Trader's Little Helper

...whereas the ones that TLH doesnt work on are just 'checksum filename'.

I'm guessing that the md5 files are not in the same directory as the files to be checked? You have a folder badhat1994-09-10 that has subfolders for each individual disc, eg d1 and d2? The md5 checksum files for each disc are both in the main folder? If so, if you moved them (the md5 checksum files) into the respective folders and then checked them with TLH, I think you'll find that they work ok.

(I think, though I'm not entirely sure, that)The asterisk acts as to tell the checksum part of TLH to also check for subdirectories that may exist in the main folder, as well as checking at the level of the main folder.

[toaster4]

Hi lintoni, thanks for your response.

All of the files are in the same directory, there are no subdirectories involved in this one.

I can probably do some screenshots later, but for now I'll just copy/paste command prompt text.

----------
D:\shnflac\badhat1994-09-10>dir

Directory of D:\shnflac\badhat1994-09-10

03/16/2010 10:17 AM <DIR> .
03/16/2010 10:17 AM <DIR> ..
06/04/2001 03:12 PM 537 badhat94-09-10.txt
03/16/2010 05:13 PM 522 badhat94-09-10d1.md5
06/01/2001 09:29 AM 9,291,581 badhat94-09-10d1t01.shn
06/01/2001 09:27 AM 57,237,065 badhat94-09-10d1t02.shn
06/01/2001 09:27 AM 38,029,605 badhat94-09-10d1t03.shn
06/01/2001 09:22 AM 34,337,337 badhat94-09-10d1t04.shn
06/01/2001 09:23 AM 17,417,285 badhat94-09-10d1t05.shn
06/01/2001 09:24 AM 52,847,225 badhat94-09-10d1t06.shn
06/01/2001 09:28 AM 41,631,473 badhat94-09-10d1t07.shn
06/01/2001 09:25 AM 20,781,517 badhat94-09-10d1t08.shn
06/01/2001 09:25 AM 24,500,565 badhat94-09-10d1t09.shn
06/01/2001 10:02 AM 406 badhat94-09-10d2.md5
06/01/2001 09:32 AM 16,303,449 badhat94-09-10d2t01.shn
06/01/2001 09:35 AM 102,499,229 badhat94-09-10d2t02.shn
06/01/2001 09:29 AM 30,203,937 badhat94-09-10d2t03.shn
06/01/2001 09:30 AM 27,614,021 badhat94-09-10d2t04.shn
06/01/2001 09:31 AM 36,921,217 badhat94-09-10d2t05.shn
06/01/2001 09:36 AM 42,521,637 badhat94-09-10d2t06.shn
06/01/2001 09:32 AM 60,340,357 badhat94-09-10d2t07.shn
19 File(s) 612,478,965 bytes
2 Dir(s) 70,231,306,240 bytes free
----------
So you can see, the *.md5 files are in the same directory as the *.shn files are.

I'm running the same md5 with both md5sum and TLH the same way, the same exact md5 file, it's just that one passes and the other doesn't. The files are good though, I know that because (to use an example) if i take a line from the md5 such as:
a673de680149885087984b512cfc46ac badhat94-09-10d2t01.shn
(which checks ok in md5sum and fails in TLH)
and change it to:
a673de680149885087984b512cfc46ac *badhat94-09-10d2t01.shn
It will check as OK in both md5sum and TLH.

Thanks again for any insight anyone has,
toaster

[roann]

@toaster4:

Do you have the latest release (v2.5.0 build 164) installed? If not, please upgrade.

There's no definite standard how a line in a md5 checksum file should look like, unfortunately. Most used is <checksum><space><asterisk><filename>. Sometimes the space is missing, sometimes '#' is used instead of '*', sometimes the asterisk is missing (to name just a few other structures around).

The asterisk is used to tell where the filename begins. If the asterisk is missing the space takes the place as delimiter. This introduces a problem: If a filename does not have any leading spaces there may be as much spaces between checksum and filename as you want. But if leading spaces in filenames are permitted, you need to specify how many spaces are used as delimiters to recognize filenames properly.

TLH assumes that leading spaces in a filename are permitted. If there is no asterisk found the first space following the md5 checksum is taken as delimiter and anything following that first space as filename. In other words: If there is more than one space between checksum and filename TLH reads a filename with at least one leading space. But if the filename on the hd does not have any leading spaces and a md5 creation tool was used that puts say five spaces between checksum and name the verification will fail.

Robert

[deadhoarse]

I'm having some issues with Trader's Little Helper on my new installation of Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit.

I installed the latest version, 2.5.0 (Build 164). The first thing I noticed is that drag and drop functionality does not work, but I can add .wav files through the "Add..." option.

After encoding is done, I get two errors:

then


At this point, TLH seems to hang, but all files have been correctly processed, and the verification file has been generated and verified successfully. Any ideas?

[roann]

(1) Drag & Drop:
Options > Preferences > Shell integration, mark Integrate TLH into Windows Explorer, press Apply, close TLH, reboot. If it still doesn't work, go to Options > Restore shell integration, close TLH, reboot.

(2) Error There isn't anything to save (process log is empty):
This comes up if you press Save and there's nothing logged (it's only coded in the procedure called when that button is pressed). When processing a task the Save button is disabled so this error message cannot be displayed.

(3) Error Cannot focus a disabled or invisible windows:
Did you try to drag/drop or add files via Windows Explorer context menu when TLH already is processing a task?

[deadhoarse]

Originally Posted by roann

(1) Drag & Drop:
Options > Preferences > Shell integration, mark Integrate TLH into Windows Explorer, press Apply, close TLH, reboot. If it still doesn't work, go to Options > Restore shell integration, close TLH, reboot.

