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Author Topic: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE  (Read 66264 times)

SteveG

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POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« on: December 19, 2003, 04:38:03 pm »

Hello All,  
 
For anyone who is new to MC, please be sure to get the latest version from our downloads page or from the first thread on this board.
 
An excellent help file (thanks Adam) on using MC and iPod can be found here:
 
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~ashawley01/      
 
For additional information, please check the previous help thread at:
 
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=17038

For any issues not covered, please post below and someone will respond ASAP.  Please copy and paste your system info from MC Help and include the version of the Portable Drive Plugin you use.    
 
Thanks,  
 
Steve
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aussie1

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2003, 07:10:09 pm »

I am a new owner of an iPod. My compliments on the iPod plug-in. It was easy to install and it works great! It took a total of about five minutes (thanks to the instructions webside) to install your plug-in, create some playlists, and upload the music to the iPod.  Well done.
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aussie1

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2003, 07:12:25 pm »

Is there a way to view the contents of the iPod through the panel filters?  How do I create a view scheme which shows the files on the iPod?

S
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neo

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #3 on: December 20, 2003, 07:23:27 am »

Steve:

Sorry to say, but all of my ratings got blown away again.  This is after making changes primarily on the pod.  Of course, it could be the playcount, and not the rating, that is causing the problem.  Let me know what files you want.

n
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packyb

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #4 on: December 20, 2003, 01:46:27 pm »

when i launch my ipod manager, it is totally blank; and in my notification area of my xp toolbar, there sits an ipod icon with a red "x" through it. is this normal?
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LisaRCT

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #5 on: December 20, 2003, 02:19:54 pm »

Thought the iPod users might find this interesting and be able to verify if it is factual.

http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/
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cct1

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #6 on: December 20, 2003, 02:43:53 pm »

Apple has a $100.00 replacement plan for batteries out of warranty.  Not sure what type of battery they're replacing it with.

You can get a better battery--ie longer life--as a replacement, as well as instructions on how to replace it, for $49.00 from 3rd party vendors  (definitely something you wouldn't want to do until AFTER your warranty runs out--it's not a chip shot replacing it yourself, but it's doable):


http://www.ipodbattery.com
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SteveG

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #7 on: December 22, 2003, 10:06:04 am »

aussie1,

Thanks for the positive feedback.  The panel filters are not implemented, but you can view by Album, Artist or Genre by selecting the appropriate item in the tree. You can select and set the columns to display for iPod in whatever way you want and then save the view so that MC will remember it by right clicking on the Column bar.

packyb,

This is not how it should be. Can you access iPod correctly in MC? If not, you may need to format iPod from Windows.

neo,

Are you modifying any information about these files in MC after the last sync to iPod? If so, MC will not allow iPod to overwrite its changes.

Steve
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SteveG

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #8 on: December 22, 2003, 04:38:36 pm »

Everyone,

Tonight's build of MC 10 includes the ability for MC to import AAC tag information. I have tested it on a limited basis, but if others can test, that would be great. At this point, if you modify tags after the import in MC, MC will remember the changes, but the changes are not permanently stored in the files.

Steve
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neo

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #9 on: December 22, 2003, 07:57:43 pm »

Steve:

Not allowing the pod to overwrite changes would be fine, but the problem is that the ratings disappear from both MC and the pod.  And no, I did not make changes in MC.

n
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riokarma

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #10 on: December 23, 2003, 02:48:06 am »

Any ETA for the ability to make smartlists in MC9 or 10, and then have these update dynamically on the ipod itself?

Been waiting and hoping that this feature will eventually show up.

Thanks
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Dave T

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #11 on: December 23, 2003, 08:58:27 am »

I tried MC with my IPod quite a while ago - maybe 6 months, and had a few problems, so ended up using MusicMatch to put my music files on the IPod.  I just decided to update my files on the IPod, and thought I'd give MC another try.  Here's what happened:

1) Installation - it took me about 10 tries to get the plugin to install.  I'm not sure what I did differently, when I finally got it to work.  I just kept downloading it, and it said it was installed, but it wasn't.

