Topic: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE (Read 50406 times)

xerodiac · « **Reply #200 on:** August 12, 2003, 03:15:09 pm »

I get that silly exceeded message too!

Hardware: Brandnew 30 GB IPod with 27 GB free, Windows XP, newest Media Center Beta, connected through Adapted Firewire Card...

I was able upload 22 songs of 2000 to the IPod and that was it.

Makes the product kinda unusable for me...(registered user though)

cct1 · « **Reply #201 on:** August 12, 2003, 04:04:33 pm »

Steve,

Loving 9.1.231. I still maintain though that it would be better if the ipod icon on the bottom tray pulled up the synch screen--that's pretty much how the majority of podders synch. Or, maybe have the dropdown menu that comes up when you click on the ipod drive in the left hand tree come up when you click on the ipod icon instead (or as well), as well as having a "send queued files" option on the menu as an option (ie if you only wanted to send a few files over, you could do that). Hey, the more I think about it, the better I like that idea...

lalittle · « **Reply #202 on:** August 13, 2003, 12:09:59 am »

I updated to the 9.1.231 version and it did NOT solve the issue with songs getting cut off early. The two songs that I'm using to test this are still cut off at exactly the same point as they were before. The third file that I was using has not had the problem ever since I renamed it (which is why I'm not touching the other two files -- I want to keep using them as "test" files.)

On top of this, since the upgrade my iPod no longer shows "artists," -- this category is blank on the iPod. I looked at the files on the iPod through MC, and sure enough the artist column is completely blank. It's as if the sync actually removes this field from the tag as it copies the files. I tried both the 9.0.43 "Portable drive" plug-in and the 9.0.38 "iPod" plug-in. They both result in the same issue (and the "cut off" problem still exists as well with both plug-ins.)

I'm out of ideas. It seems unlikely that the iPod is at fault given that Ephpod can upload the same files without a problem. It's really tedious to have to keep using Ephpod to sync, but MC just isn't working correctly in this regard. Is there ANYthing else we could try?

Thanks,

Larry

SteveG · « **Reply #203 on:** August 13, 2003, 08:35:32 am »

xerodiac,

Can you try reformatting your iPod from within Windows? Is MC reporting the correct Available Space? If so, you could try transferring the same number of files that are giving you an error directly to the iPod using Windows Exploerer. If this test fails, you will know you have a hardware problem.

In either case, a reformat ( and reinitialize in MC) may be the solution.

cct1,

Updating that button is on the to do list.

Larry,

Yes, there is more to try. Can anyone who is experiencing track cutoffs when playing back files on iPod after using 9.1.231 please post so I can assess whether Larry's problem is unique or more widespread. Please be sure to use 9.1.231 or higher.

Steve

lalittle · « **Reply #204 on:** August 13, 2003, 09:26:54 am »

Quote

Yes, there is more to try. Can anyone who is experiencing track cutoffs when playing back files on iPod after using 9.1.231 please post so I can assess whether Larry's problem is unique or more widespread. Please be sure to use 9.1.231 or higher.

Hasn't it already been confirmed that this is not unique to my system? I've read posts in this forum reporting this problem, including a couple posts in this very thread. These obviously weren't talking about the .231 version, but didn't I just establish that the version does not effect the issue? Going to the new version didn't effect the problem at ALL -- the same songs cut off at the same point, all of which work fine when synching with Ephpod.

Thanks again for keeping up with this issue -- it's really starting to wear me down, and I really want to stop synching with Ephpod,

Larry

SteveG · « **Reply #205 on:** August 13, 2003, 09:59:33 am »

Everyone,

DO NOT DOWNLOAD MC 9.1.232 if you have an iPod. It will not work. Please wait until the next build of 9.1.233.

Larry,

Yes, others reported this, but many versions ago. Some also reported that the problem went away. It would still help me to have people retest this becuase you are in a very small minority of people that this is happening to and at this point are a minority of 1 that has reported this problem with 9.1.231. Unfortunately now we must wait until 9.1.233 to become available. Also, I will email you a plugin with a change that may correct this. I cannot do it today but will try tomorrow.

Steve

lalittle · « **Reply #206 on:** August 13, 2003, 04:10:16 pm »

Quote

Larry,

Yes, others reported this, but many versions ago. Some also reported that the problem went away. It would still help me to have people retest this becuase you are in a very small minority of people that this is happening to and at this point are a minority of 1 that has reported this problem with 9.1.231. Unfortunately now we must wait until 9.1.233 to become available. Also, I will email you a plugin with a change that may correct this. I cannot do it today but will try tomorrow.

Steve

I'll try the plugin as soon as I get it -- I'll have my fingers crossed.

Were there any changes to 233 that might help this issue? Also, do you know if the "missing artist" bug that I am experiencing with 231 might be effected by the latest build (233)? This is the issue I mentioned where the "artist" category is missing from the iPod when I sync it with MC.

Regarding the number of people seeing this issue, I have a feeling that many people might not report or even notice this issue. First, since it typically only cuts about 2 seconds off the end of the song (it CAN be more, but it's "usually" only a couple seconds), songs that fade out won't even reveal it.

