Creating an autoplay mp3 cd?

[Snowdog]

Is there any way of creating an MP3 CD with the autoplay feature any longer?

 

Example:

With EZ-CD Creator 5 I was able to order/sort the playlist on the root of the CD and it would put an autorun.inf and a play.exe as well as my playlist.m3u on the root...

 

Is this possible at all with Creator 9 now?

 

I really liked that feature.

[tbrewst]

I burned both discs without a playlist on it.I unchecked all of those in the project settings.The only thing on the 2 discs is the tracks.I used the same set of tracks in the same order for both discs.When I play the tracks in WMP10 the 2 discs play the tracks in a different order.

[d_deweywright]

I burned both discs without a playlist on it.I unchecked all of those in the project settings.The only thing on the 2 discs is the tracks.I used the same set of tracks in the same order for both discs.When I play the tracks in WMP10 the 2 discs play the tracks in a different order.

But that's because of the numbering scheme added on one disc, yes?

[tbrewst]

I would say yes.That's the difference when unchecking the "Rename...." box.

[d_deweywright]

I would say yes.That's the difference when unchecking the "Rename...." box.

Okay... I just tested it both ways (writing to an .ISO file and mounting the images). Yes, looking at it in Windows Explorer, it's obvious the files are simply displayed alphabetically if they're not renamed. Using the rename option, they're in the order added.

 

In both cases, however, the .M3U file appears to have been created using the files in the order they were added. So, if the playback device uses the playlist file, it won't matter if you select the rename option or not.

[tbrewst]

Yep,makes sense to me.And I would guess that's why the list of playlist types in the project settings.

[Snowdog]

Oh well.

I miss the feature, I was hoping it could be implimented into Creator 9 if it were possible.

Thanks for the reply.

[ragdmg]

Well, yeah, I guess I could take a CD created by an older version of Roxio, copy the playlist.m3u and play.exe and auto.inf files off of it, edit the playlist so the songs play in the order I want, edit the auto.inf file, and pray all this works when I burn it. Or I could expect the latest version of the software to keep the feature intact. I’m having a hard time understanding why the manual workaround is required. To compound the agony, Music Disk Creator builds the CD based on the Title in the audio tag and not the real file name. I see no optional workaround.

 

Note to Roxio moderators: please send feedback to your product team, requesting 1) reinstatement of the playlist.m3u capability for MP3 CDs and 2) the option to build MP3 CDs based on either the MP3's file name or its audio tag.

[Snowdog]

Actually, tag information is rarely added to my MP3 files since the majority are from LPs, not commercial CDs, or instead of using Sound Editor, I use RazorLAME to do the encoding, which doesn't add the tag information. So, it's a rare occasion when I need to do that. I've little or no use for the tag info.

 

/RANT on.

 

That works for you. What doesn't work for the majority of us is exactly what I am saying. Why should any of us have to do all this editing in order to actually have an MP3 CD play properly?

 

I suppose that Roxio could make a fix for this very easily. There's no argument that the feature is missing, but it needs to be put back in! Or at least give us an option to put the songs in the order we want to when we create an MP3 CD from existing MP3 files. I am sure it can be done.

 

/RANT off.

[grandpabruce]

Well, yeah, I guess I could take a CD created by an older version of Roxio, copy the playlist.m3u and play.exe and auto.inf files off of it, edit the playlist so the songs play in the order I want, edit the auto.inf file, and pray all this works when I burn it. Or I could expect the latest version of the software to keep the feature intact. I’m having a hard time understanding why the manual workaround is required. To compound the agony, Music Disk Creator builds the CD based on the Title in the audio tag and not the real file name. I see no optional workaround.

 

Note to Roxio moderators: please send feedback to your product team, requesting 1) reinstatement of the playlist.m3u capability for MP3 CDs and 2) the option to build MP3 CDs based on either the MP3's file name or its audio tag.

 

There are only one or two Roxio moderators who drop in here periodically. You could contact Roxio directly, with your request.

[d_deweywright]

Well, yeah, I guess I could take a CD created by an older version of Roxio, copy the playlist.m3u and play.exe and auto.inf files off of it, edit the playlist so the songs play in the order I want, edit the auto.inf file, and pray all this works when I burn it. Or I could expect the latest version of the software to keep the feature intact. I’m having a hard time understanding why the manual workaround is required. To compound the agony, Music Disk Creator builds the CD based on the Title in the audio tag and not the real file name. I see no optional workaround.

