m4a tags defect

fjwamp · 6th August 2008, 07:53

I posted in the Techn. Support Forum that the tag GENRE is critical for M4a Files.
I use Nullsoft MPEG Audio Decoder 4.6 and Winamp 5.541 (WinXP).
After having encoded the titles of a cd into mp4-files, all tags are recognized by Winamp, with ONE exception: the genre tag is not recognized.

To correct the tag WITHIN winamp, you have to type in!. By using the pulldown menu it will not be saved by Winamp.

More critically, after correcting the tags (by Winamp) all tags are 'destroyed' for external programs i.e. all tags are'nt any longer recognized by (various) tag-editors.
Fortunately, clearing the GENRE tag, i.e. blanking the tag brings back the contents of all other tags back to "surface" (for other programmes).
FJ

Starkweather · 15th August 2008, 06:49

Also having a similar problem. Posted in a thread I created and no response.

First off, don't know why the attatched text file says 5.54, I am running 5.541, just installed it too. Tell me if it's a problem and I'll try to fix it.

CPU: Pentium 4 2.60 GHz, 512 MB of RAM
System: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2
AudioCard: Realtek AC97 Audio
PC Model: HP Pavilion 061
DirectX: 9.0c

My problem is the .mp4/HE-AAC converter/CD ripper in Winamp. I put the .m4a files into iTunes to then sync into my iPod Touch. How I usually go about this is rip all my albums to .flac, then convert to HE-AAC using Winamp. When I add the files to iTunes, it ends up looking like 07 - Patterns In The Ivy, no artist tags, no album tags. (That is, it follows ## - Name) I decided to see if the .m4a plugin was a problem and ripped directly from the CD, same results as when converting from .flac to .m4a. The tags are kept in Winamp with the exception of the genre tag (there was another thread about this).

This also only happens with a few artists, Opeth, Meshuggah, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Gojira, to name a few. I can test with other artists to see if it still doesn't work (haven't ripped the others in about a week).

fjwamp · 7th September 2008, 20:54

It appears that more persons have experienced similar problems.
Winamp Technical Support > Tagging issue
Winamp Bug Reports > m4a tags defect
Winamp Technical Support > MP4 tags
Up to now, I have not seen any reaction by one of the moderators

DJ Egg · 9th September 2008, 16:20

Hi. Sorry for the late reply.

I've just managed to reproduce the problem.

I took a flac file with all the tags filled in (including Genre), converted it to an he-aac/.m4a file with Winamp, and the Genre field was blank in the resulting .m4a file.

Thanks.

fjwamp · 9th September 2008, 19:07

Thanks for your answer and godd luck ;-)

lanfear · 9th September 2008, 19:40

The M4A-tagging is definitely broken.

If I select any tag from the list or type any of those manually, the genre field goes blank after reopening the tag window. But if I type anything else, it stays.

So for example, "Classical" or "Rock" doesn't work, but "Classica" and "Roc" works.

I'm going to check out the bug reports and add to those if needed.

DJ Egg · 9th September 2008, 20:00

Fixed for the next release. Thanks again.

lanfear · 9th September 2008, 20:04

Quote:

Originally posted by DJ Egg
Fixed for the next release. Thanks again.

Excellent, thanks for the very quick reply!

dbdog · 6th November 2008, 17:30

Hey DJ Egg,

Your post says that it will be fixed in the next release. I'm using 5.541 and it's still not saving genre for m4a properly. When I reload my db all m4a files have genre blank.

Is the fix still upcoming?

Many thanks

DJ Egg · 6th November 2008, 17:45

No. The bug was reported for 5.541, so the fix will be in the next release, which will probably be 5.55... whenever that might be...

dbdog · 6th November 2008, 17:54

Mille gratis for the rapido service! WA rocks!

MrDamage · 11th November 2008, 19:00

Could this get released in a small patch soon because any change such as adding replay gain erases the genre.
It is really quite annoying.
Thanks much.

fjwamp · 11th November 2008, 19:11

DJ Egg, I would like to support the last request. It is really annoying.
Is there any way how we may help/encourage WINAMP ;-)
Sory for my 'obstinacy' ;-)

DJ Egg · 14th November 2008, 03:03

Here you go... :-)

Winamp 5.541 MPEG4 Audio Decoder v1.9 Update Patch

(download attachment, unzip it, close Winamp, then run the installer)

[EDIT: 5th Dec 2008]

Please use the updated patch below.

_________________________________________________________

fjwamp · 14th November 2008, 12:12

Hallo DjEgg, thanks a lot; yes, it works fine!
(Perhaps, it makes sense to inform that the media library should be deleted and rescanned; otherwise ...)
FJ

lanfear · 14th November 2008, 16:06

Quote:

Originally posted by fjwamp
Hallo DjEgg, thanks a lot; yes, it works fine!
(Perhaps, it makes sense to inform that the media library should be deleted and rescanned; otherwise ...)
FJ

You have to delete the entire ML? You'll lose all the stats and so on...

