Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 5

I just purchased a $199 64 Mb Innogear MiniJam player and can't think of a device I had more problems with. It crashes my Visor, corrupts its own MMC card that came with it regular, and is just plainly a nightmare to use. Error messages are helpful only to PalmOS developers !

For your information as my fellow consumers, I am keeping a log of the all of the problems I am having with the device and my transactions with their tech support at http://www.olegdulin.com/innogear


Regards,
Oleg Dulin

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: San Diego, California
Posts: 441

I read your website, that particular error is caused by having the hotsync manager running while you are trying to commit the changes you made with miniloader. Granted, the error message is not helpful in any way (I had the same thing a few times) and whenever it happened it corrupted the MMC. Just make sure that little hotsync manager isn't in your system tray before you run the miniloader application.

__________________
You know it's bad when your Calculus Professor uses the word "Unpossible"

"It's a long way from my thoughts to what I'll say, It's a long, long way from paradise to where I am today." -Switchfoot, Home

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 5

Updates on the problem

I posted more information on my site at http://www.olegdulin.com/innogear .

Regards,
Oleg

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

You may have a defective MiniJam.. I always leave the hotsync icon running and don't have any problems, I also have a USB zip drive (100mb). no problems, I don't use the music match program by the way, and until I got the USB speedloader, I used the MJLoader program.

I'd try to get the unit exchanged..

One problem I did discover and it's not documented anywhere is with the USB speedloader, if the file name of the mp3 is too long it crashes the loader program. The fix is simple, rename the mp3. Another thing I noticed is the miniJam is picky about the bitrate/khz an mp3 is encoded with, try some other mp3 files (possibly created with other mp3 compression programs), You didn't say what you created your mp3's with, the program may have introduced errors in the mp3 file that is causing the minijam to gack..

I can sympathize with your frustrations.. good luck.

__________________
"One of the most important things you learn from the internet is that there is no �them� out there. It�s just an awful lot of �us�." -- Douglas Adams

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 5

I used MusicMatch that came with the product.

I too noticed that MJLoader crashes if the filename is too long. This is not so bad. I just wish they documented this bug and saved me a few hours of frustration.

The bitrate of the MP3 files was 96kbps.

I have to note that I was able to download those exact files to the player a week ago and was able to listen to them. The problems started over the weekend when I tried to upload "Lord of the Rings" audio book, recorded at 64kbps using MusicMatch.

Regards,
Oleg

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: San Antonio
Posts: 23

sorry to hear that you're having so many problems. personally, i'm on my 4th (!) minijam. this, the 4th one, is the first minijam that has been completely functional and not caused any crashes on my visor deluxe. first thing i'd suggest: check your minijam's versions; with "MiniJukeBox" running, do an "About" (command-A). mine's says "MiniJukeBox Ver.: 2.00, MiniJam API Ver.: 2.00, Firmware Rev.: 4.01". you may need to exchange your minijam to get the most current firmware revision; depending on your visor (and the minijam RAM configuration), firmware revisions less than 4.00 can be problematic, particularly if you have more than 64mb on the minijam. also, are you running the current release of the host software? i'm on a mac so i can't speak to the windows software, but i do know that there has been at least one update released. i don't know anything about the windows version of musicmatch, but the mac version is *total crap*. i suggest avoiding musicmatch at all costs.
i've had pretty good luck with innogear's support staff -- by toll-free telephone call -- i've never tried to get their help over the internet.
also, lastly, do all your other springboards work ok? maybe your problems have something to do with the visor itself??
steve

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

quote:

---

Originally posted by dulino
I used MusicMatch that came with the product.

I too noticed that MJLoader crashes if the filename is too long. This is not so bad. I just wish they documented this bug and saved me a few hours of frustration.

The bitrate of the MP3 files was 96kbps.

I have to note that I was able to download those exact files to the player a week ago and was able to listen to them. The problems started over the weekend when I tried to upload "Lord of the Rings" audio book, recorded at 64kbps using MusicMatch.

Regards,
Oleg

---

__________________
"One of the most important things you learn from the internet is that there is no �them� out there. It�s just an awful lot of �us�." -- Douglas Adams

Registered: Oct 1999
Location: Lincoln, NE
Posts: 56

MusicMatch is spyware. If you own a firewall, everytime you open MusicMatch you get it accessing the internet at random intervals. If you block it MusicMatch complains. Other than that it isn't too bad of a player, especially when it is free

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: San Antonio
Posts: 23

well, again, just judging from the macintosh end of the rainbow: musicmatch comes "for free" with a number of products, including innogear's minijam and iomega's cdr/w drives. too bad it's just so freakin' awful! an ugly, awkward user interface, combined with a lack of feature parity against the top-tier macintosh consumer-grade audio programs (apple's itunes, casady&greene's soundjam mp; panic software's audion) -- all also free -- it's no wonder they're forced to give musicmatch away...nobody in their right mind would buy it. what i can't figure out is why a macintosh version of musicmatch even exists...

