Down To My Last Nerve

[Musicman51]

Just about ready to dump Hoster. Can't import videos, lyrics slightly out of sync, hoster says the CD drive does read karaoke, and it won't. Using the new 4.06. Bought a brand new laptop, 2 weeks old, did all the vista window updates, followed the MTU instructions for vista.I'm afraid i'm wasting my time with this system, ready to go back to the trusty old CD disc. Any suggestions before i dump this mess are appreciated. Don't know where to start on this long list of problems. MTU said they had all the bugs out of their program on the vista operating system. Not as far as i'm concerned. I have a 30 day return on my laptop, getting ready to send it back, and throw away the Western digital external 500 drive.

[ddouglass]

Many laptop drives are the bottom of the line quality and will not read CDGs, so most laptop users end up using an external drive to do their importing.
If you are referring to the permanent importing of videos, no Hoster can't do that yet. That is coming in 4.10 early in 2009. Also video importing can only be done from the hard drive and not directly from the DVD or CD.
What brand and model of laptop is it?
What processor speed?
How much memory? Many laptops also use there main memory to "share" with the video card too instead of having dedicated memory for that and this will effect performance.
Have you gone to the company's website and downloaded the latest drivers for it?
If you have been having that much trouble with this laptop, then yes maybe you should go ahead and take it back (to get it in before the 30 days are up), but don't give up and go back to disks. Do some research and fine a laptop or a small shuttle type computer that will work. Maybe you can find one with XP and less headaches.
If you take it back be sure to uninstall any programs you have loaded including Hoster.
As for your other problems with this if you will list some here then maybe we can help you understand them and figure out how to fix them.

[Musicman51]

Hi ddouglass,
The trouble is not with the laptop. I am using an external Western Digital 500 Gig hard drive, it works flawlessly. I am using a Plextor CD/DVD drive, that i purchased from the boys at MTU, it to works flawlessly. I can import CDG's, play CDG's, import the singers disc. All working like downtown. Ready for a show...ummm..not exactly.

1, can get rid of the singer list. Everytime i open Hoster, the last rotation is still there, how do i clean the old rotation out of my singers list?
2, can't play a single VCD i own, can't import them, can't play a VCD a singer brings to our show..grrrrrr
3, The lyrics are just slightly...too fast for the music, just enough to make it aggravating. Yet are fine on some disc, and too fast on others. I put the same disc in my old trusted JVC triple drawer, they are in synth there??
4, MTU's "Data Base" leaves much to be desired. Common disc my older crowd sings, are either missing or not correct. The Velvet Elvis collection, disc 7 & 8 are both the same on MTU's data base, just as an example. The legends series, is a real challenge to import.
5, an easy to understand instructions on how to import my custom disc and custom complilations, as well as missing CDG data base disc, is much needed. The drawn out instructions on how to do this in the owners manual is next to worthless. So could you explain, in simple easy to follow words how to import a home producer disc, and a VCD...please??????

So as you can see by my list, it's not as though i am sitting here and not able to make this software work, it's that the instructions are too complicated, or the software not working correctly.

Nothing mentioned above is computer related. I purchased a laptop with a better processor, and faster then i actually needed.

If as you say, you cannot import VCD's...why is it called "Video" Hoster?
When we get done chewing on these problems, i have a few more.

And yes, all Windows Vista upgrades were done, and i followed the MTU instructions to the letter.

However, i never did find where to turn off the "Areo Theme" and i AM using Vista Home Premium.

This will be great software, if i can get it to work for me. I own KH Pro, Microstudio, Keyrite, Vogone all work fine.

I would like to make this software work for me, as it is easy to use, and a lot quicker and easier on the back for us ..ummm..."older Guys"...

[Musicman51]

ddouglass, i forgot to mention that i do have both displays working fine. The singer display is working just dandy. The singers names pop up, everything is cool there. Just a few bugs to work out. My girlfriend of 24 years told me to take a chill pill, but i ran out of them...lol

Here is the info on my puter..like i said, i am using the 500GB Western Digital hard drive for my storage, not my laptop. And i am using the Plextor CD/DVD drive.

