A fantastic Kindle For PC conversion tool has been made. And it works really, really well. And it is significantly easier than the old “Kindle-only” method.

Here’s how it works:

1) Install 32-bit python 2.6 for Windows, from here even if your system is 64-bit you need the 32-bit version in order for this to work) : http://www.python.org/download/

2) Download unswindle.pyw and mobidedrm.py via this zip file and unzip it somewhere on your PC

3) Open the unzipped folder and double-click unswindle.pyw

Kindle For PC will now open.

4) Select the book you want to convert.

5) When the book loads, simply exit Kindle For PC

A ‘Save’ dialog will open asking you where you want to save your new decrypted .mobi file. And we’re done.

(As it uses mobidedrm, it still won’t work on Topaz/.tpz files, and the first one I tried happened to be one. Still, most books will work.)

*: I did work out a scheme wherein you record video of your desktop, scroll through the book in Kindle For PC, remove all duplicate frames from the resultant video and then convert to PDF, but it was rather unwieldy.

Defined tags for this entry: drm, hacking, howto, kindle

Comments: 67. Click to add/view. Posted by jer@nyquil.org at 09:03

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2009-12-23 22:32
Anonymous said:

Any way to convert Topaz/.tpz files?

Thanks

#1 (Reply)

2009-12-24 09:39
jer@nyquil.org said:

Not that I know of :(

#1.1 (Reply)

2009-12-25 20:33
Josh said:

Thanks so much very much appreciated.

#2 (Reply)

2009-12-27 09:43
Eric said:

When I try it I get an error. "Unswindle for PC" in blue, then, Error: failed to determine book path.

Any ideas?

#3 (Reply)

2009-12-27 10:09
jer@nyquil.org said:

When do you get that error? After Kindle For PC loads a book? or before it loads Kindle For PC?

#3.1 (Reply)

2009-12-28 15:44
Eric said:

I get the error if I am just "double-clicking" unswindle.pyw and it is trying to open Kindle for PC, or if Kindle is already open and I am trying to select a book.

I never get a "Save" dialog.

Maybe I’m doing something wrong?

#3.1.1 (Reply)

2009-12-28 23:40
Dave said:

You’re probably running Win 7. Go into User Accounts and change the UAC to Never Notify.

Dave

#3.1.1.1 (Reply)

2009-12-29 00:49
Eric said:

So,

Making Progress.

I’m on XP SP3. Never heard of UAC. But when I looked up what it was and what it does I did a little intuitive thinking and turned off my firewall before I tried again.

Everything is fine until the end. Then I get the same "PID" error as Anonymous. I suppose that might be irreparable on this particular book.

Eric

#3.1.1.1.1 (Reply)

2009-12-27 18:41
Casey said:

Im on a mac, i have python 3.1 but i don’t know how to run it with a mac. any suggestions?

#4 (Reply)

2009-12-28 07:51
Anonymous said:

Worked fine for one book – thanks for that; bought another, got error: failed to determine book PID error; any idea?

#5 (Reply)

2009-12-30 14:01
Jd said:

I get a PID error as well. Hopefully there will be a fix. Thanks!

#5.1 (Reply)

2009-12-29 17:03
Al said:

I am running Ubuntu and I am having some problems converting files that end in azw1. I also have had recent issues loading Kindle for PC. Am I doing something wrong?? I have used the script created by Igor mobidedrm.py but I am unable to convert this book.

Thanks if anyone can help

#6 (Reply)

2009-12-31 11:35
Michael said:

Regarding decoding Topaz, scan the comments here
http://darkreverser.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/new-blog/#comments

#7 (Reply)

2010-01-01 03:29
Dan said:

hi i get same error as Eric

—————————————-
Unswindle For PC
—————————————-
Error: failed to determine book path
—————————————-
OK
—————————————- i get this after i close kindle for pc after loading a book. i never get a save dialog. has anyone found out how to fix this?

