iBooks: Requested Resource Could Not Be Found

[Rand Brittain]

I've just completed a new ePub of a friend's role-playing game manual, and have finished doing testing on my Kobo and on Google Play Books. The ePub passes the built-in checks in Sigil and Calibre and ePubCheck passes it as well. As far as I can see, it has no problems.

However, iBooks refuses to open it. It tells me that "Failed to load book because the requested resource is missing." As far as I'm aware, the book shouldn't be requesting any resources or trying to access anything outside itself.

Is anybody familiar with this error?

[Quoth]

Did you upload an epub2 to Smashwords for Distribution (includes Apple) and actually download from Apple or try to copy the book directly?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Rand Brittain

I've just completed a new ePub of a friend's role-playing game manual, and have finished doing testing on my Kobo and on Google Play Books. The ePub passes the built-in checks in Sigil and Calibre and ePubCheck passes it as well. As far as I can see, it has no problems.

However, iBooks refuses to open it. It tells me that "Failed to load book because the requested resource is missing." As far as I'm aware, the book shouldn't be requesting any resources or trying to access anything outside itself.

Is anybody familiar with this error?

Have you actually tried this eBook with Books instead of iBooks? IBooks can be very old to fairly old and Books is a newer version. But I would suggest trying Books with iOS 14 or iPadOS 14.

[fbrzvnrnd]

look inside the META-INF folder for some calibre bookmark files and delete those

[Quoth]

You can change the Calibre settings so it doesn't put stuff from the viewer into the ebook file.

[Rand Brittain]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Did you upload an epub2 to Smashwords for Distribution (includes Apple) and actually download from Apple or try to copy the book directly?

I copied it directly to my iPad. (It's an EPUB3.)

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Have you actually tried this eBook with Books instead of iBooks? IBooks can be very old to fairly old and Books is a newer version. But I would suggest trying Books with iOS 14 or iPadOS 14.

It's the newest version of Books, iPad OS 14.1.

Originally Posted by fbrzvnrnd

look inside the META-INF folder for some calibre bookmark files and delete those

I checked and there aren't any, because…

Originally Posted by Quoth

You can change the Calibre settings so it doesn't put stuff from the viewer into the ebook file.

…I've had this setting on for years. Seriously, why doesn't Calibre store its bookmarks somewhere else by default?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Rand Brittain

…I've had this setting on for years. Seriously, why doesn't Calibre store its bookmarks somewhere else by default?

I think because some people wanted the bookmarks to be transferred to the ereader? Though I suspect that only works for some.

Try epub2. If you need something epub3 does, that epub2 doesn't do, then perhaps you need a PDF or an app.

[Rand Brittain]

Hm, I don't really want to go back to EPUB2 because I'm using the <aside> tag to do footnotes.

At one point I thought it might be a cache error with my cloud, but it looks like other people are having the same problem with the file when I send it to testers? I'm really confused as to why Books is having an error with a file that passes every possible form of validation.

Does anybody want to take a look at it and see if they can spot the problem?

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Rand Brittain

Hm, I don't really want to go back to EPUB2 because I'm using the <aside> tag to do footnotes.

At one point I thought it might be a cache error with my cloud, but it looks like other people are having the same problem with the file when I send it to testers? I'm really confused as to why Books is having an error with a file that passes every possible form of validation.

Does anybody want to take a look at it and see if they can spot the problem?

But if you need your eBook to be backwards compatible, you'll need to stop using the <aside> tag.

[DNSB]

Do you have the ibooks xml file in your epub3 file set? IIRC, com.apple.ibooks.display-options.xml is the file name. I remember needing it when embedding fonts but have been told it is needed for other items as well.

[Rand Brittain]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But if you need your eBook to be backwards compatible, you'll need to stop using the <aside> tag.

I'm gonna be honest; I'm going to need at least some reason to believe that the file being EPUB3 is responsible for the problem before I redo my hundred or so footnotes.

Originally Posted by DNSB

Do you have the ibooks xml file in your epub3 file set? IIRC, com.apple.ibooks.display-options.xml is the file name. I remember needing it when embedding fonts but have been told it is needed for other items as well.

Yeah, it's copied over straight from all my other EPUB files that work perfectly normally on Books. I have to have it to make the embedded files work properly.

[Quoth]

Don't do footnotes with <aside>Don't do footnotes with link to an anchor. Have 1:1 relationship, so if a footnote is referenced 3x then repeat it 3 times. Have an anchor where you put the footnote link and link the footnote back to it.
Works on EVERY epub2 platform and also on ALL Kindles if the same epub2 is uploaded to Amazon KDP. Might not look as pretty, but works.

For very short footnotes and paragraphs not too big, then right justify the note* inline just after the paragraph.

[*This is a short note, marginalia style]

It's a mistake to try to have unreliable features (pop-up footnotes) or too closely duplicate traditional paper layout.
I know technical and academic stuff can need them, but they are not just a pain to create, but also to read. Breaks the flow even if a pop-up.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Don't do footnotes with <aside>Don't do footnotes with link to an anchor. Have 1:1 relationship, so if a footnote is referenced 3x then repeat it 3 times. Have an anchor where you put the footnote link and link the footnote back to it.
Works on EVERY epub2 platform and also on ALL Kindles if the same epub2 is uploaded to Amazon KDP. Might not look as pretty, but works.

For very short footnotes and paragraphs not too big, then right justify the note* inline just after the paragraph.

[*This is a short note, marginalia style]

It's a mistake to try to have unreliable features (pop-up footnotes) or too closely duplicate traditional paper layout.
I know technical and academic stuff can need them, but they are not just a pain to create, but also to read. Breaks the flow even if a pop-up.

Very well said!

[Rand Brittain]

I would really prefer if people gave me advice for the show-stopping problem I am actually having and not advising me on how to format footnotes, because the alternative is trying to get information from Apple on what's going wrong and I don't look forward to that.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Rand Brittain

I would really prefer if people gave me advice for the show-stopping problem I am actually having and not advising me on how to format footnotes, because the alternative is trying to get information from Apple on what's going wrong and I don't look forward to that.

The thing is, do you want your eBooks to work outside of iBooks/Books or do you want them to just work with iBooks/Books?

The advice given is very good advice. I don't get why you won't heed it?