Anybody using M-Audio Transit USB with Front Row?

If any of you are using Front Row with the external Transit USB D/A Coverter, and are experiencing freezing issues, you may want to read below what I have been able to figure out as to why this is happening.
After MANY hours of frustration, I have been able to confirm that the Transit USB is causing the following problem:
I have a Mac Mini with a clean install of Leopard 10.5.2 and all Apple updates. Nothing else is installed. With the Transit NOT connected to the Mini, I installed the latest 1.7-3 drivers from your site and restarted computer. I then connected the Transit and selected AC-3 as the Audio Output. In order to make Front Row see AC-3, you must open "DVD Player" and select its output to "Digital Out - M-Audio Transit USB" instead of "System Sound Output". You then need to restart Mini. With that done, playing movies thru "DVD Player" works fine. However, when you go to watch a movie thru "Front Row", the Transit (for some reason) causes "Front Row" to freeze. It doesn't freeze during movie playback, it freezes when hitting "Menu" and you are sitting at the Menu Screen that asks for the following 3 options: "Resume Playing", "Start from Beginning", or "DVD Menu". There is no way to get out of this frozen state. You MUST restart computer. When computer restarts, if you go into "DVD Player" Preferences and change the audio output selection back to "System Sound Output" and restart computer, this issue disappears and Front Row works fine again (however, without AC-3).
To reiterate my point: Transit USB works fine with DVD Player but NOT with Front Row. I have confirmed this on 2 Mac Mini's.

This is indeed an M-Audio issue. I have the same setup you do, except my mini is a 1.25GHz G4 with no on-board Digital audio output.
To make it work with front row, you have to go to (Settings) and turn off the background music, it will stop freezing and let you select your media.
My AC3 output from my Transit USB has never worked in this configuration. My receiver just doesn't see AC3 coming out of it.....soooo no sound at all. However I set it to (Outputs 1&2), (24bit) and boom...my receiver plays back in its Pro Logic setting via an optical connection from the Transit. All my movies and music playback just lovely. BUT. If I go on the net and try to play a flash video, like a YouTube, etc... Safari will freeze. I verified it is the Transit and not Safari because the moment I unplug the Transit, Safari wakes up, the video resumes and sound plays through the internal speaker just fine.
Something's goofy with the M-Audio Driver for Leopard.

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ITunes Digital Output using M-Audio Transit USB???

Hi all,
Having recently attached an M-Audio Transit USB external "soundcard" to my Mac Mini (PPC) and hooked up the TOSlink digital output from the Transit to my AV amplifier, I can definitely state that Apple DVD Player and VLC both utilise the Digital Output, giving me full 5.1 AC3 signals from DVDs/DivX movies etc, which I had hoped to be the case.
However, I'm curious as to what the actual output from iTunes is. If I'm playing an Apple Lossles audio file, does iTunes decompress this to the original 44kHz PCM and send this through Core Audio straight to the Digital output of the Transit? In other words, am I getting bit-accurate audio information into the AV amp?
Anyone who can confirm or deny this, please let me know, as this was one reason for me buying the Transit!!!!
Also, any idea how to get DTS audio from a redbook CD out from this setup? Will VLC handle it? Or even iTunes???
Thanks,
JF
15" Powerbook PPC G4 1.5 (1Gb RAM) + MacMini PPC G4 1.5 (512Mb RAM) Mac OS X (10.4.6)

You can get full 5.1 AC3 signals from DVD because that's what the audio on the disk is encoded with. You won't get 5.1 AC3 or DTS signals from iTunes if the files are only encoded in stereo. I don't have a Transit, but I have the Sonica USB which is the previous model of the same device. They have different drivers (and your Intel Mac mini would have different drivers than a PPC Mac mini with the same Transit device), but I would guess we have similar experiences with the devices. You won't get DTS out of any file that's not DTS to begin with. That's one reason the Transit System Preferences pane will give you options to configure non-surround sound audio coming from your Mac mini to your stereo.
-Doug

M-Audio Transit USB equivalent?

