convert from 'new' mobipocket to 'old' mobipocket?

Indigo Ink · 06-20-2008, 12:44 AM

Hi

I have a query regarding converting from the newer mobipocket format to “old” mobipocket format.

Let me explain, I have an ebookman which has mobipocket 4.8 installed (since then mobipocket has stopped updating mobipocket for ebookman) which is not too much of a problem as I can read most books especially the non DRM variety. But sometimes, some of the books do not open on ebookman and flash a message that you need a newer version of mobipocket to open these books (No can do!). For example I can open most books from this site on my reader, but ‘David Balfour’ by Stevenson would not open. At first I thought it was the illustrations that caused the problem but that is not the case I can easily open the Gogols short story collection put together by Patricia on this site and Tolstoy’s Haji Murad both of which have photos, on my reader. Now I can live with not being able to open a book or two, but what is not so easy to live with that I can’t get the dictionary (the Webster1913 to open – which I am desperate to get) so I have two related questions and am hoping someone might be able to help

1. Is there any way by which a mobipocket book can be rebuilt as an “old” mobipocket book?
2. Bookdesigner 4 has a dedicated output button “ebm” (which is for outputting books in ebookman compatible mobipocket form). Is there some way by which I can use bookdesigner to convert Webster1913 on this site to ebm compatible? (My attempts on this so far have not been successful)

I would appreciate any help, suggestion – thanks.

Nate the great · 06-20-2008, 01:06 AM

I use MobiReader 4.8, and the only trouble I have is that the MOBI file suffix is not recognized. I get around this by changing the suffix to PRC.

If this doesn't help you, can you post an ebook that is causing trouble? It would help us identify the exact cause.

DaleDe · 06-20-2008, 01:18 AM

Dictionaries are not in standard MobiPocket format. I do not expect that BD can support any dictionary unless you are reading it like a book. There are special tags unique to dictionaries. Generally you should be able to convert mobi back to its source and then reconvert it back to mobi to make an older version so long as the perl script mobi2odi [sp?] works.

Dale

Indigo Ink · 06-20-2008, 01:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

I use MobiReader 4.8, and the only trouble I have is that the MOBI file suffix is not recognized. I get around this by changing the suffix to PRC.

If this doesn't help you, can you post an ebook that is causing trouble? It would help us identify the exact cause.

I know about MOBI to PRC conversion that is not a problem.

For an example of which files do not work, as I said in my first message David Balfour' on this site does not open. Does it work for you?

JSWolf · 06-20-2008, 01:36 AM

I know the problem. The problem is that David Balfour was made with some newish version of Mobipocket Publisher and this is not backwards compatible. The Gogol short stories put together by Patricia was made with Book Designer which does not make newer style Mobipocket eBooks.

Indigo Ink · 06-20-2008, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I know the problem. The problem is that David Balfour was made with some newish version of Mobipocket Publisher and this is not backwards compatible. The Gogol short stories put together by Patricia was made with Book Designer which does not make newer style Mobipocket eBooks.

That must be it.

1. So do you know if there is a way to make books created by mobipocket publisher backward compatible?

2. Any idea what program was used to make Webster1913 dictionary? By the way GCIDE dictionary on this site works fine.

JSWolf · 06-20-2008, 02:43 AM

1. The only thing I can think of is to somehow find an OLD copy of Mobipocket Publisher and use Mobi2HTML to pull out the HTML and then run it through the old publisher and see if that works.

2. No idea on dictionaries.

wallcraft · 06-20-2008, 03:30 AM

Does mobipocket 4.8 support JPEG images? Stevenson, Robert Louis: David Balfour includes a JPEG cover image. It is still possible to force GIF using mobigen, but I can't find such an option in MobiPocket Creator.

The GCIDE gets many of its definitions from the 1913 Websters, but having both is worthwhile. The two were converted to MOBI only a few month apart, but perhaps different versions of Creator were used.

Nate the great · 06-20-2008, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indigo Ink

I know about MOBI to PRC conversion that is not a problem.

For an example of which files do not work, as I said in my first message David Balfour' on this site does not open. Does it work for you?

It worked for me on MobiReader 4.8.

Indigo Ink · 06-21-2008, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

It worked for me on MobiReader 4.8.

Sorry my mistake, after seeing your message I checked my mobipocket version again, while the download file is 4.8 for ebookman, the mobipocket version is only 4.4

Nate the great · 06-22-2008, 12:08 AM

I'm sorry to hear that.

I do have one last suggestion. There is something I want you to try. Use Notepad or Wordpad to open one of the nonfunctional ebooks. Search for BOOKMOBI , and replace it with TEXtREAd . Then save the ebook. Tansfer it to your ebookman and see if it works.

This may or may not work. If it does, then you have a simple way to hack the ebooks so they work. If not, then you will need to look into the Mobipocket tools around here. You'll need to disassemble the file to it's HTML, then put it back together.

Indigo Ink · 06-22-2008, 02:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nate the great

I'm sorry to hear that.

I do have one last suggestion. There is something I want you to try. Use Notepad or Wordpad to open one of the nonfunctional ebooks. Search for BOOKMOBI , and replace it with TEXtREAd . Then save the ebook. Tansfer it to your ebookman and see if it works.

