I thought I knew what there was to know about DRM, epub, Adobe, eBooks, etc., but was I evidently way off base. Someone let me know otherwise.

I presumed that since Aldiko is listed as supported app on the Adobe digital list, that I could purchase a book from Feedbooks (which was a link from the Like Android app); however, I am unable to authorize my Motorola Xoom tablet and read the $9.00 book.  I went with the Aldiko app because it is the most customizable for the visually impaired (or anyone else, for that matter).

Adobe has a 30-minute telephone wait time; Feedbooks says "Not our problem, contact Aldiko," so I submitted a lengthy ticket to Aldiko and await their response.  Quite frankly, there are too many cooks in the kitchen and something that should be very simple is becoming frustrating and a real pain in the arse!

I know I have an Adobe ID, because I needed to get one to post in this forum.  Entering my username (email) and password has no effect on being able to read the book on my tablet!

I hate doing business with the major folks (B&N, Borders, etc.), but if that is what I have to do to read a DRM protected epub book on my tablet, so be it.

Feedback much appreciated from anyone else with an Android tablet that has the same problem.

Thank you!

Thanks, Frustrated in AZ, for that excellent information.

I now wonder if that will be an issue using the Kobo Android application on my tablet as well (I emailed their tech support this morning and am waiting a reply).  I CAN read on the tablet, without any problems, several previews of Kobo books, so if nothing changes when purchasing the FULL book, than everything is basically done on the "back end" and I should be fine.

If, however, the format of the FULL book is different than the FREE PREVIEW, and Adobe requires my tablet to be "authorized" in order to read a book purchased from Kobo, than I am **** out of luck on that as well.

I hate reading books anyway because I proofread all day long for a living.  However, there are many books not available (nor will they ever be) in audio format, but most of those hard-to-find books are readily available via ebooks, so I will just hope that Adobe gets on the bandwagon because it's becoming a sore thorn in my side.

I certainly appreciate and understand protecting licenses and making sure the authors get their royalties, but really feel the "industry" needs to mainstream this better OR explain it better to the public.  Like others have, I just presumed that if the "compatible device list" showed a particular ereader application, that would suffice, but I now know that not to be the case.

Am also looking at some posts at XoomForums.com re this topic.

Thanks again.

I use overdrive for epub with DRM , it seems to be the only solution that

does not need a PC that I have found. Aldiko allows me to view PDF 's with

DRM but has to be synced to a PC with ADE. As far as I am concerned the

issue of Adobe DRM support on android ( gingerbread) is a closed issue

(though it could be refined, but that should be another thread).

I don't know if I've replied to you on this one or not - they all seem to

run together.

An .ascm file is really only a pointer to the epublication in question.  If

everything is set up, when the download from the source is completed, all it

leaves behind is this .ascm file, and then it opens up ADE.  ADE then reads

the file, goes and gets the epublication and puts it in your ADE library.

That works and works well for almost all of us....

What's changed is that technology continues its relentless march forward.

And the advertising for the latest device tells us that you can read books

on it - whether it's an iPhone, a new tablet and so on.  What they DON'T

tell you is the process for making that happen, which involves all of the

interface (in-your-face) software we keep talking about.  So, as technology

moves forward, the interface software has to be revised to keep up - a

process that takes way longer than the development and marketing of the

devices themselves.  There are so many moving parts: the hardware, the

different application systems such as Android, and the interfaces, such as

ADE, Calibre and Overdrive.  Every time there's a change in one or the

other, a new set of 'conditions' (not problems - opportunities, as my boss

used to say) for the rest of us to deal with.  It's not uncommon for the

forum to get a message saying I just bought this device and I can't load

books onto it - the software sucks.  I blame the people who told those

people that they could do just that but didn't tell them how it was done.

OK - enough soapbox.  The point is that all of us have to remember that not

everything is going to work together all the time - and that some things

just aren't going to work well when they do.  We have alternatives - we just

have to figure out whether it's time to go there - or stay here.  Adobe MUST

keep up - and so far, their software upgrades are coming out very slowly....

