Topic: Zen Micro conversion problem with MC 11 (Read 4785 times)

Tor · « **on:** April 06, 2005, 09:26:27 am »

Possible Bugs still present in .232

1. G-Force gold visualization and display of cover art during track change is not working on ape files, but works fine with MP3. Cover art is embedded in both file types.

((2. File type conversion during upload to Zen-Micro will not work on ape files and I get a message saying file type not supported. File conversion from mp3 to wma and vice versa works fine.))

Not been able to test 2. in this built since i can't get the zen micro to work at all in .232. MC fails to initialize claiming "device not found". Trying to click between library and the ZEN under devices will bring MC to a crash giving the standard windows message: Media Center has a problem and...

-Tor-

SteveG · « **Reply #1 on:** April 06, 2005, 01:07:53 pm »

Tor,

Do you have the MTP firmware on your Micro?

If so, what version?

Steve

Tor · « **Reply #2 on:** April 06, 2005, 01:23:29 pm »

The FW version on my micro is 1.01.03. I have had no problem connecting to the unit over the last builds, only on .232. The file conversion from ape to mp3 however have been there all along (mp3->wma and vice versa has worked ok).

-Tor-

dduvall · « **Reply #3 on:** April 06, 2005, 01:30:55 pm »

I too have seen the Zen Micro ape to mp3 file conversion problem (also running firmware 1.01.03) where “file type not supported” message is generated

I haven’t installed each and every update, but it’s been there for me since at least .230.

Thanks,
David

Tor · « **Reply #4 on:** April 06, 2005, 01:42:31 pm »

Just tried reverting back to .231 to verify that I haven't run into any other problems, but this realse initializes the unit and I can browse the unit and upload files. Still however not being able to convert ape to mp3.

Installing .232 again brings back the problem were MC is unable to initialize the unit...

-Tor-

Tor · « **Reply #5 on:** April 06, 2005, 02:58:56 pm »

OK! Got it working (also file conversion from ape to mp3) by upgrading the firmware to 2.11.02 (beta) and uninstalling all related Creative software...

-Tor-

SteveG · « **Reply #6 on:** April 06, 2005, 03:29:16 pm »

Thanks for the posts. Currently support is enabled for MTP firmware support. I need to make it backwards compatible for previous firmware.

Steve

Tor · « **Reply #7 on:** April 08, 2005, 04:20:56 am »

Hmm, It does work with this beta from Creative. However trying it a bit more it does reveal some problems. All transferred tracks are reported by the micro to be 18:12:15 long, and I have also seen some transferring errors. Based on this I have reverted my firmware back to PDE and stick to other means of uploading until these issues can be resolved.

-Tor-

SteveG · « **Reply #8 on:** April 08, 2005, 02:27:29 pm »

Tor,

I have also seen transfer errors, but those same files that error, fail in WMP. Can you verify that the tracks that failed can successfully be transfered using the MTP firmware on Micro using WMP?

Steve

Tor · « **Reply #9 on:** April 08, 2005, 03:11:27 pm »

As mentioned I have rolled back to PDE rather than MTP, but during my trials and errors I noted that in fact it was the same files that caused problems. Remember however that I'm first converting from ape, and the transfer errors was for some certain ape to mp3 files. The same files transferred OK when converting from ape to wma instead.

Hope this helps.

-Tor-

dduvall · « **Reply #10 on:** April 11, 2005, 10:55:20 am »

Quote from: SteveG on April 06, 2005, 03:29:16 pm

Thanks for the posts. Currently support is enabled for MTP firmware support. I need to make it backwards compatible for previous firmware.

Steve

Steve,

Has this been implemented yet? If not, do you have a rough timetable?

Thanks

SteveG · « **Reply #11 on:** April 14, 2005, 02:47:11 pm »

Not yet. Not sure on the timetable.

Steve

dduvall · « **Reply #12 on:** April 22, 2005, 01:33:55 pm »

Steve,

I've communicated off line with Tor and we're both (I'm sure there's more) "stuck" running 2.17, which was the latest version that handled .ape to .mp3 coversion with the 1.01.13 firmware. We're both really interested in some of the things MC has done since then and would love to be running the latest build.

Anything you can do to make the new builds backward compatible with the previous Zen firmware would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks,
David

Tor · « **Reply #13 on:** April 22, 2005, 02:16:51 pm »

Well, I would like to see MC work at all with the Zen Micro since it does not since version .217 or there abouts.

After upgrading my Zen's firmware to MTP compliant 2.11.02 (Beta, and only one available to me after a stunt at the upgrade 1.02.05) i get occasional transfer errors and other misbehaviour as stated in an earlier post, making it to sticky to work with.

I'm currently stuck with the Creative software for syncing with a duplicate set of files in mp3 converted from mc for this purpose only (all my library files are ape...)

Really hope to see a solution to this in any release soon.

Best Regards
-Tor-

SteveG · « **Reply #14 on:** April 22, 2005, 03:22:33 pm »

David and Tor,

Currently, MC 11 is not compatible with Micro 1.01.13 firmware. I am interested in making MC run smoothly with Zen 2.11.02 firmware.

Quote

i get occasional transfer errors and other misbehaviour as stated in an earlier post, making it to sticky to work with.

