Zlurp!® version 1.9.4 Still tweaking... Copyright ©1999-2005 Hatman, Inc. All Rights Reserved --------------------------- Congratulations! You have downloaded what is becoming the DEFINITIVE CD Rip/Tag/Encode audio tool, Zlurp! Still need to help out the help. Going to make an effort to get 'r done this summer. Features implemented as of: May 22, 2005 More EXTended info tweaking. I can see that this is going to be a moving target! ;-) Aug 15, 2004 The site for EXTended info made a format change, so I needed to update getting the info. Also took another look at WAV to MP3. Had some problems there that needed to be addressed. Thank you for your patience with me putting out new versions. It continues to be a challenge to work on Zlurp! Feb 8, 2004 Well, fixed one problem and caused another! Fixed the "outta Space" error for lots of free space, but broke the space check for when you don't have much free space. So...here's the fix for THAT! D'oh! Jan 28, 2004 More testing testing! Your help has made all the difference in getting this next version out. Thank you and keep up the good work! Moo team! ;-) Still having some installation goofiness at times. I am working on that. If you have had any trouble, many people have had success by starting in safe mode and installing Zlurp then. There must be some software running on a regular boot that is interfering with Zlurp getting info about your CD rom drives. Fixed many problems that getting EXTended info was causing behind the scenes. And heaven help you if you were trying to find EXT info where the album name was the same as the artist name! But that is all good now. One other intermittent bug is that occasionally Zlurp will go south when it is writing out a tag at the end of ripping a song. I haven't been able to catch this in the act yet to debug, but I haven't given up. Sep 29, 2003 Testing testing! First pass at Win2000/XP support. Don't expect the world on a platter! (but it would be nice!) Will be putting this 1.9 version out for bug testing for a while, then will make any fixes and put out a solid 2.0 version. So far there has been some goofiness seen on Win2000. It seems to be connected to the first time Zlurp! is fired up. So before you give up, go in and check the settings, hit apply, quit out and start Zlurp! again. Things should work better. I don't have a Win2K system set up yet to do my own testing, so you will have to bear with me until I get it set up. Zlurping on Win 98 should still work ok, but 98 bug testing obviously will not be the main focus at this point. No going back now! Put in a couple of Zlurper requests! - Use Genre as an output directory - Force track name to all upper or lower case Any other requests, get 'em in! :-) EXTended info support is back! I'm planning on a little more tweaking. If you have a disc that it can't find info on, drop me a note and tell me what it was. I only have so many CDs to test with! ;-) Jan 29, 2003 Hello my patient Zlurpers! Good news - I've taken out the expiration date. Now you will always have a fully working cow. To automatically check for a new version when you fire Zlurp up, go to the General Settings and check the "Notify of Zlurp Update". There have been a few large changes in the outside world since I've done major work on Zlurp! CDDB has gone away. Bye bye! I had some fundamental differences with the CDDB˛ people's philosophy, so Zlurp will be using the freeDB database exclusively. I have some more testing to do on that code, so please let me know if there are any problems finding your CD's track names. The other main issue is that CDNow was bought by Amazon.com. Zlurp would get EXTended info from them. I've switched to using CDUniverse, but the interface isn't quite finished. Rats! But I figured all you loyal Zlurp fans would want a working Zlurp as soon as possible. So, EXTended info is temporarily disabled. The next goals are: Version 1.3 will have EXTended info back. Version 2.0 will have Win2000/WinXP support! Yay! Finally, I had to redo the installer from scratch because that was Chuck's task. Please let me know if there are any install problems -> ilana@hatman.com =============================================================================== Jan 1, 2002 Another Happy Happy New Year is upon us. Unbelievable! Inconceiveable! We are at least getting organized to start the next Zlurp! improvements. Making a list from all your comments, problems, suggestions, and will be attacking them as soon as humanly possible. One of the top priorities is making Zlurp! Win2000 and Win XP compatible. So hang on! Jan 1, 2001 Happy New Year friends of Zlurp! Things have not gone as planned with the new version, but we certainly don't want to leave you with an expired Zlurp! So we are releasing another extension. We are facing a