eReader not authorized to open this book

[lizm39316639]

When I download a book from my public library I can open it in digital editions 4.5 but when I transfer it to my device (kobo) and try to open it on the kobo it says "This book is protected by DRM. Because you previously deauthorized your eReader, you need to re-import the book using Adobe Digital Editions." I tried erasing authorization and setting git up again but it still won't work. Erased and downloaded a new edition of ADE, that didn't work either. Tried different books and libraries but still have problem. Called kobo and after troubleshooting with them they say it as ADE problem. Please please please help! Thank you!

[Steven Mills]

Glad it helped! Happy reading!

[Todd_Morgan]

THANKYOUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Joseph23560670b7ht]

I had the same problem. Using Calibre, install their Kepub plug in and convert your books to Kepub. It worked for me.

[Bruno23854402tcf3]

I resolved uninstalling Adobe digital editions 4.x and downgrading to Ade 3.0

[Pam24276956bhyp]

Can I just comment on what a bunch of bull this is?  I've read through three pages of people having issues with this.  I was able to download and read several library books the normal way, and the last one I did I ran into this error.  I went so far as to completely reset my device and after over an hour, somehow I got it to work.

I've just downloaded my next book, ready to rock and roll with it, and SAME ISSUE.  I have verified that the same overdrive is verified on ADE, my Kobo as well as the book itself.  EVERYTHING IS THE SAME.  I've now been working the problem again for another hour and a half to no avail.  I do not want to reset my e-reader again as it causes issues and requires firmware updates etc.  My Kobo is pretty old (I think it's a touch) so I can't do the Overdrive download straight to my e-reader or I would definitely skip this ADE bull.  This is absolutely ridiculous.

I have not tried the downgrade to ADE 3.0, because I can't get a link to it!  It's no longer on the Adobe website, or at the very least I can't get it in Canada.  I have found it on 'other' sites, but I'm not about to download a .exe file from some site I don't know and double click on it in hopes that it's actually ADE 3.0.  Why have they not fixed this issue yet???? Sure my Kobo is ancient but this was working fine until recently!  I just had to vent.  I've tried many of the solutions here, and I'm inclined to think that rolling back ADE would actually work, if I could only find a bona fide link to it, but even that they seem to have taken away (May, 2022).   Sincerely, sad and bookless.

[robertl10364170]

I also live in Canada. This works for me: http://download.adobe.com/pub/adobe/digitaleditions/ADE_3.0_Installer.exe

[Pam24276956bhyp]

Thanks, it looks like this might actually work.  I did try going to the 'wayback machine' and was able to grab a copy, but then it requires me to downgrade my Microsoft .Net.

Anyway, perhaps I'll try that.  In the meantime, I decided to try ADE on my Mac instead to see if I might have more luck there but then the book gives me an error that the book is already lent out, so I tried to 'return' it to get a fresh copy, but now I'm way back in the holds line so I screwed myself over there.  This is so beyond frustrating.  Now I wait for my turn to roll around again.  Or maybe just bite the bullet and upgrade my ereader to something newer so I can avoid ADE but that is such a garbage solution.  Spend another $200 to read your free books.  I might just end up forgetting e-books altogether.

[Donna248271052pne]

I can't believe that no one from Adobe or Kobo can help out on this. I tried downloading versions ADE 2 and 3 but they won't run on my mac. I've done all the suggested changes and still the same. The first book I downloaded from my library worked fine. It's almost as if these big companies just build in obscelesence so we have to keep buying more and more while perfectly useable devices end up in landfill. If anyone has any other more recent suggestions, I'd be very grateful. 

[Pam2490795279k9]

Hi,

I had this problem also, the issue is with Libby (Overdrive) and not with Kobo, but neither Libby or the library seem able to fix this.

I changed to a different library, one that uses the borrowbox app and this works perfectly fine.

On the up side, if you leave the book for a few days that you downloaded from Libby (Overdrive), sometimes it opens up without any problems (don't know how but just greatful I get to read the book allbeit a few days late)

[Donna248271052pne]

Thanks for the response, unfortunately I have to use overdrive with my
library and I can't change libraries as it's linked to the area I live in.
I'll maybe try and leave the book for a while - did you leave it on the e
reader in Adobe Digital editions?

Thanks
Donna

[Christopher25231107kml7]

I randomly started having this problem on my Kobo e-reader. After much frustration I deleted ADE 4.5.11 and installed ADE 2.0 (on a Mac) and that solved the issue.

[ttloop]

Older versions of ADE seem to work. I've been using 3.0 for some time now.

