Nano Clone, Music Folders, Mac OS X
 

I've got a black Kudez Nano Clone with a 1.5-inch screen, 1 Gigabyte of memory, firmware 9.0.48, and an ACT2901_S75_SZG chip.

I have been trying to get it to play songs that have been separated into folders, but nothing seemed to work. I use Mac OS X almost exclusively. I don't have any Windows PCs at home - although I do have one at work.

The method that finally worked for my player involves copying MP3 files from the Mac, and then using WinXP to create new folders and move the files into the new folders. Then the player works fine.

First of all, here is what happens when trying to do it all on the Mac:
1) Drag n drop a group of songs from iTunes to the Nano's root directory.
2) Create folders for each album.
3) Move MP3 files into the album folders.
4) Use the Terminal to delete all the extra invisible files that Mac OS X creates (.Trashes, .DS_Store, ._Song1.mp3, etc.).
5) Disconnect the Nano.
6) Select Music > [Menu] > Local Folder > \ > Album Folder > Song (all with the Menu Button).

* The Nano should bring me back to the player screen showing the song I selected. Instead, it shows me the first MP3 file I copied to the Nano!

* If I do step 1 and 4 on the Mac, then do steps 2 & 3 on WinXP, then step 6 works fine.

Mac OS X must be treating the Nano's disk differently than WinXP. Somehow, it handles new folders differently. If I create some album folders on the Mac and some on the PC, then the ones from the Mac will not work but the ones from the PC will. I think I have deleted all the extra hidden files that the Mac creates, yet it still doesn't work right.

This is driving me crazy. I don't have a PC at home, so I would have to use VirtualPC to do this. There has got to be a way to do this on a Mac without having to use a PC too.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Re: Nano Clone, Music Folders, Mac OS X
 

Just drag and drop the items onto your mp3.
Don't use Itunes. I also wouldn't advise syncing with Windows media player since it puts everything into seperate folders. And the mp3 will only read the music if it's all in ONE spot. or at least mine did.

So just simply make a folder within the mp3 called MUSIC and drag all your favorite music into there and enjoy.

Re: Nano Clone, Music Folders, Mac OS X
 

Relikk,

When I use iTunes to copy MP3 files to the Nano, I don't mean that the Nano shows up in the iTunes source list like a real iPod. I assume that iTunes would handle all the "syncing" if that were the case.

What I do is drag and drop songs from the iTunes playlist onto the icon for my Nano that is on the desktop. The operating system handles the file copying. The results are the same whether I copy from iTunes or find the actual files on my Mac and copy those.

If I setup the folders on WinXP, it works fine. I can browse the album folders and select individual songs. My firmware allows this.

If I set the folders on a Mac, it looks the same but won't actually work the same. Selecting a song in an album folder brings me to the first song on the Nano instead of my selected song.

I don't understand how the Mac and PC can be treating this simple task so differently that it would fail on the Mac.

I'm not about to treat this MP4 player as one big playlist. It would take me forever to scroll through 1 GB worth of songs. Plus, I think there is a limit on the number of files that can be in each directory... something like 119 or so. That would be about 350 MB, which would be much less that the maximum.

JWGDesign , these players so far are not very Mac-friendly. And they are created basically for the Windows market. That's why the MP3 Utilities software only comes in Windows format, not Mac.

I'm pretty sure there are other Mac users facing the same problem as you. Maybe there is a work-around this problem, but none that i know of.

Re: Nano Clone, Music Folders, Mac OS X
 

He could also try running a windows XP mod onto his computer. that's what my friend did whenever their macs would just suck out on them. Im not sure of how to go about doing that but im sure someone on the forum would know how to.

I am willing to accept the lack of MP4 utilities for Mac. If I need a Windows PC to convert videos to AMV format or to mess around with themes and firmware, I'm okay with that.

The thing that really bothers me is this: WinXP and Mac both see the MP4 player as a removable disk - nothing special. I would expect them both to treat the "disk" the same way when writing files and folders, but something goes wrong on the Mac, and the MP4 player doesn't like it.