2) Copying music:  I right clicked on the IPod, and said "reset" (or "reformat", or whatever it says - I don't have it in front of me right now).

3) I then tried to copy all my music to the IPod.  I left it overnight, and when I came back the next morning, a box was still on the screen saying "ANalyzing audio files...".  Figuring that it wasn't normal for it to take 10 hours to copy the files, I gave up, and terminated MC.  If it matters, I was trying to transcode my mp3's to a lower bit rate to save space.

(I'm running version 9.1.316)

Question - is there a way to see how much space the files you're trying to copy will take up?  I know my IPod can't hold all my music, so I'd like to be able to play around with the bit rate and with removing rarely listened-to albums, in order to come up with the list of songs I wan on the ipod.

THanks!

- Dave
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SteveG

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #12 on: December 23, 2003, 10:42:12 am »

Dave,

How did you know the plugin was not installed? Were you checking the version in Tools->Plugin Manager->Handheld->Portable Drives? Could you check that now and be sure you have version 9.0.88.

After an initialize, try to sync and make sure it gets started correctly, or give me some more hints as to what is going on.

Are you using the sync feature? If so, the sync dialogue shows you how much space is available after the sync based on the playlists you have selected.  If you select and deselct playlists, these changes will be reflected. Similarly, if you are manually transferring the files, this data is displayed in the transfer queue.  I just added the feature where if you modify the bitrate the available space will reflect the change. This last addition will be available in the the next build of MC 10.

riokarma,

Not sure yet. This is pretty involved and will take some more time.


neo,

I cannot duplicate this. What firmware version are you running? It seems to me that it works for you sometime, and sometimes not, correct? Do you have iTunes or other iPod applications installed? The file that is important is the Play Counts file on iPod. Other applications may be tampering with this file. Try modifying a small number of files and see if you can replicate the problem each time. Can anyone else duplicate what neo is seeing?

Steve
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Dave T

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #13 on: December 23, 2003, 10:56:57 am »

Steve:

I'm not at the machine, so I can't check the version.  But, I think it must have been the latest.  The file was dated 12/18, I think (?).

No, I'm not using the synch feature, I was copying manually.  The way I thought I'd work was to tell it to put all my music on the IPod, and see how much space I needed.  Then, play with the bit rate to see if everything fits (it won't).  Then, go through the transfer queue, and remove stuff I don't care as much about, until I get to a point where it says everything will fit.  Do you have another technique that you'd recommend?  If not, I have a feature request - it would be nice if the transfer queue had a "By Artist", "By Album" view.  That would make it much easier to remove stuff.  Generally, I'd be removing entire albums (christmas music, etc).

It sounds like I need to wait for the next build.  Without that, I'd have to use trial and error to figure out how much will fit on the IPod.  No thanks!  What's the ETA for the build?

- Dave
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SteveG

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #14 on: December 23, 2003, 11:23:36 am »

Dave,

If you are copying manually, what you want is already there. When your files are 'In Queue' the dialogue next to the 'Transfer' button tells you how much space is Free after the upload. This information will be recalculated when you select or deselect various on the fly conversion settings.

Another (better?) way to do what you are after is to create smartlists with rules that limit the files by the size of your iPod. If you do this, then try clicking on the little iPod on the taskbar (or right click on the iPod driver letter and select 'Synchronize') and use the Playlist sync dialogue to transfer your files by playlist.

Steve
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SteveG

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #15 on: December 23, 2003, 12:04:18 pm »

In the last thread, Nick requested a way to avoid duplicates when transferring files from iPod to PC. FYI, when you transfer files from iPod to PC, there should never be duplicates. Files will be named by the Name tag on iPod and if this ever hits a duplicate, the file will be named with a numeric key number. Once the files are on the PC, use MC's Rename file from properties option to rename the files and create a folder sturcture.

