Topic: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE (Read 50405 times)

lalittle · « **Reply #150 on:** August 05, 2003, 06:32:42 pm »

Steve,

Regarding the problem with songs getting cut off early: I've temporarily stopped using MC (no ripping, re-tagging, etc.) in order to keep it in it's current "problem state" -- i.e. I don't want to disturb it while it's consistently having this problem for fear of changing which songs have this problem, which would in turn make it even harder to diagnose. Is this still necessary? Are there any files I could send you that might help you out in figuring this out? I'd like to get back to ripping/tagging/etc., but before I do I want to make sure that there is no more value in leaving MC alone.

Also, for the time being I'd like to sync with Ephpod since it doesn't have this issue. Is there any reason not to do this? i.e. does using Ephpod make any changes to the files or otherwise interfere with MC's functioning? I want to go back to using MC exclusively once this issue is gone, so I want to make sure that there are no "side effects" of having used Ephpod.

Let me know.

Thanks,

Larry

SteveG · « **Reply #151 on:** August 06, 2003, 07:27:42 am »

ugilt,

When you do your second synch, do you have "Delete files not in synch" checked? If so, what you are seeing is by design. Uncheck this selection and you should be all set.

lalittle,

I retested on W2k with 9.0.180 and all worked fine with the files you sent. I am confident the problem does not have to do with the iTunesDB because I have taken your files and modified the likely fields in the database (File size and file length) to be equal to 0. If the data of these fields was a problem I would expect the files to not play or to have problems. They continue to play fine.

I think the problem is somehow hardware related. I have made modifications in the next plugin that will show us any aberrations in the transfer which would indicate why parts of files are being cut off. If you can, I would go to MC 9.1.latest to continue testing.

In regards to Ephpod, it would not be good to switch because the filenames would all be different if you use Ephpod to upload files and MC would not recognize the files for synching.

DigitalTrapper,

Can you drag and drop any files from the playlist that does not synch properly to a new playlist and have the new playlist synch correctly( you mentioned some files fail, can others succeed?)?

If so, the problem is most likely something unique to your library. I can create a playlist and then create a second playlist and drag and drop files from the first playlist to the second, followed by a synch without problems.

InstantCrow,

If you get errors whenever you click on your iPod drive letter, the problem is most likely that your iTunesDataBase is messed up. Try deleting a file if you can so that the database gets rebuilt or right click and select 'Rebuild Database from iPod' and you should then have a fix. In the latter suggestion you will lose your playlists, but can readd them on a subsequent synch.

Steve

ugilt · « **Reply #152 on:** August 06, 2003, 09:42:34 am »

Quote

ugilt,
When you do your second synch, do you have "Delete files not in synch" checked? If so, what you are seeing is by design. Uncheck this selection and you should be all set.

Yahh, that did make a diff.
But then I would suggest changing the texting to something like "Delete files allready on HandHeld" as this is how it works. (Even if the playlist is sync'ed again)

digitaltrapper · « **Reply #153 on:** August 06, 2003, 09:45:52 am »

Steve,
I've put my other issues on hold for now. I've reformated

and now I am trying to resync everything and transcoding using the external lame encoder at average bitrate of 128 to keep file sizes small. Using the external encoder, will it skip files that already have a bitrate (constant or ABR) of 128?
As for lalittle's problem, I think it might be a hardware issue as well, and I look forward to the new plugin that better diagnosis these issues. Sometimes some of my songs are cut off as well. I'm using a USB ipod. Maybe that has something to do with it....
Will let you know how this "sync" is going, and if I encounter any more problems this way...

Thanks for your help.

TimB · « **Reply #154 on:** August 06, 2003, 09:46:58 am »

Quote

Yahh, that did make a diff.
But then I would suggest changing the texting to something like "Delete files allready on HandHeld" as this is how it works. (Even if the playlist is sync'ed again)

Good idea!

-=Tim=-

lalittle · « **Reply #155 on:** August 06, 2003, 11:45:14 am »

Quote

I would go to MC 9.1.latest to continue testing.

Are there any serious bugs remaining that I should look out for, or is the interface likely to go through any further changes? Is the latest version pretty close to completion?

Also, what is the procedure for upgrading to the new version? Do I uninstall the old one first? Do I have to do anything special to get the new version to import the library and files, etc?

Thanks for any details on this, or for pointing me to any docmentation that covers this,

Larry

ashawley · « **Reply #156 on:** August 06, 2003, 12:28:11 pm »

lalittle:

I've been using 9.1 since the day it came out. It's very stable. I believe it's almost ready for prime time too.

