lol i already jailbroke my 2012 paperwhite and intstalled Koreader on it so I can sync it with my calibre epub library over wifi
this post was submitted on 09 Apr 2026
437 points (98.2% liked)
Technology
83631 readers
4083 users here now
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Our Rules
- Follow the lemmy.world rules.
- Only tech related news or articles.
- Be excellent to each other!
- Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
- Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
- Politics threads may be removed.
- No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
- Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
- Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
- Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.
Approved Bots
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
It's a pity Calibre to date refuses to be refactored into a self-hosted service.
The core logic should be portable, with the app just being an interface to it, but no, the entire project is so much spaghetti it would feed the entire boot for over a year... such a shame.
Agree, though calibre-web exists and runs in a single Docker container. I've been using it for a few years, and it's great.
Sure its a whole Linux server under the hood just to run Calibre and the services required to give it a web interface and API for reading apps - making it way bigger than it needs to be - but it does the job.
Calibre-web isn’t Calibre. It uses the same database, but that’s about it, unless you use the optional conversion mod on the linuxserver container.
A docker container is preferred, but again, CW isn't Calibre. Same database but completely different management system + also lacking a lot of the sync opportunities.
The issue is that there's no open protocol for library syncing. It doesn't exist because all big players (Amazon, Kobo/Rakuten, B&N, etc.) have their own proprietary system, and need no open alternatives.
OPDS is a thing but it's meant to replicate a physical library (one you can walk into) in behaviour and approach, not a personal library (list all books I have and give me easy access to them). It's essentially just an RSS-style feed that has no defined structure, thus isn't software navigable - e.g. there's no guarantee you can list all book series, or all authors, and most implementations usually give you very roughly defined "recently added", or "hot now" book lists...
I've actually been working on a solution for this, something that provides an almost Kindle library experience (see all your books from a remote server, sync down the remote ebook file, sync back read progress, filter/search based on book properties, etc.), while being flexible enough for non-readers applications as well. But I haven't even gotten to the point where I can define the API contract properly, let alone the backing database and mapping to Calibre. Honestly at this stage I feel like the best approach is starting from scratch, establishing modern requirements, and going from there.
load more comments
(3 replies)
load more comments
(3 replies)
That's exactly what I did, but I use Grimmory/BookLore.
load more comments
(1 replies)
Weird.
I didnt know my Calibre server stopped working.
So the product lineup is now called "Kindle Paperweight" instead?
If I got an old kindle; how easy is it to jailbrake it and install a better system?
load more comments
(2 replies)
Meanwhile my eco reader i bought in 2009 is still trucking
Just another day in the life of an enshittificator.
Corporations like Amazon are a scourge. Switch to free and open formats, software and hardware. Ditch what you can. Hack and pirate what you must. Starve big tech.
I'm poor. I pirate stuff. When I can, I buy physical copies of the stuff I like.
Here's a reminder that Boox makes amazingly good e-readers in all form factors Amazon does (including a variety of tablets!), with stylus support (USI 2.0 for smaller devices, EMR for their Note series and above), fully open (recent Android versions, regular updates, unlockable bootloader, straightforward to root devices), support KOReader, with a solid built in reader (plus support for cloud sync, including syncing books to a free 10GB Boox server storage), support for OPDS (a better way to access your library than Calibre's sync, plus it can be utilised with most digital libraries too), and altogether quite well priced devices.
At the moment I have on my hands a Go Color 7 gen2, a Note Air5 C, and a Palma2 Pro. The experience is surprisingly good for a "random Chinese brand", the hardware, compared to similarly priced devices, is superior (seriously, 4/6/8GB RAM, 64/128GB internal storage, SD card support), not to mention their customised e-ink waveforms (which give you near LCD-like scrolling with minimal trailing effect and little to no ghosting, something I can't say about my Kindles...)
The only downside I found of these devices is the relatively bad battery life in locked/standby (due to Android, but you still easily get over a week per charge with average use, or about 20-22 hours of active use!), and the speakers... definitely not meant for audiobooks.
load more comments
(5 replies)
Got my wife a Kobo for her birthday to replace her aging Kindle. She’s bought 1 book so far and gonna look at the Library integration.
Anyone got any tips for ways to use the Kobo? For example I have Calibre on my Mac and have used that to copy books I’ve “acquired” for her, is there any benefit in self hosting Calibre? Is it possible to get her Kindle books on the Kobo or is the DRM a nightmare nowadays?
Is it possible to get her Kindle books on the Kobo or is the DRM a nightmare nowadays?
Calibre has a plugin for that: DeDRM
load more comments
(3 replies)
If she still has access to her Kindle account, you might be able to get the Account Key and enter that into Calibre to remove the DRM.
you can interface with calibre web via opds from eBook readers. basically you can browse and download books in your calibre server. I use koreader to do it. as for previous books she's interested in I'd just look for them in the electronic library
load more comments
(3 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
And this is why I use an android based ereader. Something as simple as displaying words on a screen shouldn't be held back by the will of any company.
As far as I know, it might still work with Calibre
My kindle has never been connected to the interwebs. Always used Calibre, wonderful software. About two weeks ago I used it to transfer books, worked with no problems.
This is about the Kindle Store. Calibre will continue to work, it just copies files via USB, you don't even need Calibre for that.
load more comments
(5 replies)
My second-hand, old as hell, button-only kindle has never downloaded any book from Amazon since I got it. Only Calibre.
So, I cannot buy new books or download my current ones. But, I can download them without paying and then install them still over USB? OK Amazon, that clears things up fine for me.
They can still be jailbroken and Calibre still exists
Yet another reason to not buy Kindle.
Good job me never ever having bought any books on amazon. I go out of my way to buy them DRM free. Good old Paperwhite Gen 1 still going strong here.
Battery completely shot in it for me. I wonder if it's replaceable.
Mine couldn't for some time now. You can't download them as files and transfer them. Amazon has become unusable for books at this point.
It's crazy to think that Amazon literally started as a book store.
Google was a search engine. Shit is crazy.
load more comments
(2 replies)
And yet, my ancient Kobo just keeps on ticking along.
I don't download them on kindle anyway, it's not even connected to the Internet. Just put the files on it manually, works fine.
At least for the kindle platform, they've stopped offering a USB option a while ago, precisely to keep people from circumventing their planned obsolescence.
What a bunch of cunts jesus fucking christ
Did the firmware expire or something? How would it know to prevent USB transfers if it's the same OS as before? If you have to have it online when you're uploading or something I guess that would be the way. I've never owned a kindle so I'm not really sure. My old af nook still takes books through the micro USB slot fine.
They’ve misunderstood. They’re referring to the function where customers could download the book files directly instead of in the app, and then transfer the files to their kindle.
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(1 replies)
load more comments
(3 replies)
Joke's on them I already pirate or buy and wire all my ebooks onto my Kindle.
If only my 2 Kindles had lasted more than a year...
What happens to them? I don't read enough to do much damage but mine has been fine for 4 years.
The first one stopped booting. The second one decides to reboot after 1/2 minutes and doesn't stop.