#8 (Reply)

2010-01-01 16:06
Eric said:

Dan,

As I say in one of my entries (thanks to Dave’s help), it turns out it it can be due to UAC (need to turn it off) if you have Win Vista or higher, or you may need you try turning off your firewall/virus settings.

After that, PIDs remain the random mystery everyone is having.

Eric

#8.1 (Reply)

2010-01-03 00:14
Steve said:

Same error as others "Kindle for PC not installed". This is on XP, not software firewall running, Avast anti virus turned off.

Nothing else I can think of that would be causing it…pauses – checks error logs…nope, nothing.

#8.1.1 (Reply)

2010-02-05 06:02
ProTitan said:

Error: faild to determine book path.

I’m getting this error only when Kindle for PC is already open. Make sure you application is closed before running unswindle

#8.2 (Reply)

2010-01-05 07:39
Patty said:

I keep getting an error about not finding mobidedrm script and I followed all the directions but everytome i hit unswindle it gives me this error help

#9 (Reply)

2010-01-05 17:00
Pete said:

You have to follow instructions. Make sure you extract the files to a directory. In Windows XP, explorer will open the .zip file and make it look like you are running the .py file. I extracted it and the error when away.

Here is my dilema. Books from Amazon with .azw extention throw an error about not being able to save topaz format files. Has anyone seen this ?

#9.1 (Reply)

2010-01-05 16:28
Pete said:

I’m getting the same error that Patty is getting ? Any ideas ?

#10 (Reply)

2010-01-07 08:55
awc said:

Any way to covert mobi to pdf?

#11 (Reply)

2010-01-07 11:00
Eric said:

For PDF conversion on anything, I always use the PDF converter at "primopdf.com".

If it can print, it can become a PDF file.

#11.1 (Reply)

2010-02-05 13:03
Steve said:

or try the free cutepdf.com – in installs a very fast pdf maker as a printer.

#11.1.1 (Reply)

2010-01-07 09:59
e said:

i am getting the following error:

Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Users\eric\Desktop\unswindle\unswindle.pyw", line 796, in gui_main inpath, pid = unswindler.get_book() File "C:\Users\eric\Desktop\unswindle\unswindle.pyw", line 744, in get_book grabber = PC1KeyGrabber(debugger, self._hexdigest) File "C:\Users\eric\Desktop\unswindle\unswindle.pyw", line 634, in init debugger.set_bp(self._taddr(addr), getattr(self, mname)) File "C:\Users\eric\Desktop\unswindle\unswindle.pyw", line 452, in set_bp byte = self.read_process_memory(addr, type=ctypes.c_byte) File "C:\Users\eric\Desktop\unswindle\unswindle.pyw", line 442, in read_process_memory raise DebuggerError("could not read memory 0x%08x" % (addr,)) DebuggerError: could not read memory 0×1000000000014c9df

any thoughts?

#12 (Reply)

2010-01-08 13:48
Anonymous said:

anyone notice formatting errors in the newly created file?

#13 (Reply)

2010-01-10 10:42
Thimblegirl said:

Sincere thanks. Worked like a charm.

#14 (Reply)

2010-01-12 14:06
slferris said:

I’m trying to convert a Kindle book to html under Mac OS X 10.6.2. I’ve tried the most current version of mobidedrm.py dated Dec 12, 2009 and mobidedrm2.py dated Jul 9, 2008. I get the same result in both cases, viz., the "unpacked" folder contains only JPG illustrations from the book and the html file itself is empty.

Any thoughts what might be wrong?

#15 (Reply)

2010-01-14 10:45
Clay said:

>> i am getting the following error:
>> ...
>> DebuggerError: could not read memory 0×1000000000014c9df
>> Any Thoughts?

You’re getting this error because you either didn’t read the instructions that said "install the 32 bit version of Python" or you read it but thought you knew better and installed the 64 bit version on your 64 bit OS…..

.... Just like I did.

I uninstalled 64 bit python, then installed the normal windows python and it worked fine.