==============

You are very informative, Frustrated in AZ; I feel like I just sat through a college course, which is good.  I am always curious to know the method behind the madness.

If you are not currently earning 6 figures somewhere, you should be!  Knowledge = Power.

Anyhow, my biggest gripe is I want stuff to work in the background.  Be able to go to any reader device, tablet, computer, library -- whatever -- log in, download, pay if money is involved, and finished.  Instead, it is a lot of cockamamie stuff involved and gets old.

Anyway, just for ***** and giggles, I checked out 1 EPUB book and 1 Adobe PDF book from my local library and will see what OverDrive does with them on my tablet.  I am expecting that it will go smoothly (just download and read), but at this point I should probably have no expectations.

Thanks again, Frustrated, for all the great insight!

if the print were bigger OR i were 30 years young, print would work for me.  even the large print books have faded ink; the quality is crap.  exception are large print brooks i get from Jewish Braille or there's a company online that will make certain books large print (or VERY LARGE EVEN) and bold and a customized font for a fair price. unfortunately, the mainstream books aren't part of that, so it is very limited.

a follow-up to my previous post re OverDrive and EPUB and PDF; the EPUB downloaded fine, however OverDrive's so-called LARGEST FONT is very small so i have to experiment later and see if i can read that one in Aldiko.  the Adobe PDF book from OverDrive said "can not download form mobile device, blah blah blah."

"a follow-up to my previous post re OverDrive and EPUB and PDF; the EPUB downloaded fine, however OverDrive's so-called LARGEST FONT is very small so i have to experiment later and see if i can read that one in Aldiko.  the Adobe PDF book from OverDrive said "can not download form mobile device, blah blah blah.""

Bluefire Reader just released their Android version into the Google Market - it's probably worth you checking that out as well.

Bluefire Reader will read either ePub or PDF files checked out from a library.

Good luck with that--Will that be because of what you are...reading...with that very large font?

I've been running some interessting experiments with my Nook Color and ADE.

When I first got my Nook Color -- I could download library books from my library and could drag and drop them to 'media' which showed up in the left hand pane on my ADE on my laptop (when my nook was plugged in by usb to the laptop).  When dragged and dropped they ended up under 'myfiles' and 'digital editions' subdirectory and had to be read by the Nook generic reader.

Then I got my Nook rooted to 2.2 about the same time that Overdrive put out their edition for Android.   I could use Overdrive on my Nook Color for all purposes(e.g. going to my online library, checking out books, etc) but it wouldn't download the books to my Nook (although it did to my Droid phone) -- it would just give a bunch of random letters and would say there is an error.  I still had to go through ADE on my laptop.

However, when I downloaded my books to ADE on my laptop and plugged in the Nook by USB I was then given the option of dragging my books either to the generic Nook reader (the root that I had done maintained some original nook features) but, since I also had  gotten Aldiko Premium in the market and registered it -- I had the choice of dragging it there too.  So, I think if somene wants multiple options fairly easily, they should probably go through their laptop because any apps that have been registered to Adobe should automatically show up on the left hand pane in ADE.

Recently I bought an SD card from Amazon which had 2.3 (gingerbread) on it (and there are other versions available) which is completely reversible if you take out the SD card.  When I tried overdrive with that one -- it very easily downloaded my books.  So, same Nook but with a different rooted version could easily do the downloads it could not do before.  However, I don't have the choice of which ereader app I want to use even though there are 3 of them registered to ADE.  I just get the Overdrive generic reader.

I also want to note that my brother wanted to get a Nook Color and I had a horrible time trying to set it up.  Turns out that it was just a lemon -- so I took it back and they gave me a new one which works fine.  Some just arrive more or less DOA.  So if you've had a bad experience with a Nook (especially turning off and on, flashing, etc.) consider the possibility that you got a lemon and take it back for a new one.  I've helped a number of people set theirs up and his was the first lemon I encountered.

