14:50
2009-09-21
Categorised in:

Use Ogg Vorbis for Lag-free Ringtones on Android

Why, do I hear you cry?

Simple really, here’s the story: when I first transferred various files to my phone for use as ringtones (one each for calls, texts, e-mails…) I used MP3s.  Thanks to the Rings Extended application in the marketplace I had no trouble in using them.

But one thing struck me as odd whenever I got a call (or text etc.); lag.  If I were to get a call right now, the phone would vibrate, the screen would turn black, and then a couple of seconds later the contact details show and my ringtone starts playing.  Not ideal.

So I decided to try something.  I set one of the standard ringtones that came with the phone as the current ringtone, and tried again.  This time the phone started vibrating and played the tone at the same time.

After that I had to figure out what format they used, since I had no idea where the files could be and what format they were.  I reasoned that Ogg Vorbis would be the format they’d use — an open-source OS with open-source ringtones.  Makes sense, right?

So I tried it: I converted those same ringtones I started out with to 128kbps CBR Vorbis files.  128kbps because I thought that a higher bitrate would lag the phone out (plus you wouldn’t hear a quality difference from the speaker anyway), and CBR because I thought it would be easier for the decoder to work with, though I have no evidence to back this up.

Voilà!  Suddenly my ringtones loaded a lot quicker, and no longer did I get vibrations with no accompanying ringtone (unless it was set to vibrate only).

I haven’t tested other settings on the Vorbis encoder (different bitrates, VBR etc.), nor have I tested other formats aside from MP3 and Ogg.

Hope this is of help to someone that actually cares about this stuff.

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20:38
2009-09-16
Categorised in:

Strip ID3v1 Tags from MP3s in Linux

For kicks I decided to remove all the ID3v1 tags from my music files today.  They were just getting in the way and served no useful purpose — since I had perfectly fine ID3v2 tags — so they just had to go.

I cooked up a little command to help out here!  But first, we need to make sure you have the command that we’re going to need here, id3v2.  Install it from the official repositories using your distribution’s package manager.  For example, on Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install id3v2

This command is used to view and manipulate ID3 tags inside of music files.  One argument in particular is of use to us, -s, which strips ID3v1 tags out of the specified file(s).

With that in mind the task is just getting a list of the files that you want to remove ID3v1 tags from.  I’ve managed to solve that and fit it all in one line — don’t forget to replace the path with the correct one:

find /path/to/music -name \*.mp3 -type f -print0 | xargs -0 id3v2 -s

That’s it! After testing I ran it on my whole music library and it appears to have survived just fine. Just be patient (and careful) if you’re stripping tags out of hundreds or thousands of files.

Let me know how it works out for you, and any improvements you may have!

2 comments »
16:24
2009-09-12
Categorised in:

Forgotten the Installation Code for your Sagem Digital Set-Top Box?

It’s annoying when that or something similar happens — in my case, someone else had changed the code meaning I couldn’t retune the box to accept more channels.

But all is not lost!  Simply follow this quick guide.  This is from a Sagem ITC 62 — it may or may not be the same process for other models:

  1. Press Menu on your remote control.
  2. Select Installation.  You’ll be presented with a screen where you have to enter an Installation Code.
  3. Press these buttons one after the other on your remote: Menu, Menu, Red button, Menu.  You should be taken to a new screen displaying User Settings and Box Settings.
  4. Select User Settings.

Now what you do at this point is up to you.  You have two choices:

Disable the Installation Code

This means that you don’t have to enter or remember an installation code in future, but it might be vulnerable to inquisitive children.  If this isn’t an issue for you (or you don’t care!), follow these steps:

  1. Select Locking.
  2. Switch Box Locked and Channels Locked to No.

Change the Installation Code

If you still want an installation code for whatever reason, follow these steps:

  1. Select Change Installation Code.
  2. Enter any four digit code you like, and press OK.
  3. Re-enter the same code again.  Press OK.

That’s it!  Let me know how it goes for you.

Credit to Steven Checkley for his amazing hackery.

One comment »