1.86GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core processor T2390
200GB hard-drive (5400rpm)
2GB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM
Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
15.4" 1280x800 display with 720p support and TrueBrite technology
Atheros Wireless LAN (802.11b/g)
DVD SuperMulti drive
Built-in webcam
4 USB 2.0 ports
iLink
PC Express slot
5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter
Windows Vista Home Premium

[capnvic]

Originally Posted by Musicman51

Hi ddouglass,
The trouble is not with the laptop. I am using an external Western Digital 500 Gig hard drive, it works flawlessly. I am using a Plextor CD/DVD drive, that i purchased from the boys at MTU, it to works flawlessly. I can import CDG's, play CDG's, import the singers disc. All working like downtown. Ready for a show...ummm..not exactly.

1, can get rid of the singer list. Everytime i open Hoster, the last rotation is still there, how do i clean the old rotation out of my singers list?
2, can't play a single VCD i own, can't import them, can't play a VCD a singer brings to our show..grrrrrr
3, The lyrics are just slightly...too fast for the music, just enough to make it aggravating. Yet are fine on some disc, and too fast on others. I put the same disc in my old trusted JVC triple drawer, they are in synth there??
4, MTU's "Data Base" leaves much to be desired. Common disc my older crowd sings, are either missing or not correct. The Velvet Elvis collection, disc 7 & 8 are both the same on MTU's data base, just as an example. The legends series, is a real challenge to import.
5, an easy to understand instructions on how to import my custom disc and custom complilations, as well as missing CDG data base disc, is much needed. The drawn out instructions on how to do this in the owners manual is next to worthless. So could you explain, in simple easy to follow words how to import a home producer disc, and a VCD...please??????

So as you can see by my list, it's not as though i am sitting here and not able to make this software work, it's that the instructions are too complicated, or the software not working correctly.

Nothing mentioned above is computer related. I purchased a laptop with a better processor, and faster then i actually needed.

If as you say, you cannot import VCD's...why is it called "Video" Hoster?
When we get done chewing on these problems, i have a few more.

And yes, all Windows Vista upgrades were done, and i followed the MTU instructions to the letter.

However, i never did find where to turn off the "Areo Theme" and i AM using Vista Home Premium.

This will be great software, if i can get it to work for me. I own KH Pro, Microstudio, Keyrite, Vogone all work fine.

I would like to make this software work for me, as it is easy to use, and a lot quicker and easier on the back for us ..ummm..."older Guys"...

to turn off the Aero interface...


1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Appearance and Personalization.
3. Under Personalization, click Change the color scheme.
4. In the Appearance Settings dialog, click Windows Vista Basic, and then click OK. Or, click Windows Standard, and then click OK.
Windows Vista will think for a bit, and then it’ll turn off all the 3D effects.

that should take care of the Aero display settings.

[capnvic]

To delete the play list is quite simple. Under Tools>Options menu. Make sure that the check box is cleared for Keep Songs after Play. this will delete the song from the playlist after it is played.

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by Musicman51

1, can get rid of the singer list. Everytime i open Hoster, the last rotation is still there, how do i clean the old rotation out of my singers list?

Under Tools, options, uncheck keep songs after play. If you skip the song, or skip before it is through, you will have to manually delete it. This is a safety feature so if you have a crash, you will not loose your list

Originally Posted by Musicman51

2, can't play a single VCD i own, can't import them, can't play a VCD a singer brings to our show..grrrrrr

Sorry, can't help with this yet. Hoster is coming with this feature next year. It still won't allow you to play video from a singer's disk though, only from the hard drive. (in an avi file for example)

Originally Posted by Musicman51

3, The lyrics are just slightly...too fast for the music, just enough to make it aggravating. Yet are fine on some disc, and too fast on others. I put the same disc in my old trusted JVC triple drawer, they are in synth there??

I would bet that turning off Aero will fix this.

