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More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: lOth on November 23, 2005, 01:29:55 pm

Title: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: lOth on November 23, 2005, 01:29:55 pm
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6. Optimized: Vastly improved iPod database loading and saving speed for iPods that support artwork. (also reduced memory usage by a lot)

Great. I'm going to try this now as .63 crashed again when trying to transfer +6,000 files.
Title: Re: Media Center 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: Matt on November 23, 2005, 02:09:52 pm
Great. I'm going to try this now as .63 crashed again when trying to transfer +6,000 files.

If you've had a couple crashes, it may be worth starting clean with an "Initialize Ipod".  Let us know how you fare.
Title: Re: Media Center 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: lOth on November 23, 2005, 03:23:42 pm
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If you've had a couple crashes, it may be worth starting clean with an "Initialize Ipod".

That's what I did.

Quote
Vastly improved iPod database loading and saving speed for iPods that support artwork

Vastly is not too strong a word... This morning I transfered 1,600 files with .63 and it took about 8 minutes to save the db after the last file was transfered. just did it with .65, it took less than 15 seconds... Great job guys.

I'll try transfering +6,000 files again tonight and this time I have high hopes :)

One thing I've noticed in .65: in the status window, when transfering to the iPod files that are in the queue just have a blank field in the status column. I believe it used to be "waiting". Not sure if this is on purpose or not.
Title: Re: Media Center 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 23, 2005, 04:31:35 pm
I have Get data from Handheld on sync, un checked, But MC still wants to transfer items to the Ipod that I already have on it.
Can we have an option to select the criteria for a re upload for Sync?

Thanks
Title: Re: Media Center 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 23, 2005, 04:35:13 pm
Im syncing right now ummm has the Speed display been removed? ALso I don't see the time remaining in the AW anymore?
Title: Re: Media Center 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: lOth on November 23, 2005, 04:52:48 pm
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Im syncing right now ummm has the Speed display been removed? ALso I don't see the time remaining in the AW anymore?

I'm syncing right now too and I can see both.
Title: Re: Media Center 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 23, 2005, 04:56:21 pm
I'm syncing right now too and I can see both.

hmmm, Might be me then... I just synced now I can't see anything on the pod. I'm rebuilding the DB now, maybe I'll try a reinstall.

Title: Re: Media Center 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: lOth on November 23, 2005, 05:06:14 pm
I believe reinitializing the iPod is better in such a case, that is,  if it's not too much of a pain for you
Title: Re: Media Center 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 23, 2005, 06:09:27 pm
I believe reinitializing the iPod is better in such a case, that is,  if it's not too much of a pain for you

Well I got caught in the RLOD, Thanks for posting about the Disk mode, You saved my wall from Ipod splatter!

Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: lOth on November 23, 2005, 07:08:11 pm
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You saved my wall from Ipod splatter!

I'm glad for your wall (who cares about iPods?)

It's a good idea to have made a separate thread to comment on iPod with this build .65 : it is definitely the best build of 11.1 I've seen so far. If you had problems syncing large libraries with your iPod before (especially if you ran into the C++ runtime error) try this build, it just saved the itunesdb in 19 secs for 7516 songs (exactly), more than 90% of which have (embedded) cover art.

edit: I spoke too fast. You might want to hold up before trying this build:

Transfer works well but the problem is now with playing files on the iPod. There's a long pause in between songs and when a song starts playing it pauses again after two seconds. During these pauses the iPod is completely unresponsive. You can't skip more than one song at once.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 23, 2005, 07:40:18 pm
I am 61 min away from having the syncing finished.... I wonder if anyone else is having your problems as well?

Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: lOth on November 24, 2005, 04:58:10 am
the pause weirdness might be related to the size of the library: I just reloaded my iPod with only 1600 files and the pause between tracks is no longer than what it used to be before .65 (like half a second).

Not sure if I'm going to try to retransfer 6,000 more files to confirm this. I might as well wait for .66 next week.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 24, 2005, 07:03:33 am
I loaded about 8,000 files and I get what you are describing.... 
I might drop a version and re upload the files.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: ForsakenArdor on November 24, 2005, 07:16:57 am
When the upload finished and there wasn't any hang, no runtime error and saw that every album that had cover art ... had cover art, all I could hear was Doc in Back to the Future going, "It works!!!!  Ha ha haha ha!  It works!!!!"  No problem with my 2,237 file library.  Navigating the menu seems slightly sluggish, but not much longer than they usually are when something's already playing, if it's any longer at all.  Songs in playlists or songs from playing a single album, they all play without delay for me.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: risingdamp on November 24, 2005, 07:41:47 am
When the upload finished and there wasn't any hang, no runtime error and saw that every album that had cover art ... had cover art, all I could hear was Doc in Back to the Future going, "It works!!!!  Ha ha haha ha!  It works!!!!"  No problem with my 2,237 file library.  Navigating the menu seems slightly sluggish, but not much longer than they usually are when something's already playing, if it's any longer at all.  Songs in playlists or songs from playing a single album, they all play without delay for me.
Yeh, while watching my iPod sync I said to my wife: If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits eighty-eight tracks per second... you're gonna see some serious ****.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: JimH on November 24, 2005, 07:50:06 am
edit: I spoke too fast. You might want to hold up before trying this build:
Is that still your advice?  Or is it working right?

