INTERACT FORUM
More => Old Versions => Media Jukebox => Topic started by: LarryJoe on September 27, 2002, 02:37:28 am
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Hey guys, sorry if this post is redundant, but I love the new forums and wanted to try it out! I am the user formerly known as Joe Z. ;)
Running into problems? Harder than you thought? Just curious. I am using Ephpod at the moment with my 20GB Winpod and have no major complaints. I will say this, you better get your tagging problems fixed because the Ipod is very finichy about tags!
I basically had to go through all my files and retag and clean them with Tag&Rename. I thought MJ was tagging these properly, but found otherwise. MJ seems to tag within itself and not really update idV* tags 50% of the time. I hope I can rely on MJ9 to be a sound tag editor.
Thanks,
LJ
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I basically had to go through all my files and retag and clean them with Tag&Rename. I thought MJ was tagging these properly, but found otherwise. MJ seems to tag within itself and not really update idV* tags 50% of the time. I hope I can rely on MJ9 to be a sound tag editor.
Many people have found MJ to be an excellent tag editor. Your description of the tag problems seems like the option to update tags may not have been turned on.
MJ uses it's own database to store file info, and optionally (but by default, I think) updates the tag info inside files.
To see whether MJ is configured to update v1 and v2 tags, go Settings->plugin manager->input->mp3->configure. [This could probably stand to be easier to find...]
You might want to make sure that Settings->Options->General->"Update tags when file info changes" is turned on.
If it is, open properties on the files in question, change the pull-down to 'Update all files' and then click save.
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LarryJoe,
iPod is moving along, it is not a trivial task, but it is progressing. It is too early to see all the potential pitfalls, but it looks like it should work.
Steve
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Thanks Sean - It all appears to be set. In the config box it says "ID3 1.0/1.1". This is the only thing there that relates to tagging. Under setting/general all is fine too. Maybe I am crazy, but there have been many thread and documented problems with MJ tagging. I would love to be able to rely on it. An example, try to tag a file and then see if the tags show up in XP's my music explorer view with the field view enabled in XP of course. They just don't work for me. They still are blank. BUT, retagging with Tag&Rename does the trick.
SteveG - thanks for the update. Fingers crossed.
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Though MJ follows the ID3v2 tag standard, XP does not. It cannot read our tags so it ignores them. We've contacted Microsoft.
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Thanks Jim. I was looking at the MPC pluggin above, but the MP3 pluggin is also set correctly.
OK on XP, but what about other programs? I spent a lot of time tagging with MJ and never really looked at the tags with another program. With other programs, the tag says something much different than what it says in MJ.
For example, I had everyone of my 2000 mp3's tagged in MJ with an artist, but when I checked out my library with other programs, a lot were missing, or still said various artists. When I check the same file in MJ, it would register the artist I gave it with MJ. I guess tagging across programs is not standard. I don't know a lot about this. However, after I rebuilt and cleaned my tags, I then clear MJ and re-imported and all my new tags created with Tag&Rename (great app btw) came through.
Maybe I was doing something wrong, who knows, but I am sticking with Tag&Rename for tagging.
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True to form, I have to give a reply and some good quality bumpage to an iPod thread if I see it.
Also a good time to just give a shoutout to JoeZ -- Wattup, JOE!!
One shoutout to Steve! Howdy, Steve! Good to hear it's progressing... you know that I can't wait to get my hands on that plugin!
LarryJoe,
iPod is moving along, it is not a trivial task, but it is progressing. It is too early to see all the potential pitfalls, but it looks like it should work.
Steve
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Hey Kurt! This 20GB Winpod totally rocks. Man, what a difference from the RIO 500. Thanks for the bump!
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yeah i had the same problems as larry. i had to go and retag a bunch of stuff in mmjb and then it worked. and i sure am anxiously waiting this ipod plugin.
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Has anyone gotten MJ to work with Ephpod without using another app to do tagging? As long as I try to use ID3V2 Ephpod doesn't seem to recognize the tags on any file whose tags have been modified in MJ.
Reluctant to use the more limited capabilities in ID3V1. I think I read somewhere on other threads that MJ isn't tagging files properly?
-Adam
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MJ tagging is "by the book". Other programs may be unable to read them. Windows XP, for example, is not reading ID3V2 correctly.
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Jim - just curious here, are programs like MMJB, Tag&Reame and Dr. Tag not "by the book"? They must be doing something that MJ isn't because when tagging with these programs, tags show up in XP as well as ever other software I use capable of reading tags. But tags created with MJ are not always read by other programs like Ehpod, Tag& Rename, etc.
Not trying to be flip here, but it seems odd.
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Nikolay can provide details, but our theory is that XP has a limited knowledge of the ID3v2 "standard". The standard allows software developers to add additional information. XP reads some but not all correctly.
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FYI iPod users, progress on the plug-in is moving along. I hope to have a rough version for testing soon.
Hang in there.
Steve
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FYI iPod users, progress on the plug-in is moving along. I hope to have a rough version for testing soon.
Hang in there.
Steve
Dude, that kicks @ss! (http://www.southparkstudios.com/down/download.html?file=/media/sounds/101/sp101_stan.wav) Glad to hear it! How can I get on the testing list? :D
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Awesome! I'm tired of using EphPod.
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Dude, that kicks @ss! (http://www.southparkstudios.com/down/download.html?file=/media/sounds/101/sp101_stan.wav) Glad to hear it! How can I get on the testing list? :D
Likewiz. :) :) :)
-=Tim=-
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One thing i'm hoping is that the plugin will support copying files from the iPod as well as to the iPod.... :)
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Kurt,
You are on line 1 of the testing list :)
Quisp,
Awesome cereal from the 70's. Thanks for making me feel old.
Seriously, we can take a look at moving files from iPod to your PC once everything else is running. I think it is more of a copyright decision than a technical one.
Off to fight the iPod again......
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Quisp,
Awesome cereal from the 70's. Thanks for making me feel old.
No problem Steve :), if it makes you feel any better I think of it as awesome cereal from the 60's! :'(
Seriously, we can take a look at moving files from iPod to your PC once everything else is running. I think it is more of a copyright decision than a technical one.
Yeah, I figured as much. Ephpod allows two way communication so I'll just continue to use that. I burn my CD's at work on my dual processor Mac and then transport them to my PC at home to manage in MJ. As for the copyright issue, that's what laws are for ! ;)
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Kurt,
Seriously, we can take a look at moving files from iPod to your PC once everything else is running. I think it is more of a copyright decision than a technical one.
As my iPod appears as another disk on my PC hopefully this won't be a problem as you wouldn't be adding any functionality that isn't already put there by Apple?
Good luck! :)
All us iPod'ers are thinking positive thoughts about you wrestling with MJ and an iPod!
-=Tim=-
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At least with the Mac version of iPod, Apple did the PC :) thing and made it "impossible" to copy files from your iPod. Of course there are at least 5 utilities available for the Mac that get around this limitation. Only legitimate users suffer. If I was using it as a pirating tool, it wouldn't matter to me in the slightest that I would have to use two pieces of software to save thousands of dollars.
