Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[SteveG]

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=display;num=1053523931
 
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)

[Phil Lee]

Steve, maybe you could answer a question I've been  meaning to ask for a while. When you transfer music to your iPod does MC9 use the Artist, Album Artist or Album Artist (auto) to fill the Artist data in the iPod database?

I'd like to know because I'd like to have a Various artist on my iPod and would prefer to set this in the Album Artist field or even better if the Album Artist (Auto) was used. Maybe this could be offered as an option?

[Endymion]

Steve,
 I downloaded v9.0.27 it fixed my crash problems.  Thanks for tracking this down.

John  

[dallardice]

...and loading 9.0.26 yesterday seemed to fix my problems.  Ripped 14 CDs last night and synced them all this morning like a dream... Thanks.

[SteveG]

John and Dallardice,

Thanks for the updates. Glad all is well.


Phil,

I use the Artist field. Just to be clear, you are saying that a good solution for you would be to offer the possibility to use other fields in place of Artist (i.e. Album Artist) in the Handheld options?

[Phil Lee]

Phil,

I use the Artist field. Just to be clear, you are saying that a good solution for you would be to offer the possibility to use other fields in place of Artist (i.e. Album Artist) in the Handheld options?

I almost always play music on my iPod by browsing through the artists and selecting a complete album. I very rarely listen to playlists even though all my music is uploaded to the iPod using smartlists.

I have a number of compilation CD's, mainly soundtracks, that I have uploaded to my iPod. As a result of this I have around 30 artists listed with only 1 track each to their name. These clutter up the artist list and also mean that I very rarely listen to the soundtracks albums.

It would be good to have the option to use the Album Artist (Auto) or Album Artist to generate a (Multiple Artists) entry on the iPod like in MC9. The way I see it working is that the artist entry is used unless either the Album Artist or Album Artist (Auto) entries are set, in which case these are used in preference.

[RGHessel]

Can anyone tell me what Error Code 23 means? Whenever I sync files with my iPOD a number of songs will be flagged with this error code. I can re-sync 3 times in a row and each time different songs will come up with this error code...

Thanks.

[SteveG]

RGHessel,

It is a Windows error when copying a file. It means...

"Data error (cyclic redundancy check). "

The cyclic redundancy check or "CRC" is a check that the sytem does when transferring the file. Most likely this error is caused by bad sectors on your drive or on iPod. Try reformatting your iPod from Windows and see if this helps.

[coxkevin]

Steve,

Here are my latest tests and results of using the transcoding capability:

Media Center Library (28 Songs)
- Bangles, Greatest Hits (14 Tracks, all at 320bps)
- Bangles, Different Light (12 Tracks, all at 320bps)
- Bing Crosby, Golden Greats (Track 15 "Swinging On A Star", 128bps)
- Bing Crosby, The Radio Years Vol 2 (Track 25 "May The Good Lord Bless And Keep You", 160bps)

Setup
- Restored the iPod usings Apple 1.2.6 Updater.
- Formatted the iPod from inside Media Center.
- Created "Bangles" Smartlist With Album="Greatest Hits"
- Created "Bing" Smartlist with Artist="Bing Crosby"
- Created "Additional Tracks" with [Track #]==1,15,25

Test 1
Synchronized with
- "Bing" smartlist Selected
- Delete files not in list checked
- Update tags checked
- Autosync unchecked
- Options: force file conversions during uploads checked, normalization set to 95%, conversion to 160, high speed.

Issues
Transcoded "May The Good Lord Bless You And Keep You", to 160bps even it was at 160bps originally.

Test 2
Renamed "Bing" smartlist to "iPod Test"

Sychronized with
- "iPod Test" smartlist selected and all other settings as in Test 1

Issues
Ended up with two playlists on the iPod, "Bing" and "iPod Test" even though "Bing" didn't exist anymore. I assume this is due to the functionality of "Delete Files Not In List" being disabled.  Will you be reenabling this functionality anytime soon?

Test 3
Expanded the iPod's Playlists grouping, right clicked on "Bing" and selected delete.
Synchronized With "iPod Test" and "Bangles" smartlists selected, all other settings as in Test 1

Issues
Overall Progress bar starts at 0% and hits 100% with each set of 10 files that are transcoded and downloaded to the iPod. Should show overall progress of all songs being synched.

Test 4
Synchronized with "iPod Test", "Bangles", and "Additional Track Test" all selected, all other settings as in Test 1

No Issues

The transcoding capability is getting to be quite robust.  Although there are a couple of minor issues, when you guys get it done, it going to be phoemenal!  In my never ending plug, the only thing missing is the capability to normalize against replay gain and that's just because Apple's disabled the soundcheck capability on the winiPods.  I know it's on your to do list, but can you give me any hints on when you might be tackling this?

As usual, thanks a million for your help and I stand ready to try and break things yet again.

