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Athene Docs › Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

When something goes wrong, Athene says what, in words. Find the message or the problem below. If it isn’t here, write in.

Adding and opening books

“This book is locked”
The book is protected with DRM by the store that sold it, so only that store’s app can open it. If the store offers a DRM-free download, choose that; it will open in Athene.
“… isn’t the book itself”
An .acsm file is a download ticket for Adobe Digital Editions, not a book. Download the DRM-free EPUB or PDF instead, if the store offers one.
“… is in Kindle’s KFX format”
Only Kindle apps and devices read KFX. If the store offers a DRM-free EPUB or MOBI, that one will open.
“… is an older Word document (.doc)”
Open it in Pages or Word and save it as .docx, then add it again.
“… is packed in a way Athene can’t read”
Repack it with calibre: Convert books › EPUB.
“… is damaged, or only part of it downloaded”, or “is an empty file”
Download it again and add the new copy.
“… is too big for Athene to open”
An EPUB can hold up to 300 MB once unpacked, and no single file inside it over 50 MB. A book past that is nearly always one of very large pictures.
A book on the shelf won’t open
Athene shows the book’s title and says why it failed, with Back to Library and Remove from Library. Remove it and add it again from where it came; if it still fails, send it in.
I can’t find my books in the Files app
Athene keeps its books inside the app. Touch and hold a book and choose Export Book to save a copy to Files.

calibre

Athene says why it couldn’t connect. The fixes for each message are under calibre › When it won’t connect. Beyond those:

Some of my books aren’t in the Calibre screen
Only books calibre holds as EPUB or PDF are listed. Convert the others to EPUB in calibre.
Settings › Sync › Calibre is greyed out
No calibre server is connected yet, or the server is calibre-web, which keeps no highlights. Connect calibre’s own Content server under Library › + › Calibre.
“Your calibre account can’t make changes”
In calibre, Preferences › Sharing over the net › User accounts, tick Allow … to make changes for your user, then restart the server.
“calibre only takes highlights from a signed-in account”
Turn on Require username and password in calibre’s sharing preferences, add a user, and connect in Athene with that username and password. See Setting calibre up for it.

Listen

There are no headphones in the book
Listen reads English, French and Italian, and a book in another language has no Listen button. Athene goes by the language the book names, or else by its text; a book it can’t place is read as English.
The voice download stops
It needs a connection for the whole 242 MB. Tap Try Again on Wi‑Fi.
“Nothing to Read Aloud”
From the page you’re on, the PDF has no text Listen can read. Try from another page.
“Listening Paused”
The voice stopped, for the reason it gives. Tap the headphones to start again; if it says the natural voice isn’t downloaded, download it from the Listening sheet.
Apple’s voice isn’t in the list
Download its Premium version first, in your device’s Settings › Accessibility › Read & Speak › Voices. See Apple’s voices.

The Owl

Each of the Owl’s messages, and what to do about it, is under Ask the Owl › When it can’t answer. Most often, Apple Intelligence is off or still downloading on the device, and no server or key is set up.

iCloud Sync

My highlights aren’t on my other device
Check that Settings › Sync › iCloud is on on both, signed in to the same Apple Account, and that the book is on both: iCloud carries your marks, not the books. Highlights follow between copies of the same edition. Highlights in PDFs, and reflections, stay on the device they were made on.
“Sign in to iCloud in the Settings app to sync”
Sign in to your Apple Account in your device’s Settings.
“Your iCloud storage is full”
Free up space in iCloud, or buy more, and Athene carries on.

KOReader

“Can’t reach …”
Check the server is running: open http://its address:17200 in a browser, and it should say Your Athene sync server is running. Check, too, that your device is on the same network or your VPN.
“… isn’t an Athene server”
The address is another sync server, such as KOReader’s public one. Athene needs the Athene sync server you run. See KOReader.
“… certificate isn’t trusted”
The server’s https certificate isn’t one your device trusts. On your home network, use its http:// address.
Books don’t match between Athene and KOReader
Set Document Matching in Athene the same as KOReader’s Document matching method.

Zotero

“This file isn’t on zotero.org”
Zotero on your computer hasn’t uploaded it yet, or your Zotero Storage is full. If you keep files on WebDAV, set it up under Settings › Sync › Zotero › Files on WebDAV.
“Zotero signed Athene out”
Tap Sign In Again. A key that was revoked or changed on zotero.org does this.
An item has no download
Its row says why: there’s no PDF or EPUB, or the file is linked on your computer rather than stored in Zotero.

Reporting a bug

Write to athene@theadipost.com, or tap Settings › Support › Contact, which puts your version of Athene in the subject. Say which device and which version of iOS, what you did and what happened instead. For a book that won’t open or looks wrong, say where it came from and attach the file if you can: a book that fails nearly always has something unusual in it, and having the file is the difference between a fix and a guess.

Written for Athene 3.4. Something here wrong, or missing? Write to athene@theadipost.com.