Second, given peoples' tendency to just live with all but the most disastrous issues, I think most people will just let it go. The fact that ANYbody has reported this issue shows that it is at least not "unique" to my system, and the fact that Ephpod can sync the same songs seems to indicate that this is somehow related to MC.

Again, I really appreciate you taking the time to persue this. I'll watch for the plug-in.

Thanks,

Larry

digitaltrapper · « **Reply #207 on:** August 13, 2003, 05:54:17 pm »

Steve,
Found an interesting bug with conversions and uploads. Mp3s that have a track name that contains an " : " will not get uploaded.
Here's what I mean... I have a song called "Whisper: Heart" and another called "Whisper: Eyes"
When MC starts to transcode it, a temp file called "Whisper" is created in my temp directory. When the sync finishes the error message "Can't upload the following files... file not found" pops up. WHen I change the names of the files in MC and remove the " : " the files upload fine.
I haven't upgraded to the newest version. Sticking with 226 for a while. Finnally got all my music on my ipod and I'm loving it so I don't want to screw things up. I did have some problems with songs cutting off occasionaly. Still do. It's not that frequent though. But I am getting a lot more than 2 seconds cut off. I have 53 seconds cut off of one song.
Also, in ver 226 at least, the file sizes of songs on the ipod don't display right. they list songs are being 350.00 mb instead of 3.5 MB. All songs are off by a couple of decimal places.

lalittle · « **Reply #208 on:** August 13, 2003, 06:05:37 pm »

Quote

I did have some problems with songs cutting off occasionaly. Still do. It's not that frequent though. But I am getting a lot more than 2 seconds cut off. I have 53 seconds cut off of one song.

I have also had large amounts of some songs cut off -- 30 seconds plus. It's more common, however, to have only a couple seconds cut off -- little enough that if songs fade out or have just a little bit extra silence at the end of the track, you wouldn't notice it.

Larry

digitaltrapper · « **Reply #209 on:** August 13, 2003, 06:35:32 pm »

Hey Larry.
Does MC display a time difference in the tracks that get cut off? I mean, does your playlist that you are syncing show songs with one time, and the song on your ipod shows up displaying a different, shorter time.
It's true I might not notice some songs getting cut off it the track has already ended before it gets cut. I'm going to start to listen more closely.

digitaltrapper · « **Reply #210 on:** August 13, 2003, 06:58:20 pm »

Quote

- 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
.

Did this get fixed in versions greater than 226? I am also having this problem, but I haven't upgraded yet. Just wondering if this has been specifically addressed yet.

lalittle · « **Reply #211 on:** August 14, 2003, 01:28:27 am »

Quote

Hey Larry.
Does MC display a time difference in the tracks that get cut off? I mean, does your playlist that you are syncing show songs with one time, and the song on your ipod shows up displaying a different, shorter time.
It's true I might not notice some songs getting cut off it the track has already ended before it gets cut. I'm going to start to listen more closely.

The times all agree -- i.e. the songs on the iPod (the ones that are getting cut off) display the same time as the original. The track simply ends before the end time being displayed and I get silence for the remainder of the track.

Larry

PaulH · « **Reply #212 on:** August 14, 2003, 06:02:19 am »

Hi,

I have downloaded .233 version.

Can you explain the difference between the apply volume regain and adjust all file volumes. In the previous versions, I had set the replay gain to 12db. I now see that I can increase this but only by .1!! Is this correct?

any help would be appreciated, like which is the best one to use? I have a 15g bought in the states.

Thanks,

Paul

SteveG · « **Reply #213 on:** August 14, 2003, 12:44:05 pm »

DigitalTrapper,

The ":" issue i s a bug and will be fixed soon. The decode/encode issue should be resolved int the latest build.

Larry,

There were changes to 233 that may help. I am somewhat guessing in the dark because as you know I cannot duplicate this.

Regarding the missing Artist, right click on your iPod and check out 'Select Artist Field'. You probably have 'Album Artist' selected. Try either 'Artist' or 'Album Artist (auto) which will use Album Artist and then Artist if Album Artist is blank.

Did you ever do the test where you check the filesize that windows reports of the file that is cutoff both before and after the transfer? If not, please do this test and do the checking from Windows Explorer.

Paul,

Apply Replay Gain uses whatever Replay Gain settings that you have applied to your files in your MC library. If you asjust the volume with this option check it adds or subtracts the volume to the Replay Gain. Adjust all file volumes increases the volume of all files regardless of the Replay Gain settings.

lalittle · « **Reply #214 on:** August 15, 2003, 04:44:56 am »

Quote

Larry,

There were changes to 233 that may help. I am somewhat guessing in the dark because as you know I cannot duplicate this.

I confirmed that the 233 build did not fix this issue.

Quote

Regarding the missing Artist, right click on your iPod and check out 'Select Artist Field'. You probably have 'Album Artist' selected. Try either 'Artist' or 'Album Artist (auto) which will use Album Artist and then Artist if Album Artist is blank.

