E_ADEPT_DATABASE error

[Guest]

I can't find any way of downloading a book I allegedly "borrowed."  I have no idea if the book is REALLY still there, but since right after it was valid, through to now, several hours later, I still get the SAME error message, with no explanation, no workaround, not even a link to fix it:

Unable to download

Error getting License, License Server Communication Problem: E_ADEPT_DATABASE

OK

What is E_ADEPT_DATABASE?  Where do I find a description of a workaround for this error?  I see plenty of posts about the PROBLEM, but not a single resolution, at least, not one that works.  I did find a link to a workaround, but I tried it and it STILL doesn't work.

HOW do I download a borrowed book?  I tried tech support, but even THEY have no idea what E_ADEPT_DATABASE is.    Which isn't very impressive.  If this software does not work, where do I find software that DOES work and IS supported by people who are knowledgeable about how to use it?

[sjpt]

Do you have an Adobe ID, and have you registered your copy of ADE (Digital Editions) with it?

You must have an Adobe ID to read library books; if you haven't you can get one free at https://www.adobe.com/uk/account/sign-in.adobedotcom.html and click on 'don't have an Adobe id'

Then try the following ~ but no promises it will work I am afraid.  It may seem odd, but worth trying even if you already have an AdobeID and it is already registered with ADE.

1. open ADE
2. hit the keys ctrl-shift-D (in that order, keeping all held down together)
3. respond yes/ok or whatever to any boxes asking if you wish to deregister/deauthorise
4. close ADE and restart it
5. it may ask you to register automatically, or you may need to choose the 'Library / Authorise Computer' menu option
6. give it you Adobe ID and password
7. try again to download the book

Good luck ....

Unfortunately, Adobe DRM provides a pretty hostile experience even to knowledgeable computer people and when it is working right; almost impossible for the non-computer people to whom it should be aimed when it doesn't work right.  Meaningless error messages is a part of that environment.

[Guest]

Thank you very much for your response.

Yes, I have an Adobe ID, and yes, I registered my copy of ADE with it. 

I did try the Control-Shift-D procedure, but it did nothing. 

You're correct, it's extremely hostile.    The problem is that I downloaded this program to be able to read books through Open Library, as my local library charges a fortune for a library card, so I have no access to a library of any kind at the current time.  But it looks like I'll still be unable to have any avenue to check out books, because Adobe offers ZERO tech support for their product, and I haven't seen any answer yet that resolves this problem. 

Thank you again.    Considering you're doing the work that Adobe should be doing to support their own product, even though this didn't work for me, I'm still going to mark this as "helpful," since you've done a lot more than Adobe has done for me!

[sjpt]

Just checking that you know about resources such as Project Gutenberg http://www.gutenberg.org/

for a huge number of DRM free eBooks (mostly older classics that are out of copyright).

You can read them more conveniently on the open source Clibre software than on ADE.   http://calibre-ebook.com/

It might be worth trying Adobe Live Chat to see if they can help http://www.adobe.com/support/chat/ivrchat.html

but I wouldn't hold out too much hope.

Good luck.

[Guest]

Thank you kindly...you've done more for me than Adobe has, and it's their software!

Thank you...I do know about Project Gutenberg...I actually downloaded many books to an Android phone (the ADE software is for my PC) through sites related to PG (before I found I could get tons of free current books through a site called Book Bub (http://bookbub.com - go to the Free e-books section...they add about 4 or more every day...I even scored The DaVinci Code when it was free for a week!).

The reason for my needing the ADE reader, though, is because the books I want to read on my PC aren't novels.  (I use my Android Kindle reader for novels.)  I was hoping to check out books that aren't free and definitely aren't in the public domain.  For instance, these are two of the books I was trying to "borrow" through Open Library...I'm sending you the links so that if you know of any software that does what ADE is SUPPOSED to, maybe I can find some way around this garbage:

http://openlibrary.org/books/OL3510744M/Knitting_in_Vogue

http://openlibrary.org/works/OL13654262W/Marcia_DeCoster%27s_beaded_opulence

As I said, these are books that aren't in the public domain...I should be able to borrow them for 14 days, and they wouldn't be anything I would read on an Android, since I would tend to skip around and look at the instructions, rather than reading them as I would a novel.  By using the "Borrow" link on these pages (and I'm a registered member of the site), I should be able to download a PDF (which is self-expiring), and so far, the only program I know that will read these particular PDFs is...ADE.    These are books I would borrow from a library...if I had a library card.  The quality of knitting and beading books in the public domain are laughable...the instructions are vague, poorly written and anything recovered from that long ago is usually not in good, readable shape, with pages missing and many completely illegible from the ravages of time.  Since I have no library access to current crafting books, I was hoping this would be a good substitute.

I did also try the live chat link, but you're right, Adobe did nothing.  They didn't know what the error meant, they had no workaround and they referred me here, which of course is ridiculous, considering they don't bother sending their tech experts to answer questions on their own products. 

I'm not at all happy with Adobe.  I was thinking that when my financial situation changes, I would buy the latest Photoshop, as the version I own is so ancient it isn't funny, but when the time comes I'll probably not go with an Adobe product when I can get something that's less expensive and comes from a company that provides support for its products.

Thank you again! 

[scisslehannd22]

Hey you're not the only one! It's not your fault!!! I am also trying to borrow a book from the openlibrary but their servers must be down!!!!!!!

