Making Shaker 500 & Shaker 1000 mp3 disc's
06-28-2006, 05:13 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: WA
Posts: 15
Making Shaker 500 & Shaker 1000 mp3 disc's
It seems the are still a lot of folks that have trouble with playing MP3's in their Shaker systems. I have read every post I could find on the forum about mp3 disc's and the Shaker, but although I got some hints at some of the correct things to do to burn discs, it was still not very clear in total. My problem (or maybe the Shaker's problem) turned out to be that the CD's made with my 4-year old laptop's 4x burner (even when burned at 2x speed), failed in the Shaker although played fine in that computer and in my home DVD player. That problem went away when I used my wife's fairly new Sony Vaio laptop with 24x burner (but run slower than that to make sure). Not knowing at the start that was the key problem, I tried many combinations of things that finally figured out a number of things that ended up being pretty important. I can now with some confidence sketch out a method that worked for me and should work for you. This was done under Windows XP, Service Pack 2.
I ripped commercial audio CD's using WMP. Under Tools -> Options -> Rip Music tab, I chose mp3 files at 192 bps, which most folks agree is acceptable quality and results in about 80 MB per album (resulting in about 10 albums per disc for the Shaker). Under the same tab, I choose the naming convention to be <track number>_<tract title>. The result was one subfolder per album within a folder having the artist's name and containing all the tracks in order they appears on the audio CD. Again under the same tab, I also set WMP to "Rip CD when inserted" and "Eject CD when ripping is compete." That made ripping a large number of CD's very easy while working on other things at the same time.
Burning was done with the Roxio Easy Creator Suite v7, running the Creative Classic program within that suit. WMP was not as flexible for getting the proper folder structure that the Mustang manual implies is "best", i.e. only one level of folders with mp3 files in each folder. I chose burn DATA DISCS as opposed to mp3 discs. I think the only difference is that mp3 writes additional files for autorunning (AUTORUN.INF, PLAY.EXE & PLAYLIST.M3U). The detailed steps for burning I used were:
Under Common Projects, choose Data Disk
Drag and drop the folders (albums) into the Data Disc Project window
Click the View and edit your project settings icon
Choose UDF102 and Joliet Bridge file structure (this makes TEXT button on Shaker work fully)
Check Validate source files before recording
Check Automatically verify File System after recording
Click on Exclude File Types tab
Exclude all files but .mp3, check Exclude all hidden files & check Exclude all system files
Click the Burn icon
Click on Details button or stay in the window if the button says Hide Details
Check Read-Only Disc (probably very important)
Choose Test & Write (or just Write if you have confidence)
Choose the writing speed you feel comfortable with (I choose 4x on a 24x writer to be sure!)
A few comments. I called Sound on Wheels, which is the Ford contracted company that services the Shaker, and they said closing the session is very important, i.e. making a "Read-Only Disc." Also, by choosing the file system as above, successive presses of the TEXT button on the Shaker gives the <mp3 file name>, <title of the track>, <artist> and then <album title>. If any of those fields is longer than can be displayed, successive presses gives the other segments. When I burned using the Joilet file system, TEXT only gave <file name>, <title of track>, "no artist", "no album." It is interesting that if you right click on an mp3 file -> click properties and summary tab, you should see the tile of the cut, and only after clicking the Advanced button do you see the Artist and Album Title. At least that is what I found when ripping with WMP as described above. Lastly, the exclusion of all file types but mp3 does not allow the copy ing of hidden .ini and .jpg files that are probably associated with images of the album that cannot be seen on the Shaker anyway. It may work without filtering those files, and if so you may have graphics displayed when playing the CD on a computer.
Lots of details here. I hope I got them docuented accurately enough so you can do similar things with the ripping and burning software you use. Good Luck!
EDIT OF 6/29:
Damn, and I thought I had it figured out. Regarding the file structure, I believe what is in the directions above is a good choice, but after a couple of days the Shaker threw a curve ball. The disc I called a success because it played and the TEXT button worked as it should started indicating "no artist" and "no album." I thought that was due to using the Joilet file system, but not true. It is true however, that the Joilet file system does not support file names longer than 64 characters, which in itself can be an inconvenience. My latest guess is that this problem is in the software running the Shaker, whose ID is GR3T 18C8 15JD (hold down 3 and 6 in FM mode).
