microstudio 4.200

[mrmacjr]

i downloaded 4.200 and reuilt the database and it wouold only recognize about half of the songs i had in the database;. 4.006 would reuild all the database. is there a problem in the new updates??

[billyo]

Originally Posted by mrmacjr

i downloaded 4.200 and reuilt the database and it wouold only recognize about half of the songs i had in the database;. 4.006 would reuild all the database. is there a problem in the new updates??

you shouldn't have to rebuilt your database, i didnt when i got done upgrading , all i had to do was to re-start my pc and when i opend ms all the songs was there ( still )

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by mrmacjr

i downloaded 4.200 and reuilt the database and it wouold only recognize about half of the songs i had in the database;. 4.006 would reuild all the database. is there a problem in the new updates??

No problem that we know of. Actually you don't rebuild the database (that would be Hoster) but refresh the listing side of Microstudio (there is no database just a TXt listing). It is only going to show one folder at a time and only karaoke KMAs or audio KMAs depending on which you chose.

[mrmacjr]

i used the wrong word i refreshed the list after installing 4.200. only half of the songs were present in the list. to give an example AH8002 has only one song on the list. in 4.006 all were present. i have about 29,500 in there and about 14,000 are missing. i use this same computer as a back up for hoster to run shows. I am not sure what happened but on my computer 4.006 worked better.

[ddouglass]

Are all your 29,500 files in one folder or are they separated into sub-folders?
Are they all Karaoke KMA files or are some Audio KMA files?
When you start the refresh does it say processing _ of 29,500 or does it say processing _ of 14,000?
When it finished processing them did the pop up window saying Success or did it say there were some errors?
If there were errors look in the folder where your files are and there will be a file called FileErrors-Karaoke-List.txt that will list what songs files it couldn't read. Those may have a header problem that Microstudio can't read.

[mrmacjr]

yes while refreshing the file (all the songs are in one folder) it has a box show the progress while you are refreshing the folder. then a box will pop up showing how many were refreshed and how many had problems. for an an example disc AH8002 has one song that was refreshed but the other 14 had problem. I have had this disc in this folder for several years and all previous versions of microstudio had no problems with this disc. I may need to delete 4.200 and reload 4.006 because it had no problem and all my songs were in microstudio. thanks for any help

[ddouglass]

In that case I wouldn't rebuild your Hoster database because you may find the same thing. The problem is not with Microstudio 4.20 it is with the KMA files that have problems (corruption?) in the header part of the file.
Nothing was changed in the refresh function of this upgrade.

[seawolf]

I'm having a similar issue...the refresh indicates processing xxx of 10390 until it reaches #2566, then an error window with "The parameter is incorrect" appears and the refresh aborts. I select "Cancel", which is the only choice and then I can't get rid of the "Cancelled by user..." box; essentially the program freezes & I have to exit by closing the program or using the task manager.

The files are kma & used in Hoster. All of the files on both sides of record 2566 play just fine in hoster.

DC

[ddouglass]

I have that problem too, but if you close MS (by task manager) and re-open it then it will go through and complete the refresh without the error. This is not quite the same as Mrmacjr's problem. His does not stop or list a parameter incorrect. I have been trying to figure this out but so far have not found the cause.
There is a "FileErrors-Karaoke-List.txt" file in the folder you are trying to list and it may entail us having to re-import those listed. I haven't gotten that far with it yet.

[seawolf]

Thanks, Dale...tried that & the count got past 2256 all the way to 2566 before I got the dreaded...

Runtime Error!

Program C:\Program Files\Micro Technology Unlimited\ Microstudio\Microstudio.exe

This application has requested th runtime to terminate it in an unusual way.

Please contach\t the application's Support team for more information.



If I can't get this fixed ASAP, I'm going to uninstall, reformat under XPPro & try that. I've had nothing but trouble with Vista, both with Hoster and Microstudio. Very few problems with XP, only when the new versions of Hoster came out, but so far the latest is working OK, (Knock on wood)


DC

[ddouglass]

Do you get this error often under Vista?