As far as the process. Back up your existing library, just as an extra precaution.

Then, just install 9.1 over your existing version. You should be all set.

Steve: is it possible somewhere down the road to improve the error handling for when an iPod's database gets corrupted? Possibly such that it rebuilds itself automatically or prompts the user that it has to rebuild itself? It would go a long way to improving the UI.

Of course, don't start work on that until playcounts and ratings are done. :whip, whip, slash, slash:

Adam

SteveG · « **Reply #157 on:** August 06, 2003, 01:29:26 pm »

Everyone (Especially Euro Podders),

I added a feature to allow a constant volume boost that people had requested. Some users had pointed out that XPlay allows a greater volume boost than we do using Replay Gain. The reason for this is that Replay Gain is much more complicated and tries to accomplish making all the tracks sound at the same volume.

After looking at XPlay, what they do is just boost everything by a constant amount. As far as I can tell, iPod only allows tracks to be boosted a maximum level of 100 (a relative value). Even though XPlay allows for a percentage increase greater than this, I have not been able to hear a difference with a value above 100.

In the new right-click 'Volume Adjustment' feature, you can choose either to use Replay Gain or to simply boost all tracks up to 100 or down by 100. If you enable this option all you need to do is synch with 'Update Tags' checked and the changes will apply.

I did not post this version as the iPod Plugin because the version that is there is old and must remain as long as MC 9.0.180 is around. Instead, if you want to try the new version (keeping in mind it may be buggy for a day or two) download the 'Portable Drives' Plugin (v 9.0.43) from the MC 9 Plugins page.

Next to come is the playlists and ratings.

Ugilt and TimB,

'Delete Files already on Handheld' isn't quite right either because this option will only delete files on the Handheld that are not selected in the tree. I changed it in the next build of MC to be "Delete unselected files from portable". Too long maybe, but accurate.

DigitalTrapper,

Quote

Using the external encoder, will it skip files that already have a bitrate (constant or ABR) of 128?

It will skip any files that have a bitrate equal to or less than the bitrate displayed in the column 'Bitrate'. I hope all goes well. There is a bug with the conversion progress bar I still need to get to.

Larry,

Adam has you covered. Thanks Adam.

Adam,

I would like to improve the error handling to rebuild the database when necessary. One great way users can help is that when they have a database screw up, if they can send me the iTunesDB file from their iPod I can try to diagnose what went wrong and improve error handling to handle the corruption.

Playcounts etc. soon.

Steve

Rands · « **Reply #158 on:** August 06, 2003, 02:42:15 pm »

Just got my new 15gb iPod today and, after a little confusion, had it up and running with MC 9.1.266 without any problems at all. Right now I'm doing my first huge upload of songs which causes MC to behave kind of nastily (e.g., rarely issuing any screen updates and being totally unresponsive so I have no clue how far along the upload is). And I discovered something wrong with my Audigy card: when the firewire is actively being used, any sounds or music on my computer get heavily distorted! Looks like I'll just have to buy an Audigy 2.

ashawley · « **Reply #159 on:** August 06, 2003, 03:53:23 pm »

Rands:

The freezing problems you're having are most likely not due to MC9, but due to the Audigy having problems writing to the iPod.

Audigy is by far the most problematic firewire out there. The reason why is that for some unknown reason, Creative decided it would be more fun to create their own standard (SB1394) rather than follow the standard that's out there (IEEE1394). The iPod adheres (very strictly I might add) to the IEEE standard.

I hightly recommend against getting another Audigy card. You're asking for trouble. There are folks that have no problems with them true, but I'd say 50%-75% of the time there are problems.

Go with a good card, such as Adaptec 4300, Orangelink Cards, or usually any VIA Chipset based card will do fine.

Just passing along a little warning....

Adam

Rands · « **Reply #160 on:** August 06, 2003, 04:19:26 pm »

Thanks for the tip!

On a related note, is USB 2 faster than Firewire?

ashawley · « **Reply #161 on:** August 06, 2003, 05:14:16 pm »

Personally I haven't tried it, but from what I've read over at the 'lounge, folks are saying it's about the same.

Adam

lalittle · « **Reply #162 on:** August 06, 2003, 08:45:04 pm »

Quote

Thanks for the tip!

On a related note, is USB 2 faster than Firewire?

