[Request] MediaTransferProtocol (MTP, PlaysForSure) fplugin

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ghisler(Author)
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Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Hmm, from what I read there, the comment field shouldn't be used for ID3-style tags:
The Vorbis text comment header is the second (of three) header packets that begin a Vorbis bitstream. It is meant for short, text comments, not arbitrary metadata; arbitrary metadata belongs in a separate logical bitstream (usually an XML stream type) that provides greater structure and machine parseability.

The comment field is meant to be used much like someone jotting a quick note on the bottom of a CDR. It should be a little information to remember the disc by and explain it to others; a short, to-the-point text note that need not only be a couple words, but isn't going to be more than a short paragraph.
I couldn't find any information of this XML metadata header in the above documentation. :(
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sebi
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Track number

Post by *sebi »

Hi there

today i bought a Samsung YP-U3 player, and found this thread about the plugin, which is works great, only has one major drawback. It seems that it doesn't preserve the track number id tag, which casuses all the tracks listed in alphabetic order in the albums - which is not quite good.

i read the thread, and doesn't see any of you realized this - maybe something is wrong at my side. i tried to copy with the player's own software, which keeps the correct order, so i though it is the plugins fault.

can you check it?
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ghisler(Author)
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Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Strange, the plugin copies the g_wszWMTrack field, and if this fails, the g_wszWMTrackNumber field. There are no other fields which concern tracks. Does anyone else (with another player) have this problem?
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EricB
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Post by *EricB »

Hi,

Confirmed for Creative Zen, using TC 7.02a with latest MTP FS plugin on XP SP3 RC. When uploading files to the player using plugin indeed the behaviour as sebi described is occurring. Using Creative's Zen Media Explorer software for upload, the songs are indeed displayed in correct order.
I noticed this SW also places a zero-byte .alb file in every album folder when uploaded [reported before for Zen M in this thread, but with .zpl file]. I tried duplicating this by creating such a file myself in album folder and uploading, but no success.
I did a binary comparison of an uploaded MP3 song with the song from the orginal folder: files are equal. I realize the file is first downloaded (and maybe converted) before comparison, but still I suspect that the player does some indexing and/or sorting 'under the hood'. At least I see no further evidence in the file system.

HTH and regards, Eric

PS if I can help with any further tests or analysis, please let me know.
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Post by *ghisler(Author) »

What happens when you use the Windows Media Player to upload the files? My plugin is using that method.
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EricB
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Post by *EricB »

Hi Christian,

I've tested using WMP 11. It synchronizes, but also has the nasty habit to convert my MP3 files to WMA during sync (checked that using your MTP plugin). The result is a correctly ordered album however. I'm afraid I'm not too familiar with WMP, so I could have easily missed the 'leave files as is' feature...

Regards, Eric
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Post by *EricB »

Hi,

I've been doing some more testing: I got WMP not to convert the files but leave them as is. It seems that WMP is not only transferring the actual files, but also library info (AlbumArt) and places it in the correct folder for the Zen (Pictures\Artist\Album). WMP also creates a zero-byte .alb file, but places it in a separate Albums folder in the player root in stead of the actual music files folder (this is what the Creative software does). The effect is indeed correctly ordered songs (and the album art is also displayed properly).

HTH and regards, Eric
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Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Unfortunately I found no property field for album art, so I can't help you with that - Microsoft must be doing someting undocumented there.

About the tracks, I could send you a special version of the plugin which would write to the log the contents of the g_wszWMTrack and g_wszWMTrackNumber fields, maybe they have unusual values in your files. Please contact me by e-mail if you are interested in such a test plugin.
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EricB
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Post by *EricB »

Hi Christian,

I'm interested. I already sent a mail to your site support mailing address.

Regards, Eric
Tatone
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Plugin not working with my MP3 Samsung YP-U3

Post by *Tatone »

Hi,

I have an MP3 player working (only) with MTP protocol.
Tha model is: Samsung YP-U3
I can see it in Windows but I cannot see it with Total Commander.
I installed the Windows Media Device plugin 0.69 beta but never changed.
In Total Commander still I can see only the normal or USB drivers, not my MTP player.
The pluginn seems to be correctly installed (it is in the Option - Plugin list)
Am I wrong somwhere?
Thank you very much

Ciao,
Alessandro
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HolgerK
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Re: Plugin not working with my MP3 Samsung YP-U3

Post by *HolgerK »

Tatone wrote:... In Total Commander still I can see only the normal or USB drivers, not my MTP player.
Filesystem plugins can be used via " \ Network Neighborhood".
Do you see your player when you open "\\Network\MediaAudio"?