[seawolf]

This is the first time I have seen this particular error. Never using 4.xx versions prior to 4.20

I have gotten a plethora of other errors, however, most of which are non-fatal & I have learned to live with them. I.e., with 4.06, the program would read only the first zip file, even though the file syntax was Artist_-_Title on all. (It never would read Disk_ID_-_Track_-_Artist_-_Title). then produce errors on the remaining files. To work around this, I converted from zip to either bin or kma, then the program works as advertised. These occurred with the retro (downgrade) from the earlier release.

Also, 4.06 would never display the video (other 4.xx versions would and 4.20 does.

I always get a "ding" error when trying to add files (once they are read) into the play list. No big deal, just an annoyance.

Bottom line is that all of these occur under Vista and NOT under XP Pro. I have retrofitted all 5 of my machines to Pro & am taking Vista off the 6th as we speak.

DC

[ddouglass]

Good choice. Vista has always been a pain.
As far as you import of ZIPS. From what you wrote "Disk_ID_-_Track_-_Artist_-_Title" There should be no spaces or underlines between DiskID and Track and you would have to use Custom settings to get the right separator (_-_ instead of " - "). Also if your DiskID-Track is something like AKS100-03-09 then you will have to modify it to make the second separator "-", the second field "&This", next separator "-", and then Track for the third field with the Artist and Title pushed back to fourth and fifth fields.
Importing files like that can get very complicated and you have to pay close attention to the details.
If you are going to convert them first it would be best to convert to BIN or MP3+G (which is what they are inside the ZIP. I am not sure but converting them to KMA with Songverter doesn't unzip them I think. MTU is trying to get away from using ZIP files within Hoster because they cause extra delays when cueing them up for play to unzip them. When you import them as ZIP files now they are unzipped and stored as MP3+G inside the KMA file.

[seawolf]

Thanks, Dale.

I have discovered that the best way for me to to achieve imports, both into Hoster and into Microstudio is to perform the following on them:

1. Rename the ZIP file(s) to the following format Artist_-_Title
2. Convert the ZIP file to BIN (this changes the file name in the ZIP file to the same format Artist_-_Title
3. Convert back to ZIP, then import to Hoster (or Microstudio)

For the conversion, I use MP3G Toolz 4 or Songverter, the latter generally being slower, but every bit as good if not better. Doing this may seem like quite a bit of work, but it achieves several things:

1. Ensures that the binary files are in tact (no CRC errors). This practically guarantees that all files will be read corretly
2. Standardizes the file naming protocol (for large blocks, I use "Better File Rename" which is a great program, by the way)
3. Ensures that when you print the songbook from Hoster that you get a nice, neat & clean product. I print a single book, sorting by Artist in the front and Title in the back using Microsoft Word to add header & footer, duplex print them with 2-columns and get 11,000+ songs in a book that is 144 pages on both sides. All this takes me about 20 minutes to set up & the laser printer about 8 minutes per book. I can produce, print & bind 13 books in an afternoon.
4. Permits storage of archives on an external drive for future recall.

Again, thanks for your insight & help

DC

[madjim- with the Lord]

Hey DC,
Since Hoster converts any ZIP file it imports to an MP3+G file, you could save some time by just converting your ZIP files to MP3+G files.

A zip file containes an MP3 file (music) and a CDG file (lyrics). When you "convert" a ZIP file to an MP3+G file there are no changes made to the MP3 or the the lyrics file, it just eliminates the zip portion.

I Hope This Helps

Jim

[seawolf]

You are correct, Jim.

I have, however, had some difficulty processing the 2 files vis a vis one. Being an old feller, I sometimes forget to change the file name on BOTH files, so I play it safe! Besides, being retired, it keeps me off the streets and out of the bars except for work.

Hoster also imports binary & I have done it that way as well. The problem I face is that I retain everything I process and keeping them in other than ZIP format eats up a terabyte of space, whereas in ZIP format, I am slightly over 500GB.

DC

[madjim- with the Lord]

Originally Posted by seawolf

Besides, being retired, it keeps me off the streets and out of the bars except for work.

Here Here! Ha ha ha ha ha...


Jim

[seawolf]

Jim:
We've got family in Waycross...do you ever do any gigs in that area?

DC

[madjim- with the Lord]

No gigs in Waycross but I do get wedding gigs on St Simons every so often.

Do you live right on the bay?

Jim

[seawolf]

Nope; we are 1/4 mile from Perdido Bay and about 40 miles from Mobile Bay. Just across the state lie from Pensacola, FL.

DC