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Topic: foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod (Read 1325342 times) previous topic - next topic
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foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #925 –
Quote
Well then i'll keep doing it that way, it's just annoying, because foo_pod could do most of that already, it just needs to be "automated".
- determine which files to send or delete * that's the tricky part i guess
- transcode if needed
- use the same send/delete functions that are already working
- create/remove playlists if needed
- add/remove entries to/from playlists
Most of these steps are already implemented and working. The only problem is that first step. I don't know much about programming in C, or whatever it is you use, but i don't consider this a big effort. Ok, thinking about it, i have to admit, that "what to compare?" is harder than the comparison itself.
You use the filesize as one criteria, but that is weak for transcoded files - All files will be deleted, transcoded and sent all over again.  This is really time-consuming.
Istead you could store the size of the local file on the ipod using a tag (e.g. POD_FILESIZE). Thus transcoding would not affect this comparison. Just a thought...

It should already work that way, it just appears that some bug was introduced and since I don't use the sync functions, I didn't spot it.

Also, I don't use filesize for transcoded file comparisons - when a file is transcoded, its filename on the iPod is changed to the original file's MD4 hash value.  So when looking for a matching song, I only have to hash the source song and look for a matching filename on the iPod.
 

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #926 –
Quote
It should already work that way, it just appears that some bug was introduced and since I don't use the sync functions, I didn't spot it.

Also, I don't use filesize for transcoded file comparisons - when a file is transcoded, its filename on the iPod is changed to the original file's MD4 hash value.  So when looking for a matching song, I only have to hash the source song and look for a matching filename on the iPod.

Alright then, i stop complaining and look forward to see it fixed some day.
Keep up the great job!

cheers
jug

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #927 –
Quote
Quote
Still not working and the same error with FAAC

I have a 4 g ipod with latest firmware but im assuming the ipod has nothing to do with it.  I am using windows xp service pack 2 as well.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=262772"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

It isn't an iPod or XP problem.  Can you try the following?

1. Go to the foo_pod preferences, and for Console Debug Mode, set it to "All Debug Messages". 
2. Open up the Foobar console (Components menu, Show Console), and click Reset to clear it.
3. Find a FLAC/WMA file, double click on it to make sure it plays, then right click and select "Send File To iPod". 
4. Send me or post the entire contents of the Console window if the transcoding fails. 
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=262802"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I'm having the same problems, I can't seem to transcode files when sending them to the ipod. Using faac 1.24+, foo_pod 0.9.7 and foobar 0.8.3 special fresh install. I placed faac.exe in both the foobar and windows directories.

When I try to transfer a file i get this message:
Code: [Select]
INFO (CORE) : opening file for playback :
INFO (CORE) : location: "file://d:\Documents and Settings\gareth\Desktop\Save Ferris - [01] The World Is New.ogg" (0)
INFO (foo_pod) : WriteITunesDBFile: backup of g:\iPod_Control\iTunes\iTunesDB to C:\Program Files\foobar2000\iTunesDB.bak succeeded
INFO (foo_pod) : WriteITunesDBFile: DeleteFile(g:\iPod_Control\iTunes\iTunesDB) succeeded
INFO (foo_pod) : iTunesDB successfully written
INFO (foo_pod) : Transcoding d:\Documents and Settings\gareth\Desktop\Save Ferris - [01] The World Is New.ogg
ERROR (foo_pod) : Transcoding failed!
ERROR (foo_pod) : Error #5 copying d:\Documents and Settings\gareth\Desktop\Save Ferris - [01] The World Is New.ogg to g:\iPod_Control\Music\F69\
INFO (foo_pod) : WriteITunesDBFile: backup of g:\iPod_Control\iTunes\iTunesDB to C:\Program Files\foobar2000\iTunesDB.bak succeeded
INFO (foo_pod) : WriteITunesDBFile: DeleteFile(g:\iPod_Control\iTunes\iTunesDB) succeeded
INFO (foo_pod) : iTunesDB successfully written
INFO (foo_pod) : 0 files copied (0.00 MB) to the iPod in 0.97 seconds (0.00 MB/s)

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #928 –
Playcount Question:

First, thank to all contributors for this great plugin. Second, apologies if this has already been answered in the thread...

I'm trying to use foo_pod to manage my audioscrobbler submissions for music played only on my ipod. I'm following this procedure:
1. Start up foo_pod.
2. "Load iPod Songs to foobar Playlist".
3. Run Extended Playlist Generator on the foo_pod playlist to get songs played in a date range.
4. Play the generated playlist while foo_audioscrobbler is running.