This may or may not work. If it does, then you have a simple way to hack the ebooks so they work. If not, then you will need to look into the Mobipocket tools around here. You'll need to disassemble the file to it's HTML, then put it back together.

First of all, thanks for the suggestion Nate. However, it seems it would not work. After I made the suggested changes, the book refused to open up on mobipocket reader (I tried it only on the pc version).
However, I did the next best thing. I downloaded the 4.8 version of mobipocket on ebookman, (if I remember correctly I had that version on my ebookman earlier too but during some upgrade/downgrade process it seems I inadvertently downloaded the 4.4 version). So with the 4.8 I opened 'David Belfour' and voila! it opened! (well, Nate had already pointed out that it would open but nevertheless voila!.) I tried the dictionary next and that opened too!! What joy!! Meanwhile I am keeping my fingers crossed that mobipocket 4.8 does not crash my ebookman OS.

Thanks a lot everyone and especially Nate the great!!

06-20-2008, 12:44 AM	#1
Indigo Ink The curious one! Posts: 82 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: India Device: Kindle 3, Nook, Ebookman 901	convert from 'new' mobipocket to 'old' mobipocket? Hi I have a query regarding converting from the newer mobipocket format to “old” mobipocket format. Let me explain, I have an ebookman which has mobipocket 4.8 installed (since then mobipocket has stopped updating mobipocket for ebookman) which is not too much of a problem as I can read most books especially the non DRM variety. But sometimes, some of the books do not open on ebookman and flash a message that you need a newer version of mobipocket to open these books (No can do!). For example I can open most books from this site on my reader, but ‘David Balfour’ by Stevenson would not open. At first I thought it was the illustrations that caused the problem but that is not the case I can easily open the Gogols short story collection put together by Patricia on this site and Tolstoy’s Haji Murad both of which have photos, on my reader. Now I can live with not being able to open a book or two, but what is not so easy to live with that I can’t get the dictionary (the Webster1913 to open – which I am desperate to get) so I have two related questions and am hoping someone might be able to help 1. Is there any way by which a mobipocket book can be rebuilt as an “old” mobipocket book? 2. Bookdesigner 4 has a dedicated output button “ebm” (which is for outputting books in ebookman compatible mobipocket form). Is there some way by which I can use bookdesigner to convert Webster1913 on this site to ebm compatible? (My attempts on this so far have not been successful) I would appreciate any help, suggestion – thanks.

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06-20-2008, 01:06 AM	#2
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	I use MobiReader 4.8, and the only trouble I have is that the MOBI file suffix is not recognized. I get around this by changing the suffix to PRC. If this doesn't help you, can you post an ebook that is causing trouble? It would help us identify the exact cause.

06-20-2008, 01:18 AM	#3
DaleDe Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,470 Karma: 13095790 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Grass Valley, CA Device: EB 1150, EZ Reader, Literati, iPad 2 & Air 2, iPhone 7	Dictionaries are not in standard MobiPocket format. I do not expect that BD can support any dictionary unless you are reading it like a book. There are special tags unique to dictionaries. Generally you should be able to convert mobi back to its source and then reconvert it back to mobi to make an older version so long as the perl script mobi2odi [sp?] works. Dale

06-20-2008, 01:36 AM	#5
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 76,474 Karma: 136564766 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	I know the problem. The problem is that David Balfour was made with some newish version of Mobipocket Publisher and this is not backwards compatible. The Gogol short stories put together by Patricia was made with Book Designer which does not make newer style Mobipocket eBooks.

06-20-2008, 02:43 AM	#7
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 76,474 Karma: 136564766 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	1. The only thing I can think of is to somehow find an OLD copy of Mobipocket Publisher and use Mobi2HTML to pull out the HTML and then run it through the old publisher and see if that works. 2. No idea on dictionaries.

06-20-2008, 03:30 AM	#8
wallcraft reader Posts: 6,975 Karma: 5183568 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mississippi, USA Device: Kindle 3, Kobo Glo HD	Does mobipocket 4.8 support JPEG images? Stevenson, Robert Louis: David Balfour includes a JPEG cover image. It is still possible to force GIF using mobigen, but I can't find such an option in MobiPocket Creator. The GCIDE gets many of its definitions from the 1913 Websters, but having both is worthwhile. The two were converted to MOBI only a few month apart, but perhaps different versions of Creator were used.

06-22-2008, 12:08 AM	#11
Nate the great Sir Penguin of Edinburgh Posts: 12,375 Karma: 23555235 Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: DC Metro area Device: Shake a stick plus 1	I'm sorry to hear that. I do have one last suggestion. There is something I want you to try. Use Notepad or Wordpad to open one of the nonfunctional ebooks. Search for BOOKMOBI , and replace it with TEXtREAd . Then save the ebook. Tansfer it to your ebookman and see if it works. This may or may not work. If it does, then you have a simple way to hack the ebooks so they work. If not, then you will need to look into the Mobipocket tools around here. You'll need to disassemble the file to it's HTML, then put it back together.

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