[PLUG] ipods

[John Jordan]

On 13 Aug 2005, at 18:54, Aaron Burt wrote:

> Like Jeme, I don't think it's the best approach, but mp3splt and
> mp3wrap are what you're looking for.  You can bundle multiple MP3s
> into one playable file with mp3wrap, and if you change your mind,
> split them back apart with mp3splt, all without re-encoding or
> suchlike.

I've been ripping and encoding while I do other things for the past 
couple days. Today I had occasion to use mp3wrap for the first 
time. The problem was that the idiots who made the CDs (a 2-CD 
set) put the first three tracks of a piece on CD-1 and the final track 
of the piece on CD-2. Kinda lame, huh?

So I ripped/encoded the first three as Serenade1.mp3 and the final 
track as Serenade2.mp3. Then I used mp3wrap to wrap them 
together as Serenade.mp3. The resulting file came out as 
Serenade_MP3WRAP.mp3. The man page warned against 
removing the MP3WRAP from the filename, so I left it in there. 

But when I tried to place it into the file list in gtkpod it appeared 
that nothing happened. I tried it a second time and this time got an 
error that the file was already listed in gtkpod. So I scrolled through 
and found the file. It seems that gtkpod had taken the filename as 
http://mp3split.sourceforge.net, believe it or not.

Thinking I could fool gtkpod, I deleted it from the list in gtkpod, then 
changed the filename on my computer to Serenade.mp3, deleting 
the MP3WRAP. But no luck. Evidently gtkpod is smarter than me, 
as it still took the filename as the URL. I guess it must look inside 
the file somehow before adding it to the list of files to sync to the 
iPod.

When I click on the URL in gtkpod it shows the Title as "Use 
Mp3split to obtain original tracks" and under Artist it says "File 
wrapped with Mp3wrap."

For further amusement, I decided to try to play it. I started by 
double-clicking on it in Nautilus. Totem is the default, so Totem 
popped up, but then immediately disappeared from the screen. (I've 
never gotten Totem to do any more than that, no matter what I've 
tried to get it to play.) Then I tried xmms. It came up, but did not 
automatically start playing the file. I clicked on the Play button, but 
it still did not play. Worse, it seemed to be locked up. I tried to 
close it, but eventually had to use Kill Process to get rid of it. I also 
tried noatun, but it acted like Totem. Music Player opened, but 
refused to play the file. At least it didn't lock up or immediately 
disappear.

I also tried just copying the tracks onto my hard disk and then 
ripping them all as one file, but the directories on the CDs are 
screwed up. I get fragments of the filenames in what appears to be 
several files.

I guess it was not my destiny to have this piece on my iPod. :(

And no, I do not want to rip/encode as single tracks and then list 
them under Album. I've tried that and I don't care for the results.

But if anyone has any other suggestions besides Mp3wrap, I'd like 
to hear them.