Return of the living ACM stream...

[malfeis]

Okay, I know that this might get annoying, but I've searched all the messages on here and not found an answer, maybe some one could help me out...

I have the Fraunhofer mp3 codec installed, I've even made sure it's active by looking in the control panel. Yet I still get the ACM error! I've tried many different versions but no matter what, I recieve the same error.

Do you have the advanced or Porfessional CODEC?
Are you tring to stream ofver 56 kbps?

[JoGi]

Hi,

I have been broadcasting for a while and yesterday I got the same error.
After a long while trying to figure it out I finaly found what was wrong.

When I installed the drivers from Creative Labs (Live! 1024 card, Live! Ware) it added a MP3 coder to my list.
And when both the "normal" (don't remember the name of it) codec and the Creative one was activated no one worked.

And when I disabled the Creative one (It was a strange name of it. And I cant remeber it because I got it on my computer @ home) everything worked again.

So my idea is for you to check the other codec's you have in your system and disable the ones that can be in conflict.

Good luck,
~JoGi

[malfeis]

Okay, all better now. I, too, have a Creative audio card, so I took your advice and disabled the codec, and voila, it worked. Thanks a million. Hopefully someone else with the same problem will be able to use this post, now.

[DJ Egg]

Yeah, basically you shouldn't have two active codecs installed that both deal with the same formats (eg. in this case, two MPEG Audio Codecs), as this will definitely cause conflicts.
However, realistically, CreativeLabs should be informing their customers of this fact.
Isn't there any mention of this particular issue anywhere within the documentation?

btw, it would help me greatly if you could provide some more details:
1. The actual name of this codec (c/o Multimedia Control Panel -> Devices)
2. The filename (c/o Properties): eg. C:\Windows\System\L3CODECA.ACM
3. Whether this codec actually works if you disable the other one & use this one instead?

[JoGi]

Hey,

I have reformated my Windows 2000 sevral times and installed Windows 98 again and when I did that I realized that i wan't to use Windows 2000 (hehe, it was a LONG night =) )

I'm desperatly trying to get both my AWE64 card and my SB Live! 1024 work at the same time with ShoutCast microphone controls.

But seems like Windows 2000 won't work with 2 soundcards.

I have given up now and are only using the SB LIVE! (no prelisten to the music I play)

Hope that malfeis can answer your question if he still got the files installed.

~Johannes

[malfeis]

Okay, here's what I could dig up (for my card, at least):

Originally, my system DID indeed have the Fraunhofer codec, but it was enabled along with the "Creative MP3 Codec" (ctmp3.acm), which aparently was the default for my sound card. I have also tried removing the Fraunhofer codec, and only using the creative, however, this simply gave me the ACM message again.

I did manage to get my shoutcast to work after disabling the Creative codec, but now when someone recieves the stream, it is so staticky that it is nearly inaudible. So it works, just not as well as it should. Hope this helps.

[DJ Egg]

Thanks for the info!

So, basically, what you're saying is that the Creative MP3 Codec (CTMP3.ACM) is effectively useless if made the default MPEG Audio Codec on your system; and when it co-exists with the original default Windows codec (Advanced Fraunhofer IIS L3 Codec - L3CODECA.ACM), and both codecs are enabled, then neither of them work whatsoever?
Or at least, neither of them work for Shoutcast streaming purposes, but you can still encode & decode MP3's on your HDD . . . yes, no, maybe?

I really think it would be wise for anyone who's experienced this particular problem to report it via the proper channels, which in this case would be c/o CreativeLabs Tech Support Feedback Form:
http://www.soundblaster.com/feedback....asp?t=cu&a=ps
Make sure you include your full sys specs & a clear detailed description of the problem. Making them aware of the issue will hopefully prompt them to fix it!

Like I said above, you only need the one codec to encode, play & stream MP3's and it's not recommended to ever remove the default Windows codec (via: Multimedia -> Devices tab -> Audio Compression Codecs -> Fraunhofer MP3 Codec -> Properties -> "Remove" button).
I don't even recommend that you ever checkmark "don't use this codec".
Basically, "Use this codec" should always be selected for the Fraunhofer codec and the "priority" should be set fairly high (It's got priority 1 on my machine!).
btw, if you ever wrongly remove the Advanced codec, as far as I know, the only way to reinstall it is to reinstall Windows Media Player (v6.4 or above).
The only time you should ever disable the Advanced codec is if you install the Professional version (whether by purchase or by other means)

You'd think CreativeLabs would be aware of something so fundamentally basic as this?
I'd love to see their comments, as much as I'd love to know what the supposed advantages are of having their replacement codec.
Hey, I'd report it myself, but I'm already in the middle of an e-mail session with a CreativeLabs Technician regarding certain bugs in their Winamp General Purpose plugin (gen_nomad.dll). More info on that one = here.

Hmm, the ongoing saga continues!

Thanks again for the info. I'm sure it will prove VERY useful!

[JoGi]

Originally posted by malfeis
Okay, here's what I could dig up (for my card, at least):

Originally, my system DID indeed have the Fraunhofer codec, but it was enabled along with the "Creative MP3 Codec" (ctmp3.acm), which aparently was the default for my sound card. I have also tried removing the Fraunhofer codec, and only using the creative, however, this simply gave me the ACM message again.

I did manage to get my shoutcast to work after disabling the Creative codec, but now when someone recieves the stream, it is so staticky that it is nearly inaudible. So it works, just not as well as it should. Hope this helps.

I got the same problems with the sound quality when I disabled the ctmp3.acm.
But I have now reinstalled my machine and again installed the Live!Ware but I haven't got the ctmp3.acm codec now.
I wonder with what installtion package that one was installed.

[maedhros]

Originally posted by DJEgg
Yeah, basically you shouldn't have two active codecs installed that both deal with the same formats (eg. in this case, two MPEG Audio Codecs), as this will definitely cause conflicts.
However, realistically, CreativeLabs should be informing their customers of this fact.
Isn't there any mention of this particular issue anywhere within the documentation?

btw, it would help me greatly if you could provide some more details:
1. The actual name of this codec (c/o Multimedia Control Panel -> Devices)
2. The filename (c/o Properties): eg. C:\Windows\System\L3CODECA.ACM
3. Whether this codec actually works if you disable the other one & use this one instead?

Is there anyway to detect two codecs trying to encode/decode the same media?
Is there anyway of listing all the codecs?
Is there any way of checking a medias encoding? Like detecting wether the file was encoded with LAME or Fraunhofer?

[PanagiotaroS]

GUYS PLZ TELL ME HOW CAN I DISABLE ctmp3.acm?!?!? PLZ HELPPPP!! (((((((((((((((((((((((((((

[FesterHead]

Go into your audio codec control panel, find it and select the disable radio button.