I read somewhere on the apple site that the iPod could not be charged with the USB2 connection like it can via firewire, so if this is important (as it is with me) firewire is the better protocol. Speedwise they should be about the same. USB2's maximum speed is a little faster than firewire, but not by all that much, and I doubt that the actual connection itself is the slow link in the chain.

Larry

ugilt · « **Reply #163 on:** August 06, 2003, 09:15:28 pm »

Quote

Ugilt and TimB,
'Delete Files already on Handheld' isn't quite right either because this option will only delete files on the Handheld that are not selected in the tree. I changed it in the next build of MC to be "Delete unselected files from portable". Too long maybe, but accurate.

Steve,
Hear what you are targeting at BUT then you have a bug:
1. Sync 3 small playlist on a CLEAN slate
2. Sync the same 3 playlist + 1 big one AND check "delete file..."
You will end up with the big playlist only...

lalittle · « **Reply #164 on:** August 07, 2003, 01:23:06 am »

Steve,

A couple IMPORTANT updates to the "cut off early" bug.

Just out of curiosity, I decided to upload the actual files I sent you instead of the original source files that had always been uploaded before. To my surprise, they did NOT cut off early on my iPod either -- they played to the end just fine. I then went back and once again uploaded the original source files and the problem came back. In other words, passing the files "through" the iPod somehow fixed the problem.

Just to make sure I'm clear on this, I broke down the process and the results:

mp3 > iPod via MC = ends cut off early
mp3 > iPod via Ephpod = ends NOT cut off
mp3 > iPod via MC > back to computer > iPod via MC = ends NOT cut off

The files I sent you before were the "mp3 > iPod via MC > back to computer" version, which no longer have the problem when once again uploaded to my iPod. I originally sent you the files from the actual iPod since at the time I believed these would be more revealing than the source files. Apparently, this was incorrect.

I therefore sent you the original source files that DO get cut off early when uploaded (please check your email.) Hopefully, these will behave the same way they do on my system and might therefore reveal the problem.

Note that I only sent you two files this time. The tags and file name on the third one were edited, which for whatever reason stopped the problem from happening. This, of course, is another clue to what is causing this issue. Changing the tags (title and genre) and filename fixed the problem. This could explain why moving the files "through" the iPod fixed this issue -- they were renamed during this process.

Let me know what you find out,

Thanks,

Larry

KarlPod · « **Reply #165 on:** August 07, 2003, 05:38:07 am »

Hi Steve,

I have tried the new 100 volume adjustment and all seems fine to me. It's always hard trying to remember what the Xplay volume was like prior to trying yours but it is a significant increase

The way you have done this would not effect the quality of the MP3 would it? I ask because some of my files don't sound so crisp now.

One problem I have noticed is that when I plug my pod into the dock and MC loads it does not alway show the Ipod drive in devices and sometimes when I right click on the drice it vanishes and then unmounts the Ipod.

Has anyone else had this?

Thanks

Rands · « **Reply #166 on:** August 07, 2003, 08:46:50 am »

Quote

I read somewhere on the apple site that the iPod could not be charged with the USB2 connection like it can via firewire, so if this is important (as it is with me) firewire is the better protocol. Speedwise they should be about the same. USB2's maximum speed is a little faster than firewire, but not by all that much, and I doubt that the actual connection itself is the slow link in the chain.

I had actually read that in the manual that comes with the iPod but then promptly forgot that I had read it.

I'm looking at an M-Audio Revolution to replace my Audigy and a separate Firewire card for the iPod.

On another note, I had owned one of the original iPods (5gb, if I remember correctly) and it seems to me that the new one's sound quality is far superior. Perhaps it's the headphones, perhaps it's the internals but I've been completely floored by the sound stage.

Happy iPodding, all!

kiwi · « **Reply #167 on:** August 07, 2003, 09:55:23 am »

Does the iPod plug-in not create sych the actual playlists?

I did a sync of 4 playlists, all the files made it, however, none of the playlists are available.

I tried both regular and "smart" playlists.

hope there's a way around this. Or that I'm just missing something.

thanks,

kiwi

edit: I think that my problem is that I was needing to rebuild the database to get the files to be recognized, and that was erasing the playlists

Basically, what happens is that I sync the files, it then doesn't show any files and says "Uploaded files not found" So I have to rebuild database from iPod, which destroys the playlists.

At least, that's what I think is happening.

