Pandora's Jar 8.* w/ fixes (newest release) Options

[darkone_05]

Ok, so I don't know if this was worth a promotion to 8.0, but it makes a good marker for me when dealing with it.
I have added a couple new settings to the web interface and worked out a couple kinks I had come across.
It also includes an extension for firefox to switch flash versions and complete instructions.
This was basically just a first go for me at getting familiar with the code of this project, so there will be more to come.

Current Release

Pandora 8.1.1 Download

New Version 8.1.1
  [10/17/07]
  features:
    - added ability to specify TEMP directory if needed
  bugfixes:
  other:
    - updated readme


Previous Versions


Version 8.1 (download)
  [9/11/07]
  features:
  bugfixes:
    - cddb tag lookup now works
  other:

Version 8.0 (download)
  [9/9/07]
  features
    - added ability to specify save folder via web interface
    - added ability to enable/disable hierarchical folder saving method
  bugfixes:
    - various bug fixes (cant exactly remember)
  other:


Instructions

1. Unzip folder anywhere you like.
2. Install the Firefox greasemonkey extension. (link)
3. Restart Firefox.
4. Install pandorajar.user.js into greasemonkey. (link)
5  Download flash_switcher_1.0.0.xpi extension. (link)
6. Open downloaded flash_switcher_1.0.0.xpi in firefox to install.
7. Use flash switcher extension to switch to flash 8.
8. Run pandora.bat.
9. Enjoy


Troubleshooting

  Q. On starting, you receive error: "Could not find the main class. Program will exit."
  A. Download and install the newest version of Java. (link)

  Q. After starting Pandora's Jar, there is the text "How do I upgrade Flash Player?" where the player should be.
  A. Thanks to MaxRabbit's enginuity, this one is a snap.
        1. Install the great Firefox greasemonkey extension. (link)
        2. Restart Firefox.
        3. Install pandorajar.user.js into greasemonkey. (click here to install)



P.S. If anyone has any leads on how they are caching the data in flash 9, it would make the next step a lot easier. Thanks

[Pichet]

I was hoping for a post like yours!  Do you think this can be ported easily to Linux Live CDs such as Slax or NimbleX?

8-)

[darkone_05]

I don't have a linux box to test it on right now, but the changes that I have implemented shouldn't affect the ability to run on linux. Its all in java, so unless there is something in the original code that would prevent it, it should still work in linux by running the pandora.sh script (included).

This version can be run from anywhere you like, not just C:pandora or whatever, so putting it in a livecd should be as easy as just adding it into the cd and making any necessary firefox changes.

If you have a linux box to test it on, let me know if it works.

[Pichet]

Hi,

Here's what i worked on, everything is fine in it
until one tries to "grab" music (because directory
structures differ):

http://forums.hak5.org/index.php/topic,7173.0.html

This is a Linux Live CD, no permanent installation
needed.  One boots with it or he can use VMWare:

http://forums.hak5.org/index.php/topic,7049.0.html

I'm about to experiment with the v8 release but it
won't work if there are any leftovers of some hard-
coded file path in it.  You'll hear of me again...

;-)

[darkone_05]

Ok, I looked through the code, and unless I missed something, there are no hard-coded directories. That was one of the main changes I made in going to 8.0.

[Pichet]

Hi,

I've put a few hours on it but the grab button still
fails to work:  it's complaining about being "unable
to locate artist and song information" (or "artist
info" and "album info" if you like).  It doesn't work
at all unless i leave JavaScript active and the .MP3
files are nowhere to be found if i use Flash Player
v9.0 r48 instead of v7.0 r63 (no v8 in Linux!)...  I
think references to the temporary directory might
be a problem but i guess i'll just sleep on it.

:roll:

[darkone_05]

Pandoras Jar grabs the temporary directory from the OS TEMP or TMP environmental variable. I know that Pandoras Jar won't work in flash 9, since the caching system is implemented differently (i think its just cached in memory or a all-in-one temp data dump).
In windows, I am still able to rip from flash 7.

Check your environmental variables to see what TMP is set for, then, while running pandora with flash 7, see if you can find the tmp files pandora is saving there. This will be sure everything is going right on pandora's end.

If that is all gravy, I imagine I will need to look into how it is grabbing the song info....