I just wish there were 120 gig firewire drives available, or some sort of high capacity yet compact disc like medium to copy to, wait a minute... :P
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Update on the iPod to PC transfer suggestion....
This will be no problem.
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YEEHAW!!!!!!
THANKS!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Oy Steve, while we have your ear, I wanted to throw a couple lines of text your way on this subject... ;D
First, I don't know if you're working much on the contacts and calendars function, but if you're not, it won't break my heart at all. All I want to do is use MJ to interface with my iPod as a portable music device. There's other programs out there (palm2ipod, outpod) that can handle calendars and contacts.
Also, I was wondering if you were working with the iPod's ability to keep track of play counts whilst on the go, and to relay that information back to the computer? I love the play counts in MJ (especially with all the sweet things you can do with them in MJ9), but most of the listening I do is on my iPod (commuting, at work, etc). It'd be slicker than snot to have the play counts that amass on my iPod during the day be fed into MJ when I plug in at night, updating my "top hits" playlists and whatnot.
Keep fighting that good fight, bro... I'm standing by with a smile on my face! :D
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I would also love to be a tester, please put me on the list.
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Kurt,
Thanks for the suggestion. The first order of business is to get the music files handled. Calendars and Contacts will be later if at all (it is a little incompatible with MJ's functionality). The play count idea is good, I will look at it once everything else becomes more stable.
Thanks.
LarryJoe,
When this gets working, I will post lots of messages here before I go to drink beer :)
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When this gets working, I will post lots of messages here before I go to drink beer :)
NO beer for you UNTIL its working! :) :)
-=Tim=-
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Steve, first, I hope you'll put me on the beta list also. I've got a 5g Mac iPod (original) which I would be glad to donate to the cause.
I know you are busy working on this and have priorities, but I was wondering how, if at all, the "Sound Check" feature (as I understand it, basically replay gain) will work? Will this be supported? What "standard" does Apple use? Can replay gain settings set in MJ9 be used to control the Sound Check feature on the iPod?
Thanks! :)
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Just picked up a 20GB iPod and would be more than happy to help with testing!!!
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tdlysart1,
Thanks for the offer.
Quisp,
I am not sure yet. There is no standard for any of this, Apple has been totally uncooperative. Basically, I am making this all up as I go. Once I have a basic functionallity set going (i.e. file transfers, deletions, etc.) I will work to get as many extras in as possible. At that point user input such as yours will be of great use because you can guide me to solve the issues in a way that works best for you.
Steve
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NO beer for you UNTIL its working! :) :)
-=Tim=-
TIM! You should be ashamed! Denying beer! That's just terrible! :P ;)
Okay, so this is just a shameless bump. I'll admit it. Go Steve! Go iPod! Go Chiefs!
Also, folks... I just popped over to the iPod forums at apple.com, and there's JimH, trying to get Apple's attention! Three beers (er... cheers) for Jim! I can dig wanting to go to the source... you'd be sure to get hight quality interface that way. But Apple got married to MusicMatch a while back, and I don't expect that they'll go cheating anytime soon. Did they ever get back to you Jim?
Oh and Steve, no worries on what may or may not be integrated in version 1, dude... just having the version 1 will be a blessing. As long as I can auto-synchronize my smartlists over to my iPod, I'll be happy. (Again, I don't think that anyone cares about contacts or calendars being involved in your plugin... we have outpod and palm2ipod for that stuff) That being said, playlist synchronizing and iPod-to-MJ playcount updates are my two strongest wishes.
Cheers, bro. Go Chiefs.
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Oh, the irony... I emailed MediaJukebox back in March asking if they wanted my help in adding iPod support. No reply. Emailed again in April, and again in May.
I guess it's true: no one in corporate software development thinks freeware authors are reliable at all.
Oh well, their loss...
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Ah, Joe, I wouldn't take it personally, dude. I mean, in March, there weren't hardly as many MJ users that used iPods as well. Our ranks have grown at a freakishly large rate since then. I bet that customer requests for an iPod plugin didn't start coming in in earnest until the WinniePods were released. Heck until a month ago, my emails to Steve probably represented about 70% of the iPod requests. ;D
I think that since Apple's released FAT32 iPods, the task of making a plugin has become much more realistic, therefore meriting a higher spot on the priority ladder. And three more cheers ta Steve for taking the plunge and attacking it. (Yes, it's just another bump. Sue me. 8))
Joe Freshman, btw, is the creator of Ephpod -- www.ephpod.com
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After trying MMJB, and AEC/Lame with EphPod, I have found your Media Jukebox the best for ripping with EphPod for transfers to my iPod. Would dearly love to beta test your new iPod plugin when available. Please let me know if this is possible?
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I guess it's true: no one in corporate software development thinks freeware authors are reliable at all.
Joe, I'm with Kurt on this. I didn't discover iPod until last month and MJ until I went to the iPodLounge a week or so later.
Like many folks right or wrong, I suspect though we knew about EphPod and the Mac iPods we weren't really comfortable with the idea of connecting to our Windows machines until Apple said OK. We then tried MMJB, gagged and went in search of better solutions.
IMHO EphPod is a VERY cool program and was the first program I downloaded after my MMJB experience.
-=Tim=-
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Listening to: 'The Waiting' from 'Hard Promises' by 'Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' on Media Jukebox
:D "The waiting is the hardest part!"
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I'm with Kurt on the waiting part.
Don't know if adding a feature request is too late at the moment but I'll try anyway.
One of the features that's really useful in iTunes is that you can select which songs should be synched on your iPod. That way you can keep all your songs in your library but only mark certain songs for ipod storage. For those of us that have more songs than can fit on our ipods this solves a big problem. Many of the applications for Windows that are out there today don't allow you to mark songs for synching. They let you select folders, but not the individual songs. So, you have to end up either a) getting creative with your folders or b) leaving certain songs out of your jukebox music library.
Hope this makes sense, if you guys have seen iTunes you'll know what I mean.
The other important feature that hopefully you'll be able to have there is that if you change a song's id3 tags and then do a synch with your iPod the transfer program should know that that song's been updated and re-upload it.
I know that Ephpod and Xplay don't support this today (I think Joe's fixing that in the next release), and I'm pretty sure that MMJB got around it by always re-uploading all songs during a synch. Could be wrong on that part.
'Course you're probably just trying to get the darn thing to transfer one song at this point, so I guess I'll shut up and let you get back to work.
Either way, can't wait to see how it turns out, put me on the Alpha list if you could.
Adam (S).
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Ooh, good show, Ash! (Howdy, btw!)
It'd be boss to be able to synch with either folders, playlists, or specific albums/artists/songs in your library. Synching with playlists and smartlists would, in my opinion, be the most important, since that's how I personally do it (hehe)... I've got about a dozen smartlists that I export and synch with... updated daily it provides some nice music variety.
It's true that XPlay/Ephpod are limited in scope when it comes to re-transferring songs. I believe (though I could be wrong) that XPlay only scans for changes in the Artist, Album, or Title tags. If it finds differences there, it will re-synch the song.
