Yet Another Jukebox Program

[SalmonKing]

where do I get a copy of the updated ocx file?  I deleted it thinking it was in the SK directory..

Do I need to reinstall?

Should be in the update file on the site, or, yes, you can reinstall the program (that has been updated too).

If you reinstall, just save your .ini file, and pop it back in once it's done!   

[billf]

Hey SK - Just wanted to let you know the new setup works fine for me.  I uninstalled the old version and installed the new version using the new setup zip files and all is working great.   

I just wanted to thank you again for all the work you've put into this program.  Truly one of the best "album based" juke programs out there.  Kudos!

[SalmonKing]

Hey SK - Just wanted to let you know the new setup works fine for me.  I uninstalled the old version and installed the new version using the new setup zip files and all is working great.   

I just wanted to thank you again for all the work you've put into this program.  Truly one of the best "album based" juke programs out there.  Kudos!

Thanks very much for the feedback!  Merry Christmas to you everyone out there (even those who don't use the program...   )

I have a couple of weeks off starting on the 24th, so should be able to find the time to do those last couple of jobs I have in mind for the program   

[billf]

Care to drop any hints as to what's coming? 

[SalmonKing]

Care to drop any hints as to what's coming? 

Just what's in the WIP section in the readme.txt....although, you never know what ideas I may come up with when I've had a chance to think   

[sWampy]

Cool program, any chance to get artwork from songs?  I went to all this trouble of putting pictures in each mp3, now I really hate to have jpg's mixed in my music directories, where every digital photo program I install finds them and wants to show me a photoalbum of them.

[billf]

Care to drop any hints as to what's coming?

Just what's in the WIP section in the readme.txt....although, you never know what ideas I may come up with when I've had a chance to think

Hey SK, a few weeks back I mentioned (in an email directly to you) a possible enhancement/feature for the jump option.

[SalmonKing]

Hey SK, a few weeks back I mentioned (in an email directly to you) a possible enhancement/feature for the jump option.  It involved being able to map a button to bring up a scrollable list of the alphabet.  That way if I'm in the "B" artist section on the jukebox but wanted to look for a song by "Pearl Jam", I would hit the mapped button, up would pop a list of letters and the "#" sign for those artists that start with a number (ie. 10,000 Maniacs, 4 Non Blondes, 3 Doors Down, etc.).  I could then scroll over to "P" using the arrow keys, hit enter and it would take me to the beginning of the "P" section of artists.  Just a nice graphical way of moving throughout all the artists, especially when you have 400+ albums like me. 

I checked the WIP section and didn't see it listed.  Just wondering your thoughts on it.

- Bill

ah yes, that's right.  That's not a bad idea.....I've added it to the list so I can have a play over my break.   

[billf]

Excellent.  Thanks.  Enjoy your time off and have a great holiday season.

[cdburnerrr]

Hello,
   I just built a Jukebox and I'm using SK Jukebox to run it. I LOVE IT! It works MUCH faster than VMJ on older computers. I have a music collection of over 1500 CD's that I have put on the Hard Drive. Is there any chance of adding either a Search button or an Alphabetical List to jump to to the Artist you are looking for?
   With a small music collection this probably isn't an issue, but I have 20,000 songs on my jukebox, and if it starts with AC/DC and you want to listen to Twisted Sister, you have to hit the forward button MANY times to get to the T's.
   One other option that would be handy would be the ability to store different types of music under different buttons. For Example: Have a ROCk button, a COUNTRY button, a Dance Button, etc. Then when you hit the COUNTRY Button, all the jukebox displays is your Country Music. You could have a Folder on you hard drive with all your Country artists in it, and point the program to load that folder. Then when you hit the ROCK button, it loads all the Artists under the ROCK folder on the Hard Drive. It would be awesome if it loaded all the different Genres or Playlists at startup. That way you could instantly jump from Rock to Blue to Dance music without waiting for the program to load that folder.
   I would be more than happy to make a donation to see these options implemented!!!!!!!!

