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IDProjectCategoryView StatusLast Update
0001540MMW v4Synchronizationpublic2004-11-10 21:19
Reporterrusty Assigned To 
PriorityimmediateSeverityfeatureReproducibilityalways
Status resolvedResolutionfixed 
Summary0001540: iRiver device synchronization
DescriptionAs discussed, we should add support for export to iRiver devices (especially the HD devices). This bug is primarily to track:
1) creation of device profiles for iRiver devices (see 'additional information' for this).

2) support of the iRiver DB format (do we need any UI for this?)





Additional InformationRussell,

    Some [a]nswers below.

Regards,

Patrick

-----Original Message-----
From: Russell Samuels [mailto:rs@mediamonkey.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 7:44 PM
To: pmarkel@iriveramerica.com
Cc: Jiri Hajek (E-mail)
Subject: Integrating MediaMonkey with iRiver devices

Patrick,

Thanks for you time this morning. As discussed, could you please send me
summary information about:
1) The database format used in your various devices and any specifics about
how an application should interact with the device database (Could the DB
support both track info and playlist information?) [A] There is no DB on our
flash devices. Our default DB: Track info, yes, but I don't believe it
stores playlist info.

2) Any SDKs that might be helpful for integrating our app (so that we don't
have to learn the vagaries of your DB format)?
[A] I cannot freely distribute our SDK nor is their DB documentation.
 
3) Any limitations that we should be aware of (e.g. users mentioned that
there's a 52-character filename limit, but it's unclear whether this
limitation applies to Path / Path+Filename / or Filename only).
[A] This question is quite vague. The character limitation is for playlists
and is inclusive of path and filenames. There is a 52 character limit in
both the full path and the file name (including the period and extension).
So, 52 for the path, and 52 for the filename. This only affects the ability
to index the songs in the DB and locate them using M3U playlists. All
files, regardless of path and filename length can be located and played
using the "File/Folder" menu. So, the longest *possible* string in the m3u
file would be 104 total characters, split 52 characters each to path and
file name.


4) Are there other specs we should know about? (I'm aware that I can find
out some of this via your manuals posted online, but very often this level
of detail is not posted consistently across all products). [A] Read the
manuals. It is the same documentation we have here. I can't help you with
vague questions like this.
 - Do the devices read ID3v1 and/or ID3v2 tags? In what order if both are
present?
[A] Players read ID3v1 tags only.
 - Do the devices support .m3u files for playlists? [A] H-Series, yes.
  - If yes, what location does the device expect the playlist in? [A] M3U
playlists can be saved anywhere as long as the relative path name is correct
for the H drive. Example of one that will not work:
C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents....
G:\Music\song.mp3

Ones that will work (as long as the list is saved in a folder that keeps the
relative pathname true).
\Album1\Song1.mp3
\Album2\Song2.mp3


  - If no, are there other means of ordering track playback? (e.g. by
alphanumeric order within a directory? by timestamp within a
directory?)[A]No. The H series players do not have any way to see the track
number in the ID3 tag. Only with proper file names using File/Folder
navigation will songs play in album order.

  -For the H-3xx devices, is there a way to display Album Art (I didn't see
this advertized or in the manuals)?[A] Not that I am aware of. As the final
spec is not finalized, it may be supported. I am checking into this one.
If not out of the box, it is possible it could be a FW update.

    -If yes, where does the device look for it (in the ID3 tag or via a
.jpg file in the same directory or via some other mechanism)?

 - Do any devices support Replay Gain volume normalization?[A] Not
supported. Third party normalization tools would be required to level Mp3
files on the PC prior to transporting them to a player.
    -If yes, what is the preferred level to be configured in the tag?
    -If no, what is the preferred level to adjust gain to on
synchronization of tracks to the device?

5) How can I get representative iRiver devices that we can use for
development and testing. Note that our development is done in Eastern
Europe (I've cc;ed Jiri who's responsible for this functionality), so I'm
hoping to obtain devices that are 240V compatible. Note: my username on the
iriveramerica store is: rs@mediamonkey.com
[A]If you want to be absolutely sure and get manuals in other languages, I'd
try iriver Europe. The H300 series is not available in the U.S. yet, but
when it is, it will be Janus Ready out of the box. If you want to develop
with our HDD devices, I would purchase an H120, H320, and a PMP-120. The
H320 avaialable in Europe and Asia currently does not have Janus/MTP
support. If you purchase products from the iriveramerica.com eStore, we can
extend a 25% discount on a total of 3 devices.

Lastly, if you have any information about which devices will/won't be
supported via the MS Media Player synchronization API, that would also be
helpful.
[A] If you are referring to Janus, I can say that we are planning Janus
support for some current and future models. In the docket right now are our
700/800 series flash, H300 series HDD players, and our PMC video device.


To tell you a bit more about MediaMonkey:
-We're at http://www.mediamonkey.com
-We get 0001256:0004000 downloads per day
-We already support synchronization with iRiver devices that are USB Mass
Storage Devices (but there's no iRiver-specific functionality such as:
preconfiguration for various devices/automated device database
synchronization)
-We've have numerous inquiries on our forums about improving integration
with iRiver devices. You can see some of these discussions at:
http://www.songs-db.com/forum/search.php?search_keywords=iriver&show_res
ults
=topic .
-Our users are fairly sophisticated when it comes to music, and generally
have collections of > 10,000 tracks.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards,
Russell



TagsNo tags attached.
Fixed in build

Activities

rusty

2004-10-11 15:42

administrator   ~0004557

Note: Tag database tool is an iRiver synchronization tool that is highly rated and has a nice implementation for truncating filenames to 52 characters. See:
http://tdt.sourceforge.net/rename.htm

jiri

2004-11-07 15:38

administrator   ~0004592

This should be all fixed in build 803.

rusty

2004-11-10 04:16

administrator   ~0004642

I just need some clarification:

In our forums, users had indicated that to synch with their Hxxx devices, they needed to copy playlists to the root directory. Is this not the case? (I noticed that they're copied to \Playlists\

jiri

2004-11-10 07:21

administrator   ~0004649

That's actually one of the reasons I wanted H140 for testing. For H320 .m3u playlists can be anywhere in the device, they are always scanned by it.

Actually /Playlists/ folder is used for .m3u generated for MM playlists, album .m3u are written to the folder where the album is exported.

rusty

2004-11-10 14:16

administrator   ~0004659

Users definitely had indicated in the forums that H1xx devices needed to have the playlists in the root for them to be easily accessible.

Re. Album .m3u playlists, I don't understand the logic of placing them in a different location (especially considering that a) some devices 'expect' them in the specified location and b) users expect them to be copied to the location where they've configured them to be copied.

jiri

2004-11-10 21:19

administrator   ~0004663

Fixed in build 806.
 - Ok, for now all playlists go to the specified folder, even though I think some users might want other options later.

 - Re. Playlists in H1xx - I don't know what should it mean, for H320 it makes absolutely no difference where M3Us are, maybe they work differently for H1xx.