One possibility would be to somehow use the actual file's modification date. That way, any change would be synched. However, I dunno if that's the best idea... I'm not sure what all is kept inside the file. Album art, playlist membership, playcounts, and stuff could trigger unwanted synch-updates. I guess that if I had my way (and my vodka is telling me that I do!), songs would re-synch to the iPod if there were changes in:
- Standard iPod tags: Artist, Album, Title, Genre, or Composer
- File size changes (say I've re-ripped the CD at a higher/lower bitrate)
- Song duration (say I've cut the last two seconds of silence off that was accidentally encoded)
However, that could make synchs agonizingly long, as the plugin scans all those files for differences. Perhaps file modification date would be best?
Something to definately watch out for: Ephpod used to only copy/update one instance of a song. Say I have a song that exists on two different albums (like a greatest hits album and the original album) -- It would only copy the song up once, and it wouldn't populate the database with both instances. I've got 4 identical copies of the same mp3 (same filesize on all 4 files), tagged to 4 different albums. I'd expect to see 4 copies of that song in their respective albums on my iPod.
While I'm at it, here's to you, Steve: (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/smileys/juicin'a40.gif) Cheers!
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Can't wait for the pluggin ;D
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LarryJoe,
I spoke with Joe a few days ago. His emails never got to me so that is why we were not in contact before and I did not connect "Joe Freshman" with Ephpod until Kurt's post a few days ago. Call off the dogs on the whole "not right" train off thought. Everything is fine between Joe and us. Just some previous miscommunication.
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Great! Now that you guys are talking with each other is there a chance you can sort out why Ephpod doesn't recognize MJ's ID3V2 tags properly?
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I can talk with Joe about this eventually. I am more focused on getting us to work first. Please feel free to remind me by email once we roll out our Plug-in.
Thanks,
steve @ jriver.com
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LarryJoe,
I spoke with Joe a few days ago. His emails never got to me so that is why we were not in contact before and I did not connect "Joe Freshman" with Ephpod until Kurt's post a few days ago. Call off the dogs on the whole "not right" train off thought. Everything is fine between Joe and us. Just some previous miscommunication.
Done, but please note I did praise you for responsiveness and asked him to give you the benefit of the doubt. I wish you had posted that in this thread sooner. Glad to hear you formed a relationship. Ephpod is a savior. I am sure I will still use Ephpod in tandem with MJ. No offense intended Steve.
LJ
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Hey Kurt, I think your on to something with the last update deal. I believe I read somewhere that that's how iTunes handles it. Also read somewhere that there is a flag in the FAT32 file system that indicate when a file has been updated.
'Course a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and coupled with a lot of fine Napa Cabernet (my hometown don'cha know), that's even more dangerous, similar to Absolut Citron I'd say 8) But you get my drift.
Seems to me that it'd be fairly simple to make the assumption that if a file was updated in ANY way since the last synch it should be re-uploaded to the ipod.
Oh Steve, (if I can call you Steve), something else to think about is to somehow tap into the ipod's playcounts. That way smartlists could be generated just as if I were listening to my songs through MJ. Again, this is an iTunes feature, so I know that the iPod keeps track of it, it's just getting at that data and plugging it into MJ's playcount database field.
Gosh, we make your job sound so easy don't we. I guess I'm probably the most annoying type of person (I run QA for a software company)--that means I spend my days not writing code, but asking developers to fix things with absolutely no regard for how difficult it is. ;D
Yes, what a pain we QA types can be.
Oh, shoot, my glass is empty! Talk to ya'll later......
Adam (S)
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Hello everyone,
FYI on the Plug-in, I should have something available for limited testing tomorrow. Currently I have MJ reporting file information from IPOD and am still working out some bugs with rewriting the iTunesDB. Today was pretty productive and my fingers are crossed for tomorrow. My goal is to be able to have MJ upload and delete files and report most information fields in the first trial. Once that is stable, I will look at any and all feature requests.
Off to have a beer.
More tomorrow.
Steve
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Now, when you say "tomorrow" are we talking around 12:01 AM or later in the day? Mainly, I'm wondering when I should begin hitting F5 to see an update to this thread.
No, I'm not anxious.
:)
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I should have something available for limited testing tomorrow.
Argh! I'm on the road without my firewire PCMCIA card. Argh! Argh! Argh!
Well y'all enjoy it, I can't wait to hear the feedback.
-=Tim=-
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wooohooo. ooh let me be a guinea pig for this. i will love you forever.
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Ready, Willing, and Sober, sir. Well... I will be tomorrow. Tonight's a different :hic: story!
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Same here Steve. My email addy is on my profile. Bring it on!
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I know I'm new to the party but I'd be happy to test the plugin too. I'm really looking forward to it, especially as I only started using MJ after I got my iPod.
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I have resisted installing Ephpod. I have been waiting for the MJ support instead. My experience with the Music Match that comes with the 20 gig iPod has been problem free.
That is because I do not use Music Match's Main screen at all. I just manually drag and drop files onto the iPod device.
So that is how I use it, until MJ goes iPod native! ;D
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Everyone,
The Plug-in I am working on can now successfully add and delete files. This is a HUGE step. There is a bunch of little stuff I would like to take care of before I start having people test and I need to get out of here for the day. Sorry to delay again, but let me post an update tomorrow. Go easy on me for stalling. ;)
Thanks,
Steve
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Sounds great Steve. I can be patient since Ephpod works pretty well, still it will be great to do be able to manage my iPod in MJ. It looks like I made the right decision as to which mp3 software to buy anyway.
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OK, Steve, not to rush you :rush,rush,rush: but it is officially tomorrow... Update? :)
(I know, quit buggin' the poor guy and let 'em code)
Sorry for the intrusion...
Adam(S)
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Steve,
Thank you for your hard work in this area (MJ -> iPod Connectivity). This will complete the final link in my "music environment" and allow for a single, seamless solution bringing together two excellent products. If you are interested, here are a few features I'd like to see and use in the final version:
- Since I archive and listen to most of my music on my PC in .ape format, I'd like to be able to decompress (in LAME) and save to iPod automatically. Processing time is not critical - quality is.
- Playlists. It would be great to automatically be able to send playlists and associated songs to the iPod (along with above-listed conversion)
Again, thank you for your efforts. I look forward to the fruits of your labor!
Marc
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Hello Everyone,
If you go to the Handheld download section, you will see a Plug-in for the iPod. :)
Here is the deal....
This Plug-in will replace the hh_portable.dll Plug-in that you currently have in your Media Jukebox\\Plug-ins directory. If you ever want the old one back, you can redownload it from our site. The new Plug-in should allow your iPod to show up under Devices in the left tree as a drive letter.
Please take note of the warning on the Plug-in which basically says, do not install it unless you are willing to lose whatever you currently have on your iPod. This level of paranoia will decrease in time, but so far I have only had time to test this in a very limited fashion ( as in on my PC) so results may vary in the real world.
I can, with this Plug-in, successfully display a small (50) number of files with all the supporting Artist, Album, etc information. I can upload and delete files on the iPod. Create and delete playlists and send files directly to Playlists (by dropping them directly on a Playlist. You can also get files on the iPod by dropping them on the drive letter) I mention the number of files, because I put all the files in one folder for now. I am sure there is an upper limit where this will no longer works, but I have not explored it yet.
