NEW B2 USER: NO CDDB AND NO GET TRACK NAMES (AMAZON)

[Kin Lin Cleak]

Hello

I have a B2 and have set everything up, ripping all going okay but none of the CDs are being named.  I have thousands of CDs to rip and so this is a worry, having tried over the last few weeks.  

I have read and applied the suggestions: 'Update Software / Web Upgrade' and the 'Settings/Maintenance/GetMyDB'.

I also looked for the 'Get Track Names (Amazon).  

This is said to appear when you click three dots next to an album name but I never see this option when I click the three dots.

The three dots are there but they only show the 'Get Art (MusicBrainz)' or 'Get Art (Amazon)'.  Cover art appears and transferring perfectly to my ripped CDs.

I work at GOSH NHS and I am brand new to Brennan.  I really wish there was a telephone number or some help as time is just not available to 'rename' every album and track in manually.

Thank you everyone..

[Daniel Taylor]

'Get Track Names (Amazon) is no longer available, because Amazon discontinued providing track names.  It is something that Brennan has no control over.

The normal track lookup should work.  The first thing that comes to mind is to wonder if you've connected your B2 to the internet, but I see that you've been able to do a Web Upgrade.  However, I wonder if your WiFi signal strength might be in sufficient.  Check it using WiFi Strength in the Maintenance menu.  Your signal strength should be at least -50 (-40 being better, -60 being worse) and not fluctuate wildly.
To improve your signal strength, try the following:
Move your B2 closer to your router.
Switch the WiFi dongle to USB C.
Move your WiFi dongle to the end of a USB extension cable.
You can buy a new WiFi dongle that has an antenna.  Look for one that has the RT5370 chipset.
If none of that helps, you could try plugging a network cable between the inside back of the B2 and your router (and remove the WiFi dongle).

Please let us know.  I'm sure someone can help you figure this out.

[David Richards]

If you are using the web interface, you should normally get a few options for the CD name. If you are just ripping  from the B2, turning the knob should cycle through the available options, press the knob to select the correct one. Only choose an album number if no match was found.

DR

[PMB]

Hi kinl..,

Please let us know what software version your B2 is running - press INFO on the remote twice or click the COG icon at the top of the web UI page. Include the B2 or B2B prefix.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Kin Lin Cleak]

DEAR PAUL, HERE IS WHAT I READ WHEN I PRESS THE COG ICON:

Software Version B2B Feb 14 2021 09:03:06

176 tracks in 12 albums 6 artists

0 WAV 176 FLAC 0 MP3 0 AAC

Capacity 2000.00G Used 4.61Gb

USB 0 tracks in 0 albums 0 artists

0 Youtubes

I AM PLEASED TO HAVE THIS B2 BUT I NEED THE TRACKS FUNCTIONALITY.  

YOUR HELP IS MUCH APPRECIATED.  

Kin Lin

[Kin Lin Cleak]

DEAR DANIEL

THANK YOU VERY MUCH.  REASSURING IN THIS NICE FORUM AND COMMUNITY.  IT CAN BE RESOLVED.

SO I AM NEW TO THIS BUT I ENTERED 'MAINTENANCE/WIFI STRENGTH' AND THE SIGNAL IS -45 MOVING TO -47 AND -49.   MY HUSBAND HAS THE HIGHEST-LEVEL VIRGIN PACKAGE FOR INTERNET SPEED SO EVERYTHING AT HOME IS SMOOTH.  WE HAVE THE B2 IN ONE OF SITTING ROOM.

SO I COULD MOVE THE WIFI TO USB C ??  IS THAT THE NEXT STEP ?   

BUT I HAVE REPLY TO PAUL BRENNAN WITH OUR SOFTWARE INFORMATION AND WAIT FOR HIS ADVICE FIRST.

KINDEST, Kin Lin

[Kin Lin Cleak]

DEAR DAVID

THANK YOU FOR RESPONDING.  I AM USING THE B2 WEB INTERFACE NOW WITH MY HUSBAND BUT NOT HAVING OPTIONS EXCEPT THE ART OPTIONS.  SO IT IS FRUSTRATING BUT HOPING TO RESOLVE SOON.  I AM STRUGGLING WITH THE BUTTON ON THE BOX TO KNOW WHERE TO GO.. I COULD NOT FIND THE 'NAME ALBUM' OR 'NAME TRACKS' ON THERE.

THANK YOU, KIN LIN

On Saturday, February 20, 2021 at 9:05:25 PM UTC David Richards wrote:

[PMB]

Hi Kin Lin,

Your software is up to date.

If you are using the web UI the B2 is connected to your WiFi network - the signal level looks OK.

You can check if the B2 can see the Internet by selecting 'Check Internet' from the Maintenance menu - it will report 'OK'.