HTH,
Holger
Tatone
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Post by *Tatone »

Thank you very much Holgerk,

It works fine!

In my opinion:

1) the useful information "xxx.xxx k of yyy.yyy k free" available for normal drives is missing for MTP devices. I think it could be very useful (often MTP devices are mp3 reader, and we have to "fill" it up to the physical memory limit, so this information is important in order to decide "what to move to my player").

2) When I copy a whole directory to the mp3 player, the message "Upload as *.*" appears. I think the classical "copy x files to xxx\yyy\*.* Total Commander message could be better.

Thank you very much to you for your answer and to Glisher for this very, very useful plugin.

Ciao,
Alessandro
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Ordering problem confirmed

Post by *Tatone »

Dear all,

I can confirm the bug in the Windows Media Device plugin 0.69 beta showed by Sebi and others.
My mp3 device: Samsung YP-U3, my PC: ThinkPad Windows XP SP3. TC: V 7.03

As usual, I have directories in my PC contatining CDs converted in mp3: one directory = one CD converteed in mp3. You know, the tracks (files) ORDER is very important.
The first and most common way to maintain the files/tracks order is the filename.
In my pc, my files have filenames like this:
[CD title] [track] - [song title].mp3
Example: Police 02 - Roxanne.mp3
From a "Windows point of view" this is the way used in oder to keep the right files/tracks order. Unfortunately only a few mp3 players adopt this ordering criteria.

In the "mp3 world" IDTags are very useful too. So every mp3 file can (if you write it) have such information. The most common fileds are: Artist, Album, Year, Title, Track.
Please note that PC audio software can allow different ordering criteria other than filename, i.e. ordering by a specific IDTag field.
In the audio devices (mp3 players) the software, in the most common situation, allows you to select an Artist (reading IDTags "Artist"), then an Album (reading IDTags "Album") and then you can see a tracks list that can be ordered by IDTag "Track" or by filename, depending on the devices brand/software.

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

Example:
I have a directory in my PC containing the files with the mp3 version of a CD. Every file contain the relevant IDTags (Album, Artist, Title, Track). Let's say:
Police 01 - ZZZ.mp3 (in this filename ZZZ is the title of the firs song)
Police 02 - GGG.mp3
Police 03 - AAA.mp3

When I transfer this directory from PC to my mp3 player USING WINDOWS (directory copy and paste) there are no problem. I disconnect my player, I switch on it and I can select the album and read the track in the right order:
ZZZ
GGG
AAA

When I transfer the same directory from PC to my mp3 player USING TC with Windows Media Device plugin 0.69 beta (using F5) the file transfer is ok (a little slower comapared with Windows), but, when I disconnect the player, I switch on it and I select the album, the track order is wrong (an alfabetical order is assumed by my player):
AAA
GGG
ZZZ

I performed several tests and I can say that the problem is in the plugin. Simply with Windows copy/paste or using device dedicated transfer software this problem never happened.
It seems to me that during the transfer with TC plugin some information (used by the device for ordering) is lost. No other ancillary files are created and added by Windows or dedicated device software in order to handle the track order.
With this problem I cannot use TC for handle my m3 devices...
I'm not an informatic expert but I'm am in holyday and available for more test you can ask me in order to better define the problem.

Ciao,
Alessandro
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Post by *ghisler(Author) »

Sorry for not working on the plugin for a while, I was too busy with TC 7.04.

A new beta of the Windows Media Device plugin is available now at the usual URLs:

Windows Media Device plugin 0.75 beta
The sources

This plugin should fix the copying of the track number to the device.
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Tatone
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Post by *Tatone »

Thank you very much Ghilser!
the version 0.75 works fine; everithing is in the right order.
I will continue to test it (nest week with other mp3 MTP devices too).

Ciao,
Alessandro
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