I ripped commercial audio CD's using WMP. Under Tools -> Options -> Rip Music tab, I chose mp3 files at 192 bps, which most folks agree is acceptable quality and results in about 80 MB per album (resulting in about 10 albums per disc for the Shaker). Under the same tab, I choose the naming convention to be <track number>_<tract title>. The result was one subfolder per album within a folder having the artist's name and containing all the tracks in order they appears on the audio CD. Again under the same tab, I also set WMP to "Rip CD when inserted" and "Eject CD when ripping is compete." That made ripping a large number of CD's very easy while working on other things at the same time.
Burning was done with the Roxio Easy Creator Suite v7, running the Creative Classic program within that suit. WMP was not as flexible for getting the proper folder structure that the Mustang manual implies is "best", i.e. only one level of folders with mp3 files in each folder. I chose burn DATA DISCS as opposed to mp3 discs. I think the only difference is that mp3 writes additional files for autorunning (AUTORUN.INF, PLAY.EXE & PLAYLIST.M3U). The detailed steps for burning I used were:
Under Common Projects, choose Data Disk
Drag and drop the folders (albums) into the Data Disc Project window
Click the View and edit your project settings icon
Choose UDF102 and Joliet Bridge file structure (this makes TEXT button on Shaker work fully)
Check Validate source files before recording
Check Automatically verify File System after recording
Click on Exclude File Types tab
Exclude all files but .mp3, check Exclude all hidden files & check Exclude all system files
Click the Burn icon
Click on Details button or stay in the window if the button says Hide Details
Check Read-Only Disc (probably very important)
Choose Test & Write (or just Write if you have confidence)
Choose the writing speed you feel comfortable with (I choose 4x on a 24x writer to be sure!)
A few comments. I called Sound on Wheels, which is the Ford contracted company that services the Shaker, and they said closing the session is very important, i.e. making a "Read-Only Disc." Also, by choosing the file system as above, successive presses of the TEXT button on the Shaker gives the <mp3 file name>, <title of the track>, <artist> and then <album title>. If any of those fields is longer than can be displayed, successive presses gives the other segments. When I burned using the Joilet file system, TEXT only gave <file name>, <title of track>, "no artist", "no album." It is interesting that if you right click on an mp3 file -> click properties and summary tab, you should see the tile of the cut, and only after clicking the Advanced button do you see the Artist and Album Title. At least that is what I found when ripping with WMP as described above. Lastly, the exclusion of all file types but mp3 does not allow the copy ing of hidden .ini and .jpg files that are probably associated with images of the album that cannot be seen on the Shaker anyway. It may work without filtering those files, and if so you may have graphics displayed when playing the CD on a computer.
Lots of details here. I hope I got them docuented accurately enough so you can do similar things with the ripping and burning software you use. Good Luck!
EDIT OF 6/29:
Damn, and I thought I had it figured out. Regarding the file structure, I believe what is in the directions above is a good choice, but after a couple of days the Shaker threw a curve ball. The disc I called a success because it played and the TEXT button worked as it should started indicating "no artist" and "no album." I thought that was due to using the Joilet file system, but not true. It is true however, that the Joilet file system does not support file names longer than 64 characters, which in itself can be an inconvenience. My latest guess is that this problem is in the software running the Shaker, whose ID is GR3T 18C8 15JD (hold down 3 and 6 in FM mode).
06-28-2006, 11:30 AM
#2
RE: Making Shaker 500 & Shaker 1000 mp3 disc's
I'm sure people will appreciate the time you spent gathering all these steps for them.
Here's another way that works fine for me.
I never use WMP for anything.
I use a free CD ripper " ez audio extractor" burn data disc using Nero and it's done.
[sm=pcwhack.gif]
Here's another way that works fine for me.
I never use WMP for anything.
I use a free CD ripper " ez audio extractor" burn data disc using Nero and it's done.
[sm=pcwhack.gif]
06-28-2006, 12:34 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: WA
Posts: 15
RE: Making Shaker 500 & Shaker 1000 mp3 disc's
Hi Ben,
I revisited my note to add even more detail when I saw your note. I wanted to say that it is probably also a good idea to stop all other programs while you burn just to make sure your computer does not have to work too hard while burning. You apparently are one of the fortunate ones who did not have to worry about anything to rip and burn. Good for you, but it was my feeling that there are quite a few others, perhaps even some using the same software you use but on THEIR computers, who where getting very frustrated not knowing why mp3's that appeared to work on other players, like happened to me, did not play on the Shaker and/or why they were not seeing all the information when using the TEXT button on. Happy tunes...
