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Old 12-25-2007, 05:42 AM   #1
shanemorankelly
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Can I use my new Creative Zen under linux?


I got a Creative Zen mp3 player, and I would love to be able to use it in Ubuntu, unfortunately it isn't recognized as a usb mass storage device. Is there a program I can use to copy files to it?

Any help is much appreciated. Thank you.
 
Old 12-25-2007, 06:40 AM   #2
reddazz
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Hi and welcome to LQ. Apparently you can use a program called gnomad2 to access your creative zen in Linux. I have never done this myself, but I found lots of articles on Google (search for "creative+zen+linux) that may help you.
 
Old 12-25-2007, 06:56 AM   #3
shanemorankelly
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Gnomad2

Well, something I probably should have mentioned already. I used google, installed it, and yet it couldnt see my zen
 
Old 12-27-2007, 10:26 PM   #4
maxkueng
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Question Does it work?

I have a ZEN MicroPhoto and it works perfectly with Gnomad2. But I am thinking about buying one of those sexy new ZENs. Apparently, there is a new and an old Creative ZEN.

The Gnomad Website says that the Creative ZEN is supported but they don't say whether it's the old or the new one. And if - as they say - any MTP device is supported, how do I find out if the new ZEN supports MTP? The specifications page on the Creative website does not mention protocols at all.
 
Old 03-29-2008, 12:41 PM   #5
genialself
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Old vs New Creative Zen

I apparently have a "new" Zen. After much searching I have found this difference. The www.linux-usb.org/usb.ids site shows a product ID of 411d for the Creative Zen, my "new" Zen shows a product ID of 4157. The output of /proc/bus/usb/devices lists the driver as (none). This ID is not listed any place I could discover. Does anyone know where to find or how to assign a driver for this device? I would be willing to try the driver for the "old" Zen but don't know how to go about this. Thanks

Last edited by genialself; 03-29-2008 at 12:47 PM. Reason: Added reference to linux-usb.org
 
Old 03-29-2008, 07:51 PM   #6
allied air
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have you actually tried lsusb to see if it's being picked up ( command line; might need sudo dunno)?
i have a creative zen whatsit that can get temperamental with windaes, but it can usually work under linux if I manually mount it ( usually /dev/sda1).
 
Old 03-29-2008, 11:23 PM   #7
maxkueng
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Lightbulb Works with libmtp7

The new ZEN actually works with Gnomad2 if you have compiled it with libmtp7. I think it's in the Ubuntu testing repositories.

You can also mount your ZEN with mtpfs and libmtp7. Then your ZEN is accessible like a folder. Though, the track length ID3 tags get lost with mtpfs which makes it kinda useless.
 
Old 04-08-2008, 05:59 PM   #8
violagirl23
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Quote:
Originally Posted by maxkueng View Post
You can also mount your ZEN with mtpfs and libmtp7. Then your ZEN is accessible like a folder. Though, the track length ID3 tags get lost with mtpfs which makes it kinda useless.
What do you mean? I've used MTPFS for a while and haven't noticed any adverse effects, but maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention. So would this mean that the MP3 player wouldn't be able to tell you how long the song is while it is playing?
Hm..........
I just thought it better because folders are an easy way to view things, especially because Creative's method on Windows is akin to a folder.
:?
 
Old 04-09-2008, 01:23 AM   #9
maxkueng
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Quote:
Originally Posted by violagirl23 View Post
What do you mean? I've used MTPFS for a while and haven't noticed any adverse effects, but maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention. So would this mean that the MP3 player wouldn't be able to tell you how long the song is while it is playing?
Hm..........
I just thought it better because folders are an easy way to view things, especially because Creative's method on Windows is akin to a folder.
:?
I have tried mtpfs along with libmtp7 and I transferred some MP3s to my 16GB ZEN (with flash memory). I then noticed that I was not able to fast-forward within a track. The MP3 player does, however, recognize when the track has finished.

Then I checked the file's ID3 tags and I saw that the tag containing the track length was not there. I also later found a bug report somewhere on an mtpfs specific site (don't remember where) that confirmed my diagnosis.

