Topic: Dell Digital Jukebox (Read 6474 times)

Gregg · « **on:** December 06, 2003, 10:41:35 pm »

I need a plug in for my Dell Digital Jukebox. WIthout this Iam forced to use MusicMAtch. And boy does that suck. Does anyone know how to write one or where to get one?

Gregg · « **Reply #1 on:** December 07, 2003, 07:53:46 pm »

Doesn't anyone on the forum know anything about this?

JimH · « **Reply #2 on:** December 07, 2003, 08:49:07 pm »

Does it show up as a removable drive?

Gregg · « **Reply #3 on:** December 07, 2003, 09:39:44 pm »

Yes it does. But when you try to write or access it, it locks up. If you doa file transfer from windows explorer the files do move over. However, you then have to select them and send the to the Dell Jukebox Music Library before they can be played.

SteveG · « **Reply #4 on:** December 08, 2003, 10:05:23 am »

Gregg,

We do not have this player here. How do you do the step you mention "..select them and sent them to the Dell Music Library". Can you do this from Explorer?

Steve

Gregg · « **Reply #5 on:** December 08, 2003, 10:24:43 am »

This step is done from with windows explorer. The way I do it now is that you first have to transfer the track from whatever drive it resides on to the "Dell" which would be like transfering to another drive. Then after the files are transferred you right click on them from the dell "drive" and then select send to digital jukebox. After that is done the files are converted and sent to the playlist. If you don't do that step you can't "see" the files in the playlist so there would be no way to access them.

SteveG · « **Reply #6 on:** December 08, 2003, 11:14:04 am »

Quote

But when you try to write or access it, it locks up. If you doa file transfer from windows explorer the files do move over. However, you then have to select them and send the to the Dell Jukebox Music Library before they can be played.

Does the Dell appear as a drive letter under 'CD, DVD and Handhelds"? IF so, are you saying MC locks up when you click on the drive letter?

In regards to selecting the files and sending them to the Dell Jukebox Music Library is that a right click option from Explorer?

Steve

Gregg · « **Reply #7 on:** December 08, 2003, 12:56:17 pm »

Yes it appears as a handheld. When you click on the Dell Digital Jukebox (same as you would a CD Drive) you get a listing of the tracks. If you try to click on the + sign to expand the contents of the Dell, then it locks up. Although I don't think it would be necessary to expand the Dell anymore. And yes sending to Dell Digital Jukebox is a right click option.

SteveG · « **Reply #8 on:** December 09, 2003, 08:43:02 am »

Without the player I am not sure why it is locking up when you try to expand the player. You mention that it may not matter. What happens if you drag and drop a file onto the Dell drive under CD, Dvd and Handhelds and then click "Transfer"?

Gregg · « **Reply #9 on:** December 09, 2003, 09:47:08 am »

Wow imagine that, it works perfecrty. Now this brings up another question. Why does the dialog box say that it is converting/encoding my files to 128 MPS? I have recoded them at 256 because they sound better. Why is it forciing 128 on me?

SteveG · « **Reply #10 on:** December 09, 2003, 09:57:48 am »

When the files are in queue, click on the 'Options' button to the right of the transfer button. You will see that you have 'Force file conversions' checked. Uncheck this. By default this is disabled, so I am not sure why it is checked for you.

Steve

Gregg · « **Reply #11 on:** December 09, 2003, 12:45:08 pm »

Thank you. I think that the force button was checked so that My Rio800 player would work properly. Until I checked that it always got hung up. Thanks again.

mooseman · « **Reply #12 on:** December 23, 2003, 03:59:59 pm »

So Gregg, how is your dell jukebox working with MC now? What functionality if any is missing? You mentioned the device locks up when you click on the expand button. Are you happy with it?

Gregg · « **Reply #13 on:** December 23, 2003, 08:49:28 pm »

It (MJ) works great for transferring files. However there is no way to manage playlists. All in all it is not a big deal I can use Music Match for that but I would prefer just one program.

SteveG · « **Reply #14 on:** December 24, 2003, 09:23:48 am »

Gregg,

Have you tried right clicking on the drive letter that represents your Dell and selecting 'Synchronize'? This should present you with a way to select and transfer Playlists. Also, drag and dropping the playlists on the Dell drive letter should move the files and create directories for you.

