Playing music files in a predetermined order

[thoma]

yea this thread for some reason went wide.  It’s might be someon’s copy and past. the forum now forces a limit for image size, can’t be bigger than 640x480 now.

anyways.  difference between m3u and pla:

m3u : simple text file that display list of paths. can also display info about time and title that differs from the content’s original.  m3u is supported in both MSC and MTP mode. you can create this with notepad or any text editor, and save it as a text file with extension m3u. can be transferred via dragged. also many applications can make and support m3u files.

pla:  I believe its an xml, but I’m not too quite sure. pla is only supported in MTP mode.  pla can only be created on the device. when WMP11 syncs a playlist in MTP it creates a pla file on the go, straight on the player. you can also create pla file using MTP (wmp11 drivers) by right clicking on the music that has already been transferred on the device and choosing create playlist. pla gets voided if you drag this file out of the player. just doesn’t work when you drag back in. 

pla is very limited but easy to use.  m3u can get confusing if paths are not done correctly.  

[tjderr]

I think you’re missing the point of what everyone has been trying to tell you.  In the past people may have used file and directory names to organize music files but nowadays it’s pretty much assumed your files have proper tags.  Yes, in your situation it may cause you some amount of pain to tag everything (although the programs people have mentioned can automate some or all of the process) and create playlists, but once it’s done you’ll have a lot more flexibility and it will work with any player.

@billyr wrote:

 

But never mind, I think I finally figured out a way to do this, and although it requires a lot more manual numbering than I think necessary it will have to do until something better comes along. So far as I’m concerned, this new generation of players is far inferior to the ones I had previously, into which numbered folders could be dragged and dropped and they would play in the correct order. I’m certain that there is a player somewhere that will perform as I wish, and one of these days I’ll unearth it. Until then, I’ll make do.

[billyr]

@tjderr wrote:

I think you’re missing the point of what everyone has been trying to tell you.  In the past people may have used file and directory names to organize music files but nowadays it’s pretty much assumed your files have proper tags.

Well, you know what they say about assumptions.

If that is the case, I would expect manufacturers to include software and / or instructions to tag these files with the player. Instead, the only reference I can see to tags is in the UM on the bottom of page 20, which includes instructions to laboriously edit individual tracks. I use a lot of software, including Nero, Photoshop, and various others, and the instructions and software for everything else I use is vastly superior to this. As another poster said in another reply, it appears that SanDisk relies on forums like this to provide information about using their products that they should provide themselves. Nevertheless, it appears that I have finally figured out how to get this device to perform somewhat as I wish despite the manufacturer’s laxity and the vagueness of the information I’ve received on this forum and others, and I’ll make do until I find a satisfactory player.

[miikerman]

Unfortunately, as I think you will find, this is the general norm with DAP manufacturers nowadays (perhaps with a few notable exceptions), either due to cost savings and shifting of matters to consumers; manufacturer laxity; or otherwise (perhaps including legal issues with ripping music).  Support is provided for the player, but limited support for the digital music “process.”  But, as provided above, support is otherwise available from others and separate programs, to adjust for this. 

(By the way, Nero support?  LOL–the program that assumes control over the user and user system, IMHO, with the manufacturer saying that nothing can be done.  My Clip lets me be in charge.)

[billyr]

Miikerman wrote:  

(By the way, Nero support?  LOL–the program that assumes control over the user and user system, IMHO, with the manufacturer saying that nothing can be done.  My Clip lets me be in charge.)

Yeah, Nero can be a pain. # 6 was the last version I really liked. Nero 7 and 8 were a lot slower on my XP system, although # 8 runs better on my new Vista computer. Once my XP computer slowed to a crawl and I couldn’t do anything with it, and found out that a part of Nero 8 I never used called “Nero Scout” was consuming about 98% of my resources. I disabled it pronto, and sent a message to Nero Support. As I recall, they responded fairly soon, with advice to do what I had already done.

Actually, I hardly ever use Nero for burning any more, as the XP (and I guess Vista now, although I haven’t used it yet) burning feature can do most of what I want to do. Still use the Nero Wave Editor for editing music I’ve recorded myself and converting it to MP3 to use in this wonderful player. Matter of fact, I have about 3 GB of files that I hope I’ve tagged correctly using MP3Tag, and plan to load into it after another fitness walk when I expect to have depleted the music I have in it now. Hopefully I’ll reach my goal of being able to load this player with my music files, starting the player when I leave, having the player play them in proper sequence, shutting off the player when I return home and having it start at the same place the next day. That’s all I want a player for, the rest of the time I’m occupied with other things.

[resnbl]

BillyR, I can’t believe someone has not actually given a full answer for the quick(-ish) was to do this with MP3Tag, so here goes…

Assuming a set-up like yours:

Right-click on the album folder and open it with MP3Tag.

If you haven’t already done so, go to Tools->Options->Tags->Mpeg and select “ID3v2.3 ISO-88589-1” formatting. (Only neeeds to be done once).

You may already have some tag info filled in, but for this example I’ll assume starting from scratch with no tag info. Select all of the files (Ctl-A), then fill in the “album”, “artist”, “genre” and any other fields which apply to all of the tracks in the left window. Then click the save icon (or Ctl-S).

Now you’ll see all those fields filled in for each track. We’re half-way there!

Next either select Convert->“Filename - Tag” or click the icon for it along the top row.

This will bring up a dialog which tells MP3Tag how to “parse” the filename.

The items within the ‘%’ are names of ID3 fields to be pulled from the filename. In your case, use “%track%_%title” (no spaces, and don’t enter the quotes). The ‘_’ is important, otherwise MP3Tag doesn’t know where to split the track/title. If you had used a blank or dash separator, then that character would be used instead of ‘_’. If you have the format string right, you’ll see the “track” and “title” items listed below the input box with proper values, like track 01 and title Nocturne. Otherwise, those fields will either not appear, or contain incorrect info. Click “OK”.

Now you should see the proper info for each file in the right window. Hit Save again (Ctl-S) to write out the results.

If you were doing this on the PC copy of the files (good place to practice on a copy), you will need to re-sync with the Sansa. You may also need to have your PC player re-sync its database (if you’re using one like WinAmp or WMP).

Hope this helps.

Message Edited by resnbl on 06-15-2008 04:02 PM

to add, then fix, alleged “artwork”.

Message Edited by resnbl on 06-15-2008 04:16 PM

Moved screen shots to new server

Message Edited by resnbl on 10-01-2008 10:11 PM

[miikerman]

Great tutorial there, resnbl!

[billyr]

@resnbl wrote:

BillyR, I can’t believe someone has not actually given a full answer for the quick(-ish) was to do this with MP3Tag, so here goes…

Assuming a set-up like yours:

Now that’s what I call a helpful reply! Unfortunately a little late, as I have replaced this device with a Cowon iAudio U5 8 GB player, which has folder view, making all that unneccessary. It also has a large LCD screen that I can actually see in the sunlight, even through my polarized sun glasses.

However, if this player doesn’t work out and I am forced to return to the Sansa, or if I have a few idle hours in which to learn this process, I’ve copied your tutorial to a safe place on my hard drive to refer to as needed. I’m surprised that something similar isn’t already available on the web, and it well may be, but my searches haven’t turned anything up anything anywhere nearly as good and complete as that one, even on the MP3Tag site. It is a mystery to me that these players that require the files to be so configured do not include complete information on how to do it in their manuals, but they seem to leave it up to the user to obtain it from other sources. Well, no matter, it looks I now have a player that will do what I want under the conditions I want.

It is obvious that you went to considerable effort to prepare this tutorial, and I thank you very much for it. Kudos for a fine piece of work!