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A
Anonymous
April 24, 2011
Question

Getting support for the dreadful Digital Editions

  • April 24, 2011
  • 1 reply
  • 2972 views

I checked out a book from my library, & returned it on the expiration date using Adobe Digital Editions (ADE).

Then, because I wasn't done reading it, I checked it out again, (after the expiration period), and attempted to have Adobe reauthorize it.

What happened?  ADE went into a loop for several minutes, flashing a popup so fast I couldn't read it, ultimately telling me I'm not authorized to use the book.

Wait, I just checked it out!

Not wanting to waste too much time on software bugs, I checked out a different book.  This time, when the library due date arrived, I let the book expire without de-authorizing it in ADE.

I did, however, remove the book using ADE's delete book function.  Then, I went to the library.  The library crudware reported I still had the book checked out, and wouldn't let me download it.  Hunting around on my computer, I saw two 6 MB files in Adobe's Digital Editions folder:  they had the same title as the book I had previously used ADE to delete, dated when I ***first*** checked the book out from the library.  Oh, I guess ADE didn't remove the book as it reported.

Okay, I said, "I'll buy the **!@$$ book!"  I went to Google, and I bought the book, which gives me the right to read it on my ereader.  In google, the book opened just fine--I guess Google knows how to write software--and I could sit and read the book on my computer, where I don't want to read it.  Nope, I want to read it on my Sony ereader.  That requires I use ADE.  Bummer! 

So, I clicked the Google button to download the book.  I clicked on the book file as instructed.  Up pops a window from within the dreadful ADE:  "Document is licensed for a different user account."

I went to Adobe's website to report a bug.  They don't seem to take bug reports on this software, or if they do, they hide it well.  Somewhere, I found a forum in which someone with similar problems told one of the 20 or so people who have previously had this problem that they should delete ADE entirely & reinstall.  I tried that.  Result?  Now, ADE doesn't do anything when I click on the book title.

You folks at Adobe call this software?  I call it garbage.  And I know of what I speak, having 20 years of software design experience.

If I don't have access to the book I purchased within a week, I'll also call it a small claims case, and I'll look forward to seeing you in court, where at least if I'm made to waste 3 hours there'll be someone there to respond:  a judge.

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    1 reply

    A
    Anonymous
    May 1, 2011

    I have the same problem and Adobe does not have an answer and Nook says call Adobe as it is there problem.

    Meanwhile I have purchased 2 books from Fictionwise and can't download on either my PC or my Nook.

    What a waste of money.

    F
    Frustrated in AZ
    Participating Frequently
    May 2, 2011

    Let's go back to the first message in this series of postings. I think that

    there's a series of problems that looks to 'ithinkdreisjunk' as if it's bad

    ADE software.

    If you check out a book from the library, ADE - and other ebook management

    software - download it with a tag that contains information about the

    source, the time and date of the download, and an expiration time and date

    for the ebook. If you return the ebook early, ADE may - or may not - get an

    updated response from the library that clears ths tag's information. That's

    what seems to have happened here. The library has to do this, so it's not

    ADE's 'problem'. You can clear the tags manually, as you said, but you

    should be all over the library about THEIR faulty software. I'd bet money

    that the same thing would have happened if you were using different ebook

    management software because all of them use a similar protocol for

    processing library books because they ALL have to interface with the library

    software.

    There's a trick to ebooks and SONY ereaders (I have two of them). When you

    set them up, you have a chance to specify who will handle .epub and .ascm

    files. The default is the SONY Reader Store, NOT ADE. That can cause a

    problem right off the bat. It's similar to the way Amazon links its Kindle

    ereader tightly to Amazon's ebookstore.

    If you buy an .epub version of a book from Google, you'll see that Google is

    set up to use ADE for the transfer. However, if you're trying to download

    it to your SONY ereader, and it's set to accept those ebooks from SONY, you

    will run into a user ID problem, and that may be why you are getting a

    "...licensed to another user" message in ADE. I can't say that definitely,

    because I'm a user, just like you.

    Getting the ereader set up properly seems to be the key to having a much

    easier time. Here's a response to another person's problem that might be

    useful to both of you. Although it is specific to the Nook, you can do the

    same thing with other ereaders. Trust me on this - I know....

    1. Connect Nook to computer

    2. Go to "my computer" and open Nook drive

    3. Delete the folders ".adobe-digital-editions" and "Digital Editions"

    4. Go back to "my computer"

    5. Right click on Nook drive

    6. Click "eject" and disconnect Nook from computer

    7. Reconnect Nook to computer

    8. Open ADE

    9. Follow on screen instructions to authorize Nook

    10. If Nook was authorized properly, you will see a Nook icon on the left

    under "Bookshelves" list

    11. Drag and drop ebook to Nook device

    I hope this helps!

    ====================

    A
    Anonymous
    May 2, 2011

    hi


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