Author Topic: iPod & iPhone Driver Plugin 2.0  (Read 17829 times)

BoringName

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Enabled it, but when I restart MB, I get the following on restart

I don't think this should happen on restart. It's not enabled when MusicBee starts up, you have to go into the tools menu and turn it on.

16/09/2022 11:16:39 AM - 10.0.22000.0 - 3.4.8033.18564D - System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at MusicBeePlugin.ITunes.Initialise() in D:\Coding Projects\iPod & iPhone Driver_2014-06-05\iPodAndIPhoneDriver.cs:line 774

That's confusing me, it's referencing the folder I have the source code saved in on my computer. I don't know why it's getting referenced on your system. But I'm mostly winging this project, I don't code for a living. Anyway, if it isn't obvious from the error it's having a problem initialising iTunes.

I have iTunes installed (have been using it to sync for years, but having trouble getting it to add new songs on Windows 11)
The file Interop.iTunesLib.dll is in the plugins folder (not under Program Files, but in C:\Users\...\AppData\Roaming\MusicBee\Plugins)

I don't have windows 11 and have zero interest in installing it so I can't help you with that aspect.

How did you install the plugin. What folders did you save the DLL's into?

You don't need interop.itunesLib.dll for this plugin to work.

In any case, it probably isn't an issue with the plugin install. I'd say it's an issue with the iTunes install on windows 11.


DavidW

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I turned it on via the tools menu. Nothing happened, so I restarted MB and then it crashed.

(the source code folder names will be as on the computer where the binaries where generated)

I installed using the ZIP file and the MB add-plugin function, not manually.

BoringName

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I turned it on via the tools menu. Nothing happened, so I restarted MB and then it crashed.

Strange behaviour there. It shouldn't be trying to launch itunes until you select what you want to sync. Does that form pop up at all or does it just error straight on launch?

Maybe delete that interop file as it's not needed and could be causing problems.

edit: actually I just tested it and  it does try and launch itunes as soon as it's turned on and before it prompts for what to sync. Still, it shouldn't be doing that until it's turned on.
Last Edit: September 18, 2022, 12:39:01 AM by BoringName

DavidW

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I switched from the Windows Store version of iTunes to the regular version and that seemed to help. I added some songs in to MB by putting them in my music folder, then scanning that folder, and they were added to the library. However, when i do a sync, those new songs get an error while copying: "Copy Failed - Object reference not set to an instance of an object"

BoringName

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I switched from the Windows Store version of iTunes to the regular version and that seemed to help. I added some songs in to MB by putting them in my music folder, then scanning that folder, and they were added to the library. However, when i do a sync, those new songs get an error while copying: "Copy Failed - Object reference not set to an instance of an object"

Well at least we have some progress.

What format are the music files? FLAC, MP3 etc...


BoringName

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I misread your previous post and thought you switched MusicBee away from the store version. I just realised you were talking about iTunes. Which means you haven't read the information on the addon page or the opening post of this thread.

Maybe give that a shot....

Randy2727

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Fist off, thank you for making this plugin! It's very nice to be able to sync Musicbee with my phone.

I am having a couple of issues though, and I suspect they may be user error. I've read through the thread and I think I'm doing everything correctly, but may have missed something.

I'm having the issue with FLAC files mentioned in this thread where they don't convert on the fly and get the error "Copy Failed - Object reference not set to an instance of an object.". I'm using the most up to date version of Musicbee 3.5.8150 P and tried both a current version of iTunes as well as the recommended 12.5.3.16. Under the device settings for the iPod and iPhone driver, I have on the fly conversion checked and set to convert lossless files to MP3. I only have FLAC files as lossless files in my library. I think I may be missing something or have missed a step, but I'm not sure what. Hoping you all will be able to help.  :)

BoringName

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tried both a current version of iTunes as well as the recommended 12.5.3.16.

Just stick to the 12.5.3.16 version. Everything else is garbage.

Your MusicBee version has a P at the end, I believe that means it is the portable version? That could be causing issues. All my testing has been with the standard version (installed but not from the microsoft store). I might setup a portable version and see what I can find out.

Bjork77 also posted in the thread they were having issues with converting FLAC files, they never posted if they sorted it out.