This seems to work fine, but I am noticing one bad behavior:
5. Eject iPod and use normally.
6. Reconnect iPod and start up foo_pod.
7. "Load iPod Songs to foodbar Playlist".
8. Now the %IPOD_PLAY_COUNT% has been removed for all songs except those played in step 5.

I notice upon exporting the iTunes db that the <HTMI><PLAYCOUNT> element is maintaining the correct playcount, but for some reason it's not being re-read and set to the %IPOD_PLAY_COUNT% metadata when I perform step 7.

What am I doing wrong here? I've set foobar to "block tag update operations", and I've also removed my foo_quicktag and foo_playcount components.

Thanks,
Steve

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #929 –
Quote
I'm trying to use foo_pod to manage my audioscrobbler submissions for music played only on my ipod. I'm following this procedure:
1. Start up foo_pod.
2. "Load iPod Songs to foobar Playlist".
3. Run Extended Playlist Generator on the foo_pod playlist to get songs played in a date range.
4. Play the generated playlist while foo_audioscrobbler is running.

This seems to work fine, but I am noticing one bad behavior:
5. Eject iPod and use normally.
6. Reconnect iPod and start up foo_pod.
7. "Load iPod Songs to foodbar Playlist".
8. Now the %IPOD_PLAY_COUNT% has been removed for all songs except those played in step 5.

I notice upon exporting the iTunes db that the <HTMI><PLAYCOUNT> element is maintaining the correct playcount, but for some reason it's not being re-read and set to the %IPOD_PLAY_COUNT% metadata when I perform step 7.

What am I doing wrong here? I've set foobar to "block tag update operations", and I've also removed my foo_quicktag and foo_playcount components.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=263382"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

This might be a bug in how I'm handling play counts.  I haven't tested it on an iPod yet, but from looking at the code, when you load the iPod playlist I am replacing the database's playcount value instead of appending to what is already there.

That would explain the behavior you are seeing - basically the play counts are wiped and only songs that have been played since the last load iPod playlist are present.  It is a one liner fix, so I'll test it tonight and put it in the next version.

Edit: Yep, that was it.  It was a dumb mistake on my part, but it is fixed now.

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #930 –
Quote
When I try to transfer a file i get this message:
Code: [Select]
ERROR (foo_pod) : Transcoding failed!
ERROR (foo_pod) : Error #5 copying d:\Documents and Settings\gareth\Desktop\Save Ferris - [01] The World Is New.ogg to g:\iPod_Control\Music\F69\

[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=263134"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Can you open up g:\iPod_Control\Music\F69 and see if there is a .m4a file there, dated when you did the transcoding?  It looks to me, from the error messages, that the transcoding might have actually worked, but foo_pod thought it didn't...

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #931 –
Quote
Quote
When I try to transfer a file i get this message:
Code: [Select]
ERROR (foo_pod) : Transcoding failed!
ERROR (foo_pod) : Error #5 copying d:\Documents and Settings\gareth\Desktop\Save Ferris - [01] The World Is New.ogg to g:\iPod_Control\Music\F69\

[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=263134"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Can you open up g:\iPod_Control\Music\F69 and see if there is a .m4a file there, dated when you did the transcoding?  It looks to me, from the error messages, that the transcoding might have actually worked, but foo_pod thought it didn't...
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=263474"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


I just checked, there's only mp3 files there, and all older  .  So its not gettng that far.
Using the custom encoder option seems to work with faac.exe, so it's not something directly wrong with the exe I guess. 

It doesn't work with lame (3.96 from rarewares) either.
The Error # changes from #0 to #5 sometimes, although I can't tell what circumstances cause the switch.

Any other ideas?

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #932 –
Quote
This might be a bug in how I'm handling play counts.  I haven't tested it on an iPod yet, but from looking at the code, when you load the iPod playlist I am replacing the database's playcount value instead of appending to what is already there.

That would explain the behavior you are seeing - basically the play counts are wiped and only songs that have been played since the last load iPod playlist are present.  It is a one liner fix, so I'll test it tonight and put it in the next version.

Edit: Yep, that was it.  It was a dumb mistake on my part, but it is fixed now.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=263466"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Aero:

Thanks for fixing this! Your prompt bugfix is really appreciated.

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #933 –
Quote
Using the custom encoder option seems to work with faac.exe, so it's not something directly wrong with the exe I guess. 

It doesn't work with lame (3.96 from rarewares) either.
The Error # changes from #0 to #5 sometimes, although I can't tell what circumstances cause the switch.

