Any way around the 99 file playlist limit?

[worthog]

I am a new owner of an iAudio X5 20GB DAP. The sound is great and
I am getting used to the non-intuitive controls, but I am having a
problem with the playlists. It appears that not all of the M3U files
loaded into the PLAYLIST folder show up in the display. Only 99 will
display? Is there a way around this? I tried to create subfolders
below PLAYLIST and tried creating a folder next to PLAYLIST called
PLAYLIST2, but neither worked. I have a large number of MP3 files
arranged by album and each album has its own playlist file. If I can't
workaround this limit, I may have to return the X5.

Thanks!
worthog

[ A similar message was sent to tech_support@cowonamerica.com last week, but I haven't heard anything yet. And from reading some of the other posts on the forums, I doubt I ever will. ]

[Jogirider]

u should try checking the firmware at iaudio.com, if u alredy did then sorry im clueless... It worked for my A2

[worthog]

The latest firmware made no difference. Grrrr....

[catavencu]

Do you hapen to know - is there the same problem with other models? I'm planning to buy an X5 60GB. It would be useless to buy a 60GB machine, if I can only use a fraction of it.
Are these forums being read by anybody in the tech department?
Thanks

[worthog]

I would assume the 60GB version runs basically the same software and thus the same limit on playlists. The good news is that if you rename your rmp3s to include the track number, the problem is a non-issue for albums. It's a pain in the ***, but if you're running Linux, I could share a Perl script with you that does the renaming.

It has been made clear to me that the best way to name files is Artist-Album_TrackNo_Trackname.mp3. That way, you can call the album's folder to listen to the whole album.

Cheers,
worthog

[catavencu]

so the limit is PER PLAYLIST, not the total number of files. That's different.
Thanks.

[gman4911]

Originally Posted by worthog

It has been made clear to me that the best way to name files is Artist-Album_TrackNo_Trackname.mp3. That way, you can call the album's folder to listen to the whole album.

Actually, you should use a folder hierarchy like so:

C:\My Music\Artist_1\Album_1\
01-Track_Title
02-Track_Title
etc...

C:\My Music\Artist_1\Album_2\
01-Track_Title
02-Track_Title
etc...

C:\My Music\Artist_2\Album_1\
01-Track_Title
02-Track_Title
etc...

If your ID3 tags are filled out, MediaMonkey can use it to create that heirarchy and move/rename your files automagically.

[worthog]

Originally Posted by catavencu

so the limit is PER PLAYLIST, not the total number of files. That's different.
Thanks.

No, it *is* the number of playlist files. I loaded about 200 *.m3u files into the playlist folder of the device, but the display only shows the first 99.

[worthog]

Originally Posted by gman4911

Actually, you should use a folder hierarchy like so:

C:\My Music\Artist_1\Album_1\
01-Track_Title
02-Track_Title
etc...

C:\My Music\Artist_1\Album_2\
01-Track_Title
02-Track_Title
etc...

C:\My Music\Artist_2\Album_1\
01-Track_Title
02-Track_Title
etc...

If your ID3 tags are filled out, MediaMonkey can use it to create that heirarchy and move/rename your files automagically.

Actually, the way I'm doing it works fine for me. I can immediately tell who the artist and album are for any given file if I am looking at the raw files and not through a program. And I'm not running Windoze, so I wouldn't run MediaMonkey--but there are plenty fo similar products for my OS.

[gman4911]

Your way is not very efficient in terms of storage requirements and has too much redundant information. Using the folder structure, all the information already exists in the path to the file. Also, most Linux/Unix shells can be configured to show your current path in the prompt or in the title bar so you can still tell at a glance the artist and album.

The X5 also uses the folder structure for navigation so you have to organize your files that way anyway. Using your format, does the X5 show the correct information when it's playing a file? If so, it must be picking it up from the ID3 tag.