Cheers,
kc

[coxkevin]

Hi Steve!

I was kicking myself for being such a bonehead about not realizing that normalizing would cause transcoding when I realized that only the 160bps file was transcoded.  The 128bps file wasn't transcoded to accomplish normalization and it should have been, based on your logic.  Right?

I'm also having trouble with custom fields.  First I create a custom field with the following attributes:
- Name: Song Dup
- Display: Dup (Artist, Name)
- Keywords:
- Data Type: String
- Category: Extended
- Edit Type: Standard
- Values:
- Store in file tags (when possible): Checked
- Default Search Field: Checked

My first problem is that when I go back in to look at the attributes, the "Default Search Field" is unchecked.  However, my bigger problem is that I can't actually edit the contents of the custom field.  If I click on a song, edit the contents to "Yes", click on a second song to save the change, then click back on the original song, the custom field is still blank.  What the heck am I doing wrong?  
?

I'd appreciate any helpful hints you can provide.

Cheers,
kc

[Phil Lee]

I've just synched my iPod for the first time in a couple of weeks. Everything has gone fine but there are a couple of things I spotted that didn't seem right.

First of all the autosynch no longer works and there's no option to enable it.

Second, the status bar at the bottom no longer displays the total amount of music on the iPod. This was extremely useful in MC9 since I could check the space there with my synching playlists before I synched.

Finally the free space on the iPod after synch wasn't disaplyed correctly. It was shown as -0.4Gb when I actually had 138Mb free on the iPod after my synch.

[Sam]

I just got my iPod, and I've been transferring songs to iPod.  I've had a couple problems, and I'm wondering if that's because I'm using MC9.1.

When I click on the iPod plug-in on the website to get the latest version, I get "Invalid package file" error.

And occasionally when I'm uploading to the iPod, I get "Media Core" errors which crash the app.

Do I need to go back to 9.0?

[SteveG]

Kevin,

Tests 1 and 3 are resolved and will be in tomorrow's MC build. Test 2 will be resolved soon and the Replay Gain issue is on the list but a little further down. I will check out the custom field issue tomorrow.

Phil,

Auto synch has been moved to Tools->Options->Device Settings->Handheld.  This will enable AutoSynch to work as soon as you plugin in your iPod.  The status bar got hacked with the new look in 9.1, I will fix it tomorrow.

Sam,

Try getting today's version of MC. Do not bother getting a Plugin, it is built in. Try reformatting the iPod from within MC (right click on the drive and select Format. This will lose all your data) and see if that clears things up. If not please repost.

Steve

[coxkevin]

Tests 1 and 3 are resolved and will be in tomorrow's MC build. Test 2 will be resolved soon and the Replay Gain issue is on the list but a little further down. I will check out the custom field issue tomorrow.

I'm heading out of town tomorrow AM, and won't get back home until Monday.  I'll try to keep up with the postings here, but won't be able to do any testing until I get back.  Please don't take lack of correspondence as lack of interest.  Thanks again for all your help.

Cheers,
kc

[ashawley]

Steve:

Something I think I'm noticing in the beta (.197).

I normally do a nightly sync to refresh my Playlists?  I just seemed to notice today that my smartlist didn't get re-randomized last night.  The same songs on the same order.

I've got a list that is 8 hours of tunes in random.  And I got the same list of tunes as I had yesterday.

This was an enhancement you did ages ago, maybe something crept back?

I'll do another test tonight to make sure and let you know (with .198)

Adam

[SteveG]

Phil,

The status bar info is in the next build of MC.

Kevin,

Your custom field info issue has been replicated and will be fixed in the next MC build.

Adam,

I could not reproduce what you are seeing. If you can reproduce it repeatly, can you try to give me the steps how to.

Thanks,

Steve

[ashawley]

Steve:

I seem to be the cursed with a mysterious illness.  I report bugs that aren't really there.  

Sorry about that...all is well.

Adam

[Sam]

When I try to upload files by synching new playlists, MC goes through my entire library, starting with the first song in the database.

It also says it can't handle APE files even when the  entire playlist is MP3.  I guess this is because it thinks I want to upload my entire library, which has some APE files.

Thinking my MC library was corrupted, I deleted it and imported all the files again.  No change.


The simpler file upload seems to work fine, but if I click on the tree, I get a Media Core error, which shuts down MC.

I'm on MC 9.1.




Media Center Registered 9.1.198 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 1794 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 298 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: N/A
Ripping /   Drive D:   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: PHILIPS  DVD+RW-D01         Addr: 1:0:0  Speed:12  MaxSpeed:12  Use MJ Engine:Yes
 Test mode: No /  Eject after writing: Yes /  Direct decoding: Yes /  Write CD-Text: No
 Use playback settings: No /  Normalization: None

[SteveG]

Sam,

Try reformating your iPod to make sure you are starting from a clean slate. If MC is trying to synch all your files, you most likely have the default "All Files" playlist checked. After the reformat, select "Synchronization" and then click the "Select None" box so all your playlists are deselected. Then, select only the playlists you want and try again.

