Sorry To Hear Everbody's Problems

[mindonstrike]

Originally Posted by gd123

I have not upgraded as my 1st clue was bundling 3.4 with 4.0.

This was a long over due great idea. Everytime a new feature is added some people have problems getting it to work and have to re-instal an older version until it's figured out. That can be difficult if you are at a gig with no internet access, not to mention it just makes an already difficult situation more difficult. Add to that the fact that there is a bit more of a learning curve with 4. Bundling gives users a chance to aquaint themselves with it while still using a version they are more familiar with. Bundling an old version with the new makes good sense.

My 2nd clue was the 2 years it took to get 4.0 and seeing the list of improvements that had nothing to do with making it any easier to get a song into the playlist.

If there is an easier way to add a song than puch in a few numbers and hit enter or double clicking a song name, I'd be curious to see it.

2 years...and all that was accomplished was to change the format of the SND (which is the ONLY improvement that the SINGERS see)?

??

2 years...and I add a BookID and a Singer's name to the Playlist in the EXACT same way prior to 4.0

? Again I can't see how it could be much easier

(Am I STILL typing the SAME Singer's Name into the Playlist OVER AND OVER again)?

Uh...no. Add it to the singer database once and then use that over and over.Same with their favorite songs if you like.

2 years...and the Playlist looks EXACTLY the same? 2 years...and there is NO DRAG AND DROP?

The playlist does not look "EXACTLY" like anything previous. The changes aren't big changes, but the layout is efficient.

My 3rd clue was the "reduced" upgrade price for "loyal" customers.

?? This is a common practice in business. MTU has been offering this on Hoster for at least the 5 years I've used it and 7 years on their other products. I do see they've tightened up the requirements a bit to cut back on abuse.

As stated perfectly in another Post, the customers are not Beta testers and, I will add, not guinea pigs.

You are correct. And no-one is treating the customers that way. Few take pride in their good name like MTU, and no one wants to see it sullied this way. You can beta test till the end of time and still have issue occur in the market place, MTU is working feverishly to fix those issues.

[marklwood]

From the point of view as a KJ, I think the singer's database was the single BEST feature they have added. Can you imagine how easy it will be to turn those once every couple of months customers into once or twice a week customers when you can "remember" every song they ever sang even down to key changes? Even being able to tell how long it has been since they have been there can be a great help. Maybe you should ask why? Was there something wrong? Can I help?

As far as the SND, what a godsend for the busy venues when customers can look at the TV and find out who is singing and when for the next 45 minutes?

From the point of view as a bar owner, I am happy as a clam with the added features. If they can get some of the ideas worked out for managing the singer rotation, I can see myself getting a headset mic and KJing and tending bar at the same time on slower nights. My next amp is going to have a remote control for sure, just to be able to pull this off. I could be the singing bartender Look out Coyote Ugly!! Fatter and uglier is coming to get you!!

[T and J Karaoke]

I tried to update my microsoft sp3 and it failed. I don't know why it failed but it did. My laptop which is vista didn't show any errors when I did the updates. But my xp did. What do you think I need to do in order to get the new hoster on my xp one. I want to play with it before I decide to put it on my laptop. I am having registration code issues and put in a call tag for that. Hopefully they will respond soon.

[ddouglass]

SP3 was just for XP so it wouldn't effect you Vista computer.
How did SP3 fail? Blue screen? Or an error message? This makes a big difference in why and what to do to fix it.

[Beavis]

hey dale,

one of my home computers also wouldnt install some updates including sp3.

also when i do a fresh intall, i always update the computer then clone it to another hard drive and make a back up image.

[ddouglass]

Mine won't install some of the updates for Office 2003 according to Microsoft....well DUH I have moved on and installed Office 2007. The problem is I still have one component of Office that is 2003 (Front Page) so Microsoft thinks I need these and so does Belarc.
Beavis run the Belarc Advisor and see what is missing or not installed correctly. Could be one you missed a while back that SP3 needs to complete its install.

[Beavis]

it wouldnt even install anything.

it was a while ago and i reformatted.

sometimes a hate searching for the problem, it takes 100 times longer !