 

Note to Roxio moderators: please send feedback to your product team, requesting 1) reinstatement of the playlist.m3u capability for MP3 CDs and 2) the option to build MP3 CDs based on either the MP3's file name or its audio tag.

If you get rid of the tag information in your .MP3 files, then it will use the file name. In theory, they should match? (I don't use tag information.) If you create an MP3 CD using Music Disc Creator, it will create your playlist file. Then you just need to add the auto.inf and "Play.exe".

 

The other thing is that if you have a player installed as the default ".M3U" program on your PC, then you can simply update the auto.inf to open the .M3U file, and assuming your AutoPlay enabled for your drive, then when you insert the disc, Windows should automatically start playing the playlist.

 

But, your point is correct, features change from version to version. Some are dropped, others are added.

[tbrewst]

I can't replicate this problem of the tracks being out of order.If I create an mp3 disc the tracks get burned onto the disc in the order that I add them to the project.

On the disc are the tracks,a content .m3u and a content .pls file.The last 2 are there because I went into the project settings and told it those were the ones I wanted.Have you been to that screen?There's also a box you can check that says "Rename tracks to ensure playback order",I also have that checked.

[Snowdog]

I can't replicate this problem of the tracks being out of order.If I create an mp3 disc the tracks get burned onto the disc in the order that I add them to the project.

On the disc are the tracks,a content .m3u and a content .pls file.The last 2 are there because I went into the project settings and told it those were the ones I wanted.Have you been to that screen?There's also a box you can check that says "Rename tracks to ensure playback order",I also have that checked.

 

Have you played the CD back? That's the problem. It puts the files in alphabetical order. It does not put them in their original sequential order.

[tbrewst]

Yep,that's how I determined if it was correct or not.Made the disc with Music Disc Creator,opened with Windows Media Player.Tracks were in the same order with both apps.

 

Ok,I did some experimenting.What seemed to make the difference is the check mark in the box that says "Rename tracks....".If I uncheck that then MDC seems to put the tracks in alphabetical order by track name.If I check the box then the order maintains as I entered them.

If you look at the discs in Windows Explorer the difference seems to be that when you check the box it inserts a number (1,2,3...) in front of the track names.This still sorts them alphanumerically but by the number and not the track name.

[Snowdog]

On the disc are the tracks,a content .m3u and a content .pls file.The last 2 are there because I went into the project settings and told it those were the ones I wanted.Have you been to that screen?There's also a box you can check that says "Rename tracks to ensure playback order",I also have that checked.

 

That worked. The renaming of files to numbers did put the tracks in sequential order.... Just seems strange that it wouldn't work off the bat with the playlist.

 

I still would like to see the play.exe, autorun.inf and playlist.m3u in the root and have it allow you to edit your playlist that way.

 

I built about 5-6 CD's without the numbering and ditched them.... The new way is just fine.

[d_deweywright]

That worked. The renaming of files to numbers did put the tracks in sequential order.... Just seems strange that it wouldn't work off the bat with the playlist.

 

I still would like to see the play.exe, autorun.inf and playlist.m3u in the root and have it allow you to edit your playlist that way.

 

I built about 5-6 CD's without the numbering and ditched them.... The new way is just fine.

I think they dropped the "Play.exe" and "autorun.inf" files in EMC 9, at least I don't see them in the images I created, and I recall someone else asking about it awhile back. However, the .M3U file is in the root of my discs.

[d_deweywright]

Oh well.

I miss the feature, I was hoping it could be implimented into Creator 9 if it were possible.

Thanks for the reply.

If you have a disc that works the way you want, there's no reason you can't make a new disc with the same features. Add your .MP3 files to your project, add your playlist (if it's not already there) add the "Play.exe" file from your old CD, and then the auto.inf file. The Auto.INF file may need to be edited, especially if it passes the name of the playlist file to the Play.exe program, but it's just a text file. Once you've got all that in your project (the auto.inf and probably the Play.exe and playlist files will need to be in the root) and burned to disc, it should behave as you want.

[tbrewst]

Mine are the same Dave.

Glad at least it will do what you want Snowdog.

[Snowdog]

Ok,I did some experimenting.What seemed to make the difference is the check mark in the box that says "Rename tracks....".If I uncheck that then MDC seems to put the tracks in alphabetical order by track name.If I check the box then the order maintains as I entered them.

If you look at the discs in Windows Explorer the difference seems to be that when you check the box it inserts a number (1,2,3...) in front of the track names.This still sorts them alphanumerically but by the number and not the track name.