Is there another product that's an equivalent to M-Audio Transit USB?
The M-Audio Transit simply doesn't work for me. No AC3/DTS pass through from my Mac mini. So, looking for a better alternative.
Thanks in advance for any recommendations.
Cheers,
AT

I use the M-Audio Sonica USB - not Theater. It's a simple device. It works great with AC-3 output to my hifi via optical (toslink). It's an old model, but some can be picked up quite cheaply.
But I don't understand why the Transit doesn't work.
You don't need the M-Audio drivers as far as I know if you just want digital sound out to a hifi. You may need them if you want to do sound effects/equalisation first. This was a development sometime during the life of 10.3. Apple's core audio does all the stuff that's necessary and apps like DVD Player and VLC take advantage.
The only thing you need to do is to ensure the firmware gets loaded into the Sonica after a shutdown. You can extract the firmware from the M-Audio drivers using Pacifist (it's easy really), and then set it to be an automated task on startup. Even if I unplug my Sonica and replug it in (eg after plugging in an iPod into the USB port), it immediately gets the firmware and the mac immedialtey switches sound output back to the Sonica. This tip may also work for the M-Audio Transit.
I have been doing this sucessfully since 10.4 came along when I made this change.
If you need any further explanations, post back.
Ian

Using Smart folders with front row

I have several video files on my Hard Disk, and would like to see them without having to move them to the MOVIE folder.
Creating aliases doesn't work because I always have new files and can't synchronize all of them manually!
Best way would be to create a Smart folder INSIDE movies that will be automatically populated with all the videos on my computer.
Any ideas on how to do it?
thanks,
P.

I don't think a "smart folder" is going to work. A "smart folder" is not really a folder itself, it's a text file that remembers the criteria you selected for a search. It's a little Mac OS X magic that makes the Finder think it's a folder. Front Row thinks it's a text file. You won't be able to browse the contents of a "smart folder" with Front Row. Now, why Apple couldn't add smart folder technology into the Front Row interface, I have no idea. I would think they could implement this. I would send them some feedback and request this option:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html
-Doug

Having problems with front row (and the opticle drive)

I bought my macbook three days ago, and I'm already having problems. First off, I transfered music from my user profile on my old iMac G5 to the macbook via data DVD. My music collection had some purchaces from the itunes store, so I had to go through the authorization thing, and I can now play them just fine in the iTunes library, but the problem is, if I try to use the front row program to play my purchaced music, I get the message saying that I have to authorize it first. What the ****? Does anybody else have this problem? Also, like many other macbook users, I'm having problems with the opticle drive, such as getting cds to be recognized and other things of that nature.

I noticed that this problem started after I tried to use a software to unlock my drive's region...
I believe this is the problem. The VLC Media Player will usually play DVDs from other regions without changing the settings on your optical drive. You may need to reset your optical drive's firmware back to the original setting, make sure you have the region set for the one you'd prefer to use the most and then use VLC to play the other DVDs.
-Doug
P.S. After two years in the Front Row forum, I'm not sure I've ever heard of anyone playing HDDVD_TS folders with Front Row. I'm not saying it won't work, but I'm not sure it's really supported either. I do have DVD Studio Pro myself, but I'll have friends or family staying with me for nearly the next month, so my evenings and weekends will be a bit full to try making one up for testing...