Steve
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wickerbill

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #16 on: December 23, 2003, 12:19:06 pm »

I'm having trouble with the few songs I bought from the iTunes music store when MC transfers them to my iPod.  They play, but it seems that MC can't figure out how long the songs really are and is telling the iPod the wrong length.  One of the songs is Rhapsody in Blue that is 16:27 long, but MC thinks it is 16:01 so the end of the song is chopped off on the iPod.  When I view the song in my MC library it says it's 16:01 long, but when I play it in MC the time shown at the top is the correct length, 16:27.

I know that you're having trouble getting AAC support implemented and the new functionality with the tags added yesterday is working great.  If you can't figure out how to get MC to determine the track length correctly, which it seems to do during playback, then maybe you can make a way for us to manually update the length of these tracks so they will work properly on our iPods.  Thanks.

Media Center Registered 10.0.23 -- C:\Program Files\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP  Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Intel Unknown 638 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 146 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp1.020828-1920) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1276 / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2800.1233 (xpsp2.030604-1804) / wnaspi32.dll: N/A
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SteveG

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #17 on: December 23, 2003, 03:43:22 pm »

wickerbill,

I modified the next build of MC 10 (10.0.24) so that the duration of AAC files after import should be identical to what is shown during playback. If your Gershwin file was reporting the correct duration during playback, if you reimport the track, it should list correctly in MC and then on iPod. Please double check this with whatever other tracks were giving you difficulty.

Thanks,

Steve
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wickerbill

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #18 on: December 23, 2003, 04:22:21 pm »

Cool, thanks for the quick reply.  I'll check it out and let you know how it works.  I've only bought nine songs from the iTunes music store and none of the times were correct before, but the Gershwin piece was the only one that was too short.  All of the others were a little long, which wasn't as big of a deal for me.
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TarbhUisge

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #19 on: December 23, 2003, 06:26:53 pm »

I'm running the latest 9.1.X version of MC with the .88 version of the handheld plugin on a 30GB iPod, windows format, v2.1.

When I run a sync, selecting various smart-lists, the sync process starts, takes its time and appears to be copying files to the ipod.  However, at the end I get a message box listing a large number of files that did not copy (with some error codes ?) and after hitting OK, I get another msgbox with nothing in it...  When I do a properties view on the .\Music folder on the ipod it looks like most of the files actually copied.

Could there be a timing/sync problem where MC is timing-out during the update of the itunesDB?  The machine I'm using is pretty slow (PII 300 w/ 256, it has some fast drives but those don't make up for the box being a beater).  

Please let me know if there is anything else I can send to help troubleshoot...

Thanks - T
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neo

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #20 on: December 23, 2003, 06:46:06 pm »

Steve:

Quote
What firmware version are you running?

2.0.1, which I think is the default fw for a 3G ipod.

Quote
It seems to me that it works for you sometime, and sometimes not, correct?

Correct.

Quote
Do you have iTunes or other iPod applications installed?

Yes, itunes.  Unfortunately, it launches automatically everytime the os mounts the pod, and although I can not figure out how to stop that behavior, I do always close it immediately.  I will try deleting it to see if things work better.  I have no other pod apps.

Quote
The file that is important is the Play Counts file on iPod. Other applications may be tampering with this file. Try modifying a small number of files and see if you can replicate the problem each time.

I will play around with some of the variables involved and let you know.  It may be a few days before I can get to it.

