Public Library customers with Kobo ereader authorization issue ADE 4.0 - 4.5, "Oops! This document couldn't be opened."

[eplholly]

Hello Adobe support,

I work at a public library and we now have at least 8 - 12 members of the public (anecdotally more), who are unable to open Adobe DRM epub ebooks on their Kobo ereaders from our Overdrive or Freading services using Adobe Digital Editions versions between 4.0 and 4.5 and Windows 7 - 10. All of the people involved were using their Kobo with ADE successfully until just recently, and all have experienced the following set of conditions and problem:

• ADE 4.0 - 4.5 is authorized with an Adobe ID.
• DRM epub ebooks seem to download properly inside ADE.
• The Kobo appears to be properly authorized and is connected via USB, appearing in ADE.
• When the ebook is transferred to the device, it seems to work properly and no errors appear.
• As soon as the customer ejects the Kobo and tries to open the ebook on the device itself the error message pops up: "Oops! This document couldn't be opened.  This document is protected by Adobe Digital Rights Management (DRM) and is not currently authorized for use with your Adobe ID.  Please sign-in with the authorized Adobe ID and try again."

We began receiving requests for help right with this around the week of November 8th and are continuing to receive new requests for help with this issue throughout January and as recently as today. Our primary ebook vendor has been unable to help beyond supplying the workaround of downgrading to ADE 3.0.

Most of the customers involved are using Windows 7, and Internet Explorer or an alternative browser like Firefox or Chrome - but we've had this issue occur at least once for someone using Windows 8 and twice for people with Windows 10. We also helped someone with this issue using Mac OSX 10.11. This issue has been reported mainly with Kobo Aura HD or Aura H2O, but also with Kobo Glo and Kobo Glo HD. The Kobo firmware has varied, some were using version 3.18.0 - some were using older versions. One frustrating aspect to this issue is that despite having a number of these exact devices on hand for testing, we have been unable to reproduce the issue on any of our workstations. There also doesn't seem to be a clear pattern to the titles involved.

So far, the workaround provided elsewhere on this forum and by our primary vendor has been the only way to resolve this issue for the people affected:

1. The customer de-authorizes the Kobo and ADE 4.0 - 4.5.
2. The customer uninstalls Adobe Digital Editions 4.X.
3. The customer installs Adobe Digital Editions 3.0.
4. The customer re-authorizes ADE 3.0 and the Kobo.

Does Adobe have any way to resolve this issue for customers who wish to use ADE 4.0 and up with their Kobo ereaders?

Is this issue being looked at for an upcoming build or are there any details that we could provide to help?

Please let me know and thanks for your consideration.

Holly

[capucinec93750040]

Nothing works for me:

Authorizations

ADE 3.0

borrowing another book

reset my kobo aura

I can read on my computer but not on my reader :

drm warning!

I spent a few hours truing to fix it, and I am really angry it doesn't work.

Who can help?

[ronp48806983]

I too was drawn here by the same problem.  Fixed (for now) via a factory reset on the Kobo Touch. 

I only had five library ebooks downloaded when I first got a not authorized msg.  Cleared that first occurrence by de-athu/re-auth the kobo device.  Next book and all thereafter, no downloaded ADE ebooks would open on the reader.  The downloads opened normally in ADE on the computer; transferred to the Kobo OK, but the reader would not open them.  In my case only got a blank screen and then got returned to the library page.  The problem book also did not show up with the book cover.  They were all black on the reader.  Once I got things working again those books now show the cover artwork.

I use

W10 Pro (32-bit) ver 1709

ADE ver 4.5.8.183423

Kobo Touch ver 4.8.11073

[flomasson11]

On my Mac I find that removing the dat. File by going to”go” and then going down to file, I find the dat. file. Then I deauthorize and reauthorize my ADE, add my Kobo and I’m good. Sometimes I have to de and re authorize my kobo too. That may only work for 1 batch of downloads. Next time, same process.

[flomasson11]

Oops! I forgot to say, remove the dat. File.

[yidakimason]

Add me to this list of frustrated Kobo/ADE users... I'm on a Mac, and had everything working great until it didn't. I've gone through the unistall/re-install many times, different versions, etc..

I'm curious where the .dat file is located, as I could not find it in users/name/library/application support/adobe, I only have Acrobat files in there ( another Adobe program I can't stand).

