More ak.Sys info

Here are some more little facts I learned while trying to copy my mpc HD data to my computer (a PC running XP).

1. Copying from computer to mpc4000 worked pretty nice last time. About 8GB of data went down the pipe in one go. Copying from mpc to computer however, resulted in many aborted sessions, and I partly know why now.

2. Some 'bad' files stored on the mpc simply resulted in an aborted copy process (resulting in the connection lost dialog in ak.Sys). I got the same result everytime I tried to copy those few files. Problem was gone when I removed these particular files (samples and program) from the mpc HD. So one of reasons why things go wrong is 'invalid' files. What exactly makes them invalid... I have no clue yet.

3. Here is a biggy. I noticed that after ak.Sys is completing a copy from mpc to PC, I get a dialog box from XP saying it is copying the samples to the indicated target directory on my computer's HD, and all the samples fly by once again. I checked, and learned that during the copy from mpc to computer, the data is NOT directly stored in the indicated directory, but in a temporary directory called UploadCache, which is located in the ak.Sys program folder.

ALL of the files are stored there, and only when the transfer has fully completed will the files be copied to the indicated target directory on your computer's HD. After that final copy, the data is not *removed* from the temporary storage, mind you. That is only done when a new copy is started, or when you quit and restart ak.Sys.

So.... suppose you want to copy 8GB worth of sample data from mpc to computer in one go, better make sure that the partition that holds the ak.Sys program folder has 8GB of EXTRA free space! In my case, the data is copied to another HD, but the copy is aborted because my system partition (where ak.Sys lives) runs out of space after about 3GB of data.

Also note that the temporary data stays there until you start another copy. It even stays put after you exit ak.Sys. The data will be removed next time when you start it up. So when the target directory and ak.Sys are on the same partition, you need 16GB of free space to copy 8GB of data.

4. Using regedit on XP, I couldn't find an ak.Sys resource that said where the temporary UploadCache folder is located. Looks like it's hardcoded. Using a symlink (shortcut) with that same name to a partition with enough space didn't help either. Ak.sys simply created a real folder with that same name on the same place. Next think I'll try is to re-install ak.Sys on a partition that has enough space to hold the upload cache.

5. I noticed that when I started the copy I had only half of the bandwidth when looking at the messages shown in the lower left of the ak.Sys window. It normally goes up to about 680kb/sec, but it was only running around 300kb/sec. When I unplugged all other USB devices from my computer (and they were idle, doing nothing), the bandwidth came back to 680kb/sec again, and everything looked much snappier. So if the copy takes really, really long, check your bandwidth.

6. When you get the 'maybe your mpc is disconnected' message from ak.Sys, all you have to do indeed is reconnect the USB cable in the back of the mpc, and restart ak.Sys. There is no need to restart the computer.

7. When I hit one of those 'invalid' files that aborted the copy, ak.Sys showed a message like 'unexpected result!!' in the lower left.

8. Whenever *anything* goes wrong, whatever the source, ak.Sys seems to react in the same way: it looses the connection with the sampler. Even when some of the problems come from the host OS in the computer, the result always seems to be the same.

excellent info rob. thanx alot - and make sure to put it in the useful tips and tricks book ... thats exactly the ish no akai manual ever will gonna tell us.

and - i m repeating myself - i suggested this already on your individual track lengths proposal - please do us all a favour and send your cv there! they need bugfixers and feature implementers instead of bugcoders! ur the man! and if ya still not up to - please keep up the great work ... anyways thanx!

Rob wrote:
3. Here is a biggy.
ALL of the files are stored there, and only when the transfer has fully completed will the files be copied to the indicated target directory on your computer's HD. After that final copy, the data is not *removed* from the temporary storage, mind you. That is only done when a new copy is started, or when you quit and restart ak.Sys.

Hi Rob,

There is this option in AK.SYS > SAMPLE EDITING > "Delete Sample Cache"

With this function you can delete the data in the sample cache folder directly after transfer. But you need the extra space during transfer though...

Ah, didn't know about the Delete Sample Cache option. Maybe I should RTFM again. But what we need indeed is an option where the sample cache is bypassed and data is directory copied to the given target directory. Maybe if we do not install a sample editor? Here's hope. I'll try out tonite.

I sent this post to akai to see if they can do somethin about that... it seems like such a waste of space....

good lookin

andy

As described in the first article in this thread, the upload process from MPC to computer is very delicate. I learned that limited disk capacity on the system partition of the computer can abort the upload (with the confusing 'lost connection' error dialog). But any kind of problem on the MPC also results in aborts of the upload process.

Today I found out more about the mysterious conditions in the MPC that cause the upload to abort. I already discovered that some files on the MPC can cause this, but I never understood what was wrong with them, since they seemed perfectly valid samples and read fine. Every time you restart the upload, the copy process will be aborted at the exact same point, at the exact same files on the MPC drive. Only when you remove the given files will the copy continue, until it encounters another 'problem', that is.

What I learned is this:

1. If loading of a folder with samples in the MPC itself results in the 'N samples were renamed' message (because the sample names were too long and conflicting), the ak.Sys upload (copy from mpc to computer) process will abort on that folder.