I will next add the ability to rename tag information and the ability to send tracks that are on the iPod to different Playlists. This currently does not work so don't try it. You can try creating a Playlist and dragging the files onto the Playlist. This should work.
On a personal note, I have left for the day to pick up my parents who are in town to visit my one year old. This is a rare occurence so my apologies for not being around to field any issues. I will be in tomorrow to trouble shoot whatever you find.
To everyone, thanks for your encouragement and suggestions. Please know that any suggestions you have made, I will try to include when what we have is stable. I am sure there will be other issues that need to be addressed first, so please be patient.
Steve
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OK, I've downloaded the plug-in and tried it with my 10Gb iPod. I can see the iPod as a drive in MJ. I can also see the contacts and calendars I have on the iPod. Unfortunately I can't see any music on it. All my music has been uploaded using Ephpod.
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That is probably to be expected at this point. He did mention that he is only looking at one directory for now.
I have a question: Does this plugin exist because JRiver reverse engineered the iPod, or because Apple has released their SDK?
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OK, I used it.
1. It saw all my songs.
2. I copied a few songs to it.
3. MJ Crashed
4. iPod is now empty and doesn't even show up as an iPod in Media Match.
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More Feedback.
After restoring the iPod to factory condition I was able to use it with Media Match again. I transfered 1 album via MMJB and it was visible in MJ. I added another album using MJ and disconnected the iPod by ejecting it. The iPod was blank and would not play back anything. I have to restore it again.
At this point I am going to give up until a new build comes along.
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Woowoo! I can't wait to get home and try this! Thanks Steve, and you'll be getting a full report from me, have no fear!
One thing... I'm using the .67 preview of MJ v9. I would very much like to keep it. Do you expect the plugin to be compatible? Would you rather me test it on the current stable version of v8? I'd really like to keep v9. Much better smartlist options.
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Well, things are interesting at this point.
I can get to the drive letter, see contacts and calendar, but nothing else.
I was able to copy a song, but upon exploring the iPod it put the tune in the root of the iPod. This is probably why songs copied don't show up on the ipod. Just a suspicion.
Steve, you are writing to the iPod database, right? I know, that's probably a silly question.
Played around a little more and found a setting in Settings>Options>Devices called "Search For Files in Subfolders". Checked that, still didn't see anything, then I changed the ipod_control folder to be a non-hidden folder. Bingo! Files show up. The only problem is, it's not pulling from the database, it's just pulling the file name. And since mine are all numbered (I use that option in ephPod), it doesn't really do me too good.
Well, that's what I've found out. Copying and deleting works, but I can't find out where I could set the copy to folder (actually it should do that automatically) and I can't verify if it's writing to the iPod's database.
Let us know when the next build is Steve.
Adam(S)
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yeah same with me, i tried sending a playlist and an album to the ipod and it transfered to the root and not the music folder and was not registered with the itunesdb, therefore not able to be played by the ipod.
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I had the same experience in ability to rip a CD and transfer to the iPod - but cannot see nor play back. It's a start but some ways to go yet.
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First thing's first, Steve. Thank you for the time and effort that you've spent (and will no doubt continue to spend) on this project. I couldn't program my way out of a wet paper bag. Any suggestions I make aren't taking into account how difficult it may be to actually implement. I'm just a consumer.
I performed a restore on my Windows format iPod, setting it back to factory settings. I then installed the plugin on MJ9.00.67. Clicked on the I: drive in the handhelds section -- crashed. link (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/01.jpg) link (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/01.txt)
I uninstalled MJ9 and downloaded/installed MJ8. Deleted all my .jmd files in the process. Installed the plugin. Success.
The plugin, at this version, is only a utility to copy files to the root of your iPod, and it works. This won't let someone listen to music on their iPod, of course, but it's a good first step in the right direction.
Working:
- File copy to the iPod works.
- With the "only show queued items" option turned off, you can see everything on your iPod and delete it.
- You can send any item in the Media Library tree (whole albums, whole genres, playlists, etc) to the iPod easily.
- Normalization seems to work. Nice touch!
- Force-convert works also. Very nice touch!
Existing functions that need work:
- File transfer speed needs a boost. I copied 100mb in 1 minute. Expected speed is around 5mb/second, or 300mb/minute.
- When a duplicate file exists, upload aborts.
- Please hide everything in the right pane except music and playlists. Hide all subfolders in the tree. Deleting these items could wreck the iPod.
Needs:
- Copy the music to the hidden \iPod_control folder; more specifically into X:\iPod_Control\Music\F00
- Do everything possible to not resort to filename truncation. If a duplicate filename exists, copy the duplicate to another directory (F01, F02, etc) instead
- Update the iPod's database file so that the iPod can recognize the music and play it
- Pass each song's tag information to the database: Artist, Album, Title, Track#, Genre, Composer
- If you send a playlist or smartlist to the iPod, create a playlist on the iPod to match
Wants:
- Make it compatible with MJ9 ;D
- Change the Force-Convert function to a "Saftey-Convert" instead. Rather than converting everything you send, only convert if it's not .wav, .aiff, or .mp3. Limit output format options to .wav, .aiff, .mp3, or .mp3vbr
- Implement a synchronization scheme so that the iPod will synch with designated playlists or smartlists upon connect or upon MJ launch.
- Have the iPod's playcount tallies update MJ's playcount information.
Good show! Remember, The longest journey starts with a single step. And a man who keeps his hand in his pocket feels cocky all day. :D
-
You guys are having better luck than I did. I was able to see all the music that resides on the iPod no problem. I was able to delete songs just fine.
Any time I copied any files to the iPod and ejected it, it came up as an empty unit and had to be restored using the iPod Updater in order to be seen as an iPod again by MMJB.
The copy speed was pretty poor. 5 or 6 meg MP3s were taking 3 or 4 seconds.
I am one of those people with the VIA Chipset and and Audigy. More on this issue at iPodLounge: http://www.xsorbit1.com/users/dennx/index.cgi?board=techsupport&action=display&num=1032499405&start=8
-
Good morning all,
Sorry to hear of the problems.
First, let me address the people who are seeing "Calenders and Contacts" under the drive letter. If this is what you see, the correct Plug-in is not registered. Go to your J River Plug-ins folder and delete the hh_portable.dll and make sure you see an hh_ipod.dll. If you do not, redownload the Plug-in.
To all....
I have done all my testing on Windows 2000 with a 5GB iPod formatted for Windows, not using MacOpener or similar. In all future bug reports, please include what OS you are using and what size iPod.
Please try the following tests and report the results. Ideally start, with a clean iPod.
1) Click on your drive letter and make sure you see the tree expand with "Artists, Albums, Genres, and Playlists" under the drive letter. If not, let me know.
2) Click on the root drive letter and let me know if you see all your files (if you do not have an empty iPod)
3) Click on Media Library in MJ and drag a single mp3 file onto the root drive letter. Click on the root drive letter and see that the file is "In queue". Click upload. Go to your iPod "DriveLetter:\iPod_Control\Music\F00 " folder and see if the file is present. Disconnect your iPod and see if the file appears and plays.
Lets get this much working for everyone and then go from there.
Thanks.