Media Center Registered 9.1.226 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Jukebox\

Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 2392 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 515 MB, Free - 144 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1106 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2800.1145 (xpsp2.021108-1929) / wnaspi32.dll: Internal ASPI Layer

Ripping / Drive D: Copy mode:ModeBurstBigBuffer CD Type:Auto Read speed:Max
Drive F: Copy mode:ModeBurstBigBuffer CD Type:Auto Read speed:Max
Digital playback: Yes / Use YADB: Yes / Get cover art: No / Calc replay gain: Yes / Copy volume: 32767
Eject after ripping: No / Play sound after ripping: No

Burning / Drive D: AOPEN CD-RW CRW4852 Addr: 2:0:0 Speed:72 MaxSpeed:362 BurnProof:No
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: Yes / Direct decoding: No / Write CD-Text: No
Use playback settings: Yes / Normalization: None

SteveG · « **Reply #168 on:** August 07, 2003, 10:12:54 am »

ugilt,

I cannot duplicate your problem using 9.1.226 on XP. Can anyone else?

lalittle,

I copied the files you emailed to the iPod from multiple machines with no cutoff. Perhaps someone else will volunteer to test the same files you sent me to verify my results.

Karl,

What I am doing is changing a setting on the iPod, not on the file itself so quality should not be a problem. In regards to the device appearing and disappearing, see if you get the same problem in Windows Explorer. More likely than not this is a hardware issue. Also, be sure to either uninstall MusicMatch or rename their directory if you keep it.

kiwi,

Rebuilding the database will delete the playlists. If you resynch with the playlists selected, the playlists should recreate on iPod and the process should be fast because the files are already on iPod. If you sent the files with another program, this is not the case and is the cause of your problem.

Steve

bonnieleek · « **Reply #169 on:** August 07, 2003, 11:43:43 am »

Spent hours last night trying to get Audible to recognize my IPOD2 after I had reformatted it for the MC 9.

Can someone PLEASE tell me what I am SUPPOSED to be doing and in what order, because so far I'm hitting a dead end every time.

As a "work around" I tried importing my .AA files into MC9 and then just downloading them as a playlist ... but even though MC9 says they were imported, they didn't show up in the library nomatter where I looked.

Argh! (and thanks!)

SteveG · « **Reply #170 on:** August 07, 2003, 01:51:55 pm »

Bonnie,

Try formatting or initializing your iPod from within MC ( you will lose all your data) and then import your .aa files into MC and transfer them from there. It will not work well right now to go back and forth between MC and Audible.

At any time if things are screwed up, if you format your iPod from Windows ( or with iPod updater) and then from within MC you will be fine. If Audible cannot handle getting going after a format from Windows, that is their problem.

Steve

Phil Lee · « **Reply #171 on:** August 07, 2003, 02:08:47 pm »

Just a quick note to say that I've successfully tested the global volume gain with my gen 2 iPod with 1.3 firmware on it. It works very well thanks Steve.

lalittle · « **Reply #172 on:** August 07, 2003, 04:50:42 pm »

Quote

lalittle,

I copied the files you emailed to the iPod from multiple machines with no cutoff. Perhaps someone else will volunteer to test the same files you sent me to verify my results.

Given that any changes made to the files seems to fix the issue, I'm wondering if the fact that they're coming from a different directory on your drive is enough of a change to prevent the issue from happening.

I'm going to try emailing the files to myself tonight, then import these files into MC and see if the problem persists. It may be that there is no way you can duplicate the problem with my files since these files are always copies of the originals -- perhaps copies don't show the problem.

I think it's important to note that there are a few other posts on this forum (including one in this very thread) saying that they get the same issue. In other words, this isn't limited to me.

Larry

ashawley · « **Reply #173 on:** August 07, 2003, 05:12:58 pm »

I'll chime in here to give you a little support Larry. I too have experienced cutoffs. But (and this is the weird part), it's gone away.

I recently had to send my iPod in for service and they shipped me a new one. Since then no cutoffs. It was really bad for a while.

I'm not sure it's hardware related and I'm not sure it's software related.

I just don't know what the heck is causing it. But I believe it's a real problem, just don't know where the fault lies.......

Sorry, for what it's worth I thought I'd throw that in there.

Adam

lalittle · « **Reply #174 on:** August 07, 2003, 06:23:18 pm »

Quote

I'll chime in here to give you a little support Larry. I too have experienced cutoffs. But (and this is the weird part), it's gone away.

I recently had to send my iPod in for service and they shipped me a new one. Since then no cutoffs. It was really bad for a while.

I'm not sure it's hardware related and I'm not sure it's software related.

I just don't know what the heck is causing it. But I believe it's a real problem, just don't know where the fault lies.......

Sorry, for what it's worth I thought I'd throw that in there.