In my situation, I cannot authorize my computer. I've logged in online to Adobe, so I know my username/password are correct. Every attempt comes up with the error message : Activation Server error - code E_AUTH_BAD_DEVICE_KEY

Any help would be great, its my daughters christmas present gone wrong, and we are off on a 2 week road trip in a week...

Thanks

Matthew

[flomasson11]

Yidakamason. I too am Mac. At the top of the Mac, where Finder is, go right and come to Go which is before Window. Hit GO and go to the bottom where it says go to folder. Hit that and when it comes up, say go. It brings you to a folder called Digital Editions. Remove the activation .dat and put it in the garbage. Then go to ADE and reauthorize your Kobo. the books that would not open are no good. you need to get new ones. I do this every time I want to download library books and so far, it’s working. Good luck.

[Andy5FDE]

This seemed to work for me - I upgraded to Catalina on OSX and subsequently had to use ADE 4.5 - which caused everything to break. 

Just to clairify - I searched for a file called authorize.dat on my OSX and deleted it.

Then I opended ADE (with my kobo glo hd) connected. I previously deauthorized my KOBO. 

I right clicked the kobo in the side bar of ADE and selected authorize device 

I entered my ADOBE account information (same as my overdrive?) - I got a message that said both computer and kobo were authorized. 

Then I tried to download my previous library books - they said they were under a different authorization (I think my overdrive account?) and wouldn't load. Anyways I downloaded a new library book and it worked. I pushed it to kobo and it worked.

I returned my other library books and re-entered the wait list. I think the problem is solved.

For what it's worth - I think I was logging into my Overdrive account for authorization and while this worked with ADE 3X it failed with ADE 4.5. However, deleting the previous authorization.dat file and then logging into (authorizing with) Adobe (using my overdrive account?) for authorization after following the above steps seemed to work for me.

I hope that helps, I have been having this issue for a long time, but after a recent computer upgrade I was unable to go back to ADE 3 - which was my previous work-around. At the moment this has got me back up and reading library books.

[Renata22167004xzzm]

Hi,

same problem. I am a mac user and I can not install ADE 3 on my laptop. The problem is that ADE 4.5 does not work when I transfer the epub file to the kobo. Same problem many of you already described. I was hopeful when I read about this potential solution of deleting .dat file. But I can not locate them on my mac, I can not reproduce the steps Andy5FDE or flomasson describe. What does it mean "go right and come to Go which is before Window"? I would like to try this last hope of a potential solution.

Although it is unbelievable the problem persists at least since 2016. We are almost in 2022 and neither Kobo or Adobe had provide a solution in almost 6 years... I will not buy any other kobo device in the near future...

[Andy17438893xzzm]

I will mention one last thing. Because often when I download library books they still won't open on the device even after I followed my above steps. 

I saw somewhere else here that one person downloads many books and eventually one of them makes them all suddenly work. This is what I also have to do. I typically download some older library books each time I want a newer book, just randomly select them and I keep doing it until one of them 'unlocks' all my books and they all suddenly work. 

I've been doing this since my previous post and it's been working for a year now or so. 

[Renata22167004xzzm]

Thank you for the sugestion. I also read that before. But it might be more challenging for me because in Denmark we are only allowed to loan 2 books at a time for a maximum period of 21 days. Yesterday, after many attempts downloading and installing  ADE over again, authorize and de-authorize kobo/computer ... I manage to successfully transfer one e-book to my e-reader. It was the second time in months I suceed with a transfer but unfortunately I can not track a pattern of the steps taken in the two occasions. So it might be random luck which is not a solution. It would be really nice if ADOBE and KOBO could work on a solution. I chose kobo over any other e-reader brand on the market specifically because of the possibility of using public library material. If it doesn't work properly I don't see any major advantage in comparison to the others.   

[mariannel18028694]

I gave up - I don't have time for this any more (I am 80 yr. old) reverting
back to reading paper books now.
*Marianne*

[connieb1952]

I am so relieved to find this forum.....I experienced the same problems re..."not authorized blah blah blah" except that following all the steps advised by KOBO and the chat people at ADE,I  am in worse shape than I was before. Can someone pkease help me with this latest message I have on my laptop now after much authorizing and reauthorizing  the message I get is "this computer cannot be authorized with your ID because you have reached the limit number of computers and devices that can be authorized with the same id" I never changed my ID, my device, or my computer.....one of each...what do I do? Please help.

[dianem70055375]

We have 2 Auras, and they are experiencing the same problem with ADE. I have tried all the above fixes - uninstalling & reinstalling ADE, then re-authorizing them. Sometimes ADE sees the Kobos, sometimes it doesn't.