[ddouglass]

True. Did it install ok after you reformated?

[Beavis]

yes.

[laddie]

Originally Posted by gd123

I have not upgraded as my 1st clue was bundling 3.4 with 4.0.

My 2nd clue was the 2 years it took to get 4.0 and seeing the list of improvements that had nothing to do with making it any easier to get a song into the playlist. 2 years...and all that was accomplished was to change the format of the SND (which is the ONLY improvement that the SINGERS see)? 2 years...and I add a BookID and a Singer's name to the Playlist in the EXACT same way prior to 4.0 (Am I STILL typing the SAME Singer's Name into the Playlist OVER AND OVER again)? 2 years...and the Playlist looks EXACTLY the same? 2 years...and there is NO DRAG AND DROP?

I am not sure that you have used the program, but entering a song in the play list is much easier than the old version. The list layout is better(not the same). The singer screens are better. I run a show 4 nites a week. I found a couple of gliches but nothing serious. I put in two tech support tickets and got a reply on both, fast. I can't think of simpler way of getting a song into the play list, unless you have someone else do it for you. What do you want to drag and drop?

[billyo]

Originally Posted by T and J Karaoke

I

soon.

i have the same problem problem, i got the blue screen when i loaded sp3 2x, we're in the same boat, still running 3.317 ( no complain here still running w/o any problems )

[laddie]

Originally Posted by billyo

i have the same problem problem, i got the blue screen when i loaded sp3 2x, we're in the same boat, still running 3.317 ( no complain here still running w/o any problems )

Does it load in safe mode? If so it may be a driver issue. The best thing to do is to call MS support for SP3.

[TheMusicGeek]

Originally Posted by T and J Karaoke

I tried to update my microsoft sp3 and it failed. I don't know why it failed but it did. My laptop which is vista didn't show any errors when I did the updates. But my xp did. What do you think I need to do in order to get the new hoster on my xp one. I want to play with it before I decide to put it on my laptop. I am having registration code issues and put in a call tag for that. Hopefully they will respond soon.

I can help you with your SP3 issue if you wish. I will need the svcpack.log file which should be in your c:\windows directory.

[billyo]

Originally Posted by laddie;[QUOTE

79661]Does it load in safe mode? If so it may be a driver issue. The best thing to do is to call MS support for SP3.

[/quote]

wont load in any mode, which one of the drivers you think may be causing this ? but anyway thanks for the suggestion, but for right now i'll stick with the old version, ( need to work on it later, right now i have to stocked up on bottled water we're under storm watch " welcome to south fla. " )

[jon_and_angel]

I, like many here, depend on MTU's Hoster to do my karaoke shows and also like many here have had lots of trouble.....most, if not all since going to using Vista. Downloaded the newest demo version that is supposed to work with Vista, which did nothing for me but immediately erase my cd drives and lock up when I try to run it. Am I ready to give up on MTU/Hoster? NO WAY!! Hoster, for all the trouble it is having right now (mostly due to Microsofts disastrous operating system, Vista) is still far and away the ABSOLUTE BEST program on the market for running shows. MTU will have to stay on their toes to keep it that way, cuz others are gaining ground fairly fast, but for now they are at the top of the game. The product is on the way to great things, the support is getting better as time goes on, and I will be waiting when all the loose ends are tied up.
To all of the naysayers on here, I say PATIENCE......

[T and J Karaoke]

I had to get with tech support with microsoft. come to find out it was some kind of system problem I was having. But we got it working. Now if I load the new hoster am I going to have problems, Oh and my laptop which is my show computer is vista. If I load the new hoster on it am I going to run into all these problems I see on the board. Please say No! MadJim I know you are the testing guru!!!! Are you running vista as well? I can't wait for mtu to record!!!!!!!!

