Problems Importing CDs in Hoster

[Wrahn]

I’ve just installed Hoster 4.32.12 and I’m having problems importing CD+G tracks.
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The first problem is with the databases identifying the CD. It identified a DKKaroke USA-4, “60’S Hits Vol. 1” as House Party Karaoke XYZ 0009. Both databases did not recognize any of my Maestro Music Club Pack CD’s. This means I’ll have to manually type in the information, if I want the songbook to be correct. I also tried to import Chartbuster 40201 and the title for the songs had the artist’s name included in the title block.

The second problem involves the speed of the import process. I tried to import DKKaroke DMK3080 and it took 50 minutes to import the first track. I cancelled the rest of the import process. I then opened MicroStudio 4.23 and it recognized the DMK3080 and imported the entire CD in less than 10 minutes. Of course, I then had to import the .bin tracks into Hoster and they were then converted to the Hoster files. It seems MircoStudio has a better import function than Hoster.

What do I have to do to get it to work?

Hoster 4.32.12
HP Compaq Presario C302NR Notebook PC, Celeron M Processor 420 (1.6Ghz, 1MB cache, 533MHz FSB) the RAM was upgraded to 1GB and the HD is 50GB.

Thanks,
Wes

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by Wrahn

I’ve just installed Hoster 4.32.12 and I’m having problems importing CD+G tracks.
The first problem is with the databases identifying the CD. It identified a DKKaroke USA-4, “60’S Hits Vol. 1” as House Party Karaoke XYZ 0009. Both databases did not recognize any of my Maestro Music Club Pack CD’s. This means I’ll have to manually type in the information, if I want the songbook to be correct. I also tried to import Chartbuster 40201 and the title for the songs had the artist’s name included in the title block.

Which database are you using? The On-line or the Local?
The On-line database is not an MTU product. This database is maintained by an organization called FreeDB. It is only added as an additional source for information. However they use a First Name Last name format for artists where Hoster uses the reverse.
For the Local Database MTU does not get lists of CDG disks from the producers. All entries in the database come from users entering the information. That means not everything available is yet in the database. There is a database update put out normally on a monthly basis in which new entries by users are added. This also means there may be some mistakes that do get listed.
For the DK Karaoke disc did you enter the brand and diskid before doing the search? The reason I asked is a diskid of XYZ0009 would be a custom assembly and those are not added in the bucket database.

Originally Posted by Wrahn

The second problem involves the speed of the import process. I tried to import DKKaroke DMK3080 and it took 50 minutes to import the first track. I cancelled the rest of the import process. I then opened MicroStudio 4.23 and it recognized the DMK3080 and imported the entire CD in less than 10 minutes. Of course, I then had to import the .bin tracks into Hoster and they were then converted to the Hoster files. It seems MircoStudio has a better import function than Hoster.

Originally Posted by Wrahn

What do I have to do to get it to work?

Hoster 4.32.12
HP Compaq Presario C302NR Notebook PC, Celeron M Processor 420 (1.6Ghz, 1MB cache, 533MHz FSB) the RAM was upgraded to 1GB and the HD is 50GB.

Thanks,
Wes

What version of Microstudio? Actually Hoster uses the same import code as Microstudio, but in my opinion does a better error checking and correction tha Microstudio does. Thus it can be slower. It sounds like there was something in the first track on that CD that was causing an error that Hoster was having problems with.

[Wrahn]

ddouglass,

Thanks for your quick response.

I used both databases. The online one gave me misinformation. Both didn't work for Music Maestro Club Pack (1998)

Microstudio is ver. 4.234

The DKKaraoke disc is labled CMGUSA-4 I entered the brand and USA-4

I used three different CDs in Hoster that took more than 1/2 hour to import a single track. I also picked different tracks with the same result. When I used the same CDs with Microstudio the entire CD was imported in less than 10 minutes.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by Wrahn

ddouglass,

Thanks for your quick response.

I used both databases. The online one gave me misinformation. Both didn't work for Music Maestro Club Pack (1998)

Microstudio is ver. 4.234

The DKKaraoke disc is labled CMGUSA-4 I entered the brand and USA-4

I used three different CDs in Hoster that took more than 1/2 hour to import a single track. I also picked different tracks with the same result. When I used the same CDs with Microstudio the entire CD was imported in less than 10 minutes.

Your import time is a bit confusing. I have never noticed any time difference using the same CDR with both programs. Like I said both use the same import code. Maybe try reselecting the drive in tools and see if that helps.
As far as the DK disc, I don't think USA-4 would be unique enough. There should be a disk number on it somewhere or try the whole CMGUSA-4.
And as far as the Music Maestro I guess no one has entered that one. Once you get it entered then no one else will have that problem.

[Roy Dennis]

Originally Posted by Wrahn

I’ve just installed Hoster 4.32.12 and I’m having problems importing CD+G tracks.
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The first problem is with the databases identifying the CD. It identified a DKKaroke USA-4, “60’S Hits Vol. 1” as House Party Karaoke XYZ 0009. Both databases did not recognize any of my Maestro Music Club Pack CD’s. This means I’ll have to manually type in the information, if I want the songbook to be correct. I also tried to import Chartbuster 40201 and the title for the songs had the artist’s name included in the title block.

Wes

When importing using the Online Database It rarely gives you the the correct disk id, if it comes up with the correct list then change the brand name and enter your disc id manually before importing. Also as it rarely gives you the correct naming "Lastname Firstname".