So even though this is only a *message*, not an error mind you, ak.Sys will abort. And even though ak.Sys is absolutely not interested in the renamed sample name (the computer should get the *file* name as found on disk), the ak.Sys server code in the MPC subjects the samples to the renaming algorithm, and exports renaming issues (including simple messages indicating correct behavior) as rude errors that cause ak.Sys to abort the whole process (with the infamous lost connection message).

2. If loading of a folder with samples in the MPC itself results in renaming errors, the ak.Sys upload process is aborted.

In this particular situation I had a folder with about 40 samples with very long names, where only the very last characters differed. All names were unique, but the MPC renaming algorithm failed to generate unique shorter sample names for these files, and in 5 cases produced a name that it had already generated a couple of samples ago, during the same load process.

The result was a 'N samples were not loaded' message, and the this problem caused the ak.Sys upload process to be aborted again. So even when we're not interested in the renamed sample name during the copy from MPC to computer, a problem in the renaming algorithm causes fatal errors nonetheless.

HOW TO FIX THIS?

As a workaround, until ak.Sys is fixed, try this:

For any folder that you want uploaded from MPC to computer using ak.Sys, make sure that the MPC can load that folder without any messages or errors. For example, if the MPC loads the folder with (perfectly valid) renaming messages, replace those samples with the renamed versions (save everything in a new folder, remove the original one, rename the new folder to the original name). Only folders that don't cause any ripple during load seem to make it through ak.Sys.


I will send a bug report for this to AkaiPro.

Rob wrote:Here are some more little facts I learned while trying to copy my mpc HD data to my computer (a PC running XP).

1. Copying from computer to mpc4000 worked pretty nice last time. About 8GB of data went down the pipe in one go. Copying from mpc to computer however, resulted in many aborted sessions, and I partly know why now.

2. Some 'bad' files stored on the mpc simply resulted in an aborted copy process (resulting in the connection lost dialog in ak.Sys). I got the same result everytime I tried to copy those few files. Problem was gone when I removed these particular files (samples and program) from the mpc HD. So one of reasons why things go wrong is 'invalid' files. What exactly makes them invalid... I have no clue yet.

3. Here is a biggy. I noticed that after ak.Sys is completing a copy from mpc to PC, I get a dialog box from XP saying it is copying the samples to the indicated target directory on my computer's HD, and all the samples fly by once again. I checked, and learned that during the copy from mpc to computer, the data is NOT directly stored in the indicated directory, but in a temporary directory called UploadCache, which is located in the ak.Sys program folder.

ALL of the files are stored there, and only when the transfer has fully completed will the files be copied to the indicated target directory on your computer's HD. After that final copy, the data is not *removed* from the temporary storage, mind you. That is only done when a new copy is started, or when you quit and restart ak.Sys.

So.... suppose you want to copy 8GB worth of sample data from mpc to computer in one go, better make sure that the partition that holds the ak.Sys program folder has 8GB of EXTRA free space! In my case, the data is copied to another HD, but the copy is aborted because my system partition (where ak.Sys lives) runs out of space after about 3GB of data.

Also note that the temporary data stays there until you start another copy. It even stays put after you exit ak.Sys. The data will be removed next time when you start it up. So when the target directory and ak.Sys are on the same partition, you need 16GB of free space to copy 8GB of data.

4. Using regedit on XP, I couldn't find an ak.Sys resource that said where the temporary UploadCache folder is located. Looks like it's hardcoded. Using a symlink (shortcut) with that same name to a partition with enough space didn't help either. Ak.sys simply created a real folder with that same name on the same place. Next think I'll try is to re-install ak.Sys on a partition that has enough space to hold the upload cache.

5. I noticed that when I started the copy I had only half of the bandwidth when looking at the messages shown in the lower left of the ak.Sys window. It normally goes up to about 680kb/sec, but it was only running around 300kb/sec. When I unplugged all other USB devices from my computer (and they were idle, doing nothing), the bandwidth came back to 680kb/sec again, and everything looked much snappier. So if the copy takes really, really long, check your bandwidth.

6. When you get the 'maybe your mpc is disconnected' message from ak.Sys, all you have to do indeed is reconnect the USB cable in the back of the mpc, and restart ak.Sys. There is no need to restart the computer.

7. When I hit one of those 'invalid' files that aborted the copy, ak.Sys showed a message like 'unexpected result!!' in the lower left.

8. Whenever *anything* goes wrong, whatever the source, ak.Sys seems to react in the same way: it looses the connection with the sampler. Even when some of the problems come from the host OS in the computer, the result always seems to be the same.

old news buddy
When aksys gives the error, you should clear the mpc´s memory, aksys will work again after clearing the memory

You mean that the folder that didn't copy in the first place because of renaming issues, WILL copy without a hitch via ak.Sys after you clear the MPC's memory?

sorry i wasnt making myself clear..
I was answering point "6. When you get the 'maybe your mpc is disconnected' message from ak.Sys, all you have to do indeed is reconnect the USB cable in the back of the mpc, and restart ak.Sys. There is no need to restart the computer."
Everytime Aksys gives an error and after you cant make a connection anymore unless you reboot either mpc or computer; just wipe the mpc´s memory! and restart aksys

Ah, got it!