I hope that will get you up and running.

Steve

[packyb]

This may be out of the realm of Media Center, but I am hoping not. I use Outlook and am trying to export my contacts to my iPod. Apple says you have to export contacts from Outlook as vcard files, but to do this in Outlook you have to export one contact at a time - what a joke. I have seen some solutions like Outpod, but am wondering if there is anything the folks at Media Center know about. Thanks.

[mindracing]

I would definitely recommend iPODSync.

I have been using it for some time and it works great.

Here's the link:

http://iccnet.50megs.com/Products/iPodSync/index.htm

[Sam]

Thanks Steve.  I should've figured that out.  


I now have 24GB of music manually uploaded on my iPod, and I'd like to set up Playlist Synching.  I can create playlists that reside on the iPod, but Playlist Synching (I think) requires playlists in MC that point to mp3s on the PC.  Can I get there from here?  I'd like to avoid redoing the song selection from scratch.


What fields is the synching based on:
name and artist? filename?  filename and path?  or some other unique file identifier?


Does iPod Manager serve any useful purpose?  If so, is there a way to replace MusicMatch with MC as the "Home Application"?

[Empyrean]

I'm new to MC9 and iPods. I bought my iPod yesterday and have ripped a bunch of CDs. Everything seems to be working fine except I have two issues. First, I am getting errors when synching files for two albums. The error code is '3'. Additionally, I have a blank playlist listed in my iPod and I have no idea how to get rid of it. It has no name or files just the right-arrow and it is above the On-The-Go playlist.

Any ideas? Also, what does "Imported Playlists" do in MC9? It originally had "music" in it which I deleted since it was empty. I'm wondering if that is what caused the blank playlist.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. So far I'm really liking MC9 and the new iPod.

[SteveG]

Sam,

Can I get there from here?

Yes. Create Playlists and Smartlists in your Music Library within MC and then when you go to synchronize your files, you will see your Playlists and Smartlists. You can then select them to be sent to your iPod.

The synching is based on whatever files you select. The tagging information for those files is transferred to your iPod but is not used to select what files to send.

iPod Manager is not used by MC, but I have never removed it. It may be necessary for your PC to recognize your iPod but I don't think so.

Empyrean,

I can tell you what that error code means tomorrow. It is a Windows error and I don't know it off the top of my head.

I don't know how you got the empty playlist. You could either reformat your iPod( you will lose all your data) or rebuild your database with a right click on the drive letter (you will lose your Playlists) to remove it.  

"Imported Playlists" will be a list of playlists you imported into MC ( as compared to individual files). This may have caused the blank playlist but it is hard to say.

Steve

[JeffPalley]

I haven't seen anything specific on this, and the plug-ins page still shows only a picture of the old-style iPod. However, I noticed that Sam said he had 24GB on his iPod, which makes me think the answer is yes.  When I first got my 30GB iPod, I tried using MediaCenter with it (I have the latest non-beta version), but I had problems.  However, I also had problems (since solved) with the MusicMatch software that came with the iPod, and the cause could easily have been just me getting used to the whole FireWire/Mac/iPod/Interface/etc. thing.  Before I try again, does anyone have a pretty good idea of whether the answer is yes, no, or maybe?

[SteveG]

JeffPalley,

I am not sure what the question is. If you were wondering if MC is compatible with the newer iPods, the answer is yes.  If you are having trouble with MC and you have MusicMatch installed, I would suggest either uninstalling MusicMatch or renaming the MusicMatch folder on your PC so you don't have conflicts with MusicMatch trying to grab hold of your iPod.

Steve

[Sam]

Perhaps I didn't state any of my questions clearly...

Yes. Create Playlists and Smartlists in your Music Library within MC and then when you go to synchronize your files, you will see your Playlists and Smartlists. You can then select them to be sent to your iPod.

I've picked out albums and songs that I like and copied them to the iPod.  I was hoping I could take those same songs and send them to the MC playlists.  It looks like I can send them to iPod playlists, but I cannot copy the iPod playlists to MC.  I can also send them to Playing Now, but they would be pointing to the files on iPod.
I think I'll have to manually recreate my iPod song list.  Feature Request: Make it possible to send iPod songs to MC playlists

The synching is based on whatever files you select. The tagging information for those files is transferred to your iPod but is not used to select what files to send.

I should have asked how a playlist identifies songs...
When I create new MC playlists to synch with iPod, will MC recognize that iPod already has these songs (because it sees matching artist and name fields), or will it erase the songs and reload them?

