A few newbie questions

[Magicland]

I just picked up a Music Keg on Ebay, and I'm not familiar with how this disk organization thing works yet. I've created a number of "discs" in PMM, corresponding to some albums in my music collection. Is there any way directly to play them back either by artist or genre (rather than album), or do I have to make additional "discs" for those categories? If it's the latter, how can I create them based only on what's already on the DMS rather than in my entire library (which is close to 700 albums)? Thanks.

[VorTechS]

Which 'Keg' did you pick up on Ebay?

Was is a PhatNoise Phatbox or a Kenwood Keg?

If it was a Kenwood Keg, you should have had a CD in a cardboard sleeve which has the 'PhatNoise Music Manager' software.  Others may need to correct me if I am wrong, but I think with the Kenwood Keg CX910 this software came with some plugin software called SSA/VIOT [Voice Index On Tap] and an appropriate registration key.

You need to register this plugin within PhatNoise Music Manager, here's the official instructions on doing so:

http://www.phatnoise.com/products/plug_ins/installing_the_VIOT_plug_in.aspx

Once you have SSA/VIOT installed and you transfer media over to the DMS the Music Manager will re-build the necessary voice prompts for ALL the media on the cartridge.

Plug the DMS back into the keg, and use the following instructions to make use of SSA/VIOT from your head unit: http://www.phatnoise.com/products/plug_ins/kenwood_viot_how_it_works_detailed.aspx

Hope this is what you are looking for!

[Magicland]

It's a Kenwood CX-910. Unfortunately, the guy who was selling it lost the CD. I've downloaded the PMM (v2.30) from Phatnoise (once I managed to find the site actually up and running). Short of getting a copy of the CD and a valid code (which I imagine I'd be entitled to, as the license should transfer with the hardware, but which could prove difficult to find), I'd have to purchase the VIOT plugin from Phatnoise? Does the plug-in add functionality beyond the AT&T True-voices (which I understand can be purchased elsewhere for less)? Just trying to figure out if it's worth the added expenditure. Thanks.

[markbowen]

The SSA/VIOT plug-in does not just add the voice capability, it adds the ability to search and play your music library by artist, album, or genre (in addition to playlist, which is already supported).  If you have hundreds of albums, that functionality is well worth the $$. 

The 910 Kegs did come with VIOT.  If the previous owner actually used the Keg, and enabled the VIOT plug-in, it may still work.  If he did not wipe the DMS, the plug-in directory should still be on the phtsys partition of the DMS. 

To see if it works, you need a speech engine.  You can download the Microsoft Speech engine (http://download.microsoft.com/download/speechSDK/SDK/5.1/WXP/EN-US/speechsdk51.exe) and install on your computer.  Then make sure voice prompts are enabled in PMM, and select one of the available voices.  The MS voices are nowhere near as good as the AT&T voices, but better than nothing.  Then follow the "how it works" instructions and see if it works.

If it does not work, then not getting the CD including the AT&T voices, as well as the plug-in license, may have been a costly mistake.  Unfortunately, I doubt very much that Phatnoise is just going to part with a VIOT license on the basis of your second-hand purchase.  If the ebay seller did not tell you beforehand that the CD was missing, give him a negative rating until he comes up with it.

[sbingner]

You might be able to enable the functionality -- check http://wiki.phathack.com/VIOT

[Magicland]

Apparantly at the moment I don't have the ability to search and play by artist, album or genre (either that, or my head unit, a KDC-X869 doesn't support it). If I press the "Scan" button, it simply displays "Scan on" or "Scan off" on the HU display. If I change the "disc", it does a voice annunciation of what the next "disc" is (and even rattles off several titles if there are more than one actual album on the "disc"), but that seems to be the limit of the vocal prompting I get. I haven't looked at the "workaround" from the Wiki yet, but I will soon.