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#12798 - 03/08/2000 08:23 FAQ proposals
bonzi
pooh-bah

Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
I just took a look at FAQ forum. Wow, Mark & Tony (Dionysus & tfabris) are surely doing nice job there.

I'd like to propose two Q's to be A'd there (of course, answers are somewhere in previous discussions - several times - but you just can't beat these guys when it comes to formulating concise and clear FAQ entry): one is adding second disk drive, another replacing the first drive (i.e. installing empeg software on 'virgin' drive).

Cheers!


Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
#5196
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Dragi "Bonzi" Raos Q#5196 MkII #080000376, 18GB green MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue

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#12799 - 03/08/2000 08:56 Re: FAQ proposals [Re: bonzi]
teemcbee
addict

Registered: 04/02/2000
Posts: 687
Good idea! I'd like that, too! I think many of futural owners will have a thought at upgrading the Mk2 to a higher disk-space.


TeeMcBee
Reg#948 - already ordered a Mk2.
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TeeMcBee
[orange]Mk2, # 080000143, 40+30 GB, Tuner, Peugeot stalk hookup</font color=orange>

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#12800 - 03/08/2000 09:21 Re: FAQ proposals [Re: bonzi]
dionysus
veteran

Registered: 16/06/1999
Posts: 1222
Loc: San Francisco, CA
In reply to:

I'd like to propose two Q's to be A'd there (of course, answers are somewhere in previous discussions - several times - but you just can't beat these guys when it comes to formulating concise and clear FAQ entry): one is adding second disk drive, another replacing the first drive (i.e. installing empeg software on 'virgin' drive).


I hadn't originally done it because Dave Moore's site had detailed instructions, but now that I think about it, there has been alot of extra discussions on that topic. I'll try and work on something over the weekend:) (tony - want to split it up? I can do replacing first drive, you can do adding second drive?)
-mark
-mark

...proud to have owned one of the first Mark I units

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#12801 - 03/08/2000 10:07 Re: FAQ proposals [Re: dionysus]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31594
Loc: Seattle, WA
Let me do the whole thing. I think I've got a pretty good handle on the process.

Thanks for the suggestion, that's a good FAQ item.

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Tony Fabris
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#12802 - 03/08/2000 11:50 Re: FAQ proposals [Re: bonzi]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31594
Loc: Seattle, WA
I just corresponded with Mike, and he's keen on this. Not only is he willing to release the latest versions of his Empeg disk-formatter utility at the main empeg.com web site, but he'd like for any drive-upgrade FAQ we write to eventually go there, too (if possible).

While I'm preparing this, there's one question where I'm not totally familiar with the answer. If anyone can point me to the definitive answer for this, I'd like to include it in the FAQ:

If I've just formatted a whole new disk, and I want to copy the music data from one existing small drive (say, drive0) to the newly-formatted bigger drive (say, drive1, assuming that I've already installed the latest .upgrade file to that drive so it's got the proper partitions/player/kernel in there), what folders/files must be copied to preserve the playlists and the music files?

And if I originally had 2 small drives (say, two 4's) and I wanted to do this in two stages (say copy each of the 4's to a newly-formatted 18), are the folders the same, and are there any duplicate file names I have to worry about?

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Tony Fabris
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#12803 - 03/08/2000 13:23 Re: FAQ proposals [Re: tfabris]
dionysus
veteran

Registered: 16/06/1999
Posts: 1222
Loc: San Francisco, CA
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#12804 - 03/08/2000 13:26 Re: FAQ proposals [Re: tfabris]
Kureg
member

Registered: 08/05/2000
Posts: 135
I know you've probably got a handle on this too, but just in case, I think I've seen somewhere that empeg will upgrade your drives for you if you send it back to them. This will preserve your warranty, rather than voiding it by installing it yourself.

I think you've got it covered already, but I thought that it didn't hurt to mention it :)

Kureg



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#12805 - 03/08/2000 14:22 Re: FAQ proposals [Re: Kureg]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31594
Loc: Seattle, WA
Thanks, Kureg, that was going to be my first paragraph of course.

___________
Tony Fabris
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#12806 - 03/08/2000 15:56 Re: FAQ proposals - copy music [Re: tfabris]
Henno
addict

Registered: 15/07/1999
Posts: 568
Loc: Meije, Netherlands
copy the music data from one existing small drive (say, drive0) to the newly-formatted bigger drive

Hi Tony - Great idea to do a FAQ on disk upgrading / moving the music and playlist content. As you may remember, I moved all content of my Mk1 to its second disk that I removed before selling the Mk1. Last week I had the courage to open up the Mk2 to add the second disk. (I'll explain separately in a reply to Bonzi).

I'll describe here how I moved music between disks. Though I used them to move music between players, it may explain the principles to move music between disks within the same player. Mike Crowe helped with this . It turned out to be real easy because the empeg software is pretty clever: if it cannot find files on /drive0, it automatically looks on /drive1, and -- if necessary -- rebuilds the tags, database and playlists from the music files it finds.

Apparently all the information that is need to operate the player is in the music files in /driveX/fids,
The control files (database, playlists and tags) are in /driveX/var; they are not essential; they can be rebuild from the fids information.