All I know is that it works for me with my current setup so it's hard for me to troubleshoot.

edit: I'm getting the same error on the portable version so hopefully I should be able to nut this problem out.
Last Edit: October 04, 2022, 10:41:42 PM by BoringName

BoringName

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Well that was frustrating....

So it turns out the portable version from the download section on here has the bug I mentioned earlier in the thread where during conversion it would just create a file with a different extension but not actually convert it. Eg) the flac files were getting copied to the temp folder with the .MP3 extension but inside they were still FLAC files. It was just a rename with no conversion. So essentially it was trying to add a FLAC file to itunes and throwing an error as itunes does not support FLAC.

If you download the patched version that Steven linked in the thread it should work.
https://getmusicbee.com/patches/MusicBee35_Patched.zip

FYI for the portable version, when a file is converted it creates a temp version in <MusicBee Folder>\AppData\iPod & iPhone Driver

If you have a large library of FLAC files, this could use up a lot of storage space. Also the conversion is quite slow. It took around a minute to convert and copy over the 11 FLAC songs in my test. If you have a lot of them, it might be worth converting them all to ALAC (apples version of FLAC).

edit: The patched version is 3.5.8312 P so a few iterations passed the one you are on now. Hopefully that fixes it for you, otherwise I probably won't be able to help much as it's working for me with that version.
Last Edit: October 05, 2022, 12:07:45 AM by BoringName

phred

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The "P" in the version number does indeed indicate the portable version.

And there is no difference whatsoever between the portable version and the installer version. Any patch, former or current contains the same files and will update the portable and installer with the same fixes and/or features.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

----------
The FAQ
The Wiki
Posting screenshots is here
Searching the forum with Google is  here

BoringName

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The "P" in the version number does indeed indicate the portable version.

And there is no difference whatsoever between the portable version and the installer version. Any patch, former or current contains the same files and will update the portable and installer with the same fixes and/or features.

Good to know. My installed version is 3.5.8205 which I think Steven linked in one of my threads to fix some other issue. Still a higher version than Randy so I think they will be ok once they update their version.

Randy2727

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Thank you! That patch worked like a charm! There were 2 or 3 songs that didn't convert, but I suspect that is due to some unsupported characters in the titles, I strongly suspect it is not related to it being a FLAC file. Not an issue either way. Those 2 or 3 songs can just live on my computer.

For additional setup notes for future reference, this is working on a portable install on a network share folder, so I can confirm both of those things do work with the plugin.

Unfortunately now I'm running into iTunes issue with my phone. "This iPhone cannot be used because the required software is not installed." The suggested reinstall of iTunes doesn't work. I'm running an iPhone 13 mini running iOS 15.6.1. I realize this is potentially a little out of the scope of this thread, but hoping someone may have run into this as well and found a fix.

BoringName

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Unfortunately now I'm running into iTunes issue with my phone. "This iPhone cannot be used because the required software is not installed." The suggested reinstall of iTunes doesn't work. I'm running an iPhone 13 mini running iOS 15.6.1. I realize this is potentially a little out of the scope of this thread, but hoping someone may have run into this as well and found a fix.

Probably just an issue with the services for apple mobile devices. Itunes really doesn't like it when you downgrade an installation which you have probably done trying to get it all working.
Old thread here with some instructions that might work - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3847504

Randy2727

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Unfortunately now I'm running into iTunes issue with my phone. "This iPhone cannot be used because the required software is not installed." The suggested reinstall of iTunes doesn't work. I'm running an iPhone 13 mini running iOS 15.6.1. I realize this is potentially a little out of the scope of this thread, but hoping someone may have run into this as well and found a fix.

Probably just an issue with the services for apple mobile devices. Itunes really doesn't like it when you downgrade an installation which you have probably done trying to get it all working.
Old thread here with some instructions that might work - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3847504

Thank you again! This made some progress, but there's a new error. "iTunes could not connect to this iPhone. An unknown error occurred (0xE800000A)." I did some Googling on this one and have tried some of the steps, I deleted the Lockdown folder in ProgramData and restarted the Apple Mobile Device Service. I also uninstalled and replaced with the older version, the Apple Application Support program.

Any suggestions on this one? Worst case I could update to the current version and just eat the extra drive space from the deletion issue. Not the end of the world if that ends up having to be the solution.