Adam

Thanks for the information. Given that uploading the same files with Ephpod prevents this issue, my first reaction was that this pointed to MC as the culprit. However, your report has me wondering if this perhaps could be the iPod after all.

Were there ANY other changes that you can think of when you switched to the new iPod? Is it possible that you upgraded MC or did something else that could explain the sudden disappearence of the problem? The way you said "It was really bad for a while" strikes me as exacly what I've been going through -- I ran into two entire CD's the other day that had every single track cut short. This is getting really frustrating, and I can't help wondering if I should just try and swap the unit out for a new one since I got the "extra" warranty coverage when I bought it. Have you heard of anybody else solving this issue by getting a newer unit (i.e. same model, just a newer manufacturing date)?

How long ago was it that you got your new unit? If I did replace mine, do you think that the newer runs of these units would be in retail stores by now?

Thanks again,

Larry

dbattan · « **Reply #175 on:** August 07, 2003, 08:10:04 pm »

For no apparent reason, when I synch my ipod now with MC, it screws up the directory on my pod, either erasing it altogether or just leaving one or two random playlists but not "All Music". The files are still there apparently but the directory keeps getting crushed. Rebuild does not work. I had to restore the pod and then reformat and resynch. That worked once and then I just tried to synch a new list and it erased the ipod database and now I am in the same boat again. No songs or artists or albums show up on the pod, it looks completekly blank. WHen I try to vire the pod in MC, MC crashes repeatedly. This sucks. WHat do I do?

digitaltrapper · « **Reply #176 on:** August 07, 2003, 08:35:56 pm »

Larry,
I've had some problems like this.... but not nearly as bad as you are having. I just reformated and I am trying to resync everything. I'll let you know how things go, and if I am still getting tracks cut off. I would say that I was getting 1 out of 15 or so cut off prior to this rebuild

ashawley · « **Reply #177 on:** August 07, 2003, 09:04:49 pm »

Larry:

Unfortunately I really can't say whether I did anything. I just don't remember what happened when. I was about 1 month ago that I got the replacement and I haven't had cutoffs since then. And no nothing else changed. Again, it's very strange......

dbattan:

I've been seeing this problem more and more recently. From your post it sounds like you'r syncing w/the All Music Playlist. The auto-playlist? Try not doing that. Instead, make your own smartlist. Add a rule to it File type= mp3. That'll be the same as the all music one (except only mp3s of course).

Steve, it just seems to me like the All Music Auto-smartlist is causing folks problems.

Adam

lalittle · « **Reply #178 on:** August 08, 2003, 10:14:24 am »

Quote

Larry:

Unfortunately I really can't say whether I did anything. I just don't remember what happened when. I was about 1 month ago that I got the replacement and I haven't had cutoffs since then. And no nothing else changed. Again, it's very strange......

Adam,

Do you remember if you were already using MC 9.1 at that point? If so, that would potentially eliminate 9.0 as the culprit. What OS were/are you using?

I assume that this issue was NOT the reason you sent it in for repairs, correct?

Thanks,

Larry

ashawley · « **Reply #179 on:** August 08, 2003, 11:01:47 am »

Larry:

Running XP Home. I was using 9.1 at that point. And no, that wasn't the reason why I sent it in. The HDD died.

Again, I really haven't experienced it since then. That doesn't mean it's due to the iPod. It would be very nice if we could duplicate it w/another uploading program....

Steve:

Just a thought, but now that we have Replay Gain, isn't the Normalize option redundant? Or is that part of the basic plugin and you can't remove it.

Just thought it would be good to get rid of it to reduce confusion, but if you can't I understand.

How're playcounts coming?

Adam

Kurt Young · « **Reply #180 on:** August 08, 2003, 12:08:08 pm »

Steve, I know you're busy, but, I wanted to put a bug in your ear. I don't know if Adam's mentioned this to you before, but...

If the playcount data persists until the iPod is dismounted...

...it's possible that the "On The Go" playlist also persists until the iPod is dismounted!

Imagine, you plug in, and as soon as MC sees the soon-to-be-deleted-as-soon-as-the-iPod-is-dismounted OTG playlist, a macro of some kind runs and creates a "Recent OTG" smartlist in MC! (much in the way that "Recently Ripped" and etc work).

Then, I can sync it! After I pull the plug, the OTG playlist will be empty, but I'll have a "Recent OTG" that'll have the now-deleted OTG setup in it! Sweeeeeeet!

lalittle · « **Reply #181 on:** August 08, 2003, 01:22:44 pm »

Quote

It would be very nice if we could duplicate it w/another uploading program....