Also, I expect to be shuffling drives and files sometime soon.  I'm not sure how that's going to affect my playlists, but I may have the same situation with new playlists again.

iPod Manager is not used by MC, but I have never removed it. It may be necessary for your PC to recognize your iPod but I don't think so.

iPod Manager lists MusicMatch as the "Home Application" which it would launch automatically when iPod is connected.  Can you make MC replace MusicMatch?

[JC]

My hardware:
I'm using the new 30GB iPod with Media Center 9.1.199. Fresh install of everything with no iPod manager, no MusicMatch, no iPod plug-in on my WinXP Pro box.

I tested MC9.0, then 9.1 on my test box and installed 9.1.199 fresh on my "real" machine when I purchased yesterday.

My problem #1:
This happened on my test box and is happening with the new machine as well ... the iPod itself indicates that I have 27.3 out of 27.8 GB available (with 327 songs). If I look at the iPod in Windows Explorer or in Media Center, I get more realistic numbers of 25.8 GB remaining. The size remaining has been stuck at 27.3 eventhough I have uploaded over 250 more songs since then.

My problem #2:
Due to several error code 23 messages ... after reformatting my iPod, I must sync a few of my smaller lists first. If I sync the "All Music" smartlist, I will receive an empty playlist on my iPod that I can't remove.

Any help with these two issues would be appreciated

BTW - I really like the design of 9.1

My System Info:
Media Center Registered 9.1.199 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center\

Microsoft Windows XP  Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 1 (Build 2600)
AMD Athlon 1532 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 335 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: N/A
Ripping /   Drive F:   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: No  

Burning /  No burners found.
 Test mode: No /  Eject after writing: Yes /  Direct decoding: Yes /  Write CD-Text: No
 Use playback settings: No /  Normalization: None

[JeffPalley]

JeffPalley,

I am not sure what the question is. If you were wondering if MC is compatible with the newer iPods, the answer is yes.  
Steve

Steve,

Yes, that was exactly my question, and thanks for your answer.  Now I'll go ahead and try the fixes that you (and others and Adam's helpful Help doc) suggest.

Thanks,
Jeff

P.S.  As an aside ... it's interesting that MusicMatch itself, version 7 of which came in the box with my new-style iPod, claims that THEY don't even have a new-style iPod plug-in yet for their latest MusicMatch release (version 8) ... their web site says only that a plug-in for new-style iPods is "coming soon"  (http://www.musicmatch.com/info/plug-ins/?plugin=player&version=7.50.0089MMX&os=pc). Hmm, I wonder how you folks at MC were able to release a new-style-iPod-compatible version before even iPod's "partner" (MusicMatch) has been able to?  Or was your old plug-in so elegant that it didn't even need to be changed?  Or ... what?

[SteveG]

Sam,

I've picked out albums and songs that I like and copied them to the iPod.  I was hoping I could take those same songs and send them to the MC playlists.  It looks like I can send them to iPod playlists, but I cannot copy the iPod playlists to MC.  I can also send them to Playing Now, but they would be pointing to the files on iPod.  
I think I'll have to manually recreate my iPod song list.  Feature Request: Make it possible to send iPod songs to MC playlists  

You can send songs from the iPod to your PC by right clicking on the files and selecting "Donwload files to PC" Once those files are on your PC, you need to import them into MC and then you can access them in Playlists or Smartlists. There is not an automated way to have iPod playlists automatically get created in MC. If you want iPod songs to be in MC playlists, you need to import the songs from iPod in the same way you initially imported songs into your MC library, but then if your iPod is not connected, MC will not be able to access the files.

I should have asked how a playlist identifies songs...
When I create new MC playlists to synch with iPod, will MC recognize that iPod already has these songs (because it sees matching artist and name fields), or will it erase the songs and reload them?

Also, I expect to be shuffling drives and files sometime soon.  I'm not sure how that's going to affect my playlists, but I may have the same situation with new playlists again.

MC identifies songs by a unique number associated with the file. When you synch, MC recognizes the number and skips uploading the file if it already exists on iPod.

If you reimport songs into MC or clear your library this will assign a new number to the files and they will be reuploaded to your iPod because the old number will not be recognized.

iPod Manager lists MusicMatch as the "Home Application" which it would launch automatically when iPod is connected.  Can you make MC replace MusicMatch?

You can try, but I do not know how well it will work. If you want MC to automatically recognize your iPod, go to Tools->Options->Device Settings->Handheld and select "AutoSynch". Now whenever MC is running, if you connect your iPod, you will automatically go to the Synchronization screen.

JC,

This happened on my test box and is happening with the new machine as well ... the iPod itself indicates that I have 27.3 out of 27.8 GB available (with 327 songs). If I look at the iPod in Windows Explorer or in Media Center, I get more realistic numbers of 25.8 GB remaining. The size remaining has been stuck at 27.3 eventhough I have uploaded over 250 more songs since then.

I cannot duplicate this. You could try sending files with a different program and see if the iPod reports correctly. This could tell you if it is a hardware issue.

