foo_pod - Foobar2000 meets the iPod, iPod -> Foobar2000 0.8 Options

[ReD-BaRoN]

Tested foo_pod 0.9.9k, it works OK with iTunes 5 on my iPod Photo 1.1 and iPod Shuffle 1.  However it does not work with the Nano.  The file transfer seems to work, and the free disk space reports that the files are there, but they don't show up in the menus on the Nano itself.

Were you transcoding?

[lex_nasa]

No, transferring files already encoded. I also tried the maintenance options like "fix skipped songs", "rebuild database etc."... it seems like the database may be a different format on the new Nano.

This post has been edited by lex_nasa: Sep 13 2005, 14:54

[Aero]

No, transferring files already encoded.  I also tried the maintenance options like "fix skipped songs", "rebuild database etc."... it seems like the database may be a different format on the new Nano.

Would you please send me your iPod nano so I could check it out...

Failing that, could you load up about 5 songs using iTunes 5.0 and send me the contents of your iPod_Control folder?

[lex_nasa]

Hi Aero, I won't send you my Nano (I'm in Hong Kong and I'm enjoying my Nano too much), but I'll for sure send you the iPod_Control folder. The Nano also will not work with previous versions of iTunes. I tried re-installing 4.8 and the Nano is not recognised atall.

I've uploaded iPod_Control in a zip file here:

http://www.at-sea.com/iPod_Control.zip

This post has been edited by lex_nasa: Sep 14 2005, 16:31

[Aero]

Hi Aero, I won't send you my Nano (I'm in Hong Kong and I'm enjoying my Nano too much), but I'll for sure send you the iPod_Control folder.  The Nano also will not work with previous versions of iTunes.  I tried re-installing 4.8 and the Nano is not recognised atall.

I've uploaded iPod_Control in a zip file here:

http://www.at-sea.com/iPod_Control.zip

Thanks for the files. I didn't see anything too unusual in the iTunesDB, so I bet that the nano is just refusing to load older databases (there is a version flag in there, and it was changed for iTunes 5.0).

If you aren't already doing so, you could try writing iTunes 4.9 compatable databases (foo_pod Preferences, Advanced tab), and see if that helps. But even that is one version behind iTunes 5.0, so it still might not work.

[lex_nasa]

Hi Aero, I already tried the setting to write 4.9 databases, and it doesn't work.

[ReD-BaRoN]

Aero,

I think I'm hitting a bug with transcoding and playlists.

If I add files into a playlist in Foobar that has not already been transcoded and put on the iPod, it will go through the process of transcoding them and putting them on the iPod, however the songs do not show up in the playlist (they do show up in the iPod, just not on the playlist).

On the other hand, if I select some songs, tranfer them to the iPod, then add them to the playlist and then update the playlist it works fine. Too many steps though .

Some Qs:

Any chance this is a bug and not a problem with my setup?

When is the next release slated for?

Any more thought on releasing the source?

Thanks!

[ReD-BaRoN]

Aero,

Another question/problem if I may.

The way you tell uniqueness of a file to is hash that file after it's been transcoded. The problem that I'm having is that when foo_pod is trying to determine if a file is already on the iPod, it has to transcode the file just to get the hash, and then compare the hash with filenames that are already on the iPod to determine if it's unique or not.

Is there a way you can store the hash (after the initial transcode to put the file on the iPod) with the file, preferably in some foobar2k database, or suboptimally in the comments tag of the file, so that you don't have to transcode the file everytime you want the hash of the resulting transcoded file?

An alternative to that may be to hash the pre-transcoded file, but I think the above would be faster.

Curious about your thoughs on this....

Thanks!

[Storm]

I want foo_pod for foobar 0.9 really badly!

[richard123]

I want foo_pod for foobar 0.9 really badly!

You're not the only one

The SDK will be available when it's ready and Aero will port if and when he's in the mood.

This post has been edited by richard123: Sep 21 2005, 00:11

[xGo]

Small Problem:
foo_pod works great, but now iTunes doesn't recognize the content inside the playlists, meaning i can see the playlists but can't see what's inside playlists, i can upload songs into playlists though...

Specs:
foobar 0.8.3
foo_pod 0.9.9k
iPod mini [ firmware 1.3 ]
iTunes 5.0.1 [5.0.1.4]

Any tips or suggestions on how i can fix that...?

Thanks in advance...

P.S.: i don't want to upload/manage songs using foo_pod, cause i still addicted to iTunes interface, but hate the quality of iTunes' sound, so basically i want to use foo_pod for viewing/playing only, but still would like to use iTunes as manager for my iPod's music...

This post has been edited by xGo: Sep 24 2005, 00:59

[lex_nasa]

I finally got foo_pod to work with the Nano using this configuration:

foo_pod 0.9.9k
set to iTunes 4.7/4.8 compatibility in preferences
iTunes 4.9 installed

Used iPod updater to reload firmware beforehand.

Everything now works fine!

[wac]

Wow! foo_pod works great! Thanks for all your hard work!

I have a couple feature requests. Yes, never entirely happy we users be...

When transcoding, the output filename isn't human readable - would it be possible to get it to something similar to what it does for the other files - some kind of truncate of the original filename (replacing the extension in this case)?

Would it also be possible to specify a destination directory - I wouldn't mind having the music files in a more intuitive directory like \music rather than hidden under Ipod_control (but this might be ipod restriction...) This would also let the filenames be longer before getting truncated

Thanks again for the great program!