[ddouglass]

The Vista problems have been fix and most of the existing problems are in the minor catagory. They are working on more of these currently to get out version 4.04 soon.
As long as your computer is current on updates, meets the requirements listed, and has the latest drivers for it, then you should not have any problems installing it. Most of the problems that have been showing up involve one or more of the above listed items.
This does not mean everything is perfect in Hoster. If you use Videos (VCD, etc) then the Mux ability to cutoff the vocals is not fixed yet. Zip files are still being hampered by a bug that requires them to be entered new in any playlist to get them to play or converted to MP3+G (unzipped) to function from saved playlists. If these are not problems that will affect you then install 4.03.

[T and J Karaoke]

I have alot of files in a hard drive that are zipped files, I usually load them through the zip part in the import from hard drive. Are you saying that this does not work at all? If so that keeps me from converting it to a bin file then making it a kma. Darn I hope not.

[ddouglass]

No it means when you import them through the Import from HDD Hoster will take those zipped files and unzip them to MP3+Gs (the format of the files inside the zip file) then import them. Hoster does it for you.
The problem has been with saved playlists changing or previously changed with 4.02 HDZIP entries to HDMP3G when the files are still HDZIP. This gives you an error and the song won't play.

[madjim- with the Lord]

Originally Posted by T and J Karaoke

MadJim I know you are the testing guru!!!!

T & K,
I was titled "Karaoke Guru" by the local nightbeat magazine and now a "Testing Guru", You're gonna make me pull our my dictionary and see what I have to live up to. Thank you very much but I'm a new kid on the block. Most of the Beta testers have been using MTU's programs for many years, much longer than me.

Since I'm awake and the pain medication is holding up (I had all four wisdom teeth pulled this morning) let me tell you about the "Beta Guru's" that test with MTU and how I got involved.

I bought some Karaoke CD+G discs and decided to go digital because of my semi-pro recording studio experience. I found MTU and came on board with Hoster 3.316, I believe. I bought a rack mout computer from MTU and started investing in CD+G discs.

Hoster is like any mature computer program that is the "best in it's class", there is always something being added to keep the program useres happy.

I discoverd that a company was selling MP3+G zip's of recent karaoke tracks and bought some. Downloaded karaoke files are not legal in the USA, yet! (MP3 downlaods are legal and I feel karaoke track will be next. How cool would it be to buy karaoke songs from MTU. )

The High compression zip files would not load into Hoster at that time so I joined the forum to find out what was going on. Dale, Sam, Beavis, Bryant etc.... had me importing zip files in no time.

Once I became a fourm member, I just tried to help as many folks as I could. I've always had success with Hoster and was happy to share any knowledge I had aquired.

One day I get a phone call from Dave Cox, the founder of MTU. We spoke for a few minutes and he asked me if I would become a Beta tester and I said yes. Hoster is a tool that I use to make money entertaining and I felt moved to help in it's development.

So, I become a beta tester and soon realized that I'm in the company of some of the top working/entertainer/karaoke hosts in the world. These guys have made it possible for Hoster to be the awesome program it is. They spend hours of their time (we are not MTU employees) working on two and tree different computers at a time with one goal in mind, to make Hoster better. Better is better for everybody. I'm honored to be a part of such a great team.

Okay, now that that's been said I do not use Vista. In the world of Personal Computers, each system is different due to it's setup and use so it's about impossible to predict that Hoster will run the same on every computer, there are just too many factors to concider. MTU has other Beta testers that use Vista so it has been tested on Vista 32bit and Vista 64bit. We will get you going when ever you decide to jump in.

I reccomend that everybody keep dowloading the Hoster Demo's until a version is released that meets their needs and runs well on their machine.

MTU is a small company that has developed the best karaoke hosting program in the world and keeps it affordable. They've also developed a unique way of seeing that their programs do what their customers want them to do, they listen. You're participation on this forum helps more than you may realize, thanks.

I believe that Hoster is on it's way to being more awesome than any of us can imagine. When you break down the features that Hoster offers now, it's almost staggering to think that one program does so much, and it only going to get better. The bumps in the road are not pot holes, their stones that will be removed so everybody can enjoy a smooth ride.

When it comes to me, what you have is a insomiac that likes to help folks. I'm just a working soul like the rest of us who feels blessed to make a good living enterataining and is happy to share.


Jim