backup KMA files

[captnkarl]

Mindonstrike, I don't think that I rebuilt my song database, I actually went through each song in my "edit multiple songs" and left everything blank like Dale told me to do (which took nearly 5 hours for it to complete). It set every song to the settings that were checked in the boxes (in this case, unchecked). Is that going to also affect the songs_backup.mdb? I hope you follow me on this, because I'm in for some long nights otherwise....good thing my songbooks were recently updated.
If I get this fixed the way you are telling me, next time you are in central WI, drinks on me all night.

[ddouglass]

If you have not rebuilt since doing that then the Back-up will still have the information if it was there before. I do recommend you make a copy of that back-up before you rename it.
Do you have Microsoft Access or know someone who does? If so then they could find all the ones that are marked as Hide in Songbook, so you could have a list to go through without have to search through all of your songs.
If you don't then you could send a copy to one of us who do to provide you with the list.

[mindonstrike]

Originally Posted by captnkarl

Mindonstrike, I don't think that I rebuilt my song database, I actually went through each song in my "edit multiple songs" and left everything blank like Dale told me to do (which took nearly 5 hours for it to complete). It set every song to the settings that were checked in the boxes (in this case, unchecked). Is that going to also affect the songs_backup.mdb? I hope you follow me on this, because I'm in for some long nights otherwise....good thing my songbooks were recently updated.
If I get this fixed the way you are telling me, next time you are in central WI, drinks on me all night.

For most operations, Hoster does not care what your kma header has in it. Hoster only uses the information contained in the database. When you go to rebuild the database the first thing that Hoster does is to make a backup copy of songs.mdb (it will give you a message telling you it did this), just so if there is a problem with the new one you can revert to the old.

As dale suggested you should save a copy of song_backup to "My Documents" or a memory stick or just anywhere else.

This isn't a "fix". It's more of a bandaid until a fix is figured out or in the end it might be better just to let someone with Access
make you a list of your "Hide in songbook" book ids so they can be re-entered.

Sam

[captnkarl]

I renamed the backup_songs.mdb, deleted the songs.mdb and renamed the backup_songs.mdb. Went to my build a songbook and every song is still there including the ones that are supposed to be hidden. Doing a show now and now the computer can't find some of the songs that are supposed to be there (so far 4 of them). I think I'm screwed and will have to go and edit all over again. if the songs are there, can I just rebuild database and everything will be there or are they really gone for some reason.

I do have access, but when I opened songs.mdb, nothing came up...does this take awhile because I only gave it about 30 seconds before I closed the program.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by captnkarl

I renamed the backup_songs.mdb, deleted the songs.mdb and renamed the backup_songs.mdb. Went to my build a songbook and every song is still there including the ones that are supposed to be hidden. Doing a show now and now the computer can't find some of the songs that are supposed to be there (so far 4 of them). I think I'm screwed and will have to go and edit all over again. if the songs are there, can I just rebuild database and everything will be there or are they really gone for some reason.

I do have access, but when I opened songs.mdb, nothing came up...does this take awhile because I only gave it about 30 seconds before I closed the program.

If the Backup didn't have the information then yes it looks like you will have to edit them again. Be sure you do this in 4.09 or 4.10 now since it has just been released so the information gets saved to the KMA files.
Were the missing songs in the database (Search) but the tracks not found when you tried to play them or were they not in the database at all? If it is the latter then yes rebuilding should add them in. It may be that the last time the Back-up was built you didn't have those songs.
You won't see the listing immediately when you open Access. You have to open it, then double click on the Songs Table on the left side to open that. This may be a moot point since the hidden information is no longer there as evidenced by the fact that building the songbook showed all including the previously hidden ones. That means it isn't in the database anymore.

[captnkarl]

Just something I want to throw out there....I backed up all my KMA files in late August and almost positive that I had done this with 4.09....as a matter of fact, I think that I "Hide in songbook" with this version since the last time I updated to 4.09, I lost all that info also and had to go through all the songs then (probably back in June). If this is the case, can I just write over all the kma files from my external HD to my laptop and everything will be back the way it was?? I guess it won't hurt to try!

Thanks all for all your help everybody...BTW, does the background music between songs have its own sound level or does it use the same settings as the Karaoke songs?? I will be loading 4.10 on my new computer when it comes in

[RIKKI TIKKI]

Originally Posted by captnkarl

...BTW, does the background music between songs have its own sound level or does it use the same settings as the Karaoke songs?? I will be loading 4.10 on my new computer when it comes in

The volume level of the background audio (BA) can be adjusted using the percentage (volume level slider), as well as the amount of volume that you wish to have when the "Talk Over" button is in use, which can also be configured, using a separate volume control slider, denoted as a percentage of the BA volume that is assigned. These are both found in the BA screen when you initialize the background audio. It is not persistant, so you have to restart the BA each time you open or RE-open Hoster program.

[captnkarl]

Well I deleted my songbook and re-loaded it from my ext. HD and almost everything is back (a lot of songs came back with the genre of acapella which I never checked in the box before), so not too much work is ahead. I loaded the 4.10 and tried the background music...not too impressed, but better than nothing. I wish I could take the music down to 10 to 15 percent...only starts at 50 percent and I don't normally even run my show at that level so I have more control over my mics, and the song that is playing at the time gets skipped and moves to the next one after the singer is done. I made a 6 hour mix before I found this out and restarts my mix after every song......hopefully they are working on this. Like I said..better than nothing.