When you insert a CD to rip you should be offered a title in the lower left hand panel. If this is not the correct title, click on the down arrow and see if any other titles are offered. If the B2 cannot find a title it will offer Album 123, etc.

Please have a look at the 'Menu Overview' - link - on the web site which shows where to find the various commands. You do have to use the front panel control to access most of the options - the web UI page has a limited number of commands.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Graham Smout]

I feel for you Kin Lin . I have dozens of CD's that the B2 cannot recognise. A B2 look up produces no results at all, or an entirely spurious suggestion. I think this is because al lot of the music I listen to is in a niche area. CD's by well known famous artists that are household names are no problem but CD's with limited runs from obscure labels stand no chance of  recognition. Thats the bulk of my collection! And, no, they are not CDr's in case you're going to suggest that! I have no option but to manually name the CD and tracks usually via NAS and my computer. Interestingly a lot of these CD's are recognised by iTunes or Windows Media Player if I rip them on the PC.That makes it less of a challenge. But I think overall it suggests that for some  the CDDB is a bit of a wate of time and reqauires a rethink!

[Daniel Taylor]

Admittedly, the Music Brainz database is not terribly comprehensive.  The advatage that some computer ripping programs have is that they use multiple databases, so they have a much better chance of finding the right album info.

Yesterday, I was about to rip a rather obscure CD.  dBpoweramp first came up with a Billie Holliday album - not even close.  But I could select which database to try again.  When I selected Discogs, it failed again.  But when I selected FreeDB, it found it.  Another reason why I rip on the computer.

And I cannot tell you how may typos I've found in the databases.  Misspellings aren't the worst of it.  It's not all that unusual to find two tracks with the same name and then  a track left out and the succeeding track names off by one.  It's easy to fix on the computer before you even rip.  And then when you do rip, both the filename and the tag info are correct and you don't need to make double edits for each track.

That last example is something that would make a real mess on the B2.  Good luck figuring out what happened.

[mantis1955]

As a new user I’ve ripped about 260 albums in the past week. Maybe a dozen haven’t been recognised, including one by Steve Forbert, whom I’d consider a fairly established artist. Also, to my surprise, one or two very minor artists have been recognised. I think it’s just down to whether the artist or friends/fans are dedicated enough to take the trouble to submit the details tbh.

[mantis1955]

Forgot to add - Daniel, I haven’t got round to importing from computer yet but you say you are using it routinely? Just wondering if it’s a goer. I’m down to my last 50 or so CDs and I know that few of them will be recognised for various reasons.

[Daniel Taylor]

Yes, I Import all my album via USB.  Ripping on my computer is much faster, it gives me much more flexibility in editing when needed, and the program I use for ripping, dBpoweramp CD Ripper, very rarely has any trouble finding the album.  And on those rare occasions when I do have to enter the track list manually, it's easier to do it on my computer.

[Daniel Taylor]

One other advantage:  you can listen to music on the B2 while you're ripping on your computer.  If you rip on the B2, then you should not ask it to do anything else at the same time.

[Graham Smout]

Hi

If you are going to import from a PC or MAC consder three important things:

1) the folder structure that the B2 requires T to add new music to its index, which is,  ARTIST NAME , or (in the case of classical music), COMPOSER or ORCHESTRA /PERFORMER  Name-> TRACK NAMES

2) if your PC ripping program allows it , rip directly to FLAC format and save time the B2 normally spends compressing tracks. Alternatively rip to WAV format and let the B2 do the compression. DO NOT RIP as WMA as these files are not recognised by the B2 - they will simply disappear. If you are comfortable listening to highly compressed low-fi versions of your music on the B2 you can rip directly to MP3 format. But why would you? !

3) Setting up the B2 as a NAS is a good idea as you can then find the B2's Hard Disc on your network and as the Music  folder on the machine,  and simply drag and drop the files you wish to copy. How qauickly this completes is dependent on  the speed and integrity of your network or youf WiFi as well as other local network traffic but it negates the need to use USB drives to transfer the data

Good Luck !

Graham

[Kin Lin Cleak]

Thank you Paul.  I am much happier now we have been work this together last night and all his Sinatra, Pogues, Madonna records are all show up in the left corner with art options before rip!  

My Peanuts Christmas, Kylie Christmas and Alison Moyet are still missing but some new ones are working like Erasure and Suede. My husband says it maybe be they are less famous but anyway we are happy to have some and will keep loading. It is nice to have help on this board. 

Thank you very much

On Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 9:02:53 AM UTC PMB wrote:

[Kin Lin Cleak]

I don't want to have to type everything GPS. Thank you and yes we think I have some same problems as you with the database.

[Kin Lin Cleak]

Yes when I try to type it says no ripping!

On Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 6:00:39 PM UTC Daniel Taylor wrote: