Downloading Your eBook: FAQs and support
We’re sorry that the download process is giving you trouble. Listed here are common problems and pitfalls. Please look over the list to see if your problem is described.
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I never registered with an Adobe ID when I installed Adobe Digital Editions; can I still authorize it?
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Yes, you can. If you have not done so already, please select the “Create an Adobe Account” option on this page to set one up. If you have an Adobe ID already (perhaps from registering Photoshop or another Adobe product), it should work in Adobe Digital Editions too.
You can authorize Digital Editions by opening it up, then navigating to the Library section where all of your books are viewable. Digital Editions may open directly there, but if not then there will be a large button in the top left of the window that reads “Library”: click it. Next, select “Help” from the top of your screen and “Authorize Computer” from the drop-down menu.
Fill in your Adobe ID, password, and make sure that the “eBook Vendor” list is set to “Adobe ID”.
If you authorize your computer with an Adobe ID, you will be able to open the same book file on up to five other computers or devices authorized to the same Adobe ID. You will also be able to restore your books in the event of a system crash by going to your original download link and downloading again.
Please note that if you downloaded your ebook BEFORE you authorized your copy of Adobe Digital Editions, you will not be able to read that book on multiple devices.
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What is a Vendor ID/eBook Vendor?
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Many libraries and ebook-sellers have different log-in and password systems to manage ebooks. The Vendor-ID/eBook Vendor field is a way for the e-reading software to allow you to store them all conveniently. When authorizing your software for an ebook received from us, you want this field to be set to “Adobe ID”.
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I downloaded URLLink.acsm but it won’t open –or- URLLink.acsm is an unrecognized filetype.
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URLLink.acsm is the file you download in step 3 to trigger your book’s download into Digital Editions. Some browsers will not automatically help you to open the file directly in your e-reading app. Similarly, your computer may not know to open the URLLink.acsm file with Digital Editions automatically.
We recommend the following:
1) save URLLink.acsm somewhere convenient on your computer, like your desktop.
2) Open up Adobe Digital Editions.
3) Drag the icon for URLLink.acsm onto the Digital Editions Window: this should activate your download.
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I’m getting an error message that reads “E_LIC_FULFILLED_BY_ANOTHER_USER”
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This error message is almost always due to a mismatch in Adobe ID authorization between two devices. In order to download the same book to two or more devices, they must be authorized with the SAME Adobe ID.
WARNING: In some of the troubleshooting scenarios below, we suggest de-authorizing the Adobe ID on your respective devices as a way to resolve Adobe ID discrepancies between devices. De-authorizing a device will run the risk of causing your other DRM-ebooks authorized under that ID to be deleted or unable to open. With that in mind you may decide that it is not worth de-authorizing your device in order to sync it up to another Adobe ID.
Here are the most common troubleshooting scenarios:
Scenario 1. You are trying to download the ebook onto your second device, but you have already downloaded the ebook onto a device that was NOT authorized with an Adobe ID. In this case you will be unable to read your book on the second device, or any additional devices.
Scenario 2. You have already downloaded the book onto one device authorized with an Adobe ID, but the device you are currently downloading it on has not yet been authorized with an Adobe ID: you can fix this by authorizing the device with the SAME Adobe ID as the first device and attempting to download again. If the second device has been authorized with a DIFFERENT Adobe ID, please read on.
Scenario 3. You are downloading your book onto a second device, but its been authorized with a different Adobe ID from your first device. You will need your second device to be authorized with the same Adobe ID as the first device before you can download your ebook onto that device. To do this, you will need to de-authorize your second device and authorize it with the same Adobe ID as the first device has.
As mentioned above, de-authorizing an Adobe ID runs the risk of making your DRM-ebooks disappear; de-authorizing one Adobe ID and authorizing under another, different Adobe ID will absolutely certainly make your books downloaded under the first Adobe ID disappear. Please use caution before proceeding.
