Author: Sandy Osta

Question:

Hoster 4.02 Issues

Answer:

Here are some of the issues we are now finding with Hoster 4.02.

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1) The simplest way to fix this is to upgrade to version 4.03.  You can  get it here: http://www.mtu.com/upgrades/hoster.htm

2) Unable to import hard drive or cd files to database files. I Get The following error messages:
Error Processing File C:\Program Files\Micro Technology Unlimited\Hoster\Databases\bucket.mdb Cannot find the jeterr40.chm file

To fix this you must do the following:
1) Open My Computer or Windows Explorer and find the following Folder: C:\MTU\Hoster\ Make sure there is a file named bucket.mdb in this folder.  If so go to step 2.

2) Open My Computer or Windows Explorer and find the following Folder: C:\Program Files\Micro Technology Unlimited\Hoster\Databases if you see the bucket.mdbfile in this directory also, delete it. Also if you see a file named songs.mdb or songs in this folder, move it to the following Folder C:\MTU\Hoster directory.  Once you have done this, you can now delete the entire Databases Folder located here C:\Program Files\Micro Technology Unlimited\Hoster\

3) Now open Hoster and try to import a CD it should now work fine.

Question:

How to move KMA files to a different drive/folder

Answer:

Use Windows Explorer to drag and drop the kma songs from the old drive to new drive. We recommend you place them in a folder, such as E:\Songs to give you more flexibility. Follow these steps to rebuild your Songs Database so Hoster knows where you moved the songs to. These instructions are correct for Hoster 2.104 and higher:

 

Build Songs Database

1. Run Hoster
2. Click the Tools menu, Songs Database command
3. Click on Rebuild
4. Click a folder found in the Sound source folders list and click the Delete Folder button (select each entry and do the same to remove all)
5. Click the Select Folder button, locate the E:\Songs folder (or wherever you store them), and click the Select button
6. Click the Rebuild Songs Database button to build your new Songs database with the KMA files located on E:\Songs (or your choice) folder.
7. All Add Track methods in the Playlist will now find the KMA songs stored in the E:\Songs folder.

Change Save to Folder Selection

You may also want to change the folder where you will now import any new KMA songs into. To do this:

1. Click the Import Tracks menu and either the Import CD Tracks or Import Hard Drive Files command
2. Click the Save to Folder button (with the black/green field to the right)
3. Select the folder you want to save new KMA files to. In the case above, select E:\Songs to match where you moved your KMA files.

That’s all you need to do.

 

Question:

Error: Track File is Missing

Answer:

This can be caused by moving your .kma files to a new location without rebuilding your Songs.mdb. The only other thing that can cause this to happen is your Sound Card in your computer is missing drivers or damaged.

1) Rebuild the Songs Database as stated here.

2) Make sure that you have deleted any old .hst Playlist files. Try creating a new one, by going to File\New. Now add a song to the new Playlist and see if it will play without errors.

3) Make sure that your Sound Card is working correctly on your computer, in other programs. If not, have the Sound card fixed by a technician.

Another thing that can cause this to happen with .Zip files that were converted in Hoster to the .Kma format. Try the following if you are having problems with Playing files that were converted from Zip.

When importing Zip files be advised that if the Zip files were created using Max Compression, under the Zip program. Then Hoster will not play that file. Hoster will import the song and you will not know it did not get imported correctly until you try playing the song. You can check to see if the file is bad before importing by trying to play it first. If the file is bad because of Max Compression you will get an Error Message. It is possible to uncompress the bad Max Compression file then re-zip the files using Normal Compression.

Question:

Error: The File can’t be deleted.

Answer:

This message appears in the Hoster Tools menu Edit Songs dialog box when trying to delete a selected file.

1. The song is in the Playlist
2. Delete it from the Playlist and close Hoster.
3. Reopen Hoster and delete the file again.
4. You may need to reboot the computer so Windows will release the file.

Question:

Error: Unrecognized database format ‘C:\Program Files\Micro Technology Unlimited\Hoster\Databases\songs.mdb’. (3343)

Answer:

You must delete the Songs.mdb file from your computer. Then Rebuild Your Songs Database, to fix this error.