I've heard that Adobe isn't supporting ADE anymore. It seem Libby only supports kindle for downloading books from overdrive.

This is a problem for Kobo customers.

Do we need to go out and buy kindle now?

[jwhadley]

Same problem here for almost two years.  Periodically, I have a window where it works, sometimes for a couple of months.  The last time I got a book without difficulty was maybe 5 weeks ago, and I wrote down every step I took and that doesn't help.  Yesterday, I tried to open Columns of Fire from the Ontario Library system, and the old "your eReader is not ---" message popped up.  I'm sick and tired of this, and am thinking about buying a Kindle.  KOBO blames Adobe, but KOBO Rakuten seems to be a mess half the time.  I use a Mac with fully up to date software.  I spend more time trying to download than I do reading. 

[afer]

Thanks so much Holly for your work on this! 

It's incredible this is still an issue after so many years. 

I have a Kobo Glo and have been using the workaround of having ADE 3.0 installed on my Mac for years solely for this purpose. 

I otherwise love my Kobo and would prefer not to switch to Kindle. I like supporting a (mostly) domestic company. 

The end has come, however, for this workaround as I have upgraded my Mac to macOS Catalina. Catalina does not support 32-bit applications anymore, which includes ADE 3.0. 

I've sent a DM to KoboHelp on Twitter hoping for a response or some type of assurance this will be fixed. 

It'd be a shame for me to be forced to purchase a new e-reader for this reason. They should be able to fix this technical matter.

[davids36422993]

Had a work around using an earlier version of ADE on my macbook pro.  With update to IOS 13.2, it no longer runs 32 bit software so forced to use ADE 4.5.3.  Of course this doesn't work.  Where do I send my bill for a new Kindle since Adobe has made my Aura H2O little more than a paperweight!

[danalicious1]

This made me LOL. Much needed in light of the fact that the exact same issue landed on my MBP this weekend. How is this still a problem after 3 years?

Buh-bye Kobo, hello Kindle.

[GeorginadeBode]

Adobe does not help at all.

they don't response.

the only thing they do is; go to the forum

it is a big shame!

[tihsha]

Just spent 4 hours trying to fix this authorizing problem can't believe this has been going on for 4 years.

Looking forward to getting a new Kindle for Xmas.

[jasselin1982]

I am having the same issue. I had to update my Mac and the new operating system will not allow me to use ADE 3.0. I can no longer upload books from the library onto my Kobo Mini. Very frustrating and Kobo says it's an issue that needs to be dealt with by Adobe. Help!

[elenaj1497486]

Same issue on my end. Upgraded my Macbook Pro to Catalina 10.15.4 which is no longer compatible with ADE 3.0 so I was forced to upgrade to ADE 4.5 and now my kobo reader is having authorization problems again. I can't believe this issue dates back to 2016 and it is 2020. I only use my Kobo to rent library books, especially with the pandemic now this is the only way to read library books. Dear Adobe, you suck. Please fix this now. 

[Palak5CC8]

I am having the exact same issue! Adobe can you please look into this ASAP. A lot of people are affected! 

[CopyrightMel]

More than four years later, in July 2020, reverting to ADE 3.0 has been the only way I have found to fix this problem. Granted, my Kobo is pretty old but it works just fine except for that DRM problem! How is it that ADE 4.5 is still so buggy? Thank you eplholly for the solution!

[jwhadley]

I am using a 4 or 5 year old KOBO Glo, and have written before about my periodic problems.  I now use a Mac desktop with Catalina, and found that I have to reset my KOBO to factory, then unauthrize and reauthorize ADE.  The downloading works all the way through until I close the reader on the desktop.  When I try to read the book, the errormessage is that I am not authorized to read this book, and the image of the book in "my books" is black.  Oddly, if I go to Overdrive and download another "available now" book, then transfer it to the reader, it will open OK.  The, I re-download the initial book, transfer it to KOBO, and it too will re-open successfully.  It's awkward, but usually works.  Crazy, and I can't understand why it works.  But, I have also gone to the Overdrive , downloaded, and transferred for a few weeks without a glitch.  Every time the software from Rakuten updates though, the problems return.  Rakuten and ADE seem unable to stay on the same page.

[EDGAR5F88]

It's March 29, 2021, and I'm having the same ongoing problem. So annoying! Can Rakuten/Kobo set up a line of communication with Adobe and co-operate to see that these devices/software work properly together??? PLEASE?