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

[idioteque]

By "iPod drive usage", do you mean the song's filesize, or the amount of free disk space on the iPod? 

Sorry I was unclear there. Yes I meant iPod disk space. What's TAGZ? Nevermind I get it. Yeah I couldn't find any functions in the foobar2000 documents I read.

This post has been edited by idioteque: Sep 30 2004, 21:28

[Aero]

If it is filesize, then I think %__filesize% is what you are looking for (or something like that, I am unable to check right now).  If you want the free iPod disk space, then I don't think that is available, although if you know the iPod's drive letter, maybe there is a TAGZ function to get free disk space?

Sorry I was unclear there. Yes I meant iPod disk space. What's TAGZ?

I don't know of any way to get the free disk space in TAGZ (that is name for the formatting strings, like %__bitrate% or %__samplerate%). Since it isn't a property of an individual song, it may not be possible - but I don't really know.

[Mike Giacomelli]

I'm not sure if this is possible, but here goes:

I have a lot of album in high bitrate ogg/mpc. I transcode these to lowbitrate AAC useing Nero + foobar then load them into my Ipod. This works great for me.

I know the ipod keeps track of play counts, and that foobar can read these. Is there someway to have foobar read in the playcounts on the ipod, and then increment the play times on the orginal high bitrate files as well so that they keep sync?

I realize this is a PITA since you'd some way to keep track of plays between syncs on both copies of the song, but its worth a shot.

[Aero]

I have a lot of album in high bitrate ogg/mpc.  I transcode these to lowbitrate AAC useing Nero + foobar then load them into my Ipod.  This works great for me.

I know the ipod keeps track of play counts, and that foobar can read these.  Is there someway to have foobar read in the playcounts on the ipod, and then increment the play times on the orginal high bitrate files as well so that they keep sync?

I realize this is a PITA since you'd some way to keep track of plays between syncs on both copies of the song, but its worth a shot.

Hmmm...it sounds pretty tough. I could write the original filename into the transcoded file. Then when doing an update, it could write the playcounts and rating back to the original file. Except a lot of people probably don't want their original files modified like this, and some formats might not be able to be tagged (like WAV or AIFF).

So while it can be done, I will have to make this a pretty low priority. I have almost completed XML importing, and I have been considering adding functionality somewhat akin to iPodder, except it would also have some Notes support and ideally I would like to hook up with something along the lines of StreamRipper.

It might be best to keep those as separate applications, and when they output to the iPod, have foo_pod wait for such files and automatically add them to the database. Anyway, I have a lot of plans, so I really need to prioritize what I am able to work on.

[Mike Giacomelli]

This sounds like something that should be handled by foobar's internal database and not hacked in by a plugin then. I'll ask in General if theres someway to link multiple files together into some sort of meta entry that represents the same song stored in two or more formats.

[r00tie]

Hmmmm I don't know exactly if this is the right place, but I have a feature request.
I'm using foo_pod now, and very happy about it, great work
But I'm mainly using foobar for it's handling of mp3's+cuesheets.
Then I have 1 big mix, and cuesheet cuts it up with correct tags etc.
When I try to copy those files to my iPod trough foo_pod, it's not working, maybe you could implement some feauture which can handle the mp3's + cuesheets
It'll be r0x0ring

thnx in advance,

r00tie

[Aero]

Hmmmm I don't know exactly if this is the right place, but I have a feature request.
I'm using foo_pod now, and very happy about it, great work
But I'm mainly using foobar for it's handling of mp3's+cuesheets.
Then I have 1 big mix, and cuesheet cuts it up with correct tags etc.
When I try to copy those files to my iPod trough foo_pod, it's not working, maybe you could implement some feauture which can handle the mp3's + cuesheets
It'll be r0x0ring

I've had a few requests to add support for cuesheets and similar formats. It would be a really nice feature to have and it will work on the iPod, but Foobar doesn't have very good programatic support for cue sheets, so I have to do custom parsing of the cue sheets.