major deadline for our "day" job, and unfortunately, sleeping has suddenly taken top priority over Zlurp development. We hope you understand and stay patient, because we have far from given up on finishing Zlurp! Oct 17, 2000 This version is mainly an extension on the expiration. We've looked into a bug in the installer which was actually causing quite a few problems! In fact, it would be a good idea to uninstall a previous version, and then do a fresh install of 1.2.9. If you want to keep your settings, back up the zlurp.ini file, and rename it back to zlurp.ini after the install, and you won't lose your preferences. Not going to make any promises, but all our Zlurp! fans should be looking for a nice Christmas present this year. (What could it be? A great new version? Oooo...I can hardly wait!) :>) July 29, 2000 Lots of fixes and treats! Your input has been invaluable in hunting down Zlurp! problems. We would like to say THANK YOU THANK YOU to all who have taken the time and trouble to tell us about any Zlurp! snarls!!! Display Art bug has been attacked and hopefully annihilated. When internet access is disabled, you will be able to rip all the odd tracks now, instead of just 4. Biggest new feature - WAV tagging. Allows you to tag a WAV file as it's created. Then you can convert a batch of WAVs to MP3, and the tag info will be there! This version just tags ID3v1. Will try to get ID3v2 in next time. Batch WAV to encode is in. Thanks to Jim Atkinson of 3WK Underground Radio for all his wonderful suggestions and bug testing! Apr. 30, 2000 Added ability to store tag art as either JPG or PNG format. Fixed for good (I hope!) an ID3v2 tag art bug. Just a quick update this time. Wanted to get a clean ID3v2 tag version out! ========================================================================================== Apr. 16, 2000 So, here comes ZLURP! 1.2 BLAZING SPEED! Try using the new GOGO-no-coda v2.30. You will be amazed! Concentrated on improving getting CD info. In the regular release there are now 2 sources to get CD info - the original CDDB, and freeDB.org. You can also automatically check the other source if the disc wasn't found. And CD Info Submit is implemented. Now you can fix that annoying typo from CDDB! * Blade dll support (version 0.91) * GOGO-no-code dll support (version 2.30) * LAME dll support (version 0.70) * LAME dll support (version 0.80alpha) * Certified FREEDB.ORG CDDB(TM) Compatible * Certified Escient ® CDDB(TM) Compatible CDDB˛ support is mostly in. We are only allowed to have a max of 100 beta testers until the final release of Zlurp! If you want to help test CDDB˛, send a request to: hatman@hatman.com or select CDDB˛ as the CD Info Source on the General Settings page to register as a CDDB˛ beta tester! THANKS! Much improvement of the WAV to Encode feature. Had some bugs to squash. ========================================================================================== Feb. 15, 2000 BUG FIX:Finally fix that nasty "THEME" bug. We have forced a FIXED font in the tool bar. No more check boxes running amuck! * Added and upgraded all the encoders, ZLURP! now supports: * BLADE 0.91 (EXTERNAL/DLL) * GOGO-no-coda ver 2.25 (EXTERNALDLL) * FAAC 0.61 (EXTERNAL) * L.A.M.E. 3.60beta (EXTERNAL/DLL) * Plugger+ .04 (EXTERNAL) * Windows Media Audio 4.0 (DLL) * XING's TOMPG 1.5 (EXTERNAL) * XING 3.0 (EXTERNAL/DLL) Added display the DLL versions in the MAIN screen. If you would like to try any of the other encoders, you can download them from our ftp site: ftp.zlurp.com/exe ftp.zlurp.com/dll ========================================================================================== Jan. 18, 2000 Added ability to turn off album display for slower machines. The art will still be saved if desired, but things won't s l o w d o w n! Back by popular demand...the minimize button. Reorganized the output folders. The WAV and ENCODED folders are now both placed inside the new OUTPUT folder. Makes things a bit tidier. Can now automatically create a Winamp playlist for each ripped/encoded disc. Look for the checkbox on the WAV/MP3/ENC settings. Made it easier to choose which ID3 tagging you prefer. Just check or uncheck the boxes on the toolbar. First pass at the ever useful Help file is in. Added a few (hopefully) useful things to the help menu - instant access to the readme file, and the Zlurp! home page. ******> First Alpha version for the Mac is almost ready to preview. You can read the table of contents from the CD, and take a look at how the interface is shaping up. Next line of attack is to get MacLame up and running! ========================================================================================== Dec. 6, 1999 Pretty cover art! If you enable CD Now as the EXTended data source, Zlurp! will attempt to download cover art that