BTW, thanks for all of the hard work, and have a good Christmas!

n
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rhaehnel

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #21 on: December 23, 2003, 09:15:53 pm »

neo-
if the ipod is connect when iTunes launches there will be a button in the bottom right corner that will launch a dialog that will allow you to control whether iTunes launches on ipod connect(and other settings).
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bmp

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #22 on: December 23, 2003, 09:54:40 pm »

one of the limitations i always saw within the ipod plugin was the inability to sync by artist or album.

it doesn't seem that this has been added, and is now (just upgraded to a 40gig) making things pretty difficult.

the problem is that i like to have full albums always at my disposal, but i also have smartlists that get synched in daily.  so i run into the problem of not being able to check "delete files not in synch," making my solutions either to fill up the ipod until it hits capacity with past iterations of my smartlists or the much more painful process of creating a playlist for every album i have.

now there are two solutions to this, one is to add a tree level for artist and album to the synch directory, which i guess (since it hasn't been added in the last year) may be difficult... my question then is it very difficult to make it so that manually added files are somehow "exempt" from general synching rules?

now that i think about it, i guess... but i've been dying for this ability for a long time... any consideration to add it would be much appreciated and any workaround solutions equally so
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bvm

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getting a modified file updated on iPod
« Reply #23 on: December 23, 2003, 11:59:49 pm »

How does synch decide it needs to write a mp3 file to the iPod, as opposed to just updating tags?  I modified one of my mp3 files by combining it with another (using mp3directcut, there's an operation "append to existing file", which updates file1 in place by appending the musical portion of file2; unlike other techniques, this doesn't disturb file1's tags, so it takes less cleanup), thus making it about twice as long.  I got MC to notice it by doing "Update library from tags", so MC now knows it's 9:14 long instead of 4:31.  But when I synch to the iPod, the file on the iPod remains 4:31 long.

Is it unreasonable of me to expect this to work?

I fixed it by going to the track listing on the iPod, deleting the old track, and synching again, which forced MC to write the mp3 file afresh.
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mindracing

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #24 on: December 24, 2003, 07:45:17 am »

one of the limitations i always saw within the ipod plugin was the inability to sync by artist or album.

it doesn't seem that this has been added, and is now (just upgraded to a 40gig) making things pretty difficult.

the problem is that i like to have full albums always at my disposal, but i also have smartlists that get synched in daily.  so i run into the problem of not being able to check "delete files not in synch," making my solutions either to fill up the ipod until it hits capacity with past iterations of my smartlists or the much more painful process of creating a playlist for every album i have.

now there are two solutions to this, one is to add a tree level for artist and album to the synch directory, which i guess (since it hasn't been added in the last year) may be difficult... my question then is it very difficult to make it so that manually added files are somehow "exempt" from general synching rules?

now that i think about it, i guess... but i've been dying for this ability for a long time... any consideration to add it would be much appreciated and any workaround solutions equally so

I just have a playlist (called On iPOD) that contains all of the albums I always want on the iPOD. It gets synched everytime and overcomes the problem you have.
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SteveG

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #25 on: December 24, 2003, 10:45:59 am »

TarbUisage,

What error code do you see after the files (i.e. filename - errornumber)? Can you play any of the files that fail within MC?

Neo,

Try following rhaehnel's (thanks rhaehnel) suggestion for deactivating iTunes and see if that doesn't clear things up. This is a likely place for the problem.

bmp,

mindracing's suggestion is excellent (thanks Ash). If that does not do what you are after, can you clarify how you want to listen on the iPod so I can make additional suggestions?

bvm,

MC assigns a unique identifier to the file. iPod stores this ID and does not overwrite the file if the ID is present on iPod, but will update tags. I had not built in the ability to update the duration, but will do so in the next build of the plugin so that your problem will go away.

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bvm

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #26 on: December 24, 2003, 02:25:03 pm »

Quote
I had not built in the ability to update the duration, but will do so in the next build of the plugin so that your problem will go away.

Thanks.  Of course, it's not merely the duration that needs to be updated, right?  It's the whole file.
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SteveG

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #27 on: December 24, 2003, 02:55:11 pm »

bvm,

I misread your post and assumed that the file was correct on iPod but only the duration was wrong. I am sure this is not the case and that the file never gets updated. I could solve this by checking of the duration is different, and if it is, overwrite the file, but I am not sure this is a good idea. The solution for now is to delete the file on iPod. Is this something that comes up a lot for you?