I'm actually about 50% complete on adding cue sheet support - I wrote a parser, and now I just need to add the code the manages the individual songs.

[jkwarras]

Is there someway to have foobar read in the playcounts on the ipod, and then increment the play times on the orginal high bitrate files as well so that they keep sync?

Hi, I would certainly like that You can always make it optional (and not default obviously) so if you want it: turn it on

Anyway, my girlfriend just buy me an Ipod (20GB, 3 gen) and I'm playing with your plugin. I love foobar and I love it even more if I can use my Ipod with it, so just this: THANKS A LOT! Really.

Good work guys.

[jkwarras]

Ok, I got my first straneg behaviour

I'm using latest version of foo_pod (0.9.4) with foobar 0.8.3. When I try to send playlist (whatever I selected some files or an entire playlist) I get the following error:

ERROR (foo_pod) : Error #3 copying d:\MP3\Electric six\Fire\Electric Six - 13 - Synthesizer.mp3 to j:

If files are non mp3 I get another error with some sort of transcoding failure (I can reproduce it if you wish).

The Ipod is unmounted and I can't mount it again directly with foobar or in Itunes (it just isn't there anymore). I have to reinitialise the Ipod, disconnect it from the PC and the reconnect again, and then I can mount it again. The files are there but only the first file on the playlist seems to play (completely), other are skipped.

I've reeboted several time the PC (windows Xp pro SP1) but didn't work

I'll try to reformat again the Ipod, I'm surely missing something.

[Aero]

I'm using latest version of foo_pod (0.9.4) with foobar 0.8.3. When I try to send playlist (whatever I selected some files or an entire playlist) I get the following error:

ERROR (foo_pod) : Error #3 copying d:\MP3\Electric six\Fire\Electric Six - 13 - Synthesizer.mp3 to j:

If files are non mp3 I get another error with some sort of transcoding failure (I can reproduce it if you wish).

The Ipod is unmounted and I can't mount it again directly with foobar or in Itunes (it just isn't there anymore). I have to reinitialise the Ipod, disconnect it from the PC and the reconnect again, and then I can mount it again. The files are there but only the first file on the playlist seems to play (completely), other are skipped.

How are you ejecting the iPod - from foo_pod or from the Windows "Safely Remove Hardware" systray thing?

If you use the "Safely Remove Hardware" method, you need to physically undock/disconnect the iPod from your computer, then hook it up again (and wait about 15 seconds for it to be recognized by Windows). If you can't see the iPod drive in your My Computer window, foo_pod won't be able to write to it.

foo_pod's eject is a little different. If you have the iPod Service installed (if you have iTunes installed, you have iPodService...), then foo_pod can do a "soft" eject. That is different in that you can mount the iPod again without having to physically disconnect it from your computer. If iPodService isn't available, foo_pod just does the regular eject and then you would have to disconnect it.

[jkwarras]

If you use the "Safely Remove Hardware" method, you need to physically undock/disconnect the iPod from your computer, then hook it up again (and wait about 15 seconds for it to be recognized by Windows).  If you can't see the iPod drive in your My Computer window, foo_pod won't be able to write to it.

Apparently the problem is that, once my iPod is recognised by the computer (I can see the tray icon (device) in the task bar) and I send several files via foo_pod, the process start but after some seconds the error message pop up and the device is unmounted immediately after that. The tray icon dissapear and foo_pod can't unmount it no matter how many times I try. Nevertheless, the files appears on the iPod, but they're all skipped.

Anyway, this seems not only a foo_pod problem, since it also happens with iTunes (I have it installed along with the Ipodservice). The only difference is that no error message pop-up and the program displays that the iPod was updated. The iPod still show in iTunes but the tray icon dissapear. Weird.

