Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I have some .txt or .epub files on my PC, how do I get them into ABookReader?
A: If you're already using Calibre to manage your ebooks, see the next question for instructions on how to use that to get your books. Otherwise, the easiest way to get your books into ABookReader is to use Dropbox. Take the following simple steps to get this working:
1. Get Dropbox working on your desktop PC. If you already have Dropbox set up, skip this step.
  - Go to www.dropbox.com and sign up for a new account
  - Download and install the Dropbox software as instructed
  - When done, you'll have a new folder called "Dropbox" on your computer -- anything you put in this folder will be magically available to ABookReader.
2. Add books to your Dropbox folder - just copy in any .epub or .txt files you want to read
3. Import the books in ABookReader
  - Open ABookReader on your phone
  - Click the '+' button on the your library page to add a new book
  - If this is the first time you've tried to add a new book, you'll be prompted to create a dropbox account. Say yes. Otherwise, click the '+' button on the select source page to add a new source
  - On the add source page change the Source Type to 'Dropbox', enter a friendly name (e.g. 'My dropbox') then enter the email address and password you used to create your Dropbox account. Click the checkmark to continue.
  - Now back on the select source page, tap the new source you created (e.g. 'My dropbox', it should be at the top of the list) to start browsing your Dropbox folder. You should see the books you added.
  - Click on a book to import it. Note that once you've imported a book into ABookReader, a copy of the book data is stored on your phone and you do not need to keep it in your Dropbox folder.

Q: How can I use ABookReader to connect to my Calibre library?
A: Try the following steps, assuming you’re starting out with Calibre v0.7.38 installed and a library of valid unprotected EPub books.
- First, enable Calibre’s content server. To do this:
  1. On your PC, start Calibre and open the Preferences dialog by clicking the "Preferences" button at the top of the main page.
  2. In the "Sharing" section of the preferences window, click "Sharing over the net" to open the content server’s settings page.
  3. Unless you have good reason to change them, the default settings (specifically Server port: 8080) should be okay. If you change the port, note what you change it to and use that new number any time I say "8080" in these instructions. You might also want to add a Password if it makes you feel better.
  4. Click "Start Server".
  5. If you’re running Windows and have the Windows Firewall enabled, at this point you may immediately see a window asking you to allow Calibre to communicate on the network. Select all the checkboxes in this window and click "Allow".
  6. To test that this is working correctly to this point, click the "Test Server" button in the Sharing over the net settings page. This should open http://127.0.0.1:8080/ (or a different port value if you didn’t use the default) in your default browser, and you should be able to browse your books. If things are failing at this point, consult the Calibre manual and/or user forums for assistance.
- Next, make sure your PC’s firewall is configured correctly to allow connections from other computers (or your phone). These steps should work for Windows 7, should be similar for other OS’s.
  1. Find the Host Name and IP address of the computer running Calibre:
    1. Hold the Windows button and press R. A box will display. In the box, type “cmd.exe” and hit enter. In the prompt window that opens, type ipconfig /all and then hit enter.
    2. A whole bunch of information will be displayed. Note (write down) the value for “Host Name” and “IPv4 Address” (you may have to scroll up to see these)
  2. If you have more than one computer on your network, go to another computer and try to open the calibre content server in a browser. To do this, enter the url http://SERVERADDRESS:8080/ replacing SERVERADDRESS with either the HostName or IP address that you discovered in the previous step (if one doesn’t work, try the other)
  3. If that succeeds, try the same on your phone’s browser – first make sure your phone is on the same network as your PC (If you’re using WiFi, you’re probably already set. If you don’t have WiFi, you can join your phone to your PC’s network by plugging it in via USB and opening the Zune client)
  4. If you were able to open the Calibre content on your phone’s browser, you’re good to go. If you got errors instead it’s likely the firewall is incorrectly configured on the PC running Calibre. Take the following steps to fix that:
    1. In the Windows Start Menu, type "allow firewall". The first search result should be "Allow a program through the windows firewall". Click that.
    2. You should then see a list of the applications that have firewall exceptions. Look for "The main calibre program" in the list. If it’s there, ensure that it has a checkmark to the left of it and at least in the "Home/Work" column as well.
    3. If "The main calibre program" is not in the list, click "Allow another program...", find calibre in the list (or browse to the location of calibre.exe) and click Add. Make sure the correct columns are selected now.
    4. Click OK at the bottom of the Allowed Programs page.
  5. Try accessing the content server from another computer and/or your phone again. If it works, you’re good to go on to the next step. If not, some more advanced troubleshooting is going to be required… see the Calibre user manuals and/or forums for help.
- Finally, add Calibre as a source in ABookReader on your phone and start getting your books. To do this:
  1. Make sure you’re still on the same network you were on when you successfully tested the calibre content server in your phone’s browser.
  2. Open ABookReader, click the + button to add a new book, then the + button again to add a new source.
  3. Pick a friendly name for your Calibre server (e.g. "My calibre server") and put that in the first field.
  4. For the URL, use the same URL that you successfully loaded in your phone’s browser, but (important!) append /opds to it. For instance: http://192.168.2.7:8080/opds
  5. If you chose a password for your calibre server, enter the username and password as well. If you did not pick a password (and just left the username as the default "calibre") leave both fields blank.
  6. Click OK, then try to browse your library. It should work. If it doesn’t, verify you typed everything correctly, and that you can still open that URL on your phone’s browser. If your browser asks for a username and password, make sure you put the same username and password in ABookReader

Q: I could access Calibre in ABookReader at first, but it suddenly stopped working.
A: Things to check:
- Is the computer running Calibre actually on and not sleeping?
- Is Calibre actually running? If you close the main window, the content server stops. (There is a way to run the server without any windows open, see the Calibre documentation)
- If you're accessing Calibre via IP address and not hostname, did your computer's IP address change? You can set your router to reserve a specific static IP address for a given computer if you find this to be a problem. See your router's documentation

Q: I can get books from my Calibre library when I'm at home on my WiFi network. How can I access the library when I'm not at home?
A: You will need to set up port forwarding in your home network's router so that when an external request for port 8080 comes in it is directed to the PC running Calibre. The process for doing this differs widely between different routers - see your router's documentation. You will also need to know your external IP address (try http://whatismyipaddress.com) and if that's not static you'll want to register with a dynamic dns service to get an unchanging host name. One key point: the same troubleshooting steps apply - if you can see the Calibre content server in your browser on your phone, the same URL (plus /opds) should work in ABookReader. If you can't see it in your browser, the problem is in your network or Calibre setup.

Q: How can I use ABookReader to access my private feedbooks.com collection? I get an error whenever I click on the Profile link.
A: There are two steps to getting this to work:
- First, go to the select source page in ABookReader. Tap-and-hold the feedbooks.com source, then select edit source from the context menu. Add your feedbooks.com username and password in the form that apears, then tap the add source button to apply the changes.
- Next, download and install the StartCom root certificate by opening this link (http://www.startssl.com/certs/ca.cer) in Internet Explorer on your device, then follow the instructions to install the certificate. This step is required to enable feedbooks.com's secure HTTP communications.

If you have a question about ABookReader that was not answered above, please do not hesitate to contact the developer at abookreader@danjony.com.

ABookReader

Overview

Frequently Asked Questions

First, enable Calibre’s content server. To do this:

Next, make sure your PC’s firewall is configured correctly to allow connections from other computers (or your phone). These steps should work for Windows 7, should be similar for other OS’s.

Finally, add Calibre as a source in ABookReader on your phone and start getting your books. To do this: