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More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: SteveG on July 17, 2003, 09:38:37 am

Title: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 17, 2003, 09:38:37 am

Hello All,

For anyone who is new to MC, please be sure to get the latest version.

If you want to read an excellent help file (thanks Adam) on using MC and iPod please go to....

http://www.home.earthlink.net/~ashawley01/

For additional information, please check the previous help thread at...

http://www.musicex.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=MediaCenter;action=di splay;num=1055367255;start=150#150

For any issues not covered, please post below and someone will respond ASAP. Please include in your post your version of MC, version of the Portable Drive Plugin and Operating System.

Thanks,

Steve (JRiver)

Title: 9.1.215 Results
Post by: Sherm123 on July 17, 2003, 12:49:33 pm

Steve,
Followed your suggestion and downloaded the latest build.
Results, as usual, outstanding!
Formatted iPod.
Uploaded Library w/ Apply Replay Gain on Upload and
Set Replay Gain Adjustment (3.0DB)
All tracks and Playlists loaded successfully and noticable
difference in volume when listening to iPod.
Thank you again.
Sherman

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper on July 17, 2003, 06:40:23 pm

Steve,
I've done some more testing (on 9.1xxx217) and figured out something quite odd. It seems like it was the playlist itself that MC didn't want to sync (and crashed). When I create a new smartlist, that only includes the files on this other playlist, MC seems to start to sync and convert with no problem (so far).

I'll work on getting you some info on the discrepencies between MC's track time, and the actual track time of the file once I get everything on my ipod.

Also, the overall progress bar on the conversion/sync is far from being accurate. ;-)

Thanks.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Chrispod on July 17, 2003, 07:01:34 pm

I did the same as Sherman, and came out with less than happy results, as I've said before, the format never completely wipes clean, my space is reduce about 1GB every time. The playlists were mixed up, and dropped about 2% of the songs, and in one case duplicated a song five times, although the playlists in MC9 were correct. My ipod is the 20GB. I applied the two new sound features Sherman mentioned, but haven't test them. One other thing: I have a playlist called THE WHITE CATS that has Cat Power and the White Stripes together. The playlist name is not there but PART of Cat's album, and all of White Stripes is on the ipod, in artist. I know, a work in progress, but I should get that 2% back... CHRISTOPHER

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Chrispod on July 17, 2003, 07:39:45 pm

Just two quick questions: The cancel button on ipod sync doesn't and has never worked. When MC9 freezes, how is the best way to close MC9 without shutting down the PC manually? And, after watching a sync, song by song, after completion what is the big red X and THUD? And where did the songs go that I just watched sync, this not just in the current version, this is always... Christopher

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: cct1 on July 18, 2003, 06:57:23 am

Ok, this probably wasn't addressed this build, but the media server is still malfunctioning--If I cue up files to my ipod, then try to upload, the progress screen briefly flashes then disappears--nothing downloads. It was working perfectly 2 builds ago.

If I try downloading in a different way--by I selecing a file then click on the ipod icon on the toolbar, I can get it to download, but with a bunch of crackles and pops, and the progress bar doesn't work at all--there is no way to gauge the progress of the download.

Thanks!

Chris

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: welcher on July 18, 2003, 07:06:35 am

Here's an iPod support question for ya.

I am, as yet, not an iPod owner, nor a MC owner. My entire music collection is WMA, but I'd really, really like to use an iPod.

I've read that MC9 can do "on-the-fly" conversions to MP3 during transfer to the iPod.

Is this true? Does it work from WMA9 to MP3? Is the output bitrate selectable? Quality OK? Is this somewhat contrived flow workable, or is it kind of a house of cards?

Thanks for any input as I consider the iPod and MC9.

Matt

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 18, 2003, 07:27:44 am

Sherman,

Glad all is well. Thanks for letting me know.

DigitalTrapper,

If you can find anything peculiar about the one playlist and if you can recreate it and still have the same problem, please let me know. In regards to the overall progress bar on conversion/sync, I tested this with 100 files and it seemed right on. Perhaps I need to try with many files in the conversion. If you can devise a test that will definitively show me the lack of accuracy, please let me know.

*EDIT* Tonight's MC build will include changes to handle the progress better for large synch\conversions.

Chrispod,

Quote

format never completely wipes clean,

The report of available space has to do with how one defines the size of a MB. Hardware manufactures and Windows differ on this. After a reformat, check the available size against what Windows reports as the available size and if they are the same, then there is no problem.

Quote

The playlists were mixed up, and dropped about 2% of the songs, and in one case duplicated a song five times, although the playlists in MC9 were correct.

What version are you using? If not 9.1.217, please get it. Better yet, wait for tonight's build which include a fix for the cancel button which was actually fixed yesterday but did not make it into the build. If you still have the problem you mention above, try to replicate it in an organized fashion so I can fix it. When you say 'duplicated a song 5 times', do you mean the song is on the iPod five times? I find this hard to believe. It is possible the song can be listed 5 times when viewing at the root if you have it in multiple playlists, but 5 distinct copies are unlikely. Try to figure out some of the files that are missing and try to send them one at a time to see if they go.

Chris (cct1),

Try tonight's build. Due to some recent changes, the code that allowed for drag and drop of files onto the iPod was broken but fixed yesterday. This would affect the media server transfers. The fixes did not make it into yesterday's build but will be there tonight.

Matt,

MC9 can convert your wma files to mp3 during the upload or synch process. After the files are on iPod, if you send them again, MC checks to see if they are there and will not convert them again to save time (conversion is a time consuming process).

Another way to do this to save time is to convert the files once and store them for transfer to the iPod. This takes up a lot of disk space but saves time when synching files to iPod.

In either case, the bitrate is selectable, quality is good and this is not a contrived workflow.

Steve

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Marc on July 18, 2003, 07:33:20 am

Hello!

I know this has probably been covered in the past, but I cannot find the solution and have been wrestling with this issue for quite some time now. Yes, I've browsed the great help file you posted above, but couldn't find an appropriate entry.

Background:

Media Center 9.1.215
20 GB iPod
180 GB music Media (50% APE, 50% MP3)
note - the mp3 songs were all encoded @ 256 or 320 kbps

Scenario:

Let's say I wish to take my five favorite songs with me on my iPod:

song-1.mp3
song-2.mp3
song-3.ape
song-4.ape
song-5.mp3

...and the iPod already contains the following:

song-2.mp3
song-3.mp3 (previously converted from above APE)

Problem:

How would I accomplish the following

song-1.mp3 - compare w/iPod - transfer as is
song-2.mp3 - compare w/iPod - match - skip
song-3.ape - compare w/iPod - find matching MP3 - skip
song-4.ape - comapre w/iPod - convert to MP3 - transfer converted file
song-5.mp3 - compare w/iPod - transfer as is

I've looked at the instructions and understand the sync command. I've looked at the forced convert option...but what about those existing MP3 files? I don't want to un/re-encode them. Especially when we're talking about hundreds of songs and a lot of wasted time!

Thanks!

Marc

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 18, 2003, 07:38:56 am

Marc,

Get 9.1.217 and then try your test out (even though it should also work in 9.1.215). MC should recoginze that the converted files are already on iPod and skip over them during the conversion process. So the solution is to resynch the playlist the files are in. If you try to drag and drop the files, it won't work until you get tonight's build because of an uncorrected bug from yesterday.

Steve

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: sub-24 on July 18, 2003, 09:10:50 am

Steve.

Further tests to the cut of problem reveal the following.

If i convert a .ape file manually to .wav and load to ipod it plays okay.

If i convert to .wav and then to mp3 it cuts off the end of the track.

So i tried some other tests and - If i use MC to convert from .ape to .wav and then use another piece of software to then convert the .wav to .mp3 they all playback perfect on the ipod.

So its not the plugin thats doing it its something to do with the mp3 encoder that MC uses.

Ive tried both the Lame 2.0.55 and 2.0.57 and they both do the same.

Should i post this on a seperate thread or can you investigate.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 18, 2003, 10:35:11 am

Quote

So its not the plugin thats doing it its something to do with the mp3 encoder that MC uses.

Maybe. To catch everyone up on this, Mike sent me a file that he converted with MC from .ape to .mp3 which is always cut off on his iPod. I can play that file fine on my iPod, so this points away from the encoder as being the problem (if the file were enoded incorrectly I would not be able to play it either).

Mike can you try reformatting your iPod and then just send the one file that is cut off that you sent me and see if it is still cut off?

Also, could you use whatever software you used to transfer .wav to mp3 where the tracks were not cut off and do several files to try to confirm your results?

Steve

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: sub-24 on July 18, 2003, 01:40:22 pm

Steve - Further tests below.

But first - if I copy any faulty files off of my ipod and back to my PC - MC plays them perfect. They only cut off when played back on the ipod. I have one of the new 15gig with 2.01

Today i have ran the follwoing tests.

Test 1.
Copied 2 complete albums
Pink Floyd - Division Bell
Pink Floys - Animals

To a new folder on my hard disk. Both of these albums were ripped in .ape

Opened media files and selected both these albums - then proceeded to convert format using MC to uncompressed WAV.

Then opened Cool Edit Pro and tagged all of the .WAV that i just created above and used this to convert to .mp3 - 160

Then back to MC open media and selected all of the new .mp3-160 as above - retag etc. Selected to send to ipod.

Upload to ipod with no conversion.

Played back every track on ipod - perfect to the last millisecond.

Test2.

Deleted from ipod all of above.

Made another new folder on hard disk and copied same albums as above.

Selected all files and done a conversion to .mp3-160 using MC.

Then selected all files for upload to ipod with no conversion.

Played back every track - SHIT they all play back perfect this time.

Okay Test3.

Selected as above but this time convert to mp3-160 on upload. All done within MC.
Played back every track and they all cut off 4-8 seconds from every track.

Weird - but TRUE.

Its definatley something to do with the encoder vs Plugin when you do a convert while uploading.

Any other ideas.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Marc on July 18, 2003, 02:41:37 pm

Quote

Marc,

Get 9.1.217 and then try your test out (even though it should also work in 9.1.215). MC should recoginze that the converted files are already on iPod and skip over them during the conversion process. So the solution is to resynch the playlist the files are in. If you try to drag and drop the files, it won't work until you get tonight's build because of an uncorrected bug from yesterday.

Steve

Steve,

My efforts were met with failure. First, I upgraded to 9.1.217. Next, I re-formatted my iPod to test the theory. So far, so good, I right-clicked on the J: icon (where the iPod is) and selected synchronize files. Everything's OK. In the popup synchronization window, I selected a play list with about a dozen songs (6 APE and 6 MP3 files). In options, LAME is correctly listed in the EXE path, the parameters are correct (%IN %OUT --alt-preset extreme) and the extension shows mp3. OK so far.

Now, here's where I start running into problems. If the "Force file conversion during uploads" box is unchecked, the process fails and tells me "ape extension is not supported..." If "Force file conversion during uploads" is checked, ALL files get converted - even existing MP3 files! For a mere six files, I'd say OK. However, when uploading hundreds or thousands of files, converting MP3 to MP3 really is a time waster.

What am I missing here? Is there a way to accomplish this?

updated 2003-07-19
I just finished a massive upload of mixed APE and MP3 files - during which, both types of files were converted. After completion, I tested it by synching again. The MP3 files were skipped, but MJ did not recognize the MP3's on the iPod as being previously-converted and set out to re-convert them all again. Help?
End of update

Thanks!

Marc

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Mighty_A-MAN on July 19, 2003, 10:25:48 am

Hi there,

I just used the Replay Gain function to make all my songs playing at the same volume level.

It seems to work fine within MediaCenter, but not on my iPod.

All the songs I analysed are already on my iPod and I after analysation I just synched everything again. However, my understandig is that every song will then be uploaded again, the full 4 MB or whatever the size is. But actually the synchronisation has been done superfast as if there was nothing to save, just like when I synchronise and have only a very few new songs.

Also I tried to switch on/off the option on the iPod (I forgot the naming), but no difference. (By the way, do I need to enable that option?).

I'm working with the latest build of MediaCenter.

Thanks for your help in advance and sorry, if this has been answered somewhere else already, but I read a lot but didn't find answers to the above.

Best regards,

Mighty A-MAN

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: KingSparta on July 19, 2003, 10:44:24 am

Quote

It seems to work fine within MediaCenter, but not on my iPod.

thats because it does not change the music.

it does save some info to tags that mc9 uses to play music at the same level.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on July 19, 2003, 11:02:56 am

Mighty_A-MAN:

No it won't reupload all the songs. That's the beauty of it. The replay gain value is just added as a value in the iPod's database and then applied when played.

When you do the re-sync, you need to make sure the Update Tags option is checked on the sync dialog box.

Actually, you should just always keep this checked so your iPod is always in sync w/MC9 (in terms of tags I mean).

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Chrispod on July 19, 2003, 12:40:19 pm

MC9 is not working for me in the way it is for others, so until I can get things figured out, I have to restore using the Apple Updater. MC9 works perfectly when I start from a clean slate, but there are many many problems when I try to resync. My question is, is it slowly damaging my ipod to RESTORE?

Also, I want to report that the cancel button for ipod syncing does not work (it freezes, I have to shut down), and the format DOES NOT ERASE EVERYTHING FROM THE IPOD. (Songs "hide". List says 0, but available space is 1/2 or 1/4 of what it should be, and it changes every time you hit RESTORE.)

I am using version 9.1.218, one more question, when you sugest getting a new version of MC9, does one just click on the link and put the new version over the old? So that would be getting the NEW VERSION sometimes 4-6 times a month? And do I just leave all those old versions on the PC?

Hi Adam... CHRISTOPHER

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Mighty_A-MAN on July 19, 2003, 12:49:12 pm

Hi Adam,

Understood! Thanks for your explanation.

Just to make sure: Do I have to enable the Soundcheck option, or doesn't that matter and the music is played on the Replay Gain levels automatically?

Thanks and best regards,

Mighty A-MAN

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: KarlPod on July 20, 2003, 02:09:54 am

Hi Steve,

I posted this in IpodLounge the other day .....

Hi have been testing the features on MC9.1 lately and while I love most of them I have to say that the replay gain function is not that great for us euro-podders. The maximum I can set is +12db which may sound a lot but to me its not so great.

Now I have downloaded Xplay after reading about its volume increasing capacities and have to say I am blow away by the volume increases. Set at 160% as mentioned in some threads is a massive leap in volume for the euro-podders. Ear splitting

Now can I use MC9 for playlists and syncrinisation but just uncheck update tags for it to work with mp3s that have had volume increased though Xplay?

Or is it best to do all my syncronisation in MC9 and then increase the volume in Xplay?

I know itsnot ideal but I do like the smart lists in MC9 and the ripping but love the volume in Xplay.

............................................................................... ......

You did say to me the other day that +12db is the maximum you can go on the volume tah increase. Could you possibly tell me why?

I love your program but at the moment Xplay's volume tag increase is excellent. Is there anyway in the future you may be able to do an increase like Xplay?

At the moment I am syncing all my songs via MC9 and then I explore my Ipod drive with Xplay and select all the songs and increase to 160%. This is not ideal but it does work although slightly buggy because I use 2 different programs in Ipod.

Thanks
Karl

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Mighty_A-MAN on July 20, 2003, 02:47:09 am

Karl,

Since you seem to have some knowledge/experience with the Soundcheck thing, can't you give me an answer to my question above?

Thanks,

Mighty A-MAN

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: KarlPod on July 20, 2003, 03:00:32 am

Hi there,

From what you are saying I think this is what you want:

In MC9 go to and expand CD, DVD & Handhelds. You shpuld see your Ipod drive.

Right click on that drive and make sure the replay gain option is checked. Just below that item is the volume adjustment which can be increased or decreased +/- 12db.

Once these adjustments have been made re-synce and make sure update tags is checked on the syncronisation window.

Hope that helps.
Karl

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Mighty_A-MAN on July 20, 2003, 03:43:25 am

Hey Karl,

Thanks for this. However, that's the part I figured out myself. My remaining question is if or if not I need to enable the Soundcheck option on the iPod or not.

I enabled and disabled it, but I couldn't hear any difference. Still songs are very quiet which have been quiet before and loud songs are loud. So I had the feeling that there wasn't a change.

So Soundcheck on iPod on or off?

Thanks,

Mighty A-MAN

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: CautionESPN on July 20, 2003, 06:52:21 am

I just wanted to inform everyone that I accidently allowed Audible.com's software to update my iPod last night, and for once it had no impact on the data loaded by Media Center. In the past the two were incompatible and audible users had to import their audible files into medic center and then sync with media center to get the info on to the ipod.

SteveG, just wanted to thank you for fixing this as it was a really irritating process!

In summary it looks like audible.com and media center are now compatible.

Title: synch problem v 218?
Post by: 7_cats on July 20, 2003, 09:10:17 am

when i sync my ipod using replay gain, the little window zooms thru maybe 3/4 of my songs, seems to stop,and the program terminates! gone, and then i have to restart the program. thoughts? is this normal?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper on July 20, 2003, 11:32:52 am

Hey Steve,
Problem 1 (sync failure): I gave up on my old problem and decided to just reformat my ipod and see if that helps. I sync (with coversion) about 1169 songs before I recieved an error with a Red X and some strange characters for the error message. when i clicked the OK button, the MC program iteself was still responsive (I could move the sync window around, etc) but the sync window was unable to be closed and was frozen showing the last song it had encoded. I had to have windows shut it down for me. Now I should inform you that when I sync my ipod for the first time, it is no small task. I have over 4,000 songs on the playlist, most of which I want to have coverted to lower bitrates, so I usually start it-- and go to bed. Ideally once all of these songs are on my ipod, I won't be syncing that often.

Problem 2 (duration times): You wanted info on tracks in MC showing different durration times than they should. After this sync (with conversion), I had 14 files that had duration times of greater than 10 minutes (even though the smartlist I synced it with had a cutoff of 10 minutes. 2 of these tracks had times greater than 30 minutes showing on the duration field. (Even though Bruce Springsteen's "Rosalita Come out tonight" is only 7 minutes long.) When I double click the song to play withing MC, it shows the correct time on the media player bar, and only plays for 7 minutes like it should. When I listen to the song on the ipod it shows the wrong time, 30 minutes, and after playing the first 7 minutes of the song, it continues to play "dead air" for 23 more minutes. Now if I try to fast foward that track on the ipod to a time later than 7 minutes, the ipod recognizes that it doesnt really exist, and jumps to the next track. However this really makes listening less enjoyable when the next song does not follow right when the first song finishes playing. I know this happens in less extreme cases as well (where maybe 30 secs or a minute is added as "Dead air").
Now if I delete this song off my ipod and then reupload it manually (without sync, but with conversion) it get put back on my ipod with the proper time.
However there is no way for me to know which songs have "extra" dead air time at the end, and whcih songs are accurate in duration time, so I can't do this for all the problem files.

Problem 3 (status bar): As I let you know, the overall status bar is never accurate for me. Case in point, after my first sync failed halfway, I started to resync. After 3 songs into the sync, the "overall" status bar is already on 100%.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on July 20, 2003, 08:23:43 pm

Mighty_A-MAN:

No, you don't need to have Soundcheck on, it has no effect in MC9's implementation (only works w/iTunes).

Not sure why you're not hearing the Replay Gain adjustment. Are you sure that when you sync you have the "Update Tags" checkbox checked?

That's all I can think of...it's definitely working for me. Oh and you are using version .218 right?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: mander on July 20, 2003, 08:30:55 pm

If I rate a file on my ipod 2.0 the rating doesn't seem to be pulled into Media Center. My ratings don't get pulled into my ipod either.

Thanks,

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Mighty_A-MAN on July 20, 2003, 11:03:25 pm

Hey Mander,

We all have the same problem, since that's obviously a firmware problem. Each time you connect your iPod to your Windows PC, the ratings you've done on the go disappear. That's something that obviously can't be fixed unless Apple changes the firmware and make the rating system available to Windows users.

Well, I hope I didn't tell anything bull above, but that's what I understood from one of the Media Center guys when I asked pretty much the same.

Cheers,

Mighty A-MAN

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Mighty_A-MAN on July 20, 2003, 11:05:34 pm

Hi ashawley,

Thanks for your help.

Yes, I do use the latest version (.218). Maybe just some songs are not perfectly matching the average volume. So I might expect too much. I will check this tonight or so with my Blues Brothers CD, which is extremely quiet. If Replay Gain works on my iPod, I defiantely must hear a difference.

Cheers,

Mighty A-MAN

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: sub-24 on July 21, 2003, 03:25:58 am

DigitalRapper.

The error with track lengths being reported longer than they are with Dead Air at the end is the same for me.

I dont notice the track times too much but its the cut off at the end that is the worst.

I have posted a few tests above but can confirm that it only happens when you are doing a convert at the same time.

SteveG - Dont know what to try next appart from using Cool Edit to do the conversions for me. Only problem here is that they dont do a plugin for .ape.

MAybe i should scrap .ape and convert all to .wma lossless as it is universally supported.

Any Ideas

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Klingler on July 21, 2003, 04:47:45 am

Quote

I just wanted to inform everyone that I accidently allowed Audible.com's software to update my iPod last night, and for once it had no impact on the data loaded by Media Center. In the past the two were incompatible and audible users had to import their audible files into medic center and then sync with media center to get the info on to the ipod.

SteveG, just wanted to thank you for fixing this as it was a really irritating process!

In summary it looks like audible.com and media center are now compatible.

Has anyone else confirmed this compatibility? I've gotten used to the hoops I have to jump through, but if I don't have to... I'd love not to. I'm hesitant to test it myself though as my iPod works fine right now.

Rob

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 21, 2003, 01:06:11 pm

MikeH,

I could not duplicate what you describe. I took three .ape files and converted them on the fly to .mp3 160kbps. All files played perfectly on iPod. If anyone else can reproduce Mike’s report, please let me know.

Marc,

The plugin is set to convert .mp3 files if the bitrate is different. For example, if you have 6 files in a playlist and 3 are .ape and 3 are .mp3 at 192 and you have ‘force file conversion’ set to .mp3 .160, all files will convert. On subsequent synchronization, all files will be skipped.

Here is the test I did..

1) Created a playlist with 6 files, 3 .ape, 3 .mp3 192 kbps
2) Set ‘force conversion’ to .mp3 160 kpbs.
3) Synched files.

All files converted.

4) Re-synched with same settings.

All files skipped.

I repeated this test with 3 .ape files and 3 .mp3 files at 160 kbps and all other settings the same. The result was that all the .ape files converted and the mp3 files were skipped.

Can you try repeating my test and let me know the results?

Chrispod,

Quote

is it slowly damaging my ipod to RESTORE?

No, this should not matter.

Quote

Also, I want to report that the cancel button for ipod syncing does not work

Can anyone else verify this with 9.1.218?

Quote

when you sugest getting a new version of MC9, does one just click on the link and put the new version over the old?

Always get the latest build of MC 9.1. Do not go and get the plugin from the download page.