-
Steve,
Quick note before i'm off to work...
I see the contacts and calendars in the tree on the left under my device.
After downloading the plugin, I don't see an hh_ipod.dll. I manually downloaded the zip file and unzipped hh_ipod.dll to my \plugins directory. I deleted the hh_portables. I fired up MJ, no change. I used the plugin manager to install it, no change. At this time, I still see the contacts and calendars subfolders in the tree on the left, and files are still copied to the root.
Windows format 20GB iPod, Windows XP SP1
-
Update......
Bad news / good news.
Bad news - there was a problem with the download page that caused a totally wrong Plug-in to be used by MJ when you got the iPod Plug-in.
Good news - this is fixed.
For testing - Go to your Plug-ins directory and delete both the hh_ipod.dll and the hh_portable.dll. Redownload the IPod plug-in and then check that you now have an hh_portable.dll. If so, you should be in good shape to start testing.
Ideally, start from a clean iPod and remember, for now, the possibillty of having to reformat your iPod is real.
Thanks for any feedback you can provide.
PS, for now please keep the feedback focused on basic functionality.
PPS, For users with XP, I tested on a clean XP successfully today.
JGourd... the SDK has not been released and as far as we know, there will never be one.
-
OK, I've redownloaded the plug-in, restarted MJ and connected up my iPod. Unfortunately MJ still just sees the Calendar and Contact folders and doesn't display any music.
My OS is Windows XP Home. I haven't tried the plug-in with a clean iPod yet.
-
1) Click on your drive letter and make sure you see the tree expand with "Artists, Albums, Genres, and Playlists" under the drive letter. If not, let me know. - .SUCCESS :)
2) Click on the root drive letter and let me know if you see all your files (if you do not have an empty iPod) - .SUCCESS :)
3) Click on Media Library in MJ and drag a single mp3 file onto the root drive letter. Click on the root drive letter and see that the file is "In queue". Click upload. Go to your iPod "DriveLetter:\iPod_Control\Music\F00 " folder and see if the file is present.SUCCESS :) Disconnect your iPod and see if the file appears and plays.FAILURE :-X
At least this time it didn't wipe out my iPod like last time ;)
Media Jukebox PLUS 8.0.388
Install Path: C:\Program Files\J River\Media Jukebox\
CPU: Intel Pentium III 1004 MHz MMX
Memory: Total - 1048 MB, Free - 586 MB
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 (Build 2600)
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2600.0000
ComCtl32.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
Shell32.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
wnaspi32.dll: Internal ASPI Layer
20 Gig iPod.
-
For anyone doing additional testing, please make sure you get the iPod Plug-in version 3.0.4. The time stamp on the file should be 4:20.
JGourd, maybe this file will help you.
I would really like some feedback from people who can start from a clean iPod. You can reset your iPod in MJ with a right-click on the drive letter. You will lose all of your data so only do this if you do not care. After you reset, go to the F00 folder on the iPod and make sure it is empty.
There most likely will be changes I need to make for large numbers of files, but I want to get things working more solidly first. On XP I just finished uploading 30 files multiple times with everything working great. This works for me also on 2000.
Phil_Lee,
If you are seeing the Calendars and Contacts, get the latest Plug-in and make sure that it is in your Media Jukebox\Plugins directory (should be hh_portable.dll with modified time = 4:20 in properties). Make sure it is registerd by going to Start->Run and entering the following minus the dots(you need to make sure the drive letter is correct if not C) and hit enter......
regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\J River\Media Jukebox\Plugins\hh_portable.dll"
I am taking off for the day.
Thanks again everyone for testing.
Steve
-
I've got a major problem!
I reset my iPod from MJ8.
I moved some files over, so far so good.
I then quit MJ8 and unmounted my iPod.
My iPod has been stuck on the Apple logo for about 20 minutes now.
HELP!
:)
-=Tim=-
-
Perform a hard reset by pressing the Menu button and the Play/Pause button simultaneously until the Apple/iPod logo appears.
When you reset iPod all your music, data files, and customized preferences are saved.
(Excerpt from Applecare document 60958 (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60958))
-
Perform a hard reset by pressing the Menu button and the Play/Pause button simultaneously until the Apple/iPod logo appears.
When you reset iPod all your music, data files, and customized preferences are saved.
(Excerpt from Applecare document 60958 (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60958))
Tried this. The Apple logo flashes, I hear the drive accessing then the Apple logo stays stuck.
-=Tim=-
-
:( I downloaded the newest one. The time stamp on hh_portable.dll is 4:20 on 16 October. I typed in regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\J River\Media Jukebox\Plugins\hh_portable.dll and it said it registered successfully. I'm still seeing the calendars/contacts subfolders in the tree. The Portable Drives plugin in the Plugin Manager lists version 3.0.16. I'm using a 20GB Windows formatted iPod.
Same results after a reboot. This is on my work machine, and I did not restore my iPod prior to trying it. After I disconnected my iPod, my music database was lost -- iPod had 0 songs.
Media Jukebox 8.0.388
Install Path: C:\Program Files\J River\Media Jukebox\
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 1593 MHz MMX
Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 324 MB
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 (Build 2600)
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2600.0000
ComCtl32.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
Shell32.dll: 6.00.2600.0000
wnaspi32.dll: Internal ASPI Layer
-
I too have the hh_portable.dll modified:Today, October 16, 2002, 4:20:52 PM
I reset the iPod with a right-click and copied one file over. I verified it was on the file system of the iPod. I verified that it was showing up in MJ. I unmounted the iPod and there were no files on it when I tried to use it as a walkman.
I re-mounted it and MJ still see the file just fine. I open MMJB and it too sees the one file on the iPod.
MMJB can add more files. I verified that the files I dropped onto the iPod in MMJB are actually on the iPod's file system. However, Neither MJ or MMJB can actually see the mp3s. Running in HH mode it is still empty.
Using the right-click>Reset doesn't seem to delete files from the iPod file system.
I unmount and it still acts like a walkman with no files. :-[
I do a factory reset on it. I plug it in, run MJ, try to move a few files and I get a warning dialog with not text. Upon investigation, I discover that the "iTunes" and"Music" folders were missing. Quitting MJ and running MMJB created them.
Mounting the new fresh factory reset iPod and copying files to the iPod yeilded an iPod with files, but still it was a blank handheld.
Tell me, in your development environment, are you using an iPod that is managed by EphPod instead of MMJB? If you are then shame on you. EphPod is not officially supported by Apple. MMJB formatted iPods must be your gold standard.
-
I got home and tried it, with positive results.
I performed a restore with the Windows Software Updater 1.2. During the restore, I disconnected/reconnected the iPod, as is required. When the restore was finished, I loaded MJ, after installing the 4:20 version of the plugin (I love that name!).
Things looked great! The contacts/calendars folders were gone and the Artists, Albums, etc were there. I queued up a song and started transfer. This resulted in a weird error. (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/02.jpg) I explored the iPod_control folder, and noticed that the only thing in it was a subfolder called \Device, which contained two files, "Preferences" and "sysinfo" (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/04.jpg). I manually created \iPod_Control\Music\F00 and tried again. Success!