Are there any Mac/Unix geeks here that could tell us why a Fat32 formatted disk is handled differently on a Mac than it is on a PC? I know I'm not the only Mac-user with one of these Nano-clones. If we can get to the bottom of this, then perhaps we could come up with a viable workaround that doesn't involve getting a PC or installing a PC emulator.

Re: Nano Clone, Music Folders, Mac OS X
 

Well, the way that Apple handles file storage/saving is somewhat different from the way that a PC does it, it's a completely different algorithm. Same concept, different way to do it, leads to different results and questionable compatibility.

Re: Nano Clone, Music Folders, Mac OS X
 

Hola,

today i bought accidentally a similar model/clon/whatever, it's called "SOGO SS-8310" 4GB (Firmware 2006/06/25 - 9.0.50.000 - 2006/1030) and now i am facing exactly the same trouble ...

Even without this mac/mp3 issue i must say this device is a little pain in the ass ...

The only AMV file that is stored on the device seems corrupt and suddenly i got a "Format error" message when trying to play this file.

I copied a few mp3 files in an extra folder - called MUSIC - and tried to make them play. But it's really hard to browse forward. After deleting one subfolder - i was fed up scrolling - the player repeated the same song again and again.

I was thinking the firmware might be broken, but it seems mac doesn't like my new little friend :roll:

Amsel

Re: Nano Clone, Music Folders, Mac OS X
 

I'm not sure about other players, but my Kudez will play MP3/WMA files either in the root directory or one-folder-level deep (No subfolders). That is how it was advertized, and that is how it actually performs.

There are a few Macintosh-specific issues. My current beef is that my Mac doesn't make the folder structure in a manner that is compatible with the Kudez' music player system.

The other big problem with Mac OS X is that it will copy an extra hidden file for every song that has a Mac resource fork (meta data). While those files are hidden on the Mac or any Linux/Unix, they are visible on Windows and on the MP4 player. The MP4 player will try to play them and produce a Format Error. To delete the extra invisible files, you can use the Mac's Terminal app to run this command:

Note that I renamed my MP4 Player's disk to "NANO" to keep the name short. You'll need to change the command accordingly.

This command still leaves some other hidden files intact - the ".DS_Store" files and the ".Trashes" folder for instance. I'm not sure if they cause any problems.

Re: Nano Clone, Music Folders, Mac OS X
 

You might want to check the Repeat setting. While it is playing a song, hit the Menu button. Select "Repeat", then select "Normal" or "Repeat All" depending on your preference. I think Normal will stop after the last song is played. Repeat All will go back to the first song after playing the last song.

Re: Nano Clone, Music Folders, Mac OS X
 

JWGDesign - Sorry about the trouble you are having. I've been having the exact same problem.

My whole MP3 library is on my Mac and in order to get my new ChiPod to play the files when I browse to the directory is to create the folders from my XP machine and then write the files to the folders that I've made.

I can see how this could happen since OS X and Windows have different structures to how their directories embed the info about structure and rights but disappointing nonetheless.

I have not found a workaround as of yet but if I do I will post it. Good luck!

I do need to say that I am really impressed with the player, its construction and its sound quality for the price. I plugged in my nice Sony headphones last night and I was really blown away by how good the music sounds. You really can't complain for this price!

Re: Nano Clone, Music Folders, Mac OS X
 

What works for me is to first format the player in Windows as FAT32, and to store all the music on the root folder (this allows you to store more than 99 files in a player folder - the root). The mac will put hidden files in there with .fname.mp3 and .trash (which you can delete from Windows), but otherwise file transfer from OS X seems to work to the root directory.

If you want to use folders/sub-folders, I think they have to be created in windows first (as someone else posted), otherwise, it doesn't seem to want to play the songs located inside.

Browsing songs w/o any organization is probably the biggest downside to these devices, and where the real ipod excels. oh well, pretty good value for the money anyway