According to this forum : http://forums.adobe.com/message/3046568   The E_ADEPT_DATABASE error simply means the server you are trying to download the ebook from is not responding to Adobe's requests.  The open library must be having some difficulty.  I can read it fine when I choose the internet browser version, but I can't read it in Adobe Digital Editions.  I'm trying to read http://openlibrary.org/books/OL1081824M/In_the_Lake_of_the_Woods

I guess just read the ebook in your browser until the server is back up.

[Guest]

Thanks, scisslehannd...but I can't get ANY books through openlibrary without that error.    Not one.    I can't find an Internet browser version for the two books I referenced in my previous posts...I can only read them in this ADE format.    As for the Daisy "read," that's only for people who qualify...and those are audio files, anyway, from what I can tell, which wouldn't work for the kinds of books I'm trying to get.  So until Adobe fixes this problem, I won't be able to borrow any books through open library. 

[sjpt]

Interesting: thanks I didn't know about Open Library.

Just joined up, and I see that  E_ADEPT_DATABASE error on the first book I tried to download, exactly as you say.

Also fails in Sony Reader (even less clear about why than ADE).

Clearly an Open Library issue as scisslehannd22 says: and almost certainly not at all Adobe's problem other than the obscure error message.

Maybe it will start working again soon ???? (though already quite a long downtime since your first post about it)

I do think that ADE is a pretty poor program with terrible support.

I'm sure you will find the quality and support for Photoshop in a different league (as is the price!).

[Guest]

@sjpt, you're so welcome! 

I've had nothing but the E_ADEPT_DATABASE error, and according to Open Library, many people have the same problem.  They haven't been able to resolve it. 

I don't think it's going to just start working again by itself.  I think until/unless Adobe decides to actually support their own product, it is doomed to fail.    And I agree...it's a very poor program with terrible support, emphasis on terrible!

Yes, I agree...the quality and support for Photoshop would be in a different league...but if they can't support a free program at least enough that it becomes useful for its purpose, then I don't want to put money in their pockets for an expensive program, just "because" they happen to support it, having been paid enough money!  It's the principle of the thing, LOL. 

[OL_Support]

Hey there -- I do volunteer support at Open Library and we're aware of the issue on our end. Some people seem to be able to download books, some people can download only some books and some people (myself included) can't download anything at all. We usually have a few people who have downloading problems so it took us a while--and some very helpful patrons who walked us through their problems--to narrow it all down. Now that we know what is happening, at least loosely, we have to figure out how to fix it. We're a pretty bare-bones operation so it's been a challenge to try to see patterns and figure out what needs doing.

Sorry I know this isn't helpful really, but wanted you to know we're aware of it and we're as bummed as you are.

[Guest]

Thank you so much, @OL_Support!  You're all the best...what you offer is such a fantastic service and it's a shame that it's linked to an unsupported piece of software like ADE.    I totally appreciate everything you do...and thanks for the info about how you're working to fix the problem!    You should get paid by Adobe when you do...but I'm not holding my breath. 

Thanks again! 

[scisslehannd22]

I contacted the Support team at Open Library and this is what they said:

----------------------------------------

Hi and thank you for contacting us.

No, it doesn't seem like it is working properly. However what we're getting is an intermittent error and so we're not sure what's not working. We've been collecting a list of items that are unable to be downloaded and are looking for a pattern.

Thanks for using openlibrary.org and archive.org

The Open Library Team/jw

openlibrary@archive.org

--------------------------------------

On 3/29/13 4:12 PM, scisslehannd wrote:

A new support case has been filed

Topic: Borrowing Books

Description:

Is the server working properly?  I cannot download from Adobe Digital Editions.  It is giving me E_ADEPT_DATABASE which means the server is not responding to Adobe's request.

Please check your PDF and Epub servers.  I can view the file on my internet browser but I prefer to read it in Adobe Digital Editions.  Thanks!

[Guest]

@scisslehannd, are you able to now view books?  For the first time, I was able to download just now! 

[Guest]

Try it now!  I think we've fixed the issue.

[Guest]

@MikeAndrewMcCabe, thank you...you're so right...it works!  I downloaded two books and it gave me NO trouble at all!    Thank you so much! 

[sjpt]

Thanks, yes, fixed for me.

And thanks again for the pointer to Open Library.

[OL_Support]

Is it at all possible to explain what you did, so that if we have this problem in the future we can give better instructions on repair to the right people? I, too, am able to download books now. I'll see what the support queue looks like this morning. Thanks, internet stranger!

[trumphodge]

I am experiencing this problem now, since yesterday. Open Library has worked fine for me, and then yesterday I start getting this Adobe Digital Editions error. ADE works fine for Overdrive downloads from my library--and I could return an Open Library book--just not download a new one. I also tried on my netbook (for travel) and got the same result.

[WmFS]

Yes. Me too!

Over the last day or so I deregistered, re-registered and even reinstalled Digital Edition, on both Win 7 and OS X systems, all with the same result.  I've even tried creating a new temporary email and then creating a new Adobe/Openlibrary account; still no joy (even books I've borrowed before fail).

Suspect there must be problem with openlibrary.org; let's hope it's fixed soon.

[OL_Support]

Thanks for the reports -- we've got our developers looking into this today and hope to have it repaired shortly. So sorry for the inconvenience.

[WmFS]

Seems to be working now!

Thank you for the speedy response.

[OL_Support]

Yep, looks like we got it fixed up yesterday afternoon. Apologies all around for the inconvenience.

[WmFS]

(You might need to adjust your clock, OL_Support!)

[OL_Support]

Just a time zone issue, unless I am misunderstanding you? I reported this Tuesday morning EDT and it was repaired Tuesday afternoon EDT.

[WmFS]

Sorry, I meant the time/date stamp of your posts - March 29 not October 15