Okay okay, its that thing again :-)

The reason WHY i am so eager to copy back mp3 files from the empeg to the PC is the following:
I AM AN IDIOT !
If you did not now that fact by now, here is why:
When i filled up my 4 GByte in the first row i copied lots of mp3 from CD's to my HD, learned that they are not properly named not speaking of ID3 Tags ...
So i had a horrible lot of work, Tagging those files ( I guess many of you understand this )
BUT at that time i was SO sure that the empeg folks will allow us to copy back the files that i simply transfered the mp3's to the empeg and then deleted the files on HD without saving my work anywhere else ( ARGHHHH ).
So THATS why i would like to get my mp3 Files back to the PC ...
I once installed a developer image and learned that the files are not stored as mp3 files in the empeg, they are devided in the music data and a file that carries the ID3 tag data ...
Soooo is there a way/program/whatever to restore the original mp3 file from that files ???
Or will the empeg people once allow us to copy back the files ( PLEASE ).

Thanks for answers/hints.

Nils

As far as I'm aware the file are stored on the empeg unchanged - only the filename is changed. You should be able to transfer them back over the serial connection (slowly but surely) and work out the filenames from the tags.

Rob

yeah:) now it would be nice if someone could send us a windows USB driver:)
-mark

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

Good news ... could you doublecheck on this ??
Because then i woul hook up a 2nd HD ( with fat32 format ) and copy them ...

thx Nils

I can confirm that the files are not changed...

I use the serial method to take zip files home from work, and they work fine. (all you would have to do with the mp3 files is to get a tool that renames them based on id3 tags)

Jazz
(List 112, S/N 00030, 4 gig blue)

Is something like that in sight, empeg people, ??
Then i would save:
-money for the cables
-time & nerves with the process ..

THX Nils

It would have to be something someone else comes up with. Empeg has stated before that due to legal reasons, they're not going to offer upload capabilities.
-mark

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

Hey ... they are chicken :-)
Okay, joking, i understand the fears of a startup, but maybe ask your lawyers for workarounds ...

Seriously, if you want, you always can dodge those obstacles, now we have two issues beeing uncomfortable because the empeg people shy away from conflicts:

-1- the bootup visual disable thingy
-2- the "do not copy back mp3" issue

Developing Software for my company i can state that we always found "workarounds" for our users to maintain good usage.
( Like having an Install Dialog that says "The Software is not allowed to do XXX in country YYY, so please ONLY enable this Checkbox if you are legal to use feature XXX ) -> So every User can decide -> legal or GOOD :-)
Right now we have 3 FAT legal workarounds like that in the Installer & in the Options, and we are perfectly save ...

Just don't be chicken by default empeg, Please ...

( Next step is, we have to enter a 60 digit code at each boot, because music can distract from driving .... ( which is MUCH more true than visuals that you CAN choose not to look at )

Nils

P.S. sorry for half-flaming, but thats how i feel, and even more worth that is how I and WE act as a company, working for the biggies ( Nikon, EPSON, Polaroid, ... )

Man ... they are chicken :-)

I understand your frustrations with these limitations. But remember, it's easy to call another company "Chicken" when it's not your company.

Try to see it from their point of view. Empeg is a small company running on a small budget. Legal wrangling with the RIAA (in the case of the file copying) or with punitive damages suits (in the case of the vis screen) would quite literally put them out of business. All it would take is one suit, and bam, they'd have to close their doors. So Empeg has to be very careful. Obviously, there are certain risky things they're doing, but they have to draw lines somewhere.

Personally, I am very happy with the Empeg, even with those restrictions in its software. Nowhere else can you get an in-dash car stereo that plays your entire CD collection. And all the features that have been piled onto it (above and beyond just playing MP3s) make it more than just cool.

Tony Fabris
Empeg #144

Hey ... they are chicken :-)
Okay, joking, i understand the fears of a startup, but maybe ask your lawyers for workarounds ...

Seriously, if you want, you always can dodge those obstacles, now we have two issues beeing uncomfortable because the empeg people shy away from conflicts:

-1- the bootup visual disable thingy
-2- the "do not copy back mp3" issue

I won't go again into all those arguments stated here numerous times, but let me just say this: I would much prefer the 'parents' of my (future) expensive single-sourced toy being chicken to them not being there anymore! I can certainly live with those two inconveniences we flame about, but would really not like Hugo & Co. going out of business and leave my Empeg orphaned.

See, there is even a selfish angle to understanding Hugo's unwillingness to risk unneccesarily...

(I feel my spelling is even worse than usual. 7 am, and coffee has not started working yet... :)

Cheers!

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
#5196

And note that it doens't even have to be one successful law suit, anything that goes to trial would probably drive Empeg under in legal fees.

Andy.

Yes, all of you are right ( me toooooo ), it just seems that you have a different priority ( or more fear from the evil lawyers ).
I do not know where this derives from, maybe just because nobody nailed us so far gives us a"optimistic" view on all this ...
Maybe i will speak like you ( or the empeg people ) if they once play the real games with us, i don't know.
Of Course i see your ( and empegs ) point, it is mine 30% but the remaining 70% want an uncrippled product.
Of course you can sy:
"I can live with restriction XXX, i use a workaround"
I am also able to press 7 buttons instead of just enjoying the visuals, but seeing the tendency and seeing the SUM of annoyance, if empeg people always obey on what other people tell them, it will get more and more dirty little things, and it is the SUM that makes the usability.
SO: If they asked THEIR lawyers ( and if they are good lawyers, which sadly only other good lawyers can judge, not us naive technicians ) and they did not find a way to dodge things, then:
OKAY, it has to be the way it is.
But if they do not even dare to question the possibilities and to find workarounds, then we really end up with the 60 digit boot-up-pin code, because there ARE companies not wanting to let the empeg ( or Rio or Lyra or ... ) succeed, and then the real bad things are yet to come, because nothings easier then putting threads on a company ( threads, just threads to make them chicken ).
That is a game we were foced to play, but they all lost, and they never tried it again ( Well, until now :-) )

Nils

Hi Andy !
Hmmm at least in our country, you do not have to pay legal fees if you WIN a trial, and if you have an insurance the costs are taken by the insurance even if you loose ...
That might be different in the UK, but i really doubt that.
Of course, the pure amount of energy & time you would have to waste on a real tough trial will cause you implicite costs ( and lots of nerves ) THAT much i totally agree ...

Nils

P.S. I wonder if they have an insurance like that, but if the hadn't it from the beginning, THEN i am sure that it will be hard to find a good AND payable one now, supporting a mp3-related company :-)

It is definitely possible to win a case in the UK courts and not be awarded costs...

__
Unit serial number 47 (was 330 in the queue)...

eeeek ...
Maybe i am wrong then, but i HOPE that my statement is true at least in Germany ...
Like i mentioned before, i am just a technician ...

Nils

I'll hold my tongue on this one...

-- Bleys

"If you would judge, understand." -- Seneca

Sorry if i annoyed you that much, so that you have to hold yourself back from saying harsh things, i thought i wrote the msg in a sensible, diplomatic way :-(

Nils