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Topic: iPod manager (Read 2260252 times) previous topic - next topic
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[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #250 –
Quote from: musicmusic on
Quote
' date='Sep 26 2006, 17:01' post='435268']
I have an additional request, though.  Is there any way we could transfer rating tags to the ipod ML, and if so, what format should they be in?  1-5? 0-100?

0-5 I think.

Quote
' date='Sep 26 2006, 17:01' post='435268']
Do you know if it would be possible to code (easily) a piece of software that took the itunesML rating info and pushed it as metadata on the ipod?
I don't understand.

BTW do you find that the games (e.g. breakout) go jerky during MP3 playback?

I'll start this from the bottom : I haven't heard any reports saying that custom games lagged, whether during playback or not.  Most games actually include their own music tracks which they play.

About the rest, I looked a bit in my iTunes Music Library.xml file, and found this type of entry :
Code: [Select]
<dict>
            <key>Track ID</key><integer>2768</integer>
            <key>Name</key><string>Polonaise In A Major - Op.40, No.1</string>
            <key>Artist</key><string>Frédéric Chopin</string>
            <key>Composer</key><string>Frédéric Chopin</string>
            <key>Album</key><string>Chopin Polonaises</string>
            <key>Genre</key><string>Classical (Romantic)</string>
            <key>Kind</key><string>MPEG audio file</string>
            <key>Size</key><integer>8380839</integer>
            <key>Total Time</key><integer>388048</integer>
            <key>Track Number</key><integer>3</integer>
            <key>Track Count</key><integer>7</integer>
            <key>Year</key><integer>1992</integer>
            <key>Date Modified</key><date>2006-09-16T09:04:50Z</date>
            <key>Date Added</key><date>2006-09-16T05:46:37Z</date>
            <key>Bit Rate</key><integer>172</integer>
            <key>Sample Rate</key><integer>44100</integer>
            <key>Rating</key><integer>60</integer>
            <key>Persistent ID</key><string>536B531104D46EFB</string>
            <key>Track Type</key><string>File</string>
            <key>Location</key><string>file://localhost/K:/blablabla.mp3</string>
            <key>File Folder Count</key><integer>5</integer>
            <key>Library Folder Count</key><integer>1</integer>


As you can see, the rating seems to be 100-based (and this is the only place it's stored);  However, I read that the id3v2 spec has a specific tag for the rating to be stored that goes from 0 to 255; I was wondering if there was any way to make a program which would take the iTunes Media Library.xml file, parse it, and put the appropriate rating tag in each file.  Also, I was wondering what was the best way to store the rating inside the said file?  Should we go up to 255 as per the spec?  Use a custom scale? (255 = 100; 204 = 80, etc.)

Pick a way for my rating tags to be organised and I'll set them that way;  I'm only preocuppied foobar2000 will interpret the data as garbage if it's not properly done, so I thought this might have to be a joint effort.

If id3v2.4 uses a single byte to store the rating, it should be easy to store and read, but I only hope foobar doesn't display something like "¨" for 168, or "ÿ" for 255...
Thanks once again,
Tristan.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #251 –
[quote name='clunesy' post='435566' date='Sep 27 2006, 10:19']
Is there any word on making custom tags with TAGZ using foo_dop ? I can't wait ![/quote]It would be easy to add after 0.3.0. Maybe for 0.3.1. Only configuration is worrying, there are quite a few fields these days..

[quote name='clunesy' post='435566' date='Sep 27 2006, 10:19']
'Add as video' would be great - its the only reason I'm using itunes in the first place. [/quote]
Now I bought a "5.5G" iPod Video it could be more motivation for me to add it

BTW do you find that the games (e.g. breakout) go jerky during MP3 playback?
[/quote]

I find them much more unresponsive across the board, a bit of a disappointing 'upgrade' really. They're definitely slower to fill with files across USB 2.0 - I have high hopes for next years widescreen model, but hey - if Sony comes in first with an HD-based player, I have no particular loyalty ! Thanks for your reply, will look forward to TAGZ / 'load as video' developments.

Niels

PS Really wish I could get the hang of this quoting business.......

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #252 –
Quote
' date='Sep 27 2006, 14:29' post='435622']
I'll start this from the bottom : I haven't heard any reports saying that custom games lagged, whether during playback or not.  Most games actually include their own music tracks which they play.

I meant Brick sorry, its one of the included games. During playback, that lags, and also on the now playing screen, if the title long enough so it scrolls then there is some jerkyness there too (during playback). Pause and both problems go away. I'll see if I can dig anything up about it..

