Mtools Authoring Troubleshooting Guide

Q. When I launch the Mtools SFX Database, it shows an error message, sometimes containing the text 'unknown' could not be found. ?

A. OS9 - Your desktop database is probably corrupt. Restart your mac and hold OPTION and APPLE during boot to rebuild the desktop. Then open dCODE manually then the mTOOLS SFXDatabase. This should resolve the problem in future
A. OSX - Your launch services database is probably corrupt. Run the Terminal Application, log in as root, and type: /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user
If you dont know how to run Terminal, or log in as root, please read OSX documentation or call Apple.

Q. How do I get the Sound from mTOOLS to come out of my Pro Tools system ?.

A. OS9 - Although Digidesign supply a sound manager output driver, this is NOT reliable (with ANY software) when used at the same time as Pro Tools is running. We do not recommend you use it. The best solution to this, is to run a cable from your Mac Sound Output, to an Input of your 888 Interface, then bring your mTOOLs Audio up through an Auxilliary input in Pro Tools. We call this 'Virtual Direct Connect' !!!

A. OSX - The Digidesign Core Audio drivers do not allow concurrent access to the sound hardware whilst Pro Tools is running. Hence it is not possible at all to allow playback from Mtools directly via the Digi hardware. Please use the 'virtual direct connect' approach described above.

Q. CDStudio says 'No Disk' when I run it, but I have got a disk in my CDRom drive.

A. You probably have 2 or more CDRom drives (or CDBurners) attached. CDStudio is looking at the wrong drive. Insert a disk into the Drive you want, and eject from the other drive/s. Now Launch CDStudio holding the OPTION key and it will select the correct device.

Q. I have the option 'Analyse Indexes' turned on in CDStudio, but I am not getting regions in my soundfiles, or I am getting empty soundfiles, or I am getting an error after transfers.

A. Older versions of CDStudio required a compatible CDRom drive in order to extract indexes on the fly. Other CDRom drives may transfer audio OK, but fail when CDStudio requests audio+Index information. Compatible drives are:
- Plextor UltraPlex 40 with the special driver included on the Mtools CDRom.
Gallery do not officially support any drives except the Plextor Ultraplex 40.
- APPLE *SCSI* CDRom drives from CD300 to CD3600 usually work (note that Apple IDE, ATAPI and IDE DVD Rom drives, do *NOT* support index transfers). We dont officially support the old Apple SCSI Drives, although they will often work.

However, since version 3.2, CDStudio supports virtually all CDRom drives. Contact Gallery for an update.

Q. I am having trouble grabbing indexes from some CDs, although most are OK.

A. A few commercial SFX CDs are not mastered correctly and this causes problems for CDStudio. In particular, the Sound Ideas Hanna Barbera SFX volumes 2 & 3 have Digital Copy Prohibit enabled which prevents CDStudio making an index copy. Volumes 1 and 4 are OK. Either import these disks manually, or petition Sound Ideas for a fresh pressing with correct mastering. Another common problem is dirty CDs. Make sure you CLEAN and polish every CD before transferring with CDStudio - it makes a HUGE difference when transferring audio at high speed, even if you can play the CD OK at 1x on your CDPlayer, at 18X life is very different !!!

Q. I Have built MPEG files, but dCODE and QuickTime player fail to play or decode them.

A. Make sure you have a legal set of MPEG Parameters. Very high bit rates for Mono are not supported, and very low bit rates for stereo are also not supported. Finally QuickTime 4.0 and dCODE do not support VBR encoded MP3 files. Change your encoding parameters and try again. Also the correct filetype for layer 2 files is 'MPEG" while the correct type for MP3 (layer 3) files is 'Mp3 '. You also need to check the QuickTime version. You need at least QuickTime 3 to play MPEG layer 2 files, Quicktime 4.0 to add support for layer 3 (MP3) files and QuickTime 4.1 for VBR (variable bit rate) MP3 files.

Q. I have imported my data into Filemaker but it doesnt seem right and the files wont play when I press the speaker button

A. Check that when importing, the correct input fields match the template fields. Make sure that the arrows are checked to enable import of those fields. See Filemaker documentation for more information on importing data. Normally you should use the 'import records' button / script from the Gallery Mtools SFX Database filemaker template.

Q. I am having trouble operating Mtools via HTTP / FTP.

A. Hire a web support engineer. Configuring and administering a web server is outside of the scope of the Mtools documentation. If you do not have the skills to configure a web server, set MIME types and troubleshoot TCP/IP, you should operate Mtools using the 'Mounted Volumes' technique instead. Gallery cannot provide support related to your web server or TCP/IP. Alternatively you can purchase Gallery's pre-configured server solution 'Mtools Server' which arrives ready to go with web, ftp and mounted volume approaches for your Mtools network.

Q. I am having trouble when importing data into the database which cames from Hollywood Edge disks. It looks like all the fields are mixed up

A. Some Hollywood Edge disks use alot of commas, and lots of text in the description. In some cases, Filemaker gets confused when importing the data built by SFXDatabase Builder, and instead of importing it as Tab-separated text, it gets 'smart' and uses comma separated text instead. This is NOT what we want. In this case you cant use the simple 'import record' button in the Mtools SFX Database and you must manually import the 'mTOOLS Data' text file (created by SFXDBB) in to Filemaker. Goto the File menu - choose import records. Now (VERY IMPORTANT) - select 'Tab Separated Text' from the pop up menu in the file selector and then choose your mTOOLS Data file. Next make sure that the fields match up (refer to file maker documentation for more info), and all should be well.