Thanks,
CDBurnerrr

[SalmonKing]

Hello,
   I just built a Jukebox and I'm using SK Jukebox to run it. I LOVE IT! It works MUCH faster than VMJ on older computers. I have a music collection of over 1500 CD's that I have put on the Hard Drive. Is there any chance of adding either a Search button or an Alphabetical List to jump to to the Artist you are looking for?
   With a small music collection this probably isn't an issue, but I have 20,000 songs on my jukebox, and if it starts with AC/DC and you want to listen to Twisted Sister, you have to hit the forward button MANY times to get to the T's.
   One other option that would be handy would be the ability to store different types of music under different buttons. For Example: Have a ROCk button, a COUNTRY button, a Dance Button, etc. Then when you hit the COUNTRY Button, all the jukebox displays is your Country Music. You could have a Folder on you hard drive with all your Country artists in it, and point the program to load that folder. Then when you hit the ROCK button, it loads all the Artists under the ROCK folder on the Hard Drive. It would be awesome if it loaded all the different Genres or Playlists at startup. That way you could instantly jump from Rock to Blue to Dance music without waiting for the program to load that folder.
   I would be more than happy to make a donation to see these options implemented!!!!!!!!

Thanks,
CDBurnerrr

There is always the option of hitting 'J', typing what you want to jump to, then hitting Enter.  There's always the possibilty that you could use 'F' and type in the criterea of what you're looking for (just be patient with that many songs!!!).  Also, if you read the last couple of posts, I am going to investigate the option of having a key bring up a new Jump dialog, where you just scroll left / right to find the letter you're looking for the it jumps to that letter (i.e. eliminate the need to type).

If you read the readme.txt, and look at the site, there is information there relating to genres.  I have already looked at this option, and it is way too hard to impliment.  That's not to say I'll never look at it again, though, just there's plenty more to work on before I go insane trying to make this one work.   

I see you mention waiting for the program loading the folder (in an indirect way...).  If your collection is pretty static, you might want to try turning on the Static Database.  This will store the library in a couple of files, rather than searching the HDD every time you load up the program.  Just go into Options, tick the box, and hit Update Database.  You should notice quite an increase in loading time.  If you change your albums around, just hit the Update Database button to refresh the files.

So, there you go.... 2/3 of the 1st request is already done, and the 2nd request has already been looked at.   

SK.

[JackTucky]

SK:

Just wanted to add my thanks.  I was ALMOST going to purchase a jukebox program, then alone came SK jukebox.  Perfect, free, and much appreciated.

Got the hardware all done, parts arrived, tomorrow we buy the wood, cut and assemble.

Art

[Dermbrian]

   One other option that would be handy would be the ability to store different types of music under different buttons. For Example: Have a ROCk button, a COUNTRY button, a Dance Button, etc. Then when you hit the COUNTRY Button, all the jukebox displays is your Country Music. You could have a Folder on you hard drive with all your Country artists in it, and point the program to load that folder.

Thanks,
CDBurnerrr

I think this suggestion is a good one.   Having a few buttons on the screen that let you choose from a small number of pre-defined paths would be a nice touch.    You might not want complete symphonies (or hour long radio dramas...) to be selected when you're in "random" play for example.  Or you really might want it to only load the "Christmas" directory at times.

This is very easy to do using the options as they already exist in SK Jukebox.  It's a little harder in WinCAB, but not much.  The main issue there is if the database needs to be rebuilt.  But buttons to select from a few paths that you already have in a .ini file or an options screen would be a nice addition to either program.

Happy holidays....

Brian

[gobuchul74]

I've got to say this program is awesome! Fabulous work on this program!

The only thing I would add, is like a couple other have mentioned.  Allowing separate directories for different genres.  Hitting random play and mixing your Dead Kennedys with your Alan Jackson just isn't cool sometimes.

It is a fantastic program though.  Totally stable and easy to work with!  Thanks SK!

[Chris]

You might not want complete symphonies (or hour long radio dramas...) to be selected when you're in "random" play for example.

[GoldnRd]

Just registered (longtime lurker on these forums) to say that SK Jukebox is the best out there. There is a lot of talk in this forum about categories and that was one of the requirements that I had in my setup. VMJ has this built in but that software is currently too buggy and I have thankfully dumped it. I noticed that the directory that SK uses to determine where to find mp3 is just a line in it's ini file so I have hacked together a bunch of AutoIT scripts and front ended the jukebox with a modified version of ArcadeEPIC. My mp3s are all arranged in separate folders loosely based on type of music (Jazz, Albums, World/Dub/Trance, Live) so I figured all I had to do was use separate ini files for each "library" of music that pointed to different directories.

[MikeAlex]

Hello Sk and Happy new year.

Two Things:

1. Could you store the volume level on exit and restore it when the program starts?
2. When the user clicks on a song on the Full album  screen , it  closes and the multiple album screen appears. Could you make the “auto-close” of the Full album  screen  optional?

Thanks.

[JackTucky]

Is there a way to set the time in between songs?  It takes too long for me 

Thanks SK!

Art

[SalmonKing]

Is there a way to set the time in between songs? It takes too long for me

Thanks SK!