Due to several error code 23 messages...

Error code 23 is a Windows error when copying a file. It means...

"Data error (cyclic redundancy check). "

The cyclic redundancy check or "CRC" is a check that the sytem does when transferring the file. Most likely this error is caused by bad sectors on your drive or on iPod. Try reformatting your iPod from Windows and see if this helps.

Jeff,

Hmm, I wonder how you folks at MC were able to release a new-style-iPod-compatible version before even iPod's "partner" (MusicMatch) has been able to?

Apple has been no help to us whatsoever. This has caused us to build our plugin from the ground up. The good news of this is that we did it in a way that is compatible with the new iPods.

[bspachman]

I've gotta say, I love the 30GB capacity of the new iPods. My library (in MP3 format) is only about 40GB, so I find I don't synch very often. Of course, that means I play around with the amazing facilities of MC9 less, which makes me sad

Anyway, I've moved up to MC9.0.180 and the handheld plugin 9.0.28 to take advantages of some of the bug fixes Steve has implemented.

However, I'm still fighting with On-the-Go playlists and track order. I concur with Steve's findings of a week ago (in the previous thread) that:

I confirmed that the "On the go" playlist does not respect the track order. I do not think this is a MC issue but an iPod issue.

In playing around with things trying to discover a work-around, it appears that songs are transfered to the OTG playlist in the default order that MC9 uses to keep track of the songs.

For example:
Connect the iPod to MC9 and look at the root level of the iPod from the MC9 tree
Remove all sorting with a right-click on the columns.
Restore Album name sorting by clicking on the album column header.
Note that the tracks are listed in non-track order within their albums.

This is the order that songs are transfered to the OTG playlist in the iPod.

Is there a way to "re-index" the songs so that they get transfered to the iPod in Album->Track order? Would sorting options in my synching smartlist get respected? Does the iPod index number equal the MC9 index number and so match up better if I reimported my entire MC9 library?

Any other ideas?

In an additional topic, I cannot get the iPod to disconnect with a right-click on the drive letter in the MC9 tree (Eject device). The tree node collapses, but the iPod never says that it's okay to disconnect. It's also available in the Windows shell. The only way I've got to disconnect the iPod is with the "Eject Hardware" tray icon. Running Windows 2000sp3 as a "PowerUser"...

Any ideas on this one?

Brad
Brad

[JC]

JC,

I cannot duplicate this. You could try sending files with a different program and see if the iPod reports correctly. This could tell you if it is a hardware issue.

Initially, before I knew of Media Center 9, I used MusicMatch (version 7 and 8 ). The available capacity displayed properly on the iPod using both versions of this terrible software program. If you would like me to try other software (eg. ephpod), I will be happy to.

Error code 23 is a Windows error when copying a file. It means...

"Data error (cyclic redundancy check). "

The cyclic redundancy check or "CRC" is a check that the sytem does when transferring the file. Most likely this error is caused by bad sectors on your drive or on iPod. Try reformatting your iPod from Windows and see if this helps.

I've only been reformatting from within Media Center. I will happily format from within windows, or go back to the test box and restore the iPod using the iPod updater. If I transfer a smaller number of files at one time (about 10), the probability of getting an error 23 is reduced. I would like to be able to transfer all of my data in one "fell swoop" however.

Thanks for the assistance and I will respond back this evening with the results of the reformat.

[_K_C_]

Just got a new iPod 30Gb.  Using latest (today's) version of MediaCentre - I can see the iPod under devices, but the Media Core crashes when I try to synchronise.

I've set up a test (one mp3 file) playlist, but it crashes with the following info in the Windows "send / don't send" box:
AppName: media jukebox.exe       AppVer: 9.0.180.0       ModName: media jukebox.exe
ModVer: 9.0.180.0       Offset: 001cad03

Any ideas?  Troubleshooting walkthroughs?  More info of the problem needed?

Kevin

[SteveG]

Everyone,

Tonights build of MC will include a modification which will take care of "Delete Files Not in Synch" if you are doing on the fly conversion.

Brad,

I will have to do some more testing to sort this out.


JC,

Because I can't duplicate what you are seeing, it would help if you could use another program and let me know what you see. If they behave the same then it is most likely not an MC problem..Also, please let me know what Operating System you have so I can try to replicate this.  

Also, if you find that there are certain files that always fail with the '23' error, please email me one for testing.  (steve @ jriver.com)

_K_C_ ,

If the crash is immediately when you right click and select "Synchronize" try getting version 9.1 beta at..

http://www.musicex.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=MediaCenter;action=display;num=1055536291

Be sure to read all the warnings.

[cct1]

Just got a new iPod 30Gb.  Using latest (today's) version of MediaCentre - I can see the iPod under devices, but the Media Core crashes when I try to synchronise.