Steve

Gregg · « **Reply #15 on:** December 24, 2003, 10:06:11 am »

When I right click on the device "Dell" the only option I am given is FORMAT. What I am saying is that he Dell does not show up as a drive but as a device along with the CD drives.

If I drag a playlist to the Dell device the mouse turns into an hourglass and remains that way locking up the program.

Gregg · « **Reply #16 on:** December 24, 2003, 12:43:29 pm »

To add to my previous post:

Although dragging and dropping the playlists does not seem to work, if I right click on the playlist that seems to put the playlist and associated files into a que. That que shows up when you click on the Dell device. You can then click on transfer and files are sent to the Dell device. It seems to work but takes a very long time using USB 1.

SteveG · « **Reply #17 on:** December 24, 2003, 01:57:52 pm »

Gregg,

What version of MC do you have? Can you confirm what version of the 'Portable Drives' plugin you have by going to Tools->Plugin Manager->Handhelds->Portable Drives? If the Dell appears to your PC as a drive, it should appear under CD, DVD and Handhelds as a drive letter.

Steve

Gregg · « **Reply #18 on:** December 24, 2003, 04:55:17 pm »

Version 9.1.316 pf MJ. Version 9.0.80 of the plug in manager. It does appear as a CD,DVD Hanheld.

Gregg · « **Reply #19 on:** December 26, 2003, 07:23:50 am »

Actually I was wrong about what happens in a previous post. WHen I right click on a playlist all the songs will be transferred to the Dell. However, the playlist itself does not show up, only the songs do. This puts me back to having to use Music Match to organize playlists.

Gregg · « **Reply #20 on:** December 29, 2003, 10:41:24 am »

I also had trouble using MC9 to transfer a few songs into the Dell. If I use the Dell provided file manager everything worked good. It is weird just a few songs gave me trouble, they were ripped at 256 as a WMA file.

SteveG · « **Reply #21 on:** December 29, 2003, 11:44:46 am »

Gregg,

If you want the playlist to be created on the Dell, either drag and drop the playlist on the Dell drive letter or right click on the Dell and use 'Synchronization'.

Quote

Although dragging and dropping the playlists does not seem to work

What didn't work?

Quote

It is weird just a few songs gave me trouble, they were ripped at 256 as a WMA file.

Could be an issue with Digital Rights Management. What happens if you transfer one of these files using Windows Explorer?
If it works, can you email me one of the files?

steve @ jriver.com

Gregg · « **Reply #22 on:** December 29, 2003, 12:34:05 pm »

Quote

If you want the playlist to be created on the Dell, either drag and drop the playlist on the Dell drive letter or right click on the Dell and use 'Synchronization'.

There lies the problem, a right click on the dell brings up 1 option and that is "format" Drag and dropping the playlist transfers the files but not the playlist. So all the songs are in the jukebox but there is no playlist to have them play as a playlist.

Quote

Although dragging and dropping the playlists does not seem to work
What didn't work?

Quote

It is weird just a few songs gave me trouble, they were ripped at 256 as a WMA file.

Could be an issue with Digital Rights Management. What happens if you transfer one of these files using Windows Explorer?
If it works, can you email me one of the files?

It works fine with explorer. The email is on the way.

Gregg · « **Reply #23 on:** December 29, 2003, 04:03:29 pm »

I have downloaded the handheld plug in v9.0.88 Now MC9 does not recognize the Dell when it is plugged in. Now the only software I can use in Music Match or explorer.

SteveG · « **Reply #24 on:** December 29, 2003, 05:05:19 pm »

Gregg,

What is the volume label on your Dell Jukebox? Try naming it 'JUKEBOX' and see if that lets MC recognize it.

Steve

Gregg · « **Reply #25 on:** December 29, 2003, 09:22:15 pm »

Quote

What is the volume label on your Dell Jukebox? Try naming it 'JUKEBOX' and see if that lets MC recognize it.

I see no way to rename the volume. The only change I can make is the owner name. I tried changing the owner name but it is still not recognized. It is recognized in explorer as "jukebox" but it still is not recognized in MC9. FYI, as soon as I open explorer and highlight the Dell device, the "docked" icon shows up on the Dell's screen, the same way it used to with MC9. I assume this means the device and program are "hand shaking".

Help please!

SteveG · « **Reply #26 on:** December 30, 2003, 03:45:47 pm »

Everyone with a Dell Jukebox,

After working with Gregg a little, here is what I know.......

