USB C Problems

[Bill Green]

Up until recently I have been using a combination of the Brennan B2 and cdpoweramp on my PC to copy discs.

I have got through almost 1,000 cd's with no problem up to now.

However now I have a problem transferring music via USB C

Basically I plug a fresh USB in to the Brennan and I format it - no problems.

But when I transfer files on to it and then plug it in to USB C the display flickers and I am unable to operate any functions.

I am doing all the turning off and on again and waiting sufficient time before trying and I have got through 3 USB sticks and one mini hard drive, so its not a faulty memory stick.

It could be the PC or it could be the B2 with the problem but has anyone any suggestions?

I can't bear the thought of the next 2,000 or so cd's having to type in manually the titles for every 5th or 6th disc 

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Bill,

As a starting point, have you been using these USB sticks successfully for a period of time or have you recently purchased them?  If these are new sticks, I would be inclined to download a USB stick memory tester called 'h2testw' (free download from web) and run the sticks through this test.

That would be a step forward, whatever the outcome is.

Below is a link to a post which describes the USB memory stick situation, along with some information on 'h2testw'.  It is a vey small program but is very effective.

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/brennanb2/1BakkcoHSQQ/sXqO8ZJkBgAJ

Let us know how you get on.

Regards,

Peter.

[Bill Green]

Hi Peter.

Thank you for your response.

One stick is one I have been using for a while with no problems. the second stick was one I had been using for swapping files from home pc to work pc for a while now (although only now formatted to FAT32) and the mini drive I used was again one I have had for a while using successfully as a back up for my laptop (bought in Currys).

I will try the test when I get home tonight, but I don't think this will be the problem.

It's strange as I have been having further 'work around problems' for a little while now. I normally transfer 25-30 CD's at a time and sometimes up to 5 of them just didn't transfer. I then put them on individually...and they did! As I say, a work around problem but now just nothing functions when I plug the stick in after copying files on to it.

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Bill,

Yes, it is a process of confimation and elimination.  Once you are sure of one element you can move on to the next one.

Another query in the meantime is to ask if you have the same problem when using the USB A port?

Regards,

Peter.

[Bill Green]

Not tried that to be honest. I have my wi-fi dongle plugged in there and it is working fine - Not sure I'd like to tempt fate and take it out unless I need to!

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Bill,

My reason for asking is that the USB A port delivers some more power than USB C (it a desgin aspect of the Raspberry-Pi computer) and you mentioned that the B2's screen is flickering.

So, (thinking aloud) I'm wondering (a) is the USB C port short of power or possibly faulty or (b) is the B2 power brick possibly faulty?

These are just initial thoughts at the moment, and could be totally off the mark, so more investigation is required.

Regards,

Peter.

[Davywhizz]

I've never been able to import or export on USB C and have always used A. I forget the detail, but I was getting various concerning messages on the B2 screen when I tried A, I think including the CD drive and Hard Disk not being recognised and an indication the SD card was being used instead. Others here reported something similar at the time. It's all worked fine on A. Might be worth a try. 

[Davywhizz]

Oops, typo - the problems, of course, were when I tried C.

[PMB]

Hi Bill,

You should be able to swap the WiFi dongle to USB C without having to change any settings. This would check that the USB C is working OK (with the WiFi dongle). You can Export and Import using USB A.

Let us know what you find.

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Bill Green]

Well I swapped the Dongle to 'C' and no problem with wifi.
However still no luck with transferring music - I 'think' the problem may be with the formatting to FAT32 on the B2 then when i put the stick in my pc i get the message 'there is a problem with your device, and we are now scanning for errors'. I transfer the music, plug it back in the B2 and i just get an unresponsive screen?? The annoying thing is that I am doing nothing different to what I have always done.

I now have 40 odd cd's i cannot transfer. Any ideas?

NAS seems really complicated but maybe it isn't? I dont much fancy having to type in the titles of every 5th or so cds?

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Bill,

When you plug the USB drive into the PC, don't allow the PC to make any corrections to the USB drive, answer 'No' to any questions from Windows.

Even though Windows complains about problems with the USB device, they are not real errors.

With regard to NAS, it isn't usually complicated to set it up, just a bit 'fiddly'.  Once it is running for the first time, it normally doesn't need any further attention.  It is really useful to have running; it makes updating your collection much more easy to do.

Regards,

Peter.

[Graham Smout]

Hello Bill

Just a few queries first.

a) Why are you ripping the CD's on the computer? Is it  because the B2 isn't recognising Artists names and track informantion? I too have that problem with some more obscure CD titles, and solved it by ripping on the PC, BUT not all CD ripping programs are that good and I now use Cyberlink Power2Go v 8.which gives me no problems.

b) Are you certain the discs being ripped on the PC as WAV files and not as WMA files?

Anyway when I want to upload ripped files to the B2 I use one of either of the following 2 network methods. They can take a while over WiFi  but I have plenty of time. (No doubt the transfer process would be faster if I used wired ethernet to connect the B2 and the PC to the home network instead of WiFi) 

1) I use the B2's web interface to upload the files - simple,  but quite slow and limits you to one title at a time

2) Set up the B2 as a NAS Drive on the network. Then simply drag and drop the WAV files into the B2's music folder (You must make sure the folder structure path is correct or you will get various errors  and you may not see the tracks)

: eg    BRENNANB2 > music > artistname > CD name

Good Luck

Graham

[Bill Green]

Thanks Peter.

I'll get myself some new sticks and try and see if I can prevent the pc making corrections.

I have heard lots of talk about NAS but really have no idea what it is - I will do some research. 

On Thursday, October 22, 2020 at 6:26:12 PM UTC+1 peter....@gmail.com wrote:

[Peter Lowham]

Hi Bill,

If you go to the link below, you can download a piece of (free) software which will test your USB memory sticks. If each stick passes the test, then they are good for use on the B2.  

https://groups.google.com/d/msg/brennanb2/1BakkcoHSQQ/sXqO8ZJkBgAJ

Regards,

Peter.

[Bill Green]

Hi Graham.

a) I 'mainly' use the B2 (via an external drive) however i am finding at times that 1 in every 4 or 5 discs isn't recognized and I was spending so much time filling stuff in. DBPoweramp is what I use and it very very rarely doesn't recognize a disc.

b) They are being ripped as Flac files

I will very definitely look into NAS

Thank you 

[Bill Green]

Thank you Peter - Will use this

[PMB]

Hi Bill,

It sounds like both USB ports on your B2 are working OK, so suspect either the USB stick/s or the Windows error message - I always choose 'continue without scanning'.

Paul

Brennan Support.