PJRed2008

You can fight all you want, but the MP3 doesn't care. Its just like a computer, garbage in, garbage out. You either do it the way it wants or it doesn't work.

If you name the files correctly and burn the disk correctly, it will work. I used Roxio because that is what came with my burner. I tried MediaMonkey and found that it confused the issues at least where the Vette system is concerned.

Dif

If you read all the info in this thread, you'll find info from some of the other posts that will help.

Many Thanks to FortMorganAl

Also, info from my other post, and what I tried before I got a Disc to work.
One thing I did was take the songs I wanted and Converted them to mp3 files with the Media Monkey.
But couldn't get a burned disc to work.

Since then, I realized the need to manually shorten the file length as mentioned in some of the other posts.

In the Yellow area in the picture, .. notice the Cream song.. I'm So Glad



You can see the file name "Cream - I'm So Glad".mp3 is shorter than the others.
I manually shortened "all" the songs to look like that.
Yes, it took a while, but went fast once I got going.

When you're on the page that shows all the songs in Yellow as in the picture:
Left click on the song file name and then,..
Manually left double click, on it again,.. and it can then be edited to make the file name shorter as shown in Yellow area.

Had to Abreviate some of the song Titles to keep total amount of letters to 25 including the .mp3.

I didn't make any folders.. just don't know how yet

Then Burned the disc, and it works.

Other than a few of the songs getting listing out of order from what I had them, the disc reads great and plays great.
About 95% of all the songs from same Artist are listed together when scrolling down the list on the NAV screen.
The up/down button arrows on the steering wheel also work to scroll through the list.
Ended up with 110 songs on the Disc.

Also Note:
Once you shorten all the files names while they'r in the Yellow area, they Do Not get saved that way after closing down the program

Hope this info helps

FortMorganAl

See post #30 in this thread. My mistake. The "25" after the filename should have truncated all the names to 25 +"mp3" but without the "\" it ends up as 25 + the length of the name of the folder the mp3 is in. The reason you now have no folders is because you removed them in the manual shortening procedure. Seeing what you have, you also need to change from Folder:2 to Folder:5.

At this time I still prefer using AF5 to automatically shorten all of the names because it just seems easier to see what you will get but maybe I'm just resisting change. Media Monkey does automatically shorten the names and it does show you what it is going to do before it does it and you can manually tweak it. That is probably a better way to do it and one less program to mess with.

BTW, I've complained that CD-RW doesn't work but I finally got one to work last night. It took 2 computers, 3 different writers, and several discs before finding one combination that would read in my car. Evidently I have a weak head unit? CD-Rs are easy to make from the same 3 writers and work every time but CD-RW just never worked until last night.

Dif

Many Thanks FortMorganAl
I just Burned new discs using "<folder:5>\<filename:25>"
Media Monkey did all the work, shortening the File names and organizing Folders and Files.
Simple "Clicks" and "Next" and "Burn".. and Burned all the songs in the order I listed them.

The Player now reads all info, showing Folders and Files, works Perfectly in the Vette.

One thing I'm surprised at, is as soon as the Disc is inserted in the Vette, it's almost Instant and starts playing and shows all info.
The Escalade's take about 5 minutes to "Scan" the disc before any info shows up and starts playing.

Now I'll have to try burning some WMA files without Converting them first to mp3, and see if that works.

Thanks again for all the help
PS: I've been using CD-R discs.

PJRed2008

I must be misreading MediaMonkey as, from the screenshot, I see 4 folders. I would have set the Folder: to 3 to drop 3 directories. Am I reading that parameter incorrectly?

I also, just for kicks, let MM burn a CD based on one of its preset playlists. It picked 150 songs from my library and burned them to one folder. Haven't tried it in the Vette yet but it works fine on the computer.

johnn2ilk

I got the MP3 to work in Itunes and Thru Roxio..I prefer using the Roxio being there are no copy-write problems like there are with Itunes!..Thank you all very much for the INFO..

FortMorganAl

He specified folder:2 so 2 had already been dropped for the display shown. You are correct that there were 4 left and he needed to drop 3 of those but that makes 5 total.

