MediaMonkey iTunes plugin (d_itunes4.dll)

[reggie_mal]

Hi Guys,

My music is on D:\My Music\xxx.mp3

When I use this plugin, I keep the cache name blank and I expect itunes to point to thefile at D:\My Music\xxx.mp3

However, it doesnt! Instead itunes still copies the file and points to C:\Users\myname\AppData\Local\Temp\\D-My-Music-xxx.mp3 (I use Get Info in itunes to get this information)

Anyone know why?

[markstuartwalker]

@reggie_mal: Have a read of the "Explanation of the Cache" section in the manual "Even if you chose not to use the cache you may find that MM creates duplications by way of a temporary file within your TEMP folder anyway".

[markstuartwalker]

@zephyr: http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewto ... 90#p316590

[lindholm]

Tried re-synching my iPhone playlist with some 3K songs.

Got:

d_itunes4.dll 2238 23:17:18 EXCEPTION Log cleared
d_itunes4.dll 2238 23:17:18 EXCEPTION AppViaCOM (CoiTunesApp.Create) EIntfCastError Interface not supported
d_itunes4.dll 2238 23:17:18 EXCEPTION AppViaCOM (CoiTunesApp.Create) EIntfCastError Interface not supported
d_itunes4.dll 2238 23:17:18 EXCEPTION AppViaCOM (CoiTunesApp.Create) EIntfCastError Interface not supported
d_itunes4.dll 2238 23:17:18 EXCEPTION AppViaCOM (CoiTunesApp.Create) EIntfCastError Interface not supported
d_itunes4.dll 2238 23:17:18 EXCEPTION AppViaCOM (CoiTunesApp.Create) EIntfCastError Interface not supported
d_itunes4.dll 2238 23:17:19 EXCEPTION AppViaCOM (CoiTunesApp.Create) EIntfCastError Interface not supported
d_itunes4.dll 2238 23:17:44 EXCEPTION AppViaCOM (CoiTunesApp.Create) EIntfCastError Interface not supported
d_itunes4.dll 2238 23:17:44 EXCEPTION addFileToiTunesLibrary T:\MMiTunes\ABBA - ABBA - BangABoomerang.mp3 EAccessViolation Access violation at address 0F782102 in module 'd_itunes4.dll'. Read of address 00000000
d_itunes4.dll 2238 23:17:44 EXCEPTION Nil response from iTunes for AddFile T:\MMiTunes\ABBA - ABBA - BangABoomerang.mp3

MM: 1471
iTunes.dll: 2216
Windows 7 Pro SP1 64

[markstuartwalker]

Ouch! Please confirm the iTunes version. Also, are you starting iTunes before MM is started?

[lrankine]

Was getting numerous exceptions when trying to run the synch.....something that hasn't happened before. Then I checked and found an updated plugin (ver 2238). I've attempted to install it but keep getting a "The server threw an exception" error. What am I doing wrong????

[lindholm]

Ouch! Please confirm the iTunes version. Also, are you starting iTunes before MM is started?

Oops forgot that one.

iTunes 10.5.3.3

I have "iTunes auto start" set to "At start of sync"

[lrankine]

Was getting numerous exceptions when trying to run the synch.....something that hasn't happened before. Then I checked and found an updated plugin (ver 2238). I've attempted to install it but keep getting a "The server threw an exception" error. What am I doing wrong????

Updated MM to latest Beta and viola! The latest plug-in installed without a hitch and my synch is back to it's normal self! All is right with the world again!

[markstuartwalker]

Build 2357 released http://www.mediamonkey.com/addons/brows ... or-itunes/

Code: Select all

17/1/2012
* MMdateToFloatStr() reverted
* Only first 254 characters of comment field are copied to iTunes as it internally truncates
* BPM attribute limited to 0..999 as MM uses -1 for unknown and iTunes doesn't
* TagsNotified() functional content removed again. This is already handled in the normal sync activities.
* FAQ added about "Delete files and playlists not included in the Auto-Sync list"
23/1/2012
* fillFromDatabase() exception traps to detect invalid date/float reads
* ListTracksRunning becomes a logged exception and limited to 10 times to avoid terminal lockups
* Device ProfileXML collected. (Mandatory requirement for MM 4.0.3.1465 or later)
3/2/2012
* Additional check to let "Start at Sync" work when "miminize" is enabled (for consultant)
7/2/2012
* Much testing for non-EN locales (for silver). All dates are now written to the DB with '.' regardless of locale and written as numerica and NOT strings.
* Check for image size added (via ProfileXML function)
* Tested against MM 4.0.3.1470
* syncArtwork() fixed at last, taking into account the "Remove images from tags larger than..." options. (via dnfTagsModified)
* Build 2341
13/2/2012
* SyncArtwork only triggers when cache is used
* build 2357

Note this can only be used with MM4.0.3.1465 or later. Currently this is beta release so use this at your own risk.

