Hello everyone! I am a long time lurker here on the message boards, but this is my first time posting. I finally had some time(this being a long weekend in the US) to begin archiving my MP3s(off my PC's hard drive, ripped with AudioGrabber as Track Number - Track Name.mp3 in Artist/Album Directory) and I have run in to a problem with the 64 character limit in filenames on JOLIET format CDs. What software do you folks use to backup your MP3s? I am using EasyCD Creator 4 Deluxe, and the only options I get for CD format are ISO9660 and JOLIET. Am I SOL, or is there some other way for me to retain my long filenames? I don't want to put them all in a big zip file unless I have to, but that's the only solution I can come up with. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I have never had a problem with truncation of file names and just gone with or slightly modified whatever the software suggests. The important thing is that the MP3 tags are all OK and complete. Naturally there will be some truncation in the ID1 but the ID 2 should all be complete.
I use Dr tag & Tag&Rename to edit the tags. I might spend some tome on the tags making sure that they are all fine before I burn and dump. There are numberous threads (i'm too lazy to look it up myself) on what people use. Maybe someone can find them?



Murray 06000047
I don't think, therefore I am not.

I don't know for other PC-readable CD-R formats except bare bones ISO9660 and Joliet. On various Unices there is also Rock Ridge format and various 'native' variants, but lingua franca currently seems to be Joliet.

If CD-Rs are just for archival purposes, I see no problem. Use something like MP3/Tag studio to prepare both ID3v1 and ID3v2 tags correctly (this can be done, among other means, from your directory/filenames), burn CD-R accepting whatever truncation is suggested, and on restore run the MP3/Tag Studio again, this time in the opposide direction, adjusting filenames according to ID3v2 tags.

This tool (I got it after the guys here kept recommending it) has a number of handy batch modes, but also can be run totally interactively. It is 'sponsorware', but don't be affraid of that: banners are nonintrusive. I am not sure whether it is possible to pay something to the author to have the adds (and possible click tracking - I am not sure whether it's used) removed. See the homepage.

On the other hand, if you use CD-Rs for listening directly, then you should probably want to either shorten the filename yourself or prepare playlists with full info. An interesting solution here might be using playboyster, a simple tool that recurses mp3 directory structure and writes playlists from each dir; if you use winamp v2 compatible playlists (the ones with ID3 tags data in them), you don't care about filenames.

Finally, you could devise a scheme where you generate your own playlists, renaming the tune files yourself (perhaps into something syntethic, as empeg does).

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green

Dear me, can't the doctor do something about that for you?

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

I am not sure whether it is possible to pay something to the author to have the ads (and possible click tracking - I am not sure whether it's used) removed.

You can buy a license for a very reasonable price, which removes the adverts and makes it a seriously useful tool. Myself and Doug Burnside (tanstaafl) bought copies, anyone else? Pay the author for his work, it's a fine piece of software!

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

Yeah, you can add me to the list of registered users of this excellent tag editor.

beaker
12 gig blue/magenta/orange/yellow (at the moment :-))

Greetings!

One warning about allowing the automatic truncation of CD Creator. If you have really long file names, you may wind up overwriting some of your tracks. I only saw this a few times with some classical pieces (where the names of the titles grew very long indeed). Just verify that the truncation does not overwrite existing tracks, and that you get the same number of tracks out as you put in. CD Creator should check, but does not.

I agree with the idea of keeping the tags in tact. As long as that is the case, you can always rebuild the filenames at a later date. Label your CD-Rs. It will help later on. If you have a lot of CDs you are archiving, you might want to check out CD binders and DJ Cases from Univenture. This is where I got mine, and they do a lot of specialty CD packaging, especially for archiving and distribution.

One last note of caution: if you are burning CD-Rs, you will probably want to make certain you have verify on and do only a few CDs at a time. My burner began to go flaky after doing a lot of CD-R burns, and (even though they verified correctly immediately after) began to display a lot of bad blocks later on. If your drive is sensitive to heat buildup, you way want to take a break every few discs.

Paul G.
SN# 090000587 (40GB Green)

You are right, Rob. I just registered (waiting for registration code, actually).

Eagerly waiting for news and pics from 2nd European meet...

Cheers!

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green

I think these were touched on in the other replies to this thread, but I wanted to simplify it and say you've got two options: 1) Use a mass tagger/renamer such as MP3 Tag Studio which has the option of truncating filenames to the Joliet limit. 2) Zip or Rar the files into sets of 650mb archives with their full file names stored inside the zip (since products like WinZip don't have the filename length limitation). The zip files themselves can be short names: "Artists A-F.Zip", "Artists G-N.Zip"...

___________
Tony Fabris

Paul left today to catch his flight before we went out to the restaurant, but he got home first and posted the first pictures here before we even got past the last beer of the night!

Excellent day. A lot of fun. Can you make it to No. 3 in October, then?

One of the few remaining Mk1 owners... #00015

Marvelous! Rob, it seems you have started a wonderfull tradition. I'll have to make time for the Meet in October (though probably not by car).

Cheers!

Dragi "Bonzi" Raos
Zagreb, Croatia
Q#5196, MkII#80000376, 18GB green