Originally Posted by Musicman51

4, MTU's "Data Base" leaves much to be desired. Common disc my older crowd sings, are either missing or not correct. The Velvet Elvis collection, disc 7 & 8 are both the same on MTU's data base, just as an example. The legends series, is a real challenge to import.

The database is continually being updated. Each time our computers communicate with MTU, we all collectively are fixing all the database entries.

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by Musicman51

5, an easy to understand instructions on how to import my custom disc and custom complilations, as well as missing CDG data base disc, is much needed. The drawn out instructions on how to do this in the owners manual is next to worthless. So could you explain, in simple easy to follow words how to import a home producer disc, and a VCD...please??????

This will be great software, if i can get it to work for me. I own KH Pro, Microstudio, Keyrite, Vogone all work fine.

There is your answer. Use the other tools available to you. I don't use the other tools from MTU, but if you can make a compilation CD, you can fix any naming issues and import from the hard drive without burning to a CD.

To import from a hard drive file, import songs, import hard drive files, select type, find location, it will automatically read the file name as the title and artist. there are seperators that have to be in place between the title/artist but that part is easy.

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by Musicman51

My girlfriend of 24 years told me to take a chill pill, but i ran out of them...lol

My wife of 24 years also, just refilled my script I did complain about the price though.

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by Musicman51

Hi ddouglass,
The trouble is not with the laptop. I am using an external Western Digital 500 Gig hard drive, it works flawlessly. I am using a Plextor CD/DVD drive, that i purchased from the boys at MTU, it to works flawlessly. I can import CDG's, play CDG's, import the singers disc. All working like downtown. Ready for a show...ummm..not exactly.

1, can get rid of the singer list. Everytime i open Hoster, the last rotation is still there, how do i clean the old rotation out of my singers list?
To DELETE a Playlist (.hst files): Go to C:\MTU\Hoster All playlists are .hst files and numbered def001.hst, etc. To get rid of one you don't use or want anymore - simply DELETE the APPROPRIATE FILE
Until you have done that, when you open Hoster, simply choose "NEW" from the File menu & you will get a "blank" playlist with the next available number. (You can also "SAVE AS" to name a Playlist so you can find it again later.)
As someone else said - you can go Tools/Options & "uncheck" the box that says to "Keep Songs After Play", then that song will be deleted from the Playlist after it plays.
2, can't play a single VCD i own, can't import them, can't play a VCD a singer brings to our show..grrrrrr
YES you can play VCDs. I have been doing it for 3 years now in Hoster. The instructions are clear - to copy the files from your disk to a Folder (of your choosing to where ever you want them). Then ADD to playlist and they WILL PLAY. (Hoster DOES NOT yet IMPORT videos into the database - coming in 4.1 in 2009).
YES you can play VCDs from Customer's Disks - You have to understand that VCDs are .dat files ADD: by clicking on "Video" button. (in the "Files of type" drop-down menu - click either ".dat" or "All Video files" (because VCDs are NOT .mpeg files). You should find the .DAT files in the MPEGAV folder of the VCD Disk.

If as you say, you cannot import VCD's...why is it called "Video" Hoster?
Hoster has played Videos for many years!!!!!
When we get done chewing on these problems, i have a few more.


I would like to make this software work for me, as it is easy to use, and a lot quicker and easier on the back for us ..ummm..."older Guys"...

info from one of the "older Gals"

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by Musicman51

2, can't play a single VCD i own, can't import them, can't play a VCD a singer brings to our show..grrrrrr

Hoster has never been able to import videos directly from a disk and I am not sure but I don't think any of the others do either. The reason is the VCDs and other types are not organize the way audio and CDG disks are so the programs cannot figure out which track is which. Hoster currently can import videos if they are on the hard drive to play in the current playlist. With version 4.10 you will be able to import them permanently and they will have a bookid just like the CDG have. This will make it much faster and less effort to play a video. This will be out early next year, so hold on it is coming. It is called Video Hoster because it will play them just not directly from CDs.

