Database corruption and HDD erasing

It seems my new empeg is acting up on me. I recently uploaded 2 gig of MP3s which I had meticulously filenames and ID3v1 tagged to perfection. When I ran some searches on the player, I saw some funky artist, title, and genre tags. Lo and behold, there were ID3v2 tags hidden in some of the files. Tag&Rename swiftly synchronized me v1 tags to v2.

So, I figured I should clear the player and start over. I erased all the playlists in emplode (1.02, right? the one that comes with the RioCar) and hit Synchronize. When it was done, the empeg looked like it was empty. I added all the playlists with the new, clean ID3v1 and v2 synchronized tags and synchronized it with the empeg.

When it was done, some of the funkey genres, track names, and artists had been removed, but some still remained. Its as if only some of the old incorrect ID3v2 tags remained on the MP3s, but, in reality, they did not.

So, is there a way to remove all the MP3s from the empeg AND clear the player so that when I reupload, only the correct, new tags are stored? Thanks so much!

You can try to clean out everything by connecting to the player with something like Hyperterminal (check the FAQ for the details) and then erase all the fid files (rm /drive0/fids/* - if you have a two drive unit also do rm /drive1/fids/*) and the database file, tags file and playlist file (rm /drive0/var/database ; rm /drive0/var/tags ; rm /drive0/var/playlists).
(Or you could completely wipe the disk(s) by usig the disk builder image - after you've applied that one, don't forget to install a software .build file)

Also check out this specific FAQ for problems with multiple ID3V2 entries in the mp3 files.

/Michael

I erased all the playlists in emplode (1.02, right? ...

I don't know what version of the software you're running on the player, so it's worth it to point out that the emplode version should match the player software version. I don't know what would happen if they were different, honestly.

Also, if that's right (you should upgrade to 1.03, probably, if not 2.00beta13, but that's beside the point), check to see if you have unreferenced files. It seems like there was a specific check for that built into the 1.0x software, but I don't remember now what it was, so look around for it. If something's there, then you've deleted all the references for those files, but not the files themselves. Try deleting them again.

When it was done, some of the funkey genres, track names, and artists had been removed, but some still remained.

I believe Mtempsch pinpointed your problem when he directed you to this FAQ entry.

Assuming that you really had cleared off the player completely (nothing shows in the "all tracks" view after the synch is done), then the only way Emplode is going to get funky track names is if there's still some garbage in the original files on your PC's hard disk.

Please read that FAQ entry carefully.

Question: The files giving you trouble. Were they downloaded from the internet, or did you create them yourself? If you created them yourself, what package did you use to create them?

Thanks for the info folks. I think I'll go with Tony's diagnosis that the tags are bad. Yeah, the 2gig that I dumped to the empeg are all copied from a friend who downloaded them from lord knows where. So, the tags MUST be bad. Maybe I can just erase the faulty files.

Once I get my ripped CD collection on the empeg, it will rock. Well, if AudioCatalyst 2 for ripping + Tag&Rename for tagging don't cause any problems, I should be in good shape. Thanks again. I'll learn how to use this thing yet.

If you use Audio Catalyst, might I suggest using LAME as an external encoder? That and that Exact Audio Copy (EAC) as a perhaps superior ripper? Just look around at options before you start ripping. It's time consuming and not really a lot of fun to do again if you decide after 100 CD's that you want to do it a different way.

There's a lot of posts on EAC around here and at other sites. Try a few tracks and listen for yourself to see what the right system is for you. I think you'll be happy you did.

May the Schwartz be with you!

-Zeke

Well, if AudioCatalyst 2 for ripping

If you use AudioCatalyst, make sure to go into the encoder options and activate the "high frequency mode". Most of the complaints leveled at the Xing encoder are due to how badly it truncates high frequencies if you don't enable this option. Then just use a pretty high bit rate, and it should be fine.

Oops, forgot I posted this.

Thanks for the thought of using EAC. Unfortunately, I've already ripped my 6 days worth of CD's using AudioCatalyst 2. I knew better and was told not to, but it was the most simple solution at the time and I liked how it handled naming conventions.

I'll use EAC to rip my (few) new CD's since my last ripping batch 2 years ago.

And Tony, yes, the high's on my rips sound bad thanks to Xing. Too bad half of my CD's are classical and jazz. Violins and jazz drum kits sound terrible on MP3. Oh well, too bad my foolish CD ripping goal was "Hey, just get them on the hard drive for casual / quick reference use. I'll still use the CD's for real listening." Hah, CD's are so last millennium.