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Anonymous
December 29, 2012
Answered

Can't open DRM ebooks on Kobo Glo

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)

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Correct answer
July 25, 2013

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

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62 replies

okofoto
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?

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margaretb11100448
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.

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stuarth1646440
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.

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    jieraffe
    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!

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    margaretb11100448
    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.

    Translate
    GloUser
    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!)

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      Spinner_is
      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!!

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      Toby Topaz
      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.

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        richjenn13
        richjenn13
        Participant
        October 17, 2014

        The 2 big issues are that Adobe instructions are usually useless and frequently wrong, and the KOBO software and UI is quite simply a disaster.

        The only software I know that is actually WORSE then I Tunes for Windows [and that's really BAD!].

        I also bought a KOBO so I could use Library books, but the process of getting a Library book onto the reader is torturous and unreliable.

        Kobo don't give a toss, and Adobe seem incapable of designing anything user friendly.

        Does anyone know of an alternative route software wise to get E Pub books onto and e -reader?

        Sigh!

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        hennier9266666
        Participating Frequently
        April 18, 2014

        Here are 2 solutions:

        1. Change another Adobe ID. Register a new Adobe ID that keep the same with your eBooks account email address.

        Then ADE can sync your books because they are the same ID.

        2. Remove Adobe DRM. Use a tool DRM Removal to remove adobe drm, then your books get free, you can copy them to your ereaders and even share books with your friends and families.

        http://www.epubor.com/remove-drm-from-adobe.html

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        CanisFe
        Participant
        June 24, 2013

        I did a factory reset on my Kobo Touch when it froze completely and I also ended up uninstalling and reinstalling my Adobe Digital Editions app. I didn't need to reinstall it, it was working perfectly well but I was just bothered by the fact that my Adobe Digital ID had my old email address attached to it and I thought that reinstalling it would sync everything up.

        This completely stuffed everything up for my library books that I had just downloaded and I got exactly the same 'Ooops' message and blacked out book covers as the original poster. After hours of reading forums and deauthorising, and trying to work out if there was a way to manually authorise my Adobe ID, I eventually signed out of my Kobo account on both the desktop app and under the Menu (3 parallel horizontal bars)>Settings>Account option on my Kobo Touch, closed down the Adobe Digital Editions app, signed out of my Adobe Digital Editions account.

        Then I signed back into my Kobo account via the Kobo application and reopened my ADE application. When I did both these things, the Kobo app seemed to do additional things to complete my factory reset and the ADE app opened up with some additional messages, one of which was along the lines of "Authorising Adobe ID..." Hurrah! I have no idea what combination of things fixed it but my experience seems similar to other posters on this thread: software applications not installing completely. I have no idea if the problem was Kobo's or Adobe's or a mixture of the two, I'm just happy that I can read my library books.

        So frustrating and confusing. Hope this helps someone, even though I can't exactly pin down the solution!!!

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        hefinw
        Participating Frequently
        June 25, 2013

        Hi.. glad to hear of your experience.  I suggest you forward it on to Adobe and Kobo for their information. They may even do something about these annoying glitches. I think your comment about software applications not installing properly is valid. Kobo doesn't seem to let you know what its doing in response to inputs. I wish they would program in a progress bar or some other indication of what it's doing.

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        SuziWeb
        Participant
        March 22, 2013

        I too have had this problem, with books I have bought via BooksOnBoard - if I download to ipad onto Bluefire app they are fine. When I came to move my ebooks to new Kobo Glo in late Feb, these DRM ones didn't work - used ADE, did it all as said - no joy. Have spent time on Adobe and Kobo help - latest from Kobo was to Reset the 'Adobe GB Licence' attached to the books - not sure at all what this means (BoB say not licence attached to books) so will be going back to Kobo.

        I think it is a problem between the ereader and ADE as the .acsm file link remains pointed at the .epub file on the desktop pc and not transferring over to the ereader.

        Using the Kobo internet access, I cannot access BoB as their mobile site just freezes on me - this could be an answer for me if I can get access via the ereader and miss out going via the desktop - otherwise I'lll be loading these files back onto the ipad.

        Very frustrating and will probably dictate where I buy books from in future (ease of download versus cost)

        If I end up with a solution I will post!

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        sjpt
        Inspiring
        March 22, 2013

        If you ever manage to get the Kobo registered with your AdobeID, you can then 'sideload' books onto the Kobo by copying from PC to Kobo using a file manager such as Windows Explorer.  You don't need the .acsm, just the .epub files.

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        SuziWeb
        Participant
        March 23, 2013

        Have tried this following your reply sjpt. thanks for the input but still no luck for me.

        I'm on a Mac, may make a diff? the files on ADE point to the epub or pdf file in the digital editions file on the mac. when I tfr to Kobo via ADE the epub or pdf files appear to tfr over as the item info shows the file in volumes/KOBOereader/filename.epub (or.pdf) (the same as the other non DRM books I have). Book can be accessed via ADE but as soon as I try on reader, I get the same Oops not authorised message.

        Its so frustrating! I've tried moving file to another directory, copying onto a USB then moving back to ADE, moving straight from USB to ereader - all end up with that same message.

        Close to throwing the whole lot through window!!

        the ereader and ADE are both under the same Adobe ID so I cant understand why they wont read.

        Will keep trying!

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