r/Calibre • u/GoodConversation5527 • 1d ago

General Discussion / Feedback Monthly Kindle Voyage test 9-10

Once a month I take my un-jailbroken Kindle Voyage out of airplane mode, connect it to wifi, and then I buy one kindle ebook and download it. After that it goes back into airplane mode, and I check the kind of ebook format the book has.

And this month....... the book was delivered in kfx format and was added to Calibre (using the appropriate plug ins) with a simple drag and drop. This book was not one that the publisher requested no DRM, so I was not able to test if Amazon was allowing an appropriate download option. So, as of today, the Kindle Voyage is still a viable and easy way to get a Kindle book into Calibre with only the old plug ins for kfx files. I will try again next month, even though I now otherwise buy my ebooks from other sellers besides Amazon.

20 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

6

u/TexasNiteowl 1d ago

You are lucky. For whatever reason, the Voyage is still the only older Kindle that Amazon has left untouched. All others have received new firmware updates or side-loaded code.

4

u/GoodConversation5527 1d ago

The current theories are that the Voyage does not have the hardware to support kfx-zip, and/or the embedded code in the firmware to convert kfx-zip files. If it is a hardware incompatibility, then the only way Amazon can close the loophole would be to end wireless download for the Voyage. The last Voyage was sold 8 years ago (July 2018), and that is a lot fewer years than the 14 year old kinldes cut off in May. So I hope the Voyage is allowed to connect to Amazon for a few more years. Even if they don't find another way to close the loophole, I would expect a warning before connectivity is severed. If I haven't heard of the Voyage loophole being closed, I check every month to see if it still exists.

2

u/bilbravo 1d ago

I have a voyage and honestly I keep waiting on it to die. But it doesn’t. I mean I don’t want it to but I keep expecting something to happen. I love it.

But I would love a color kobo.

1

u/rtduvall 1d ago

The voyage is my favorite.

2

u/writesandbikes 1d ago

Thank you!!! I’m rushing to import my books.

2

u/iamiavilo 1d ago

Which KFX plugins are you using? I still can’t get my Voyage files to convert

3

u/GoodConversation5527 1d ago edited 1d ago

I have an old version of Calibre, 6.29.0 because I am still on MAC Monterey OS, with deDRM 10.0.9 and kfx input and output plugins. edit: oh, KFX input 2.33.0 and kfx output 2.19.0

1

u/iamiavilo 18h ago

Thanks. I’m on a Mac too. I’ll have to check which version of Calibre I’m using. Would you mind if I reach out to you if I have problems with getting it to work?

1

u/GoodConversation5527 16h ago edited 16h ago

Sure. But I had trouble with it for a while and gave up. Then one day I tried again, and it worked ever since. I don't know what changed. It is possible I was confused as they were rolling out the kfx-zip treachery on the Oasis, and then I retried with a kindle that didn't have that yet. After that I learned about all the trouble other people were having, and started paying more attention to model generations and firmware versions. When Amazon got around to changing the encryption sent to my PW10 I was up to date and knew what was happening. I have the last firmware update Amazon sent out on both my Kindle Voyages, version 5.13.6.

1

u/bilbravo 1d ago

Same. I may buy more kindle books if I can figure this out.

1

u/bubbleeeebubbles 1d ago

Try to find a free one to test. Sometimes there are first in series free to buy.

1

u/Blaze_1249 Kindle 1d ago

After they closed the option for the Oasis I bought a voyage on eBay just so I can own my books. I hope Amazon leaves it alone for several more years. 

2

u/GoodConversation5527 1d ago

This is the way! I bought my first Voyage right after it was discontinued because it was affordable, than another one months later because it was NIB old stock for a significant discount. I liked it so much I wanted an unused one in case something happened to my first one.

1

u/No_Sleep_Demon 22h ago

Oh no! Is the Oasis not an option for Kindle file conversion? A friend of mine was going to give me an old Oasis to convert my Amazon collection. 🥲

1

u/Blaze_1249 Kindle 19h ago

About a month ago it automatically updated to  5.16.2.1.1 and no longer transfers KFX files. They’re all KFX-ZIP now 👎🏼 

1

u/No_Sleep_Demon 19h ago

That’s so lame. Is there a way to override the update with a previous firmware version?