Working on the computer is easy. You can drag files in Windows explorer and get a disc that works on the computer. Windows (and Macs) are designed to read about anything but they also have huge amounts of memory and software to do that. They can take several minutes to boot all the software up and no one complains much. The nav doesn't have that luxury. The nav has more limitations. Stay inside the rules and it works great. Don't pay any attention to the rules because your Ipod (designed by Apple) playing music from ITunes (designed by Apple) doesn't have the same rules and you think they should all work the same, and you will have problems.

Dif

Ok, now I don't know exactly what the adding or dropping of the folders is.
When I originally put the 2 in, I did it because it was info I read from other posts.
So when you said to put in a 5, that's what I did.
But I honestly don't know the reason, even after reading these last few posts.
The disc I burned has 10 folders displayed when in the car

What exactly are you are looking at when setting up to burn a disc that determined replacing the 2 with a 5 ?
If I burn new discs with a different song list,.. will I still put a 5 in?
Or is there something I should look at that will let me know what the number should be for folders.?

PJRed2008

FMAl can jump in if I screw this up. The <Folder:#> is the number of directories (folders) that the program should drop from the name.

So for C:\Music\My Music\Jazz\Name of Song.mp3 you would get "Jazz\Name of Song.mp3" if you used Folder:2. Folder:1 would get you "My Music\Jazz\Name of Song.mp3".

Does that make sense?

Dif

Yes, that makes sense.
I did a trial run and as I changed the # for the directories I saw the results and now see what I need to do

Thanks for your Help

Dif

Update: burning more discs and learning more as I go.

All the discs work now.
Some have a few quirks but still work.
Just part of the learning curve and can be corrected in the next burn.

Note: Media Monkey fixes the File name length.
Does most of the work fixing the Folder too but, different songs have more or less Folders in the description.
And when all songs are grouped together to get burned, some songs still need to be modified to correct the number of Folders before burning.
Media Monkey will drop the specified number of Folders you give it,
but, songs with more or less Folders do not automatically fall in the folder number specified.
They either still have too many or not enough and need to be modified manually.
Other than that, so far so good.

FortMorganAl

Step #1 in posting above:
Create a working directory with the files and folders just as you want them on the final CD.

Dif

Thanks again for your help.
I remember that advice now that you mention it again
If I'm correct from what you say:
all the files will then have the same number of Folders when placed in Media Monkey.

Dif

Converted song files to mp3 with Media Monkey.
Made a Folder with Sub Folders on the Computer.
Labeled each Sub Folder with name of the Artist.
Put each Artists songs in the corresponding Sub Folders.
Drag + Dropped all the Folders into the Play window.
Selected all the songs ( Ctrl A ), Click Burn, Click Next, Click Next and set the Folder and Title #'s , Click Next, Click Burn.

Easy as Pie

Thank You FortMorganAl

FortMorganAl

Not necessarily if that isn't what you want. Let's assume you have "C:\Working" as the working folder. You could create folders "C:\Working\A", "C:\Working\A\1", "C:\Working\A\2", and "C:\Working\B". Put track files in the three lowest folders (1, 2 and B). Set Media Monkey for <folder:1> and you would get a CD with 2 folders shown at the root (A and B) and when you select A you would see 2 folders (1 and 2). In other words you would get "A\1\tracks", "A\2\tracks", and "B\tracks" on the CD.

And you're certainly welcome. It took me some effort to find the rules that make creating these discs very easy. I just wish GM would have eliminated some of the errors in the manual and explained the creation process better. But once you figure it out it is very easy and foolproof. If I can make that easier for someone else I'm happy to do it.

Dif

Ok, if I understand that correctly That's a nice setup.
In one of my CD's I have 9 Folders showing and have to scroll to see them all.
So, if I put some of the Sub Folders into another Sub Folder, there wouldn't be so many Folders "showing" on the Disc.
But there would still be 9 Folders on the disc

I was keeping my setup simple, but I'll have to try that

I've since Burned another disc with a sub folder inside another sub Folder.
Works Great