Karl,

As far as I can tell, there is a maximum amount one can boost the file volume on iPod. If you are confident that you are seeing a greater volume boost with Xplay, could you transfer some files where the volume is much greater when compared with a transfer using MC with the boost set to +12 db. If you could then send me your iTunesDB( a file found on your iPod with the following path.. iPod drive letter\iPod Control\iTunes\iTunesDB) from Xplay with the name of the file with the great volume increase I can definitively get to the bottom of this.

Even better would be if you could send me the same iTunesDB file with the same file transfer from MC so I can compare them.

Thanks. My email is steve @ jriver.com

CautionESPN,

Thanks for letting me know.

8_Cats,

No this is not normal. Please get MC 9.1.218 if you do not have it. You may want to format your iPod from within MC by right clicking on the iPod drive letter and selecting ‘Format’. Assuming you have 9.1.217 or .218, this error has nothing to do with Replay Gain, but maybe has to do with some corruption in your iPod database. You can try synching without Replay Gain to verify this.

DigitalTrapper,

Do you have MC 9.1.218? Try that for Problem 1. For Problem 2, create a playlist in MC that includes a 3 songs that you are sure will have the incorrect file times when synching with conversion. If you can, start with a cleanly formatted iPod and then synch this playlist. If you can, verify that the duration is wrong. If it is, reformat and then send these same songs with conversion enabled but not as part of a synch and let me know what you find.

I will check Problem 3 out.

Mander,

Mighty-A-Man is correct, this is an Apple problem.

Mikeh,

In regards to the track length errors, can you try the same test I suggested for DigitalTrapper? In regards to the conversions, hopefully someone else can confirm or deny your results so we can chase this better.

Rob,

I can test this more thoroughly when I have more time.

Steve

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Marc on July 21, 2003, 03:25:25 pm

Hello Steve,

Well, I think I might be onto something. My music library is randomly divided as follows:

25% APE
25% 320 Kbps MP3 - encoder = LAME
25% 250 Kbps MP3 - encoder = LAME
25% VBR (--alt preset extreme) MP3 - encoder = LAME

I have the conversion take place via an external encoder (LAME), using the --alt preset extreme settings.

Since I have three different types of MP3 files, there is no single setting I can choose to eliminate all re-conversion of these files. If I eliminate the "force conversion" option, the process dies due to the presence of the APE files. I guess I could create separate smart lists to address the presence (or absence of these APE files), but was hoping to find a way to get the plug in to handle this automatically.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Marc

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: cct1 on July 21, 2003, 08:32:14 pm

Steve,

Finally got all my audio analyzed so I could use the replay gain--and I must say it is friggin' awesome. As far as I can tell, it is working perfectly. Nice job!!

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: CautionESPN on July 22, 2003, 05:58:03 am

Quote

Has anyone else confirmed this compatibility? I've gotten used to the hoops I have to jump through, but if I don't have to... I'd love not to. I'm hesitant to test it myself though as my iPod works fine right now.

Rob

Well, on further examination there is still some incompatibility :(

Here is what was done:

Load up iPod from MediaCenter
close Media Center
Open AudibleManager
Download New York Times subscription
AudibleManager automatically sent this to my iPod
Close AudibleManager

All Tracks work on ipod..things seem great

Next day, connect to MediaCenter and try to sync (I have a number of random smartlists for the iPod, makes driving much more pleasant).
watch MediaCenter present empty error window.
Try three more times.
Say "arghhhhhh" in frustration.
Format ipod.
resynch.
vow never to lease iPod in cradle when opening AudibleManager.

Sorry to get your hopes up.

Chris M

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Klingler on July 22, 2003, 06:04:17 am

Quote

Well, on further examination there is still some incompatibility :(

...

Sorry to get your hopes up.

Chris M

No problem. I was going to try it myself later this afternoon, but you saved me the frustration. I guess we'll just continue to jump through hoops.

Rob

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 22, 2003, 06:25:24 am

Marc,

Your situation should not be a problem. I will try to get to test it more today. The way the Plugin should work when you select 'Force File Conversion' is that MC will check each synching file 's(MC -> iPod) bitrate and file type. If either is different, MC will convert during the transfer. After you do this, all subsequent synchs should check to see if the file exists on iPod and if it does, it will skip the conversion (and the transfer) of the file.

This process will not work if you use other software in between your synchs, but if you use MC then all should be as I stated above and you should be all set. Please let me know if you find this not to be the case.

cct1,

Thanks.

CautionESPN and Klingler,

I will try to get this to be smoother when I have some time.

Steve

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: park on July 22, 2003, 09:15:09 am

Evening all,

Makers of media centre: not to sound ungrateful, cos the replay gain thing is fantastic, but...

it makes all the songs a closer level which is cool, but makes an album really uneven sounding. especially albums like movie soundtracks or scores where the tracks kinda flow into each other but might be different kinds of music. replay gain makes the parts with speech go really loud and then totally kills the following rock track, making it all soft and quiet. Any way to make the replay gain apply the same settings to a whole album. Would that work?

Good work though. I love the layout of mc9.1.

Goodnight.

bri

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Kurt Young on July 22, 2003, 12:31:39 pm

Steve, just a quick toss-in today, submitted for your approval:

Based on continuing confusion from the lounge and here, I would like to suggest changing the terminology "Format iPod" to something a bit less scary, like "Prepare iPod for use with MC" or "Initialize iPod" or etc.

The word "Format" traditionally means to wipe out the entire volume, and all data. Here, we're just wiping out a folder, right? Folks who've just formatted their iPod and see that all of their contacts, notes, and data files are still there are sure to start giving the screen some funny looks.

Also, people feel inconveineced, "I just did a restore, and that formatted it... why do I have to format it again?"

People could also be confused when we say "Format" and go to Windows Explorer and perform a disk format on the iPod. That's very very very very bad.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: sub-24 on July 22, 2003, 01:08:54 pm

SteveG.

I'm sure i'm not going mad but today i have reloaded latest MC9.1XX

I re-formatted and reloaded firmware on ipod.

Then i uploded 1 album with convert on fly tp mp3 160 and although a little bit better it still cut off a few seconds from most tracks.

A whole day of testing has revealed that if you convert on the fly to mp3 - 160 normal it is okay. (so far)

If you convert to mp3 -160 High Quality the problem is much worse.

So if you get a chance try converting a .ape to mp3 - 160 HQ and see if you get a cut off then.

I'm still proving it as ive only done 1 album but fingers crossed.

Let me know if you can reproduce it.

Cheers

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper on July 22, 2003, 02:01:16 pm

I haven't tested it out as much but I know that I am getting some tracks cut short (as well as some tracks cut too long. i.e. dead air at the end). I am using covert mp3 128 high speed.

Also, when uploading (without sync) files, a prompt will sometimes come up asking if I want to overwrite a pre-existing file. A box is also checked that says "Apply to all subsequent files", however each time a "conflict" comes up, it does not automatically overwrite the file, it asks me if I want to overwrite it each time. Makes it hard for me to try to automate this when the sync still does not work for me.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Mighty_A-MAN on July 22, 2003, 05:52:19 pm

Hi there,

Okay, it really seems like me having immense problems with Replay Gain on my iPod.

As advised earlier, I can't hear a difference after I analyzed all my files and activated "Apply Replay Gain on upload".

While the files show up with the Replay Gain adjustment number on my regular Media Center Library, I have only a "?" when I look at the files on my iPod (through Media Center). So the songs don't seem to be rated and as said before, I don't hear a difference anyway. Quiet songs are quite, loud songs are loud.

I use the latest version (.219) and it was neither working with .218 on my side, which is depressing. :'(

Do I have to analyze all the files twice, once for Media Center and once on my iPod? Since I'm synchronizing playlists on which the files show up with their Replay Gain Levels, I would have thought it's all just one go. (Edit: Just tried to analyze the files "on the iPod", but that's not even possible.)

Well, any help is greatly appreciated. I'm leaving to Japan in a couple of hours, and I wanted to have everything ready by then, so your quick help is even more greatly appreciated! ;)

Cheers,

Mighty A-MAN

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Mighty_A-MAN on July 22, 2003, 06:34:47 pm

Okay, me again.

It seems being working now. I don't know why and I don't know why the Replay Gain Levels are not shown on the list (I'm sure they've shown up when I originally analyzed the files). Maybe it works now because I re-formatted the iPod and synchronized again.

Thanks for your help anyay.

Take it easy,

Mighty A-MAN

Title: 2.1.219--keeps converting over and over
Post by: 7_cats on July 22, 2003, 06:44:26 pm

i'm downloding to my pod using replay gain, and it seems to convert the same songs over and over...any ideas?

thanks!

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on July 23, 2003, 09:36:46 am

Steve:

Don't know if you're still trying to figure out if you can boost the 12db limit. But here's just a little polite nudge to you. No, I don't need it, but the entire EU seems to need it.

Xplay is taking your market share from Europe. :D

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Klingler on July 24, 2003, 04:44:25 am

As requested, I'm posting this in the IPOD thread instead of it's own thread. (Might it be possible to create an IPOD forum... it's kind of tough following six or seven different threads inside this one thread. Furthermore, it seems some IPOD related posts are not told to go report here. Just a thought...)

I would like to request once again that JRiver look into PlayCounts and Stars. It is my understanding that Apple changed the behavior as of 2.0.1.

Here is the latest post on the iPodLounge forums that confirms that someone was able to get a Star Rating off their iPod without any change in firmware.

Thanks,
Rob

Quote

And just now, I was able to retrieve a STAR RATING from the play counts file! It definitely is *not* being cleared out here, guys.

First, I found the format of the Play Counts file here: http://gtkpod.sourceforge.net/Play_Counts.txt

Now, I copied off the ipod_control\Itunes\Play Counts file to my hard drive. Then I unmounted the iPod.

Using the iPod, I picked a song (311 - Down, in fact), started it playing, hit the select (center button) twice to get to the star ratings, and gave it 5 stars.

Then I hit the Next Song button to stop the song playing, put the iPod back into the dock, mounted it, and copied off the Play Counts file again.

Then I simply compared the files. What I found was that one byte had changed from a 0x00 to an 0x64.

Reading that document I posted a link to above, the Star Ratings are stored there as "# of stars * 0x14". 5 stars * 0x14=0x64. And it was in the right location in the file.

So... what's the problem here again? The Play Counts file works perfectly, at least with regards to star ratings, as far as I can tell. I did nothing special to the iPod, nothing special to the software on my machine. Works great.

Edit: This iPod is running 2.01 firmware, BTW. Also, as a check, I just unmounted and remounted the iPod. The star rating is still there after doing this. I haven't checked whether play counts themselves work or not, but I don't see any problem getting the "on the fly" star ratings off the unit.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 24, 2003, 05:15:53 am

Everyone,

Sorry to be out of touch, I am working on a project that needs all of my attention through the end of the week.

*If playcounts and star ratings now persist with 2.0.1 firmware, I will get this going soon.

*I will add a feature to boost all tracks to maximum volume which is essentially what XPlay appears to do. This will not be as slick as Replay Gain (which keeps all tracks at a relative volume) but it is pretty easily done.

8_cats,

If you have the latest 9.1 and the files are converting, this has nothing to do with Replay Gain. You must have "Force file conversion" enabled and probably are sending tracks that are either not on iPod, or are on iPod and perhaps you reimported the tunes into MC. This is my best guess as how to explain what you are seeing.

DigitalTrapper, MikeH, Park and Kurt,

I will look at these as soon as I have some available time.

Steve

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: 7_cats on July 24, 2003, 06:33:39 am

thanks steve--looks like i did have force file conversion on (whetever that does). i turned it off in my ripping widndow, and now it kicks ass--9.xx megs/sec thru a7n8x built in firewire.

this is such a great program, tho in beta id does seem crash prone.

it's sooooo complex, tho--how about a real manual so i can really ge to know it??

thanks for your exemplary support

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Josey Wales on July 24, 2003, 11:44:22 am

What's the story with my file transfer rate when syching from MC9 to iPod?