However, if you have a different MP3 player than I have, yours might not at all care about the track length ID3 tag and determine the length itself. In this case you wouldn't notice any difference.

I am now using Gnomad2 compiled with libmtp7 and it all works, including track length. So this must be an mptfs problem. Though, if this gets fixed I would immediately switch back to mptfs because, like you say, folders are an easy (and comfortable) way to view things.

Last edited by maxkueng; 04-09-2008 at 01:27 AM. Reason: extend
 
Old 04-10-2008, 12:03 AM   #10
violagirl23
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I hate gnomad. Nothing works right for me, like video transfers always fail. I'm trying amarok as a last resort but I hate it already. It's not even installed and already taking up way too much space with QT dependencies and taking forever to compile on my Pentium II. XD
 
Old 04-11-2008, 01:32 AM   #11
maxkueng
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I don't use my ZEN for videos, so Gnomad works for me. But I agree that there is smoother working software around.

I once tried out Gentoo a few years ago on a Pentium III. I made a Stage 2 install and it took me two days to install the basic system and Fluxbox. I understand that on a Pentium II you probably want a system that can be kept extremely slim but Gentoo is, in my opinion, not the easiest and most comfortable system to install software

On Linux Mint I just type aptitude install Gnomad2 and I'm all done. I use Qt myself for work so I don't really care about Gnomad's Qt dependencies.

I have never tried Amarok, though. But I looked at some screenshots and it just looks kinda big. All I need is a way to transfer MP3s to my ZEN. I wish mtpfs didn't have that bug so I could drop Gnomad.

Have a nice day
 
Old 04-11-2008, 10:19 PM   #12
violagirl23
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Pidgin MSN Chat Room Logs?

I'm trying to delete this post and failing miserably. >.<

Last edited by violagirl23; 04-12-2008 at 12:24 AM.
 
Old 04-12-2008, 12:15 AM   #13
Kahless
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I use amarok with mine and set it up as a MTP device
 
Old 06-26-2008, 11:16 AM   #14
schneidz
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here is what i created for this purpose, sorry it is not gui:
Code:
[schneidz@lq schneidz]$ cat bin/shh-mtp.ksh 
#!/bin/bash

        # shh-mtp-v.5
        # front end for mtp-sendtr with id3tags edited by grip
        #  sends all *.mp3 in pwd to an mtp unit.
        # depends: libusb/ libmtp
        # this software can be distributed or modified as needed - season to taste.
        # schneidz
        # 12.05.2006
 
for mp3 in *.mp3
do
 song=`strings "$mp3" | grep -A 1 TIT2 | tail -n 1 | rev | cut -b 5- | rev`
  song2=$song
  while [ `echo $song | wc -c` -lt 50 ]
  do
   song=`echo "$song - $song"`
  done
 
 singer=`strings "$mp3" | grep -A 1 TPE1 | tail -n 1 | rev | cut -b 5- | rev` # singer=`strings "$mp3" | grep -A 1 TPE2 | tail -n 1 | rev | cut -b 5-
| rev`
 album=`strings "$mp3" | grep -A 1 TALB | tail -n 1 | rev | cut -b 5- | rev`  year=`strings "$mp3" | grep -A 1 TYER | tail -n 1 | rev | cut -b 5- | rev`  size=`wc -c "$mp3" | awk '{print $1}'`
  len=`expr $size / 126 / 126`
 track=`echo "$mp3" | cut -b 1-2`
 
 echo sudo mtp-sendtr -q -t "$song" -a "$singer" -l "$album" -g soul -n $track -y $year -d $len "$mp3" "$mp3"
 
 sudo mtp-sendtr -q -t "$song" -a "$singer" -l "$album" -g soul -n $track -y $year -d $len "$mp3" "$mp3"
 
 echo; sleep 1
 read
done
the length assumes 128 bit encoding it approximates usually precise to within 5 secs.

Last edited by schneidz; 06-26-2008 at 11:18 AM.
 
Old 11-14-2008, 08:28 PM   #15
Twexcom
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This script (Kmtpmount) will automatically setup and mount your Creative Zen as a USB drive.
 
  


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creative, driver, mp3, ubuntu, usb, zen



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