Quote
' date='Sep 27 2006, 14:29' post='435622']About the rest, I looked a bit in my iTunes Music Library.xml file, and found this type of entry :
Code: [Select]
<dict>
            <key>Track ID</key><integer>2768</integer>
            <key>Name</key><string>Polonaise In A Major - Op.40, No.1</string>
            <key>Artist</key><string>Frédéric Chopin</string>
            <key>Composer</key><string>Frédéric Chopin</string>
            <key>Album</key><string>Chopin Polonaises</string>
            <key>Genre</key><string>Classical (Romantic)</string>
            <key>Kind</key><string>MPEG audio file</string>
            <key>Size</key><integer>8380839</integer>
            <key>Total Time</key><integer>388048</integer>
            <key>Track Number</key><integer>3</integer>
            <key>Track Count</key><integer>7</integer>
            <key>Year</key><integer>1992</integer>
            <key>Date Modified</key><date>2006-09-16T09:04:50Z</date>
            <key>Date Added</key><date>2006-09-16T05:46:37Z</date>
            <key>Bit Rate</key><integer>172</integer>
            <key>Sample Rate</key><integer>44100</integer>
            <key>Rating</key><integer>60</integer>
            <key>Persistent ID</key><string>536B531104D46EFB</string>
            <key>Track Type</key><string>File</string>
            <key>Location</key><string>file://localhost/K:/blablabla.mp3</string>
            <key>File Folder Count</key><integer>5</integer>
            <key>Library Folder Count</key><integer>1</integer>


As you can see, the rating seems to be 100-based (and this is the only place it's stored);  However, I read that the id3v2 spec has a specific tag for the rating to be stored that goes from 0 to 255; I was wondering if there was any way to make a program which would take the iTunes Media Library.xml file, parse it, and put the appropriate rating tag in each file.  Also, I was wondering what was the best way to store the rating inside the said file?  Should we go up to 255 as per the spec?  Use a custom scale? (255 = 100; 204 = 80, etc.)

Pick a way for my rating tags to be organised and I'll set them that way;  I'm only preocuppied foobar2000 will interpret the data as garbage if it's not properly done, so I thought this might have to be a joint effort.

I think on several levels its not practical to rate files on a scale of 1-255. If we are talking about the id3v2 Popularimeter/POPM field then scaling the rating upto 255 would probably be better for compatibility looking at what the spec says. On the other hand, if you use the same scale for all of your files I don't think it would cause a problem. I would personally just stick to rating files from 1-5.

In terms of tagging, iTunes has a COM API available and so does foobar2000 through foo_comserver2. So I would imagine you could write a script in whatever you fancy to copy the ratings over if you want/that is what you want to do (I'm not sure).

Quote
' date='Sep 27 2006, 14:29' post='435622']If id3v2.4 uses a single byte to store the rating, it should be easy to store and read, but I only hope foobar doesn't display something like "¨" for 168, or "ÿ" for 255...
Thanks once again,
Tristan.
If foobar2000 did that, it would be a bug. But does it even use the POPM field?
.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #253 –
Quote from: musicmusic on
0-5 I think.

Rating for itunes is 0-100. And I assume ipod would be the same.

Quote from: musicmusic on
Now I bought a "5.5G" iPod Video it could be more motivation for me to add it

BTW do you find that the games (e.g. breakout) go jerky during MP3 playback?

Congrads. And I've noticed a bit of jerky-ness too.


And do you have any plans for podcasts?

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #254 –
Quote from: vkeios on
Quote from: musicmusic on

0-5 I think.

Rating for itunes is 0-100. And I assume ipod would be the same.

Correct, the iPod uses the range 0-100. I'm not sure what ShadeST was asking now but I meant if you want to ratings to be transfered into the iPod DB when sending songs using foo_dop the source files should be tagged on a 0-5 scale.

Quote from: vkeios on
Quote from: musicmusic on

Now I bought a "5.5G" iPod Video it could be more motivation for me to add it

BTW do you find that the games (e.g. breakout) go jerky during MP3 playback?

Congrads. And I've noticed a bit of jerky-ness too.
Yeah, I'm not willing to beleive there is something wrong with my iPod.

Quote from: vkeios on
And do you have any plans for podcasts?
Not ATM, sorry.
.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #255 –
i have to re-populate my ipod- is the next test version of foo_dop anytime soon?

i'm not asking to add pressure or demand- i'm just 100% curious.

if it'll be a while- i'll just use the current version.

should i wait?