can be saved and/or used in the ID3v2 tag. Speaking of ID3v2 tags... Have added a few new fields, mainly the album cover art. Have forced my tags to be version 2.2 even though I have v2.3 capability because there isn't anything out that will read v2.3 yet! The best ID3v2 tag editor we have found so far is ID3v2 Tag Editor beta 4. Download it at http://www.audioxl.com/id3v2/ E-mail James Webb to beg him to work on it again! ========================================================================================== Nov. 14, 1999 CDDB check for server problems, and switch servers if necessary. Downloading for updating genres, labels, and LAME encoder with version checking. Careful with this if you add a lot of your own labels to the label list - this feature currently overwrites the file. Have to put in a merge still! Sick Zlurp programmer + Webnoize convention = not a lot of new stuff this time! ========================================================================================== Oct. 31, 1999 Big news - wanna hear the good news first, or the bad?! Good news - Normalization is in...WAY in. Normalizing is completely on-the-fly. No "must make a WAV first" for you my good Zlurp! users! Bad news - After some investigation it has been determined that AudioCatalyst by itself does not install the necessary DLLs to allow Zlurp! to encode with Xing speed. You HAVE to buy XingMP3 Encoder 1.5 to take advantage of their encoder. On the other hand, the LAME encoder is really not too shabby itself! WMA on-the-fly is fully in. Use of External Encoder has been improved. The new method should now support any command line format. If your encoder still doesn't work, please let us know! (you'll get a big green mention in the newsletter!) ID3v2 Tag coming along in baby steps. Have a micro version of the complete tag. Auto Insert Notification has been tamed. You won't have to keep killing your CD player every time you insert a new disc. Add new labels that aren't on the label list. Add all your obscure Indies! ========================================================================================== Oct. 18, 1999 Started the optimization process... We would LOVE to hear how much faster it is on YOUR system! * SUPER FAST RIPPING! ZLURP! is now 150% FASTER! * Now supports Windows Media Audio (WMA) Must create a WAV first. Hope to get on-the-fly and complete tagging in next build. Changed the "Select All Tracks At Start" feature to default to none. The Xing Encoder installed from AudioCatalyst is not working. Currently, the only Xing Encoder behaving itself is the XingMP3 Encoder 1.5. This should be fixed by the next build. ========================================================================================== Oct. 14, 1999 ZLURP! is being bundled with the JAZPIPER portable MP3 player. Check them out at http://www.jazpiper.nl/en_nn/index3.htm ========================================================================================== Oct. 13, 1999 Support for multiple CD-Rom drives is fully enabled. Up to 8 CD-Roms in one computer are allowed. (overkill for now, but who knows what the future may bring!) Better checking for encoder module and disc availability. Installation program. (way to go Chuck!) ========================================================================================== Oct. 10, 1999 Limited working off-line is allowed. A compromise solution has been implemented. If you are off-line, or the version has expired you will be allowed to work with 4 tracks. Warning Will Robinson...The off-line section has not been fully tested yet. Asking before overwriting existing files is in! Selecting all or no tracks at start is also in! ========================================================================================== Oct. 7, 1999 Zlurp! version of the LAME DLL. From this build on, you will need to use the Zlurp! version of the LAME DLL, named LAMEenc.dll. It can be downloaded from www.zlurp.com. This is to ensure that there will always be a compatible version of LAME for Zlurp! Check for Update - let Zlurp! tell you when a new version is available. Default settings for the rip/encode page. Defaults are on a per-encoder basis. ========================================================================================== Oct. 3, 1999 External Encoder support is implemented. This adds unlimited flexibility to the encoding process. Browse for your program, then type the arguments to be passed and the file extension. Remember, it's not limited to MP3s! First pass at Encoding WAV files. For now, you can only do one file at a time, and you must use Xing or an external encoder. Blade and LAME were not cooperating! Soon you will be able to do batch encodes. ========================================================================================== Sept. 19, 1999 New encoder is in - LAME! LAME is faster then Blade, and is also FREE! QuickSet is finished - name your track, put it here, and GO! Artist Web Page is working the way I had intended it to. Use it to see what other discs are availbale from the artist, or to shop around for the best price on a disc. Save Web Info now only applies to CDDB info. Use artist and/or album name as an output directory is implemented. Great for keeping your files organized! ========================================================================================== Sept. 12, 1999 CDNow is in as an alternate EXTended data source. Toolbar is finalized. 