If the pause between tracks is something you see when you're using the iPod separately from MC, I can't imagine how that could be an MC problem.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 24, 2005, 08:34:19 am
Is that still your advice?  Or is it working right?

If the pause between tracks is something you see when you're using the iPod separately from MC, I can't imagine how that could be an MC problem.

If MC is not building the DB propperly, then it could cause a lag. I also see this.
I did not see this in previous builds.
The Ipod I used was freshly formated and initialized.

However, the Album art was all assigned propperly.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: JimH on November 24, 2005, 08:48:47 am
If MC is not building the DB properly, then it could cause a lag.
I think it's very unlikely that MC could make a bad database that the iPod could read at all.

The number of files could make a difference. 

But anything is possible.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: sirshambling on November 24, 2005, 08:49:01 am
Flawless synch on my 4th Gen 60 GB Ipod this morning. Really pleased - thanks very much J River.

If I was being picky I'd say I was disappointed that there was no indication that tracks were being deleted from the Ipod (there used to be in MC 11.0), and no speed or other info during the upload. Being paranoid I don't think these things are happening unless there's a screen telling me so...

John
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 24, 2005, 09:01:15 am
Flawless synch on my 4th Gen 60 GB Ipod this morning. Really pleased - thanks very much J River.

If I was being picky I'd say I was disappointed that there was no indication that tracks were being deleted from the Ipod (there used to be in MC 11.0), and no speed or other info during the upload. Being paranoid I don't think these things are happening unless there's a screen telling me so...

John

No Speed? In the Action Window you should have seen a Speed, ie 5mb and a remaining time.
Would be nice to see what it was deleting however.

Jim,
I have had more files on my pod with better speed in other builds... When I get home, I will rebuild the database with Anapod, if I get a fast responce with the pod after that, I would say it's MC.

Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: lOth on November 24, 2005, 10:03:23 am
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Jim,
I have had more files on my pod with better speed in other builds... When I get home, I will rebuild the database with Anapod, if I get a fast responce with the pod after that, I would say it's MC.

that's exactly what I was going to do.

Quote
I think it's very unlikely that MC could make a bad database that the iPod could read at all.

The number of files could make a difference.

The db is not "bad". But there is something about it that makes it very long to load from when there are many files in it.

Quote
Flawless synch on my 4th Gen 60 GB Ipod this morning. Really pleased - thanks very much J River.

How many files did you sync? Can you see the pause phenomenon?

Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: JimH on November 24, 2005, 10:08:49 am
When I get home, I will rebuild the database with Anapod, if I get a fast responce with the pod after that, I would say it's MC.
Can you save a copy of the itunesdb file before you do it?  Then compare the file size after the rebuild.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 24, 2005, 10:36:12 am
Can you save a copy of the itunesdb file before you do it?  Then compare the file size after the rebuild.

Will do.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: sirshambling on November 24, 2005, 10:53:12 am
No Speed? In the Action Window you should have seen a Speed, ie 5mb and a remaining time.
Would be nice to see what it was deleting however.

I used the "synch now" button at the top of the screen - I didn't go in via the Action Window. There's been different things showing via these different routes for a very long time in 11.1.

John

Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: lOth on November 24, 2005, 05:04:09 pm
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Can you save a copy of the itunesdb file before you do it?  Then compare the file size after the rebuild.

I reinitialized my iPod, re-uploaded 7501 files, and still had the pause between tracks issue.

I rebuilt the 'artwork database' (as they call it) with Anapod.

Here's what happened:

_ pause between tracks is gone
_ itunesdb was 7,207,182 bytes before, 7,257,772 bytes after rebuilding
_ MC let me sync afterwards, it uploaded 46 new files and deleted 46 other files from the iPod (I use smartlists to sync), problem was still gone, even when playing these new files, itunesdb was then 7,192,604 bytes.

which seems to suggest I won't run in the issue again, but there was something not quite right with the db MC first uploaded. I have kept the old itunesdb and the  new one if you're interested.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 24, 2005, 05:06:08 pm
I got home and grabbed a copy of the ITunes.db and it's 10.7mb
Ran the Rebuild Database, and it hung for a long time when it finished. Then the Ipod got stuck in the RLOD!! I was able to get the DB out of the Ipod, It shrunk to 9.84

I'm going to drop down a few builds, and reload the pod.
If it helps, I kept a copy of both itunes.db files.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 28, 2005, 01:28:13 pm
Bump..... Just so it get's noticed.

