Ebooks

Thanks, those are helpful. Unfortunately, despite following them the iTouch doesn't seem to be connecting to the URL I entered. Yesterday it was using the network to access the Net but now it just keeps spinning in Search mode.

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Why don't you try using the Stanza app? I use Calibre fir my ebook but use Stanza for my iPhone, it works beautifully

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I do have Stanza on the iPhone but I can't get my fics over to the iTouch to read them.

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I am just about to load some more so if you pm me your email address I can send you some instructions, if you want

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Sure, thank you. Are they different from the ones the_other_sandy pointed me to above?

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Yes I did it that way, but there is now a much easier way. Make sure you have the latest version of Itunes on your PC, and the lastest version of the OS which is 4.0.1

Attach your itouch, and go to the Summary where you would normally select sync, go to the Apps tab which is next to the Summary page. Scroll down past the Apps and Stanza should be listed under the heading File Sharing. Select Stanza in the left box, then go to the empty box on the right hand side and at the bottom of the box click on Add. Then navigate to your word doc, or PDF, and select it and it will add into the right hand box. Keep doing the same until you have enough stories loaded, then hit sync.

The old way, as per the instructions does work, the only time is didn/t was when I tried to load some stories on a freinds iphone using my laptop at work, the firewall work used prevented us from linking up to the wifi even though it looked like we were linked, so if your itouch is not 'seeing' the PC (and that's what it sounds like) then maybe you have a firewall issue as well.

I was out earlier, so sorry for the delay in replying.

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No problem, I'm intermittently on and offline too, and thanks for the help. I don't think it's a firewall issue a I'm at home and the iTouch is connected as a drive.

I'm trying to do this without using iTunes, and I thought that by using Calibre I should be able to bypass it. Does Calibre require iTunes to work?

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I have never loaded books into an itouch via Calibre so I can't help your there, only using the instructions you are trying and now via Itunes as that is the far simplest method

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Hi, I have just loaded some stories into Stanza via itunes as per my earlier post and and I have realised my instructions are a bit wrong. Itunes will only take epub files.

Before you load any stories into Itunes you need to load them into Calibre first, and then convert them in Calibre to a epub. This won't cause any issues with the original file, all that will happen is that in your Calibre Library folder, in the folder for the author, Calibre will create a second copy of your story as an epub file, it will be easy to spot. Thats the file you select

If you want me to email you any instructions just pm me your email address and I will be happy to do it.

Edited Date: 2010-07-21 10:12 pm (UTC)

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How do you normally try to get the fics from the calibre app to your iPod? As in, do you go into the get books > shared > and then select the computer sharing the books? And do you have the calibre server turned on? (I've forgotten many times and the app will just spin around searching for my computer and never finding it.)

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I can't say I do anything normally because I haven't been able to get anything on the iTouch yet. However, yes, Calibre is running on my computer and I'm trying to access it in Stanza through the Get Books function. It just tells me the "catalog is empty" even though I can see all the files sitting in Calibre and I've set up Calibre as a "Book Source."

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By default the Calibre server is not turned on, so you need to actually go in and turn it on. Have you done that yet? Because if not then the catalog will register as empty. :)

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So to turn the server on, you need to go into preferences, and on the right hand side is the "content server". You need to click the button that says start server. There's also an option to have the sever automatically start whenever you run calibre which is what I suggest doing if you don't want to try and remember every time. (I have a terrible memory. *LOL*)

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That was it! It looked like I had a temporary port problem too, but I fixed that so my various titles have appeared. The downside seems to be that there's some sort of error with the file contents now so that they don't open, but maybe reloading them in Calibre will fix that. Does Stanza read only EPub format, or will it also read PDFs?

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Either reloading them into Calibre or reformatting them into the ePub format should resolve the error with the file contents.

Stanza (for iOS 4.0 and higher only) will read ePub and PDF, but each need to be loaded differently. You can use Calibre for ePub files, but PDF files need to be loaded through iTunes in the way listed by a previous commenter. I use iTunes to load various magazines, and books and fanfic are loaded through Calibre. I hope that answers your question. :)

Apparently I am mistaken. I just checked my iTunes and you can now load ePub files through iTunes as well as PDF files. So, yeah, you can do both via iTunes, and a quick check with Calibre says that PDFs work that was as well. Hey, you learn something new everyday. :D

So, to recap: You can read both pdf and epub files in Stanza, and both can be transfered through iTunes and Calibre.

Edited Date: 2010-07-22 05:34 am (UTC)

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Yep, reloaded, converted and I was able to open the files on the iTouch. The one thing still a little off is that the font won't enlarge on all of them. The Day/Night switch will work, but the font won't change (though I may be able to work around it by pinching and stretching, but it's pretty unwieldy).

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thedorkygirl.livejournal.com

Why are you saying no to iTunes?

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Here are some answers:
http://bbauer.gomen.org/itunes.html
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/the-unofficial-guide-to-installing-itunes-10-without-bloatware/2390

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thedorkygirl.livejournal.com

So, having read that, and having never purchased music legally in the dozen years I've been downloading, what are the chances that my first Apple product, an iPod touch of approximately 2 weeks of ages, will become a brick? Can they remotely shut down my iPod?

Sorry for the n00b questions, and I'm not a big music thief, I swear :P I generally listen to VibriVox & podfic, and I wanted a music player, and I wanted the shiny. But I do have a couple of songs on there that I snagged from whomever, so idk!

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No problem about the questions! I don't think they can shut down your iPod (although the problem with software "updates" of any kind is that sometimes they do make the device useless -- my SO had that happen with his Zune). However, the big problem is that it's not clear what is actually packed into the iTunes software and there are legitimate concerns that they include spyware for Apple that may not uninstall when you try to delete the software.

Like you, I've never bought anything from iTunes, and Amazon sells DRM free tracks. However, I preferred being safe than sorry and bypassing their software entirely. I've also heard from Sony users that they prefer bypassing the Sony software more for usability than worries about the software itself (which is preloaded). So yeah, I managed to get everything up and running on the Touch without iTunes.

Just the other day there was an exclusive offer of free tracks from iTunes but the only way you could get it was by installing the software on your computer. Obviously there's no reason to have to do that for a free track unless the purpose is to get the software a foothold.

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thedorkygirl.livejournal.com

I had an issue with iTunes being on my computer uninstallable for the 4 years I've had it...and I really don't like the software now that I'm forced to use it. You've made me consider other means of managing my iPod. Thanks :)

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