No FLAC Compression

[Jai]

This morning I uploaded 196 tracks using a memory stick via "Import From USB C" 

However when I tried to compress these tracks to FLAC, the red light flashed for about 5 secs before going into Standby mode. Made multiple attempts to compress & Scan Disc with same result. Also tried rebooting & switching unit off & then on again. As seen from the statistics below, I previously had no such issue compressing 2,662 tracks to FLAC. Compression Mode has always been FLAC.

The front display (eg IP address, time, etc), WebUI on both PC & Android app as well as controls all work fine.

Would appreciate any help I can get.

Software Version B2B Mar 1 2021 10:25:35

2858 tracks in 39 albums 12 artists

196 WAV 2662 FLAC 0 MP3 0AAC

Capacity 2000.00G Used 89.42Gb

USB 0 tracks in 0 albums 0 artists

0 Youtubes

Compression Mode - FLAC

Source: Hard Disc

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Hi Jai.

When you have the USB you used for the import mounted on your PC or Mac, what does your file structure look like? and are there any strange (& \ ") characters in the file names.

Fred

[PMB]

Hi Jai,

What format are the files on the USB Stick? If they are already FLAC, MP3 or AAC/ALAC then the B2 will not try to re-compress them. It will only compress WAV files.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[PMB]

Hi Jai,

Sorry didn't read your post correctly - you are referring to the 197 WAV files shown in the Stats.

On the B2 unit -

Use the front control to navigate to 'Compress Now' - don't select it yet

On the web UI -

Open Settings - click on the COG icon

Click on the 'Spanner - to open the debug monitor

Click on 'Clear'

On the B2 -

Select 'Compress Now' - click the control.

The debug monitor will show which track it is attempting to compress. Make a note and then delete that track (it's usually better to delete the complete Album in case it was a bad rip). Try Compress Now again.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Jai]

Hi Fred

I have used  & '  with no problems to FLAC compression previously. 

Could it be that having too many characters (about 90) per track be a problem ?

Perhaps I could try importing another compilation of tracks with less characters & see how it goes ?

[fred.w....@gmail.com]

Sorry Jai,

Those were from memory with a bit more research I think the 'reserved' (special) characters may be  / \ [ ] * ? ` @ " (there are others, but these will be the main ones).

There may be a limit on the length of a file name at 170 characters (I see from the forum up to 102 is OK)

Also these are the compression related threads on this forum - you may get ideas reading them.

https://groups.google.com/g/brennanb2?label=Compression

Fred

[Jai]

Thank you Paul. I have attached a screenshot of the Debug screen.

Does it look like a file length/characters problem ?

I can still play these tracks though in WAV format, so it is not a problem for me.

My other compilations have shorter file lengths/characters which I hope the B2 will compress.

Cheers ! 

[Jai]

Many thanks Fred.

Looks like its a file length issue like you say ! 

I will look into the other threads which you so kindly provided.

Cheers !

[PMB]

Hi Jai,

It looks like the B2 doesn't like that Deep Purple recording so try deleting it and see if compression works again.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Jai]

Thanks for your advice Paul when the B2 wouldn't compress WAV to FLAC.

As you suggested:

On the B2 unit -

Use the front control to navigate to 'Compress Now' - but don't select anything yet

On the web UI -

Open Settings - click on the COG icon

Click on the 'Spanner' - to open the debug monitor

Here I found all those tracks which appeared to block other uploaded tracks down the line from compression.

I deleted the recently imported Deep Purple compilation but the problem still persisted.

So I deleted the top 20 of these suspected tracks on the Debug list, then replaced them with copies from my Ext HDD backup to memory stick & then onto "Import From USB C" to B2

Then performed 'Compress Now' & this time compression took place !

The Debug list now didn't display the problem tracks which I had deleted but there were many others which I will delete later as above procedure

Many thanks Paul, Fred & all for their valuable contributions !

[PMB]

Hi Jai,

That's good news, thanks for letting us know.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Jai]

My B2 now does not do any Flac compression

On the web UI - Opened Settings - clicked on the COG icon

Clicked on the 'Spanner' - to open the debug monitor

Found 164 WAV 2662 FLAC 0 MP3 0AAC

Here I found all those WAV tracks which I then deleted, did Scan Disc, then made another copy to memory stick & imported via USB C.

Did "Save" then "Compress Now" ~ red light blinks a few secs before returning to standby.

No change.

Finally decided to get freeware called fre:ac audio converter:

https://www.freac.org/downloads-mainmenu-33/350-freac-114

Dragged the whole folder of WAV tracks to audio converter which then converted them to Flac instantly !

Copied the FLAC folder to memory stick & imported via USB C.

Voila ~ problem solved !

This method was much better as B2 takes a longer time to convert to Flac than this audio converter.

Hope this helps others with Flac compression problems

[PMB]

HI Jai,

Glad you found a workaround. Not sure why the B2 wouldn't compress the tracks and 'freac' did.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Jai]

Yes, it is strange. 

Wonder if FLAC compression problem is due to some 16-bit files being mixed with 32-bit files ? 

On fre:ac the different bit files were separate but still compressed to FLAC.

I later renamed them according to my original folder sequence

[PMB]

Hi Jai,

There was a software update (quite some time ago) that included 'do not compress 24 bit' so that may explain why those files wouldn't compress.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Jai]

Hi Paul

            Just wondering, if the compression problem was due to the software update, how come other users didn't have the same problem ?  Also I had no such problem before FEB 2021. 

             Anyhow,  I'm quite happy compressing through fre:ac convertor to FLAC & then uploading to the B2 as its much faster.

Many thanks for your input though.

Cheers !