playlist FRUSTRATION

[bluebrother]

1) installed the ROCKBOX using windows ( could not get a proper install with linux)

It would be interesting to hear more why you "could not get a proper install with linux". Rockbox Utility is in fact mostly developed on Linux, and for your player you don't even need additional permissions (i.e. you don't need to run it as root). Just complaining / mentioning that something doesn't work makes it impossible to get fixed.

[lefticy]

its gonna sound dumb  but i dont really know.
here is what i know . i have the following in the sansa fuze v2
<microsd1>  -  this is were all the Mp3's are located as well as the windowz cenerated playlist

##music#   -   is on the device and dose not contain anything. 

[evilnick]

Go to Files and see if there's a directory (folder) called "Music" on the main memory.
Then go to Files and then <microsd1> (or whatever the directory is for the external microSD card and see if there's a directory called "Music" on that.

A little detail: Playlist files are just a reference to where the music files are located. So if the Windows playlist works and is saying: Hey, Sansa, look in the Music directory for the file named Styx - Grand Illusion.mp3, but the linux playlist says: Hey Sansa, look for the file named Styx - Grand Illusion.mp3 then this may explain why.

[The above example is as an illustration. I'm not trying to claim that this file structure exists on your device.]

[Falco98]

If I may ask a stupid question, why do you so badly need to bother with playlists you've created on a PC?  Rockbox can instantly generate playlists of pretty much whatever you want from inside its own UI, and then there won't be any fussing with paths etc.

So ... start up rockbox; navigate to SDcard / music - highlight the "music" folder, long-press the select key, and hit "insert".  Done.

Also if you have music on the SDcard and you want it to be seen from a playlist stored on the main player, remember that the playlist probably has to have /sdcard in the path.

[lefticy]

Falco98 thanks for the tip... i have tried it and it dose not work.
if you go back to page one and almost to the bottom i explain why i need all the in INFO on the SD card.
i now have a new problem and the frustration is getting worse.
i have made a new playlist and updated an old test list . the test worked before i update it.. the file structure is the same but it will not play now just beeps. and i get the <ROOT> message at the bottom if the screen

i understand this is a simple line of text that tells the player what to play. but manuplating the text and file structuer trying to make a playlist work is really above most peoples comphension . Creating a playlisst  off a screen that is not larger then two postage stamps is very difficult.

i can create playlists with my linx and windoz pc all day long and they work as long as the files are in the main memoery of the device but once you go outside of that shell things get wonky and it should not

i want to understand this so that i can write FAQ's or help list or do something to support the RB community..


I am trying not to bash the developers on this but seem as if the code is written to focuse USEabailty on single storage devices; any time you get more then one storage location on a device RB just dose not work semlessly.

as for the install i KNEW that RB was written in LINUX. ( i could see it ) but i could not get the SANSA source / firmware to upload into the FUZE to install RB. i think the problem lines more with UBUNTU and my computer but since i dont know how to post code to developers to help solve the problems.

[evilnick]

Falco98 thanks for the tip... i have tried it and it dose not work.

In order to understand why this isn't working for you, could you post a step-by-step of what you're doing to create the playlist using the player and which step isn't doing what you expect it to do?

That way we can try to help.

[AlexP]

Rockbox is not "written in linux", it is from scratch and unrelated.

[[Saint]]

I am trying not to bash the developers on this but seem as if the code is written to focuse USEabailty on single storage devices; any time you get more then one storage location on a device RB just dose not work semlessly.

Not only is that untrue, please try not to comment on anything other than your own experience or anything that isn't factual. I know it may be tempting to extrapolate your experiences, but, please don't. New users could get the impression that Rockbox is terrible at creating/editing/managing playlists, when all we know at this point is that you personally are having issues.


[Saint]

[bluebrother]

i can create playlists with my linx and windoz pc all day long and they work as long as the files are in the main memoery of the device but once you go outside of that shell things get wonky and it should not

This is nonsense. Playlists refer files. If the path to the file changes (and the playlist isn't updated) it obviously breaks. If you move files around in the filesystem you can confuse *any* player, even on your PC (and if you're using different programs for creating playlists and playing them on the PC while shuffling files around it is likely to break even more). When copying files to the player (and especially when distributing them between internal and external memory of the player) you're doing exactly this. If you're unaware how playlists work you are likely to run into problems. Itunes doesn't let you manage the files *at all* for that reason (any maybe for various other reasons as well).

I am trying not to bash the developers on this but seem as if the code is written to focuse USEabailty on single storage devices; any time you get more then one storage location on a device RB just dose not work semlessly.

This is nonsense and you are whining around. These are the Rockbox support forums, not the Rockbox whining forums. Stop it or the thread will be locked.

( i could see it ) but i could not get the SANSA source / firmware to upload into the FUZE to install RB. i think the problem lines more with UBUNTU and my computer but since i dont know how to post code to developers to help solve the problems.

You don't need to "post code". If you're having problems installing Rockbox from a Linux machine you need to describe what you did so people are able to figure what went wrong. Just claiming "didn't work" and "can't post code" doesn't help anyone.

[marc2003]

if you want to create playlists with files spread over internal and external memory, you might consider this method i wrote about on another forum.

http://anythingbutipod.com/forum/showpost.php?p=549046&postcount=9

it requires foobar2000 (windows) and a few minutes for initial setup.

[saratoga]

if you want to create playlists with files spread over internal and external memory, you might consider this method i wrote about on another forum.

http://anythingbutipod.com/forum/showpost.php?p=549046&postcount=9

it requires foobar2000 (windows) and a few minutes for initial setup.

FWIW, I changed the logic to check whatever storage device the playlist file is on rather than defaulting to the internal memory.  So if you want to use both, you can use that method, or you can just put the playlist on the same storage as the files are located and the software will figure it out automatically.  The only real problem is when files are on both storage devices at the same time and playlist doesn't specify which one to look at.  In that case you must use that method. 

[Falco98]

Falco98 thanks for the tip... i have tried it and it dose not work.

What happened?  If the procedure I posted didn't work, then I'm not sure what the problem could possibly be, at least without more detail.

if you go back to page one and almost to the bottom i explain why i need all the in INFO on the SD card.

I promise, I'd read the whole thread before replying.  I seem to understand based on what you've said that you have to keep all your music separated onto an SD card.  That sounds fine.  The advice I've posted should still work perfectly well, however.  And it is still far easier than messing around with trying to create playlists on an external computer.