I just tested transferring 10 ape to wma converting files to Micro with 2.11.02 firmware and MC 11.0.246 and all went fine. The durantion was reported correctly and there were no errors. Please try with 246 (or wait for 247 if you are doing conversion to mp3. There was a bug regarding mp3 conversion which was fixed today). If you can replicate a file transfer error, try transferring the same file with WMP 10. If it fails, this is not an MC problem although perhaps we can troubleshoot it. If it succeeds with WMP, then please email me the file and I will test it here (steve @ jriver.com ).

Steve

PS If you want to run with 1.01.13 you can do the following for now...

Go to C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 11\Data\Default Resources\PDT.xml and find the entry for 'Creative Zen Micro'. When you do go two lines up and change the <Type> from '2' to '1' and you should be up and running with 1.0.13.

Tor · « **Reply #15 on:** April 22, 2005, 04:39:23 pm »

Steve,

I just converted one album from ape to wma (fw 2.11.02) and transferred it to the micro in MC 11.0.246. I used one of the same albums that has given me transfer errors in previous versions, but this time the transfer went OK.

However, when I start playing any of the transferred tracks on the micro, remaining time shown in bottom right corner of the display will start counting from -18:12:15 which is same behavior as seen previously. (the remaining track info is shown correctly if tracks are transferred with the Creative software)

Further, after connecting the micro back and accessing it in MC again the following fields have lost all information:
Track#
Duration
Bitrate
File Type
Date

I hope this helps to narrow down remaining bugs, and I look forward to version .247 to test more on mp3.

-Tor-

Tor · « **Reply #16 on:** April 22, 2005, 05:12:45 pm »

Steve,

Ref my last post I just installed .247 and tried transferring the same album by converting from ape to mp3 and one file fails during transfer (same file as some weeks ago). Tried this file standalone to the micro with mp3 conversion but with no luck (still fails). To wma however the transfer goes like clockwork.

Redocking to MC i can see that the missing fields mentioned in my last post as still missing. However for the mp3 files the track# field is kept OK.

The display counting from -18:12:15 is still there (on both wma and mp3 files).

One last note: The conversion to wma (normal/high) was substantial faster than to mp3 (high/fast)...

-Tor-

SteveG · « **Reply #17 on:** April 23, 2005, 02:44:46 pm »

Tor,

Thanks for the update.

Quote

Tried this file standalone to the micro with mp3 conversion

Can you clarify what this means?

Steve

Tor · « **Reply #18 on:** April 23, 2005, 03:23:07 pm »

Quote from: Tor on April 22, 2005, 05:12:45 pm

Tried this file standalone to the micro with mp3 conversion

That didn't come out right... What I meant was that I tried to transfer and convert the one single track that was causing me errors, rather than the full album.

More info:
The track in question above was the last track on the transfer list (album) and in fact track no. 10.
I have tried two more albums just now to troubleshoot some more, and in fact it starts failing transfers from track 10 and onwards (i cancelled the session after track 12) on both these albums as well.

Could it be some problem with the system when track numbers change from one to two digits?

Hope that helps.

-Tor-

Tor · « **Reply #19 on:** April 24, 2005, 04:54:57 am »

Steve,

Quote from: Tor on April 23, 2005, 03:23:07 pm

Could it be some problem with the system when track numbers change from one to two digits?

This has to be it. I just took some of the tracks who are failing convert and transfer to mp3 and remade the tags from two characters (10,11,12) to one character (1,2,3) and they transfer just fine.

Remember my note saying that wma causes no transfer errors, but the track number field is lost.
This in relation to the fact that this field is sticking on the mp3 files, but these again cause errors with two characters in the track number fields..

-Tor-

Buckaroo · « **Reply #20 on:** April 24, 2005, 12:01:11 pm »

In my case, track #s are getting lost all together with the latest MTP build. I downgraded to the latest non-MTP build, but that still has issues with random track #s when you convert files.

SteveG · « **Reply #21 on:** April 26, 2005, 07:58:16 am »

The track number issue is fixed in tonight's build.

Thanks.

Steve

dduvall · « **Reply #22 on:** April 26, 2005, 01:54:37 pm »

Steve ... I'm on the road this week, but looking forward to giving this a try when I get return

Thanks!
David

Tor · « **Reply #23 on:** April 29, 2005, 02:30:33 pm »

Steve,

Thanks for your attention on this issue. The transfer with conversion seems to be in order now.

Only minor thing I'm seeing is that the Date field is not transferred, and that after disconnect and re-connect the following fields are still coming up blank:
BitRate
FileType
Date (this field as a result of it not being transferred?)

Anyway, great work since I'm now able to enjoy my micro with MC.

-Tor-

SteveG · « **Reply #24 on:** May 02, 2005, 07:50:44 am »

Tor,

Thanks for the update. In regards to the Date BitRate and FileType fields, we are using a Windows tool to transfer and retrieve the data from the Micro in conjuction with drivers from Creative. In my testing, it appears that the failure to return this information is a limitation of Windows and Creative. To confirm this, can you test with Windows Media Player and see if you can retrieve the missing fields?

Thanks,

Steve

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Author Topic: Zen Micro conversion problem with MC 11 (Read 4785 times)