I've seen Windoze programs that supposedly check for corrupt MP3 files. What would be involved with getting one that actually could run from an Empeg shell prompt? I'd love to have a little script that I can run to tell me about any MP3's that have skips or missing data due to screwy transfers, lost blocks on the disk, etc. I have had a few "oops" transfers before and sometimes, and I've also had some bad rips that I don't notice until they make it to the Empeg. It'd be nice to have a little program that can analyze the MP3's on the Empeg. If there's already a Linux util to do this, would an ARM port be possible?

Just doing some random thinking.

-Tony

-Tony
MkII #554

What you're talking about is feasible. Although I don't know about any Linux stuff, so I can't point you to anything.

I just wanted to point out that one of your needs wouldn't be filled by the software: "checking for bad rips". Such software could only detect corruption of the MP3 frames, not whether or not the file sounded good.

For instance, if there were skips and pops induced at the digital audio extraction stage, the MP3 compressor will still dutifully compress those sounds and produce a perfectly valid MP3 file.

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Tony Fabris

Also remember that v1.1 will have the marking feature, so if you hear something that sounds wrong to you, you can go back and re-rip it.

DiGNAN
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, etc.

Yeah good call. It would, however, take care of my 20 or 30 MP3's that got corrupted when I tripped over the power cord while doing a sync (whoops.)

I can't wait for 1.1 and the mark feature.

-Tony
MkII #554

I know there are at least a couple of programs that will run on linux that will try to check for bad frames, but I can't recall the names at the moment. If you really want to find something go to www.freshmeat.net and do a search for 'mp3 file checker' or something similar.

-Mike

It would, however, take care of my 20 or 30 MP3's that got corrupted when I tripped over the power cord while doing a sync (whoops.)

As I understand it, an MP3-checker program wouldn't fix this either. If you were doing a 30-song synch and tripped on the power cord, you'd only mess up the one file that was being transferred at the time. The other files (the ones that made it to the empeg before the power loss) should be fine, and the ones that never made it aren't even there to check.

The worst that should happen in that situation is the empeg's database would get confused and require some re-synchs to rebuild itself. An MP3-checker wouldn't look at the Empeg's databse and couldn't help with that.

Now, a FILE SYSTEM CORRUPTION is a different story, but there are other, more useful utilities to take care of that problem.

I'm starting to think that you're looking in the wrong place to solve your problem. Refresh my memory: What problems are you having on the Empeg, and what steps have been taken so far?

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Tony Fabris

I'm not really sure, but I know there were at least a couple dozen MP3's that I had transferred to my Empeg when I first got it that were corrupt, but were fine on my hard disk. I had posted about this awhile back. I never did find the source of the problem but the MP3's skip all over the place, and I was thinking a checker might find them as long as it was file-level corruption, which I believe it is. I've done FSCK's and such but it seems the files are now stable, but corrupt, if that means anything. Like there are blocks missing or something. The other solution is to transfer everything again, but we'll see about that one :)

-Tony
MkII #554

You've probably already been through this, but...

1) Did you check the files on the PC using MP3Trim? If it says they were OK, then they probably are.

2) Did you do a RAM test on the Empeg to make sure the skipping wasn't due to bad RAM? (See FAQ on hyperterminal for instructions.)

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Tony Fabris

Didn't use MP3trim. I listened to them "side by side" and the source sounds fine. After re-transferring the source file, it sounds fine on the Empeg. That, to me, points to the file being corrupted somehow.

To my knowledge, skipping due to bad RAM would not skip in the same place each time, it would tend to be more sporadic. These are clearly files that the Empeg is choking on, and since the source file plays properly, something else is up. I'm pretty sure it was a file system corruption, and since I lost power during an FSCK, that's what I was pointing to.

-Tony
MkII #554

Didn't use MP3trim. I listened to them "side by side" and the source sounds fine.

Not a valid test, as the player software on the PC uses different code than the player on the Empeg. Something like a missing frame header or a partial frame might sound fine on WinAmp but skip on the Empeg. If you have trouble with an MP3 file, always check it for internal errors.


To my knowledge, skipping due to bad RAM would not skip in the same place each time, it would tend to be more sporadic.

True, but it doesn't hurt to run a RAM test just in case.


After re-transferring the source file, it sounds fine on the Empeg.

Now that does sound like a file system corruption.


I'm pretty sure it was a file system corruption, and since I lost power during an FSCK, that's what I was pointing to.

Ah, I hadn't realized your power loss was during an FSCK. I thought it was just during an upload.

If you suspect there's something fishy going on with the hard disk, you might want to consider a full bare-metal format of the disk, followed by a complete re-installation of all software and music. You can do this with Mike's formatting utility (instructions in the Hard Disk Replacement FAQ).

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Tony Fabris