Unoffical empeg BBS

Quick Links: Empeg FAQ | RioCar.Org | Hijack | BigDisk Builder | jEmplode | emphatic
Repairs: Repairs

Topic Options
#289861 - 16/11/2006 21:07 Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help
palmharbor
new poster

Registered: 16/11/2006
Posts: 1
16 nov 06
I was given a Rio Karma in oct. by an exec of the former Rio
I have a Mac computer, OS X and though the RioKarma shows up on the system profiler, it will not show up on the desk top.
my CE and Carbon though designed for Windows shows up on the desktop and I can drag and drop mp3 files from iTunes
no problem. I downloaded the Java application rmmlite-l.jar music manager but I cannot get it to work either. It asked for the IP address of the Karma and I have no idea what it is or where to find it. I have used my ISP IP addess but it does not work. I have tried it with the Ethernet cable connected to the iMac but nothing. I need some specific, clear help in what to do .I appreciate the help.

Top
#289862 - 16/11/2006 22:22 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: palmharbor]
rubennyc
member

Registered: 27/01/2006
Posts: 142
Loc: New Jersey, USA
If you're connecting it directly to the Mac you'll need a cross-over cable. Otherwise, if you have a router, connect it there.

On the Karma, drill down to the Network settings menu, make sure DHCP is enabled. In the "Current Lease" menu you'll see the current IP address of the Karma. In the password menu set the password if there isn't already set. You'll need this password to access the Karma from the network. Then fire up RMML and synch away.

Top
#289863 - 17/11/2006 21:07 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: palmharbor]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31549
Loc: Seattle, WA
Remember that RMMLite will ONLY work with ethernet. If you are plugging the karma into your macintosh with a USB cable, it won't work.

Troubleshooting ethernet with the Karma is a lot like troubleshooting ethernet with the car player, so see if any of those troubleshooting steps help you.

Note that RMMlite will also only be useful for sending songs h to the Karma. Other features, such as updating the firmware, I think will require a Windows computer and a USB cable.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#289864 - 20/11/2006 04:25 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: palmharbor]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
You can use VirtualPC (PowerPC based Macs) or Parallels (Intel based Macs) to talk to the Karma and update the firmware. Adding music to it either has to be done on Windows as well in the VM programs, or using ethernet. Since plugging the karma in didn't work, I'd suspect the problem might be that the cable is too short. Last time I tried to directly connect my Karma to my Mac, I had to use a 50 ft cable, due to a rather odd issue with the Karma ethernet controller. If your Mac is recent enough (2002 or newer), it shouldn't require a crossover cable, as the Mac will take care of it. Or as others have said, plug the Karma into a router or other network switch.

Did any lights turn on next to the ethernet port on the Karma dock?

Top
#289865 - 21/01/2007 18:37 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: drakino]
Snick70
new poster

Registered: 21/01/2007
Posts: 2
Hi, thanks for the inputs so far it seems like i'm pretty close to getting this to work. I got the RMMlite.jar and my Rio has an IP now from when i connected it into the router. The lights on the back of my ethernet blink. When i get on rio music manager, i put in the IP and then it says downloading but nothing loads up. When i was connected to the router i did the same thing and it did load up and it showed what songs i had available on the RIo. the only problem is now that i'm not sure how to transfer my songs from iTunes over to the Rio. when i tried sending over the folder it said that all my songs were failed in import. What is a good fix for that? maybe i'm trying to send over the wrong folder, i'm new to mac's so still learning these also. Thank you for any help.

Top
#289866 - 22/01/2007 15:12 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: Snick70]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
Did you ever change any iTunes settings? If not, iTunes by default saves music from your CDs as MPEG-4 files called AAC. Unfortunately this format is not compatible with the Rio Karma. Also, any music from the iTunes Music Store is also locked to iPods and iTunes only, so it also can't play on the Karma.

To use iTunes to rip your CDs, you will need to first change it to save to MP3 files. Go to the iTunes menu, and select Preferences. Then click on the Advanced option at the top, then Importing. Change Import Using to read "MP3 encoder" and set the quality how you would like. The higher the quality, the more disk space will be used by the files.

Once you change the iTunes setting, I'd recommend ripping your music from CD again for the best quality. However, if you aren't concerned with the possible quality loss, you can instead convert what you already have to MP3. To do this, go to the Edit menu and pick Select All. Then go to the Advanced Menu and select "Convert to MP3".

MP3 files will work with more devices out there, and they are fully compatible with the iPod and iTunes as well. AAC generally is only supported by newer devices on the market.

Top
#289867 - 23/01/2007 01:44 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: drakino]
Snick70
new poster

Registered: 21/01/2007
Posts: 2
Thank you, I'm waiting for all my songs to convert. I'm not to worried about the possible quality reduction and I have about 1300 songs so I believe the high quality should still be able to fit. I would get an iPod but this Karma works well and I don't want to shell out another $250+ for a lot of hardrive space. Hopefully Rio won't forget about the karma and continue updates for it. I read about some networking changes that they wanted to add, so looking forward to seeing those. Again, thanks for the assistance, this is a good forum for info.

Top
#289868 - 27/01/2007 03:45 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: Snick70]
petteri
addict

Registered: 02/08/2004
Posts: 434
Loc: Helsinki, Finland
Quote:
Hopefully Rio won't forget about the karma and continue updates for it. I read about some networking changes that they wanted to add, so looking forward to seeing those. Again, thanks for the assistance, this is a good forum for info.


Don't hold your breath on that! Work on the karma stopped long ago....

Top
#289869 - 27/01/2007 13:55 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: petteri]
rob
carpal tunnel

Registered: 21/05/1999
Posts: 5335
Loc: Cambridge UK
For that matter the existance of Rio stopped long ago!

Rob

Top
#289870 - 02/02/2007 13:22 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: rob]
Benn
new poster

Registered: 02/02/2007
Posts: 2
Hi, I'm also having karma on an imac issues. I have followed the directions above but when it reaches the point of downloading after entering the IP address and password I get the following error message.

Failed to download the music database from the device. Communication with the device failed or was rejected. Can't get a database lock. This most commonly happens if you are already connected to your player with another program like Rio Music Manager.

I'm not connected to any other player or anything. Can anyone help?!

Many thanks, Benn.

Top
#289871 - 02/02/2007 15:03 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: Benn]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31549
Loc: Seattle, WA
There was also a problem with the ethernet controller on the karmas having trouble working only intermittently with some 100 megabit hubs. See if plugging the thing into a 10 megabit hub solves the problem.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#289872 - 02/02/2007 18:02 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: tfabris]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
The issues I had with the Karma were traditionally solved by using a really long ethernet cable. If you have a longer cable to try, that also might help. Sounds odd, but it was confirmed as a plausable workaround here.

Top
#289873 - 05/02/2007 22:01 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: drakino]
Benn
new poster

Registered: 02/02/2007
Posts: 2
For anyone with a similar problem as I had above, really simple solution -

close the settings menu on the karma, it obviously can't access the karma when the network menu is open

cheers for the help folks, benn

Top
#289874 - 06/02/2007 06:50 Re: Rio Karma with iMac, OS X...help [Re: Benn]
Roger
carpal tunnel

Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5679
Loc: London, UK
Quote:
it obviously can't access the karma when the network menu is open


I'm not sure that it can access the Karma while any of the menus are open. There's definitely a "get-database-lock" command in the Ethernet protocol, which will fail if the player itself has the lock. ISTR that if you're in any menu, the player holds the lock.
_________________________
-- roger

Top