New to empeg, need some help.

Posted by: meth222

New to empeg, need some help. - 21/08/2004 23:48

Hi everyone, I just bought a used car and it came with a RIO empeg player. I am having some problems working the emplode software on the computer. Here is the situation... I have the empeg powered on and an ethernet cable connected. When I turn on emplode, the flashlight keeps spinning and doesn't detect the player. Can someone shine some light on this problem?
Posted by: TigerJimmy

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 00:08

Make sure your empeg IP address and netmask are compatible with those on your LAN. You can determine the current IP address of the player through the About menu. You will need to either change the settings on your computer to match the player (temporarily), or connect via serial cable or USB to reset the player's ip configuration if they are not compatible.

There is an excellent FAQ that you should read in its entirety. Start with the "Networking and home connection questions" section.

Jim
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 03:22

Welcome to the community! We'll have you up and running in no time!

Unless you KNOW that DHCP is enabled on the player and you have DHCP running on your network, try connecting via USB or serial on your first try until you can configure and save your network configuration.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 04:22

You said you connected an ethernet cable, but didn't say what the other end of the cable was plugged into. If the other end of the cable is connected directly to your PC, it might simply be the wrong kind of cable. Definitely follow that link TigerJimmy gave you to the networking connections FAQ. All is explained there.
Posted by: schofiel

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 07:49

I am utterly astonished that someone has sold a player *with a car*.
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 11:37

There was an eBay listing for a Porsche 911 that included a RioCar a while back... not showing up in searches..
Posted by: meth222

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 18:18

Quote:
You said you connected an ethernet cable, but didn't say what the other end of the cable was plugged into. If the other end of the cable is connected directly to your PC, it might simply be the wrong kind of cable. Definitely follow that link TigerJimmy gave you to the networking connections FAQ. All is explained there.


I'm pretty sure the cable is right. The owner gave me the ethernet cable he used to load music. Also, the link light on the back of the player is lit when it is plugged in.
Posted by: meth222

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 18:19

Quote:
I am utterly astonished that someone has sold a player *with a car*.


What is wrong with buying a car with the player?
Posted by: andym

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 18:23

It's just that you'd get far more money selling the empeg separately than by including it in the sale of the car.
Posted by: meth222

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 18:30

Quote:
Make sure your empeg IP address and netmask are compatible with those on your LAN. You can determine the current IP address of the player through the About menu. You will need to either change the settings on your computer to match the player (temporarily), or connect via serial cable or USB to reset the player's ip configuration if they are not compatible.

There is an excellent FAQ that you should read in its entirety. Start with the "Networking and home connection questions" section.

Jim



Can you please elaborate on where the "about" menu is and how I can temporarily match my computer's settings? I just tried using jemplode and it actually detected the player. After I clicked OK, a message would pop up and say, "Unable to open connection to device. Failed to connect to the specified device. Please verify the device's IP address." Oh and thanks for the link.
Posted by: meth222

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 18:31

Well I had to pay extra for the player
Posted by: mtempsch

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 18:53

The About menu is one of the first layer menu entries on the empeg. Press the Down button to get to the first layer, the left or right until you highlight the About entry, the Down to enter the About screen.

Just cause the cable worked for the previous owner doesn't mean he had the same [network] setup as you. If he connected through a hub/switch he most likely used a straight ethernet wire, but for a a direct computer to empeg connection you need a cross-over ethernet wire...
Posted by: meth222

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 19:02

I have cable modem connected to a hub. Is there an easier way to connect the player to the hub and my computer to the hub? I still can't get the connection up.
Posted by: schofiel

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 19:41

I'd just get a USB cable sorted out and connect with that first to sort out the ethernet addressing. You'll need to set up emplode to do this via the options button on the connect dialogue that pops up while emplode is trying to connect to a player.