I've set up a test (one mp3 file) playlist, but it crashes with the following info in the Windows "send / don't send" box:
AppName: media jukebox.exe       AppVer: 9.0.180.0       ModName: media jukebox.exe
ModVer: 9.0.180.0       Offset: 001cad03

Any ideas?  Troubleshooting walkthroughs?  More info of the problem needed?

Kevin

Ok, check this link out  (it's to the ipodlounge):

http://ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=378

Try exactly what's in this thread, in the second post  (Ashawley's),let us know if there is a hangup, and where...

[_K_C_]

Thanks for the advice guys.
Tried the ashawley method - single mp3 file in a smartlist - worked perfectly.  Then tried making a smartlist of a several .ape albums.  Crashed immediately I asked it to upload.

I'll try 9.1 and report back...

[huang_wan]

I have a 30G new(2 weeks old) Ipod I wanted to go with MC and scrap MMJB  but when I downloaded the trial Version and tried to use the Ipod with it. I read  that the Ipod would have to be specifically formated for use with MC. Does this formatting preclude use with other programs like Xplay or Ephpod.

[_K_C_]

Trying 9.1 and seem to get the same problem.  I think it crashes when it has to convert.  I've just set it running on a set of mp3 files without converting and it seems to be going fine.

Where does it put the temp files?  My C drive is short of space.  Could that be it?

[Kurt Young]

More or less.

When you format it in MC, you'll lose all of your music and playlists.  You won't lose any contacts, calendars, or data on your iPod except what's in the iPod's control folder.

After you do this, assuming you load it up with MC9, I can state the following from personal experience:

1.  XPlay will work with it.  But once you let XPlay touch your iPod's database, odds are that MC9 won't be able to work with your iPod at all.  I therefore keep my iPod far away from XPlay.

2.  Ephpod will read it perfectly.  I keep a copy of Ephpod on my iPod's hard drive, so that no matter where I go, I can use Ephpod to download music from my iPod.  If I'm just dumping music to a computer, I tell Ephpod "NO" when it asks me if I want to save changes to my iPod.

3.  Ephpod can write to it with limited success.  I'd say about a 50% chance of mucking up your iPod's databse.  I try not to do it, as a rule.  I don't need to... I have MC9 at home.  

I have a 30G new(2 weeks old) Ipod I wanted to go with MC and scrap MMJB  but when I downloaded the trial Version and tried to use the Ipod with it. I read  that the Ipod would have to be specifically formated for use with MC. Does this formatting preclude use with other programs like Xplay or Ephpod.

[coxkevin]

Steve,

Here are my latest tests and results of using the transcoding capability:

Media Center Library (28 Songs)
- Bangles, Greatest Hits (14 Tracks, all at 320bps)
- Bangles, Different Light (12 Tracks, all at 320bps)
- Bing Crosby, Golden Greats (Track 15 "Swinging On A Star", 128bps)
- Bing Crosby, The Radio Years Vol 2 (Track 25 "May The Good Lord Bless And Keep You", 160bps)

Setup
- Restored the ipod usings Apple 1.2.6 Updater.
- Formatted the ipod from inside Media Center.
- Created "Bangles Test" Smartlist With Album="Greatest Hits"
- Created "Bing Test" Smartlist with Artist="Bing Crosby"
- Created "Additional Tracks Test" with [Track #]==1,15,25

Test 1
Synchronized with
- "Bangles Test" smartlist selected
- Delete files not in list checked
- Update tags checked
- Autosync unchecked
- Options: force file conversions during uploads checked, normalization set to 95%, conversion to 160, high speed.

Issues
Transcoded all the files and downloaded them to the iPod as a set of 10 followed by a set of 2.  When everything was complete the iPod only contained the songs in the last download (the set of 2).  The original 10 were nowhere to be found.

Test 2
Synchronized with
- "Bangles Test" and "Bing Test" smartlists selected
- All other settings as in Test 1  

Issues
Transcoded all the files in the "Bangles Test" smartlist and downloaded them again.  Downloaded the "Bing Test" smartlist files without transcoding.  After everything was complete, the iPod contained two songs: one from the "Bangles Test" smartlist and one from the "Bing Test smartlist.  When I disconned the iPod and went to play the songs on it, there were two playlists: "Bangles Test" and a blank playlist.  The "Bangles Test" playlist included both songs that were on the iPod when it should have only had one of them.  The blank playlist didn't have any songs in it.

Last week when I did testing, I wrote up an error that Media Center transcoded the 160bps song in the "Bing Test" smartlist, but not the 128bps song.  You said that was because I had opted to normalize.  I countered that if that was the case, then the 128bps song should have transcoded as well.  I liked your logic and had expected the fix to end up transcoding both songs.  It seems to do just the opposite and skip transcoding both songs.  Would it be possible to set the logic to always transcode if normalization is selected?