Any other ideas?
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=263510"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Good detective work in figuring out that the custom encoder setting works!

What did you put in the encoder setting in the custom encoder setting?  Is it just "faac.exe", or is it the full path like "c:\program files\foobar2000\faac.exe"?

Since both the preset Lame and Faac settings didn't work, but the custom one did, I'm thinking that the problem might be related to using a relative path vs. the absolute path.  If you have the full path in the custom encoder, try changing it to just faac.exe and see if it fails.

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #934 –
Quote
It doesn't work with lame (3.96 from rarewares) either.
The Error # changes from #0 to #5 sometimes, although I can't tell what circumstances cause the switch.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=263510"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

It happens here too. I didn't change anything in the transcoder settings and it was working with previous version of foo_pod.

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #935 –
Version 0.9.7a is now available.

This is just a bug fix release, fixing the playcount and transcoder problems that have been recently reported.  The playcount problem was long standing, but the transcoder error was just introduced in version 0.9.7 (it turns out that I wasn't retrieving the LAME/FAAC default settings correctly, so only the custom encoder settings option worked...).


From the Readme:
Code: [Select]
Version 0.9.7a - January 7, 2005
*  Fixed a significant bug with the handling of playcounts - they were not cumlative and the playcount of a song would always be replaced with the new count.  For example, if a song had been played 3 times, the iPod was undocked, and the song was played once more, when the iPod was docked the playcount would be set to 1, instead of 4.

*  Hopefully fixed some problems with starting the transcoder executable.  Also added additional console warning/errors to help users identify any remaining problmems.

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #936 –
Quote
Edit: Yep, that was it.  It was a dumb mistake on my part, but it is fixed now.
Is it available for download?

Alessandro

[Edit]Ooops! Sorry. [/Edit]

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #937 –
Regarding the Syncing issue.  When I click on "sync playlist" it syncs the playlist files to the entire iPod database instead of the equivalent playlist on the iPod.  It's a quick and easy test just press "no" when it asks you if you want to delete all those files.

Am I missing the purpose of this feature?

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #938 –
Quote
Version 0.9.7a is now available.

This is just a bug fix release, fixing the transcoder problems that have been recently reported.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=263537"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Hey thanks aero! Its working great now .

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #939 –
Quote
my sister just got an ipod photo for xmas. i have been using foo_pod for a while now with my own ipod and have had no problems. i tried to put all my songs onto her ipod photo, but something wasn't working correctly. the transfer conpletes fine, but when i select a song on her ipod, some of the songs play, while others just skip over. i have tried many things, hoping i could find the problem (formatted, applied latest ipod software, and rebuilt the database) but nothing worked. does foo_pod support ipod photo?

@aero: i searched the thread to find your post about your ipod photo. are you having any difficulties?
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=262797"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I was able to reproduce the file skipping problem tonight on my iPod Photo, and was able to figure out what was going on.

It turns out that the iPod Photo (only) is sensitive to filename length.  For example, I had a song that played fine on my 4G but was skipped on the Photo.  I was able to determine that song filenames longer than about 37 characters (including file extension) are not played on the Photo, but work fine on older iPods.  iTunes limits the filename to 31 characters, so I have also changed foo_pod to this limit as well, and this fix will be in the next version.

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #940 –
Quote
It turns out that the iPod Photo (only) is sensitive to filename length.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=263934"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Actually, older iPod's have the same issue. That's one reason programs like EphPod default to changing the names to shorter ones using numbers or some other kind of scheme. Lot of people encountered this initially because they had silly naming schemes like tracknumber-artist-album-genre.mp3 sort of filenames, and these were naturally huge and caused issues until they figured the problem out. Later iPod firmware revisions reduced the problem, but did not cure it entirely.

Basically, when the iPod is searching for a track, if it takes too long to find it, it'll skip it. Well, in some cases, when the filename is too long, there's too many fake LFN entries in the directory index, and in skipping over those it takes too long for it to seek the thing. Result is skipped files.

Long filenames in FAT32 work by putting fake directory entries in the directory index that immediately precede the normal entries. Each LFN entry can only hold 13 characters, and if it's longer, it takes more entries, and so forth. After a certain length, any iPod will have issues. Make a whole bunch of 200 character filenames on an older iPod and you'll see the same impact.

You might consider including a "compatibility" mode where you rename all the files to short 8.3 names, if you're not basing anything on filename alone. In order to not produce any LFN entries, and thus achieve maximum compatibility, the filenames have to fit into 8.3 format, and be all uppercase or numeric. This would totally prevent skipping due to excessive directory index read time.