[aprzybylo]

I have couple of problems with that plug in (I have the latest version on plug in, latest of itunes and latest MM)
1) I sync MM and itunes database. Everything is fine. However after I play with some files and I resync usually the number of files that are recopied to itunes is much bigger then the number of files i modify. It happens that from 5k of total songs I modify maybe 10-20 and over 3k are recopied.
2) Another problem I have with art. If I modify the art in MM (embed in tag) and i resync the art never shows up in itunes (even if the file is actually recopied - I know since i modify the tag at the same time). The art in tunes file never changes.

[markstuartwalker]

Clearly that should not be the case. I suggest that you do a controlled test of sync/play single track/sync to confirm that it is the playing of the track that is causing the extra tracks.

It is very easy innocently to change settings in MM which can trigger massive re-sync of tracks. Two of the
* Change of auto-conversion settings (even if you put them back to what they were before)
* Rename of a Genre
* Use of Level volume when synchronising audio

A final question is one of time-sync between PCs. Are you running on a single PC or are the tracks stored on (say) a NAS via a share?

[markstuartwalker]

New FAQ added

Q: I get exceptions saying that my flac files are not compatible with iTunes and I should convert them. But I already have a rule in place to convert incompatible files to mp3. What is wrong?
A: This is an MM issue. You must add a rule but you must also add mp3 as a supported format on the device. By default, fresh installations have no types defined which perversely implies that all types are supported.

[Ivrus]

Had a question about sync: how does the plugin handle ReplayGain values? One of the things that I liked about MediaMonkey with my old 2G iPod Touch was that I could spoof compatibility with the device's Sound Check using ReplayGain values without having to re-scan and add yet another set of tags via iTunes. This isn't an option with my new 4G Touch, which comes with iOS5. If the plugin doesn't deal with RG at all, would you consider adding it as a feature with an option to select from Album and Track values?

UPDATE: I ran across the post back in August 2011 about why Sound Check isn't used. The reason I want to be able to use RG values instead is that you can level on a per-album basis, whereas Sound Check's default value is per-track (leading to the issues stated in that earlier post). This really helps if a mix contains tracks from across decades (90s-era CDs are a lot quieter than modern ones due to less range compression, and 80s CDs are quieter still).

[markstuartwalker]

I really don't know much about this. I can confirm that the plugin doesn't change any of the track or album level values. The process used is quite simple.
* Track is taken from MM and placed in the cache
* iTunes is given the path to the track in the cache

The second point causes iTunes to read things like ID3, album art - I guess that might include the level values but I have no proof that it does.
There is a step before the first point might be of more interest to you. If the "Level volume when synchronising" option is switched on I believe MM will convert the native MM track and produce a copy (in the TEMP folder) before handing over to the plugin. I guess this copy will have the levels adjusted or applied in some way.

I've looked at the API for iTunes and on each track there is a VolumeAdjustment integer field. I guess this maps to the Volume adjustment slider on the Options tab for the track in iTunes. I suggest that you manually adjust this and see if it achieves what you want. If there is sufficient demand I could invent some way of setting this via the plugin.

[Ivrus]

I really don't know much about this. I can confirm that the plugin doesn't change any of the track or album level values. The process used is quite simple.
* Track is taken from MM and placed in the cache
* iTunes is given the path to the track in the cache

The second point causes iTunes to read things like ID3, album art - I guess that might include the level values but I have no proof that it does.
There is a step before the first point might be of more interest to you. If the "Level volume when synchronising" option is switched on I believe MM will convert the native MM track and produce a copy (in the TEMP folder) before handing over to the plugin. I guess this copy will have the levels adjusted or applied in some way.

This is pretty informative, thanks. It sounds like since values are passed directly between the original and the cache, no on-the-fly conversion is taking place. MediaMonkey only does RG->SC conversion if the driver being used is the iPod interface driver. I did a test run and found that this was, indeed, the case; regardless of settings, RG data are retained as-is and not passed to iTunes in any usable form.

The "Level volume when synchronising" value causes MM to rewrite the file with a hacked gain level (instead of using the less destructive route of adding an adjustment value). This is perfectly fine if you're planning on creating a new destination file every time and if you disable Sound Check in both iTunes and the iPod.

Sound Check values are stored as an "ITUNNORM" field in M4A files and in a comment frame named "iTunNORM" in MP3 files -- this is independent from the VolumeAdjustment field you mention. They're basically an exponentiated form of the ReplayGain adjustment data (SC = [10^(-0.1*RG)]*1000, I believe). MP3Tag and foobar2000 have built-in functions for the conversion, so it may also be possible to make a second pass with one of these on the cache and impose these values; I'll give it a try.

EDIT: Not sure if this will help anyone, but MP3Tag conversion of RG data to Sound Check via its $rg2sc() function works (you'll need two scripts -- one for M4A files, and one for MP3 files). You just have to make sure to apply this to the cache while iTunes is closed, enable Sound Check on the iPod (and only the iPod), and then sync via iTunes.