To this point I'm really enjoying MC9.0 and am thoroughly impressed with the many improvements over the other media players I've used in the past. However, one gripe I do have is the speed at which I can sync my files to my iPod (3rd Gen., 15 GB). I'm connected to my PC via a Firewire-to-USB adapter cable I purchased from Apple, and this runs directly from the iPod docking station to one of my USB 2.0 ports. I'm confident in saying my computer is relatively new and should be more than capable of supporting MC9's optimal transfer rate of my mp3 collection, but can't be the case as I'll explain.

I've just begun ripping my cd collection and to this point I have roughly 950 songs encoded at vbr mp3. When I try to sync the existing playlist (all files) to my iPod I always get the same transfer rate - 0.89 MB/s! This is unacceptable and I have read in many places that I should be getting anywhere from 4 - 7 GB/s, or around one file/second. It took me over 2 1/2 hours to transfer my library of 930 songs!

What am I doing wrong and how can I improve the speed at which MC9 copies files to my iPod.

Regards,

Jason

P.S. - I'm running MC9 v9.0.180

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ibob on July 24, 2003, 03:54:57 pm

I have just found the delights of MC9 which is a joy coming from the nasty supplied software with my ipod 30GB.

The problem is that the sync speed is 0.99MB/s therefore taking days to complete, have I done something wrong or missed an option.

Many thanks ?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Josey Wales on July 24, 2003, 04:26:35 pm

Bob,

You'll notice that my post, the one just before yours, states I'm having the same problem (0.98 MB/s). Thus far, nobody has responded to this issue but I find it hard to believe we're the only ones that are experiencing it. Hopefully, somebody who also had this problem will help us out because if there is no way around it I doubt I'll even use MC9 for transferring files. Ephpod was blazing fast, but limited in many other areas. I'm optimistic that we can get this resolved because there are so many other posts out there stating transfer speeds of between 4-7 MB/sec or faster, and I have to believe that some of them are running Windows XP Pro and connected via Firewire-to-USB 2.0 cable, which is my case.

Please, somebody, anybody, help us out with this - it's so frustrating!

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: JimH on July 24, 2003, 04:30:33 pm

Bob and Josey,
Do you have anything in common?

What other software is running?

You can check here and at ipodlounge.com and find that most people find MC very fast.

It's also always possible that we have introduced a bug.

Jim

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Juice on July 24, 2003, 04:31:04 pm

I'm having an issue that I hope someone can help with. I have tried to upload a second set of MP3s to my iPOD(first set went OK).
I send the files to the iPOD and selected "upload", all went well.... the Xfer took place and all of the folders/files showed up Ok in MC.
When I went to the iPOD to look, none of the music was there. It looks as if the HD space was taken. but the songs are not there.

I am going to re-format and try again, but would like to know if I did somethink incorrectly.

Thanks,
Nick

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on July 24, 2003, 06:55:56 pm

Steve:

Can you humour Kurt and I (and Chris) and look at this post (http://ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4803&perpage=15&pagenumber=2) over at the 'lounge.

Seems this gent has been able to access the playcounts/ratings files. I'm wondering if they didn't change something in 2.0.1 because according to him it's persistent until you unmount the iPod. Perhaps we can finally get this in?

Josey and iBob:

The speeds you're getting are not indicative of MC9. I've found it to be faster than ephpod in many ways. So, something else is up. What I would recommend doing is trying it through sync, I'm guessing you're doing Upload. Create a smartlist w/the tunes you want on the iPod, then right-click the iPod and select "Synchronize"

See if you have better results. It shouldn't make a difference, but perhaps .221 introduced a bug, not sure.

Also, are you both using USB? Although I can't imagine that would have any effect, I'm just curious is there might be some correlation.

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Josey Wales on July 24, 2003, 08:30:48 pm

Adam,

I'm not running MC9.1.xxx as of yet because I don't know enough about MC (or computers in general) to rely on a beta version. I'm still running MC 9.0.180. I did download the songs using sync as you mentioned (at least from what I think you meant by it) and the transfer rate was 0.98 MB/s. I'll try what you mentioned about creating a playlist of song to transfer to iPod (which is everything I've ripped so far) and see if it improves things. Up until now is clicked sync, then I deselect every checkbox except "All Music" box in the Auto Smartlist (Music) folder. Then I make sure that the Update Tags box is checked, then I click on OK.

I'm running XP Pro with a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4, over a gig of DDR RAM, and am connected to a USB 2.0 port using the Apple Firewire-to-USB adapter cable they sell on their website. Either way, I'll try what you mentioned (new playlist of song to send to iPod) and see what my transfer speed is that way.

If I'm misinterpretting what you suggested, please let me know as I'll try anything to get this resolved. Thanks for the reply.

Regards,

Josey Wales

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Kurt Young on July 24, 2003, 09:57:06 pm

Jason and Bob,

Just to clarify, data transfer to your iPod through other means is as fast as it should be? Like if you drag your entire music folder onto your iPod's icon (in My Computer), does it transfer fast or as slow as it does via MC9?

Just want to clarify if the problem is before or after MC and that this isn't a USB2 driver issue or something.

Steve,

What Adam said. ;)

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Bob W on July 24, 2003, 10:40:49 pm

It's late and I really apologize if this has been a common problem, but I scanned this and the prior threads and none seem to address this:

I just purchased a new iPod, 15GB. Took it out of the box, went to MC->Check for upgrades and downloaded 180, went to the plug-ins page and downloaded the iPod plug in, and hooked the unit up to my machine. After a reboot, I renamed the drive to IPOD, but despite my best efforts (including running a restore from the tool pointed to in the "instructions"), I cannot get the iPod to appear under Handhelds.

For months prior to this I had an old iPod, which worked very well. Can somebody please suggest what I should try, or what further information I need to provide?

Thanks for any help.

Bob

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Bob W on July 24, 2003, 10:48:52 pm

Quick update: I tried formatting the drive in Windows, but the max size it could do was 38MB. This, however, made it visible in MC. I didn't have the option to format for MC, but I could drag files to it.

I redid Apple's Restore thing and now MC can't see it again. If it helps, the Restore thing doesn't seem to go quite as planned... I don't get a 'plug in" picture that I know of in the middle after a disconnect....

:( I want my new iPod to work... :)

Thanks again for any help.
Bob

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 25, 2003, 05:23:21 am

Bob and Josey,

I would highly recommend getting MC 9.1.221 if you are having problems with 9.0.180. I think this and a reformat will solve your problems unless you are experiencing similar slowness with other applications which would point to a hardware problem.

Everyone,

From what I have heard, it appears 2.0.1 firmware enables playcounts and ratings so I will enable this shortly.

Steve

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on July 25, 2003, 07:47:25 am

Quote

Everyone,

From what I have heard, it appears 2.0.1 firmware enables playcounts and ratings so I will enable this shortly.

WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT!

:D :D :D

Thanks Steve that is awesome. The only program that will do that other than iTunes. How frickin' cool.

I can't wait for this......

:drools, excessively:

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Kurt Young on July 25, 2003, 07:51:51 am

Quote

<snip!>
Everyone,

From what I have heard, it appears 2.0.1 firmware enables playcounts and ratings so I will enable this shortly.

Steve

[size=8]

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWW!!!!

[/SIZE]

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: cct1 on July 25, 2003, 08:41:16 am

If you guys get playcounts and ratings working, and are able to increase the replay gain similar to what Xplay has done, you are going to have one killer application on your hands (not that it's not fantastic already).

I can't wait I can't wait I can't wait!!!!!

Thanks for looking into Steve (and everyone else for figuring out it's possible).

Excuse me, I must go now, my drool bucket runneth over and must be emptied...

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Bob W on July 25, 2003, 09:21:13 am

Thanks for the reply. Will do tonight, and I'll keep you posted on whether it works.

Bob

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Wobbley on July 25, 2003, 10:38:40 am

Bob,

You said this:

Quote

Quick update: I tried formatting the drive in Windows, but the max size it could do was 38MB. This, however, made it visible in MC. I didn't have the option to format for MC, but I could drag files to it.

.

What do you mean "the max size it could do was 38 MB"? What is "it"? WindowsXP hardrive format process? Did you mistype 38 MB and mean some other number AND GB, not MB? Did you install the iPod Service (not iPod Manager, but the Windows System Service)? To check, click start, run and type "Services.msc" and scroll through the list of services and look for one for the iPod and make sure it is set to automatic and that it is currently running.

Wobbley

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Bob W on July 25, 2003, 10:41:21 am

The only size that the XP format dialog would allow me to select was 38MB. I haven't installed any iPod service that I know of. I'll check that as well tonight.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Kurt Young on July 25, 2003, 11:55:30 am

I would strongly suggest not using any disk utilities, including Windows XP, to format or repartition your iPod's hard drive. Bad juju.

As a last resort, perhaps, but try to only format the drive with the iPod updater itself. If the updater won't see the iPod, try "forced firewire" mode.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Josey Wales on July 25, 2003, 02:24:56 pm

Here's my tale of "good news - bad news".

The Good News - I posted the other day about my abysmal transfer rates using MC9.0.180 (which was giving me about 0.98 MB/s) and have found that after intalling MC9.1.221 the transfer rate now averages around 120 MB/s. Blazing Fast!

The Bad News - Now that I have MC9.1.221, I cannot rip any audio cds. I get error/warning messages ("no audio tracks were selected for copying" or "Only audio tracks can be used for copying") regardless of which disc I try to rip.

Swapped one problem for another - thus is the story of my life. Any suggestions?

Regards,

Josey Wales

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on July 25, 2003, 02:50:37 pm

Josey:

The reason it's going so fast is that those songs are already on your iPod, so it's just updating the iPod database/checking that they songs are all there. Try deleting 10 songs off of your iPod and then reupload them. See the results then.

Regarding the ripping problem, it's probably best if your report that in the Beta thread at the top of this forum, be sure to include all your system specs. You can get that from directly in MC9, by going to Help>System Info, copy that to your clipboard and paste it into the thread you post.

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: gmonkey on July 25, 2003, 03:50:41 pm

Quote

The Bad News - Now that I have MC9.1.221, I cannot rip any audio cds.

Ripping bug has been fixed in 222. :)

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Josey Wales on July 25, 2003, 04:58:58 pm

Ripping bug fixed, tranfer speed to sync still lousy (@ least for me)! I had no issues with beta 9.1.221, but 9.1.222 & 9.0.180 are terrible for me. I'm getting....are you read for this....(simulated drum roll please) 0.89 MB/s when I sync to my iPod. If you want to see what hardware I'm using, see my posts above, but I'm really running out of patience with the sync speed issue I'm having.

I need ideas, even if they're off the cuff, on what I can do to fix this. Please reply or PM if you have any advice.

Regards,

Josey Wales

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on July 25, 2003, 05:16:01 pm

Josey:

Are you by any chance converting the files to a lower bitrate on upload? Did you mess w/any settings previously that you might have forgotton about?

Here's how to check. Select some songs, then right click and send them to the ipod.

Click on the ipod, at the bottom, there will be an Options button. Click that and see if you're doing any conversions. Those will slow things down....

If not, I'm guessing this has to be USB related. Your sure you've got USB 2 right? I know, that sounds stupid, but I have to ask....

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ugilt on July 27, 2003, 06:14:18 am

Playlist sync doesn't work.

I've added a new group of playlist and added three list in this group.
I am however undable to get this sync'ed to my wiPod
- event tried right-click send to

Any suggestions

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on July 27, 2003, 10:08:28 am

ugilt:

I did a sync w/.222 no problem. Are you saying that the new playlist group you made didn't show up in the sync dialog?