#16 (Reply)

2010-01-14 16:36
Candice said:

When I doubleclick on the unswindle file nothing happens. Followed directions, what did I do wrong?

#17 (Reply)

2010-01-15 05:27
Andrew said:

Once the DRM is removed, use Calibre to convert to whatever format you want.
http://calibre-ebook.com/

#18 (Reply)

2010-01-15 08:42
Clay said:

This is a fantastic program. Thank you for your efforts.

I made one modification to unswindle.pyw so that I could see (and record the PID of my Kindle for PC app, so that in the EXTREMELY LIKELY event that Amazon changes the app to shut this script down, I will be able to manually convert my books in the future.

I changed the line that pops up the save dialog to be

parent=None, title=‘Select unencrypted Mobipocket file to produce PID=’ + pid,

This puts the PID in the title of the dialog so I can write it down.

#19 (Reply)

2010-01-15 09:13
jer@nyquil.org said:

Hey, that’s a great idea. You should suggest that to I?CABBAGES so he can incorporate that into new versions.

http://i-u2665-cabbages.blogspot.com/2009/12/circumventing-kindle-for-pc-drm.html#

#19.1 (Reply)

2010-01-24 02:18
Terisa de Morgan said:

I only can say: THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I haven’t been able to work properly the script, but with your idea I’ve got the pid and I can use the normal way.

#19.2 (Reply)

2010-01-15 10:30
Clay said:

Feel Free

#20 (Reply)

2010-01-15 19:37
D said:

Getting this error:

File "C:\Python26\unswindle.pyw", line 795, in gui_main unswindler = Unswindler() File "C:\Python26\unswindle.pyw", line 684, in init self._mobidedrmpath = self._get_mobidedrm_path() File "C:\Python26\unswindle.pyw", line 687, in _get_mobidedrm_path basedir = sys.modules[self.module.file
AttributeError: ‘module’ object has no attribute ‘file‘

running XP. Have mobidedrm.py in the Python directory

#21 (Reply)

2010-01-15 19:44
D [again] said:

Never mind. I was opening and running the unswindle.pyw module instead of doubleclicking it.

#21.1 (Reply)

2010-01-17 23:17
Mike said:

When I run the unswindle for PC (on Win 7 with UAC set to never notify), I get the following:
Traceback (most recent call last): File "C:\Downloads\unswindle.pyw", line 796, in gui_main inpath, pid = unswindler.get_book() File "C:\Downloads\unswindle.pyw", line 744, in get_book grabber = PC1KeyGrabber(debugger, self._hexdigest) File "C:\Downloads\unswindle.pyw", line 634, in init debugger.set_bp(self._taddr(addr), getattr(self, mname)) File "C:\Downloads\unswindle.pyw", line 452, in set_bp byte = self.read_process_memory(addr, type=ctypes.c_byte) File "C:\Downloads\unswindle.pyw", line 442, in read_process_memory raise DebuggerError("could not read memory 0x%08x" % (addr,)) DebuggerError: could not read memory 0×1000000000014c9df

#22 (Reply)

2010-01-23 12:14
DJ said:

I’m a newbie to Python and I got a similar error but figured out how to fix it at last. The solution? Instead of running it from a DOS prompt as I had been doing, I double-clicked it in Windows Explorer (as D suggests in #21.1 above).

#22.1 (Reply)

2010-01-23 16:57
The Todd said:

I get Error: Kindle For PC installation not found

What am I doing wrong?

#23 (Reply)

2010-01-24 13:52
Steve said:

I posted the same message earlier and guess what the solution was? Install Kindle for PC.

My confusion was that at the time I didn’t realise Kindle for PC was a separate program.

Hope this helps others too.

#23.1 (Reply)

2010-01-24 20:39
Janet said:

Where can we find the Kindle to PC program?