Art

It was set to load fast, but a few weeks ago when people's songs stopped playing, I went back to the normal method.  Turns out it had nothing to do with it, so I've put it back in!

Hello Sk and Happy new year.

Two Things:

1. Could you store the volume level on exit and restore it when the program starts?
2. When the user clicks on a song on the Full album screen , it closes and the multiple album screen appears. Could you make the

[Lilwolf]

btw, I don't think anyone cares if it takes a few seconds to switch between directories.

So you could just reload them with a new directory...  I don' tknow what / how your saving the info now... but it seems like it might not be all that hard to change it to save based on name instead... and have one per song directory. 

[JackTucky]

Does SK jukebox use TinySQL?  I installed and used it for a couple days, but now I'm getting EAccess Violation.  Google shows lots of programs can issue this message, but I only have windows XP, AVG Free anti virus, mozilla, and SK jukebox installed.

I have AVG Free on other PC's with no problems.

Just checking.  Thanks.

Art

[SalmonKing]

btw, I don't think anyone cares if it takes a few seconds to switch between directories.

So you could just reload them with a new directory...  I don' tknow what / how your saving the info now... but it seems like it might not be all that hard to change it to save based on name instead... and have one per song directory. 

Unfortunatly, that's not the way I want it to work.  Seems like a bit of a cop-out   

I've already made alot of changes, and am just about ready for people to give it a go.  The genres are based on the 1st part of the directory name, e.g. if you have "C:\Music\Rock" and "C:\Music\Blues", all you need to do is put in "C:\Music" as the path to look in, and tick the box that tell it to 'use genres'.

Then, when you load the program, it will give you a list of all the available genres to pick from.  You scroll up / down to the one you want, then hit the key you have 'Enter' mapped to.  It then displays all albums belonging to that genre.

To switch / get the list back up again, there is another key that brings up the list again.  I might think about putting in an option that allows the 'Escape' key to bring up the genre list as well, in case there's those that don't want to use another key 

I have also added options for a scrollable jump list, saving volume levels from 1 session to the other, and only close the full view if Escape is pressed, or the close button in the top right of the full view is clicked.

This will be version 2.0.0, and I'll upload it tomorrow, once I've had move of a play.   

Does SK jukebox use TinySQL? I installed and used it for a couple days, but now I'm getting EAccess Violation. Google shows lots of programs can issue this message, but I only have windows XP, AVG Free anti virus, mozilla, and SK jukebox installed.

I have AVG Free on other PC's with no problems.

Just checking. Thanks.

Art

No, I don't use TinySQL, I'm afraid.  That sounds like a very strange problem!  Does it happen as soon as you open the program?  Generally, Access Violation errors are the fault of bad RAM / HDD or a corrupt .exe / .dll, etc rather than being a programming fault.  Are you having problems with any other programs?  Perhaps try uninstalling the program & re-installing it.

[SalmonKing]

Just wanted to make a couple more comments about the genres, and what it affects.

It was going to be too hard to check for duplicate songs as they are entered, but I fixed that while writing this post.   

Random mode will only pick songs from the currently loaded albums (i.e. not across genres). 

There is an "(All)" option which appears at the top of the list, so all albums can be viewed at the same time.

Loading playlists works across genres, so if you have a playlist saved that contains songs from different genres, they will be loaded even though they are not in the current genre.

You can switch genres on the fly, without affecting the program.  That way, you can browse your Rock collection, queue some up, the head over to the Classical albums, if you wish.

Are there any questions about the genres (i.e anything I might like to look at before releasing it)?

[billf]

Unfortunatly, that's not the way I want it to work.

[GoldnRd]

My only request is that there be an option to remap minimize to a separate key from the back button, or to just go back as far as the genre list.

[billf]

The genre by directory is a swell idea, and coincidentally how I have my mp3s organized.

Exactly what I was thinking!!

[SalmonKing]

My only request is that there be an option to remap minimize to a separate key from the back button, or to just go back as far as the genre list.   Maybe an option to disable minimize?   My juke is a wall mounted LCD with a creative remote.   The pc is in the basement so trying to get SKJ back up after it has been minimized is a pain (well not really, but I try to make these things a bulletproof as possible for the special lady cause she's a technophobe and sometimes I think I'm walking on think ice with the gadgets ).   My AutoIT scripts do almost the exact thing that you are talking about with the genre list.   Neato.

The genre by directory is a swell idea, and coincidentally how I have my mp3s organized.    Are there any limitations on the folder names like length?   Is there a limit to the number of genres/folders that SKJ will display?   