This directory index searching time is also the same reason that later iTunes versions have been adding more music directories. It used to be f00-f29, but now it's up to what, f60 or so? More directories means less files per directory means less sequential searching time through the structure. That's the only way they could get it up to 40 or 60 gig. They can't figure out how to solve the problem, so they took steps to reduce it instead.

Oh, the reason it's probably happening more on the iPod Photo is that the iPod Photo is searching for more stuff, most likely. It has to find the album art in the artwork db and so forth. This could be causing more disk read and more searching, which causes the problem to manifest more easily.

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #941 –
Quote
Actually, older iPod's have the same issue. That's one reason programs like EphPod default to changing the names to shorter ones using numbers or some other kind of scheme. Lot of people encountered this initially because they had silly naming schemes like tracknumber-artist-album-genre.mp3 sort of filenames, and these were naturally huge and caused issues until they figured the problem out. Later iPod firmware revisions reduced the problem, but did not cure it entirely.

I have considered moving to a completely hash based filename system, like I do for transcoded files.  It would simplify a lot of internal details and probably speed things up, but I think a lot of people expect to see the unaltered (as much as possible) filename on the iPod.


Quote
Basically, when the iPod is searching for a track, if it takes too long to find it, it'll skip it. Well, in some cases, when the filename is too long, there's too many fake LFN entries in the directory index, and in skipping over those it takes too long for it to seek the thing. Result is skipped files.

I'm sure that is true in general, but the iPod Photo is definitely different than previous iPods.  I had only 3-5 songs on the iPod, and the long filename was skipped 100% of the time.  I was even able to get it to the point where adding a single character to a filename caused it to be skipped consistantly, whereas the shorter filename always played.


Quote
You might consider including a "compatibility" mode where you rename all the files to short 8.3 names, if you're not basing anything on filename alone. In order to not produce any LFN entries, and thus achieve maximum compatibility, the filenames have to fit into 8.3 format, and be all uppercase or numeric. This would totally prevent skipping due to excessive directory index read time.

Other than the iPod Photo weirdness, I haven't seen much (if any) song skipping lately.  I don't know if it is improved firmwares or the addition of extra fnn directories. 


Quote
This directory index searching time is also the same reason that later iTunes versions have been adding more music directories. It used to be f00-f29, but now it's up to what, f60 or so? More directories means less files per directory means less sequential searching time through the structure. That's the only way they could get it up to 40 or 60 gig. They can't figure out how to solve the problem, so they took steps to reduce it instead.

foo_pod goes up to 11 (actually f99) now, for this reason.

Thanks for the info on FAT32!  I'll keep it in mind for future changes.

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #942 –
Quote
I'm sure that is true in general, but the iPod Photo is definitely different than previous iPods.  I had only 3-5 songs on the iPod, and the long filename was skipped 100% of the time.  I was even able to get it to the point where adding a single character to a filename caused it to be skipped consistantly, whereas the shorter filename always played.

Damn, that is annoying.

Something that you might try is to use the short name in the iTunesDB file but leave the long name in the filesystem. The short name will be something like "long file name.mp3" into "longfi~1.mp3", where 1 increments, sort of thing. That will at least let you see if it's a filesystem bug or if it's something screwy with the way the iPod Photo is dealing with the iTunesDB. Because you should be able to reference it by short name and have it find the file okay.

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #943 –
Aero,

I'm getting this error while transcoding to my iPod (4G):

ERROR (foo_pod) : Error #0 copying d:\Musica\Kyo\300 lesions\Kyo - 12 - L'assaut Des Regards.mp3 to k:\iPod_Control\Music\F36\

this seems to happen while transcoding mp3 higher than a certain bitrate to a lower bitrate via foo_pod to the iPod.

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #944 –
Quote
I'm getting this error while transcoding to my iPod (4G):

ERROR (foo_pod) : Error #0 copying d:\Musica\Kyo\300 lesions\Kyo - 12 - L'assaut Des Regards.mp3 to k:\iPod_Control\Music\F36\

this seems to happen while transcoding mp3 higher than a certain bitrate to a lower bitrate via foo_pod to the iPod.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=264993"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Are you using the latest version of foo_pod (version 0.9.7a)?  Also, will you paste the entire foo_pod contents of Console so I can see what is going on before the error?