Thanks, this did the trick for the drag and drop.

(2) Error There isn't anything to save (process log is empty):
This comes up if you press Save and there's nothing logged (it's only coded in the procedure called when that button is pressed). When processing a task the Save button is disabled so this error message cannot be displayed.

I am not hitting save when this happens. I hit encode, it encodes the files correctly, then this message pops up immediately afterwards. Here's a screenshot where you can see that no errors occurred in the processing, but this error still pops up. Also, two wierd messages appear in the files window...#source: and #post.

(3) Error Cannot focus a disabled or invisible windows:
Did you try to drag/drop or add files via Windows Explorer context menu when TLH already is processing a task?

Same with this message...after I say OK to the first error, this one pops up immediately afterwards. I didn't drag additional files to the window during processing, this error is right after the initial encoding is done.

I did try the good old reinstall as well to no avail. Thanks.

[deadhoarse]

I made a quick video of what's happening.
http://sites.google.com/site/deadhoa...Sequence01.wmv

[roann]

Originally Posted by deadhoarse

I made a quick video of what's happening...

Wow, thanks a lot! This _really_ helps since it answers all the questions I had (though you had described the issues in detail earlier).

Originally Posted by deadhoarse

... Here's a screenshot where you can see that no errors occurred in the processing, but this error still pops up. Also, two wierd messages appear in the files window...#source: and #post...

These weird messages are debug messages used during the development of v2.4.1.160 (the release before the last). Somehow I lost the notes I made when I detected this issue. I never got the debug output again on my system. And the weirdest thing is: though I searched and tested parts of the code over and over again I couldn't find the lines in code. Twilight zone...

Over the weekend (if not earlier) I'll try again to find the debug messages (should work this time with the help of your video). I hope the "undiscoverable" code lines / commands somehow are the reason for the issues you described, but we'll see...

Robert

[deadhoarse]

Originally Posted by roann

Wow, thanks a lot! This _really_ helps since it answers all the questions I had (though you had described the issues in detail earlier).

I appreciate you looking into this. Something else to note...I just installed the same version on a Windows 7 32bit Virtual Machine, and there is no issue there. It only happens on my new 64bit installation. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help test if you come up with something.

Twilight zone...

Wierd...I was reading a thread about a sale on a Twilight Zone box set when I popped open a window to check for a reply here.

[roann]

Just upped the new version 2.5.1 (build 165) (get it here, or use TLH's build-in Check for update function in the Help menu). This release fixes the issues deadhoarse had reported (see posts above; thanks again for all the details).

[deadhoarse]

Originally Posted by roann

Just upped the new version 2.5.1 (build 165) (get it here, or use TLH's build-in Check for update function in the Help menu). This release fixes the issues deadhoarse had reported (see posts above; thanks again for all the details).

The new update worked for me, thanks! The quick turnaround time on this fix was quite impressive.

Hi Folks--

I've installed trader's little helper 2.5.1 from http://tlh.easytree.org/. I'm running XP SP3 on an AMD 64 with 2GB of ram.

When I try to use TLH to convert shn>flac, it hangs indefinitely, usually on the first file. In the process log, I see, e.g., "gd84-03-28d01t05.shn: intializing......." and the stream of dots just gets longer and longer. On one occasion it converted a few files and the process showed "converting" with a steadily increasing percentage before getting stuck again at "intializing......" I've tried right-clicking on the files I want to convert in windows explorer, I've tried dragging and dropping from windows explorer, and I've tried using the "Add" button within TLH to select the files to convert, all to no avail. I've also rebooted between each attempt to convert.

Does TLH have some kind of error log so I can try to figure out what's hanging it up?

The software page warns not to "replace any of the console applications installed by the setup file with older or newer releases. This may cause Trader's Little Helper to malfunction." I haven't replaced any of them, but it is possible that the versions of FLAC and LAME I had already installed were newer than the versions TLH looks for. I can't tell from the download page which versions TLH requires.

Thanks for the help.

[roann]

Originally Posted by fogovonslack

...When I try to use TLH to convert shn>flac, it hangs indefinitely, usually on the first file. In the process log, I see, e.g., "gd84-03-28d01t05.shn: intializing......." and the stream of dots just gets longer and longer. On one occasion it converted a few files and the process showed "converting" with a steadily increasing percentage before getting stuck again at "intializing......" I've tried right-clicking on the files I want to convert in windows explorer, I've tried dragging and dropping from windows explorer, and I've tried using the "Add" button within TLH to select the files to convert, all to no avail. I've also rebooted between each attempt to convert...

Format conversion definitely works. The way files were added to the list is without influence to the conversion procedure.

Originally Posted by fogovonslack

...Does TLH have some kind of error log so I can try to figure out what's hanging it up?...

Errors are reported in the process log. If TLH hangs it cannot log anything, of course.

Originally Posted by fogovonslack

...The software page warns not to "replace any of the console applications installed by the setup file with older or newer releases. This may cause Trader's Little Helper to malfunction." I haven't replaced any of them, but it is possible that the versions of FLAC and LAME I had already installed were newer than the versions TLH looks for. I can't tell from the download page which versions TLH requires...

TLH only "sees" and uses helper files that are located in its installation folder.

Thanks for the quick reply. Any suggestions for figuring out why it's hanging up?

More information: if I open Windows Task Manager while Trader's Little Helper is initializing and kill shorten.exe, then it starts converting and soon thereafter I get the "successfully converted" message. With each new file, I get a new instance of shorten.exe, and if I kill each instance of shorten as it pops up, the file will convert.