#23.1.1 (Reply)

2010-02-01 16:55
Steve said:

Google is your friend :o)

Kindle for PC

#23.1.1.1 (Reply)

2010-02-03 05:29
rogg said:

Kindle for PC is available on Amazon.com

Go to the Kindle product page and scroll down to the section "Automatically Sync Kindle Books with Your Computer and Other Mobile Devices"

That has a link to the download page for Kindle for PC.

#23.1.1.2 (Reply)

2010-01-24 14:22
DarkHorseMBA said:

This worked great!
Is there a Mac version of this process in the works? I assume one would have to wait until Kindle for Mac is released.

I just booted into Windows 7, and it all worked!

I removed the DRM from 2 books as a test, now that removing DRM works I can buy more eBooks. I’ve been reluctant to purchase eBooks since I did not want to get tied down to one format.

#24 (Reply)

2010-01-31 20:08
Alicia said:

I keep getting: Error: Failed to determine book PDB

I’ve turned off all virus protection and firewall, I’ve turned off UAC.

Any ideas?

#25 (Reply)

2010-02-02 14:24
Michael Walker said:

I am just getting that same error Error: failed to determine book path, how do you fix that?

#26 (Reply)

2010-02-03 10:41
Preston Lee said:

Everyone: "This new web-based tool":http://kindletools.prestonlee.com/ effectively replaces the need for the kindlepid script. Should be much easier for some people than messing with the kindlepid python command-line script…

http://kindletools.prestonlee.com/

I code

#27 (Reply)

2010-02-03 11:18
Alicia said:

Unless I’m missing something, this is intended to add DRM to documents, thereby securing sensitive information.

That certainly has a use, but it won’t do much good for those of us who want to use amazon-purchased books for readers other than Kindle.

#27.1 (Reply)

2010-02-03 12:22
jer@nyquil.org said:

You are missing something. That site takes the place of the python script that generates the PID for your kindle books.

The site gives you the PID, which you can use other scripts to remove the DRM from Kindle books you have purchased.

There are other scripts around that DO add DRM to read non-Kindle content on a Kindle, but these instructions (and that site) are used for removing DRM.

#27.1.1 (Reply)

2010-02-03 12:41
Alicia said:

Thank you for clarifying that for me. Obviously I have no experience with this type of thing and got caught with my foot in my mouth.

I have a "Kindle" book that I need on my Nook for a class I’m taking, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make that happen. It really seems to be a lot more complicated that I ever thought it would be.

The Python thing didn’t work at all and I can’t figure out how to use "http://kindletools.prestonlee.com/"

Any help would be really appreciated! I really don’t want to give up and have to buy the paper version of the book in addition to the ebook version I already have =(

#27.1.1.1 (Reply)

2010-02-03 12:46
jer@nyquil.org said:

Mac, PC, Linux?

If you’re running Windows, I highly recommend the Kindle For PC option, as outlined in the body of this very blog post.

If not, then I recommend clicking on the ‘Kindle’ tag on this post to see all my posts about Kindle. In there are instructions for using the python tools, as well as many, many comments both asking and answering questions people have run into.

#27.1.1.1.1 (Reply)

2010-02-03 12:59
Alicia said:

I am running Windows Vista. I tried the unswindle thing, but I got a message "Error: Failed to determine book PDB"

I don’t even know what the book PDB is…

Anyway, I turned off my fire wall, I turned off my virus protection and I changed UAC to never notify, but it didn’t do any good. I’m still getting the same message.

I’ll check out your ‘Kindle’ tag. Is there a specific place I should go to get an answer to this perplexing problem?

#28 (Reply)

2010-02-03 17:20
jaffar said:

thank you so much, it really worked like charm, now i can enjoy reading my books on any device I like..

#29 (Reply)

2010-02-03 20:23
Michael Walker said:

well unswindle finnaly worked, had to have a book open in kindle for pc, it did nothing to allow mw to pick a book.

#30 (Reply)

2010-02-04 08:24
Damon said:

Worked perfectly for me after disabling user account and running mobidedrm before running unswindle. Save As window opened behind some other windows, so I initially missed it.

