Send to device failed, "No suitable formats were found" / E_ADEPT_REQUEST_EXPIRED

[gittlp]

Bug description

When sending an ACSM book/file to device, it fails with popup warning (screenshot attached):

WARNING: No suitable formats: Could not upload the following books to the device, as no suitable formats were found. Convert the book(s) to a format supported by your device first.

Output from the shell from which Calibre was launched simultaneously shows this error, which seems to be the issue:

DeACSM v0.0.16: Trying to parse file ChalkedUp_9780061859960_164611.acsm
DeACSM v0.0.16: Try to fulfill ...
DeACSM v0.0.16: Hey, that didn't work: 
Looks like there's been an error during Fulfillment: <error xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/adept" data="E_ADEPT_REQUEST_EXPIRED http://acsepub.contentreserve.com/fulfillment/Fulfill 2025-04-06T23:41:33-04:00%20(1743997293000)%20is%20before%202025-04-12T22:21:33-04:00%20(1744510893954)"/>

Additional notes/observations:

1. This happens regardless of whether Calibre is running on Linux or Windows (tested same acsm file on both)
2. This happens regardless of whether the device I'm pushing to is a Nook or a Kobo (tested on both)
3. This happens regardless of whether I add the book using import type of Calibre 'Add books' or dragging and dropping into the Calibre window (I arbitrarily chose 'Add books' in the 'Import type' dropdown below)
4. When the ACSM file is imported into Calibre, there appears to be nothing amiss, it shows the book in the Calibre window and it says it's 'Formats' type is "ACSM" underneath the standard book cover icon (the book cover is generic, not the cover of the actual book that it's supposed to be, however)

I attach the .acsm file for the book 'Chalked Up,' which happens to be a YA book my child checked out from the NYPL via Libby/Overdrive. (Github would not allow the .acsm file to be uploaded, so I added a ".txt" extension to it in order to upload. Pretty rigorous file-type enforcement lol. :-/)

Operating system

Linux

Which version of Calibre are you running?

8.1.1

Which version of the ACSM Input plugin are you running?

v0.0.16

Import type

Clicking the 'Add books' button in the menu bar

Further information

ChalkedUp_9780061859960_164611.acsm.txt

[Leseratte10]

Well, here's the error message from the log that you posted:

E_ADEPT_REQUEST_EXPIRED http://acsepub.contentreserve.com/fulfillment/Fulfill 2025-04-06T23:41:33-04:00 (1743997293000) is before 2025-04-12T22:21:33-04:00 (1744510893954).

The ACSM file you downloaded from the library expired on April 6th, and you're trying to fulfill it on April 12th.

Re-download a new ACSM file from the library then try again. Also, the ACSM->EPUB conversion is supposed to happen when importing the ACSM into Calibre, not when sending it to a device, so if you have an ACSM file in Calibre then something already went wrong.

[gittlp]

http://acsepub.contentreserve.com/fulfillment/Fulfill

Well, here's the error message from the log that you posted:

E_ADEPT_REQUEST_EXPIRED http://acsepub.contentreserve.com/fulfillment/Fulfill 2025-04-06T23:41:33-04:00 (1743997293000) is before 2025-04-12T22:21:33-04:00 (1744510893954).

The ACSM file you downloaded from the library expired on April 6th, and you're trying to fulfill it on April 12th.

Re-download a new ACSM file from the library then try again. Also, the ACSM->EPUB conversion is supposed to happen when importing the ACSM into Calibre, not when sending it to a device, so if you have an ACSM file in Calibre then something already went wrong.

Thank you, I guess I thought I was getting this problem even with a freshly-checked out, freshly-downloaded through Libby, freshly-imported through Calibre, file; and it wasn't just this book that I got this error with. I also don't know the protocol to know what I'm looking at in that error message, for example here, 'who' issued each timestamp: the NYPL? Libby/Overdrive? Adobe? my local computer on download or import? etc., which it seems I'd need to know so to narrow where the problem is coming from and see why it's not fresh at each phase, so as to make sure every link in the chain is 'fresh.' And then, who enforces this policy of obeying expirations, even if they're wrong, can they be ignored, why not etc.?

Plus in addition to getting the error with other books, I also don't get the error with some books, so it's hard to regress.

Short of traversing every institution -- the NYPL, Libby/Overdrive, Adobe, etc. -- to try to get support, is there a way i could see the 'stamps' at each phase myself, and see if it's the book itself, the account used to check it out, the account used to downloaded it, etc., and maybe tell good book/account/download method, from bad?

Thank you for your help and work!

[Leseratte10]

for example here, 'who' issued each timestamp: the NYPL? Libby/Overdrive? Adobe? my local computer on download or import? etc., which it seems I'd need to know so to narrow where the problem is coming from and see why it's not fresh at each phase, so as to make sure every link in the chain is 'fresh.' And then, who enforces this policy of obeying expirations, even if they're wrong, can they be ignored, why not etc.?

Each time you download an ACSM file from a distributor, they are creating that ACSM file from scratch, add an expiry date, then sign that file with their private key. In case of book stores it's the book store that does that, for libraries it's the company operating their servers. Whether that's the library itself or a company like Overdrive depends on the library, I guess.

If you get the error E_ADEPT_REQUEST_EXPIRED then either A) it's been too long since you downloaded the file and it already expired (as it is in your case), or B) your computer's clock is off by more than a couple hours or so, or C) your library's server's clock is off by more than a couple hours (very unlikely). In the error message, the first timestamp is the expiry date of that particular ACSM file, the second timestamp is the current time, the time you tried to import the file at.

Try to open an ACSM file in a plain text editor and look at the content, it's plain XML. Typically, there's an entry like "< expiration >" that contains a date in human-readable form (that's the time this particular file expires), there's entries in "< permissions >" (that's the time your book loan expires and the book becomes unreadable), and there's a random string in an entry named "< hmac >". That's the signature so you can't just edit the file and extend the expiration date.

When you import a file into Calibre with my plugin, the contents of this file plus some more metadata about your account get sent to the server listed under "< operatorURL >" in the file - usually hosted by your library running a software created by Adobe.

And that server at that particular address is A) validating the signature to make sure nobody altered the file, B) checks if your Adobe account is allowed to download said file and C) then provides the encrypted book file.

If you had admin access to that particular server and could change how it behaves / works, then yes, you could make it ignore these policies, but that's very unlikely to be the case.