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #256 –
Okay. Last question name.  What exact field name should we use for RATING?  Will it be mapped to POPM (should I ask the fb2k team about this?)

Thanks.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #257 –
Hi, I don't have an iPod but would like to know how this component works.
What does this mean:
Quote
You need your iPod connected and mounted as a removable hard drive for the component to work. If you have iTunes or the iPod Updater installed you can do this from within the component.

Do I need to have iTunes installed in order to use the component, and if not, how to make the computer see the iPod as a removable hard drive? I thought the iPod wasn't an UMS device.
Does this component work with the new iPods nano?

Thanks in advance.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #258 –
Quote from: furious on
i have to re-populate my ipod- is the next test version of foo_dop anytime soon?

i'm not asking to add pressure or demand- i'm just 100% curious.

if it'll be a while- i'll just use the current version.

should i wait?

I released it now: 0.3.0 TEST

See changelog first!

It does seem to actually stop iTunes doing its gapless rescans altogether actually. I guess it is related to the database version.

Quote
' date='Sep 27 2006, 17:53' post='435699']
Okay. Last question name.  What exact field name should we use for RATING?
I don't know but so far I've been using RATING. foo_dop uses RATING.

Quote
' date='Sep 27 2006, 17:53' post='435699']Will it be mapped to POPM (should I ask the fb2k team about this?)
Yes to the latter  Or test yourself - add that field to a file using another prog and see if it shows up in foobar2000.
.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #259 –
Quote from: Cutter on
Hi, I don't have an iPod but would like to know how this component works.
What does this mean:
Quote
You need your iPod connected and mounted as a removable hard drive for the component to work. If you have iTunes or the iPod Updater installed you can do this from within the component.

Do I need to have iTunes installed in order to use the component, and if not, how to make the computer see the iPod as a removable hard drive? I thought the iPod wasn't an UMS device.

iTunes gives you an option: 'Enable disk use'. If you enable 'Manually manage music...' in iTunes then disk use is forced. But yes then it shows up as a USB Mass Storage Device (if you connect it via USB ).

Do you needs iTunes (to get disk mode)? I forget. But I don't think you would be able to avoid iTunes these days - its now used to update the iPod firmware, reset it to defaults etc.

Quote from: Cutter on
Does this component work with the new iPods nano?

Thanks in advance.
I don't see why not.
.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #260 –
May I add a couple of requests? 

1. Ability to mark certain tracks as 'Skip during Shuffle' the way iTunes does it.
2. Ability to remeber track position of certain tracks, again, like iTunes.

I have absolutely no idea how hard or easy it is to implement these features, just thought might be nice to have. What made me ask for these features is the fact that I listen to audiobooks in mp3 format pretty often

Thank you and keep it up!

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #261 –
Hi musicmusic,

Though I have not throughly tested the "Test" version, the normal functions are all working as expected. One thing though, it seems that loading the the library was not only slow the first time around, but is slow with every loading. It searches through every folder "F00-F99" with every "Load Library" command. Is that expected behavior? I ask this because the Change Log states "Changed metadata loading mechanisms for “Load library” etc.; metadata now loaded directly from files and cached in a file in the route folder of your iPod. First load of library will be slow." Thanks again for sharing foo_dop with us all.
Surf's Up!
"Columnated Ruins Domino"

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #262 –
Quote from: drbeachboy on
Hi musicmusic,

Though I have not throughly tested the "Test" version, the normal functions are all working as expected. One thing though, it seems that loading the the library was not only slow the first time around, but is slow with every loading. It searches through every folder "F00-F99" with every "Load Library" command. Is that expected behavior? I ask this because the Change Log states "Changed metadata loading mechanisms for “Load library” etc.; metadata now loaded directly from files and cached in a file in the route folder of your iPod. First load of library will be slow." Thanks again for sharing foo_dop with us all.

Yes, he already mentionned this. It will be much slower, but will allow reconstruction of the database from file metadata, and custom field attribution.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #263 –
Quote
' date='Sep 28 2006, 20:31' post='436172']
Quote from: drbeachboy on

Hi musicmusic,

Though I have not throughly tested the "Test" version, the normal functions are all working as expected. One thing though, it seems that loading the the library was not only slow the first time around, but is slow with every loading. It searches through every folder "F00-F99" with every "Load Library" command. Is that expected behavior? I ask this because the Change Log states "Changed metadata loading mechanisms for “Load library” etc.; metadata now loaded directly from files and cached in a file in the route folder of your iPod. First load of library will be slow." Thanks again for sharing foo_dop with us all.

