I didn't realize it, but I synced a 3 meg wav file to the unit. The reason I noticed is because the unit became very unresponsive when it loaded the wav. Trying to skip to the next song or any other attempt just led to the unit giving a delayed beep or sometimes nothing. It seemed to not see some of the IR commands it recieved. The menus would work, but when trying to select another song to play, the unit simply sat there with the name highlited like it does when it's prepairing it to play. Serial output during this time was erratic, with it spitting out only some of the menu items I passed over. Trying to quit to a shell would immediatly blank the display and activate the LED, but the prompt didn't appear after waiting a minute. Trying to use emplode to delete the song didn't work, since the unit was going so slow. The only way I got out of it was to patiently use the front buttons to get to a single song and play it. This process took 15 mins for the unit to begin playing the new song. At that point, it became responsive again, and I quickly used emplode to delete the wav file to prevent the problem from happening again.

The player needs a way to know what file types it supports and somehow report back to the user that the file he tried to upload isn't a valid media file. I can see the same mess happening on any other file type, like a text file.

My empeg site is:http://24.236.3.131/empeg/

Wouldn't it make more sense for the Emplode software to disallow drag/drop of unsupported file types; the player shouldn't need to be involved. It might already do this, but I've never tried to prep (for sync) anything other than MP3 files so I wouldn't know for sure.

-- Bleys

"If you would judge, understand." -- Seneca

Wouldn't it make more sense for the Emplode software to disallow drag/drop of unsupported file types; the player shouldn't need to be involved.

There is some merit to that argument. But also consider this: You can name a file anything you like in Windows. Just because the extension is .mp3 doesn't mean it's really an .mp3 file (although Windows is totally built around the extensions being correct, so mis-naming a file would be kind of stupid). There have also been other reports of the Empeg player crashing on MP3s with damaged frames. I think the player software should simply be robust enough to gracefully handle bad files (whether they're bad because of damage or because they're the wrong file type).

Tony Fabris
Empeg #144

nonononono... =)
I sometimes need to take files home from work, and I can use emplode over usb to dump a zip file onto the empeg, and then when I get home sz it to my pc...
(Now if we could have a files area (logically separate to the music area) which would allow upload and download over usb, that would be great... =)
(I know, I could get a usb zip drive or something, but the empeg would be much better at it... =)


Jazz
(List 112, S/N 00030, 4 gig blue)

Cool concept. Right now, I'm relegated to burning multisession CDs for my home/work taxis. But if the Empeg doubled as a multimegabyte USB taxi...

My goodness, I'm drooling at the possibility.

Hugo? Your thoughts on this?

Tony Fabris
Empeg #144

Right now, I'm relegated to burning multisession CDs for my home/work taxis. But if the Empeg doubled as a multimegabyte USB taxi...

Isn't that what zipdisks, super-floppies, and even laptops were invented for?

-- Bleys


"If you would judge, understand." -- Seneca

I have an empeg...
I don't have a zip drive, superfloppy drive or a laptop...
I'll continue to use usb up, serial down for the moment, because the machine the CD writer is in has had it's power supply sold... (The joys of working for a joint hardware software company... =)
(Also, when I get round to trying Gphoto on my empeg to get photos off my camera, wouldn't it be nice to grab them over the usb from the files area... =)

Jazz
(List 112, S/N 00030, 4 gig blue)

>> But if the Empeg doubled as a multimegabyte USB taxi...
> Isn't that what zipdisks, super-floppies, and even laptops were invented for?

Let me rephrase that... I meant multiGIGabyte, not multimegabyte. Zips and super floppies top out at a few hundred megs. I don't have a free bay for a Jaz drive, and I spent all my cash on the Empeg instead of a laptop. Anyway, I already cart the Empeg back and forth between home and work, wouldn't it be cool if it could carry my files, too? As it stands right now, I have a floppy and a CD-R stuck in the carrying case with the Empeg just for taxis. It'd be cool if I could ditch those and just have the Empeg.

I'm planning on upgrading my Empeg hard disk Real Soon Now. I'll have room to add a few more albums, and then I'll have gobs of space left over to use for taxiing. No need to buy a zip drive.

This would be SOOOO COOL if a Windows interface could be made for USB direct file transfers. Oh man, that would be so cool... Hugo... Mike... John... say something... please...

Tony Fabris
Empeg #144

I see the merits. However, I think we need to be realistic. The Empeg-Car was designed to be a portable music player/archive -- not a portable file library.

True the music is stored as a bunch of files. However, we HAVE to consider the scope of the design; our requests should be confined to those that either fit within the existing scope or extend it appropriately. I don't see non-music files falling within the existing scope nor do I see them as logical extensions of it.

I say these things because I know from experience how "feature creep" can completely twist and/or bloat a good design into something that resembles a kitchen sink full of dirty dishes. If you're unsure as to what I mean by this I have only one word for you: Microsoft

-- Bleys

"If you would judge, understand." -- Seneca

You are absolutely right, of course. Thanks for pointing it out so succinctly.

There was just a moment when the idea so totally appealed to me that I briefly forgot past experiences in the area of feature creep.

Sorry. I won't ask for it again. I feel dirty now. I'm going to go take a shower.


Tony Fabris
Empeg #144

The beauty of the empeg is that it is an open system, as far as the software is concerned...
Any feature creep in a non music direction doesn't have to come from empeg... In fact the problem will be solved for owners of the mark2 (with it's network socket), or people running ppp over usb, because they can run an ftp service to cope with this requirement...
Anyway, as long as empeg don't prohibit me putting zip files into the unattached items playlist, I can use my empeg as a taxi without bloating anything... =)

Jazz
(List 112, S/N 00030, 4 gig blue)

Anyway, as long as empeg don't prohibit me putting zip files into the unattached items playlist, I can use my empeg as a taxi without bloating anything... =)

How can you identify the files later on, when you sz them back to your PC? Isn't all of the files located in /drive0/fids with a cryptic name mangling?

Kim

Grep is your friend... =)
I set the zip files artist etc to ZIPFILE, then
"grep ZIPFILE *1"
will return the text file in the fids directory.
Take that name, look for the same filename ending with a 0 instead of the 1 and send it.
I then use emplode to remove the file and rebuild the database.
By putting it into unattached items, the player won't attempt to play it (I hope... =)

Jazz
(List 112, S/N 00030, 4 gig blue)

I can see it now -- your Powerpoint presentation with embedded sounds cranks up on your Empeg. *snicker*

-- Bleys

"If you would judge, understand." -- Seneca

By putting it into unattached items, the player won't attempt to play it (I hope... =)

Can't try this out right now, but I remember that some versions ago I could play from 'unattached' via direct selection. Try a search on a title that is in unattached.


Henno
# 00120 (6GB+18)

I'll just have to be really careful then... =)

Jazz
(List 112, S/N 00030, 4 gig blue)