Registered: Aug 2000
Location: Alive and well on VisorCentral.com
Posts: 861

quote:

---

Originally posted by bolson
MusicMatch is spyware. If you own a firewall, everytime you open MusicMatch you get it accessing the internet at random intervals. If you block it MusicMatch complains. Other than that it isn't too bad of a player, especially when it is free

---

__________________
"One of the most important things you learn from the internet is that there is no �them� out there. It�s just an awful lot of �us�." -- Douglas Adams

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 231

quote:

---

originally posted by gayguy:
first thing i'd suggest: check your minijam's versions; with "MiniJukeBox" running, do an "About" (command-A).
mine's says "MiniJukeBox Ver.:2.00, MiniJam API Ver.: 2.00, Firmware Rev.: 4.01". you may need to exchange your
minijam to get the most current firmware revision

---

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 248

MiniJam & Visor Edge.

I've been using a 64mb version for 3-4 months now, never a problem, when I used it with my Platinum.

However, I have noticed that with my Edge, I *must* shutdown the player before I unplug it.

If not, it may or may not lock up the Edge and require a pin hole reset.

I am at the versions listed above, and usually unplug the Springboard Exp. w/ the MiniJam loaded at one time, never taking the MiniJam out of the expansion port. If I shut the player down, I never have any problems, but if its active, playing music or not, I lock the Edge up 30% of the time.

Seems like the hard shutdown terminates the apps such that I can unplug it whenever I need to then.

I've just made it habit, and never have a problem with it.

BTW...I use RealJukebox to record my MP3's...not the supplied app since I got it. Never have a problem with any recording speeds, etc.

Registered: Jun 2000
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 216

A thought...

quote:

---

Originally posted by dorelse
I've been using a 64mb version for 3-4 months now, never a problem, when I used it with my Platinum.

However, I have noticed that with my Edge, I *must* shutdown the player before I unplug it.

If not, it may or may not lock up the Edge and require a pin hole reset.

I am at the versions listed above, and usually unplug the Springboard Exp. w/ the MiniJam loaded at one time, never taking the MiniJam out of the expansion port. If I shut the player down, I never have any problems, but if its active, playing music or not, I lock the Edge up 30% of the time.

Seems like the hard shutdown terminates the apps such that I can unplug it whenever I need to then.

I've just made it habit, and never have a problem with it.

BTW...I use RealJukebox to record my MP3's...not the supplied app since I got it. Never have a problem with any recording speeds, etc.

---

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 248

Good info

Thanks for the info. It makes sense after you've explained it.

I guess I won't buy the extra Springboard slot then b/c I thought I'd be able to just always keep my MiniJam plugged into one, and my modem in the other, no 'double' swapping...but I can see how that probably isn't the best way to do it.

So if there's an inherent design issue with keeping modules always in the expansion slot, why would they want to sell extra ones?

Seems like they're increasing the chances of hanging Edge's all the time.

Registered: Nov 2000
Location:
Posts: 714

I use MusicMatch to do all my encoding (I don't own a MiniJam, I've got a portable Rio 500 and Aiwa for my car) and its speed is one of the best in my opinion. I hated RealJukebox & could care less if people know what I listen to.

On the other hand though, does anyone know of any free software that encodes as fast as MusicMatch with CDDB support?

__________________
Matt Nichols
[email protected]

Registered: Feb 2001
Location: San Antonio
Posts: 23

the only thing i know that the 4.01 firmware update fixes is miscellaneous problems with mmc's: my 3.02 firmware minijam had problems with a 64mb sandisk mmc purchased over the web -- i could hear crosstalk during quiet musical passages and occasionally there would be sound drop-outs or garbled playback. all that ended with the 4.01 update. i also was told that 3.02 had problems addressing more than 64mb, although i don't know that from personal experience.
as for the question about free mp3-encoding software that's very fast and supports cddb: if you've got a g4-powered macintosh, try itunes -- it has cddb support and is altivec-enabled, so it really flies, even the guys over at ars technica were impressed.

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Des Moines, IA
Posts: 248

Hey MPM -

Just thought I'd give you an update...my Edge actually crashed more now that I pull the minijam out separately. Still not repeatable yet though.

I'm up to 4 out of 10 attempts. I think I better just stick to shutting it down first. Seems unreliable any other way.

-D

Registered: Jun 2000
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 216

quote:

---

Originally posted by dorelse
Hey MPM -

Just thought I'd give you an update...my Edge actually crashed more now that I pull the minijam out separately. Still not repeatable yet though.

I'm up to 4 out of 10 attempts. I think I better just stick to shutting it down first. Seems unreliable any other way.

-D

---

Registered: Apr 2001
Location:
Posts: 2

Has anyone had experience using a MiniJam with Mac OS X? Since I installed OS X, I've been getting error messages when I try to transfer songs. "The MiniJam is not responding (or maybe too slowly)" or something to that effect. Anyone else had this problem? I haven't tried to restart with 9.1 and try it that way yet...that seems to be a lot of work just to use the minijam. Tech support, although supportive, didn't have any ready answers.

Registered: Mar 2000
Location:
Posts: 5

quote:

---

Originally posted by MPM


Oh well. I thought I had a good idea...

Still, your Edge should not be crashing at all when you remove a module. I have three modules: Handspring Backup Module, Innopak2/V, and homemade CF adatper. I have NEVER had a crash/hang/reset when inserting or removing the modules.

---