So, sorry to bother you since it doesn't seems at all a problem with foo_pod. At the same time, if someone knows something about this and can point me to the right direction I will really appretiate that

This post has been edited by jkwarras: Oct 15 2004, 13:38

[mobyduck]

if someone knows something about this and can point me to the right direction I will really appretiate that 

I had a similar experience when I started using my iPod a couple of months ago.

The first thing I tried was iTunes and it was awful: file xfer was slow and after loading a handful of songs the connection was failing with an error (which I don't recall at the moment).

Besides, I had problems disconnecting the iPod: I remember once I even had to wait for the battery to exhaust because I couldn't reset the device.

So I decided to completely remove iTunes (the iPod Service is still here, though... don't ask ), updated the firmware (using 3.0.1 ATM) and installed foo_pod: works like a charm!

It goes without saying that I'm no expert at all. Also, my usage is really basic: only mp3s, no fancy playlists, nothing else.

Reviewing my message, I realize it will be of little or no help, after all...

Oh well, my 2 cents

Good luck with your new toy.

Alessandro

PS: I confirm I can successfully disconnect the iPod, both when closing foobar and through the systray (yes, I also use it as external disk); after disconnecting, you can unplug it (you should see the iPod main menu) and if you plug it back you should see the device (both in Windows and in foobar).

PPS: please ignore all mistakes, that's just my ignorance.

[jkwarras]

I had a similar experience when I started using my iPod a couple of months ago.

Good to know I'm not the only one experiencing that, nor that I'm glad, but I feel less dumb

So I decided to completely remove iTunes (the iPod Service is still here, though... don't ask ), updated the firmware (using 3.0.1 ATM) and installed foo_pod: works like a charm!

Same here, I've just removed iTunes, and updated the firmware to 3.0.1. iPod service still there and running...

What I really find weird is that I still can't get foo_pod to recognize the iPod. I can see it on the taskbar, and under My computer as a external device. But in foo_pod, under 'iPod service' it won't show anything, just blank.

I've used a program called vpod and I just have to select the drive letter for the Ipod and it works. I can transfer to the iPod

But even when the iPod is mounted in vpod, foo_pod still doesn't recognize it

Well, that's it. I don't know what it's wrong, if anyone is also experiencing this, but apaprently there's no reason it shouldn't work as mobyduck seems to have same configuration as me (no iTunes, just ipod updater, latest firmaware installed and ipod service running) and it works for him Computer are crazy (or humans are just so dumb)

[mobyduck]

What I really find weird is that I still can't get foo_pod to recognize the iPod. I can see it on the taskbar, and under My computer as a external device. But in foo_pod, under 'iPod service' it won't show anything, just blank.

Wait: it's blank here as well. Have you tried sending a file regardless? I have just checked and foo_pod also reports (incorrectly) 0 GB as available disk space (drive letter is correct, though): still I can transfer my mp3s.

HTH.

Alessandro

[jkwarras]

Wait: it's blank here as well. Have you tried sending a file regardless? I have just checked and foo_pod also reports (incorrectly) 0 GB as available disk space (drive letter is correct, though): still I can transfer my mp3s.

You're right I can transfer files, and even transcoding them, wow! Thanks a lot! I guess that the problem was caused by the old firmware...I don't know. I was confused since the iPod service tab on the foo_pod plugin was blank and I thought that it didn't recognize it and will again give me an error when transferring files. So, for sure foo_pod doesn't need ipodservice to be running to work

[Otto42]

The iPodService is also installed with the iPod firmware updater program. It's not just included with iTunes. So if you have, basically, any Apple software on the machine, you get the iPodService. It's not a big deal though, foo_pod can work with it and use it.

But yes, it'll work fine without the iPodService as well. The iPod appears to Windows as a normal external hard drive, if you don't have the iPodService installed. When you have the iPodService installed, it recognizes the iPod attached and starts up some program like iTunes, as well as providing an interface for programs to do things like discover the ipod's drive letter and mount/unmount the iPod. But it's not absolutely critical or anything. It's not like a driver. Just a minor convience that is kinda unnecessary.

