help with FBReader

[supergirafe]

Hi,

I can't find any answers to my problem on the Internet, so I hope someone here can help me.

I have just started using Ubuntu and I was looking for a good eBooks reader. I thought that FBReader was the good software for me to use...

So I installed it but I can't open any books with it. First, I tried to set my Library path and I am not sure I've done it correctly (I wrote /home/cat/Documents/Books) cat is my username on my Ubuntu and Documents/Books is where I saved my .epub file which I am testing with.

I clicked on the Library icon, but nothing shows up. So I tried the icon for adding manually the books. I located the .epub file, I click on it, it highlights but when I click "Ok" nothing happens...

I tried to open a .pdf file but they don't show in the "add file" window. With the researches I done while looking for a solution for this problem, I could see that FBReader does not read pdf files. So I wonder if I should not change for another software, but I would like to find the right one this time.

So...
1. how to open my .epub books on FBReader?

2. should I use another software?

Thanks to all of you!

[mmat1]

Hi,

Originally Posted by supergirafe

1. how to open my .epub books on FBReader?

I don't know. FB-Reader is very old and does not support all EPub features. (Maybe your version dosn't support EPUB at all. Actually FB-Reader was designed for the FB-Format)

2. should I use another software?

Aside from the OS ?

The easiest way is to install the EPUB-Reader Plugin for Firefox/Iceweasel. With that you can open remote and local EPUB-books

Then there is a Callibre-Build for Linux. If you can install it, you'll be able to read almost any E-Book format.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by supergirafe

Hi,


1. how to open my .epub books on FBReader?

2. should I use another software?

Thanks to all of you!

Which version?
FBReader for linux is up to 99.4.

The normal way to open epubs (or any of the other supported formats) is to select the file tree option on the bookshelf.

You could also try Coolreader 3.

[dickloraine]

I only used fb-reader on android (by the way it is not outdated and is still developed). Maybe you need to update the library or click somewhere to update it. And you have to go into one of the submenus like "books by author".
Another thing you could try to see if it works would be to open a book out of the directory with fb-reader.
Alternatives would be for example calibre, which is a library organization program in addition to beeing able to read all kinds of formats.

[tobeabletopost]

Originally Posted by supergirafe

I am not sure I've done it correctly (I wrote /home/cat/Documents/Books) cat is my username on my Ubuntu and Documents/Books is where I saved my .epub file which I am testing with.

FBReader is fine for ePub. The immediate thing I'd suggest checking is the path you mentioned above. Specifically, is your user name "cat" or "Cat"?

I use Calibre's built-in reader, but I'm installing FBReader on this laptop right now so that I can try help you with better answers.

Edited to add: I'm using Mint, which is based on Ubuntu, so any differences between your and my installations should be small.

[fratermus]

I would add the question: are the .epub in question free of DRM? You can test with an .epub off Gutenberg.

FBreader is an excellent reader on both linux and android. It has customizability the Kindle app (or hardware kindles) will probably never offer.