Hm...let me try that..

Nope, worked fine for me. Can you give some more specifics?

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: _K_C_ on July 27, 2003, 10:26:03 am

APE retransfers don't update tags

Steve,

Been away from the thread for a while, just listening to the music... :) Very happy that you're still working on this.

Update tags doesn't seem to work when re-transferring ape files.

I renamed an already transferred album, sent it to the IPOD, and pushed upload. Skips through the album (without trying to decode it), and finishes without an error message. (Just a guess, but maybe when the plugin decides it doesn't need to decode the ape file it skips onto the next without checking the tags?)

I think there may still be some other bugs when transcoding files. I'll try and narrow down a couple of examples to pass along.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ugilt on July 27, 2003, 12:23:09 pm

Re.: Playlist sync doesn't work.

Adam,

Added a new Plalistgroup at the root and within that 3 playlist. They did show up in the sync dialog but was not transfered to the wiPod.

Running this version:
Media Center Registered 9.1.222 -- d:\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
AMD Athlon 1529 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 251 MB

Title: OMG--windows error if i right click on ipod
Post by: 7_cats on July 27, 2003, 02:55:04 pm

and ipod says no songs on it, though 13gb are "used". i tried uninstalling and reinstalling 9.1.222 :'(

help!!! i can't sync my pod and rebuidld the database w/o the send error to microsoft message!!!!

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 27, 2003, 06:09:55 pm

ugilt and 8_cats,

Can you try to narrow down the problem. If possible, start from a clean slate (i.e Format iPod from Windows or with iPod Manager and then Format from within MC). Once the iPod is clean, ugilt, try synching or transfering just the Playlist group that is failing to see if you can identify what is wrong.

8_cats, try going to the music folder on the iPod from Windows and see if files are actually there. Were you using any other programs to access iPod after you started working with MC?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: bdjohns1 on July 28, 2003, 10:42:23 am

Quote

Bob and Josey,

From what I have heard, it appears 2.0.1 firmware enables playcounts and ratings so I will enable this shortly.

Finally, I'm convinced to spend my money on this! :D

When can we expect to see it implemented?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ugilt on July 28, 2003, 11:50:19 am

Re.: Playlist sync doesn't work.

ok, here's some more to work on.
Getting a clean slate and ONLY sync'ing the new playlist are ok.

But when adding a HUGE playlist
"00 - decade" => [Year]=2000-2009" and including this in the sync only this "00 - decade" makes it to the wiPod

The "00 - decade" is aprox. 12,6 Gig - 2.700+ files
and does also includes the songs on the new playlist.

Can it be the size of this palylist that gives the trouble?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ugilt on July 28, 2003, 11:57:16 am

Re.: Playlist sync doesn't work.

And somre more fuel and posible cause of issue

Got four playlist for 4 decades but ALL playlists are identical!

ie. [Year]=1990-1999 - 2.700+ songs
and [Year]=2000-2009 - EXACTLY SAME 2.700 songs!
- one of thier properties sayes Date (year) = "2003"

But how the h... is that popping up in the first mentioned playlist ?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ugilt on July 28, 2003, 12:58:51 pm

Re.: Playlist sync doesn't work.

ok. Did redo the def of the playlist as the format seems to have changed from the official version to the beta..

problems remains.

UN-checked twp large playlist each of 1.400+ songs

and.... it works!

My conclusion is that there seems to be a sync issue with HUGE lists

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 28, 2003, 02:23:57 pm

ugilt,

Please confirm what version of MC you have.

bdjohns1,

Not sure, but hopefully pretty soon.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper on July 28, 2003, 08:24:07 pm

ugilt, steve,
I've had this problem with HUGE playlist and syncs for a long time. I tried syncing playlists with 4000+ songs on it. I have never been able to solve this. I've been trying to upload my files little by little now, but this is very annoying.... I'd hate to have to use a different piece of software for my ipod :-(

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Bob W on July 28, 2003, 09:26:22 pm

quick update - sorry guys, my prior messages were crap. My iPod's all working well now - I had read the instructions' link posted at the beginning of this thread (I think it's this one), which implies you don't need to install anything (I think it was true for the first one); once I installed the iPod manager from the CD, all was OK.

Thanks.
Bob

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ugilt on July 28, 2003, 10:05:04 pm

SteveG

Quote

Please confirm what version of MC you have.

Running this..
Media Center Registered 9.1.222 -- d:\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
AMD Athlon 1529 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 193 MB

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 29, 2003, 05:53:51 am

Bob,

Thanks for the update.

ugilt and DigitalTrapper, I will try to duplicate the problem you report and if I can find it, then I will fix it.

Steve

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: bd6675 on July 29, 2003, 06:39:15 am

Hello there,

I have a 20g WinIpod running Win XP and MC9 (9.0.149)and when I try to sync 2 songs that have the same song title (for example: Johnny 99 by the Boss and Johnny 99 by Los Lobos) it will duplicate one of the versions so that I get two versions of the Springsteen version and it does not add the Los Lobos version. I have looked all over to try and figure out what setting causes this but have been unsuccessful. Any ideas? I thought that the "Overwrite existing files that have the same name" option might have something to do with this, however, I just checked and it was not selected. Basically I just want to ensure that if I add a song with the same song title as an existing song on my Ipod that it will not overwrite one of the versions.

Thanks,

Chris

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: tlongacre on July 29, 2003, 07:04:54 am

A couple of things:

I've had this problem since my very first version of MC9, I think -- it will sometimes just flip open the CD/Disk item and flip it closed, open, closed, open, closed. uncontrollably. When it does this sometimes I can be quick enough to click on the right thing to sync my iPod, sometimes I can't. Any idea what this is about?

This is new in my current version. When I sync, I often get MC9 telling me I'll have -.2G (or something like that) available after sync. I remove a bunch of items from the playlist I'm syncing, but the number doesn't change. If I manually check and know I have enough space, go ahead with the sync, then it works fine and I don't go over the limit.

Media Center Registered 9.1.218 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows 98 SE
Intel Pentium III 499 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 261 MB, Free - 15 MB
Resource Info: System - 28 %, GDI - 61 %, User - 28 %

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.81 / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1106 / Shell32.dll: 4.72.3812.600 / wnaspi32.dll: 4.71 (0001) , ASPI for Win32 (95/NT) DLL, Copyright © 1989-2002 Adaptec, Inc. / Aspi32.sys: N/A

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

Burning / Drive G: PLEXTOR CD-R PX-W4012A Addr: 0:0:0 Speed:40 MaxSpeed:40 Use MJ Engine:Yes
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: Yes / Direct decoding: Yes / Write CD-Text: No
Use playback settings: No / Normalization: None

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Josey Wales on July 29, 2003, 08:30:08 am

Well, here's what I've done and seen since trying your suggestions. I reformatted the iPod using the iPod Manager, then I opened MC and formatted my iPod for MC, meaning I should be now working with a clean iPod, correct? Then I right clicked on the iPod and selected Sync. I made sure that the only fire (checkbox) selected for synching was the "All Music" playlist, then I clicked on the Options box just to make sure that I didn't have anything selected inside here (nothing was). I then reconfirmed that All Music was the only checkbox marked. I noticed a message on the bottom of the sync box that said, "Space Available After Sync: 8.0 GB" so I knew that I was only trying to send about 940 mp3s (everything/the only stuff I have ripped so far and the only thing inside MC). Then I clicked OK to begin the synching and things started off promising. I noticed a transfer rate of just over 10 MB/s, but this only lasted for about 10 seconds, at which point I got that familiar error message, "Available Size Exceeded. Transfer Cancelled."

Then, to make things worse my iPod drive (F-drive completely disappears after hitting OK to close the error message box. I cannot regain my iPod directory unless I completely restart my computer (simply closing MC and opening it again doesn't do it), and sometimes even that doesn't work!

To get a better feel for my list of problems, check out the following thread at ipodloung.com at http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5077&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

These multiple issues are driving me nuts. If it's not one things it's another. I venture to say that if we can figure out what this problem is the result of, another will step in and assume its place in no time.

Am I missing something here? Am I doing something wrong? Did I misunderstand your recommendations? Really, I'm asking sincerely because I don't know what else to do. Please let me know. By the time I get this straightened out the Gen. 4 models will likely be out......

Regards,

Josey Wales

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: JimH on July 29, 2003, 09:23:03 am

Josey,
That sounds like it could be a hardware or driver problem.

Just as a test, try synching small playlists, one by one.

I saw a similar problem once with a USB to Ethernet adaptor. It was fine if you transferred small files, but it died when you tried to transfer a lot of big files.

Jim

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Wobbley on July 29, 2003, 10:59:09 am

Josey Wales,

What kind of firewire card are you using? I'm willing to bet that's your problem...

Wobbley

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Josey Wales on July 29, 2003, 11:03:20 am

Wobbley - I'm not using a firewire card/port, I'm using USB 2.0. I bought the optional firewire-to-usb adapter cable off the Apple website when I purchased my iPod.

Jim H. - It could very well be a USB driver issue, I'm just not sure how to get the proper drivers back in place. Inside the device manager everything under USB controllers looked fine (i.e. no yellow or red marks next to any of them), however I did think it was odd for me to be showing 14 different items within the USB controllers tree since I only have 8 USB 2.0 ports.

Any ideas/suggestions/recommendations?

Josey

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: JimH on July 29, 2003, 11:06:42 am

Josey,
Did you check Apple or the manufacturer of the device for any updates or tips?

Did you try synching small playlists?

Jim

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: sbh718 on July 29, 2003, 01:11:47 pm

I thought I'd try my new 30g ipod out on MC, having previously used ephpod with my older 10g ipod. (Ephpod transferred songs well, but I wanted the ability to play and edit my playlists before transfer, which MC does and ephpod doesn't.) I just can't get MC to work, however, despite following Adam Shawley's tutorial to the letter. First, I uploaded 6g's, very, very slowly, only to find that the playlists didn't transfer and the ipod wouldn't open when I undocked it. I then did another restore, and when I tried to format the ipod for mc, was unable to find the "format ipod for MC" command in the drop down menu. It seems obvious that unless I have the ipod specifically formatted for MC, it won't sync. Does anyone know how to get this command? Does anyone know how to transfer playlists (my m3u playlists open up nicely on MC, but they just don't seem to transfer). Help would be very much appreciated, since MC seems like the best all around ipod music manager (MMJB was terrible!)

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on July 29, 2003, 04:59:52 pm

sbh718:

You should be able to access the iPod from the CDs, DVDs and Handhelds tree item in MC9. Is it showing up there?

If not, make sure you've named the iPod in My Comuter as "IPOD" (no quotes). I think my help guide has instructions for this, just right click the iPod in My Computer, select properties and on the General tab is the volume name, make sure it says iPod.

Once that's done, you should be able to right click it (under CDs, DVDs and Handhelds) and select Format for MC). Once that's done, right click again and select Synchronize. Choose the playlists/smartlists your've make and you're off.

It shouldn't take a long time. You should get faster speeds (or at a minimum at least as fast) as what you got w/ephpod.

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on July 29, 2003, 05:03:37 pm

Josey:

I've thought of a little test that we haven't tried yet. I feel quite lame that I haven't thought of this before....

Let's copy some tunes to the iPod using My Computer just to test out your connection.

Grab like 50 mp3s. Copy them and then just paste them to the root of your iPod drive in My Computer.

See how long it takes. If the speed is typical (1 song a second) it should take, well, 50 seconds or so. I'd say the range should be w/in 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Adam.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: bd6675 on July 30, 2003, 05:23:02 am

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 30, 2003, 05:39:05 am

Chris,

What version of MC are you running? If older than 9.1.220, please update to 9.1.224 and retest.

