Static from laptop.

[Lloyd Te Kani]

I have two Toshiba Satellite A100 laptops with Hoster Version 5.07 installed on both. I use one laptop (Rua) as my principal and the other (Tahi) as backup and I use the same external hard drive database of songs on both.

I also use the same small external (usb) sound card on both.

I have two seperate issues for which I am seeking help.

My first problem is that whenever I use Rua, I get an intermittent annoying very noticeble static over the external speakers but using Tahi gives clear perfect sound. I've changed sound bit rates, sound cards, mixers and hard drives with no luck.

My second problem is, despite using the same hard drive on both laptops, I am unable to access some songs on Tahi that are available on Rua. I have tried deleting the entire song folder and reloading the songs from another hard drive. I've tried rescanning the song folders but again no luck. The problems remain.

Any assistance would be appreciated

[Roy Dennis]

Originally Posted by Lloyd Te Kani

I have two Toshiba Satellite A100 laptops with Hoster Version 5.07 installed on both. I use one laptop (Rua) as my principal and the other (Tahi) as backup and I use the same external hard drive database of songs on both.

I also use the same small external (usb) sound card on both.

I have two seperate issues for which I am seeking help.

My first problem is that whenever I use Rua, I get an intermittent annoying very noticeble static over the external speakers but using Tahi gives clear perfect sound. I've changed sound bit rates, sound cards, mixers and hard drives with no luck.

The sound problem seems like a hardware issue, not a Hoster problem, first question for this are both computers using the same Windows versions, ie XP,Vista or Windows 7 ?
2nd do you get the same sound problem if listening to songs played through Windows media player or any other software ?
3) Do you get the same problem when not plugged in to mains and running of battery power ?

Originally Posted by Lloyd Te Kani

My second problem is, despite using the same hard drive on both laptops, I am unable to access some songs on Tahi that are available on Rua. I have tried deleting the entire song folder and reloading the songs from another hard drive. I've tried rescanning the song folders but again no luck. The problems remain.

Any assistance would be appreciated

With this files problem try this:
First check that when you plug the external drive in it shows as the same volume letter on each computer, if thats OK follow the rest of the instructions.
First get a small thumb drive or use your external hard drive to temporarily copy some files too, you will need about 50MB spare space for this.
On the Rua laptop that dispays all the songs open the C\MTU\ folder,
Now copy the Hoster folder to the tempory drive.
Now on the Tahi laptop open C\MTU folder find the Hoster Folder and rename it to something like Hoster Backup, now copy the Hoster folder from the other drive that you saved earlier and paste into the C\MTU folder to replace the renamed one.
Now start Hoster and it should be a clone of the other computer, if all is now well and you need to save space you can then delete the backup Hoster folder. If things arn't right this can always be named back to it's original name after deleting the replacement.

[Lloyd Te Kani]

Originally Posted by Roy Dennis

The sound problem seems like a hardware issue, not a Hoster problem, first question for this are both computers using the same Windows versions, ie XP,Vista or Windows 7 ?
2nd do you get the same sound problem if listening to songs played through Windows media player or any other software ?
3) Do you get the same problem when not plugged in to mains and running of battery power ?

Thanks for the early reply Roy.

In answer to your questions, 1: Yes both laptops use Windows 7 Ultimate. 2: I don't get the same static problem when playing music through other software. 3: The static is present whether the laptop is plugged into mains power or running on battery.

Through a further process of elimination, I'm pretty sure the problem is a faulty USB port. I used the external sound card in another USB port and voila!, no static. So you were right, it seems it was a hardware problem as opposed to a Hoster problem.

With this files problem try this:
First check that when you plug the external drive in it shows as the same volume letter on each computer, if thats OK follow the rest of the instructions.
First get a small thumb drive or use your external hard drive to temporarily copy some files too, you will need about 50MB spare space for this.
On the Rua laptop that dispays all the songs open the C\MTU\ folder,
Now copy the Hoster folder to the tempory drive.
Now on the Tahi laptop open C\MTU folder find the Hoster Folder and rename it to something like Hoster Backup, now copy the Hoster folder from the other drive that you saved earlier and paste into the C\MTU folder to replace the renamed one.
Now start Hoster and it should be a clone of the other computer, if all is now well and you need to save space you can then delete the backup Hoster folder. If things arn't right this can always be named back to it's original name after deleting the replacement.

I will now work on this second problem and let you know how it goes.

[Lloyd Te Kani]

Hi Roy,

Thanks for your reply.

In answer to your questions, 1: Yes both laptops use Windows 7 Ultimate. 2: I don't get the same static problem when playing music through other software. 3: The static is present whether the laptop is plugged into mains power or running on battery.

Through a further process of elimination, I'm pretty sure the problem is a faulty USB port. I used the external sound card in another USB port and voila!, no static. So you were right, it seems it was a hardware problem as opposed to a Hoster problem.

I'll work on the second problem and let you know how it goes.

[Lloyd Te Kani]

Originally Posted by Roy Dennis

The sound problem seems like a hardware issue, not a Hoster problem, first question for this are both computers using the same Windows versions, ie XP,Vista or Windows 7 ?
2nd do you get the same sound problem if listening to songs played through Windows media player or any other software ?
3) Do you get the same problem when not plugged in to mains and running of battery power ?


With this files problem try this:
First check that when you plug the external drive in it shows as the same volume letter on each computer, if thats OK follow the rest of the instructions.
First get a small thumb drive or use your external hard drive to temporarily copy some files too, you will need about 50MB spare space for this.
On the Rua laptop that dispays all the songs open the C\MTU\ folder,
Now copy the Hoster folder to the tempory drive.
Now on the Tahi laptop open C\MTU folder find the Hoster Folder and rename it to something like Hoster Backup, now copy the Hoster folder from the other drive that you saved earlier and paste into the C\MTU folder to replace the renamed one.
Now start Hoster and it should be a clone of the other computer, if all is now well and you need to save space you can then delete the backup Hoster folder. If things arn't right this can always be named back to it's original name after deleting the replacement.

Ok, I followed your advice Roy and I'm delighted to tell you that both issues have now been resolved. I appreciate the assistance you have provided me. Thank you.

[Roy Dennis]

Nice to hear your problem is resolved I'll close this thread now.