Yes, he already mentionned this. It will be much slower, but will allow reconstruction of the database from file metadata, and custom field attribution.

Well, the change log says the "First load of library will be slow.", not all loads of library will be slow. That's why I asked. When I saw "FIRST", I only expected it to happen once, not all the time. It's not a problem for me, I just wanted clarification that it is expected behavior.
Surf's Up!
"Columnated Ruins Domino"

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #264 –
First load wil be very slow (minutes?) as it reads all the metadata. Subsequent loads should be much faster (if you didn't add any new files, about several secs) as it loads metadata from the cache. But it still shows the screen going through each file / Fxx dir. Its slower than before in all cases. Caching by Windows will affect subsequent load times too.

If subsequent loads are like the very first load, check that the cache is being built (metadata_cache.fpl playlist in root dir of your iPod).
.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #265 –
First of all, thanks for working on this. I don't mind iTunes, but this one can take my ReplayGain data and convert it into volume control on the iPod, which is what I was looking for.

It seems to work fine, however, I'd like if they retained the same order as they are in my foobar playlist instead of being sorted by artist or whatnot. How would I do this?

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #266 –
I think you just send a playlist to the pod...

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #267 –
The only way I have found to add anything to the iPod is to right-click the song and click "Send to iPod". I can right-click the playlist tab and click the same thing, but it will just send all the songs on the playlist, but without retaining the same order.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #268 –
I just tested 0.30 and everything works very smoothly musicmusic!
Adding / deleting / rewrite ipod database / reload info from metadata all work way fine.
Quote
First load wil be very slow (minutes?) as it reads all the metadata. Subsequent loads should be much faster (if you didn't add any new files, about several secs) as it loads metadata from the cache.

It wasnt even very slow. just slow.  But yeah after the first time it went quite fast again. For me not a problem at all!
I have a iPod Video 5G (not on newest firmware yet) btw.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #269 –
Downloaded. I'll tell you how it works

I have a 3G (touch wheel, blue backlight) iPod, and I've used iTunes 6 until my computer crashed. This computer has iTunes 4.1.1 but I haven'te used it with it yet.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #270 –
Quote from: musicmusic on
I don't know but so far I've been using RATING. foo_dop uses RATING.


Will foo_dop pick up the RATING tag from foo_custominfo?
Sharing delusions since 1991.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #271 –
Does anyone have this component working in Windows Vista? My iPod works fine in iTunes and Yamipod, but foo_dop can't find the iPod (No iPod found!). I need to know if this is a Vista problem or just something in my setup.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #272 –
Quote from: Slotos on
Quote from: musicmusic on
I don't know but so far I've been using RATING. foo_dop uses RATING.


Will foo_dop pick up the RATING tag from foo_custominfo?
I don't think so. As I remember, that component uses titleformatting hooks to give access to its fields? There is no titleformatting here. It uses metadata. But maybe it would work with titleformatting based field mappings when they are added.

Quote from: Coppertop on
Does anyone have this component working in Windows Vista? My iPod works fine in iTunes and Yamipod, but foo_dop can't find the iPod (No iPod found!). I need to know if this is a Vista problem or just something in my setup.
You are right, it doesn't work in Vista. I can second guess why, but thanks for the report.
.

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #273 –
Quote from: musicmusic on
[
Quote from: Coppertop on

Does anyone have this component working in Windows Vista? My iPod works fine in iTunes and Yamipod, but foo_dop can't find the iPod (No iPod found!). I need to know if this is a Vista problem or just something in my setup.
You are right, it doesn't work in Vista. I can second guess why, but thanks for the report.


Ah, too bad. If you need someone to test/experiment, let met know. Yamipod will have to do for now
 

[seemingly abandonware] iPod manager

Reply #274 –
Quote from: Kamil on
is it possible, with foo_dop or another plugin to set the soundcheck value to the replaygain value without having an ipod connected? Since the Information is stored in the file's metadata I don't see any reason why this feature is only available by copying the files to the ipod.

musicmusic, any comments on this? The ability to write the sound check value to the tags is exactly what I'm looking for. I simply do not trust iTunes changing my tags.
Also, currently you store the sound check values in the db on the iPod. What will happen to these values if you open up iTunes afterwards and perform the necessary synchronisations? I assume you'd have to have Sound Check enabled in iTunes to keep the info? If this is the case, won't iTunes start analysing all the files by itself since the info won't be present in the tags yet?