At this point I called it quits and am eagerly waiting for your next round of fixes.  Hope this helps!

Cheers,
kc

[_K_C_]

Problem: media core crashes when transcoding...

Where does it put the temp files?  My C drive is short of space.  Could that be it?

Might have figured it out but am now at work so can't test the theory.  My music files live on a network drive; I run Media Center from the client PC (it's NOT set up as client / server).  I suspect the client PC has read-only access to the network drive.  If MediaCenter is trying to put the temporary transcoded files on the network share, could this be what's causing the crash?

[Wobbley]

Sam,

When you download the iPod (hh_portable.dll) plugin, make sure that Media Center is not running.  I have found in the past that I almost always get an error when trying to download the newest ipod plugins if I have Media Center running.  If I close out of MC and try the download again, it works fine.  I always then open MC and look in Tools...Plug-in Manager...Handheld...Portable Drives... and make sure the version number is the same as the version number of the plugin I just downloaded.  Try it next time and see if it works.

The iPod Manager program is not needed to use the iPod with ANY windows program.  An iPod service is created when you install the iPod software (to check, click "Start"..."Run", then in the run box, type "Services.msc" and see a list of services on your PC and you'll see one called "iPod Service".  That's the "thing" that causes Windows to recognize your iPod when it's plugged in.

There is no way to change the home app for the iPod Manager unless you can do it via a registry edit (haven't looked, haven't tried - may try later and if so, I will post what I find).

No one should be using any other program to sync their iPod and their music files.  MC will do it all and it will do it effortlessly.  I have been using 1G iPod and 3G iPod with MC since the inception of the MC iPod plugin.  Initial, to-be-expected bugs received from the begininng of development aside, I have never had a problem that resulted from MC.  If I did have a problem, it was because of something I had done (undocked prematurely causing corruption of iTunes DB, etc.)

Hope this helps..

Wobbley

[Empyrean]

When connecting my iPod with 9.1.200 and the latest iPod plug-in I noticed the following to problems.

After connecting my iPod I noticed I had 4 empty playlists in the iPod. I believe this is caused by my previous mentioned error code '3' when trying to transfer two albums. I deleted those albums, formatted the iPod, resynched the playlists are correct now. This leads me to believe that there may be a need for more robust error handling in the plug-in when files are not transfered. It shouldn't kill all the playlists.

I am also receiving a blank message dialog (error) with no window caption or anything. Just the red x icon. I checked my task manager and it was produced by the handheld plug-in. This could be related to the issue above.

Also, what function does the iPod toolbar button in the bottom toolbar do? ..and how do sync random playlists to the iPod? It doesn't appear to transfer it randomly.

Keep up the good work!

// AJ

[JC]

JC,

Because I can't duplicate what you are seeing, it would help if you could use another program and let me know what you see. If they behave the same then it is most likely not an MC problem..Also, please let me know what Operating System you have so I can try to replicate this.  

Also, if you find that there are certain files that always fail with the '23' error, please email me one for testing.  (steve @ jriver.com)

Extensive testing last night. Issues resolved, but not understood.

Test #1 (test box with WinXP pro SP1):
Format iPod with WinXP as FAT32
MC9.1.199 didn't recognize drive as iPod
Ran iPod Updater 2.0
Format iPod with MC9.1.199
Transfer entire music library (no playlists)
No error code 23 messages
Available space accurately reported by iPod

Test #2 (real box with WinXP pro SP1):
Format iPod with MC9.1.199
Transfer entire music library (no playlists)
9 (out of 360) files returned error code 23
Available space incorrectly reported as 27.3 out of 27.8GB

Test #3 (real box with WinXP pro SP1):
Format iPod with WinXP as FAT32
Ran iPod Updater 2.0
Format iPod with MC9.1.199
Transfer entire music library (no playlists)
1 (out of 360) files returned error code 23 - different than the 9 from Test #2
Available space incorrectly reported as 27.6 out of 27.8GB

Test #4 (real box with WinXP pro SP1):
Ran iPod Updater 2.0
Format iPod with MC9.1.199
Synchronize playlists (including "All Music")
No error code 23 messages
Available space accurately reported by iPod

FYI - although both boxes "look" at the same drive for the source music files (and cover art), the MC9.1 libraries are different. Therefore, in order to sync my real box with the iPod, I had to wipe the results from Test #1 off of the device. Otherwise, I may have determined that formatting with WinXP solved the issue.

I'm not sure why it works sometimes and other times generates errors. It appears that receiving any error code 23 messages will hose up my iPod with respect to remaining available size. All other aspects work (new file transfers, etc ...) but the "Table of Contents" (for lack of a better term) gets corrupted anytime an error code 23 occurs. This corrupted TOC is only cleared by wiping the slate clean (iPod update or WinXP format). Formatting from MC9 will not clear the corrupted TOC.