2Clicks2Play - after a song is encoded, can double click on song name and user selected player is launched. If both a WAV and MP3 are selected 2Clicks2Play will default to playing the MP3. Artist Web Page - EXTended data and Save Web Info must be enabled for this feature. After clicking Get Info, you can click the Artist button, and the artist page downloaded from the EXTended data site is launched in your default browser. Next rev will launch actual site page. More work on the progress indicator - added cancel. (always a nice option!) QuickSet pick music directory is functional - the track name is not quite ready. Added Zlurp! update and beta tester e-mail registration form. ========================================================================================== Aug. 31, 1999 Encoding MP3 on the fly for both Xing and Blade Better download progress indicator Can disable saving Artist/Album web pages Sound cues (NOTE: these sounds are placeholders, and will be updated to Zlurpy sounds! You can replace these with any sounds you like as long as they are renamed to the existing sound names.) ========================================================================================== Aug. 22, 1999 Downloading Info from CDDB Downloading EXTended Info from CD Universe Saving Artist/Album Web pages (NOTE: cannot turn this OFF yet!) Support for multiple CD-Roms Lockable CD drawer Eject disc when finished Multimedia Disc Offset (what is this? see troubleshooting below!) User selectable output paths User formatted file names, and default reset Adjustable jitter control Blade encoder module (NOTE: default reset is NOT in yet!) Xing encoder module (NOTE: default reset is NOT in yet!) ID3v1 Tagging Atapi ripping ========================================================================================== Features that are coming right along: ========================================================================================== Apr. 16, 2000 Finishing up CDDB˛ - mostly the submit. Next priority is to lock down the ID3v2 tag. Get it rock solid and playing well with others, like MusicMatch and ID3v2Tagger. Giving the EXTended data retrieval a once over. ========================================================================================== Jan. 18, 2000 User manual/help is coming right along and remaining a top priority. Very close to getting decode from MP3 back to WAV in. Missed it by this much! Still mucking with the Mac. ========================================================================================== Dec. 6, 1999 Getting ready to roll out the sale of our spiffy Zlurp! t-shirts and hats. We will probably be selling mugs and mousepads as well to complete the Zlurpification of your Zlurping environment! New version of LAME and the GOGO encoder will be next on the list. Working on the user manual. Going to put back the minimize button - had one a while ago, lost it, now will put it back. Had many requests, and we aim to please! Much work done on the Mac flavor. ========================================================================================== Nov. 14, 1999 Album art display. Want to automatically download album cover art to save and use in the ID3v2 tag. Lots of odds and ends to catch up on too! ========================================================================================== Oct. 31, 1999 Still working on tagging - ID3v2 and WMA. Starting the very very preliminary work on the Mac version of Zlurp! Also starting to think about a manual. It will most likely be html. I like the graphic and interactive nature of that format! ========================================================================================== Oct. 13, 1999 The LAME encoder dev team has been adding a lot of nice features. Work will begin on adding VBR encoding and encoding from a WAV. Started to optimize compiling for speed. ========================================================================================== Oct. 10, 1999 Almost had a limited ID3v2 pass in, but Do'h! ========================================================================================== Oct. 3, 1999 Still playing catch up. Concentrating