The reason I don't think it can be duplicated on another uploading application is because I believe MC is somehow the cause. As I said, I was able to confirm that Ephpod did not have the problem with the same files, and going back and forth between these two apps gives totally consistant and repeatable results.

I just don't know what to do at this point. The fact that 9.1 did it for you obviously makes me a lot less hopeful that this will solve it, and you were using XP as well, so this wasn't the problem. Ephpod works, so this "seems" to indicate that MC is the problem. Enough other people have reported the same issue, so that eliminates a problem unique to my system. Since Steve can't reproduce the issue, however, he can't effectively troubleshoot it.

I'm basically totally stuck in a situation where I can't use MC to sync, yet I can't really hope for a solution since the problem cannot be reproduced at will on another system. The only workaround at this point is to use Ephpod to sync, but the whole point of getting MC in the first place was that it did everything in one package.

It's all very frustrating and disappointing.

Thanks again for the information,

Larry

SteveG · « **Reply #182 on:** August 08, 2003, 01:52:21 pm »

Larry,

I am as certain as I can be that the problem is not caused by any setting I control in the plugin as I write data to the iTunesDB. There is a possibility that the file is not transferring completely. I use a very standard windows function to move the files, but one that may be different from what Ephpod uses. I changed the way I do this a long time ago to increase speed. Could you try comparing the sizes of the two files on iPod once you transferred them with Ephpod and with MC? (Check the size from within windows) Also, get plugin 9.0.43 from which is the 'Removable Drive' Plugin on the MC downloads page. This may give more error information that may be useful if my hunch is correct.

Kurt,

I will check it out after I get the Playcounts stuff going. I should have time to get to it next week.

Adam,

The normalize option is different than Replay Gain in that it actually modifies the files. I would not recommend using it now that Replay Gain is available, but I am not sure others might want to use it so I am hesitant to pull it altogether.

dbattan,

I cannot duplicate this. Can you try cleaning your iPod and see if it continues to occur? What version of MC do you have? If not 9.1.226, try getting that.

Everyone,

I fixed some bugs in the ont the fly conversion code today but it won't be available until the next build of MC. If you have problems during on the fly conversion, hang in there until the next build.

TimB · « **Reply #183 on:** August 08, 2003, 02:22:00 pm »

Tho' I use my iPod every day and love MC I don't actually sync a lot. I usually load stuff up and listen to it for awhile, get bored with what's loaded up and load some more.

So I've just sync'd for the first time using the Replay Gain feature. So darned cool!

Thanks Steve.

-=Tim=-

Macavity · « **Reply #184 on:** August 08, 2003, 02:27:03 pm »

Quote

Imagine, you plug in, and as soon as MC sees the soon-to-be-deleted-as-soon-as-the-iPod-is-dismounted OTG playlist, a macro of some kind runs and creates a "Recent OTG" smartlist in MC! (much in the way that "Recently Ripped" and etc work).

Then, I can sync it! After I pull the plug, the OTG playlist will be empty, but I'll have a "Recent OTG" that'll have the now-deleted OTG setup in it! Sweeeeeeet!

Wow, Kurt.....this is a great idea! I've just started using MC in the last week, and I have been floored by all of the things it can already do, but saving our OTF playlists would be a wonderful addition!

I used to have a Creative Jukebox, so I sometimes miss being able to create (and save) playlists while away from home base.

bdjohns1 · « **Reply #185 on:** August 08, 2003, 04:29:25 pm »

Quote

Wow, Kurt.....this is a great idea! I've just started using MC in the last week, and I have been floored by all of the things it can already do, but saving our OTF playlists would be a wonderful addition!

I used to have a Creative Jukebox, so I sometimes miss being able to create (and save) playlists while away from home base.

I'll vote for this idea too - should be able to pull that data off at the same time you copy away playcounts and ratings, since those get wiped too when you disconnect.

lalittle · « **Reply #186 on:** August 08, 2003, 07:58:36 pm »

Quote

Also, get plugin 9.0.43 from which is the 'Removable Drive' Plugin on the MC downloads page. This may give more error information that may be useful if my hunch is correct.

I assume you mean the "Portable Drive" plug-in.

Once I install this, is there anything special I need to do to use it? Does this "take over" for the "iPod" plug-in that's already installed?

Also, I seem to remember some recommendation you made regarding circumstances where you should NOT use this newer plug-in. Do you remember what that referred to? Does this plug-in work with 9.0.180, which is still the MC version I have installed?