#31 (Reply)

2010-02-05 05:50
ProTitan said:

Unswindle for PC
Error: failed to determine book PID

This is the error I’m getting after closing Kindle for PC. What happened?

See… I was able to undrm two books by following the instructions above but now when I’m trying to do the same with third, fourth and fifth book, all I’m getting is the error above. Any thoughts?

#32 (Reply)

2010-02-05 15:49
ProTitan said:

Found solution to Error: failed to determine book PID.

The above error only will appear if Kindle book is DRM-free

Solution: there is new unswindle v6-rc1 that will solve the above problem.

Perhaps jer would be kind enough to update the file above, if not than you must find unswindle v6-rc1 yourself.

#32.1 (Reply)

2010-02-05 12:47
Beth said:

Thank you for this and for the record if any Amazon execs stumble across this site, I have an ereader but some textbooks I need are only available on the Kindle. I have legally purchased a digital version of these books and now that I don’t have to read them on my pc only I am now paying for more k4pc books because I can use my ereader.

#33 (Reply)

2010-02-06 22:14
Amorica said:

I don’t get any error messages or anything else. When I double click on unswindle.pyw it opens kindle for pc. Then Select the book I want to convert. When it opens I then close kindle for pc and get nothing. What am I doing wrong?

#34 (Reply)

2010-02-07 03:59
mavilchez said:

thanks a lot , at least can read my kindles books with mobipocket

#35 (Reply)

2010-02-07 12:35
Shiann said:

I am running Windows 7. I have tried the method you suggested, yet continue to get an error. When I click on "unswindle," I get the error "could not locate MobileDeDRM script"

I’m trying to read the cheaper Kindle books on my Windows Mobile phone. This is much more complicated than I expected, but will be worth it in the end, I hope! Thanks

#36 (Reply)

2010-02-11 10:50
jer@nyquil.org said:

I got that the first time I ran it as well. I opened the folder that I unzipped unswindle (and mobidedrm) to, and double-clicked on mobidedrm, then double-clicked on unswindle and it worked. Not entirely sure why, but it works now.

#36.1 (Reply)

2010-02-17 21:59
Sandy said:

Yah it worked just as you discribed except for one out of 9 books i had on in my kindle for pc. it must be one of thos topaz files you said would not convert. is there any way of know that before you purchase a book on amazon?

#37 (Reply)

2010-02-26 05:18
Dick said:

Jer – Many thanks for a great job! I use Windows 7 and it works great. For those getting the "path" message, I get the impression that if Kindle for PC isn’t completely loaded (lots of books), that error message can appear. Patience pays!

#38 (Reply)

2010-02-27 12:51
TheScribe56 said:

This worked fine for me. Sony wanted $18 for a book Amazon had for $8. Wanted to warn folks, the unswindle.pyw only works with the 32-bit version of Python. In fact, the files aren’t even recognized by the 64-bit Python. I just set it up on my laptop, but it’ll work fine on a 64-bit computer with 64-bit Vista, you just have to use the 32-bit version of Python.

#39 (Reply)

2010-02-27 16:09
Crystal V said:

Worked like a charm! Thanks a million! Do you think this will work w/ Kindle for Mac when they release it?

#40 (Reply)

2010-02-27 17:32
jer@nyquil.org said:

I’m guessing it’s not likely that it’ll work with the Mac version. The way this one works uses a flaw in the way Windows manages its memory, so I suspect the Mac version will be more secure.

#40.1 (Reply)

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Jer Warren

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The author lives in Vancouver, Washington, USA with his girlfriend and a menagerie of cats, rats, fish, birds, guinea pigs and robots.

Among other inanities, he strives to use investigative techniques to work young starlet breasts into every aspect of rational discourse — focusing on the discourse, thus making it not perverted. Also, has recently begun a career as “Internet hairstylist.”

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Wednesday, December 23. 2009

Converting Amazon Kindle For PC Books Now Possible

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