The database error might be a bug in 2.0b3. You could try downgrading everything to 1.03, adding some music, then going back up. I know, irritating.

For those having errors with USB under XP in 2.0b3, see if the next release of emplode corrects them. Insider info tells me they might be, but not sure.

I'm not against downgrading. It's just an innocent li'l kernel replacement.

Right? :-)

Would I blow away the volumes with the music on 'em perchance? Just rm -rf them totally? Does that potentially get me anywhere?

Oh, the torture!

So I went in and blew away the database files and fids. Next, I downgraded to 1.03. Then I upgraded BACK to 2.0b3.

Amazingly - the USB connection showed up right away, and ... I GOT IN! No database issues, nothing. I didn't try uploading any music just yet. I was just happy to make it through the connection sequence.

So just to see if it was a fluke, I closed emplode, ran it again, got the USB detection right away, picked it ... AND ...

"There doesn't appear to be a player connected." AAAAHH!

I try again. Now it can't even detect the USB device.

I unplug and plug back in the USB. It finds it! GOOD! Wait. It can't get the DATABASE LOCK now. C'MON ...

OK. Reboot the unit. Done. Try emplode again. IT WORKS AGAIN. Yay!

Let's try and synch nothing in particular. Gets through the whole thing, no sweat. Good.

Close emplode. Run again. Get the USB icon right away. And ... "There doesn't appear to be a player connected."

Well at least this time it's starting to look consistent. I need to reboot the player before running emplode and it connects.

Try doing just that. Now it doesn't find the USB connection at all. Try it a few more times. Nothing. (Is it my connection to the PC? No, nice 'n snug.)

Alright, I'm about to make this a non-issue (at least for me at the moment). Switch to IP ADDRESS for a change. No problems.

Stop/restart emplode. Connect - no problems. Again. No problems. Again. (intoning "I am Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire ...")

Right. That was fun.

Heh. Well, if it's any consolation, 1.03 was really stable for a long time. Most folks don't have these issues with synchs.

I'm only saying this because I know you're a new owner, and I don't want this bad experience with beta software to mar your opinion of your new toy.

Totally understood. As a software engineer I've come across far worse situations, I can assure you. This is incredibly tame by comparison! After all, it's beta for a reason. Code complete, perhaps, but we just have to work out the quirks. Hopefully my play-by-play will help the developers out.

That, and PaulG has ensured I'm brainwashed for the foreseeable future. Empeg gooooooood. Gee, thanks a LOT Paul. ;-)

Some news for you: Windows Update just kicked in this AM, and I did get some app compatibility updates and a few other things. We'll see if that helps any.

But even if it does, I've got TCP/IP connectivity (don't know why I didn't think of doing that before but it's super quick).

Greetings!

Huh? Wha? Did I miss something?

Wow. I am away from the computer / telephone / technology in general for a whole day and a half, and look at all the fun I miss!!! Sorry about that.

So, Joe, is it sane now? Worst case, try going through ethernet - use serial to sync ethernet configuration to the empeg, exit emplode, restart emplode and use ethernet to upload the music.

Wow Paul, you missed a lot. :-)

All's well now, more or less. I think I'll spare you having to read the thread (unless you really want to) and I'll call you.

All's well now in that I'm using ethernet. Faster than USB from what I can tell (presuming that makes some sense, and recalling the Win2K setup). Seems that WinXP's USB handling quote-broke-unquote some prior assumptions from a UI and setup perspective, and perhaps emplode depended on those. We'll see. I think it'll be fine in the end.