Well said.  What may be puzzling you about how 'astro' fits into the process

is that 'astro' is middleware.

That means the translation of the file is done via 'astro', but instead of

opening ADE and ADE storing the ebook in its library, 'astro' opens Aldiko

and Aldiko stores it in its library.  Bluefire reader and Overdrive are also

other applications that would receive the books from middleware.  However,

the software/hardware that they hand off to is different from ADE, which is

targeted at Windows PC's and MAC's.

==============

Help! It's been a while since any posts but this discussion is excellent, hopefully I can get a solution here.

Hope things haven't changed too much, but I've tried almost all of the methods here and they didn't work. I'm hoping it's my device (Asus TF101) and not something Adobe have done to encumber all the great various solutions listed above.

I've tried Overdrive, Txtr, ADE (via usb), aldiko, and every other ereader app to open both the ACSM and PDF file from my local library.

The library uses Overdrive, but I've had problems with this:

(1) normal browser only gets the mobile version of the overdrive/library website, cannot download because it says something like "cannot download from mobile website".

(2) with firefox, I get the desktop version but can't download either. Just get some XML gobledegook garbage code in the browser when I click the download link that says "download PDF file". (Although what I get in windows from clicking this same "PDF" link is an ACSM file, not PDF.)

Would this process work if it was EPUB instead of PDF I was trying to get? (Sounds silly but I see above many say overdrive can't open PDF. However the Tech guy at the library says Overdrive can. So maybe a device issue.)

This is really a case of having tried everything, but no luck. Am tempted to abandon ebooks altogether (for life) and unless I can find a fix, and am inclined to suggest all users do the same.

(Ebooks officially suck balls.) Please help if you have some better suggestions.

I don't know when you've tuned into this discussion, so let's start at the

top.

Android is an OS that works on 'hand held devices' - that is smartphones,

tablets and some ereaders.  It is incompatible with DE, which uses either

Windows or Mac interface protocols for those devices.  So, how do you get

from one to the other?

First, the most logical thing to do is to download your ebooks via DE to

your computer - as long as it's a Windows or Mac machine.  Once the ebook

has been transferred and is in the DE library, then you can set to work

with one of the various tools that will import it to your Android device.

Is it better to download EPUB or PDF?  I have a personal view that EPUB

format is the way to go.  It has flexibility and scalability that allow

compatible ereaders to display the text and graphics embedded in it.  In

point, they were designed to those spec's.  PDF is a format that was

designed mainly for documents, not books, and there are many

'incompatibilities' in PDF's when you try to read them as ebooks.  DE will

handle a subset of PDF formats, but I would suggest Adobe Reader for you if

you have PDF's, not DE.  And Reader doesn't interface with ereaders or

Android devices, so if you go that way, you are pretty much confined to

your computer.

The tools for porting ebooks to Android devices vary a lot.  Apple has

iTunes.  Aldiko has software that will interface with ebooks, and it's

mentioned in the 'supported devices' list from Adobe with certain

ereaders.  I believe that Calibre and Bluefire Reader software may be able

to do something for you.  Your Android device 'user manual' may have

something about how to import and read ebooks - some do, some do not.

Hope this helps!

==============

dlcullen:

you mentioned using the kindle app.  ADE does not recognize my new phone and I've been reading forums for days to try to find how to fix this problem.  Everyone who mentions how to do the library books, no matter what app they mention, says that it has to be recognized by the ADE.  That doesnt help if ADE cant find your phone.  Is there a kindle software to put on your computer that will recognize your phone so that you can transfer library books?  or are you just generally talking about bought kindle books?

Frustrated:

thanks for your quick answer.  I thought that, but by reading his post, I thought maybe I was wrong.  I guess I just misunderstood him. 

Anyway, do you know any other way for me to get my lended library books onto my Pantech Marauder other than using ADE since it does not support my phone?  I have downloaded and tried like 6 different e-reader apps to no avail.  All the app answers I've seen in this forum all go back to connecting to the ADE and I cannot do that until they start supporting my phone and I dont buy ebooks anymore, I get all of them from the library.

thanks!