I still have a copy of both files if it's needed.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: SteveG on November 28, 2005, 04:57:53 pm
The next build will have improvements regarding Artwork and iPod.  In regard to the pause on playback, we will need to check this further tomorrow.  I have an idea what could be causing this compared to older versions.

Steve
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: lOth on November 29, 2005, 10:35:56 am
after I solved my initial db problem with anapod I had no trouble syncing until today. What happened today is that I had a file with a broken link in my sync list, MC asked if I wanted to skip the file and proceed with the sync. I answered yes but MC deleted all my files from the iPod and uploaded the few ones that needed to be updated (smartlist sync).

I seem to recall someone having a similar problem with .65 after answering yes to a duplicate question before syncing (I can't find the right thread). There's obviously a problem here.

Hope you'll have time to fix it before you get the new build out.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 29, 2005, 10:57:07 am
after I solved my initial db problem with anapod I had no trouble syncing until today. What happened today is that I had a file with a broken link in my sync list, MC asked if I wanted to skip the file and proceed with the sync. I answered yes but MC deleted all my files from the iPod and uploaded the few ones that needed to be updated (smartlist sync).

I seem to recall someone having a similar problem with .65 after answering yes to a duplicate question before syncing (I can't find the right thread). There's obviously a problem here.

Hope you'll have time to fix it before you get the new build out.

That may have been me.... I'll try digging up the thread or post.... It wasn't with 65 though.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: SteveG on November 29, 2005, 01:15:49 pm
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MC asked if I wanted to skip the file and proceed with the sync

Can you be more specific about the warning MC gave?

In regards to slowness of playback after synching with Album Art, if anyone is still seeing this, could you save your 'Artwork' folder from the iPod and then try rebuilding the ArtworkDB only (if that is possible using Anapod) and then compare the contents of the previous 'Artwork' folder. My guess is that the size of the files will drop considerably and that the playback problem will go away. If so, I can explain and fix this. I will do some testing on this today as well.

Steve
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 29, 2005, 01:47:41 pm
Well I have to Re transfer all my tracks to the Ipod. So I'll take a look at the new version (If it's out tonight) and let you know what I find.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: lOth on November 29, 2005, 02:22:59 pm
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Can you be more specific about the warning MC gave?

(http://img285.imageshack.us/img285/8391/filemissing8od.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)

I just managed to replicate the issue. From outside MC, just delete a song that's in your upcoming transfer queue, click sync and you'll get the message above. Click Yes and all songs that were on the iPod before are deleted. After the sync only those files that were in your transfer queue are on the player.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: Matt on November 29, 2005, 03:19:24 pm
(http://img285.imageshack.us/img285/8391/filemissing8od.jpg) (http://imageshack.us)

I just managed to replicate the issue. From outside MC, just delete a song that's in your upcoming transfer queue, click sync and you'll get the message above. Click Yes and all songs that were on the iPod before are deleted. After the sync only those files that were in your transfer queue are on the player.

Your problem will be fixed next build.  Hopefully it'll be out tonight.

Sorry for any hassles.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: lOth on November 29, 2005, 03:27:19 pm
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Your problem will be fixed next build.  Hopefully it'll be out tonight.

Sorry for any hassles.

Don't worry about it, I'm glad to help with the alphas. Will get and test next build.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 29, 2005, 09:17:53 pm
Transfered 800 tracks.
Cover Art seems ok

Once the tracks start playing (huge delay) it is realy slow to skip to the next track, or Pause or anything else
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: Matt on November 29, 2005, 11:32:36 pm
Transfered 800 tracks.
Cover Art seems ok

Once the tracks start playing (huge delay) it is realy slow to skip to the next track, or Pause or anything else

How big is the cover-art DB on the iPod?  Does it speed back up if you rename it in Explorer so the iPod can't find it?

Thanks.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: LonWar on November 30, 2005, 06:29:53 am
3.57mb

If you rename it, the Ipod works and reacts very fast.
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: lOth on November 30, 2005, 06:31:50 am
related thread:

http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=30462.0
Title: Re: iPod with MC 11.1.65 Alpha
Post by: SteveG on November 30, 2005, 09:56:57 am
Eveyone,

We are onto the problem with the playback delay and a fix should be available soon (as in the next build).

Steve

PS I will close this thread and we can take up further  issues on the Portable Drive board as needed. Thanks.