[Pichet]

Hi DarkOne_05,

I did notice an "export TEMP=" string in the .sh
Linux script, the script itself didn't work but i
vaguely recall trying to make use of it in my Slax
module, last month.  This animation confirmed the
temporary directory was located at '/tmp/plugtmp':

SLAX-Based Ready-Made/Out-of-USA/Bilingual Project for Linux Live CDs/USB Drives

The music files are easy to identify because Linux
looks at the content instead of extensions only...

The cache is more complicated to find.  Even if the
Flash Switcher v1.0.0 utility is for Windows .DLLs
instead of the Linux SlackWare .so ones it's still
reading the Flash version from the 'pluginreg.dat'
file accurately though, it also knows exactly where
the cache is located if i try to setup preferences,
if i remember correctly...  It wouldn't be hard to
recycle a part of its code should that be necessary.

Perhaps it's time for me to search for some debug
resource inside Pandora's Jar, a log file generated
internally would do fine!  I'll see what comes up.

[darkone_05]

The pandora log file spits out a lot of useful info.

[minicrewton]

Ok, so I don't know if this was worth a promotion to 8.0, but it makes a good marker for me when dealing with it.
I have added a couple new settings to the web interface and worked out a couple kinks I had come across.
It also includes an extension for firefox to switch flash versions and complete instructions.
This was basically just a first go for me at getting familiar with the code of this project, so there will be more to come.

www.newfilepile.com/pandora/pandoras_jar_8.zip

New settings:
-save directory path
-choice of whether or not to use hierarchical folder structure

P.S. If anyone has any leads on how they are caching the data in flash 9, it would make the next step a lot easier. Thanks

out of curiosity in this one did you manage to get it to grab the album info correctly? or is that still a bug?

[darkone_05]

I have been beating my head against this one for a few hours now...

WebConversation wc = new WebConversation();
WebRequest req = new GetMethodWebRequest("http://www.gracenote.com/music/index_old.html");
WebResponse resp = wc.getResponse(req);
WebForm searchForm = resp.getFormWithName("search");
searchForm.setParameter("q", URLEncoder.encode(artist + " " + title, "UTF-8"));
WebResponse webResponse = searchForm.submit();

For some reason, this died at submit about 99% of the time. It end up spitting back a load of script gibrish, which is caught and returned in the log. The other 1% of the time that it doesn't die there, it doesn't work anyway, because the original code is defective and I haven't fixed it yet.
The code defect takes place when the search returns multiple possibilities for the song info. The only time tags work right now is when: a)the fetch doesn't break and b)the search returns only the definative result.

If ANYONE has ANY experience with these web functions, please let me know and give me a hand. I am proficient with java, but this part is getting me...

[Pichet]

Hi DarkOne,

I've downloaded 'pandora_7.9_alpha.zip' which seems
to be about the latest experiments made by Cooper
this winter and i couldn't find the "tmp"/"temp"
strings or their letter-case variants once and not
even in what looks like source-code.  I did the
same with an archive mentioned in this post but i
found no joy there:  "Complete Working Install
Package+Instructions for OS X"...  Well that's no
Linux but i was hoping to get some clues anyway.

Perhaps if you search for Cooper and people who
wrote to him it will lead to an e-Mail address or
something...  I'll take a look at Pandoras' Jar
log file in any case, there's nothing to loose.  :-)

[darkone_05]

Take a look at the source for Mp3Processor.findTempDir().

Thats where the TEMP and TMP environmental variables come into play.

[Razor512]

I keep getting this error

[darkone_05]

I had a friend get that too. I had him update his java runtime and it worked.

[Razor512]

I had a friend get that too. I had him update his java runtime and it worked.

yay it works,


I was wondering , will it be ok for me to make your version into an installer?

(it just to make it easier for people to install)

[darkone_05]

Sure thing man, the release time on it is going to be pretty sporadic though... I think I am getting close to FINALLY solving the long standing tagging issue.

[darkone_05]

Ok everyone, got cddb lookup working.

[darkone_05]

on another note, what's it take to get stickied.
I would like to be able to get a topic stickied with reply turned off.
This would allow a better way to post the current version.

[Pichet]

Hi DarkOne,

I browsed through a lot of FireFox .XPI extensions
lately and found this one, it's made for RadioBlog:

http://www.adrien-gallou.fr/?page=radioblog

I wasn't able to make it work but it claims to be
able to retreive titles while the temporary music
files (in .MP3 format without an extension) are
present in the FireFox cache directory - using an
older version of Flash Player, of course...  Who
knows, perhaps this might open a new perspective.



I look forward to evaluating your next release!

:-)