Transfer speed was around 100mb/minute. All files were transferred to \F00 (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/05.jpg). All subdirectory items in the MJ tree (Artists, Albums, etc) were populated correctly at the end of the transfer. Although one of the things I transferred was a playlist (I right-clicked a playlist and selected "Send To > Device - I:"), the Playlists item in the tree was not populated.
I unmounted my iPod and disconnected it. The first thing to show was the language selection screen, which is to be expected since I just restored it. The About screen lists 0 songs. I plugged my iPod back in and explored the iPod_control folder. Its contents (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/06.jpg) and the contents of the \device subfolder (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/04.jpg) were the same as before.
I started MJ again and clicked on my I: drive. Even with "Show queued files only" disabled, MJ lists zero songs on my iPod (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/07.jpg). I queued up a song that I hadn't transferred before, and it uploaded just like mentioned above. I queued up a song that I had transferred before, but no longer showed on the iPod via MJ's interface, and received an abort error message (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/03.jpg), saying the file already existed.
Then, I right-clicked the handheld and selected "Reset iPod." Confirming the warning, it deleted the one song that I had uploaded this session from MJ's interface. I checked the \F00 directory and that song was gone. MJ's interface now showed no songs. However, all of the songs that I had uploaded in the previous session were still in the \F00 directory. No other changes were made to any files or folders in \iPod_control.
Stellar progress, dude! Cheers!
Media Jukebox 8.0.388
Install Path: C:\Program Files\J River\Media Jukebox\
CPU: Intel Pentium III 931 MHz MMX
Memory: Total - 1048 MB, Free - 534 MB
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106
ComCtl32.dll: 6.00.2800.1106
Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1106
Shell32.dll: 6.00.2800.1106
wnaspi32.dll: Internal ASPI Layer
edit: Adam, download this (http://www.pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/files/uxthemesp1.zip) and extract this (http://www.pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/files/iTunesTheme.zip) to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes. :D
-
jgourd--
I shudder to think of the day that MMJB is considered the "gold standard" of anything.
There are lots of known problems with the way MMJB copies files and writes back the DB.
iTunes should be the "gold" standard, if any problem excels to that. Next would be XPlay, as they deconstructed the entire iTunesDB format (including a couple fields that the iPod doesn't use).
--joe
-
I've got a major problem!
I reset my iPod from MJ8.
I moved some files over, so far so good.
I then quit MJ8 and unmounted my iPod.
My iPod has been stuck on the Apple logo for about 20 minutes now.
HELP!
:)
-=Tim=-
I pressed the iPod's back and forward arrows simultaneously (as recommended in some docs that someone in iPoidlounge told me about) and reinstalled my system software to my iPod.
All seems to be well now but I think I'll hold off until the Plug-In is a little more stable. Maybe I can't handle the ups and downs of beta this early.
But thanks Steve for the work and I look forward to the finished product.
:)
-=Tim=-
-
Great progress Steve!
Here are my results (similar to Kurt's).
Ipod would not show any songs until I did a full restore (used 1.2.1 as opposed to Kurt's test with 1.2). I ran into the same problem that Kurt had, there was only a Device folder in the ipod_control folder. I used ephpod to create the itunes and music folders and the associated files/sub-folders that go in them.
Connected to MJ. Could see the Artist/Playlist/Genre/Songs etc. under the ipod drive. Added a full album, clicked upload. The songs uploaded fine (no errors). I could see them properly under Artist, Album, Genre etc. in MJ, but when I disconnected iPod and tried to view the same on it, there where no songs present.
Reconnected and verified that the songs were indeed on the iPod in the F00 folder.
Tried a "reset ipod", then selected another batch of files from a different album. Ran into an error that one of the files already existed. This should not have happened as I selected a completely different set of files and I know the file names were different than the previous set of files I uploaded (sorry, that last sentence was confusing...too much wine again :-> )
Anyway, I aborted (had to do a "End Program" in task manager).
Keep up the great work. I really like the interface. Just switched to my new favorite skin (Doreen's TV) and it's nice to see the uploading. Just so you know, the speed is still roughly half of what I get with ephPod (about 2.5 seconds/song w/MJ, 1 second w/ephpod).
Looking forward to more builds.
Adam S
Media Jukebox PLUS 8.0.387
Install Path: C:\Program Files\J River\Media Jukebox\
CPU: Intel Pentium III 498 MHz MMX
Memory: Total - 276 MB, Free - 91 MB
OS: Microsoft Windows XP Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Internet Explorer: 6.0.2800.1106
ComCtl32.dll: 6.00.2800.1106
Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2800.1106
Shell32.dll: 6.00.2800.1106
wnaspi32.dll: Internal ASPI Layer
Off topic, but....
Hey Kurt: I saw your theme on your links. Looked at your website...you say your not a coder? And you say you couldn't code your way out of a paper bag...shame, shame. Any tips on how I can get that??? ;D
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jgourd--
I shudder to think of the day that MMJB is considered the "gold standard" of anything.
--joe
I do not disagree with your assement of MMJB. However, I still say that since it is what comes with the iPod and it is the only Apple sanctioned way of managing an iPod, then iPods formatted with MMJB are the gold standard.
-
Stupid Question:
I D/L'ed the 1.2.1 firmware. What do I do with the "iPod1.2.1Updater.dmg.bin" file now that I have it?
-
I had a question in this thread that i think got erased due to the forum crash.
Like i said it seems like a lot of messages in here about the IPOD is this things all that greate?
Or is it all Just Hype?
-
This my OPINION, take it with whatever grain of salt you wish.
I have owned many portable MP3 players in my search for "the right one". I have every flavor you can imagine including WinCE hand helds with micro drives. My search has ended now that I have the iPod.
However, the new Archos Jukebox ( http://www.archos.com/lang=en/products/prw_500347.html?country=cn )
does look very cool. I won't switch though.
A lot of what makes a good MP3 player is subjective and you have to have a list of features you want clearly in your head before you go shopping. For me it was 1) Shirt Pocket Size - NO BIGGER, 2) Hard Disk Based, 3) Sound Good, 4) Support for or future support for more than just MP3 formats, 5) Easy to see and use. The e.Digital Treo and the Apple both fit that profile. I also own both and the Apple is clearly better.
-
KingSparta, here's what sold me on the iPod:
It's the size and weight of a deck of cards or a pack of cigarettes. When jgourd said it fits in his shirt pocket, he's not lying. 8)
It uses firewire, instead of USB; I'm used to about 5MB/second in transfer speed. Transferring 20GB of music on USB would take all day, heh.
The user interface is very very nice. The scroll-wheel on the front saves so much time, it's unreal. I couldn't imagine scrolling through 17GB of songs without it. The display is large and readable, too.
It's hard-drive based, yet it is still small and compact. I didn't want a flashcard-based, rom-based, or cd-based mp3 player. The iPod, even 5GB model, holds a sickening amount of music. I don't have to plan ahead on what I want to listen to... with a 20GB iPod, I have music on hand for any mood I find myself in. Check out [shameless plug] www.ipodlounge.com [/shameless plug] for more iPod information than you could ever want.
-
King,
I LOVE MY iPod!
