[SOLVED] Unit locks when makiing playlist.

Is there a way to import playlists from itunes, etc.?

@Vic > Have you rebuilt the library either via the software or player directly recently?

I am not sure what you mean.  I have deleted songs from playlists and renamed playlists, but I have not beenable to add any new songs.  I have also had issues, (like others) with the hard drives I have been using.  I am constantly adding to the hard drive library and updating via the computer.  Is there a way to import playlists?

On the player itself (or through the downloadable software) you can create / update the library.  If you're having problems with that, you may consider deleting the hidden Pioneer folder from the drive and building a new library.

You can create PLS (or is it M3U?) playlists and the MEP will load those -- they aren't loaded via the PLAYLIST menu but rather as a song in standard navigation.

I am always updating the library through the software.  My problem is trying to update playlists on the unit itself.  The whole system locks when I do this.

Make a copy of the Pioneer folder (to another drive), then delete it, rebuild the library with the software and then try and make a playlist on the unit.

OK, I will try this. Thanks.

OK, I deleted the Pioneer file, updated the hard drive library, defragmented the drive, then I re-indexed the library from my main computer.  The unit still locks when I initially enter a song to be put in a playlist.  I still have the names of the different play lists showing on the unit but it won't let me add or make any new lists.  I have two huge gigs in the next two weeks and a play list would certainly help.  The unit software is 2.02.  Are there any new software updates?

Vic, if I had to guess, I would think that one or more of the song files you are trying to put into the playlist are encoded in a manner the MEP doesn't like. I would try putting different song files into the same playlist to see if they are more reliable. You might even try transcoding the song files to a different format, then adding them into the playlist. We have had the best success with AIFs (although they will take up 10x the space on your HD).

It is my belief that the MEP is incredibly picky/sensitive to MP3s, AACs, etc. that if finds to be encoded poorly or just simply non-standard.

Woodman

Thanks for the suggestion Woodman.  I didn't have any problems making multiple playlists a year ago.  I still have the playlist names on the unit.  After playing songs for about an hour last night, I was finally able add a song to a playlist when I switched the hard drive to the rear USB.  I should have tried to make the entire list then.  Today when I tried again, the same old system freeze happened again.  I love the unit other than the very bothersome playlist/hard drive issues.

@Vic > I'm with Woodster in that it's likely a bad song, especially if you can replicate the issue with the same song every time.  Could you possibly post that track here for me to inspect?

One other test you can do, Vic, is to grab a USB flash drive, put a few files on it, including the ones with which you are having difficulty, then try making a playlist with this as your source. At the very least, this will narrow down whether it's the song file (MP3) or the hard drive. We employ many MEP-7000s in our multi-op business, and we exclusively use 128GB flash drives as the source. We simply couldn't get hard drives to be reliable 100% of the time, while we never see the unit freeze with the flash media.

Well, it has been a while since I posted on this subject, but I have found that using small flash drives have caused no freezing/lockup issues.  This still leaves me with the problem of having all the archived files on a 1TB hard drive that will still cause these issues to occur.  What is the latest firmware update?  I see there is supposed to be a 2.03 but I can't find it anywhere.  Until the price of solid state memory comes down this unit is still unreliable with conventional hard drives.

@Vic Man Do > You can find the latest firmware here: http://pioneerdj.com/support/product.php?c=563&lang=en&p=MEP-7000&t=105