Thanks,

Larry

dallardice · « **Reply #187 on:** August 09, 2003, 12:18:31 am »

New convert-and-sync problem.

30G IPOD, all but 15M full when I sync normally, time to start converting. I'm trying converting to 192k, and so there aren't many files that need conversion (This is just a test to see how much space I save; if it works I plan to down-convert to 160k to give me even more space)

Database has a total of about 7000 files, and I'm running MC 9.1.226 with the Portable Drive plugin 9.0.43.

This is what happens when I start the sync on a newly Restored and Formatted (Initialized) Ipod
- 10 files go through the Decode/Encode process
- Saving tag changes message for those 10 files
- MC syncs 321 other files (slow sync, so it's moving the files to the Ipod)
- The same 10 files go through the Decode/Encode process
- Saving tag changes message for those 10 files
- MC syncs 311 other files (fast sync, these are files already on the Ipod)
- The same 10 files go through the Decode/Encode process
- Saving tag changes message for those 10 files
-MC syncs 301 other files (fast sync, these are files already on the Ipod)
- Same 10 files convert again
- This time 291 files are synced.... and so on

Haven't had the patience to wait for it to run through until 291 reaches zero but will set that going one night if you need it.

Plenty of room on the drive being used for Temp storage. No recent problems doing syncs without converts - works just like it's supposed to.

digitaltrapper · « **Reply #188 on:** August 09, 2003, 10:16:23 am »

dallardice...
I've had this same exact problem. Told Steve about it not too long ago. I wound up just giving up because I could not find a reason for this. Initially I thought it had something to do with very large playlists because I had some success by splitting my tracks into multiple playlists before converting them.
I also switched to the external Lame encoder, and I'm syncing smaller playlists (without interrupting them before they are complete) and have not had a problem so far...
Good Luck... I hope Steve can help out now that it has been confirmed with other users.

chezchas · « **Reply #189 on:** August 09, 2003, 04:29:22 pm »

Hi -

I can manually upload an MC playlist to my iPod with no problem. All of the files are uploaded. However, the playlist itself (that is the list of files) is not uploaded.

How do I get the playlist itself onto the iPod (so it will show up in the "Playlist" menu)?

Here's how I've been uploading the playlist:

I click on my IPOD drive under CD, DVD & Handhelds in the Organization Tree in the left-hand frame of MC. This displays the contents of the IPOD in the right-hand frame. Then I drag a playlist (not a smartlist) from the Organization Tree into the right hand frame. This queues up all the files in the right-hand frame. Then I click on Upload Files in the bottom frame. All the files in the playlist (about 20) are uploaded successfully, but the playlist file itself is not uploaded. That is, if I click on Playlists (under my iPod drive under CD, DVD & Handhelds), the right-hand pane is empty. Also, the Playlists, menu item on my iPod is empty. Although, as I've said ,all of the files are on the iPod and can be browsed under Artists and Albums, etc. both on my iPod and in the right-hand pane within MC (when my iPod drive is selected).

I hope I'm not missing something incredibly simple! I've read ashawley's excellent tutorial on using the iPod with MC, plus I've searched the forums, but still can't find an answer.

I'm using MC 9.1.228 (which I know is a Beta -- so I hope this problem is attributable more to my ignorance than to a bug!). I'm also using XP with all patches applied and a 5GB iPod updated with 1.3 firmware. Everything is working great except for the "playlist upload mystery."

Any suggestions? Thanks!
chezchas

P.S. I love MC 9!!!

nick_laplaca · « **Reply #190 on:** August 09, 2003, 07:51:17 pm »

I have a strange issue with my ipod. I am using version 91.228. I just synched recently and everything seemed fine, all files and playlists are there. However when I attempt to play songs from most of my lists they do play but the song that ipod displays as currently playing is usually not one that is actually playing. It is usually some other song. I say usually because occasionally it is the correct one the options I have selected are "update tags" and delete files not on list". Same settings I always have.
I seem to remember reading once that either id3v1 or 2 tags sometimes confuse the ipod. Is this true and if so is there a way to strip them from my mp3's. Not sure what to do. I was going to reformat and start over but I thought I'd come here first and see if anyone might know what is going on with this. This is not the first time I have had problems with synching. The last time was unrelated to this issue and reformatting and starting over seemed to cure it but that's a last resort. Nick

ashawley · « **Reply #191 on:** August 10, 2003, 08:24:46 am »

chezchas:

Instead of doing the drag-drop method, try syncing. Right click the iPod and select synchronize. A list of all the playlists will come up. Select the ones you want on your iPod and you're good to do.