[Donna248271052pne]

My Mac wouldn't allow me to install older versions of ADE. In the end after
over a week of emailing Kobo and getting nowhere, I decided to just buy a
new reader. Not the outcome I wished for but didn't want to waste any more
time sadly

[MargrietD]

I found the cause of this problem. On my e-reader there is a folder called: D:\.adobe-digital-editions and in it a file called activation.xml. This seems to contain the authorization for the book. When I copy a borrowed book onto my e-reader, I notice that the system date of this .xml file doesn't change. And when I then open the book on my e-reader, the cover is black and I get the error message about the authorization. When I then download the .pdf version of the same book and copy it to my e-reader (duplicate file, not overwrite), I see the date and time of the activation.xml change to today. From that moment on the .epub file will open, even though the cover is still black.

So, check the date of the activation.xml file before you eject the e-reader and copy the .pdf book to your e-reader until the date and time changes to the current date and time.

[LeBrie2566858142uv]

How did you get a .pdf copy of the book from your library to try that fix? When I go to Overdrive, I only see 'download EPUB file' as an option.

[richardc34317443]

Thanks This helped!  I kept downlaoding different books from my library to my kobo (via a Windows PC) until I saw the date on the activation.xml file change. Then I ejected the Kobo, and it was able to open all the books, including the one that it had been refusing to open!

[Donna248271052pne]

Thanks. How many books did you have to download?
And can you point me in the right direction to look for the change in date?
I can only see the download date for each book.
Many thanks

[richardc34317443]

I only had to download one or two books.  I am guessing all this results from a bug in ADE, so the number required may vary.  Anyway, to see the date change, I followed the instructions given by MargrietD above. Here is the process in more detail:

(1) connect your ereader to a computer with a USB cable.

(2) open a file browerser and navigate to the Kobo ereader (on a windows PC, it is likely drive D or E)

(3) in the ereader open the directory called .adobe-digital-editions (with the dot at the beginning). If you can't see this directory you will need to tell the file browser to show hidden items (in windows, click on the "view" tab and then select "show hidden items"). 

(4) in the .adobe-digital-editions directory there is a file called activation.xml. Keep an eye on the modfication date for this file. If you can't see the date, you will need to tell your file browser to show it (in Windows, click the "view" tab and select "details" in the layout section).

(5) now use ADE to transfer library books to the Kobo. Once the date changes on the activation.html file, all the books added up till then should now work (fingers crossed).

[richardc34317443]

You may need to refresh the file browser after adding each book to see whether the date/time has changed on the activation file (in Windows, click the circular arrow to the right of the location bar).  Sometimes the Windows file explorer seems to update automatically, somtimes it needs to be nudged.

[Kate27181768v02t]

Same issue here and I've also tried deauthorising and reauthorising laptop and kobo device, unistalled adn reinstalled ADE and search Adobe Digitial Editions sucks so I know I'm not alone. It's never been a great interface but this is horrible.

[Donna248271052pne]

After gviing up and buying a new kobo, I then got an email alert to this forum, saying that downloading mulitple books seemed to solve the problem. I tried again with the old kobo and guess what - NO PROBLEMS! I wonder if I just needed to wait for my library/overdrive/adobe digital editiona to fix some software issue? Anyway, I now have a spare ereader.

[ttloop]

All I can say is ADE 3.0 works with my kobo.

Good luck.

[Donna248271052pne]

the problem is that if you have an older kobo ADE 3.0 doesn't work. So we were all looking for work arounds

[Jim27210386157f]

I think I have a solution.

My Kobo was working fine until I was promppted to use "Sync". I clicked on "YES" and once sync was complete I got the error above.

I read this thread and a number of others and could see that people were getting various results.

I ended up dumping all of the D--R--M content from the device, loading it in to Calibre, then converting to Mobi. I then sent the converted books to the device and now they work fine. My understanding is the kepub is a better format for this purpose, but I have not tested it. I can though attest that simply converting the files to mobi, works.

[Trudy21154936cc8u]

Thanks to everyone who has continued to post on this thread. I posted here in 2021 right after I got my Kobo ereader. At that time, I was able to resolve the issue with Adobe digital by using Overdrive for my Adobe ID. This worked until November 18, when I could no longer use Adobe digital without getting the dreaded error message again. I very seldom have to use Adobe as my Kobo has been good with directly downloading books via Wifi with the Overdrive system at the library here. But there are some books that must be too old (2005 and 2012 were the last two I had that wouldn't work without Adobe). I tried all the newer fixes listed here, but nothing worked for me. You'd think that Adobe and Kobo could learn to work together, but this blog post has been around since 2017, so guess that is not an option! I have completely stopped using Adobe digital, and if in the future I come across a book that won't download under Overdrive, I will just have to read it in my browser using the library website. Not ideal, but easier than the frustration! Thanks to all for all your suggestions!