I revisited my note to add even more detail when I saw your note. I wanted to say that it is probably also a good idea to stop all other programs while you burn just to make sure your computer does not have to work too hard while burning. You apparently are one of the fortunate ones who did not have to worry about anything to rip and burn. Good for you, but it was my feeling that there are quite a few others, perhaps even some using the same software you use but on THEIR computers, who where getting very frustrated not knowing why mp3's that appeared to work on other players, like happened to me, did not play on the Shaker and/or why they were not seeing all the information when using the TEXT button on. Happy tunes...
06-28-2006, 01:03 PM
#4
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: El Paso, Texas
Posts: 135
RE: Making Shaker 500 & Shaker 1000 mp3 disc's
I also use Roxio V7 to burn my MP3 discs as well as use the data cd option and have had no troubles at all with playing my MP3s. The only thing I haven't been able to figure out is being able to "control" the order of the MP3 files to my liking.
06-29-2006, 07:28 PM
#5
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 4
RE: Making Shaker 500 & Shaker 1000 mp3 disc's
I had a lot of trouble at first. The Shaker would read bad disc and eject it, even though it had played fine earlier in the day. Also, some discs skipped badly. A few discs played properly. Ford had to take it out and send it away. Now it plays anything I put in if there's only one layer of folders.
07-13-2006, 02:37 PM
#7
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 1
RE: Making Shaker 500 & Shaker 1000 mp3 disc's
Great post Wolfarms.
I too am having trouble with skipping but only on burned disks. I discovered that itunes was set to burn at maximum speed, so I turned that way down (12x for my sony dvd/cd burner), and I now have (sofar) a great disk with 17 albums on it. I also used a new rewritable disk that had almost no scratches on it. The previous attempts were also brand new, but have dozens of minor scuff marks. I am trying to write one of those over at a slower speed to see if that is my problem.
I also don't get any info on the burned disk other than the name of the track. That leads me to check the .xml file on the disk to find out if the format is somehow incorrect. All the "missing" info is in the xml file, though. The first one I just reburned contained Song, Album and in a couple folders Artist. Go figure!?
Do you still have the phone number for Sound on Wheels? Maybe they manufacturer can shed some light on this issue.
I too am having trouble with skipping but only on burned disks. I discovered that itunes was set to burn at maximum speed, so I turned that way down (12x for my sony dvd/cd burner), and I now have (sofar) a great disk with 17 albums on it. I also used a new rewritable disk that had almost no scratches on it. The previous attempts were also brand new, but have dozens of minor scuff marks. I am trying to write one of those over at a slower speed to see if that is my problem.
I also don't get any info on the burned disk other than the name of the track. That leads me to check the .xml file on the disk to find out if the format is somehow incorrect. All the "missing" info is in the xml file, though. The first one I just reburned contained Song, Album and in a couple folders Artist. Go figure!?
Do you still have the phone number for Sound on Wheels? Maybe they manufacturer can shed some light on this issue.
07-13-2006, 03:26 PM
#8
1st Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location:
Posts: 118
RE: Making Shaker 500 & Shaker 1000 mp3 disc's
07-15-2006, 04:18 PM
#9
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Posts: 13
RE: Making Shaker 500 & Shaker 1000 mp3 disc's
Good info all around, I didn't know there were such sticky areas in making Shaker MP3 disks. I guess I'm on the lucky side with my '06 Shaker 1000. I just slapped my MP3 collection into the root of a few cheapo blanks (Delphi?) using the free Nero OEM that came with my burner, and they worked without any issues. Granted, I don't claim the finesse and perfectionism most others have... most of my files are circa "original Napster" and range from 96 - 256 kbps with several variable-bitrate songs as well, it's all so ugly! But with the top down on the freeway, I don't notice the difference between 96kb and 192! 
Having said that, I did indeed experience an incident of the disks being rejected when they had previously worked. It only happened during winter after the car (and heater) was operating for some time, so my theory is that the car's interior heater accelerates the heating of the Shaker CD unit and decreases the sensitivity. During that same time, the disks played normally again after the car was cold again, which reinforces my hypothesis. How close are the heater ducts to the stereo anyway? On my '90 GT they virtually touched.
- K -
Having said that, I did indeed experience an incident of the disks being rejected when they had previously worked. It only happened during winter after the car (and heater) was operating for some time, so my theory is that the car's interior heater accelerates the heating of the Shaker CD unit and decreases the sensitivity. During that same time, the disks played normally again after the car was cold again, which reinforces my hypothesis. How close are the heater ducts to the stereo anyway? On my '90 GT they virtually touched.
- K -