The size is perfect, After flashcard players I was a little surprised at the weight but I guess I have to remember that there's a hard drive in there that holds 20 gig of music.
Apple is great at design and the physical and user interface design is just amazing.
Its great having 4000 songs in one place, like Kurt says you've got music for every mood. I was driving this morning listening to something mellow, got bored with it so I changed to something loud and there was no shortage of choice in either direction!
Amazing.
I can't wait for the 40 gig iPod. ;)
-=Tim=-
-
Hello Again,
First, thanks to everyone for testing. TimB, sorry for any trouble. Let me again reiterate to everyone that the help is greatly appreciated, but the more I am finding out (more later) the more there is always a possibility you will end up reformatting your iPod at this time.
I have posted a new Plug-in with the time of 11:59 today. For all future tests, please be sure that the hh_portable.dll in your Plug-ins directory has this time. If you are still seeing "Contacts and Calendars", do a search for hh_portable.dll and delete all copies that were not modified at 11:59.
Now, jGourd and others who are using MusicMatch, when I first started this project I tried to get MusicMatch to work. I was incredibly frustrated with failures. To be fair, I was also using an Audigy card which I later learned was not necessarily the best compatibility choice. I eventually replaced the card and was able to work with Ephpod and after seeing customers compliment the ability to work with Ephpod I decided to look to implement our compatibility in a manner similar to Ephpod.
What I have created seems to work well if you start with an iPod wiped clean with Ephpod. The "Reset" option in MJ should approximate the clean Ephpod condition so we can have a similarly clean slate. If you use the Reset in MJ, double check that there are no files remaining in the FOO folder on iPod. If they are there, remove them. I will clean this up once things are working better.
I agree that I will eventually need to cross the hurdle of working with iTunesDB's created with MusicMatch. Currently when I install MusicMatch and then try to look at the contents of the drive using Ephpod, my plugin, or Explorer, the player disconnects. I won't go into the litany of problems that I have when running MusicMatch. Suffice it to say, that as a work around I managed to have MusicMatch and my plugin work on my machine by renaming the iPod folder which is created by MusicMatch to iPod1 so that whatever evil it is working on my machine is deactivated. As a test, anyone who is running MusicMatch successfully, can you go to "My Computer " and try to look at the contents of some folders on the iPod and see if you can do this without the player disconnecting?
Anyway, when I did the rename, I was able to upload one file file from MusicMatch to my iPod successfully(before renaming the iPod folder). Then, rename the iPod folder and run MJ and see the file. I then uploaded 5 additional files from MJ, all of which were seen and available to play on my iPod. When I renamed the iPod folder, these files were all visible in MusicMatch.
I will work this out, but for those who want to help, for now the most useful testing to do is to run Ephpod, wipe your player clean, and then run MJ and send a small number of files to iPod and see if the player recognizes and plays the files.
Thanks.
-
I am willing to give EphPod a try if it will help speed up MJ development. I too am one of the frustrated Audigy 1394 users who has trouble with MMJB's ability to complete an upload to the iPod.
However, It might make more sense from a testing standpoint that I leave the system the way it is and be the "devil's advocate" tester.
Here is my thinking: You have more work to do for sure. Right now, your plugin cannot create the folders or databases from scratch like EphPod and MMJB do. I am betting that most of the Windows iPod customers are simply going to install the software that came with it. When the frustration level gets too high they will look for a better choice. MJ users will look to the plug-in manager first, and not to EphPod. This means that the MMJB formatted iPod has to work (without the MMJB frustration) the first time they look atit with MJ.
Like I said, I'll install EphPod if it will help with the testing. Where do I get it?
-
OK, I wiped my iPod using Ephpod. I then deleted the handheld dll from the plug-ins folder. I downloaded the 11:59 version and installed it. I also made sure I'd registered the dll. I exited MJ and opened it again. The iPod showed up as an H: drive. I sent one CD of music to it which was uploaded to the root of the H: drive.
Looking at my iPod it has the following folders on it:
iPod_Control
- Device - Preferences, SysInfo
- iTunes - 9 files
- Music - 20 folders
I am using WinXP Home and have had no problem with Ephpod.
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I was going to get an iPod but my new Creatiev Zen arrived and I think I cancel my purchase. The Zen is slighty larger than the iPod but also 200 $ess. The quality is great too both in the build & sound. I am having problems with MJ working with it though and will address that later. Anyone looking at an iPod may want to check out the new Zen.
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jGourd,
Don't go changin (to try to please me ;)) yet. I like your devil's advocate idea. Let me fiddle with this some more. As far as I can tell, I can currently create a working database from scratch assuming that the player is formatted in the style of Ephpod. With what I have, I believe I can tweak it to work in another method (i.e like MusicMatch) but I have to spend some more time deciding what is best. I have taken off for the day, but will explore and post more tomorrow.
Phil_Lee, are the files recognized by iPod OK? They should be in the F00 directory.
Ghettonet,
I should receive my Zen on Monday and then can connect it and see what is going on. I will update on this next week.
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Phil_Lee, are the files recognized by iPod OK? They should be in the F00 directory.
Sorry Steve they aren't. When I sent the files to the handheld device then uploaded them, they got copied with their original titles to the root of the H: drive. The F00 folder was empty.
I have double checked the hh_portable.dll and it is dated 17th October at 11:59. It is 208896 bytes big.
-
Steve,
Do you want me to send you a RAR archive of my iPod with one or two songs on it? I may be useful to you in creating an MMJB formatted iPod without acutally having MMJB do the job.
-
I played with the latest plugin tonght. I used the iPod updater to wipe out my unit. I used MMJB to layout the db and folders.
I copied 2 files to the iPod. Lo and behold, I could listen to them.
I tried to copy whole albums but I kept getting an empty warning dialog and then the upload would freeze.
The good news is that I can now transfer and listen to mp3s.
The crashing may be related to my VIA/Audigy situation. That will change this weekend when I install my new motherboard.
-
Good News!
After a reboot, I was able to copy 591 Megs of MP3s to the iPod and they were all accessable to listen to.
Coool ;)
The speed was 118 MBytes/Minute ( 1.97MBytes / Sec. ).
-
Progress is a great thing...
I was able to upload an album and see it on the iPod. I did a full wipe of my iPod first in ephPod (note, not a restore, a "wipe iPod clean").
One strange thing. I tried first to upload a different album, and got a "duplicate file" error message. This shouldn't have happened as the file name is different. The only thing I can think of is that I tried to upload this same album before in MJ. Is it somehow keeping track of what's being uploaded and not refreshing? I dunno, it's strange. I'll play around some more and see what happens.
Ah, I think I may know. How exactly are the files being named when uploaded to iPod? I don't think you're changing the file names to numbers, are you truncating them at 32 characters? I'd check now, but I've already started re-uploading my pod w/ephpod so I don't what to stop halfway through.
I'll check tomorrow.
Thanks,
Adam (S).
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Very nice progress, dude!
Working:
The plugin successfully uploads songs to an iPod, passing their Album, Artist, Track#, Title, and Genre information to the iTunesDB. Yes, Virginia, you can play them on your iPod. Sweet!!