[ddouglass]

Karl,
Glad you got everything back. As far as the genre I have a whole bunch that are "Wedding" which I don't use either. I found that if I didn't set it when I imported then it seemed to pick that for me. Not sure why that one but I am guessing it uses what ever it wants if you don't set it.
For the BA keep in mind that its volume control is sub to the volume control of the computer which you can control with the volume slider on the main screen. Meaning settin the BA to 100% will only be100% of what ever the computer is set at.
On ours we run 100% on the computer and about 80% on the BA, then I control the computer input volume on the mixer as well as the mics to get the right blend for output to the amp.
The BA is a work in progress. A continuos play (silenced in the background was tried during testing and it didn't work well so was removed. I am guessing this is what you are wanting instead of having it start the next song in the list. The next step will be a playlist for it that you can better control the order, insert song files from different locations, and be able to save and reload those playlists.
I wasn't sure I was going to like it as I always hated to got to shows where the KJ spent too much time in between singers playing audio songs with no smooth transition. This works much better for that IMHO.

[admin]

Originally Posted by captnkarl

I loaded the 4.10 and tried the background music...not too impressed, but better than nothing. I wish I could take the music down to 10 to 15 percent...only starts at 50 percent and I don't normally even run my show at that level so I have more control over my mics, and the song that is playing at the time gets skipped and moves to the next one after the singer is done.

I made a 6 hour mix before I found this out and restarts my mix after every song......hopefully they are working on this. Like I said..better than nothing.

In Version 4.11, we changed the BA Player Volume control from 50-100 to now be 0-100. This should release later this week.

I don't understand what you mean by "restarts my mix after every song"? If you mean the BA Player song that was playing is stopped when a Hoster song starts playing, yes, that is the way it works. And the next song that will play is the next song in the BA Player list.

Dale's comments are correct. In 4.20 we expect to implement opening a Hoster Playlist .HST file. You can add whatever you want into it in Hoster, save it and open in the BA Player. You can now click-n-drag songs in the selected folder WHILE OPEN in the BA Player. However, the changed order is lost when the BA Player closes that folder. In 4.20, your changes will be saved in the .HST file, appearing the next time that Playlist is opened in the BA Player.

Oh yes, BA Player only plays WMA and MP3 songs so you will be able to play KMA, WMA and MP3 songs, but not video files.

[admin]

kaptnkarl, we are testing Hoster 4.11 Beta 1 tonight. It has a significant change to the Edit Songs - Select Multiple screen operation.

PLEASE... DO NOT use 4.10 to make any significant changes. Wait, and if all goes well and we have 4-6 Beta Testers try our changes, we hope to release 4.11 tomorrow night.

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by captnkarl

......., and the song that is playing at the time gets skipped and moves to the next one after the singer is done. I made a 6 hour mix before I found this out and restarts my mix after every song......hopefully they are working on this. Like I said..better than nothing.

If you really want the same song to continue after a singer sings, instead of changing to the next song, you can just click "Pause" on the BA just before you click "Play" in the Playlist. Then when the singer is done, and you "Unclick Pause", the same song will contiue where it left off. I have done that several times already when I notice the audience is really responding to a particular song in the BA. A few times people have even started to get up & dance & if the singer doesn't mind, he just waits until that particular song is over. It's kind of fun to see the different reactions people have to the BA.

[captnkarl]

Thanks to all that have helped me....now the next thing. When I run audio into my playlist, Hoster shuts down when it goes to a karaoke song w/vocals(in auto play). Is this something I am doing wrong??

Admin, was out of town till now and gonna put 4.11 on tonight when I get time plus my Brand new show computer comes in today and prob gonna play with it (4.11) before I actually use it since it is too close to the weekend to use in a show.

224-3652

1

Studio 15 Notebook (Studio 1555)

317-1543

1

Intel Core 2 Duo T6500, 2.1GHz800Mhz, 2M L2 Cache

311-8624

1

4GB, DDR2, 800MHz 2 Dimm

330-2937

1

Backlit Keyboard

320-7721

1

15.6 inch High Definition (720p) LED Display with TrueLife and Camera

330-2935

1

256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD HD 4570

341-8878

1

500G 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive Free Fall Sensor

420-9319

1

Microsoft Windows Vista with SP1 Home Premium Edition 64-bit Edition English

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by captnkarl

Thanks to all that have helped me....now the next thing. When I run audio into my playlist, Hoster shuts down when it goes to a karaoke song w/vocals(in auto play). Is this something I am doing wrong??

Admin, was out of town till now and gonna put 4.11 on tonight when I get time plus my Brand new show computer comes in today and prob gonna play with it (4.11) before I actually use it since it is too close to the weekend to use in a show.

Was this happening in 4.10?
Did you have the Remove Silence on?
If yes to both of these no you didn't do anything wrong. Version 4.11 fixes this and a couple other problems and is already up on the site for downloading.