I noticed two annoyances with Emplode recently... wondering if they were known/normal or something possibly wrong with my setup........

Speed: I hooked in via USB (the only other thing on my USB bus is an MS Explorer Mouse), but it seems to be taking significantly longer to download data than 12Mb/s would imply. I didn't really time it exactly, so I have no solid numbers, but I'm thinking it seems more on the order of 4Mb/s.

Hangs: I've only experienced a single hang during sync so far, but I've only synced maybe 6 or 7 times so far. The first syncs I did only contained 1 or 2 albums. The first serious sync (roughly 2GB) hung about 2/3 of the way through. Emplode hung, then the player eventually timed out and reset back to a normal screen, and I had to kill Emplode from the task manager. I was able to restart emplode and continue (after re-importing the un-sent tracks).

You're not the only person to report these problems. 1.01 should be out fairly soon, and I think Empeg is hoping they are addressed in that release. When 1.01 comes out, make sure to try it and let everyone know if it takes care of the problem.

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Tony Fabris

Speed: I hooked in via USB (the only other thing on my USB bus is an MS Explorer Mouse), but it seems to be taking significantly longer to download data than 12Mb/s would imply. I didn't really time it exactly, so I have no solid numbers, but I'm thinking it seems more on the order of 4Mb/s.

Welcome to the world of marketing driven numbers. Many times, the number on a device representing speed is taken from the engineers theory on maximum under perfect conditions, then rounded to a pretty number to sell the product on. USB is one of these things. Down to 4Mb/s seems quite slow though. Try timing it and seeing if you get higher numbers. Also, check around in the USB area of Device Manager. There should be a graph for the allocation of bandwith to devices (including about a minimum of 10% to system). Make sure the mouse isn't snagging more then it should. Beyond that, with USB, there is usually nothing to fix unless USB just dosen't work. Actually, one more thing. Is you USB controller an Intel one? My laptop has an internal Intel controller, and a second USB bus on the dock that is controlled by I think an Opti chip or some such. The Intel one worked fine for a USB CD-R I had at full speed of the drive, while the Opti one didn't produce stable results for the fastest speed. If you bought a USB card, it might be time to take it back and try to find a better one. Or, if it's integrated, try an Intel PCI card and see if that helps, if possible.

BTW, I had a look around in the Device Manager and couldn't find anything that would give you a graph of bandwidth allocation to devices. How do you get it? (Assuming: Windows 98, Control Panel, System, Device Manager)

Save the whales. Feed the hungry. Free the mallocs.

There is a graph in 2000.

BTW, I had a look around in the Device Manager and couldn't find anything that would give you a graph of bandwidth allocation to devices. How do you get it? (Assuming: Windows 98, Control Panel, System, Device Manager

I thought it was in 98 as well. I don't have a 98 machine here, but if it's the same as 2000, open the properties of the USB Host Controller, and go to the advanced tab. One thing that also might help is a program called usbview. Put in the 98 CD, and search for it. The program provides some detailed USB bus info that may help in any USB problems.