Finally, testing from two days ago (pre-test #1 above) resulted in accurate iPod behavior with MusicMatch Jukebox with the same files. All files transferred without error and size was accurately reported (I did a complete 'restore' of the iPod twice from MMJB).

[SteveG]

Everyone,

In working on my response to Brad below, I came up with a good solution for people who want Smartlists ordered which was an issue from a few days ago. Here is the relevant text.....

If you want songs in a smartlist to be transferred in a particular order, you can add a rule to your smartlist under 'Sorting' which will control the order the files go to iPod.

Brad,

it appears that songs are transfered to the OTG playlist in the default order that MC9 uses to keep track of the songs.

I do not think this is the case. There is no default order in MC. The display in the views is determined by whatever is selected or it is random. I think if you are seeing any kind of correlation between an order you see in MC and the order in which items go to the "On-The-Go" Playlist, it is coincidence. Feel free to prove me wrong on this. The other possibility is that the transfers are controlled by the index of the files in the iPod database.

Is there a way to "re-index" the songs so that they get transfered to the iPod in Album->Track order? Would sorting options in my synching smartlist get respected? Does the iPod index number equal the MC9 index number and so match up better if I reimported my entire MC9 library?

If you want songs in a smartlist to be transferred in a particular order, you can add a rule to your smartlist under 'Sorting' which will control the order the files go to iPod. The iPod index number is not the same as the MC index. If it turns out that the iPod index number is relevant to the On-The-Go playlists, then I need to redo how this number is assigned.

On the subject of the eject with 2000, when I eject the iPod on a Win 2000 PC the iPod removes OK, but I get a disconnect warning from Windows when I unplug the iPod. I get this error even if I eject from Windows (in Explorer), so I do not think it is a problem caused by the Plugin.


Kevin,

Thanks for the report. Today's Plugin will resolve what you reported.

_K_C,

The temp files get placed wherever you have selected in Tools->Options->File Naming &Location->Temporary File Location. Can you check this against your theory and see what you come up with?

Wobbley,

Thanks for the advice.

Empyrean,

The iPod button in the Toolbar will transfer files to the iPod if you have some selected in whatever view you are in. If you see any crashes for whatever reason, please send me your iTunesDB file and I can build into the code a way to handle the error.(steve @ jriver.com)

JC,

Those error-23 messages make me wonder about your hardware. I also don't currently see a connection between the inaccurate size reporting and the Plugin. Does anyone else notice a mistaken reporting of the availble size on the iPod?

[TimB]

JC,

Those error-23 messages make me wonder about your hardware. I also don't currently see a connection between the inaccurate size reporting and the Plugin. Does anyone else notice a mistaken reporting of the availble size on the iPod?

I've not noticed this recently but on my Gen2 20 gigger I always got incorrect space usage reports.  When I reported this on Apple's iPod board I was told it was a common Apple-side iPod issue.

-=Tim=-

[TimB]

OK, I've been a little confused on transcoding.

I'm using 9.1.200.

I have APE (that obviously need converting) and MP3 files (that I don't want to convert regardless of their bitrate) that I want to get to my iPod how do I do this?   I've stopped encoding with APE until I can resolve this issue.

-=Tim=-

[_K_C_]

This just in from the "computers just want to make you look stupid" department.

Yesterday, I was getting a media core crash whenever I tried to transcode.  MP3 files transferred with no problem, but .ape files crashed immediately.

In navel-gazing mood I contemplated whether it was a space problem on C: or a write restriction problem on my network drive.  Steve pointed out where the temp folder setting lives in Tools.  I checked the setting and realised that that couldn't be the problem.

So I tried to sync my .ape files again, just to see what would happen.

And guess what? Nothing happened.  Nothing bad anyway.  Currently about 10% of the way through transcoding my ape files with no problems at all.  And not even a reboot betwen the time the media core kept crashing and now.  Somtimes I really, really hate computers.

Move along now, nothing to see here.  Move along...

PS.  Assuming things continue to work, the iPod support is excellent.  Thanks a lot guys for making this work so well.

[SteveG]

Tim,

In regards to transcoding, I have done a lot of work on this recently and I think it is close to being right. First, either get the next build of MC 9 (if there is one tonight) or at least get the newest iPod Plug-in (v 9.0.30). With this you should be able to have MC transcode your .ape files to mp3 for your iPod. If you are doing more than 10 files, it will send them every 10 so you don't fill up your PC drive with a bunch of temporary files. After you have sent them, if you resynch, the Plugin should be smart enough to skip them if you synch these files again.

Please let me know if you run into trouble as I have been working kinks out of this as recently as today.

Steve

[SteveG]

_K_C,

Thanks for the update. If you are running 9.1.200, if you are transcoding more than 10 files, they are going to get deleted from the iPod unless you get either 9.1.201 (when it is available) or if you get the new Plugin (9.0.30). Sorry for any trouble. I will move along now