Other than that, SKJ rocks!    You have saved my juke!

What version are you running there?  I ask because :

19/11/2004 : Seperated the Back & Minimize keys

Already done!    The only thing, as I said, is that the Back / Escape key is different to the key that brings up the Genre list.  If there's the need for it, I'll put in the option to make Back & Genre List the same key.

I guess the only limitation on the length is what fits horizontally in teh genre list.  No limit to the number that it will display, unless you have many, many millions, and it eats up all your RAM!   

[SalmonKing]

http://www.pleasuredome.org.uk/~salmonking/

Version 2.0.0 Released!!

For those who want to use genres, and even those who don't, let me know if you come across any problems.  There's been a hell of alot of changes to make this work, so I'm expecting a couple of bugs to slip in!   

[Lilwolf]

Copout?  Sounds like you decided not to hack it

I was thinking you might get away with just reloading all the mp3s by changing the base directory.  Glad to hear your doing a real fix for it and not a hack!

I have to load it up tonight and see how it came out!

btw, I don't think anyone cares if it takes a few seconds to switch between directories.

So you could just reload them with a new directory...

[clearsailing5]

I spoke too soon on the compilation album sort order.

[clearsailing5]

Dermbrian,

I have been looking all over the place for the songs you listed, the Christmas LP album which I have but it is badly scratched and ruined.

[Dermbrian]

Dermbrian,

I have been looking all over the place for the songs you listed, the Christmas LP album which I have but it is badly scratched and ruined.  I have tried to find a cd version of it and have had no success.  How did you get this in Jukebox???  I wanted to learn how to build or get a jukebox set up and really want that Christmas album on it.  Any suggestions?

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

Clearsailing

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=306&item=4065056355&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

 

I use MAGIX's "Audio Cleaning Lab" to record my LP's onto  my PC.  If you have a turntable attached to an amp, all you need is a cable to connect the LINE OUT from the amp to the LINE IN on the computer.  That program is pretty easy to find at a low price used at used bookstores, etc.

I use other software to make the .mp3's from the .wav file(s) that  Audio Cleaning Lab creates.  Worst case, create a CD and then rip the CD.  All the step-by-step directions depend on whatever you use to do the job.

Brian

[SalmonKing]

No feedback?  Am I to asume that the program is working astonishingly well, therefore no problems / suggestions are to be posted?  EXCELLENT!   

Seriously, any problems with the new version, please don't hesitate in posting here, or e-mailing me.

SK.

[bauhaus]

Hello Sk

Thank for SK Jukebox

One suggestion, what about a "Now Playing" function with configurable (size) cover display or cycle artwork ??

Really good Job

Bauhaus aka Christophe

[MikeAlex]

Hi SK,

No bug detected so far, except when I switched on the genre thing, but since you’re working on it, ignore this comment.

Two requests though, it possible:

- The" find" and "queue list", since they could be used by the end user, it would have been nice if they could be aesthetically similar to the main window. If it is doable, that would mean that any change done on the Foreground and background color would have to apply to the windows.

- Since I see your program from the view of a touch screen user, I would like to propose this: What about when conjuring the “find”  window, making a virtual keyboard appear? OK, before you start hitting me virtually with a baseball bat, I may have a “easy” way to do it: The Microsoft On-Screen Keyboard. When one calls for the “find” window, call for the keyboard and when the “find” window is closed, close the keyboard...or...you could create a homemade one...

I hope I don't get banned for overburdening the programmers...   

[billf]

SK,

You are 'da man!  Awesome jukebox!!

[MikeAlex]

Forget what I said about the Genres. Bad manipulation from my part.

[Dermbrian]

I really like the addition of the option choosing the genre/directory path.   ('First part of directory is genre' checkbox)

But for us mouse users, can it be made to work where a double mouse click selects the choice?  I notice I can click on a genre, but I have to hit <enter> to actually finish the process and get out of that screen. 

This is going to make is super simple to keep the oddball stuff out of the random play mode.

Thanks!
Brian

[JackTucky]

I have a basement full of pinball, chexx hockey, MAME machine, keg, etc.  Just got my juke together using SK jukebox, and it's the first toy the wife sat down and actually used.

I asked her later, in my wanting approval voice, "So you like it?"

"Yes"

Finally, validation 

I'm interested in the GUI Jump changes.  Going to install the update today, and paint.

Thanks again, SK.

Art

[JackTucky]

I have 2 videos in my music directory.  One is who's one first by abbot and costello, the other is "more cowbelll"

Any plans to add video support?

Thanks again SK.

Art