Originally Posted by Musicman51

4, MTU's "Data Base" leaves much to be desired. Common disc my older crowd sings, are either missing or not correct. The Velvet Elvis collection, disc 7 & 8 are both the same on MTU's data base, just as an example. The legends series, is a real challenge to import.

Agreed it has been. For close to three years it was never updated, because they could not find a suitable source that didn't cost them an arm, a leg and their first born. The solution was worked out to use our imports as a way to update it.
When you enter a new CDG and if it isn't in the database so you type in the title and artist information and import it. This information is stored in a file on your computer until you connect to the internet and MTU, then it is uploaded to MTU who adds the information to their database. The same thing happens if you edit the information for a disk either in the import screen or in the edit screen.
Currently you get those updates when ever a new release of Hoster is made available. I don't think Admin has determined how to get them out in between releases as yet and it may cost us a small fee for them to do so.
You also have another alternative if there is nothing in the MTU database. Click on the search online database instead and it will check FreeDB's list to see if it is there. If it is, then you still will have to correct some of the entries such as Artist (theirs is Firstname Lastname instead of Lastname, Firstname). You will also have to fix the Brand and DiskID because theirs apparently aren't listed the same way either.
I know this is long winded, sorry. I don't know how to explain this in short terms.

Originally Posted by Musicman51

5, an easy to understand instructions on how to import my custom disc and custom complilations, as well as missing CDG data base disc, is much needed. The drawn out instructions on how to do this in the owners manual is next to worthless. So could you explain, in simple easy to follow words how to import a home producer disc, and a VCD...please??????

Wow, short easy terms I am not sure that can be done. As far as custom disks go use Custom Assembly as the Brand and make up your own DiskID (like MM51001). For those and the ones not in the database you will have to type in the Title and Artist.
What may be confusing you is instead of left clicking in the block you want to fill in you have to right click on the block. The first time you do this it has to load some database information so it takes a second or two. After that it will be quicker. Start typing and the drop down list will change trying to match what you have typed so far. If at some point you see the exact thing you are looking for click on it and it will pop into that block. Move to the next block and Right click on it and do the same thing.
VCDs cannot be imported this way as of yet and not directly from a disk. For your singer's who bring those you will have to keep a player in your system or tell them you can't do it.

Originally Posted by Musicman51

Nothing mentioned above is computer related. I purchased a laptop with a better processor, and faster then i actually needed.

I think the other guys beat me to most of this. Follow their instructions and you should be able to get those parts working well. From your first post I was under the impression that you couldn't get the laptop to work right.
When you renew that prescription for chill pills tell the Doctor you need a bigger one. Just sit back and take it slow and you will soon be an old pro at it. You'll wonder why did I wait so long carrying all those disks around.

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

Hoster has never been able to import videos directly from a disk .....
.....VCDs cannot be imported this way as of yet and not directly from a disk. For your singer's who bring those you will have to keep a player in your system or tell them you can't do it.

Dale, it is NOT TRUE that you cannot play VCD disks that Singers bring to the Show. (This is important to those who don't carry an extra player.)
How to play VCD disks: When Adding with the "Video" button, you simply go to the disk drive & open up the Folder where the .dat files are kept (usually under MPEGAV. Be sure to pick "All Video Files" under "Files of type" so that the files can be seen. Then double-click & add the song of choice.
(The problem is that the "Files of Type" window defaults to 'mpeg' which makes you think it won't recognize other types.)

[capnvic]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

Hoster has never been able to import videos directly from a disk and I am not sure but I don't think any of the others do either. The reason is the VCDs and other types are not organize the way audio and CDG disks are so the programs cannot figure out which track is which. Hoster currently can import videos if they are on the hard drive to play in the current playlist. With version 4.10 you will be able to import them permanently and they will have a bookid just like the CDG have. This will make it much faster and less effort to play a video. This will be out early next year, so hold on it is coming. It is called Video Hoster because it will play them just not directly from CDs.