To de-authorize Adobe Digital Editions, open up the program and navigate to the Library where all of your books are viewable [if you are not there when the program opens, there is a large button in the top left of the screen that reads “Library”: click it].
Next hold down Ctrl + shift + d if you are on a Windows PC, or Cmd + shift + d if you are on a Mac: this will cause a window to pop up asking if you’d like to de-authorize your machine: click the “Erase Authorization” button.
You can now authorize ADE with the proper Adobe ID by selecting “Help” from the top of the screen and selecting “Authorize Computer” from the dropdown menu. Fill in the appropriate fields.
Finally, try downloading the book again through Step 3 of the Download Page.
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I’m getting an error message that reads “E_ADEPT_IO,” or “E_ADEPT_DATABASE,” or some other Adobe DRM Error.
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These errors usually mean your computer is not letting the URLLink.acsm file connect to the server to authenticate and deliver your book.
Common causes for these errors are:
1. Bad internet connectivity: please make sure you are on a stable internet connection
2. If you get an error with a title that you used to be able to read without issues, did you recently change your system clock? Changing it back should allow the book to open again.
3. Restrictive firewalls: you may need to temporarily disable your firewall in order to use the URLLink.acsm file. You might try adding our server to the list of sites your browser or operating system trusts. Alternatively, you might try right-clicking on the URLLink.acsm file, choosing “Properties”, and unblocking the file.
Because of the large variety of browser and operating system settings, it’s difficult for us to provide specific and comprehensive instructions for how to go about doing this. If you are in an office setting we recommend contacting your IT team for assistance.
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How do I put this file on my Sony Reader?
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Sony made changes to its Reader software (Reader Library/Reader for PC/Reader for Mac). It is now more complicated to get books onto your reader. Please follow these instructions to get the file onto your device:
1. As mentioned above, use the PC/Mac instructions on the download page to get the book installed on your computer in Digital Editions.
2. Install the Reader or Reader Library software available here: https://esupport.sony.com/US/p/select-system.pl?PRODTYPE=74&DIRECTOR=DRIVER
You will need to choose the model of Sony Reader that you have and your computer operating system to begin the download process.
If you already have the Reader or Reader Library installed, you can skip to step 4.3. At the end of the installation process, you will be able to set up or sign into your Sony Account.
4. Open your “Documents:My Digital Editions” (Mac) or “My Documents\My Digital Editions” (Windows) folder to see your protected ebook files.
5. Right-click on the book you want to transfer to your Sony device, and choose to open it with the “Reader for PC”/”Reader for Mac” software. (This can also be done within the Reader or Reader Library software. Please refer to that program's documentation for how to add books to your Reader program.)
6. Once the book is opened in the “Reader” software, you can transfer it to your Sony e-reading device.
I have a Macintosh running an older version of OS X, and Digital Editions says it won’t install. What should I do?
For users of an older Mac with the G5 chip or earlier (usually you will be unable to update OS X past 10.5 Leopard or 10.4 Tiger if you have a G4 chip):
You may still be able to use Digital Editions 1.7.2. Download it here:Click the link to download "Mac PPC (PowerPC)”, and then open the file you’ve downloaded.
Once you have Digital Editions installed, the process is the same as the instructions on your download page.
For users of an older Mac with the 32-bit Intel chips (usually you will be unable to update OS X past 10.6 Snow Leopard):
You may still be able to use Digital Editions 2.0.1. Download it here:https://www.adobe.com/support/digitaleditions/downloads.html
Click the link to download for "Macintosh (17.3 MB)”, and open the file you’ve downloaded.
Once you have Digital Editions installed, the process is the same as the instructions on your download page.
To get back to your ebook download page: click here.
If you are still unable to access your ebook, please fill out the form below to send an email to our help team.
Thank you very much for your patience with this process, and for your interest in ebooks.
If this form isn't working in your browser, please email bv-ebook-help@uchicago.edu directly with a description of your ebook problem.