[richard123]

Is there another place to find Otto's ipodDB code?

http://otto.homedns.org:8888/itunes/iPodDB.zip seems to be down every time I try.

EDIT: http://home.midsouth.rr.com/ottootto/iPodDB.zip

This post has been edited by richard123: Sep 24 2005, 11:09

[Mike Giacomelli]

I'm still hopeing for a .9 version of foo_pod. Its currently the only componet I need thats not on .9.

I'm hopeing Aero has reconsidered his previous decision about not wanting to do the .8 => .9 porting.

[ReD-BaRoN]

I'm still hopeing for a .9 version of foo_pod.  Its currently the only componet I need thats not on .9.

I'm hopeing Aero has reconsidered his previous decision about not wanting to do the .8 => .9 porting.

Or release the source.

[binkgle]

aero, any news on the next version of foo_pod? will it be for 0.8.3 or 0.9? what bugs are you working of fixing righ now?

[binkgle]

anyone?

[Cpt. Spandrel]

Basic rule: don't nag developers of free stuff. Aero made his feelings clear earlier, he'll reconsider if he feels like it and if you don't like what he decides or his lack of response about the issue then go write your own plugin.

This post has been edited by Cpt. Spandrel: Oct 2 2005, 09:32

[Storm]

I think that's fair too. My exclamation earlier, that was before I knew Aero had already talked about it...

[ReD-BaRoN]

Basic rule: don't nag developers of free stuff. Aero made his feelings clear earlier, he'll reconsider if he feels like it and if you don't like what he decides or his lack of response about the issue then go write your own plugin.

I disagree. If development is going to cease, the right thing to do is release the source so someone can pick up the development from where it left off.

It's not in the best interest of the community to have yet another foobar/iPod plugin, effectivley wasting the work Aero/Otto42 have already done.

www.sourceforge.net - maybe it's time.

[richard123]

I disagree.  If development is going to cease, the right thing to do is release the source so someone can pick up the development from where it left off.

It's not in the best interest of the community to have yet another foobar/iPod plugin, effectivley wasting the work Aero/Otto42 have already done.

www.sourceforge.net - maybe it's time.

It's Aero's code and his decision. Annoying him does not seem the best way to get him to do what we'd like.

[drbeachboy]

I think Aero's done all that he can do at the moment. The issue here is that the 0.9 beta has been out for a long time now, and users are getting antsy to bring their new plug-in configurations up to the standards of version 0.8.3. The problem still lies in the fact that a very select few of plug-in developers were given access to the new SDK in the beginning, while most plug-in developers were told that they'd have to wait until the official release of version 0.9. I had a feeling back when that happened, that this clamoring for new updates before the official release would happen. All I can add is to be patient. Hopefully, the beta testing period is near an end.

[lex_nasa]

I think Aero's done all that he can do at the moment. The issue here is that the 0.9 beta has been out for a long time now, and users are getting antsy to bring their new plug-in configurations up to the standards of version 0.8.3. The problem still lies in the fact that a very select few of plug-in developers were given access to the new SDK in the beginning, while most plug-in developers were told that they'd have to wait until the official release of version 0.9. I had a feeling back when that happened, that this clamoring for new updates before the official release would happen. All I can add is to be patient. Hopefully, the beta testing period is near an end.

Agree 100%, it's up to Aero what he wants to do, he doesn't have to do any development or release the source code if he doesn't want to, after all none of us have paid a single cent for foo_pod. We should thank him for the excellent work he has done so far, and be done with it.

[Aero]

Version 0.9.9l is now available.

This is mainly a maintenance release, which fixes a very serious problem with long metadata strings which would cause the iPod to continously reboot until either the battery died, or the user put the iPod into Disk Mode and removed iTunesDB. There appears to be a buffer overflow in the iPod firmware where long strings would cause the crash. I believe this is the problem that clunsey was experiencing, but until I couldn't track down - until today. I downloaded a podcast that had extensive show notes in the Comment metadata, and this caused the reboot problem.

If you have a database where this is occurring, install the new foo_pod, then run the Maintenance->Update iPod Database command to fix the metadata.

I also included a feature that I promised to ReD-BaRoN way back in July - a slider to adjust the ReplayGain level. This slider is found on the Advanced tab, and its value is simply added to a song's RG value (e.g. -9dB from the song + +6dB from the slider = -3dB). If you find that ReplayGain/SoundCheck songs are too quiet, try setting the slider to +3 or +6, and run the Update iPod Database menu item (you just have to do that once to change the songs already on the iPod - future songs will get the adjustment automatically).


From the Readme:

CODE

Version 0.9.9l - October 4, 2005
*  Fixed a critical problem when dealing with very long metadata strings.  Due to an apparent bug in the iPod firmware, very long strings (longer than 512 characters) would cause the iPod to spontaneously reboot when it attempted to read the database.  If you have an affected iPod, put the iPod into Disk Mode using the controls, then run foo_pod and select Maintenance->Update iPod Database, and foo_pod will correct the problem.
 
*  Added initial support for podcast show notes and data.

*  Added a control for adjusting the ReplayGain/SoundCheck level.  This value is simply added to a song's ReplayGain value, so you can make all songs sound louder or softer.
 
  In effect, this allows you to change the ReplayGain targel level - ReplayGain defaults to a target of 83dB which some people find too quiet.  If you would rather have a level of 89dB, you could adjust the slider to +6dB.