Adam,

Thanks for your suggestions to Josey and sbh718.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Josey Wales on July 30, 2003, 08:07:31 am

Jim H., Adam, and whoever else will listen:

Well, here's my latest update. Trials and Tribulations, part 25:

Last night I spent most of my night on the phone with the tech support staff from both Dell and Apple trying hone in on the problem. Here's where that "got me":

Dell: While stumbling over the language barrier hurdle (all Dell tech support is contracted out to India), my goal was to verify that I had the right drivers installed for my USB 2.0 ports. We've discussed how my transfer speeds (0.89 MB/s) seem to be more consistent with USB 1.1 or 1.0 and not 2.0 so I thought maybe somehow my USB drivers were lost or corrupted. I felt it would be a fairly simple process, but I didn't know how to do it on my own so I called on Dell for guidance. We talked for about an hour trying various things and at the end of our discussion the tech rep said that I now could be sure I had the right drivers in place. I have to say that I'm not very confident in her statement, mainly because they follow a premade step-by-step guide to troubleshoot customer problems as opposed to going off of experience and personal knowledge. Nevertheless I am forced (until I find out how to do this on my own) to believe that I have the right drivers in place and my USB ports should not be an issue. Then I decided to call Apple....

Apple: I wanted to talk to Apple about the error message I was getting - the one that was telling me that I didn't have enough space available to complete the file transfer, then it would terminate the sync and then I would lose my F-drive icon within MC (not the exact wording of the message obviously, but you get the idea). The Apple rep was quick to point out that they only supported MMJB version 7.5 and nothing else. He asked me if I did a complete iPod restore (which I did), if I was running the latest iPod software version 2.0.1 (which I am) and I had formatted my iPod for use with the various applications I was trying to use (which I also had done). He basically had two comments for me. First, he said that I should not be using anything other than MMJB v7.5 or he wouldn't be able to help me. I told him that I new of many other users of other apps (MC, Ephpod, XPlay, and even MMJB v8.0) that weren't having any issues but he insisted that I use MMJB v7.5 or he wouldn't be able to help me. Second, he said that I could very easily have a malfunctioning iPod and there could be a problem with its hard drive. He told me to go back to using MMJB v7.5 and see what happens. He also gave me a website link to use if I wanted to send it in for service (inspection/repair).

At the end of the phone conversations I was no closer to a solution and felt as frustrated and depressed as I have since getting the iPod. Here I have this brand new iPod and I can't use it for one reason or another. It's my $400 paperweight, along with the costs of buying MMJB and all their future releases ($60, I know, I'm an idiot but it was before I knew about MC) and the $40 I just shelled out for MC, plus various iPod accessories (FM transmitter, firewire-to-usb adapter cable, etc.) - all in all we're talking about $550 worth of stuff that doesn't work!

Adam - I'll try your latest suggestion tonight and see what happens. Forgive me if I'm less than optimistic about it working, but I do appreciate you help throughout this ordeal.

Apple can't help me because they claim it's a problem with my computer or the application I using (if other than MMJB v7.5), Dell can 't help me because they say it's a problem with the iPod or the software I'm running with it, and JRiver can't help me because apparently my problems are the result of a bad iPod or something screwed up with my computer. WHO CAN HELP! Running in circles, not getting anywhere.

I feel a little better having let that out :-[ - sorry about that:rolleyes: but you can probably imagine what I'm going through. Still open for ideas if you've got em.

Josey Wales

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: gmonkey on July 30, 2003, 08:13:23 am

Josey,
Try using your iPod on a friend's computer. If you have any friends that own an iPod, be sure to test their iPod on your computer. At least that'll narrow it down to whether it's the iPod or not.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: JimH on July 30, 2003, 08:16:12 am

Did you try synching small playlists? Just to test?

Can you try a standard firewire card? The USB to Ethernet adaptor is the odd thing about your setup.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Josey Wales on July 30, 2003, 10:27:20 am

gmonkey - unfortunately, I don't have any friends that have an iPod for a trial.

JimH - likewise, I don't have access to a firewire card to try this out, short of going to buy one specifically for this purpose. I will try to sync a small playlist tonight and see how that goes, but I'm doubtful it'll work because when I currently try to sync my entire collection it only gets about four songs into it before I get the error message. I'm certain that there a many iPod users out there that are utilizing the firewire-to-usb cable to transfer their songs, and I have yet to hear of any similar problems so I'm left perplexed.

Josey

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Kurt Young on July 30, 2003, 10:45:38 am

If you're in the Seattle area, I'll come over and help you myself! 8)

Again, that transfer speed sounds like USB1 not USB2. I'm interested in seeing how the "I'm just going to drag and drop a few hundred megs of data onto my iPod's drive letter in Windows Explorer" test goes. If that goes incredibly slow, then the good news is that it's just a USB thing. Maybe Dell put some USB2 ports and some USB1 ports on your machine and you just have to figure out which are which? Maybe it is a driver issue.

I'm hopeful that it'll work out for you Josey.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: maruch on July 30, 2003, 11:07:59 am

does anyone know if MC works with the new ipod? Should I use the old ipod plug-ins?

thanks

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: gmonkey on July 30, 2003, 11:16:48 am

Works fine with my new third generation 30G iPod. Use either the current 9.0.180 or the new beta versions.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Josey Wales on July 30, 2003, 11:50:34 am

Kurt - I live just north of Green Bay, Wisconsin, so unfortunately that's a little outside of your "offer area." Man, I sure wish I did live near some of you experts out there though, it would save me a lot of trouble. Anyway, thanks for the offer Kurt and all of you others out there offering suggestions, recommendations, tips, etc. I'll let you guys know how the transfer of files goes while using Windows Explorer (if it even works for me).

From what I've been told/read, USB ports are USB ports, and it's the drivers/software that dictate whether they are USB 1.0, USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 - there is no physical difference between them - could be wrong on this though. Maybe it's a driver issue that is restricting my transfer speed so much, and that would be great if that's all it turned out to be because I think I could fix that without too much trouble. But, it still wouldn't explain the latest problem I'm having, the "not enough space available to transfer files" error message I get now. This error pops up after just the first three or four songs have been copied over to an empty 15 GB iPod (just restored, reformatted, etc.) using the sync option, then my iPod drive completely disappears from the MC tree on the left and cannot be regained without a reboot. That's why this is so confusing to me - the problems I seem to have don't have any obvious links.

Keep the comments coming, I appreciate any and all input.

Regards,

Josey Wales

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Wobbley on July 30, 2003, 12:55:59 pm

Josey,

Are all 8 USB ports using drivers that make them USB 2.0? (I am basing this on the statement you made about there being no physical difference between USB 1.1 and 2.0; that it's only a driver issue)? I ask this because my MoBo has USB ports in the rear that are supposedly 1.1, and then it (the MoBo) came with a 3 1/2 box that has 4 USB 2.0 ports. I guess maybe I'm thinking that (a) there is a physical difference between USB 1.1 and 2.0 ports, (b) you have both 1.1 and 2.0 on your PC, and (c) you are inadvertently plugging the iPod into a 1.1 port and not a 2.0 port?

Wobbley

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Kurt Young on July 30, 2003, 02:14:15 pm

I believe that there are a large amount of physical differences between the styles of USB -- on the inside only, though. The plugs/sockets are all the same shape and have the same amount of pins/leads. However, the bus, architecture, and circuitry are very different indeed. That's why you need good USB2 drivers -- it's essentially different hardware.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: nekura on July 30, 2003, 03:34:54 pm

Don't forget about this (http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/06/18/2025210&mode=nested&tid=137) little tidbit.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Empyrean on July 30, 2003, 05:43:31 pm

Two Requests:

Can you add "iPod" next to the drive letter or something for when the iPod is plugged in? It looks sort of weird just having (E:).

Also, it would also be nice if while synchronizing it would show the artist name in addition to the song title.

Thanks!

// AJ

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on July 30, 2003, 06:33:46 pm

Empyrean:

A long time ago, Steve had a lot more information in the sync window. The problem that you ran into was that the information got cut off. It was then suggested by a lot of us to just include the song title. I think this speed things up as well.

Just so you know it was tried before.

I personally like just the song, not sure what others feel like..

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Josey Wales on July 30, 2003, 06:46:44 pm

Well, here's another disappointing update in my continuing saga:

On a side note, I installed Windows Service Pack 1 tonight. I thought I already had it but apparently not. Anyway, it couldn't hurt anything and I figured it may install some new, more appropirate USB 2.0 drivers.

Now, back to the update. Adam, and some others, you suggested I try to copy a few mp3s over to my iPod using Windows Explorer, so here's that frustrating story. I tried to copy over one album's worth of songs (9 songs in this case). The following is the error message that appeared, "Cannot copy 09 - Will it Bleed. Cannot find specified file. Make sure you specify the correct path and filename." Not sure what that means, but regardless it didn't work.

So then I tried to create a playlist that only included a couple of mp3s within MC9, then I wanted to try to sync only that small playlist - 4 songs. I made sure that "Delete songs not in sync" and "Update Tags" was check, then I verified that my new (small) playlist was the only one checked for the sync and hit OK. Here's that error message, "Available size exceeded, transfer cancelled." It did manage to copy one of the four songs, but still a dismal failure. That particular playlist was only 27.3 MB, and it was being sent to a 15 GB iPod with absolutely nothing on it so it makes no sense whatsoever.

Really, again, I'm out of ideas and continue to have no patience left:confused: . What in the hell else is there left to try? I've been out of ideas, and your ideas have been great but unforrunately I can't seem to get anything to work.

I'll leave to floor open to you guys again. Where do we go from here? What's left to try? I'm all ears.....again.

Regards,

Jason

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper on July 30, 2003, 08:57:11 pm

Steve,
Here's some more info on the problem I have been having with MC crashing (with out an error message) during syncs with conversions. After a reformat, I start a sync... halfway through I manually cancel it by pressing the CANCEL button (since I am converting all my files and it is taking a great deal of time... usually a few nights). MC cancels it with no problem and it looks like all is well. If I try to resync now to finish loading the rest, it crashes instantly.
If I rebuild the database before resyncing, it starts to scan the files, and skips over a bunch before crashing.
If I try to sync without conversion, it works. No problems. So what's up with the conversion process? How can I get all my songs on here and convert them too? If I converted them with another program and then uploaded the converted songs, MC and ipod won't know that the converted songs on the ipod are the same as the ones on the playlist I want to sync... so they will get uploaded again right? :-(
Using the latest verion posted today. Please try testing this out and let me know

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ugilt on July 30, 2003, 11:09:58 pm

Re.: Playlist sync doesn't work.

Quote

ugilt and DigitalTrapper, I will try to duplicate the problem you report and if I can find it, then I will fix it.

Any luck with this - I really needs a couple af large playlist..

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on July 31, 2003, 10:34:46 am

Steve:

I don't want to take any time away from that mad coding your doing to get Playcounts and Ratings in (work, man, work!) :)

Just wondering though, did you ever determine if you could boost the maximum Replay Gain level above 12DB? This would help our our euro-podders across the pond, or at least the hard of hearing ones. ;)

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on July 31, 2003, 10:35:35 am

ugilt,

Using 9.1.225 on XP with a cleanly formatted iPod, I just synched a playlist of 1500 files with no problem. I would send more, but it is all I have. Can anyone confirm a failure with a similar test.

digitaltrapper,

Using 9.1225 on XP with a cleanly formatted iPod, I synched a playlist of 1500 files with conversion on from .mp3 128kbps to .mp3 32 kbps(to save time). I hit cancel after 110 files. No problem. Restarted synch. First 110 files skipped, conversion still going. I will edit this if I run into problems later, but for now it looks good. Can anyone confirm a failure with a similar test?

