copying same file to multiple mp3 players

[imiddleton25]

we have a number of USB mp3 players that the listening part of langauges exams is on at the moment i copy them one at a time using media player to sync them does anyone know a better way ,a bit like our dvd duplicator 1 master 10 copies in go.

[Arthur]

Almost all of the dedicated USB flash drive duplicators I have seen are really expensive (£1,000+), so a software-based solution would probably be your best option. Kanguru USB Copy Pro is $80 or you could use USBDLM along with one or more USB hubs to achieve the same result for free. You would need to specifically configure it to do this beforehand though.

[dhicks]

we have a number of USB mp3 players that the listening part of langauges exams is on at the moment i copy them one at a time using media player to sync them does anyone know a better way

 

My cheap USB MP3 player is basically a USB memory stick that plays any MP3 files it finds on its file system, it was easy enough to write a quick Python script to sync files to it by simply copying them over - even a .bat file would probably do it.

 

--

David Hicks

[K.C.Leblanc]

even a .bat file would probably do it.

 

--

David Hicks

 

A batch file with robocopy would do it (use the /PURGE switch).

 

You could also use USBDLM to make sure your USB drive always maps to the same letter.

 

EDIT (Now improved with added fibre):

 

USBDLM (Univeral Serial Bus Drive Letter Manager)

 

A guide to robocopy switches from SS64.

 

MS Server 2003 resource kit (which includes Robocopy)

 

Dilbert

Edited May 21, 2010 by K.C.Leblanc

[mac_shinobi]

Just to combine / re iterate the above really

 

Almost all of the dedicated USB flash drive duplicators I have seen are really expensive (£1,000+), so a software-based solution would probably be your best option. Kanguru USB Copy Pro is $80 or you could use USBDLM along with one or more USB hubs to achieve the same result for free. You would need to specifically configure it to do this beforehand though.

 

If you used usbdlm you could easily enough make a script ( whether it be vbscript, batch file or whatever ) to copy the relevant files over to the relevant directories as when configuring usbdlm you would use the ini file to pre assign any usb device to the next 10 or so drive letter assignments

 

ie

 

E, F, G, H etc

 

then in the script you would just make it copy relevant folder / files over to the above pre assigned letters.

[Arthur]

If you only have 10 flash drives, a batch file which uses xcopy or robocopy probably would be the easiest option.

 

However, I was thinking that if you had tens or even hundreds of flash drives, it would probably be a good idea to completely automate the process using USBDLM to save double-clicking on scripts (as Mac_Shinobi mentioned above).

[imiddleton25]

they appears as audio devices not as drives so not sure how that would work hence us using sync in media player now

[dhicks]

they appears as audio devices not as drives

 

Is there any way to switch them to storage device mode?

 

--

David Hicks

[mac_shinobi]

If you only have 10 flash drives, a batch file which uses xcopy or robocopy probably would be the easiest option.

 

However, I was thinking that if you had tens or even hundreds of flash drives, it would probably be a good idea to completely automate the process using USBDLM to save double-clicking on scripts (as Mac_Shinobi mentioned above).

 

Daft thought but instead of having it on flash drives could you not map a network drive to the relevant OU / group of students or just to the room of language computers that maps to a network share that has all the relevant audio files instead of copying to memory sticks ??

[imiddleton25]

for listing exams it must be on a stand alone device with no ability to slow down the playback

 

always used to be supplied on cd and we used portable cd players but now starting to come as downloads and simple mp3 players are small and easy to hand out ( also less to go wrong with them)

[techyphil]

Hey,

 

I've got a simple script I made using AutoIt. It just loops through all the "REMOVABLE STORAGE" drive letters. I add the mp3's to a folder "c:\mp3 collection\NEW" and it copies all files/folders from the "new" folder onto the "REMOVABLE DRIVES". The script can also delete all files (handy for exams). Delete all files then upload only the exam files. It's crude scripting but has saved us soo much time. Obviously the mp3 players need to appear as removable drives.

[Arthur]

they appears as audio devices not as drives so not sure how that would work hence us using sync in media player now

That sounds like the MP3 players use MTP. Maybe the methods listed is the following thread may help?

 

http://www.binaryfortress.com/Forum/index.php?topic=260.0