Herbert... a tool for the HDD100 and HDD120

[stefano]

Hi,

I'm currently creating my own program to manage the tracks on my HDD120.

I've decided to release the program on the web for anyone to use. I'm not too sure how well it will work, but I'd love for you to use it and let me know any bugs you come across (and if it even works at all).

The program is called Herbert, and I'll try and keep updating it for the foreseeable future.

You can find Herbert here: http://snipurl.com/herbert_hdd

Leave any feedback about the program here, or email me.

Thanks very much :).

(By the way, I wouldn't have been able to make this program if it wasn't for the information on Solon's HDDTool page, so thanks!)

I'll keep you guys updated in this forum! Thanks again!

[Jaffa]

It's a fine prog and I really like it. Its better than dbPoweramp and if you creat it little bit more than it will be best prog for philips. At last there is edit possibilities. And please - don't stop now. :thumb :thumb :thumb

[stefano]

Thanks for your words of encouragement :)!

I do plan to keep on with it, don't worry. Remember, let me know any suggestions you have for it. I'm currently working on drag/drop adding.

Stefano

[Doflow]

Great! I'm very happy with Solon's software, but I miss editing capabilities. That's where you come in!
Keep up the great work.

Thanks,

Doflow

[VeX]

Very good program, keep up the good work! :thumbup:
Only suggestion i have, and i really miss that feature in solon's program, is to make it possible to easily make playlists from selected files, and to edit these playlists, ading and removing songs.

[stefano]

Hi,

Don't worry, I plan to put playlist management into Herbert, I'll try and make it one of my priorities (unfortunately I have exams coming up :(, but I'll do my best).

Thanks.

[VeX]

Unfortunately i can't install it, actually, i can't install .Net framework, which asks for microsoft installer 3.0, which asks for validation of windows. And i don't have legal windows so i can't download it, So, can anyone please send me microsoft installer 3.0 to vedran.v@gmail.com ?
I would be very grateful!!!

[stefano]

Just incase anyone else has problems with Windows Installer 3.0, the files for it can now be found from a link on Herbert's download page.

[theo481]

Did you get it to work on your computer?

[VeX]

Yeah, now everything works great! It will soon be a wonderful application!!

[Jaffa]

About suggestions - these are all mentioned allready:
easy drag and drop
make playlists
transfer from HDD.
There all what I need(My son needs - I have Archos).
Good programm is simple and easy to use. :thumb

[VeX]

Only thing I don't like here, which maybe someone likes, is that program reeds file names and not from tags, like hdd tool does, so it screws my library on the player becaus i adjusted it to tags. So i have a sugestion to be able to make a choice betwen those two.

[stefano]

Hi everyone,

I've put up the next version of Herbert on my webpages, which can be found here: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~lady1985/hdd

Only a few additions:
1. Drag & Drop adding.
2. Backup management.
3. Fixed one small bug with the automatic file naming.
4. Introduced some new icons.

Unfortunately I won't get much (if any) of a chance to do anything to Herbert over the next 3 weeks or so, my exams start in a weeks time :(. When I do get time however, I'll try and start implementing all of the features you've requested so far (all great ideas, keep them coming), and I'll try to fix the problem VeX has been having.

Thanks!

[stefano]

Hello again...

I've just put a new version of Herbert up on my site, http://users.ox.ac.uk/~lady1985/hdd

New features:
1. Full Playlist management :D.
2. Lots of playlist related things (including drag/drop to add to playlists, and drag/drop reordering of playlists).

Hope you like it! Keep letting me know of any problems you have with it!

[Doflow]

Thanks Stefano!

[stefano]

My main priorities for developing Herbert are the following:


File management (there's a poll in a different thread)
Integrity checking (checks for mp3's you may have accidentally deleted, but are still listed on the HDD. Also finds mp3's on your HDD's hard disk, but which aren't listed)
Exporting music from the HDD to a PC


I'm also looking into Synchronisation with a music library on a PC, and (when everything else is done, and if I can find enough information) allowing Herbert to add WMA files to the HDD.