To transfer my Mk1 content to the Mk2, I first added all the music files from the first disk onto the second before removing the second disk:

mount -n -o remount,rw /drive1
cd /drive1/fids
cp /drive0/fids/* .
mount -n -o remount,ro /drive1
sync
sync


once this disk was inside the Mk2, I removed all content from te Mk2's first drive
mount -n -o remount,rw /drive0
cd /drive0/var
rm database
rm playlists
rm tags
cd /drive0/fids

and removed its root playlist and all other music
rm *
mount -n -o remount,ro /drive0

Then, player was started to rebuild the database via emplode. It tries to use the music from the second disk in addition to that on the first (nothing in my case), rebuilding the database. I haven't tried leaving fids on drive0, but I bet that these will be included in the database too.

Have been adding more MP3s since, which are allocated to the drive with the most available space. They happily go onto the drive that came with the Mk2

Henno
mk2 nr 6

Edited by Henno on 4/8/00 00:37 AM.

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#12807 - 03/08/2000 16:13 Re: FAQ proposals - adding second drive to Mk2 [Re: bonzi]
Henno
addict

Registered: 15/07/1999
Posts: 568
Loc: Meije, Netherlands
I'd like to propose two Q's to be A'd there (..) one is adding second disk drive

Hi Dragi,
I can't write FAQs. As you said, Mark and Tony are much better at this.
But I can share how to mount a second disk to the Mk2: I added my old (18GB second) Mk1 disk to the Mk2 two weeks ago. Getting the disk in place was not difficult, but getting the Mk2 to recognize it was more difficult because disk support in the Mk2 is slightly different from the support in the Mk1 (see story below)

I'll describe how I managed to move music from Mk1 to Mk2 in a separate post. (Thanks to amazingly clever empeg software, this proved simple).

1 Disk Support
The Mk1 came with two disk controllers, which made adding a disk really easy. The most difficult part was getting your hands on the (short) cable to connect the new drive to the board. The Mk2 is slightly different in that it comes with only a single disk controller, but you won't need an extra cable: the one used for disk1 already has a second connector.

2) Getting into the player
Though the Mk2 is built very similarly to the Mk1, getting into the Mk2 proved more difficult than opening up the Mk1. This is because of the way the lid is kept in place: two screws (either side of the Mk2 closest to the top corners of the front - easily removed); behind the front screen that you'll have to remove (the four hex nuts on the panel front - easily removed), and the prongs that hold the lid and the sides together like a strong box (the difficult part - see below). Finally, you'll need to pull the player's handle forward a little, so that the latches on the top of the player (that lock the player into the car cage) move inwards a bit..

The difficult part is that the two prongs of the lid (near the front panel) provide too little clearance for the lid to slid off easily. I used a screwdriver to carefully bend these two prongs down into the player some more. Once this is done (took several tries; the metal used for the empeg is pretty sturdy), the lid did came off without difficulty.

Be careful with the front panel components: the backside of the screen is said to be very susceptible to scratching. Don't touch it (handle by the sides) and lay it front-side down.

3) Mounting the disk
To get a new disk into place, you'll also have to remove the disk platter. Just as in the Mk1 (see the procedure described by David Moore for the Mk1) it is held in place by the two tiny screws on each side of the player. These are best removed with the player upside down, to prevent the platter from leaning on components inside the player

Once the platter is loose, carefully disconnect the cable from the drive. And have a close look into the interior. It is *very* neatly laid out. Lots of surface mount miniature components. Because it took empeg so long to start shipping, I expected some last minute alterations to the design / extra wire kludges, but there aren't any!

Because the Mk2 has two drives on a single controller, you'll need to make one drive the master and the other the slave. Easiest will be to configure the second drive as the slave by jumpering the appropriate pins (next to the pins that will go into the connector), while the disk is still on your desk (see its documentation). Also make sure that you have such a jumper handy; my disk came without one; same for the screws to mount the disk onto the platter).

With the jumper set, screw the drive onto the platter and press the connectors into place. Note that they line up correctly with all the pins on the drive, except the four pins on the right? that are used for the configuration.

At this point you may want to fire up the player and monitor (via serial) how it finds the second player. Make sure not to touch anything: the front display is fragile, hot (heat), and hot (60V).

If it works, disconnect power, and re-assemble the player. Again, hold the player upside-down while mounting the platter. Before you put the lid back on, have a look at the prongs again. If these needed bending, you may want to straighten them a little. With the lid is in place, put on the front panel again. Note that the buttons will lock if the scres that hold the front panel in place are too tight.

3) Formatting the new disk
I formatted the disk while it was still in the Mk1, using the procedure described by Kamau Wanguhu on David's site. But there is also an Empeg utility that does disk initialization and testing (though this also allocates space for empeg systems use -- formating won't do this). If you want to do it via Linux as per Kamau's instructions: the commands work, but empeg's responses are a bit different. Also, some commands take time to execute: don't panic.

4) Starting it all up
Then, when the player starts, it finds the new disk all by itself. New music files are allocated to the drive with the most available space.

I hope I haven't missed anything important. Good luck

Henno
mk2 nr 6

Edited by Henno on 4/8/00 00:30 AM.

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