DJ Egg · 14th November 2008, 16:14

Nah. Just select & right-click the affected items and then "Read metadata on selected items". Assuming you've already fixed the Genres...?

lanfear · 14th November 2008, 16:16

Quote:

Originally posted by DJ Egg
Nah. Just select & right-click the affected items and then "Read metadata on selected items". Assuming you've already fixed the Genres...?

Ah, yes I'm familiar with that option, it sounds a lot more reasonable. I'm off to test it, thanks!

fjwamp · 14th November 2008, 16:17

Another way, of course, is to edit "genre", either by another editor, either within WinAmp (Ctrl+E).
Sorry, I forgot to mention.

dbdog · 14th November 2008, 17:47

Thanks so much DJ Egg. Nice work!

kzuse · 3rd December 2008, 16:54

This Patch has the very negative side-efect that MP4 tags cannot be changed anymore via the File Info Dialog (Alt+3) while the file is playing.

I remember, that before the patch, I could simply press "Update" also while it was playing. It would stop the file for some milliseconds to rewrite the tag and restart from that position again.

Would be great if you could fix it so that this works again..

Thank you very much!!

lanfear · 4th December 2008, 09:50

Quote:

Originally posted by kzuse
This Patch has the very negative side-efect that MP4 tags cannot be changed anymore via the File Info Dialog (Alt+3) while the file is playing.

Yes, I also saw this behaviour earlier but forgot to post. That's my main way of occasionally changing tags.

DJ Egg · 4th December 2008, 16:02

D'oh! Well spotted, kzuse.

We'll hopefully get this fixed asap. I'll let you know here, as & when.

DJ Egg · 5th December 2008, 00:56

Here's the fixed version. This should fix both issues :-)

Close Winamp, unzip & run the installer.

fjwamp · 5th December 2008, 08:39

DJ Egg, thanks a lot, especially for the incredibly quick reaction time :-)!
FJ

Sp3EdeR · 11th January 2009, 15:10

Hi there!

I've checked the update, it's a nice one, however I've spotted a little extra problem that still remains.
I use Tag&Rename to tag my music, and I use genres that aren't in Winamp's list.
When looking into the tag info, genres that ARE in Winamp's built-in list are loaded, however genres that aren't will still not be displayed. (For example: Nu Metal)

DJ Egg · 12th January 2009, 16:20

Hmm, I can't seem to reproduce that, though I don't use Tag+Rename.
If I edit the genre in Winamp to some custom genre, then it works fine for me.

Sp3EdeR · 12th January 2009, 17:49

Should I upload a sample file with custom genre tag from Tag&Rename somewhere perhaps? Or do you feel it is more of a Tag&Rename error?

lanfear · 12th January 2009, 17:52

Maybe the problem is with tags edited outside of Winamp (regardless of application)?

DJ Egg · 13th January 2009, 07:38

Maybe...?

Yeah, sample files always help :-)

Sp3EdeR · 13th January 2009, 08:41

Alrighty then, here's a sample file with a genre tag Winamp doesn't read.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=04TBF1TX

6th August 2008, 07:53	#1
fjwamp Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 13	m4a tags defect I posted in the Techn. Support Forum that the tag GENRE is critical for M4a Files. I use Nullsoft MPEG Audio Decoder 4.6 and Winamp 5.541 (WinXP). After having encoded the titles of a cd into mp4-files, all tags are recognized by Winamp, with ONE exception: the genre tag is not recognized. To correct the tag WITHIN winamp, you have to type in!. By using the pulldown menu it will not be saved by Winamp. More critically, after correcting the tags (by Winamp) all tags are 'destroyed' for external programs i.e. all tags are'nt any longer recognized by (various) tag-editors. Fortunately, clearing the GENRE tag, i.e. blanking the tag brings back the contents of all other tags back to "surface" (for other programmes). FJ

9th September 2008, 16:20	#4
DJ Egg Techorator Winamp & Shoutcast Team Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 35,878	Hi. Sorry for the late reply. I've just managed to reproduce the problem. I took a flac file with all the tags filled in (including Genre), converted it to an he-aac/.m4a file with Winamp, and the Genre field was blank in the resulting .m4a file. Thanks. Playlist -\|- Twitter

9th September 2008, 20:00	#7
DJ Egg Techorator Winamp & Shoutcast Team Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 35,878	Fixed for the next release. Thanks again. Playlist -\|- Twitter