AirTunes compatibility with Front Row

In the AirPort Express FAQ, it says:
Question: Can I use other applications, like QuickTime or Windows Media Player, to send sound to AirPort Express via AirTunes?
Answer: At this time Apple only supports sending one AirTunes stream to AirPort Express via iTunes 4.6 or later.
What does this mean for Front Row? Is Front Row just a interface for iTunes and hence works with AirTunes, or not. I see in the Front Row forum people asking many questions about getting volume control with Front Row and AirTunes, so it seems like the FAQ description sounds more limited that the reality.
I am particularly interested the ability to watch a movie (that has been loaded into iTunes) using the Front Row interface and piping the sound out to AirTunes. In this case, would Front Row be using iTunes (and work with AirTunes) or would Front Row be using QuickTime (and not work with AirTunes)?
If movies in Front Row will work, will it work for all movies loaded into iTunes -- e.g. not just mov files, but also avi files supported with QuickTime plug-in to make them work in iTunes? And, if avi files loaded into iTunes would work, would it work for both movies physically stored in /iTunes/movie folder, as well as 'reference movies' stored in that folder pointing to files stored elsewhere?

Per the Wikipedia AirPort article, no video in iTunes. Apparently, there are 3rd party utilities that can pump any program sound output (Mac and Windows) to the AX, not just iTunes -- which is handy, say, if you want to play Pandora in Safari. However, even these programs say they are useless for video. Apparently, the AirTunes protocol delays playback 2 to 10 seconds for buffering. Delay in audio playback aren't a problem, but with video, the sound and picture would be out of synch.

New iMac install problem with Front Row

Hi I just got my imac yesterday, the desktop intel core duo with mac os x tiger. It comes with front row but when I clicked on it to open, it said I needed to install, so I followed the instructions to the letter, and when it starts to install front row, it says: "there were errors installing the software. Please try installing again." Which I did repeatedly, plus restarting. No go. Can anyone give me a tip on what I should try next? Thanks. you can email me [email protected]

Normally to activate Front Row you press the Menu button on the Apple Remote that came with your Mac or you can use the keyboard shortcut of Command(Apple) + Escape.

Tonnes of Music with Front Row

hey everybody. I was wondering if anyone knew how to solve my small issue with front row. since i only have a 40GB iPod, I have to de-select much of my library, picking and choosing which albums make the cut while im on the go. Im almost up to 80 GB of music in my iTunes library -- The problem Im having is that when you de-select a song in iTunes, it does not show up in Front Row. Since my music collection is growing and growing, I'd like to find a way where I can still enjoy all of my music while using Front Row even if it's not destined to be uploaded to my iPod.
Thanks!

Perhaps you should change the way you sync your iPod? You could create a playlist that gets synchronized to the iPod. Then you wouldn't have to use the check box to select items to sync.
-Doug

Interrupting Keynote 3 with Front Row

When I interrupt a slide with Front Row to play a song, I get the desktop back afterwards rather than the slide I interrupted. I have to manually click on the Keynote icon to get back to my slide. Is this the intended behavior? It would be really nice if the interrupted slide would come back up.

When I interrupt a slide with Front Row to play a
song, I get the desktop back afterwards rather than
the slide I interrupted. I have to manually click on
the Keynote icon to get back to my slide. Is this the
intended behavior? It would be really nice if the
interrupted slide would come back up.
This drove me mad until I discovered the trick. This assumes you're using the Apple Remote.
1) click through KN until the point you want to switch out to Front Row. (This can be any point, say build 27 on a slide with 43 builds. It can even be in the middle of an embedded QT movie - yes, even a 1920x1080 HDV assuming you've got the codec from FCP or QMaster).
2) this is the important bit. Click the ENTER button on the remote - in the centre of the click wheel - BEFORE you click the MENU button to call up Front Row. The freezes KN at exactly the moment you click.
3) Do whatever you want in Front Row
4) Return to KN using the MENU Button to get back up the Front Row hierarchy
5) Then click the ENTER button again to restart KN at exactly the point you left it. You do not get the Desktop back and you do not need to manually click the present slides button in KN.
This really blew 'em away at one of my recent gigs.
MacBookPro 17. G5 Dual 2Ghz. iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

10.5.1 No AirTunes with Front Row

Why is there no AirTunes with Front Row in Leopard? I used it daily with Tiger.

It is absolutely necessary that this is fixed asap. The Airport Express should be free to interact with other applications in the first place. I am already considering spending $25 on AirFoil, so that I can use my Airport Express to its fullest potential. But I can't believe that Apple would screw up Front Row and Airport Express like this. Shame on them for not having addressed this yet.