Jason,

Quote

"Cannot copy 09 - Will it Bleed. Cannot find specified file. Make sure you specify the correct path and filename." Not sure what that means, but regardless it didn't work.

What happens if you try to play this file in MC? Perhaps the file or path is bad.

In regards to the available size, what does Windows Explorer report is the available size on your iPod?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: gmonkey on July 31, 2003, 10:54:49 am

Well, I can't confirm the problem, but I can confirm that it works for some of us. Just last night, with .225, I did a sync of several (10?) large playlists that totalled in the status dialog over 7,000 songs. In reality, in only had about 4,000 physical files, and it only had to upload probably about 100 files with none on the iPod to delete.

But, the final statement here is: it worked fine.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper on July 31, 2003, 06:17:21 pm

well, i don't know why I can't sync large playlists or why MC crashes when I do. But if I create smartlists that cut down the large playlist into smaller ones of about 500 files, it seems to work. So there definately something funny about large playlists and syncing with conversion (on my machine at least). Here is a new problem that I am getting now that these "smaller" versions of my large playlist are being uploaded.
When I sync MC decodes and converts a certain number of files then, for whatever reason, it starts to decode and convert the same files it just coverted. It's not uploading duplicates or anything. It seems like I have to cancel a sync when this happens and when I continue it's usually ok.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle on August 01, 2003, 02:14:38 am

Some of the posters in this thread commented that they seemed to notice a pattern between converting when synching, and the ends of some songs on the iPod getting cut off early. I just wanted to say that I get this problem but I am NOT converting -- ALL of my songs are ripped as 160kbps mp3's, and this is a common problem for me.

I finally had a chance to do some listenning and I have run into this problem once again. As per Steve's request, I'll be sending him a couple files (including the iTunesDB file from the iPod from both before and after an MC format and full sync.) Regardless of whether or not this issue has anything to do with MC, hopefully these files will help get to the bottom of this issue.

Larry

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on August 01, 2003, 05:51:37 am

DigitalTrapper,

Go to Tools->Options->File Naming and Location and check the path to your 'Temporary File Location'. Go to this folder and see if you have many files there that have not been removed for some reason. Delete those files and try synching again. Does your PC have plenty of available storage space?

In regards to your new problem, are you running 9.1.225? If so, isolate some files where you see this and create a playlist of just those files. Synch this playlist with conversion and see if it happens.

lalittle,

I will look at the files you send. Please verify that with the files you send, they will not be cut off if transferred with another software program to iPod.

Steve

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: swordfish on August 01, 2003, 06:40:25 am

sound quality is just bad no mather which software i use
i uploaded some music for testing
but every song sounds like its coming out of a tunnel
if there is any voice its hard to hear and also has a echo
i tried about everything so i got no idea what causes this

anybody has an idea what this is ?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Josey Wales on August 01, 2003, 06:50:50 am

Quote

Jason,

What happens if you try to play this file in MC? Perhaps the file or path is bad.

In regards to the available size, what does Windows Explorer report is the available size on your iPod?

Steve,

I can play the songs fine within MC, so I know the filepath is OK. When I click on my iPod in Windows Explorer it's telling me that I have 13.98xxx GB of space available. Even after a fresh fomat in Windows, restoring the iPod using iPod Manager, then fomatting for MC I still get the same error messages.

I've had others with much more expertise and experience with both iPod and MC both who are getting the exact same problems I'm seeing so I know it's not just me doing something wrong.

I'm now truly starting to believe that my iPod is malfunctioning and needs service. Wish I could just send it in and exchange it for a 30 GB model, that is if they find out it is defective.

I'm out of ideas.......

Josey/Jason

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper on August 01, 2003, 09:15:16 am

Steve,
I checked my temp folder like you suggested and you are right. There are 432mb in there that have not been deleted. There are multiple copies of songs, and these songs are the ones that I have noted as being "reconverted" again and again during one sync. I'm going to delete them and see if that fixes everything. I have 5+gb free so I don't think space was really an issue.

UPDATE: It's still happening. So far it doesn't look like it is releated to certain tracks, it looks like it starts to repeat the first 10 tracks that it uploaded durring that sync, so it doesn't seem to be recognizing that it just transcoded and uploaded them. This happens every time, so unless i cancel a sync when this happens, and restart it, no new songs get put on (except the initial 10 that it keeps trying to redo).
Also, when the sync is in process, it initially scans through a bunch of songs where "conversion is not applicable" untill it comes to a song on a playlist that is not on the ipod... then it will convert 10 songs before it "saves tags" and uploads those songs to the ipod. However, after saving the tags the sync window does not show the full size of the playlist. In other words, it says "syncing xx of 386" when really there are 500 songs in the playlist. Songs 1-375 go by really fast because they are already on the ipod, and the last 10 songs are the ones that it just converted. After it finishes, it starts to reconvert the original 10 instead of moving on to a new bunch.
Now each time I cancel the sync when this happens, and restart it, a new 10 songs get converted, and the sync window has the playlist total increased by 10 (i.e. "syncing xx of 396" instead of "386")

Hope that helps.

Now that I hear all of this USB stuff Joosey is having problems with, I thought I should point out that I am using USB too. Not that I think that this has anything to do with my problem though.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Kurt Young on August 01, 2003, 09:48:47 am

One quickie from cc:

I was fiddling with my hardware last night. Now, I have a Zip100 internal drive that shows up as my E: drive. My iPod shows up as my F: drive.

When I use the iPod-shaped "Portable download" button, MC9 tries to send my stuff to the Zip, probably because its drive letter comes first. Is this configurable? Is there a way to prompt the user to configure it if it hasn't been configured?

And where's my pretty iPod icon, dude? :)

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on August 01, 2003, 11:21:03 am

For those of you following the Josey incident....

He and I got online last night and I remoted to his PC. It's definitley either something w/his USB or his iPod. The iPod is being periodically dropped from the computer, you'll see it just disappear from My Computer as a drive.

When this happens while copying files (through explorer), Explorer returns the confusing error message that it could't find the file it's trying to copy. It's should report that it can't find the drive anymore..but whatever.

So, not MC9 related. Definitely iPod/PC related. Now it's either switch to a firewire card or return the iPod. It was going at USB2 speeds though.

Very strange....

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Kurt Young on August 01, 2003, 12:27:45 pm

Quote

For those of you following the Josey incident....

He and I got online last night and I remoted to his PC. It's definitley either something w/his USB or his iPod. The iPod is being periodically dropped from the computer, you'll see it just disappear from My Computer as a drive.

When this happens while copying files (through explorer), Explorer returns the confusing error message that it could't find the file it's trying to copy. It's should report that it can't find the drive anymore..but whatever.

So, not MC9 related. Definitely iPod/PC related. Now it's either switch to a firewire card or return the iPod. It was going at USB2 speeds though.

Very strange....

OMG, I had a problem similar to this at my house.

Using my new Adaptec firewire card, sometimes I'll get "Delayed write" failures, sometimes, the F: drive will just vanish, and sometimes it says "can't find file" just like you described.

You know how I fixed it? I plugged into a different port on the card. Seriously. After I did that, and it worked, I just stood there staring at it for a while, wondering why Adaptec made some ports better than others. It makes no sense, but there ya have it.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Wobbley on August 01, 2003, 12:58:27 pm

I had the same problem of my iPod just disappearing as a drive letter and thus, MC. I tried multiple things to fix it (at the same time), so I'm not sure which one fixed it, but I:

1) Moved my firewire card to a diff. PCI slot
2) Ensured that iPod Manager had "enable firewire mode" checked
3) Plugged firewire cable into different firewire port (after moving firewire card).

Maybe try each of these (with USB card) and see if that helps? If it doesn't, I would buy a firewire card and see if that works.

Wobbley

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on August 01, 2003, 01:28:11 pm

swordfish,

Are you saying that the files sound fine when played within MC, but sound different on the iPod?

Josey,

Everyone is giving you some excellent suggestions (thanks all). The only one I would add is check if you have MusicMatch installed. If you do, remove it or rename the MusicMatch folder to be sure that it is not trying to grab control of the iPod.

DigitalTrapper,

Are you running MC 9.1.225? I just successfully retested this doing the following.

1) Create a playlist with 22 files
2) Start synch with conversion.

All files transfer correctly in three stages, 10, 10 and 2.

Can you repeat this exact test on a clean iPod? Can anyone else verify this test either positively or negatively with MC 9.1.225.

Kurt,

I am going to revamp that whole button eventually and add the icon one of these days. First I want to tackle playcounts and star ratings.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Kurt Young on August 01, 2003, 03:25:43 pm

Quote

<snip!>
Kurt,

I am going to revamp that whole button eventually and add the icon one of these days. First I want to tackle playcounts and star ratings.
<snip!>

In the immortal words of Chris Rock,

Perfect!

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper on August 01, 2003, 05:43:46 pm

Steve,
Turns out that I am only getting that problem with one of the playlists. Don't know what the hell is so different about that playlist that makes it screw up. All I can think of is that there were some files on that playlist already on the ipod. So it was not neccesarily converting all the files on the playlist, but skipping over the first hundred or so. I'm reluctant to start with a clean ipod at this point since I've been getting good results with the other playlists so far, and it has been so long since I've been able to enjoy my ipod I just want to load it up as best I can and then listen. Yes I am using the latest version.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: tlongacre on August 02, 2003, 09:55:06 am

posted this once. got no replies, not even an acknowledgement. trying again.

A couple of things:

I've had this problem since my very first version of MC9, I think -- it will sometimes just flip open the CD/Disk item and flip it closed, open, closed, open, closed. uncontrollably. When it does this sometimes I can be quick enough to click on the right thing to sync my iPod, sometimes I can't. Any idea what this is about?

This is new in my current version. When I sync, I often get MC9 telling me I'll have -.2G (or something like that) available after sync. I remove a bunch of items from the playlist I'm syncing, but the number doesn't change. If I manually check and know I have enough space, go ahead with the sync, then it works fine and I don't go over the limit.

Media Center Registered 9.1.218 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows 98 SE
Intel Pentium III 499 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 261 MB, Free - 15 MB
Resource Info: System - 28 %, GDI - 61 %, User - 28 %

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.81 / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1106 / Shell32.dll: 4.72.3812.600 / wnaspi32.dll: 4.71 (0001) , ASPI for Win32 (95/NT) DLL, Copyright © 1989-2002 Adaptec, Inc. / Aspi32.sys: N/A

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

Burning / Drive G: PLEXTOR CD-R PX-W4012A Addr: 0:0:0 Speed:40 MaxSpeed:40 Use MJ Engine:Yes
Test mode: No / Eject after writing: Yes / Direct decoding: Yes / Write CD-Text: No
Use playback settings: No / Normalization: None

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: gmonkey on August 02, 2003, 10:02:19 am

Quote

posted this once. got no replies, not even an acknowledgement. trying again.

Well, most of us don't post if we have nothing overly useful to say on the subject. Most of us are just fellow users, not JRiver folks. And, at least for me, I've never seen the problems you're having.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: JimH on August 02, 2003, 10:42:53 am

On the open, close, open, close problem.... did you uninstall or rename Musicmatch? See Steve's or Adam's instructions. As gmonkey said, nobody knows what it is.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Henk on August 02, 2003, 03:36:53 pm

Quote

quick update - sorry guys, my prior messages were crap. My iPod's all working well now - I had read the instructions' link posted at the beginning of this thread (I think it's this one), which implies you don't need to install anything (I think it was true for the first one); once I installed the iPod manager from the CD, all was OK.