This is Debbie (not a he ;-) ) and Kindle is not really welded to Amazon, they want you to buy their ebooks, so they offer the Kindle app for Androids and Apple devices.  Hopefully these links work, it will show you what I mentioned.  library2go is offered by our local libraries, you just sign in using your library card then you can check books out in different formats, quite often Kindle is one of those formats.  When you check it out you'll get a message telling you to go to Kindle to retrieve the book.  Then you just log onto your Kindle account online on amazon.com and send the book to your device.  Prior to getting the book you'll want to install the Kindle app on your phone and sign in with your username and password that you use for the online Kindle, that will enable your to send the books from Amazon online to your device via wifi.  You don't have to connect your device to the computer.  As long as you have the same type of library services in your town you should be able to do the same!

http://library2go.lib.overdrive.com/E08363C2-DBF7-480E-AC8C-DB62AE67C9 21/10/438/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=5364826s

https://play.google.com/store/search?q=kindle+for+android

I don't have a Kindle but I did set a friend's up to download the free library books.  I've had lots of Nooks, I had the first color and then I got the Nook Tablet, now I have the Galaxy 8.9 Tablet which for me is perfect.  I honestly think any of the readers are good.  When the Nook first came out it was very simple to root so you could read your Kindle books on it, now I think they've changed that. 

You might want to go with something like a Galaxy Tab or the 7 Nexus tablet made by Asus simply because you will be able to have the Nook app AND the Kindle app as well as dozens of other book readers.  That would be my choice!  I also bought my device as refurbished on Amazon so it was much less than purchasing new, I've had it serveral months and it has been just like a new device.

Frustrated:

Thanks for the input and I hadnt considered that, so that helps alot.  My reason for getting a new one was that Nook came out with the "Glowlight" so you can read at night without a book light.   Once I started mentioning buying it, all my "kindle" friends online were telling me to "buy a Kindle, they have that light function too and its better".  Alot of people keep telling me to just buy a generic tablet.  I dont want a tablet because I like the fact that the Nook still has the reading screen that is like reading a book and tablets are not made to be an "ereader" but a "little computer with an ereader function" and everyone I've asked says their tablets' screens are just like a computer and have that glare that a computer screen has.  I work on a computer all day and couldnt stand to have to use a screen like that all night too to read.  I, too, have to put my font up to "extra large" to read at night so I wont be reading on my phone much, but did want it to sync for emergencies when I forgot my nook.  I think you are right; I dont need to be limiting myself to the kindle format, every book I've read in the past year has been epub format from the library, so I probably wouldnt be happy with that choice.

thanks.

You'll need a magnifying glass to do that.  No matter what, the screen on a

phone isn't big enough to allow you to read an ebook comfortably....

===========

To kgriffall:

I think you may have overlooked what a couple of us "newbee's" to the conversation have said.  Overdrive does not work on some of the newer phones, mine (and a few others have said it on here) included.  When we download with overdrive's adroid app, instead of downloading the book, an html code comes up on our phone and it doesnt download the library ebook or audiobooks to my phone correctly.

To Janetsbooks:

The main IT developer at the company I work for helped me out with my problem by finding a reader for android the does NOT make you go through ADE to recognize your phone and I finally found one that works!!!  It is Aldiko.  If you download that app then go to their website and use the 2nd method for getting library books, you can go to your library straight from your phone, never hooking it to your computer and download your already checked  out library ebook straight into the Aldiko app.  Its doing what Overdrive is supposed to if Overdrive supported my phone. I works great!  Aldiko is free on Google Play.

Here is the link to Aldiko's main website to go to on your computer (after you've downloaded the app from google play to your phone) which tells you the two methods of downloading to the phone.  For those of you having trouble with ADE recognizing your phone as I did, you will want to use Method 2:

https://aldiko.zendesk.com/entries/405886-read-ebooks-from-public-libr aries