iPod problems: synching goes okay, songs won't play

[charlieMOGUL]

Hi,

Thanks for the iPod support - it gave me almost the same good feeling as buying that lifetime licence (c;
I have an iPod Photo 40GB and am using version 2.4.1.851

When I choose for 'synchronize selected', select some songs and transfer them to the iPod, everything goes well.
After ejecting the iPod the songs appear in the right lists. However, when I try to play them, the iPod simply skips those songs. It shows them with the right track information, but it won't play them.
The tracks are encoded with Lame using VBR.

Another question - will there be Album Art support for the iPod photo series ?

Thanks in advance,

charlieMOGUL

[rusty]

CharlieMogul,

Re. the LameVBR tracks that don't play: if you synch those tracks with iTunes, do they play properly on the iPod?

Re. Photo support, we'd like to add this type of support in the future, but haven't really given it deep thought as of yet.

Regards,
Russell

[charlieMOGUL]

Hi,

Thanks for the fast reply.
I tried the tracks with iTunes, and it handles the tracks well.
The additional settings I used for LAME (I use Exact Audio Copy as well): --alt-preset extreme -q 0
I'm using Lame version 3.96 MMX on a Windows XP Pro SP 2

About Album Art support: that would be great, especially since MediaMonkey itself has Album Art support now...

regards,

[Guest]

I agree about the album art part - Having album art is a great thing about MM, as iTunes can't download album art and store it in the tag. And I just bought a photo iPod, so I guess I would love to be able to see my album art when I play Mp3s.

Anyway, I am so grateful for iPod support. Its the best thing since sliced bread! Keep working on it!!

thanks!

Abrazor
(Not signed it, don't know how!!)

[jiri]

CharlieMOGUL,

I wasn't able to reproduce the problem, for me VBR tracks work fine. The only problem I found was that tracks that produce international filenames (i.e. contain non-standard characters) on iPod don't play at all. Isn't it your case? This will be fixed.

In case this isn't your problem, you can e-mail me some of your tracks that don't play and I can check them out.

Jiri

[charlieMOGUL]

Jiri,

I found out that the problem hasn't got anything to do with the mp3 files, but with the filenames and the internal structure.
iPod stores all of its music in folders named \iPod_Control\Music\Fxx, where xx varies per iPod model. Mine (Photo 40GB) for example goes from F00 to F49.
When I first tried to synch tracks, I used the default filename filter. This placed all the tracks in folders named \Music\<Genre>\<Album>.
iPods have problems with filenames longer than 28 characters.
For testing purposes I changed the filter to \iPod_Control\Music\<Artist>, and this works okay.

I have a couple of questions:
- Could you make a function that truncates long filenames, regardless of the filter used ?
- Could you make a function that checks for duplicate filenames in the same folder and, for example, adds a random number to prevent overwriting of those files ?

Maybe it's also a good idea to use iPod's natural foldersystem (F00-Fxx) instead of making other folders. In that case you would need a function as well to randomize the target folders to spread all the songs evenly over the folders.

Good luck, and I'll be more than happy to assist where I can!

[jiri]

Yes, naming for iPod has to be improved, we'll release an updated version soon.

Jiri

[jiri]

CharlieMOGUL,

it seems that only iPod Photo has the filename length limitation you mentioned, there isn't anything like this in iPod Mini I tested. However, I'm not sure how big the limitation actually is, some sources say it's 31 characters (probably including extension), could you please find out if it's right? Also, is there the same limitation for any part of path, i.e. any folder name?

Thanks,
Jiri

[paradroid]

Hi,

some of my songs won't play either. I am using a 4gen iPod 40 GB. In my case these files do contain german characters.

Does anybody know how to rename the iPod ? Mine shows a scrambled name after sychronisation with MM.

Cu

P.

[charlieMOGUL]

Hi Jiri,

The filename restrictions apply for filenames AND for foldernames as well: long foldernames with short filenames aren't recognised.
Short filenames in short folders are recognised.
The filenames generated with iTunes are 28 characters long (3 for the extension, one for the dot, and 24 for the name itself.

[jiri]

charlieMOGUL,

thanks, an updated plug-in version taking this and other things into account will be out soon.

Jiri

[DMLCo]

Hi there!

I am having this exact problem. Synched 30 GB of music via MM 2.4.2.874, synch went fine, but none of them will play. It just cycles through the titles ...

I just changed the settings to trim the name to 31 characters. We'll see if that helps.

HELP!!!

-Daniel

[Guest]

FWIW, the problem seems to be solved by checking the "Force iTunes Folders" option. It worked with a single song, and with a playlist of 62. Am synching the big load now, and have fingers and toes crossed.

-Daniel

[brownidchick]

I have a similar problem. I have noticed that if I do not turn my iPod on for a day or two, it will not play all of the songs which are stored there. It will run through the entire list, and will only play a few of them. Has onyone else had this problem??