If you pop up the "About" menu choice on the player, you will see what IP address and subnet mask the player expects to be on. If this is different to your network address range, unless you set up a static route pointing to the address your PC will have no way to reach it. Likewise, there will be no return route to the PC that the player knows of. You are better getting them onto the same subnet: USB and player config from emplode is the quickest way to do this.
Posted by: mtempsch

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 20:06

As Rob says, getting it working with USB first is probably a good idea - though on XP you can have some problems with that as well (should be well documented in the FAQ though).

If you have both the computer and cable modem plugged into the hub, you should just need to plug the empeg into the hub with a straight ethernet wire (normally you can check, through the transparent top of the plug, that the wire colors are in the same order in both plugs when you line them up next to each other).

With that settled you need to get the empeg and computer talking on the same subnet, using similar but different IP-addressen. Do you use internal DHCP (dynamically assigned IP addresses), internal static addresses or does your computer get its address from your ISP (ie gets a IP number that is directly accessible from the internet?) Do you have more units connected to teh hub than the cabke modem and the PC you use to [try to] talk to the empeg?

Try Start -> Run -> "cmd" (or "command" depending on Windows version). Then type "ipconfig" (without the qoutes) into the command window and hit enter. Post the output here. Also post the IP-address and subnet mask you get from the empegs About menu.
Posted by: meth222

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 21:33

I am using Windows XP. The eth0 IP for the player is 192.168.1.2 and the eth0 DHCP is 255.255.255.255. The IP for my computer is 192.168.0.179 and subnet mask is 255.255.255.0.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 21:50

Quote:
The eth0 IP for the player is 192.168.1.2 and the eth0 DHCP is 255.255.255.255. The IP for my computer is 192.168.0.179 and subnet mask is 255.255.255.0.

Aha. That's the problem.

192.168.1.2 (player)
192.168.0.179 (computer)

The player and the PC are on two different subnets.

Change the player to 0 or the PC to 1, and they'll start talking.
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 22:13

Quote:
you will see what IP address and subnet mask the player expects to be on


"About" only shows the IP address and one other thing (gateway or DHCP server?). It doesn't show the Subnet Mask. I asked in "Wish Lists" for it to be added though.
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 22:14

This will all seem so simple once it's sorted out!
Posted by: meth222

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 23:24

Quote:

Change the player to 0 or the PC to 1, and they'll start talking.


Yes, this is what I have been trying to do for a long time... HOW do you change it??
Posted by: tman

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 23:26

Plug the empeg in via serial or USB and run Emplode. It's in the settings.
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 22/08/2004 23:28

The only way to change those settings on the player is to first connect to it via USB or a Serial cable. Once you've connected, you can change the network settings of the empeg in either "Preferences" or "Settings".
Posted by: meth222

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 23/08/2004 15:36

Ok I got it to work with the USB. Now I have gone into File, Configure Player, to try to change the IP for Player but it still doesn't work with the ethernet. Also, the player keeps freezing everytime I try to synchronize. Is there a reason why?
Posted by: pgrzelak

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 23/08/2004 15:40

Where does it freeze? I suspect that it might be doing a disk check, and that can take a while depending on what kind of drives (capacity) are in it.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 23/08/2004 16:21

Quote:
Ok I got it to work with the USB. Now I have gone into File, Configure Player, to try to change the IP for Player but it still doesn't work with the ethernet.

Please be specific and explain what you mean when you say "it still doesn't work".

With the USB cable connected, after exiting emplode and restarting it, are the new player IP address settings correct, or did they seem to revert back to their old settings? If they reverted back to their old settings, we're talking disk problems, such as a the synch not working and the config.ini file isn't getting written properly.

If the new player IP address settings are correct (the settings "took"), but the player still isn't being found on ethernet, then we're back to checking the cable type. Did you ever go and read this and this? If not, please do so now, read them carefully, because your problems is likely one of the ones listed there.

What are the IP address and netmask of the player and the PC now, after you made the change?