Limitations:
The plugin can't initialize a freshly-restored iPod yet. That is, it can't create the directory structure, the iTunesDB file, etc. The plugin won't work with an XPlay-initialized iPod yet, but it will work with an Ephpod-initialized iPod. It can't delete songs from an iPod unless you "reset your iPod," which deletes all songs and playlists. Its playlist features aren't done yet, so you can't create usable playlists, either manually or by adding an MJ playlist/smartlist.
Here's the annoyingly long, "he wrote it as it was happening" version (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/10-17-02.htm), for more detailed information on my testing. I figured it was more polite to link it rather than putting down another HUGE post. 8)
And here's Kurt's List (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/kurtslist.htm). ;)
edit: now that I think about it, the whole "not compatible with XPlay" thing could be caused by the iPod_control folder being hidden. I can't be sure, and it's too late to test it tonight. Sorry bout dat. :(
edit 2: got to work today, plugged in my XPlay-initialized iPod. I un-set the "hidden" and "read-only" bits on every file and folder on the iPod... MJ still shows the contacts and calendars. Guess it's XPlay's format after all.
-
Hello again,
Continued thanks for the testing and reports. I will be in at midday today and will sort out what it all means. Look for more info later.
JGourd, that archive would be a help. Could you send to steve @ jriver.com? Thanks.
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When I drag a playlist to the root of the iPod plugin or to the playlists sub folder, the files get queued, but the playlist itself doesn't
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Weekend update....
I have just posted a new Plug-in with today's date and time of 5:26.
I have found and corrected a bug that will hopefully correct the file deletion problems that have been reported. I revamped the Reset / Format right click option. If you use this option, you will delete everything in the "Music" directory on the iPod and it will be recreated with a single folder called "F00". This is incompatible with MusicMatch (for now) so if you test and want to go back to MusicMatch, be prepared to use the Updater from MusicMatch which will reset things for you and delete your files and playlists. I sucessfully used this format option and then reused Ephpod (for those of you using Ephpod) but this assumes that your Ephpod is not using any of the other folders (F01 - F20?) THIS IS A HUGE ASSUMPTION. There probably is a way in Ephpod to have it recreate the folder structure the way it prefers. If there is, then go forth and test knowing that you can reset if necessary.
I suggest holding off on testing until next week when I pick up the battle again.
Kurt, special thanks for the detailed list. I will work on it next week.
JGourd, for now you must create the Playlist separately then drop the files onto it. This will improve in the future.
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I am playing around with the new plugin that makes a single music folder. Here are my first impressions:
It works!. It is not compiant with the "standard" Apple format, but it does work.
I was transfering a lot of files and I got the duplicate file error and it aborted. This would be a good arguement for implemting the multiple folders. An alternative is to rename the files to or with a timestamp.
I have an interface issue with the plug-in's sub folders. I had an album's file list in the right pane of MJ. I then clicked the "+" of the iPod and exposed the subfolder tree. I right-clicked on the "Pplaylists" sub folder and nothing happened. It wasn't unitl I clicked on the root icon of the iPod and put the iPod's contents in the right pane, that the right-click on the playlists sub folder began to work.
More to come...
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Woot, a new build!
Deleting files works now, and the "Reset iPod" function has been very nicely improved. It's still got some irregularities and instabilities, but so far, so good.
Most distressing is that it seems to break MJ's TV-Tuner. That's bad juju, hehe.
Here's the "he wrote it as he tested it" (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/10-19-02.txt) list.
Here's Kurt's list (http://pimpin-seattle.d2g.com/images/mjipod/kurtslist.htm) :D
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Spam reaches new threshold. ;) I refuse to play with machines. ;D
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Sorry about that Jim. I have put musicex on the approved list for my email.
ChoiceMail is an interesting Spam killer as it requires people who are not on your approved list to take an extra step to send you email the first time.
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I've finally had some success with the most recent plug-in (Oct 18 17:26). I decided to follow Kurt's approach since he had started with the same problem as me, only being able to see Contacts and Calendars.
I used the newly downloaded 1.2.1 updater to restore my iPod. I then tried copying songs to it using MJ. The files uploaded but they didn't appear in on the iPod when it was disconnected from my PC.
I then used the option in the plug-in to format the iPod for use with MJ. When that completed I uploaded one album to the iPod, exited MJ and unmounted the iPod. Lo and behold the tracks appeared on the iPod.
I then got brave and sent a whole load of tracks, around 3Gb, to the iPod. This stopped fairly early on since the file naming system I was using, <track number> <track name> didn't like some of the live CD's and compilations I have ripped.
I renamed all my songs (~2000) to <album name> <track number> <title> using MJ (nice facility BTW) and started again.
I queued a combination of albums, artists and playlists to be uploaded. I was able to upload around 600 tracks before the plug-in said that a track already existed. This was probably because the track was in both a playlist and an album in the queue. I'm not sure if the plug-in allows you to upload a song twice, once in a playlist and once in another way.
I decided to give it all another go and formatted the iPod again using the MJ plug-in. I am currently uploading around 2.4Gb of tracks, all chosen by uploading an artist. So far they are uploading OK, although the process is a lot slower than with Ephpod. With Ephpod it takes around 1 sec per song (6Mbps). With the MJ plug-in it takes around 3-5 secs per song.
I also had a weird problem along the way. At one stage, MJ decided to keep on crashing on me with an exception violation :
Code: 0xc0000005
Flags: 0x00000000
Record: 0x0000000000000000
Address: 0x00000000028cd790
in Module 1 Media Jukebox.exe etc etc.
This error happened every time I sent an item to the iPod device. I resolved the problem by opening Ephpod. It said that it was writing Mac files to the iPod. Once that had done, I exited Ephpod and I was able to upload songs to the iPod again.
At the moment my main concern with the plug-in is how it handles tracks being uploaded in 2 different ways at the same time and how it copes with uploading playlists when some of the tracks are already on the iPod. Apart from that things are looking good.
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Here's a further progress report. I just uploaded 5.480Gb of songs in 58m 54 secs. MJ displayed the songs correctly on the iPod. When I exited MJ and unmounted my iPod the new songs weren't listed and the song total on the iPod was incorrect.
I opened Ephpod and it listed the correct number of songs on the iPod. I exited Ephpod and unmounted the iPod again. Once again the new songs weren't displayed. I also opened up MJ and the songs were listed correctly.
I then used Ephpod's option to rebuild the iPod database. Once that was completed I was able to see all the songs on the iPod correctly.
Next, I added another 3 albums by a single artist. These uploaded successfully and were recorded in the iPod database correctly without needing to use Ephpod.
I also spotted a bug in the upload display. If you upload several tracks with the same name, the File Status is only updated in the first entry. For example, I uploaded Yellow Submarine twice from 2 different albums. The actual mp3 files had different names. During the upload, the file status changed on the first entry twice.
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Thanks everyone for the reports. I will get on improvements tomorrow and have a new post then.
Steve
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Something else I forgot to mention. For some reason the MJ plug-in created a playlist with a blank name containing all the tracks on the iPod.
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Yup,
I two blank playlists on mine.
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Hello Everyone,
This post has gotten pretty huge. I am going to close it and start a fresh thread.
Steve