Switching to different Audio-Language-Tracks in Front Row

I have made a video documentary that has three audio tracks, which are *German, French and English.* The video container is m4v.
*I set German as the default track*. So far so good. It works on iTunes, on my iPod and on Quicktime. On each of these devices and players the German Audio Track is played by default. I can optionally choose between English and French. That's actually fantastic.
But there are some strange issues with Front Row. Front Row on my MacBook plays the video as expected with the German audio track. That's great, but Front Row on my iMac plays the English audio track by default. It's exactly the same Snow Leopard Installation on both systems, so why does Front Row on my iMac plays the *English Audio Track by default?*
The Front Row Menu is German on both systems.
One thing I noticed is that I had to change the *default Audio Track languange on my iTunes* to German, that wasn't the case on my MacBook, but anyway it had no effect.
Can anyone help me out with this issue?

we have several of our kids movies ripped with both original audio (mostly english) and danish.
until one of the latest updates to snow leopard and itunes (not sure whether it was THE last ones) the audiotrack played in front row, was the one chosen for the movie in itunes.
after ripping the movie, the default language would be english, but that could be changed by starting a movie in itunes and then choose 'danish' in the language 'bubble' in the on-screen menu. then i would quit the movie and itunes and start it in front row - now with the language chosen in itunes as default...
that is sadly not the case anymore and our kids can now only watch their movies with danish audio in itunes and not in front row, where all movies suddenly have english audio with no possiblity of change
is deleting the english audio track the only way to get the danish audio back into front row?

Why didn't the Mac Pro come with Front Row?

I have absolutely loved my quad-core mac pro. It's been one of the best-performing computers I've ever owned, but this issue has somewhat annoyed me for quite some time: Why didn't this computer come with Front Row?
I wouldn't imagine an IR port would be difficult at all to install into the case, so why wasn't it? I suppose I could rationalize its omission as this being a computer aimed at professionals--but then again MacBook Pro has Front Row as well... so what gives?
Is there any aftermarket ways of having Front Row work with your Mac Pro?

Indeed, I'm going to try the Wii remote approach as soon as mine arrives.
It will also usable as a MIDI controller in Logic
Anyone know if it's easy to redirect the DVD player output to a second DVI card? I have two monitors on the X1900 and I have a 7300 spare which I could use to drive my projector.

Stuck with Front Row

My mother was trying to email two simple jpg files from "Documents" folder. I don't know what she clicked. She ended up with Front Row stuck on her screen. Could not exit. Mouse did not work, neither was the keyboard. She also remembered hearing excessive HDD scratching.
When she described the problem, I did not understand because I've never seen Front Row. I had to drive clear across the town to help her out.
I had to yank off the power in the back. Then boot. Everything is a o.k. now.
How could one end up with Front Row? Especially from an email environment?

Alex DeSlim wrote:
My mother...
How could one end up with Front Row? Especially from an email environment?
That is expected behavior from mothers
btw - instead of "yanking out" the main, you could just hold down the power button on the Mac until it shuts off.
-mj

Aperture shared over a network for viewing with Front Row?

Aperture shared over a network for viewing with Front Row? I can view iPhoto from my laptop or desk top but I cannot find a way to share Aperture over the network.

If tested to work with other MacOs versions, this should be a main FAQ listed on Apple's Support website for Aperture and/Mac OSX.

Headless mini disagrees with Front Row

FYI. I'm running a Mini Intel headless via Timbuktu. With no monitor attached the remote does fine controlling iTunes, but when one tries to invoke Front Row, either via the keyboard or the remote, it results in a blank white screen. This was news to Apple, so I thought I'd post the info.
Mini Intel Core duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Interesting, I've never tried Timbuktu with Front Row but Apple Remote Desktop works fine.

Anybody using M-Audio Transit USB with Front Row?

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