If you want MC to recognize the Dell, go to Tools->Plugin Manager->Handhelds->Portable Drives->Configure and check the box for 'Enable WMDM support'. If you do this, MC should recognize your Jukebox. You may need to collapse and rexpand the tree.

Once this is done, you will be able to upload and delete files. Gregg was unable to expand the tree or to have the Dell create playlists automatically via dragging and dropping a playlist on the Dell. I am curious if others have this limitation.

I made some changes in the next build of MC (10.0.26) which may help this. If anyone can test it when it becomes available, that would be great.

Steve

rar2667 · « **Reply #27 on:** December 30, 2003, 06:35:12 pm »

Here's my update...

After enabling the WMDM Support, the Dell DID show up under Handhelds. I drug a playlist to it and the songs all transferred, but I could not select the playlist on the handheld.

I MusicMatch can do this...I know J River can do it in spades...maybe just not enough Dell Jukeboxes in circulation to test with yet.

Keep pluggin'...thanks.

Gregg · « **Reply #28 on:** December 30, 2003, 08:36:00 pm »

Quote

I made some changes in the next build of MC (10.0.26) which may help this. If anyone can test it when it becomes available, that would be great.

If we install version 10 can we still run version 9 on the same computer?

Gregg · « **Reply #29 on:** December 30, 2003, 10:14:39 pm »

Steve G

I wanted to let you know that I downloaded the beta version 10. It has all the same quirks that 9 does in regards to the Dell unit. The only difference was that version 10 allowed me to drag and drop playlists instead of having to click on [send to]

However the playlist itself does not transfer, just the songs. The program still locks up when you remove the USB cable. It looks cool though! Thanks for the help on getting the Dell to work. Keep "plugin'" away. Pun intended.

rar2667 · « **Reply #30 on:** December 31, 2003, 09:13:25 am »

Checking on the Dell forum, I found lots of references to a product called Dudebox...

http://www.redchairsoftware.com/dudebox/

It appears to have all the functionality that I am looking for concerning the Dell DJ, but who would give up MC9 and pay $25 to get the Dell DJ hooked up? I'm sure these guys at Red Chair have nothing on the J River team, so maybe this type functionality will eventually get to MC as well...?

The Dudebox refers to importing M3U playlist formats, so I suppose you could export them from MC/import to Dudebox/upload to Dell? It would be nice to do it all from MC.

SteveG · « **Reply #31 on:** December 31, 2003, 09:39:30 am »

Gregg and rar2667,

We will revisit this after the new year. If we decide to fully support the Dell we will get have to get one and sort it out. More news on this next week....

Gregg,

You cannot have MC 10 and 9 on the same PC.

rar2667 · « **Reply #32 on:** December 31, 2003, 10:17:16 am »

SteveG...thanks for looking into the Dell.

I know you can't support every player out there and I don't know how many of these Dell has sold, but with the Dell name on it I'd bet there will be quite a few in circulation.

Keep up the good work.

rar2667 · « **Reply #33 on:** February 25, 2004, 08:17:38 am »

I'm just bumping this to see if any further work has been done on making a Dell Jukebox work with MC?

The MusicMatch sync feature works real well, but...who wants to use MusicMatch when you've got MC?

Thanks

SteveG · « **Reply #34 on:** February 25, 2004, 09:48:33 am »

rar2667,

I am ordering a Dell Jukebox today which is the first step in sorting out how to get this to work well. Will update as I can.

Steve

rar2667 · « **Reply #35 on:** February 25, 2004, 12:57:39 pm »

Thanks for the effort. This is the first and only player I've had, so I don't know what type functionality you guys consider standard, but I can tell you what would be nice.

Sync of entire library - including playlists, etc is a great idea, but I don't have enough HD space on the Dell (15Gig) to sync my whole library. To squeeze it in via Musicmatch sync, I deleted all my Christmas music and my 11-yr old daughter's stuff from the parallel library I had to build in Musicmatch. A nice feature would be to allow selective sync based on the contents of some field (perhaps a custom field) which indicated whether that song belonged on the handheld. Also, might be nice to sync by genre or other fields.

It would be nice if MC would automatically change bitrate when copying to handheld to conserve space.

If you could categorize playlists as to whether they would sync to handheld or not.

Just some ideas...I'm sure you guys will do it right.
Thanks

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Author Topic: Dell Digital Jukebox (Read 6474 times)

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