Even though "Album Artist (auto)" was already checked, I clicked on it again and now it works properly -- i.e. the artist field is once again transferred to the iPod. Apparently MC needed to be "reminded" of this selection. Thanks for letting me know about this setting.

Quote

Did you ever do the test where you check the filesize that windows reports of the file that is cutoff both before and after the transfer? If not, please do this test and do the checking from Windows Explorer.

The file sizes are identical. I checked by right clicking in Windows Explorer and selecting "Properties" (where you actually see "bytes" instead of MB or KB) and the sizes were exactly the same.

You mentioned several posts ago something about the "Portable Drive" plug-in somehow providing more information that might be useful in troubleshooting this. Is this still something that can be followed up on?

Also, I never got the other iPod plug-in that you said you would be emailing me. Did you still want to try this?

Thanks,

Larry

SteveG · « **Reply #215 on:** August 15, 2003, 05:00:20 am »

Larry,

Thanks for the information. I did not send the other plugin yet because I am working on another project that has to come first. I will get to this next week but not today. Sorry for the delay.

Steve

Mighty_A-MAN · « **Reply #216 on:** August 16, 2003, 04:09:49 am »

Hi there,

I think I do not have the cut-off problem myself, however, sometimes there is like ten minutes of silence added to songs. This happens not on a regular basis but is annoying when I drive in my car since I'm never sure if the song has finished yet or not. After waiting or checking the iPod I then realize it's the bug again.

I didn't see this covered yet, so apologies if that has been discussed before.

Best regards,

Mighty A-MAN

digitaltrapper · « **Reply #217 on:** August 16, 2003, 07:10:20 am »

I still get this problem too. It used to be much worse. I would have songs with 20+ minutes of silence at the end. The songs play fine when I play it back on MC and play the ipod file back on MC...
When I fast foward an ipod track with that extra silence.. the ipod will then start the next song.

chezchas · « **Reply #218 on:** August 16, 2003, 03:42:30 pm »

SteveG,

Thanks for helping solve my problem. (To refresh your memory, my problem was as follows: I was able to use a playlist to copy music files to my iPod, but not the playlist file itself.)

Your tip to drag-and-drop a playlist onto the IPOD icon worked great. This copied the music files AND the playlist file.

The method of synching using playlists also works (as ashawley recommended), but it's always nice to have a manual method as well as an automatic one.

At first I thought it wasn't working, but that's because I hadn't completed the process -- the files in the playlist were only "in queue" to be uploaded to the iPod. In this state, the playlist doesn't show up in the playlist tree under the IPOD icon -- this makes sense (I'm only pointing it out to help other newbies). After I completed the process by clicking on the Upload button in the lower right corner, the file was uploaded to the iPod along with the playlist. It then showed up in the playlist tree unter the IPOD icon (and ofcourse on the iPod itself).

So the bottom line to fellow newbies is: after selecting files to be sent to the iPod, remember they are only "queued up" -- you still need to click the Upload button in the lower right pane inorder to complete the process. (More experienced users -- please correct me if I'm wrong.)

chezchas

chezchas · « **Reply #219 on:** August 16, 2003, 03:58:10 pm »

ashawley -

Thanks for the tip to use synching to copy music files AND the associated playlist files to the iPod. It worked great.

I also liked SteveG's tip to drag a playlist onto the IPOD icon -- this is a good manual alternative to synching.

chezchas

dallardice · « **Reply #220 on:** August 18, 2003, 05:33:12 am »

Quote

Did this get fixed in versions greater than 226? I am also having this problem, but I haven't upgraded yet. Just wondering if this has been specifically addressed yet.

Sync-and-convert still doesn't work for me. The specific problem of 'looping conversions' is fixed, but I now get a crash somewhere after 5880 files. I'm doing a lot of travelling at the moment, so I never have too long to work out what's going on, but I know at my last overnight at home I started it overnight and woke up with no Media Center running. Re-opening it said there were 5880 files on the Ipod out of about 6500 which should have synced. Haven't had the opportunity to look in more detail at the crash, eg which files were left in Temp. This was after a Restore/Initialise on the Ipod. Tried it one more time with same outcome, so went back to non-converting so that I had a working Ipod for my last trip. Will probably be next week before I can investigate further. This is with build 233.

digitaltrapper · « **Reply #221 on:** August 18, 2003, 07:50:50 am »

Sounds like I'll still be making smaller playlists out of my one large playlist so that I don't get this problem once I upgrade. I usually put about 500 songs in each playlist to keep them from crashing MC.

Kurt Young · « **Reply #222 on:** August 18, 2003, 10:48:33 am »

Steve,

I hope things are going well with all the projects you've got assigned. I just wanted to say that I'm still very excited for and can't wait to try using playcounts, played-dates and ratings. It will completely revolutionize the way I listen to music both at home and away, and will make MC9 users the envy of all PC-podders.

Listening to: 'The Waiting' from 'Hard Promises' by 'Tom Petty' on Media Center 9.1

SteveG · « **Reply #223 on:** August 18, 2003, 02:06:24 pm »

This thread has grown large. I will close it and start a new one.

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Author Topic: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE (Read 50406 times)