Returning one copy of a book makes all copies inaccessible

[CharleyWA]

I borrow books from multiple libraries. Say I borrow a book from library A. A few days before it expires, I borrow the same book from library B. I don't want two copies of the book showing up in ADE, so I want to get rid of the older copy. Being a good citizen, I want to return the book to library A, rather than just deleting it. So I select the copy of the book that shows the lesser time remaining (i.e. library A's copy) and choose Return Borrowed Item.

When I try to open the copy from library B, I get the "No record of this loan" message. Even if I delete it and download the acsm from library B again, I can load the book to ADE, but cannot open it. If I try downloading it on a different computer, same result.

Going to my Overdrive account for both libraries, library A correctly shows the book returned; library B still thinks I have the book checked out.

Is this expected behavior, or is it a bug? Is there any way to make the book readable, short of returning it and checking it out again (which I can't do without waiting for several weeks for it to become available)?

[sjpt]

I suspect that the system never really thought through that far; so it is a bug, but nobody would 'expect' anything.

Try leaving ADE, editing the file mainfest.xml (probably in your My Digital Editions directory) and removing any sections that reference the book:

remove everything from and including <de:contentRecord>  to and including </de:contentRecord> for the book.

... Oh, and delete any copies of the .epub file as well before you retry.

Then restart ADE and try the .acsm file for the second library again.

[CharleyWA]

Thanks, but that's the first thing I tried and it didn't work. In case I missed something, I even tried again on a computer that did not have ADE on it, installing a fresh copy before downloading the .ascm. Same problem, which makes me think the issue is in the license server or Overdrive. Overdrive still thinks I have the book checked out at library B, so my money's on the license server.

[sjpt]

Could well be.  I don't know how centralized the license server is between different libraries; and how it manages the relationship between loans and books and people.