Thanks.
Bob

Hi,

I'm in the same situation, however I still have a 2nd Gen iPod and I still want to use that with the same computer. Can I safely install the 3rd Gen iPod soffware and still use the 2nd Gen iPod. The Apple site warns not to use the 2.0.1 updater with the 1st or 2nd Gen iPods.

Anybody done this or know what to do?

Thanks,

Henk

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: TimB on August 02, 2003, 06:03:38 pm

Quote

Media Center Registered 9.1.218 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows 98 SE

If Jim's suggestion doesn't work I'd suggest getting the latest, greatest version of MC to make sure this is still happening. :)

-=Tim=-

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: bdjohns1 on August 03, 2003, 08:39:54 am

From a discussion over at the lounge, Adam suggested that I post this link over here about the whole playcounts/ratings stuff:

http://gtkpod.sourceforge.net/Play_Counts.txt

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on August 03, 2003, 06:06:31 pm

Digitaltrapper,

Hard to say what is unique about that playlist. When you say there were some files already on iPod from that playlist, if they were uploaded with another program, this could definitely be a problem. All of the synching works quickly because I use a unique identifier assigned by MC. If you uploaded files with another program, this may not work because it would not know the MC number.

tlongacre,

Don't be offended by no reply, it was an oversite. Sometimes things slip through the cracks. Anyway...

Quote

I think -- it will sometimes just flip open the CD/Disk item and flip it closed, open, closed, open, closed. uncontrollably. When it does this sometimes I can be quick enough to click on the right thing to sync my iPod, sometimes I can't. Any idea what this is about?

I am not following the problem. Is this after you connect your iPod of just as soon as you start MC whether the iPod is connected or not? Do you have auto synch enabled? What version of MC are you currently running?

Henk,

Whichever iPod/firmware you have, we should be compatible.

bdjohns1,

Thanks.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper on August 03, 2003, 07:23:34 pm

Steve,
All the files currently on my ipod were uploaded with MC after a fresh reformat. My main playlist (that causes MC to crash when I try to sync with convert) has about 4000 songs. I made about 10 smartlists that divide this up into smaller playlists. So far 2 of the 10 playlists are not recognizing the first 10 songs that were uploaded after it uploads them, and keeps converting them instead of moving on to the next song in the playlist.
I've tried to make a new smartlist with the same search strings defined (so that they have identical songs) and this problem still occurs.
I'll try breaking down these playlists into even smaller ones to see if that helps. Any other tests I should run to try to figure out what is different with these playlists?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on August 04, 2003, 05:40:51 am

Digitaltrapper,

For testing, if you can, wipe the iPod clean and try creating a new library and import the contents of the problematic playlists and then try the sync. If all works, then the problem is not the plugin and is something screwed up with the files in MC. If it still fails, then we can continue to try to troubleshoot this.

Thanks,

Steve

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley on August 04, 2003, 09:10:42 am

Steve:

Just as an FYI, I pulled up my Playcounts file on my 1.3 2nd gen iPod and there was data in there. Not sure if you can use it (obviously ratings won't be in there), but it should help the 1st and 2nd geners.

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper on August 04, 2003, 02:18:46 pm

Steve,
At this point I am not ready to wipe my ipod clean just yet. I've been struggling with it for so long, and right now I've got most of my music on here-- so it's a big accomplishment for me.
Anyway, I've tried a couple of interesting things. I created a new playlist (playlist A) and DRAGED 2 albums from the playlist that keeps messing up. I tried to sync playlist A and guess what... It messes up too.
But I also created another new playlist (playlist B) and instead of using the old playlist to drag the files from, I went directly into the MC library to them and copied them into playlist B. Now guess what. It synced with no problems!!
Very strange. Maybe this gives you some more info to work with without having me do a reformat.

Thanks

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle on August 04, 2003, 08:18:50 pm

Quote

lalittle,

I will look at the files you send. Please verify that with the files you send, they will not be cut off if transferred with another software program to iPod.

Steve

Regarding the problem with some songs being cut off early, I verified that the same three files synched using Ephpod do NOT have this problem. I alternated back and forth between MC and Ephpod about 8 times (4 synchs each with each program.) I did full iPod restores in between each synch, and the results were totally consistant -- tracks always cut off early when using MC, and always played to the end when using Ephpod. These were the EXACT same tracks.

Steve - I'm sending you two sets of files -- one set from the MC config and one from the Ephpod config. I included the 3 songs transferred from the iPod along with the iTunesDB file. Hopefully this will reveal the problem. I also posted a more detailed report in another thread that specifically addresses this problem since it can be a bit more difficult to follow a specific issue in this thread.

Thanks for looking into this,

Larry

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: CautionESPN on August 05, 2003, 05:40:29 am

Just a quick "Me Too" I'm experiencing the same issue with songs being cut off at random times. I havent tested to this degree though.

Quote

Regarding the problem with some songs being cut off early, I verified that the same three files synched using Ephpod do NOT have this problem. I alternated back and forth between MC and Ephpod about 8 times (4 synchs each with each program.) I did full iPod restores in between each synch, and the results were totally consistant -- tracks always cut off early when using MC, and always played to the end when using Ephpod. These were the EXACT same tracks.

Steve - I'm sending you two sets of files -- one set from the MC config and one from the Ephpod config. I included the 3 songs transferred from the iPod along with the iTunesDB file. Hopefully this will reveal the problem. I also posted a more detailed report in another thread that specifically addresses this problem since it can be a bit more difficult to follow a specific issue in this thread.

Thanks for looking into this,

Larry

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: tlongacre on August 05, 2003, 06:52:06 am

Quote

I am not following the problem. Is this after you connect your iPod of just as soon as you start MC whether the iPod is connected or not? Do you have auto synch enabled? What version of MC are you currently running?

version of MC was in my post 218, I think. I'll upgrade to the next one when 227 is out 'cause it sounds like it will clear up a WMA problem I am having. However, this issue has been rather persistent since I started using MC9 in beta months ago. It did go away, I think with the last one or two production releases, or it became so infrequent as to not bother me.

This definitely happens when the iPod is connected, but I have also had it happen when only a CD was in my player and no iPod.

When I click on the CD/Drives item, to open it up and see what is below, it will start opening and closing and opening and closing at will and faster than I can click on one of the subitems and take some action (e.g. right click on the iPod drive and choose synchronize). Generally once this starts there is really nothing I can do to stop it. Sometimes it does not happen so quickly and I can get in there and get it started doing something. Sometimes the opening & closing action interferes with MC's ability to do anything.

I do not have autosync enabled.

It seems to me that this happens after MC has been open for awhile (half an hour?). Could it be a resource issue?

This kind of thing makes it so that I cannot really use MC for anything other than synching my iPod. When I want to rip CDs, I close everything else on my computer, rip for awhile when I do not need the computer for anything else. Until it crashes or starts some weird behavior like this or I run out of resources on the computer and have to reboot.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ugilt on August 05, 2003, 08:32:47 am

Quote

ugilt,

Using 9.1.225 on XP with a cleanly formatted iPod, I just synched a playlist of 1500 files with no problem. I would send more, but it is all I have. Can anyone confirm a failure with a similar test.

Been away a few days and tried this..
1. Clean slate (restored!)
2. 9.1.226 build
3. Sync'ed 3 small playlist - OK
4. Added 1 big playlist - FAILED as only the big playlist in on the wiPod now

I can also see that the replay gain is gone?

I'm getting to the point where..... Really needs this fixed now as I bought the wiPod to handle my wedding music

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on August 05, 2003, 11:02:02 am

digitaltrapper,

I do not have others reporting the error you are seeing so it is hard to chase down. When you say you "dragged two albums from the playlist that messes up" can you describe how you are doing this? How are you accomplishing the move of albums as opposed to tracks? Do you have a 'Playlist' or a 'Smarlist' or 'Playlist Group'?

lalittle and CautionEspn,

I transferred the 4 files that failed for lalittle mutliple times on multiple XP machines and they always played without cutoffs. What OS are you both running?

tlongacre,

If you could check out 227 and let me know, that would help.

ugilt,

Congrats on the wedding. Hopefully we can get you taken care of before then.

WHen you say "failed big playlist" how big?

What firmware is on your iPod?

What do you mean 'Replay gain is gone"?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ugilt on August 05, 2003, 11:13:50 am

Quote

ugilt,

Congrats on the wedding. Hopefully we can get you taken care of before then.

WHen you say "failed big playlist" how big?

What firmware is on your iPod?

What do you mean 'Replay gain is gone"?

Big playlist is 1.200+ songs
Firmware is 2.01 EU
The right-click - replay gain menu is gone

Also note that just sync'ing the big playlist is ok but together wiht some small manual list it fails.

To reproduce:
1. Create new Playlist (F10) group ie. "Wedding"
2. Create 3 playlist (F8) within this group and manually drag tunes to it
3. Create 1 auto-smartlist ie. year 1990-2000
4. Sync the 3 playlist from Wedding group to wiPod
5. Sync as above + the auto-smartlist.
=> Now only the auto-smartlist is on the wiPod the wedding playlists are gone!

Let me know if I can add further to reproduce this!

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle on August 05, 2003, 11:22:32 am

Quote

lalittle and CautionEspn,

I transferred the 4 files that failed for lalittle mutliple times on multiple XP machines and they always played without cutoffs. What OS are you both running?

I'm running Win2K with the 9.0.180 version of MC.

Note that the only examples I found so far this time around only had about the last 2 seconds of the songs cut off -- not a huge amount but enough to notice on these particular tracks. It's important to mention that in the past, some songs had over 20 seconds cut off, so the problem can be a LOT worse than the particular examples I sent. I'm sure that if I listened more I could find "better" examples that had more cut off, but I've started temporarily using Ephpod to actually sync since the songs don't get cut off at all this way. The really odd thing is that in the past, I was able to solve the issue with a restore. This is apparently no longer the case.

Steve -- did you get both emails with both sets of files (i.e. the Ephpod version and the MC version)? If so, were you able to see any appreciable differences in the iTunesDB file from both versions? I was really hoping that this would reveal the problem.

Thanks again,

Larry

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper on August 05, 2003, 12:31:05 pm

Steve,
Sorry If I wasn't as clear in my last post to how i was "doing it". I don't think that most MC users are converting their entire library to lower bitrates so that might be one of the reasons that others are not having these problems...
Anyway, in the smartplaylist that does not transcode/sync properly, I highlighted 30 or so tracks from about 3 albums, held the left mouse button down, and dragged them into a new playlist that I created called playlist A. (Like I said above... no luck...)
When I go into my media library (not another playlist) to find these same tracks and highlight them, and then left click hold, and drag to a new playlist, B, it worked.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ugilt 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)

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: TimB 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=-

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley 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: :D :D

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Rands 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. :P

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley 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.... :D

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Rands on August 06, 2003, 04:19:26 pm

Thanks for the tip!

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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ugilt 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...

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: KarlPod 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Rands 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!

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: kiwi 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG 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

Title: IPOD2 / MC9 and Audible
Post by: bonnieleek 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!)

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Phil Lee 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: dbattan 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?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley 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? :D :D

Adam

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Kurt Young 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!

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: TimB 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=-

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Macavity 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: bdjohns1 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. :)

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: dallardice 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: chezchas 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!!!

Title: Synching problem?
Post by: nick_laplaca 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: ashawley 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: nick_laplaca 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper 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...

Title: Problems with Alarm
Post by: PaulH 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG 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)?

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper 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. ;-)

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: PaulH 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: xerodiac 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)

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: cct1 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...

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: PaulH 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: lalittle 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Mighty_A-MAN 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: chezchas 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: chezchas 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: dallardice 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: digitaltrapper 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.

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: Kurt Young 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

Title: Re: POST IPOD SUPPORT QUESTIONS HERE
Post by: SteveG on August 18, 2003, 02:06:24 pm

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