Steve

PS I am out of here for the holiday. Have a good weekend all, and we will pick up here Monday.
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bvm

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #28 on: December 24, 2003, 03:30:23 pm »

Quote
I could solve this by checking of the duration is different, and if it is, overwrite the file, but I am not sure this is a good idea.

Because checking would take too long?  Or because iPod computes the duration differently and you'd end up rewriting too many files?  If the latter, maybe there's some threshold of difference that would make sense.  I did notice even after getting the file rewritten that iPod and MC report durations that differ by a second.

Quote
Is this something that comes up a lot for you?

Not a lot yet, and probably not much more if MC soon acquires the ability to rip multiple tracks as a unit (I've kind of been holding off doing this sort of combining in the hopes that MC will let me do it more cleanly).  So while it's not a high priority for me (since I know a workaround), it's the sort of thing the software really ought to try to handle, if you want to maintain the illusion that the iPod mirrors MC.  Feel free to worry about it after you implement dynamic playlists.  :)
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TarbhUisge

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #29 on: December 25, 2003, 03:53:33 pm »

TarbUisage,

What error code do you see after the files (i.e. filename - errornumber)? Can you play any of the files that fail within MC?

Error Code 23 for the first failed file and then 0 for all others.
I can play them in MC but the don't 'exist' on the iPod

Thanks for your help!
T
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riokarma

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #30 on: December 26, 2003, 05:19:50 pm »

Hello,
Just wondering how the dynamic smartlists are coming along and if and when?  

Thanks :)
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Dave T

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #31 on: December 26, 2003, 07:55:53 pm »

Steve:

Following up on my earlier post...

Ok, I tried again.  It copies about 20 songs, and then locks up, with that dialog "Converting audio format", or whatever it says.  I imagine I'm not giving you enough to go on, but I'm not sure what else I can tell you.

Also, I found the place you were referring to, where it tells you how much space the queued files will take up.  Unfortunately, it doesn't update when you change the bit rate parameters.

I'm going to try the MC10 beta.  If that doesn't work, I'll have to go back to Musicmatch.

Thanks.

- Dave
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ian_mckee

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Transferring PlayLists to IPOD
« Reply #32 on: December 27, 2003, 01:28:52 am »

Hi,

I tried to move a playlist from MC9 to an IPOD (original version but with updated firmware- ran updater this week!)

What happened was the MP3 tracks listed in the playlist got moved over to the IPOD but not the playlist itself.  Please can someone explain how to do  this please

Thanks
Ian
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mindracing

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #33 on: December 27, 2003, 02:11:25 am »

The playlists will appear on the iPOD when you synchronise.

Right click on the iPOD icon in the tree and choose Synchronise.

Then select the playlists you want to sync.
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Dave T

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #34 on: December 27, 2003, 08:38:20 am »

Ok, a couple more pieces of information with my problem:

I'm trying to manually copy mp3's to the IPod.
There are issues with transcoding:
Problem: When you modify your transcoding settings, the number that displays the "space available after upload" doesn't update.
Problem: With transcoding turned on ("Force file conversion during upload" is checked), I can upload about 20 files before MC locks up, with the "Analyzing audio files" dialog just sitting there.

So, transcoding isn't working for me.  Is anyone else using it successfully (with manual file copying)?

- Dave
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neo

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #35 on: December 27, 2003, 11:40:39 pm »

Steve, rhaehnel:

Got it.  Thanks for the tip.

Steve, I will play around with it for a few more days, then report back.  However, on initial inspection, it seems to be working as expected.

Also, a few questions/comments:

Quote
Are you modifying any information about these files in MC after the last sync to iPod? If so, MC will not allow iPod to overwrite its changes.

Is this per song, playlist, or all?