 

I'll give that a shot and see if it works! Thanks for that information!

[d_deweywright]

Yep,that's how I determined if it was correct or not.Made the disc with Music Disc Creator,opened with Windows Media Player.Tracks were in the same order with both apps.

 

Ok,I did some experimenting.What seemed to make the difference is the check mark in the box that says "Rename tracks....".If I uncheck that then MDC seems to put the tracks in alphabetical order by track name.If I check the box then the order maintains as I entered them.

If you look at the discs in Windows Explorer the difference seems to be that when you check the box it inserts a number (1,2,3...) in front of the track names.This still sorts them alphanumerically but by the number and not the track name.

So then, the question appears to be one of whether or not the player uses the playlist file, as much as anything else. Terry, if you look in the playlist, does it change when you check/uncheck the "rename tracks" box? As for the alphabetizing, that's how windows shows files, and that is not necessarily how the files are actually laid out on the disc. At one point, earlier versions of ECDC let you specify that the order you had the files listed was the order they were to be positioned/placed on the disc. That option went away somewhere around ECDC 5.

 

So, the real question is whether or not the player is using the playlist file, whether the playlist is written according to track position and whether or not the renaming changes the playlist.

[Snowdog]

If you get rid of the tag information in your .MP3 files, then it will use the file name. In theory, they should match? (I don't use tag information.) If you create an MP3 CD using Music Disc Creator, it will create your playlist file. Then you just need to add the auto.inf and "Play.exe".

 

The other thing is that if you have a player installed as the default ".M3U" program on your PC, then you can simply update the auto.inf to open the .M3U file, and assuming your AutoPlay enabled for your drive, then when you insert the disc, Windows should automatically start playing the playlist.

 

But, your point is correct, features change from version to version. Some are dropped, others are added.

 

LOL taking out all the tags from all your MP3's just to get it to put the tracks back in order? Yeah we all want to do that because when we rip our music the tags are implimented when they are burned in the first place! The annoying part of music disc creator is that it DOES put the music in alphabetical order rather than sequential order so your tracks won't play in sequence. I guess that's fine if you have individual songs, but try something like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon! Play those songs in alphabetiical order and say it's fine.

 

How awful! I sure hope they do fix this problem pronto!

 

EDIT: "some are dropped, others are added"... they sure dropped the ball right there!

[Snowdog]

Am I posting in the wrong forum for this question?

[d_deweywright]

LOL taking out all the tags from all your MP3's just to get it to put the tracks back in order? Yeah we all want to do that because when we rip our music the tags are implimented when they are burned in the first place! The annoying part of music disc creator is that it DOES put the music in alphabetical order rather than sequential order so your tracks won't play in sequence. I guess that's fine if you have individual songs, but try something like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon! Play those songs in alphabetiical order and say it's fine.

 

How awful! I sure hope they do fix this problem pronto!

 

EDIT: "some are dropped, others are added"... they sure dropped the ball right there!

Actually, tag information is rarely added to my MP3 files since the majority are from LPs, not commercial CDs, or instead of using Sound Editor, I use RazorLAME to do the encoding, which doesn't add the tag information. So, it's a rare occasion when I need to do that. I've little or no use for the tag info.

[tbrewst]

As far as I can tell,No you cannot make it autoplay.I tried making one and playing it in my home dvd and it did not autoplay.I could not find an option,either in Music Disc Creator or in the Home app-Jukebox cd to allow this to happen.

I may be wrong but this is what I found.

[ggrussell]

I tried making one and playing it in my home dvd and it did not autoplay.

Home or car CD player have never had an autoplay feature that I know. I think the OP was talking about in a PC.

 

Snowdog - you can setup Windows to autoplay a CD with music files.

Open My Computer

RIGHT click on one your CD/DVD players

Choose Properties

Click the AUTOPLAY TAB

Click the button under actions 'Select an action to perform:'

Hopefully there are several items to select.

Select the one you prefer (Real Player, WMP etc.) and Click APPLY or OK.

 

Anytime you insert a CD with 'music files' will then autoplay with the application you chose. This will not be limited to just MP3 files. It will also apply to other music files.

[tbrewst]

I didn't even think of the PC because everytime I put a music disc in it autoplays.I'm set up that way already as I only use WMP to play audio so I made it the default.If they are talking about this then when they insert the disc and it's not set up to autoplay they should get the pop up asking what player to use and they can make their choice the autoplay default from there.