General Information and "readme" | Detailed Installation for WIN98 | BUGFIX: version 1.16.1
1. The version 1.18.905 is a re-compiled executable of earlier source code. It was compiled on VB6, Service Pack 5. The CAB package in the release version was newly created and tested on a WIN2000 machine.
2. Be sure to set your computer to use Military time (0000 to 2359 hours) You set this by clicking on the "Regional settings" icon in the Control Panel, choosing the "Time" tab, and setting the Time style to "HH:mm:ss". If you do not set the computer to use Military time, AudioLocker will report amusing, but incorrect, file durations and will not play files predictably.
3. You must create an
audio file called emergency.wav, and place it in the directory where
AudioLocker.exe exists. emergency.wav is only played when the database
is corrupt, unreadable, or the playlist schedule is mis-programmed. In the case
of a mis-programmed playlist, AudioLocker tries to find a valid audio file to
play after emergency.wav has played. If there are no valid files, emergency.wav
is played again (and if necessary, again and again and...again). emergency.wav
can be any audio you deem appropriate; we are using a 20 minute music composition
by NPR Webmaster Chris Mandra. We selected something "long" so that
whatever problem occurred that triggered the emergency may have solved itself
by the time AudioLocker tries to read the playlist again, and not annoy the
listener with repetition. Common problems such as trying to access a file "locked"
by another user, clear up when the other user closes his/her access to that
file AudioLocker is trying to play.
If emergency.wav is missing, AudioLocker will simply exit without a
whimper. You can read the AudioLocker log to see what happened; it's a text
file at c:\npravlog.txt
4. It is likely the when you try running
AudioLocker, the EMERGENCY FILE PLAYING notification will appear because the
database file we provide, schedule.mdb, was programmed for playing
audio files from a networked drive at NPR. When AudioLocker starts, it won't
find any files to play, and try to play emergency.wav
If emergency.wav does not exist, AudioLocker will simply exit
without a whimper.
You can get AudioLocker running with a very simple playlist by creating one using a plain-text editor. Create a file that has just the following line:
1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,00:00:00,23:59:59,c:\windows\media\ding.wav
Replace c:\windows\media\ding.wav with the path and name of
an audio file you know to exist. After you've typed (or pasted) the line into the text
editor, save the file as myplaylist.sch in the same directory in which you have
installed AudioLocker, usually c:\program files\audiolocker\
(You can name your playlist anything within reason, but I have been using the
file type .SCH as denoting AudioLocker text schedule files).
From the RUN menu (Start | Run ) enter the following:
"c:\program files\audiolocker\audiolocker.exe" load
USE THE DOUBLE QUOTES AROUND THE PATH AND NAME OF
AudioLocker. The "load" parameter forces AudioLocker to prompt you for
a plain-text playlist file. For this, browse for the playlist file you created above (myplaylist.sch),
and double click on the filename. This will load myplaylist.sch into the
AudioLocker database and start playing the file you specified over, and over, and over,
and....over.
If AudioLocker immediately exits, check that the file you specified in the playlist
exists in the path you specified.
5. Almost everything AudioLocker does is logged in a plain-text file. If AudioLocker quits and you can't determine why, check the log file c:\npravlog.txt
We have received reports that AudioLocker did not run on WIN98
computers, and duplicated the problem at NPR by installing AudioLocker without installing
the recommended support files. You can fix this by doing the following:
1. UNinstall AudioLocker--KEEPING ALL DLLs/OCX and other files when prompted (The "Keep or Delete" dialog box). The uninstall may insist on a reboot. If it does, please reboot.
2. Install Windows Media Player from the EUonline
site--find the link on the AudioLocker page at http://www.npr.org/euonline/members/feature/audiolocker/
IF YOU CURRENT MEDIA PLAYER VERSION IS NEWER THAN THE ONE WE PROVIDE,
THE AudioLocker INSTALL PROGRAM WILL LEAVE IT ALONE! Please ensure
that your current Media Player is version 6.00.02.0902 or higher. The Help
| About menu selection will specifically show this version
number. If you do not see a version number, it is possible that this Media Player
is not the latest version.
3. Install DCOM98, also available for download from the AudioLocker page. This install program will insist on a reboot.
4. Re-install AudioLocker
5. Please read the general installation notes in the General Information section (above) regarding the emergency.wav file.
We have found that the original source code, using a
reference to amcompat.tlb to interface to the Windows Media Player makes it
impossible to compile ("make audiolocker.exe") and users will receive the very,
very annoying "unspecified error &H80004005", even though AudioLocker can be
run from within Visual Basic development environment without this error appearing.
Further, this error box pops up if you try to unload or even view frmAudioLockerMain.frm
from within the Visual Basic development environment.
Earlier compiled versions of AudioLocker work correctly as designed, without regard to the Windows Media Player version installed.
It appears that the type library amcompat.tlb is broken by newer versions of the Windows Media Player. We learned only recently of this problem when we tried to upgrade AudioLocker for other projects. Microsoft has not listed or reported this problem. We can reproduce this error on WIN95, WIN98 and WINNT.
THE FIX:
I have revised the source code to directly use the Windows Media Player, without referring
to amcompat.tlb. This version is 1.16.1, dated February 13, 2000, and has the following
additional benefits:
1. The Windows Media Player component can be separately upgraded without breaking
AudioLocker
2. Directly accessing the Media Player as a control exposes a rich set of properties,
methods, and events that the ActiveMovie control did not have. Improved error
reporting, additional audio sources (streaming and plain audio files) are supported,
among other benefits.