In case of any doubt, remove iTunes, remove the firmware updater, and disable the iPodService in the Services Control Panel (if it's still there). foo_pod will work fine.

This post has been edited by Otto42: Oct 15 2004, 20:54

[jkwarras]

My other question is concerning the synchronize option. I don't know how this option works (technically speaking), but is it possible to not let foo_pod's synchronization look at differences in certain (perhaps user defined) tags, cause now, whenever one of these tags (PLAY_COUNTER, PLAY_DATE, PLAY_TIME) get changed, foo_pod deletes the tracks from the ipod only to upload them again.

I think the real problem is the play counter (and last played?) foobar plugins are writing the data into the id3 tags of the files. This causes the size and date of the audio files to change and foo_pod has no way to knowing it should ignore them.

Ok, now I understand why playcount isn't updated on my HDD files from iPod played files played. AFAIK there's no way of not writting play_counter tags into the file itself unless you block tag updated (and that means every tag operation ). So, there's no way to link files between iPod and HDD since (ex.):

1) Let's take file bip.mp3 on HDD with play_counter=20. I transfer it to iPod. Aparently (from what I've read around here) this tag isn't transfered on the iPod.

2) I play this file 3 times on the iPod:

2a) bip.mp3 on HDD has not been played since so file size remain the same (no tag write). File should be updated with next sync with iPod and show play_counter=25 (on HDD).

2b) bip.mp3 on HDD has been played since so file size isn't the same (tag has been wirte). File can't be updated (on HDD) because for the iPod isn't the same file that was transfered.

Am I right or totally missing the point?

Anyway, what I don't understand is why when I 'load iPod songs to the foobar2000 playlist' counter still empty, should I enter an specific string in the column to display it?

This post has been edited by jkwarras: Oct 17 2004, 16:30

[jkwarras]

A little request and a question for/and about Smart Playlist Editor :

- Request: Could it be possible to add custom tag use in the Smart Playlist Generator? But I guess it will break compatibility with iTunes. So it should if possible be an option and not default

- Question: What tag/info uses SPE for the 'Date added' value? Does it use this foobar plugin or anything else? And does it refer to the date the file was added to the iPod or to foobar/HDD?

Thanks a lot.

[Aero]

- Request: Could it be possible to add custom tag use in the Smart Playlist Generator? But I guess it will break compatibility with iTunes. So it should if possible be an option and not default

Ultimately, whatever I do needs to work on the iPod. Since it wouldn't understand any custom tags, the Smart Playlist wouldn't work on the iPod. What I mean by that is while I could add anything to the database, the iPod is designed only to look at certain values.

Note that foo_pod already does support some additional Smart Playlist features that work on the iPod, but aren't supported in iTunes (such as the "Is Not Greater Than" rule).

\- Question: What tag/info uses SPE for the 'Date added' value? Does it use this foobar plugin or anything else? And does it refer to the date the file was added to the iPod or to foobar/HDD?

Date Added is whatever is in the database. I'm not sure how iTunes fills in the date, but foo_pod uses the creation date of the file, not when it was added to a Foobar playlist (no way to get that info) or from any third party component.

[jkwarras]

Hmmm, I'm having some issues with foo_pod and iPod. When I try to transfer (Sync or send playlists command) a lot of songs to the iPod and if this require a lot of transcoding (from musepack and vorbis to mp3), the transfer process can take hours.

The problem is that after a while (let's say an hour) the console window pop-up a message with error #55 saying that there's no available disk space on the iPod. Of course, there's disk space available, what happens is that the iPod seems to have been ejected and therefore foo_pod can't send the songs to the iPod. I've checked and the hard drive power settings of my Windows (XP pro SP1) isn't to stop spinning when I'm not using it.

Is someone experiencing this?

