The Joy of the BB1 & Issue on Artwork

[Chris]

This is really feedback on what a great little device the BB1 is and a joy to play with, but I do have a question/issue. 

When I view albums loaded via the UI all the artwork is attached to the correct artist & album. When I view them directly on the BB1 the artwork starts off on the first few albums correctly but then starts showing the wrong artwork on different artist/albums, the artwork being from other albums loaded.

I am using the latest software dated 21 July and I have already tried running SCAN Disk? Anybody got any ideas of what the problem might be? 

Chris

[PMB]

Hi Chris,

What option/s are you using to view the Artists/Albums on the BB1 unit?

I don't have artworks for every Album but the ones I do have appear to be correct when I view 'Albums' on the BB1.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[chris.c...@btinternet.com]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the response. On the BB1 I select Browse Albums from the Main Menu. The first 11 appear with correct artwork for the album, then the album names are correct but it is associated with a random artwork from one of the other albums on the BB1. Sometimes the same wrong artwork appears on different album names.

On the BB1 UI if I list by artist the artwork on all the albums appears correctly, some artists have multiple albums and they are all correct. If I list by album or by track the artwork is correct.

If i play tracks on the BB1 from the albums with the incorrect artwork, the track plasy without showing any artwork, just the music symbol.

I have tried to think what it could be, I have loaded albums  to the BB1 using different methods to try them out, USB hard drive, Upload from the the UI and from a backup of my B2 on my laptop. What is confusing is that the artwork on the UI tha is obviously using the data on the BB1 is correct. Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

Chris

[PMB]

Hi Chris C,

I've been unable to reproduce this so suggest setting up the BB1 as NAS and checking the artwork files on your computer. They are stored with the Tracks as .jpg files in the Album folders.

Check how are they named, whether they are all .jpg files and what size they are?

Paul

Brennan Support.

[chris.c...@btinternet.com]

Hi Paul,

Having recently taken a backup of the B1 I can see the artwork file types, there is a variation which is indicative I guess of the different methods of loading artwork over the years (the contents of the B1 were created using backups from my B2 where the artwork also shows correctly).

 

These are the following file types: 

coverart.jpg; coverArt.png;  coverart.565; some albums have both coverart.jpg and coverart.565.

Does this shed any light on the problem?  Still not sure why the BB1 UI would show the correct artwork on each album without any issues but the B1 unit has problems when playing the music. I could do some sort of clean-up of the files so only .jpg exists and reload any that then have no artwork (i.e. ones with only .png filetypes).

Chris

[Daniel Taylor]

I'm having trouble following you.  Just when I think I understand, I get confused by what I suspect may be typos.  The two current Brennan models are the B2 and the BB1.

I know the B2 requires the artwork to be a JPG file.  I'm not entirely sure about the BB1.  I know the BB1 will read JPG files, not sure about any other file types.  If it were me, I'd delete any non-JPG art files.

[chris.c...@btinternet.com]

Hi Daniel,

Thanks for this and trying to assist, yes the reference to B1 is a typo, it should read BB1. Sometimes trying to explain a problem in writing can end in confusion. So, my issue with art work is purely with the BB1. I have had a B2 for a number of years and the artwork is all fine. 

I have only just started to setup and use my BB1 although I have had it since October last year. I have 21 albums on it which I uploaded using a backup from my B2. On the BB1 device when I am playing albums around half show the correct artwork while playing, the other half show the music note symbol. If I just list the albums some art work shows correctly, others show the wrong artwork from another album on the BB1. However, when I use the BB1 UI on my laptop the artwork shows correctly when listing through search and when playing the albums. 

In terms of the file type for artwork required on the B2, I can only say that file types of .png  works on the B2 because I have albums that have them and show the artwork. I think I do need to do a tidy up of the artwork files because the coverart.565 appears to be blank and is only present on albums that also have .jpg files. I think this array of file types is because over the years on the B2 I used different ways of loading art work prior to the option of Amazon or MusicBrainz.

I hope I have not caused further confusion.

Chris

[Daniel Taylor]

I guess I wasn't aware that the B2 would recognize PNG files.  I don't like all the clutter that seems to accumulate in the folders.  I would delete all artwork other than a single JPG file in each album folder.

[chris.c...@btinternet.com]

Thanks Daniel I agree, I think a clean up is in order to see if that solves the problem on the BB1. Still don't understand why the UI ignores the rogue files and lists the art work ok, but if a tidy up works that will be great.

[PMB]

Hi Chris,

Try deleting the .565 files and let us know if it makes a difference. I suspect the BB1 is seeing the .565 files before the .jpg ones, thinking they are not valid and then displays a random artwork.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[chris.c...@btinternet.com]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for this, I plan to tidy-up the art work files and will post if this resolves the problem. Chris

[chris.c...@btinternet.com]

Hi Paul,

My artwork problem is resolved, hurrah! So as recommended I tidied up the art work files and now the artwork appears correctly on both the BB1 and via the UI. Something that will already be  known but .jpg artwork takes up more space than .png. But I have only managed to sort the problem out by removing all spurious artwork files, including .png, leaving just .jpg and getting .jpg artwork for the .png files that I had to remove.  

Being an 'old' (very old) techie from the past, it still intrigues me why the UI could deal with all the spurious artwork files and display the artwork correctly but the BB1 couldn't. Presumably two sets of different code. 

Anyway, all fixed now and all running on my replacement BB1 using batteries, so all in all very happy. Thanks for yours and Daniel T's help. 

Chris

[PMB]

Hi Chris,

Glad to hear you have sorted the problem. So it sounds like we should stick to .jpg artworks.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[chris.c...@btinternet.com]

Yes, I will be using just .jpg from now on (I got the sizing around the wrong way in my last post it should have read .png takes up more space than .jpg). Chris