I don't know if all of the information needed to do this is available, but I would think that a reasonably intelligent way to update would be as follows (on a per-song basis):

* If there are changes in MC and not pod, use MC data.

* If there are changes in pod and not MC, use pod data.

* If there are changes in both, use most recent.

That way, if one rated 10 songs on pod but changed tags on 1, they would only potentially loose the ratings on that one song.

n
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bthall

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #36 on: December 29, 2003, 08:59:01 am »

Sorry, this is a double post:

I've been using a 30G iPod with latest MC 10 betas with NO problems. I just upgraded to a new 40G iPod, WinXP sees it correctly. When I open MC10 it shows me my correctly labeled iPod as drive E: (that's also correct). When I right click the iPod label the only choice I get is to "Format" (still correct). I click on format and am told I'm going to loose all my data if I do this (still correct).

BUT, when I click to FORMAT, I get a dialog box that says only "Failed"!

What the heck do I need to do?

I already tried restoring/updating with my iPod manager to 2.1, and this went slick as a whistle.

BarryT
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tlongacre

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #37 on: December 29, 2003, 09:35:01 am »

bthall,

If you've restored w/iPod Updater (use updater, dump manager, do this--there are problems with Manager and it isn't necessary), then you do not need to format it in MC. Just Initialize it and go.

Try this and see if it works.
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SteveG

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #38 on: December 29, 2003, 11:28:53 am »

bvm,

Since this seems like not too bad of an issue for you, lets hold on this for a bit. The fix will have side effects that are not a net gain. It does require some extra checking which will slow things down a little and I think this is pretty uncommon, so if you are not too worked up about it lets wait. If anyone else sees adding this ability to the plugin as a plus, please voice your opinion.


TarbUisage,

Error 23 is a Windows error that means 'Cyclic redundancy check error'.  This is commonly a hardware issue and would most likely be repeatable with any application. Try Formatting the iPod from within Windows and then reinitialize and retransfer to see if things improve.


riokarma,

I have been working on other things, but will be able to put some more time into this soon.

DaveT,

Using MC 10.0.24, I verified that the space free after upload is recalculated if you make changes to the bitrate conversion. I also transferred 50 files with transcoding on and could not duplicate your problem. Anyone else see this?

neo,

Per song. Currently, a rating from iPod should only change an MC rating if it has been modified on iPod more recently than the last sync and the MC file has not been updated. If the MC file is updated more recently than the last sync, the rating should remain unchanged in MC and be modifed on iPod to be the same as MC.  I think this abides by what you described.


BarryT,

Try formatting your iPod from Windows Explorer. Disconnect and reconnect the iPod and see if you are all set. If not, tell me if you have other applications installed (i.e. iTunes, MusicMatch,etc.)





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bthall

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #39 on: December 29, 2003, 12:03:30 pm »

SteveG:

Not only does WindowsXP Explorer see and can format the new iPod, MC10 in its "explorer type" left frame sees all the folders, subfolders, etc. on the iPod also.

That's not the problem. The problem is that when I right click on iPod (E:\) to start a sync with my brand new 40G iPod I get ONE choice, to "FORMAT", I click it, it says I'm gonna loose all my data (don't have any), then after I click it says "Formal Failed" and throws me back to MC10 again.

BarryT
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bthall

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #40 on: December 29, 2003, 12:14:37 pm »

SteveG,

Also I'm not using iTunes or anything else that even remotely would interact with the iPod. No MP3 players, etc. etc.

The iPod plug in is 9.0.88.

My previously used 30G worked perfectly. I've NOT changed anything in my entire setup except getting a new iPod. I've not added any new programs. I did NOT use the Apple install disc at all that came with the new iPod.

BarryT
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SteveG

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #41 on: December 29, 2003, 05:11:54 pm »

BarryT,

I am having difficulty explaining that you can only see 'Format' when you right click unless you have the wrong plugin. Was this the case before when all was working well? We have been shifting our plugin page around and possibly the link got screwed up. I just rechecked it after some modifications and it seems OK. Can you get the plugin again?


Steve
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bthall

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #42 on: December 29, 2003, 05:30:34 pm »

Steve:

I've got 9.0.88. Isn't that the latest one? I'll be happy to try to get it again.

Anything else I can try? Do you think going back to an older version and even totally uninstalling and reinstalling would help?

A new finding: If I re-refresh my ipod with Ipod manager, reboot, and then reload MC10, when I first Right click on the Ipod I get the usual 6 or 7 menu items that I'm used to. I then click on the "format ipod" choice, the dialog box comes up showing the progress bar and the MC 10 formating finishes.  But if I then right-click again on the Ipod to start the ipod sync, I'm right back to the one choice menu of "Format"!!!!!!!!!!!


Help!

BarryT
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bvm

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #43 on: December 29, 2003, 06:30:46 pm »

By the way, a while back I reported that the "deleting files not in synch" phase took a long time for me -- about 50 seconds.  Now that I have a bunch more tracks in my library, it's up to about 80 seconds.  The remainder of the synch takes another 5 minutes after that.  That's for a synch of "12,361 playlist entries" (contained in 9 smartlists and 2 small playlists) over a library of 3570 tracks.

Steve asked if anyone else had similar experience, but got no replies.  Anyone this time?

I might add that during this "deleting files not in synch" phase, MC has the CPU pegged at 100%, so it's not doing much if any i/o to the iPod.  What ever is it thinking so hard about?
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bthall

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #44 on: December 29, 2003, 08:42:20 pm »

Steve:

More info to try to solve my iPod problems:

MC10 (w/ 9.0.88 ipod PlugIN) now at various time presents me with one of two displays in the far left "explorer-type" window:
----------
Display ONE:

+(E:)
   +Albums
   +Artists
   +Genres
   +Playlists
-----------
Display TWO:

+IPOD(E:)
   +Calendars
   +Contacts
   +IPOD Control
       -Devices
       -iTunes
   +Music
      -F000
          to
      -F019
   +Notes
-----------------

so Display ONE is the MC10 "proper" one and Display TWO is a "raw" format of the Ipod.

When I first boot up now, about 50% of the time I get Display ONE (the normal correct one).  I can now sync my iPod with my PC at this point (which is possible because right-clicking on the "E:" is completely normal here) BUT as soon as the sync is over, MC10 magically shows Display TWO with the "IPOD (E:)" as described above. AND if I now right click on this, I get that bizzare dialog box with one choice only "FORMAT"....

Does this give you any help?

BarryT

 
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mindracing

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #45 on: December 30, 2003, 12:10:35 am »

By the way, a while back I reported that the "deleting files not in synch" phase took a long time for me -- about 50 seconds.  Now that I have a bunch more tracks in my library, it's up to about 80 seconds.  The remainder of the synch takes another 5 minutes after that.  That's for a synch of "12,361 playlist entries" (contained in 9 smartlists and 2 small playlists) over a library of 3570 tracks.

Steve asked if anyone else had similar experience, but got no replies.  Anyone this time?

I might add that during this "deleting files not in synch" phase, MC has the CPU pegged at 100%, so it's not doing much if any i/o to the iPod.  What ever is it thinking so hard about?

Yes, I get this too.
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mindracing

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #46 on: December 30, 2003, 12:12:18 am »

Steve:

More info to try to solve my iPod problems:

MC10 (w/ 9.0.88 ipod PlugIN) now at various time presents me with one of two displays in the far left "explorer-type" window:
----------
Display ONE:

+(E:)
   +Albums
   +Artists
   +Genres
   +Playlists
-----------
Display TWO:

+IPOD(E:)
   +Calendars
   +Contacts
   +IPOD Control
       -Devices
       -iTunes
   +Music
      -F000
          to
      -F019
   +Notes
-----------------

so Display ONE is the MC10 "proper" one and Display TWO is a "raw" format of the Ipod.