Can you ping the player from a command prompt?
ping 192.168.0.2

Is there another device on your network that already has the address .2?
Posted by: wfaulk

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 23/08/2004 16:46

Also, does it sync properly over USB? I know the IP stuff was changed, but how about trying the same sort of activity being attempted over Ethernet?
Posted by: meth222

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 23/08/2004 17:45

Ok... I am very frustrated.

First of all, the USB connection is very shaky. When I open emplode it would only read my player 1/4 of the time. Sometimes, it would say "there doesn't appear to be a device connected." Sometimes, the flashlight would just keep spinning and not detect anything. I have to keep connecting the player and power switches and restarting my computer just to get connected into the player.

Next problem, when I sychronize, it would do everything until it reaches the last step (restarting player) then freeze and the Windows Send Report thing would pop up. After I get rid of that, the emplode would just disappear and I would have to return to my first problem.

Problem 3: The really really sad part is... sometimes it wouldn't even sychronize and the player would freeze right when I hit sychronize. This just forces me to sychronize even more so I won't lose all my work. Again, the windows send report pops up and emplode closes itself... Repeat to problem 1.

I'm thinking about using the ethernet connection but I want to get this straightened out before I move on.
Posted by: schofiel

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 23/08/2004 17:51

You are running XP from what you are saying (Windows Report) and the symptoms you describe sound like you are using the wrong USB driver for the machine. You need to read the FAQ to find out the correct driver, remove the old one, install the correct one, reboot, try again.

Also, you are not being very clear about how you report your ethernet problems. I still can't tell if you are using a crossed, or straight, cable to your player. I also have not got a clear picture of the networking hardware setup you are using. It might be an idea to loose the frustration (we are trying to help), repeat your description of the problem (keep it simple and don't worry about upsetting people or thinking you sound silly) and then let us run a round of questions past you. I still think you are using a cross cable and I am not clear that your ethernet settings on your PC are correct.

Please help us to help you - we can't see your machine, can't use the keyboard and mouse, so forth. You are the eyes and ears. Without your help, we can't help you at all
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 23/08/2004 18:01

I didn't see this covered yet (unless I skimmed over it), but are you using version 2.00final for both emplode AND on the car player?
Posted by: Phoenix42

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 23/08/2004 18:33

If you let us know where you are maybe some one can drop over and provide you with a more direct helping hand.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 23/08/2004 19:32

Quote:
First of all, the USB connection is very shaky.

Like Rob said, that might simply be the wrong USB driver. The exact issue with the USB driver is described in more detail here. Please have a peek at that and see if that's your problem with the USB connection.

Also, I agree with the question about the software version... We forgot to ask if you were using 2.0 on both the player and on the PC. Please check that. Both the player and Emplode need to be running version 2.0 final.

Although I applaud your persistence in trying to get ethernet to work. Once you get it working, it's the best way to connect to the player because you can do some very cool things with it.

Also... Do you have a proper serial cable? Perhaps you can temporarily abandon USB and use the serial cable to configure the player and re-install the player software version 2.0. Maybe that's all it needs to get ethernet working?
Posted by: meth222

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 23/08/2004 20:08

Quote:
I didn't see this covered yet (unless I skimmed over it), but are you using version 2.00final for both emplode AND on the car player?


Yes I am.
Posted by: meth222

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 23/08/2004 20:09

Quote:
If you let us know where you are maybe some one can drop over and provide you with a more direct helping hand.


Bloomington, Indiana. But if anything, I'll drop over someone else's place to get it working.
Posted by: tfabris

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 23/08/2004 20:58

Quote:
Yes I am.

And did you hand-install the USB driver as described in the 2.0-final release notes?
Posted by: LTJBukem

Re: New to empeg, need some help. - 24/08/2004 05:39

Is the Router pushing IP addresses ? (DHCP). Can you go in via USB and set the empeg to automatically get an IP Address ?

Then use network broadcast within Emplode to pick up the player.