1. Go to My computer.
2. Double (Left) click on Local Disk C:\
3. Double (Left) click on Program Files
4. Double (Left) click on Micro Technology Unlimited
5. Double (Left) click on Hoster
6. Double (Left) click on Databases
7. Now find the file named songs or songs.mdb and select the file so that it is highlighted.
8. Now press the Delete key on your Keyboard. Answer Yes to the question asking if you want to delete this file.
9. Open Hoster.
10. Hoster will now rebuild your Songs database as soon as it opens.
11. Once this has finished, you should no longer get this error.

Question:

Error: The field is too small to accept the amount of data you attempted to add. Try inserting or pasting less data. (3163). Would you like to see help?

Answer:

You are trying to add a name that is to long for the Field. Shorten the Filename, Artist name or Title name of the songs. You must find out which field it is that you are trying to use that is to long.

Question:

Error: Too Few Parameters. Expected 1 (3061) Would you like to  see help?

Answer:

You must Rebuild Your Songs Database, to fix this error.

1. Open Hoster.
2. Click the Tools Menu\Build Songs Database.
3. Set your Source folder to the location of your .kma files, if it is not correct.
4. Click the Build Songs Database Button. It will now start to rebuild the database from your .kma files.
5. Once this has finished, you should no longer get this error.

 

Question:

Error: Error Creating KMA file

Answer:

This error appears when your Save To Folder is set to a CD-Rom or CD-Recorder drive, instead of a Hard Disc Drive that can be written to.

1. Open Hoster.
2. Left click on the Import Tracks tab.
3. Left click the Save To Folder button.
4. Change the Look In directory to something on your Hard drive, such as C:\Hoster Songs.
5. Once you have a folder Opened, click the Select button.

 

Question:

Disable Windows Autorun for all CD/DVD/ROM Drives

Answer:

The Windows Autorun is always enabled for a drive until you disable it. When you insert an Audio CD or Karaoke CDG disc, Windows will try to “do something” with it for you. When using Microstudio or Hoster, this will cause long delays.

Also, add on Sound Cards install proprietary software that pop up and attempt to play CDs inserted in a drive unless Autorun is disabled.

Autorun causes extra delays for the drive to spin-up, to load unwanted software, and to allow advertisements embedded on some CDG discs to appear. Can you imagine running Hoster and adding a track to play from a Singer’s disc they hand you and an advertisement pops up in the middle of your show? You want to DISABLE Autorun!

Follow these steps to disable Autorun on a CD/DVD drive (this is from the Hoster Manual “Troubleshooting Guide”, “Reducing Audio Drops While Playing” topic):

1. Click the Start button
2. Click the Run command
3. Type in regedit and press the Enter key
4. Locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and click the + at its left to open its contents up
5. Scroll down to System and click the + to its left
6. Locate CurrentControlSet and click the + to its left
7. Locate Services and click the + to its left
8. Locate Cdrom and click it directly to see its contents on the right screen. If you have more than one CD/DVD/ROM drive, I suggest you disable Autorun for each drive.
9. Locate Autorun and move your mouse to it, then click and release your RIGHT mouse button. In the menu that appears, move your mouse to Modify and click your mouse LEFT button to see an edit dialog box. Enter zero (0 must replace the default 1) and click the OK button. This disables Autorun for this drive.
10. Click the X icon at the top right of this RegEdit screen to close it.

Question:

Audio is out of sync with graphics or repeats the same audio.

Answer:

NOTE: Microsoft Removed this ability from Windows Vista.  If you are having Sync issues with Vista, then you Must get the latest drivers for your Audio and Video cards.  This is the only way to fix this under Vista.

This is how to slow down the Hardware acceleration of your sound card.  This can fix problems with the graphics being out of sync or not playing back correctly with the audio.

1) Click the START menu

2) Left click  RUN.

3) Type in DXDIAG, and click OK.

4) At the top, click the tab marKed SOUND (may also be Sound 1 or Sound 2).

5) There’s a slider marked Hardware Acceleration.

6) Click on the pointer and move it to the left until it shows Basic Acceleration.

7) Exit the program.

8) Now try your software again.  The audio and graphics should now be in sync.

You can also try setting the Colors in the Display settings to 16 bit color, there used to be a problem with some video cards that made this occur. You can get to this by going to Control Panel\Display properties. Then click on the settings tab and change the colors to 16 bit.