When I first boot up now, about 50% of the time I get Display ONE (the normal correct one).  I can now sync my iPod with my PC at this point (which is possible because right-clicking on the "E:" is completely normal here) BUT as soon as the sync is over, MC10 magically shows Display TWO with the "IPOD (E:)" as described above. AND if I now right click on this, I get that bizzare dialog box with one choice only "FORMAT"....

Does this give you any help?

BarryT

 

 I'm 99% certain that this is a hardware/firmware problem. I used to experience this too.

My problem was solved by updating the Firewire firmware (assuming you're using firewire and not USB2)

If you have the cable you could try USB 2 and I think the problem will go.

Are you running an external Firewire drive too? This can also give problems when synching the iPOD. For this reason I synch with USB2, my media being on an external firewire drive.
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mindracing

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Slow Playlist Tagging
« Reply #47 on: December 30, 2003, 04:23:59 am »

I have 36 playlists/smartlists that I always sync to the iPOD.

If I begin a sync with them all unchecked and have to check each one, as I move down the list it takes progressively longer for MC to acknowledge the check with the red tick. The plug-in is clearly doing something as each playlist is checked.

To speed things up it would be great if it could do whatever it does after the selection of all playlists is finished.

An option to check select playlist groups would be great too as this would save checking each one.

Steve, just finished a sync and all Audible files play and have remembered the bookmarks. I think the lost bookmark problem can be overcome by ensuring that the iPOD is off when docking. When I get my next book subscription (8/01) I'll report back on the non playing issue.

I asked a while ago if it would be possible to sync the recordings folder that gets created when the Belkin (and soon to be Griffin) recording modules are used. Is this something you plan to implement? It would be great and it would make the iPOD plug-in complete (and be one up on iTUNES!)
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gbdesai

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #48 on: December 30, 2003, 07:23:32 am »

I posted this under another thread (started on the topic of random MC10 shutdowns) but I will post it here because it seems to happen when I sync.  Since MC10 .24 when I sync MC10 invariably does a silent crash, it simply disappears.  It happened last night when I was syncing some 400 songs with my iPod.  When I left it, it had done conversions from APE to MP3 with normalization on about 6 songs.  This morning no MC10.  I saw this yesterday, but thought it was just a random thing.  I'll keep testing.
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bthall

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Re:POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
« Reply #49 on: December 30, 2003, 07:53:00 am »

Steve:

More info to try to solve my iPod problems:

MC10 (w/ 9.0.88 ipod PlugIN) now at various time presents me with one of two displays in the far left "explorer-type" window:
----------
Display ONE:

+(E:)
   +Albums
   +Artists
   +Genres
   +Playlists
-----------
Display TWO:

+IPOD(E:)
   +Calendars
   +Contacts
   +IPOD Control
       -Devices
       -iTunes
   +Music
      -F000
          to
      -F019
   +Notes
-----------------

so Display ONE is the MC10 "proper" one and Display TWO is a "raw" format of the Ipod.

When I first boot up now, about 50% of the time I get Display ONE (the normal correct one).  I can now sync my iPod with my PC at this point (which is possible because right-clicking on the "E:" is completely normal here) BUT as soon as the sync is over, MC10 magically shows Display TWO with the "IPOD (E:)" as described above. AND if I now right click on this, I get that bizzare dialog box with one choice only "FORMAT"....

Does this give you any help?

BarryT

 

 I'm 99% certain that this is a hardware/firmware problem. I used to experience this too.

My problem was solved by updating the Firewire firmware (assuming you're using firewire and not USB2)

If you have the cable you could try USB 2 and I think the problem will go.

Are you running an external Firewire drive too? This can also give problems when synching the iPOD. For this reason I synch with USB2, my media being on an external firewire drive.


Good thought, but I have both Firewire and USB2, having tried using both, and the results are EXACTLY the same with either one. Thanks anyway.

BarryT
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