Any other things which people want? :)

[Doflow]

Hi Stefano, about file integrity:
When I delete files from the HDD directly via the Erase command in HDD's menu, the entry is not visible anymore in the HDD list, but when I open Herbert, the deleted files are shown in the list of mp3's in Herbert. When I close Herbert the entries are recreated in the database.
My suspicion is that the erase command inside the HDD somehow sets a 'deleted' flag, but does not actually delete the entry from the database.
The same 'bug' appears in Solon's HDDTool.

[chicubs]

Any other things which people want? :)

A really nifty lookin gui would be nice.

[stefano]

When I delete files from the HDD directly via the Erase command in HDD's menu, the entry is not visible anymore in the HDD list, but when I open Herbert, the deleted files are shown in the list of mp3's in Herbert. When I close Herbert the entries are recreated in the database.
My suspicion is that the erase command inside the HDD somehow sets a 'deleted' flag, but does not actually delete the entry from the database.
The same 'bug' appears in Solon's HDDTool.Thanks for that :thumb. I'll have a look into it and aim to get it working correctly in the next version.

Edit: I've done what's needed and it'll definately be working in the next version :cool:

[stefano]

A really nifty lookin gui would be nice.Maybe sometime in the future. Unfortunately I'll only look at changing the GUI once I've got all the features fully implemented and working.

[Doflow]

Great, Thanks a lot, looking forward to the next version

[troll]

Hi Stefano,

I think your next priorities are good, the only one i don't understand how it works is File Management in HDD.

I think you should focus on Playlist Management, Transfer files from/to PC/HDD. These features are the most important ones because DMM sucks on both and Solon's HDDTool doesn't have Playlist Management. About managing IDTags, don't worry to much because the third party IDTagIT is unbeatable in managing Tags and its also freeware.

What a HDD owner really needs it's intuitive, easy and fully featured Playlist Manager and File Transfer from/to PC/HDD that works really well in keeping file/folder structure when transfering from HDD to PC.
All the other features are good and should come but not priority.

I still use HDDTool because i can transfer files very easely, but i wish to use your tool because of the playlist managing.

Two questions:

1.Can i use simultaneously HDDTool and Herbert?
2.Does Herbert supports m3u playlists like HDDTool does?
2.1. If so, how should them be created? With relative path or not?

Thanks and keep the good work!
Troll

[stefano]

Hi troll,

Thanks for your comments. I think I've come to agree with you about File Management (see the corresponding thread), I'll put it on hold for now, and maybe have a look at it at some point (way) into the future.

1.Can i use simultaneously HDDTool and Herbert?As far as I've made it, there should be no problem to use both HDDTool and Herbert. Unfortunately I haven't really tried it, but in theory it should work. If there are any problems people find in using both, then I'll definately try and sort out any problems.

2.Does Herbert supports m3u playlists like HDDTool does?Not at the moment, but I think I'll have a look into it at some point. (May not too soon, I seem to have a lot to do at the moment, but I'll definately give it a go at some point.)

Stefano :)

[shelbsassy]

HI there, I am new to this forum and here is my problem...First all of a sudden Philips DMM would not work. I go to start it and the splash screen comes up saying version 2.2 and then it says The APplication COuld Not Be STarted. So I went to Philips support and removed all software and did a clean install of the PC software and the upgrade and the DMM straight from the cd files. GOt the same problem. So then I saw about Herbert and decided to go that route. Had to download the Windows Installer 3 and then the >NET beta that was linked and it could not install saying I was missing a file mscrwks.dll. So now I am back to square one. I cannot get DMM to launch, and I cant seem to install the HErbert program either. I checked in device manager and made sure drivers were up to date on the USB for Philips to no avail. Does anyone have any deas or help for me? Much appreciated, this thing has given me a headache!

Shelbsassy