The local database is more accurate but you sometimes have to experiment to find the correct Disc id. It won't have it as a Title form there is usually a # on the disc to identify it, so if you enter "DKK Karaoke" in the brand field the disc id field search for your # but it might be preceded with some letters.
Your Music Maestro disc, if you look down the disc id's in that drop down box there are some MMCP#### , I don't know if you have tried them but sometimes if you experiment with finding your # with the various prefix letters it will come up correct.
With the Chartbusters 40201, that is in the list as CB40201.

As to your drive taking so long to import I don't now the answer to that.

[RandyMcCharles]

I believe that Microstudio uses less memory than Hoster, so the time difference could be that there is very little free memory when Hoster is running. Home much memory does your PC have?

[Wrahn]

It has 1GB of ram.

[Lonman]

Hoster recommends 2gb ram for memory.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by Lonman

Hoster recommends 2gb ram for memory.

That is for operation of all the functions, not importing.

[RandyMcCharles]

Agreed. But I have noticed and had confirmed by MTU that the import process slows down as available memory shrinks. When I imported my CDG collection I had to occasionally reboot to free up lost memory to speed imports up. I am assuming that the Hoster application has a bigger memory footprint than Microstudio when running, but I could be wrong.

[Hawaiian]

I have had the same problem while importing CDGs. Several of the disks took over an hour to load and the graphics were horrible. I cleaned the disks with a very good disk cleaning and scratch remover machine and tried to reload them. The results were the same. My computer has 8GB of ram. I can only guess that these particular disks of overwhelming Hoster's error correction. Another possibility could be the internal drives optics. I'm definitely not a computer guru and am only guessing. I ordered MTU's USB burner in hopes that this will solve the problem. I'll let you know.

Alienware M15x, Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit, Intel Core i7 740QM Quad Core Processor, 1.73GHz (2.93GHz Turbo Mode, 6M Cach, 8GB Dual Channel Memory (2x 4GB DDR3), 1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5850, 500GB SATAII 7,200RPM, Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW), Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio.

[Lonman]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

That is for operation of all the functions, not importing.

Can't hurt to try, memory is cheap & can only improve overall system performance.

[Wrahn]

I made a strange discovery while importing CDs that were taking a long time to import. I was importing "DDKaraoke Standards Volume 1 USA-12" and it was taking forever. I left clicked on the box heading, "Importing Track", to try to move the import box and the import indicator bar started to move very quickly. I released the left click and the indicator bar went back to a very slow import. I clicked on the box heading again and the indicator began to move quickly. As long as I held the left click on the heading the track and the KMA were downloaded very quickly. I have checked the downloaded tracks and the sound and graphics are fine.

So I have learned that when I have a disc that takes hours (and I mean hours) to download, I can left click on the import heading and keep it there and the tracks will download in minutes rather than in hours. I don't know why, I just know it works.

Thanks for all the inputs,

Wes

[RandyMcCharles]

Shoot. I had the same experience. There is a thread discussing it. (http://forum.mtu.com/showthread.php?t=11636)
MTU was unable to reproduce it.

[Wrahn]

Randy thanks for the input and link to a thread that if I had seen I would have been able to "Fix" my problem earlier. I guess I didn't use the correct words to find the thread when I did a search, when I first had the problem. Anyway, I've had the hours to import problem a few times and now I can import the tracks quicker.

I hope the problem goes away when I buy my new laptop with 4G RAM. The only thing I'm worried about is that the new computer's CD drive will not recognize the cd+g files for import.

Wes

[RandyMcCharles]

I believe MTU used to list somewhere brands and models of CD drives that support CD+G but I looked around the site and could no longer find it.

[RIKKI TIKKI]

Originally Posted by RandyMcCharles

I believe MTU used to list somewhere brands and models of CD drives that support CD+G but I looked around the site and could no longer find it.

Most of the newer laptop cd drives are compatable and will read cdg's, it would be the rare one these days that wouldn't support the cdg function... and there is always the external cd roms that MTU will sell you, and save your laptop cd rom from becoming overworked... I have been using the same two I bought from them about five years ago! *see the optical drives listed in my signature below!

[Wrahn]

Last night I was importing some tracks and the importing slowed down again. I left clicked and it zoomed. I then stopped the importing and restarted my computer. Then I used the same CD tracks to import, and the import was normal.

So, what I learned is when faced with an import problem, I can left click the import box heading or I can restart the computer.

Isn't knowledge grand! Once again thanks to all who take the time to answer questions posted on this forum.

Wes

[Beavis]

Originally Posted by Wrahn

I made a strange discovery while importing CDs that were taking a long time to import. I was importing "DDKaraoke Standards Volume 1 USA-12" and it was taking forever. I left clicked on the box heading, "Importing Track", to try to move the import box and the import indicator bar started to move very quickly. I released the left click and the indicator bar went back to a very slow import. I clicked on the box heading again and the indicator began to move quickly. As long as I held the left click on the heading the track and the KMA were downloaded very quickly. I have checked the downloaded tracks and the sound and graphics are fine.

So I have learned that when I have a disc that takes hours (and I mean hours) to download, I can left click on the import heading and keep it there and the tracks will download in minutes rather than in hours. I don't know why, I just know it works.

Thanks for all the inputs,

Wes

i can recreate this exact problem. when i right or left click it speeds up to 2x or more faster.

im still running 4.11

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by Wrahn

Last night I was importing some tracks and the importing slowed down again. I left clicked and it zoomed. I then stopped the importing and restarted my computer. Then I used the same CD tracks to import, and the import was normal.

So, what I learned is when faced with an import problem, I can left click the import box heading or I can restart the computer.

Isn't knowledge grand! Once again thanks to all who take the time to answer questions posted on this forum.

Wes

Is this happening to you on 4.32? I don't recall this ever being reported before