Custom sound files using Companion

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Stuart444
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Custom sound files using Companion

Post by Stuart444 »

I'm using Companion 2.0.15 to modify my Taranis model program settings.

I use a lot of custom sounds and would like to program these using Companion. I have no trouble saving the sound files on the Taranis's MicroSD drive under SOUNDS\en when the PC and Tx are connected by USB, and if I do so I can find the files using the Tx's user interface. However I'd like to do the programming on the PC as it's much quicker, and so I copied all my sound files to my Companion program folder (C:\Program Files (X86)\OpenTX\SOUNDS\ . Then after reading the Tx's models with Companion I expected the new sound files to come up when programming the model using the dropdown box under Special Functions \ Play Track. However they aren't there. If I use the first route and program these sounds using the Tx and then read the Tx file into Companion, the ones I've used in the Tx are then shown in Companion, but only those. I'd hoped that Companion would have been able to access all the files for me to select after I'd copied them to the Companion program folder, but apparently not.

Is there some way round this? Perhaps I'm not copying the new sound files to the correct location?

Thanks.

jtaylor
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Re: Custom sound files using Companion

Post by jtaylor »

You need to set up the structure of your SD card on your PC and point Companion to the root of that card in "edit settings" - SD structure path. And then put the sounds in the same place within that structure on the PC as they are on the sdcard.

For example: My Companion is installed in c:\programs\OpenTx under that I have a SDCard directory, under that a SOUNDS directory and under that a en directory. So my sounds go in:
C:\programs\OpenTX\SDCard\SOUNDS\en
And my SD structure path under edit settings is: C:\programs\OpenTX\SDCard.

If you have the disk space the easiest thing to do is just copy the whole sdcard, including all sub-directories, to your PC and point Companion to the root of it.

Jim
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Kilrah
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Re: Custom sound files using Companion

Post by Kilrah »

You should not put your sounds in the program files directory but in a location meant for user data (e.g. My Documents etc).
Depending on Windows version and settings program files folders are not accessible for apps to read/write data to/from.
Stuart444
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Re: Custom sound files using Companion

Post by Stuart444 »

Thanks to you both. I've tried jtaylor's suggestion, and it works fine. I guess my Windows 7 does allow it to read from the program files folders, so I won't try putting them in a "user" location yet, kilrah, but who knows when Win10 comes out....

Well, to be exact it works 9/10. The minor deficiency, which I'd noticed previously, is that when I bring up the file names dialogue box looking for the correct sound, the order in which they are presented is almost random. Ideally they would have been in alphabetical order to make them easy to find, but they are all jumbled. There is a semblance or order in that I get short runs of consecutive file names in the list, but that's the best I can say. It's not ordering them in order of date created (for example), either. Do you know how I can get it to list the sound files alphabetically?

Thanks
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KAL
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Re: Custom sound files using Companion

Post by KAL »

First guess: Problem does occur on TX
Second guess: they are ordered in the sequence they are copied to the directory.

If both guesses are right, then as a workaround, copy the sound files to PC,
delete sound files on SD and copy them from PC to SD in the desired order.

Same problem on er(sky)9x, 'cause sorting is a bit difficult and uses many resources.

Klaus
( TH9X / 9XTreme / FrSky DHT / Spektrum / Multi / RotEnc )
( 9XR PRO / erSKY9x  / FrSky DHT / Spektrum / Multi / RotEnc / P3 as Slider )

jtaylor
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Re: Custom sound files using Companion

Post by jtaylor »

The Companion audio tracks not being sorted has already been fixed and will be in the next release (2.0.16) https://github.com/opentx/opentx/issues/2002
Stuart444
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Re: Custom sound files using Companion

Post by Stuart444 »

First guess - yes
Second guess - I don't know, but I don't think so as I did a lot of sound creations recently (I use the Tx as a schedule caller for aerobatics) using the AT&T website and named them sequentially (code names zA1, zA2, zA3, zB1, etc, as I wanted them all to be together in the list thinking they would be sorted) and then copied them over to the SD as a job lot, but they were scattered in the sequence in the Tx and in Companion. However I can have a go at that, Kal.

If the next release is going to solve it I can manage - just takes a bit longer but the Companion makes it much easier than on the Tx. Thanks Jim.
Stuart444
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Re: Custom sound files using Companion

Post by Stuart444 »

I've tried deleting and re-copying the files to the SD card one by one, but they appeared in the dialogue box as before. It can't be a random order as the order was the same as last time.
Roll on 2.0.16! Do we know when to expect it?
Doctorbatman
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Re: Custom sound files using Companion

Post by Doctorbatman »

Hi All,

Trying to getting access to the Amber Pack files while setting up models on Companion. I got them installed and working fine on my Taranis Plus running 2.1.9. I copied some eepe using amber files from the tx to my computer.

In OpenTx 2.1, I followed a suggestion in the earlier post in this thread - Settings tab > Radio Profile > Other Settings > SD Structure Path and selected the folder below which was copied from my Tx as a back up but the Amber files are not listed in Special Functions. When I click the play button on any sound track that was already applied a box pops up and says "unable to find file... and lists the same exact path that I set up in settings listed below,

C:\Users\Owner\Documents\RC Home Dell\Radio\Taranis\Open Tx 2.1\2016-11-27 Tx Backup File\SD card\SOUNDS\en

I also tried a path going to a folder of Amber files stored in another folder but no go.
My computer is Gateway laptop on W7.

Any possible solutions?

Thank you all!

Doc
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Kilrah
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Re: Custom sound files using Companion

Post by Kilrah »

You need to point to the root of the SD card copy, not the sounds folder. So

C:\Users\Owner\Documents\RC Home Dell\Radio\Taranis\Open Tx 2.1\2016-11-27 Tx Backup File\SD card\
Doctorbatman
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Re: Custom sound files using Companion

Post by Doctorbatman »

Thank you, Kilrah!
That did the trick. All my Amber files working great in Companion - woohoo :-)

Doc

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