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #945 –
Quote
I'm getting this error while transcoding to my iPod (4G):

ERROR (foo_pod) : Error #0 copying d:\Musica\Kyo\300 lesions\Kyo - 12 - L'assaut Des Regards.mp3 to k:\iPod_Control\Music\F36\

this seems to happen while transcoding mp3 higher than a certain bitrate to a lower bitrate via foo_pod to the iPod.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=264993"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I noticed a similar error (with version 0.9.7a).  I also had trouble transferring a huge list of files that included flac, m4a and mp3 files with and without transcoding of higher mp3 bitrates checked.  I would let it run and come back to my computer a day or so later and nothing would be transferred to the iPod and there would be tons of error messages like the one above.

Transferring the files separately by file type allowed me to transfer the files.

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #946 –
Quote
Are you using the latest version of foo_pod (version 0.9.7a)?  Also, will you paste the entire foo_pod contents of Console so I can see what is going on before the error?
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=265048"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Sorry, I didn't have the last version. I did install it sometime ago, but don't know how I must have installed the previous version 0.9.7 by mistake 

Everything works fine now 

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #947 –
Hmm...I can't see how the source file's codec, bitrate, or the number of files would have any effect on the foo_pod transcoder, since after Foobar decodes it, it is just a stream of audio data that is passed directly to LAME/FAAC/whatever.

I'm transcoding 7,000 songs right now as a test (using the LAME "good quality" preset), and I haven't had any problems so far.  If you are able to reproduce transcoder problems, please post the following details:

* Which preset you are using (or if you are using a custom preset, all the data from the dialog).  Also post the version of the encoder you are using.
* All foo_pod related output from the Console (you can edit it down to 1 or 2 songs, if you get multiple errors).
* If there are any special steps you did to reproduce the problem.
* If reverting to a previous version (such as 0.9.5 or 0.9.6 helps).

Also, make sure you are updating ALL of the foo_pod DLLs (foo_pod.dll, foo_podtranscoder.dll, and foo_podclienc.dll).  For 0.9.7a, they all should have the same date - Jan 7, 2005.

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #948 –
Quote
Hmm...I can't see how the source file's codec, bitrate, or the number of files would have any effect on the foo_pod transcoder, since after Foobar decodes it, it is just a stream of audio data that is passed directly to LAME/FAAC/whatever.

I'm transcoding 7,000 songs right now as a test (using the LAME "good quality" preset), and I haven't had any problems so far.  If you are able to reproduce transcoder problems, please post the following details:

* Which preset you are using (or if you are using a custom preset, all the data from the dialog).  Also post the version of the encoder you are using.
* All foo_pod related output from the Console (you can edit it down to 1 or 2 songs, if you get multiple errors).
* If there are any special steps you did to reproduce the problem.
* If reverting to a previous version (such as 0.9.5 or 0.9.6 helps).

Also, make sure you are updating ALL of the foo_pod DLLs (foo_pod.dll, foo_podtranscoder.dll, and foo_podclienc.dll).  For 0.9.7a, they all should have the same date - Jan 7, 2005.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=265133"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I will be away from my computer until next Saturday.  I will try to isolate the issue then.

Thanks!

foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod

Reply #949 –
Version 0.9.8 is now available.

This version has some additional changes to how transcoding is handled, so if you have had problems with the past few versions, try this one and see if it helps.

It also has the fix for long filenames on the iPod Photo, which caused file skipping.

Also, this version adds a feature that smart playlist users will find useful.  You can now open up the smart playlists as Foobar playlist tabs, just like with regular playlists.  foo_pod reads the smart playlist rules and builds up the playlist with the matching songs from your iPod.  I am really enjoying this feature, since I listen to a lot of podcasts, and have a smart playlist rule that groups them all into one playlist.  Being able to open up a populated smart playlist in Foobar means it is easy to select and delete old shows.


As a side note, has anyone tried foo_pod with an iPod Shuffle yet?  I don't know if it works the same as regular iPod (*cough*I'm open to donations...*cough*), but I'm guessing that it is basically the normal iPod software with a permanent smart playlist that iTunes manages (for file disk space vs. song disk space). 


From the Readme:
Code: [Select]
*  Improved compatability with the iPod Photo.  For some reason, the iPod Photo appears to skip songs with long filenames (longer than about 37 characters), so foo_pod now truncates long filenames.

*  Fixed a potential file copy problem when transcoding is disabled.

*  Added a "Open iPod Smart Playlists As Tabs" feature.  This will read any smart playlists on your iPod and display the iPod songs that match the rules (i.e. the songs that are displayed on the iPod).