Most folks prefer this method to the "Upload" method. You might also want to go back to version .226, I don't think .228 is that stable yet.

nick:

Not sure about this, but it sounds like it might be related to .228. I'd go back to .226. That's the most stable version right now as there were major changes in .228.

nick_laplaca · « **Reply #192 on:** August 10, 2003, 03:36:17 pm »

Yea the right click method is the way I sunch too. I went back to 9219 and it still had the same problem so I said screw it and reformatted and it's fine now. Not a big deal. Seems like that needs to be done every now and then. So 226 is the most stable version, I think I'll use that one. Thanks, Nick

SteveG · « **Reply #193 on:** August 10, 2003, 04:40:56 pm »

Larry,

I do mean 'Portable Drive' Plugin and there is nothing special you need to do, it takes over for the iPod. However, if you are running 9.0.180, I would not get it. I would encourage you to go to 9.1.latest.

dallardice and digitaltrapper,

Please get the next build of MC when it becomes available. I mentioned in my post above that I fixed some conversion bugs on Friday and they will appear in the next version.

Chezchas,

You can either right click and choose synchronize as Adam suggests, of drag and drop the playlist directly onto the iPod icon. If you drag and drop onto the iPod, the playlist will be created.

Nick,

Sounds like you are all set.

digitaltrapper · « **Reply #194 on:** August 10, 2003, 05:29:16 pm »

Steve,
This might be addressed in the new version but I've noticed that mp3s that I have encoded at 128K CBR don't get skipped when I transcode files to my ipod using the external LAME encoder set to convert files to an AVERAGE bitrage of 128. I don't think this is supposed to be the case...

PaulH · « **Reply #195 on:** August 10, 2003, 08:27:30 pm »

Hi,

I have been using MC9 for about 3 weeks now and think it is awesome. Everything I need to keep the ipod happy. However, one small thing and it probably is not to do with MC9, but Adam suggested I post it here.

I have been trying to get the alarm to work, in that I set it and choose a playlist and then it wakes me up with music. However, this is proving more difficult than I expected. I raised this on the apple forum and received a suggestion that the alarm facility on the ipod only worked with MMJB playlists (I presume .m3u ones).

Not sure if this is the case, but of any of the ipodders here using MC9, have you got the alarm to work and wake you up with music? If so, how?

I have a 3G 15gb with windows 2000, usb cable synch.

Thanks,

Paul

SteveG · « **Reply #196 on:** August 11, 2003, 06:07:52 am »

digitaltrapper,

If you are using the external LAME encoder with the command line parameters, this will not work. There is not a way to generically guess what bitrate is selected for external encoders because they are all different. Why not use MC's LAME encoder? If you don't like the version, replace it with one you like.

PaulH,

Can you or others confirm whether this feature works with any other programs (i.e MusicMatch)?

digitaltrapper · « **Reply #197 on:** August 11, 2003, 06:36:51 am »

I am selecting the EXTERNAL ENCODER option for and then clicking on options/advanced to enter my command line options. This is all still within MC so I would assume that MC knows which files have higher bitrates, and should be decoded, and which files have lower bitrates, and should not be decoded. Since MC is the one doing the decoding and sending the files to the external lame encoder. Am I missing something? I tried to use the MP3 VBR encoder with MC, but you are aware of the problems I have been having, and we can't quite narrow them down. So far doing this this way has been working splendidly. ;-)

PaulH · « **Reply #198 on:** August 11, 2003, 07:19:38 am »

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the reply.

I can confirm that according to the apple forums, it works fine with MMJB playlists.

I have had a thought and am going to try it with an ordinary playlist from MC9 instead of a smartlist. I know it should not be any different, but let's count it out.

Notwithstanding, any other comments from other ipodders as to whether they can use it with MC9 would be useful.

Cheers,

Paul

SteveG · « **Reply #199 on:** August 11, 2003, 09:08:46 am »

Digitaltrapper,

Quote

This is all still within MC so I would assume that MC knows which files have higher bitrates, and should be decoded, and which files have lower bitrates, and should not be decoded

Yes, MC knows what bitrate the files have, but it cannot guess at the selected bitrate from a generic command line that can have any parameters.

My suggestion, get the next version of MC with the conversion fixes I mentioned and then use the default mp3 encoder from MC.

Paul,

Thanks for the info. I will look into this in the future.

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