Another thing, I guess related to the Ipod service (that I have installed and running) is that when i check for 'iPod free space' is always showing 0.00 GB. Not a big deal since I can check it on explorer

[jkwarras]

When transcoding from mpc to mp3, the filename is changed to something with number and letters, I thought by reading this topic that this only happens when foo_pod have a non-supported character (like ë, î...), and only for this specific character.

This happens to me with regular characters, and on every transcoded file via foo_pod:

ex. original filename: Offspring - 13 - Not the one.mpc
trascoded filename on the ipod: 262bdb9804c4646d1.mp3

BTW, is possible to have some documentation about the errors that are shown in the console relatives to foo_pod? It will prevent users to bother developpers about an error if there's an easy explanation to it For ex. I have a #23 and #25 error sometimes and don't know what it's....

[Aero]

Hmmm, I'm having some issues with foo_pod and iPod. When I try to transfer (Sync or send playlists command) a lot of songs to the iPod and if this require a lot of transcoding (from musepack and vorbis to mp3), the transfer process can take hours.

The problem is that after a while (let's say an hour) the console window pop-up a message with error #55 saying that there's no available disk space on the iPod. Of course, there's disk space available, what happens is that the iPod seems to have been ejected and therefore foo_pod can't send the songs to the iPod. I've checked and the hard drive power settings of my Windows (XP pro SP1) isn't to stop spinning when I'm not using it.

Is someone experiencing this?

Another thing, I guess related to the Ipod service (that I have installed and running) is that when i check for 'iPod free space' is always showing 0.00 GB. Not a big deal since I can check it on explorer 

I'm not sure about the second problem, but as for the first, is there any chance that your iPod's battery is dying halfway through the extended transfers? I know that with heavy access, my iPod - on battery power alone, can be drained in an hour or so.

[Aero]

When transcoding from mpc to mp3, the filename is changed to something with number and letters, I thought by reading this topic that this only happens when foo_pod have a non-supported character (like ë, î...), and only for this specific character.

This happens to me with regular characters, and on every transcoded file via foo_pod:

ex. original filename: Offspring - 13 - Not the one.mpc
      trascoded filename on the ipod: 262bdb9804c4646d1.mp3

When transcoding, foo_pod always changes the name of the song to the original song's md4 hash value. This makes finding duplicate songs much easier and much much faster, since I can just compare the song's hash value against the list of files on the iPod.

Non-transcoded song filenames are only escaped if they contain characters that are illegal on the iPod.

BTW, is possible to have some documentation about the errors that are shown in the console relatives to foo_pod? It will prevent users to bother developpers about an error if there's an easy explanation to it  For ex. I have a #23 and #25 error sometimes and don't know what it's....

For the most part, those are standard Windows error codes - foo_pod doesn't have any error codes of its own. I'm sure the list is on Microsoft's MSDN site, but I found this site after a quick search. Error 23 is "ERROR_CRC" and 25 is "ERROR_SEEK". Both of those sound very suspicious, as in your iPod's drive might be unreliable. If you want to do a quick test, copy several gigabytes of MP3s to your iPod using Windows Explorer and see if there are any errors.

[jkwarras]

For the most part, those are standard Windows error codes - foo_pod doesn't have any error codes of its own.  I'm sure the list is on Microsoft's MSDN site, but I found this site after a quick search.

Thanks for the doc. It seems to cover all errors displayed by foo_pod.

Error 23 is "ERROR_CRC" and 25 is "ERROR_SEEK".  Both of those sound very suspicious, as in your iPod's drive might be unreliable.

You're right. I've done an HDD SCAN (diagnostic mode via iPod) and it give an error. It's only a 15 days old iPod so time to send it to Apple for a repair...

[Aero]

You're right. I've done an HDD SCAN (diagnostic mode via iPod) and it give an error. It's only a 15 days old iPod so time to send it to Apple for a repair...

Sorry to hear about your bum iPod, but at least you figured out the problem (good idea to use the diagnostics...I had forgotten about that) and you can send it in and get a replacement.