on Encoding WAV functionality. We've had may e-mails requesting a MAC version of Zlurp! So I'm evaluating the port situation. ========================================================================================== Sept. 19, 1999 Trying not to bite off too much at once...will work on catching up with all the features in progress before starting anew. ========================================================================================== Sept. 12, 1999 Attempting to better support SCSI CD-roms Fix multiple CD-rom selection so don't have to restart Zlurp! for changes to take effect Adding CD Now as an EXTended data source Adding more encoders - LAME and Plugger! ========================================================================================== Aug. 31, 1999 * 2Clicks2Play - after a song is encoded, you will be able to double click on it in the list window, and it will launch your preferred player! * Sound cues * Encoding WAVs * Decoding MP3s ========================================================================================== Aug. 22, 1999 * Update of Genre, Label, CD-Rom lists * Artist/Album Directories * Normalization * ID3v2 Tagging * Xing encoding on-the-fly (currently makes a WAV first!) * Kick off artist web page * Submit new CD data to CDDB ========================================================================================== Troubleshooting: One nasty known bug...working to squash as I type! If you click the mouse on the displayed album art, either the main display, or the ID3v2 tag display, Zlurp! will freeze. The program is not dead, just frozen! To revive the poor cow, open or move any window so it briefly covers the album display. Zlurp! will be back to normal. If you suddenly seem to have lost your settings, there may have been a problem, or you have started a new version. In either case, the .INI file will have been reset to the defaults. If Zlurp will not rip, check to see if you need to update your ASPI drivers. How to do this is posted at www.zlurp.com. SCSI CD-roms are not supported yet. Zlurp may work...then again, it may not. It depends on the CD-rom. If Zlurp rips, but does not encode, check that you have downloaded the Blade DLL, LAME DLL, or have purchased XingMP3 Encoder 1.5. Again, more info about this can be found at www.zlurp.com. Multimedia Discs present special problems to rippers. Usually, the last track before the multimedia data will not rip correctly. there is an adjustment in Zlurp - the Multimedia Disc Offset - that will allow the last track to be ripped. Every CD-rom is a little different, so it may take a few passes to set the Offset optimally. The default is 150. The higher the number, the more you are shaving off the end of the last track in order to differentiate it from the data that follows. This setting is on a CD-rom basis, and does not have to be reset for each disc. If you've ripped or encoded or downloaded something, and you can't find it, check your output paths in the Input/Output Settings. If the directory doesn't exist, file creations will fail. This situation will soon fire off an error message! Getting EXTended info failure does not always mean that the info doesn't exist. It usually means that the function couldn't make a match between the Zlurp! album name and the album name on the EXTended data site. A better name matching algorithm is being developed. Have had a few random crashes at start up. Signs point to possibly a problem with the installed sound drivers playing a Zlurpy sound. Try several times to get Zlurp! to start. If it starts, go to the General Settings and disable the Sound Cues, hit the Apply button. If you can't get Zlurp! started, open the zlurp.ini file from the ini folder with Notepad. Look for the lines: [misc] EnableSound=T and change it to: [misc] EnableSound=F Save the file and exit Notepad. Known Bugs: Unfortunately there are a couple of bugs that I haven't had the time to devote to squashing. Some involve other people's code, which always takes longer to fix! Display window bug - if you click your mouse in the album display window when it is displaying art, the Zlurp! window will freeze. To get back the focus, open another window over the album display window. Zlurp! will be back to normal! GOGO encoder bugs - GOGO will not encode a song shorter than 40 sec. It will crash! Also, if you are encoding several songs, you can not let another window cover the Zlurp! window. The change in focus causes GOGO to crash. This is one of those "other people's" code situations! LAME encoder bug - when using the internal DLL, some of the settings do not work correctly. Most notably the MONO settings. If you want MONO files, use the LAME.exe as an external encoder, and it works perfectly! This is another of the "other people's" code problems.