Agreed it has been. For close to three years it was never updated, because they could not find a suitable source that didn't cost them an arm, a leg and their first born. The solution was worked out to use our imports as a way to update it.
When you enter a new CDG and if it isn't in the database so you type in the title and artist information and import it. This information is stored in a file on your computer until you connect to the internet and MTU, then it is uploaded to MTU who adds the information to their database. The same thing happens if you edit the information for a disk either in the import screen or in the edit screen.
Currently you get those updates when ever a new release of Hoster is made available. I don't think Admin has determined how to get them out in between releases as yet and it may cost us a small fee for them to do so.
You also have another alternative if there is nothing in the MTU database. Click on the search online database instead and it will check FreeDB's list to see if it is there. If it is, then you still will have to correct some of the entries such as Artist (theirs is Firstname Lastname instead of Lastname, Firstname). You will also have to fix the Brand and DiskID because theirs apparently aren't listed the same way either.
I know this is long winded, sorry. I don't know how to explain this in short terms.



Wow, short easy terms I am not sure that can be done. As far as custom disks go use Custom Assembly as the Brand and make up your own DiskID (like MM51001). For those and the ones not in the database you will have to type in the Title and Artist.
What may be confusing you is instead of left clicking in the block you want to fill in you have to right click on the block. The first time you do this it has to load some database information so it takes a second or two. After that it will be quicker. Start typing and the drop down list will change trying to match what you have typed so far. If at some point you see the exact thing you are looking for click on it and it will pop into that block. Move to the next block and Right click on it and do the same thing.
VCDs cannot be imported this way as of yet and not directly from a disk. For your singer's who bring those you will have to keep a player in your system or tell them you can't do it.


I think the other guys beat me to most of this. Follow their instructions and you should be able to get those parts working well. From your first post I was under the impression that you couldn't get the laptop to work right.
When you renew that prescription for chill pills tell the Doctor you need a bigger one. Just sit back and take it slow and you will soon be an old pro at it. You'll wonder why did I wait so long carrying all those disks around.

I think once you take care of the Aero interface, you'll be able to knock out the problem with the VCD files. and follow Skybird's way of importing the VCD files. Good luck!

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by capnvic

I think once you take care of the Aero interface, you'll be able to knock out the problem with the VCD files. and follow Skybird's way of importing the VCD files. Good luck!

Just a point to remember for those that made be confused with the terminology (like I used to be) - "Adding" to the Playlist is not the same thing as "Importing".

Songs (regular or video) added (from disks) to the Playlist will delete after played.
Songs imported by Hoster are permanently added to the database. MTU promises that we will be able to import videos (include in database to be able to use Search) in the near future.

[capnvic]

Originally Posted by Skybird74

Just a point to remember for those that made be confused with the terminology (like I used to be) - "Adding" to the Playlist is not the same thing as "Importing".

Songs (regular or video) added (from disks) to the Playlist will delete after played.
Songs imported by Hoster are permanently added to the database. MTU promises that we will be able to import videos (include in database to be able to use Search) in the near future.

I stand corrected in my use of words....Thanks

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by Skybird74

Dale, it is NOT TRUE that you cannot play VCD disks that Singers bring to the Show. (This is important to those who don't carry an extra player.)
How to play VCD disks: When Adding with the "Video" button, you simply go to the disk drive & open up the Folder where the .dat files are kept (usually under MPEGAV. Be sure to pick "All Video Files" under "Files of type" so that the files can be seen. Then double-click & add the song of choice.
(The problem is that the "Files of Type" window defaults to 'mpeg' which makes you think it won't recognize other types.)

I wasn't aware of that, but then I don't use videos and don't have anyone bringing them in. The only one I have has 12 or 14 songs (don't remember) and only shows 4 VOB files, so that type won't work. I had to use another program to separate the "chapters" before I could import them. So let's say some of them will work.

[Musicman51]

Wow, you guys are super, thank you so so much for all your help. I am not a puter geek, so i am going to print all this out and go over it step by step.

This is what makes this forum work. You all unselfishly help each other, i think this is great. I will keep you posted as to my progress.
Thank You again for all your support and help.
Stay Safe, God Bless