All updates are installed
 

It seems that windows finds updates to install almost every time I connect to the internet, but, just prior to the last Hoster update, I pulled in & installed all of the available windows updates. I, as a general rule, click on the 'view new posts' button almost everyday & read all post pertaining to Hoster. As such, I was aware ahead of time that users were having install problems when they were not up to date.

Wayne

Hello All,
Just a few thoughts.
Hoster will install but not run unless all the current XP updates are installed first.
I have had no problems with media player at all, and it was nice to find something of Microsoft's which ran smoothly first time, it has not always been my experience in the past.
I currently run a Plextor 16/10/40A which I would like to update, for my portable KJ system, to the new Plextor combo with DVD but as MTU don't recognise this drive yet there doesn't seem much point.
My DVD player is excellent with CDG's but is a bind to use with DVD's and VCD's, too long to find information!
Lastly George is partly right. I read all the posts in all the forums, long and short, found much good advice, things I wouldn't have thought of, tips and tricks. I wouldn't be using Sound Canvas or a Raid card without the good intentions of fellow MTU users.
Posts which are long are just as useful as brief ones if they make their points clearly and without ambiguity
I think that sometimes longer time users assume newer users don't have the know how and with the best intentions give too much help.
Regards from the UK
Garry

Reading VCD
 

Garry,

Are you aware that your Plextor can also read VCD's?

I also have a DVD Player & it is in fact longer to read VCD's & DVD's so I now use my Plextor to read my CDG's & VCD's.

I personally don't have any DVD Karaoke so I don't use my DVD player very often.

Also, keep in mind that the new Plextor DVD Combo will only read your DVD at 12X versus 16X for most stand along DVD Player.

Regards

mlepine

Raised my hopes
Tried a number of VCD's in my Plextor only to be told "No disc in drive"!
None of the VCD's were listed by Hoster in the database.
Guess they could be pirates, but I bought them from a reputable source and they do play in my stand alone DVD player and in the Toshiba DVD drive on my desktop, which also says it reads CDG's but doesn't.
MTU has a point in only using certified drives.
Incidentally, without wanting to re-open the CDG v DVD/VCD debate,
I only use these discs for hard to find numbers as I find the graphics are distracting and usually have nothing to do with the music.
Thanks anyway
Regards from the UK
Garry

Garry,
Hoster doesn't support vcd's in any drive yet........ it is supposed to start doing that in the next version coming out. I would suppose that is why they dont have it in the database.

also if you put your vcd in the computer and look at the file Best I remember it is a video format file like a mpg or something...... probably why it hasnt been added yet. that is a totally diffrent technology. more code, bigger program, uses more memory, more possible bugs etc.

Read VCD's
 

Garry,

I'm alsmost certain your Plextor can read VCD's but you will need another program to run your VCD's.

Windows Media Player Series 9 will do a good job but WinDVD will be a better choice, it has the Multiplex Fonction.(so has WMP but you need to adjust for each track)

I suggest you first insert a VCD in your Plextor than turn on Media Player and go to play option and you'll see the VCD that's in your Plextor drive.

Please, Let me know if it works

Regards

Hello

mlepine
Tried a VCD in the Plextor again, with Windows XP, I used Windows ME last time.
You were right it reads the disc but can't play it, will try your other suggestions but will be away until Monday late so will let you know how it goes later in the week.
Cheers

gduns
Only mentioned the Hoster database because I noticed, when going through the disc brands, both VCD's and DVD's listed and thought that MTU had put them in their programme for use later, although you can't play them until the future update activates them.
Thanks for observations. I personally think these discs are more trouble than they're worth, although they are starting to be popular in the UK, mainly I think because they are a lot cheaper than CDG's here.

regards from the UK
Garry

Hoster and VCD-DVD playing
 

I want to forewarn you that the next release, 2.015, will not have VCD-DVD support. This is an "interim" release to fix several bugs related to accessing and regenerating the songs.mdb database.

Please note... when you are importing tracks where you enter the Song name and Artist names, please DO NOT ever use the " (double quote) character. We have to use that to delineate a ' (single quote) character, and when a " is encountered, it will lock up the system. This is a very bad problem that our programmer has so far not been able to program around. We have now removed all " characters from our bucket.mdb database (will be available with 2.015), but we can't yet prevent you from entering the " when you import custom songs or edit what our database displays. We hope to start beta testing 2.015 today.

As soon as KPro 5 is released, we will shift Thomas, who is our lead programmer, back onto Hoster. There are a number of display bugs we will first fix, then we will try to replace our audio players with the Microsoft Media Player. That will allow playing VCD, DVD, MP3, WMA, and potentially more.

:e Those of you who have followed my Admin posts over the years know my dislike for MP3+G. However... it is now clear that there are a number of legal users (who buy all their discs) who have lots of these songs on their hard drive. Thus, we will try to add MP3+G play support. Also, by adding WMA and MP3 play support, we will expand Hoster's flexibility tremendously. That is part of our focus.

Oh yes... since VCD and DVD songs are already compressed (MPEG1 for VCD, MPEG2 for DVD) and contain massive video imaging also, we can't reduce the file sizes any from what is already on the discs. We will first provide playing from VCD and DVD discs, then later address importing songs to the hard drive. When imported, they will consume LOTS of storage, unlike our KMA files.

Plextor has announced their new DVD-R drive that is supposed to read/write the CDG format also. We haven't received our ordered drive yet. We will support this drive as soon as we can.

That's all for now. Thanks for waiting!