6th November 2008, 17:30	#9
dbdog Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 4	Is it fixed in 5.541? Hey DJ Egg, Your post says that it will be fixed in the next release. I'm using 5.541 and it's still not saving genre for m4a properly. When I reload my db all m4a files have genre blank. Is the fix still upcoming? Many thanks

6th November 2008, 17:45	#10
DJ Egg Techorator Winamp & Shoutcast Team Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 35,878	No. The bug was reported for 5.541, so the fix will be in the next release, which will probably be 5.55... whenever that might be... Playlist -\|- Twitter

7th September 2008, 20:54	#3
fjwamp Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 13	It appears that more persons have experienced similar problems. Winamp Technical Support > Tagging issue Winamp Bug Reports > m4a tags defect Winamp Technical Support > MP4 tags Up to now, I have not seen any reaction by one of the moderators

9th September 2008, 19:07	#5
fjwamp Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 13	Thanks for your answer and godd luck ;-)

9th September 2008, 19:40	#6
lanfear Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 84	The M4A-tagging is definitely broken. If I select any tag from the list or type any of those manually, the genre field goes blank after reopening the tag window. But if I type anything else, it stays. So for example, "Classical" or "Rock" doesn't work, but "Classica" and "Roc" works. I'm going to check out the bug reports and add to those if needed.

6th November 2008, 17:54	#11
dbdog Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 4	Thx Mille gratis for the rapido service! WA rocks!

11th November 2008, 19:00	#12
MrDamage Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Newbury Park, Ca Posts: 2	Could this get released in a small patch soon because any change such as adding replay gain erases the genre. It is really quite annoying. Thanks much.

11th November 2008, 19:11	#13
fjwamp Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 13	DJ Egg, I would like to support the last request. It is really annoying. Is there any way how we may help/encourage WINAMP ;-) Sory for my 'obstinacy' ;-)

14th November 2008, 12:12	#15
fjwamp Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 13	Hallo DjEgg, thanks a lot; yes, it works fine! (Perhaps, it makes sense to inform that the media library should be deleted and rescanned; otherwise ...) FJ

14th November 2008, 16:14	#17
DJ Egg Techorator Winamp & Shoutcast Team Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 35,878	Nah. Just select & right-click the affected items and then "Read metadata on selected items". Assuming you've already fixed the Genres...? Playlist -\|- Twitter

14th November 2008, 16:17	#19
fjwamp Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 13	Another way, of course, is to edit "genre", either by another editor, either within WinAmp (Ctrl+E). Sorry, I forgot to mention.

14th November 2008, 17:47	#20
dbdog Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 4	Thanks so much DJ Egg. Nice work!

3rd December 2008, 16:54	#21
kzuse Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: (D) Posts: 481	This Patch has the very negative side-efect that MP4 tags cannot be changed anymore via the File Info Dialog (Alt+3) while the file is playing. I remember, that before the patch, I could simply press "Update" also while it was playing. It would stop the file for some milliseconds to rewrite the tag and restart from that position again. Would be great if you could fix it so that this works again.. Thank you very much!!

4th December 2008, 16:02	#23
DJ Egg Techorator Winamp & Shoutcast Team Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 35,878	D'oh! Well spotted, kzuse. We'll hopefully get this fixed asap. I'll let you know here, as & when. Playlist -\|- Twitter

5th December 2008, 08:39	#25
fjwamp Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 13	DJ Egg, thanks a lot, especially for the incredibly quick reaction time :-)! FJ

11th January 2009, 15:10	#26
Sp3EdeR Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 6	Hi there! I've checked the update, it's a nice one, however I've spotted a little extra problem that still remains. I use Tag&Rename to tag my music, and I use genres that aren't in Winamp's list. When looking into the tag info, genres that ARE in Winamp's built-in list are loaded, however genres that aren't will still not be displayed. (For example: Nu Metal)

12th January 2009, 16:20	#27
DJ Egg Techorator Winamp & Shoutcast Team Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 35,878	Hmm, I can't seem to reproduce that, though I don't use Tag+Rename. If I edit the genre in Winamp to some custom genre, then it works fine for me. Playlist -\|- Twitter

12th January 2009, 17:49	#28
Sp3EdeR Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 6	Should I upload a sample file with custom genre tag from Tag&Rename somewhere perhaps? Or do you feel it is more of a Tag&Rename error?

12th January 2009, 17:52	#29
lanfear Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 84	Maybe the problem is with tags edited outside of Winamp (regardless of application)?

13th January 2009, 07:38	#30
DJ Egg Techorator Winamp & Shoutcast Team Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 35,878	Maybe...? Yeah, sample files always help :-) Playlist -\|- Twitter

13th January 2009, 08:41	#31
Sp3EdeR Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 6	Alrighty then, here's a sample file with a genre tag Winamp doesn't read. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=04TBF1TX

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