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December 29, 2012
Answered

Can't open DRM ebooks on Kobo Glo

  • December 29, 2012
  • 15 replies
  • 97171 views

I gave my mom a Kobo Glo for Christmas, but I can't get Adobe Digital Editions to work with it properly. I installed ADE 2.0 on her Windows XP machine and it recognized and authorized the Kobo, but when I try to open a library book on the Kobo, the cover appears and then the screen goes black and I'm returned to the main menu. The book is then marked as Finished.

Other DRMed books on her Kobo (free ones from the Kobo Store) won't open, but display an error message: "Oops! This document is protected by Adobe Digital Rights Management (DRM) and is not currently authorized for use with your Adobe ID [etc]..."

I've tried some of the suggestions I've seen here, including deleting the authorization on the device and reconnecting. I've also tried deleting the Digital Editions folder on the Kobo and reconnecting. Nothing appears to be resolving this problem.

I guess the next step would be to revert the Kobo back to factory and start all over. Any other suggestions?

J> (on behalf of my mom on this Adobe profile)

Correct answer

Yes it was extremely frustrating process to read any library books after the upgrade to Adobe Digital Editions 2.0.

Eventually it turned out that the process must have you sign out of the Kobo device Account under settings on the Kobo Device.

What we did was to remove all library books from the Kobo device and from the Adobe Digital Edition

Next was to sign out of the Kobo Device as well as the Kobo Desktop on the PC as well as exiting from Adobe Digital Edition.

Next was to start up Kobo Desktop and sign in.

Next was to connect the Kobo device to the USB port.

This resulted in the Kobo device being upgraded and Sync'd to the Kobo Desktop. Wait until the Sync is complete

Disconnect the Kobo device from the USB port

Next was to restart Adobe Digital Edition and using CTRL-SHIFT-D to deauthorize the computer and select Erase Authorization.

Next was to go back to Adobe Digital Edition, Help and Authorize Computer

Next was to reconnect the Kobo device to the USB port

Next was to select the Kobo device in the Adobe Digial Edition and Authorize the device

Next was to get a library book in the Adobe Digital Edition and then add it to the Kobo Device

Everything seems to be working from then on.

Have fun reading again

15 replies

Participant
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Participating Frequently
August 10, 2016

This is interesting and puts what I just posted in a new light - not only library books! So the suggestion to complain to both Kobo and Adobe stands. Perhaps thousands of snail mails would work?

Participating Frequently
January 29, 2016

I have found the answer to this problem.  If you right click on the ADE icon and go to properties to will see a tab called Compatibility.  click on that and do the test.  There have been compatibility issues between Windows and ADE.

Participant
September 9, 2015

The problem appears to be with ADE 4.0.  After reloading Kobo Desktop and resetting the e-reader to no avail, I contacted Kobo support and was advised to uninstall ADE 4.0 and reloaded version 3.0, which after some difficulties with authorization, now seems to work. Too bad Adobe doesn't publish this info.

jieraffe
Participant
October 12, 2015

stuarth1646440 I wished I had stumbled upon your comment before I factory re-setted my Kobo Aura because to my disappointment and frustration, it didn't solve the problem Your method totally worked! Thank you so much!

Participating Frequently
January 29, 2016

I have found the answer to this problem.  If you right click on the ADE icon and go to properties to will see a tab called Compatibility.  click on that and do the test.  There have been compatibility issues between Windows and ADE.

GloUser
Participant
April 8, 2015

After over a year of successful use of the Kobo Glo to borrow and read ebooks from the public library, the Kobo stopped allowing me to do so and gave me the message indicating is was missing authorization. Book would show up with a blank cover.

I contacted ADE and Kobo help and finally resolved the problem based on a suggestion in some user forum. Here is what I did:

Hi all,

I solved my problem by doing something that went beyond the help offered by ADE and Kobo Help desks.
The concept: Remove ALL related software from your computer (ADE, Kobo Desktop) and factory reset the Kobo Glo and reinstall in the precise order below. This order is critical to success.

The steps:

1] with Kobo device disconnected - do a factory reset

2] de-install Adobe Digital Editions Software

3] de-install Kobo Desktop *

4] re-install Kobo Desktop

5] plug Kobo in and allow it to be configured. Do not load any old books

6] disconnect Kobo device and confirm that it DOES NOT have an ADE authorization (it shouldn't because your computer should not have any ADE software on it that could transfer the ADE authorization to the Kobo device.)

7] Download and re-install ADE software.

8] Authorize you computer.

9] connect your KOBO to your computer.

10] Authorize KOBO device

You should find that library books now load properly.

*Conclusion: The problem lies in the KOBO desktop. As the Australian gentleman said, it is glitchy (and very annoying!)

Spinner_is
Participant
January 29, 2015

I may have solved the issue regarding Kobo’s inability to open DRM protected books from the library. Like everyone, I was pulling out my hair trying to solve this mystery. (Kobo truly offered no help at all..and the support person new absolutely nothing about Mac computers.)

This should apply to both PC and Mac users. Note: I am using ADE 3.0

These are the steps that worked for me.

1)Connect Kobo to the computer

2)Download your book from the public library (select EPub version)

3)When download completes..open the file.

4)ADE opens up - click on Library (top left corner of screen)

5)Select your book from the right side and right click on it

6)Select “Copy to Computer/Device>Kobo EReader” from dropdown menu

7)When done...eject Kobo properly from computer. Wait till Kobo finishes processing         

    before unplugging from computer. (Not sure if this is necessary...but works for me)

8)Read your book and enjoy

Hope this works for you..it did for me. At least give it a try before going through the whole reset option.

Good Luck!!

Participant
November 23, 2014

I struggled with this same problem for a long time.  Then I discovered that Kobo doesn't work with Adobe Digital Editions version 4.  I uninstalled ADE 4, deleted all the associated files from my Kobo, and downloaded ADE 3.0.  Everything now works perfectly.  Hope this helps some of you.  I know how frustrating it can be when all it needs is a simple warning that neither Kobo nor Adobe could be bothered to supply.