Noise
 

Not sure this is a hoster problem. But thought someone out there may have an answer. As soon as my Windows XP boots up, I am hearing a noise similiar to a needle at the end of a record where it would skip. No scratching noise, just a tap or ticking like noise. I hear it through the ear phones. And my fear is , is that if I can hear it through them, then it will be even more noticiable when hooked to my sound system. When I play a song in Hoster you no longer hear it but I assume it's still there. Normally when nothing is playing there is dead silence. This noise is prevalent even with nothing opened. Any thoughts. The only thing I have done since the last gig was down loaded current Window updates. Where do I start to look.

Thanks,

Kelly

Kelly,

I may have trouble expressing what I'm thinking, but it sounds like the click that is sometimes heard when navigating on the websites, if it's a single tick. I wonder if when you boot up there is a program accessing the internet. Automatic updates, Media player, Norton, etc, etc, etc. Might explore those programs one at a time and turn off automatic internet access and see if it quits.


If it's a tick, tick, tick, I'd look for a voltage problem in the p.c. Something may be arcing.

Dunno if this even makes sense, just brainstorming.

Take care,

George

Try turning off or down any unnecessary audio components (line in, CD, Mic) if these things are turned on, sometimes their levels are too high and can cause what you are talking about, best starting point is to try and mute the ones you don't need.

Ticking
 

George thanks for your suggestion but no internet connections. Any and all internet updates turned off. Did do Window updates today. Tried to restore setting before today but then will not allow Microstudio to run which was upgraded Monday. Doesn't make sense. So re-restored and Micro works fine. The ticking sound is prevelant on ac or on battery. Upgraded media player to ver. 9 today also. Think that may be a possibility but not sure how to undo that one. Just looked and computer is not recognizing back up drive (d) again either. I'll keep scratching.

Thanks,

Kelly

What p.c gumshoe says makes sense. It reminded me of a problem we were having at our church with the Priest's lavaleir mike. Kept intermittantly giving a pop, pop, pop. I noticed the led rf indicator in the back room showing this visibly, turned down the rf control...gone was the problem.

George

It is especially present when one is using an "On-Board" sound card.... Sound Blaster is pretty good in their install about pre-setting the limits, but others aren't... However, on a Sound Blaster Card, it is still possible... Thanks George, here's hopin' Kelly can solve this :w

Ticking
 

It's almost like a "pulse" sound. I thought it was my heart beat at first listening through the ear plugs. Don't have it hooked to my sound system so it's all related to a computer promlem. Was able to restore prior to Media Player 9. Right now can't find media player anywhere on laptop. So that wasn't apprarently the problem. D drive is now showing again also. (back up drive) Have to leave in about 15 min to do a gig. Just hope the "pulse" isn't to noticable on the system. May have to mute until each song starts. Let you all know how it goes. Thanks again and hope everyone has a safe and happy Labor Day weekend.

Kelly:r

Try a ground lift
 

Not sure if this is the same problem, but, in some clubs we get this almost helicopter noise as soon as the PC boots up. A ground lift on the PC alone will usually solve it. If it doesn't, plug everything into 1 power strip & put a ground lift on it.

If you have a battery in your PC, you can unplug the PC & see whether the noise goes away, which would confirm the problem has to do with the electrical source grounding.

Wayne

Wayne,

We constantly do Karaoke and DJ at the same time. Did a party last night and did shows all summer, running Hoster and BPM Studio (MP3 DJ System Software) at the same time. Would minimze one program when the other was not being used. What we do is all our music is on a Western Digital 120 Gigabit External Hard drive ( 20,000 songs ). The Karaoke songs are on the Dell Laptop Hard drive 40 Gigabit ( 5000 songs ). 2.4 Gigh, 516 Ram.
I know a KJ/DJ in Modesto Cal that uses two 120 gig external Hard drives. Karaoke-30,000 songs on one and DJ-50,000 songs on the other hard drive. Never any problems. Maybe this will work for you.


Bob stevens
Toledo, Ohio

Wayne,

I posted a reply, but I think it was in the wrong place. Your problem is not with Hoster. Our setup in Toledo, Ohio is with Dell 2.4 Gigh, 516 ram. Programs utilized for all shows ( kj and kj/Dj ) are Hoster and BPM Studio by ALCATech, Professional MP3 Dj system. We do not use Windows Media Player. We put only Karaoke on the laptop hard drive ( 40 gig, 5000 Songs ) and the Music is on a Western Digital External Hard Drive ( 120 gig, 20,000 songs ) Run both programs at the same time with no problems. My DJ's were worried if we ran both that the computer would crash. Did a outside party Aug 2 for 9 hours, both programs and no crash. Thought I would share this with you, sorry your having a problem


Bob

I think what "Bubba" is trying to point out is that sometimes there can be issues if the computer attempts to access to different spaces on a hard drive... By having his DJ MP3s on one drive and his Karaoke on another, switching between programs doesn't cause the system to make multiple reads to the same drive.... Is worth a shot.... I would make sure that all HDDs are 7200 RPM at least and that you have your maximum DMA set (now I think some systems go up to 166?)

HP Laptop drives are only 5400 RPM
 

I can try using a different drive, but, really (other than the speed) don't see the point. We are not trying to play both softwares at the same time, just have them open.

The Media Player problem even exists when Hoster is closed. Thats why I thought the Hoster install may have messed something up. This problem started after I installed the 2.x version of Hoster that came on a CD. I installed every available windows upgrade just before upgrading Hoster. One of these actions (I believe) caused this problem.

I am carefully reviewing all of my settings to be sure it's not something I'm overlooking. It was suggested earlier that my IRQ settings may need changed. Well, guess what? The Modem (which I never use), the sound card & the Radeon M6 video card do all use the same IRQ. Only probelm is, I don't think this laptop will let me change these settings. The laptop having a problem is a HP Pavailion ze5170.

I appreciate everyones suggestions. It appears that everyone else has resolved this problem one way or another, but me.

Wayne