Support for the new bantam

[Unregistered]

I just got the new bantam 1000.

http://www.bantamusa.com/pages/ba1000.php?Sess_bantam=8c37a761eeb3000c10e7f91a3be 946b4

I tried playing around with Sveta and I simply loved it. Very nifty and much much better s/w than the one that with the Bantam player. I tried using the generic driver, but when I trasferred songs using Sveta, neither my player nor the player's s/w on the computer would recognize the files trasferrred through sveta. But when I opened the players through windows explorer the file was there. So file is physically there, but the player refuses to recognize it.

Is there any plan to support for bantam. The s/w is good to pass up on and I would greate appreciate if it would be possible.

Thanks.

[Spoon]

See here:

http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?p=18569#post18569

[tom3]

I just got a BA1000 and the bundled software is total crap

I looked a bit at their files; they store the MP3s as normal files on the player, but they do not parse the directory; they have a lookup table that maps the file name you see to the physical file.
It seems like it wouldn't be too much work to reverse engineer though.
All the text strings are in Unicode which makes everything bigger.
When you use the player, you get different lists (per artists, album, etc). I suspect the player does absolutely no work and there is a file per category.

If there is a need for some extra hands to reverse the format, I'll be glad to participate.

[Spoon]

Your best bet if you are keen is to create a new project on www.sourceforge.net then you can create some code that opens up the bantam for everyones benefit.

[tom3]

Unfortunatly, I do not have the time to do more than the reverse engineering (ie: do a whole project)

I reversed the directory structure and wrote a small tool that dumps the contents of the BA1000's HD.
I included the source code and binary at: http://protectedfromreality.com/bantam/

If somebody's interested into writing a user friendly tool, I'll continue to reverse engineer the format.

Here's what I know so far:

- The firmware's accessible, I'm going to try different disassemblers to figure out what kind of CPU is on that system.
- Most of the firmware seems to be data, most likely the power on animation.
- There is a header file that lists all the directories in the system; This seems to be the root of everything as it tells what goes where.
- In the data section, there is a directory and multiple index files; I have reversed the directory. The index files are the playlists, albums, etc; their encoding seems fairly simple too.
- Everything is in unicode.

If somebody is ready to do a playlist drag & drop GUI, I can write the code that lists the directory and adds / removes files / playlists, but I do not have time to make a GUI.

feel free to email me.

Thomas.

[tom3]

just for info, I returned the BA1000, so I will not be spending more time on it :)

[Unregistered]

I did a little research of my own. It appears as though the Bantam BA1000 uses the PortalPlayer, INC. PP5002 SuperIntegration™ system-on-a-chip controller. Undoubtedly, this turnkey solution is used by other MP3 jukebox players. According to the PortalPlayer corporate website, the following companies partner with them: RCA, Thompson Consumer Products division; Rio Audio; Philips Electronics and Samsung. I think the Samsung Napster-branded player uses the same system or chip that the Bantam BA1000 player uses. Perhaps if one of the other devices that use the PP5002 chip becomes supported under Sveta, the Bantam would work as well.

[kittychan]

yoooooo

I got a BA1000 with 5GO HD but I can not make the software working on my french computer....
Don't know why, tried on 4 computer (with different system) already....

Anyway I know how to upload file manually but I can not create playlist manually... and 5 Go of mp3 without playlist or sub directory structure is quite a mess...
Could someone know how to make playlist or just have a sample of the .plp file witch is use by the ba1000??

Thanks

kittychan

[Unregistered]

another desperate bantam 1000 owner here. willing to do some work to help figure out how to make sveta work with it.

"Undoubtedly, this turnkey solution is used by other MP3 jukebox players. According to the PortalPlayer corporate website, the following companies partner with them: RCA, Thompson Consumer Products division; Rio Audio; Philips Electronics and Samsung"

can anyone confirm if the file structure is the same on any of these other players? it would be great if we the other drivers would work with it, or if it was a very simple change to a driver to make the bantam work.

tom3, if you are still reading this, please pass along any more details you learned.

how about this as a straightforward solution:

- copy the files onto the bantam
- run an indexing program (that would need to be written)
- the indexing program creates all the indexes in a batch mode

the indexing software could be kept on the player, so it would simply involve an extra step of running the index program after copying. then you could basically have 'explorer drag and drop' access, but having to run a program when you were done copying.

one hitch may be that it can only play files in one directory (it currently stores all files in one dir) in which case all mp3s would have to be copied into the same directory. it could be possible for the batch script to move the files as it indexes them. it could prefix the files with the dir name, to avoid name clashes (you cannot currently have two files from different albums with the same name on the player at once.)

i'm pleased to see some people have looked at this. hope we can figure something out.

the player firmware needs an upgrade too, there are some strange bugs in it, like faulty hold button, power turning on when headphone is un/plugged. but hopefully bantam will do that.

[Unregistered]

well well, it seems the bantam 1000 may be identical to the phillips HD 100/120

http://solonweb.free.fr/tech.htm

this link gives the reverse engineering details of the database/index files.

from a cursory glance it seems to be exactly the same.

but maybe someone is working on HD100/120 drivers already?

this person has created a software tool to work with the philips. perhaps it will work on bantam also?

http://solonweb.free.fr/index.htm

[Spoon]

If it is the same then you are in luck as a Sveta HDD100/120 is being written. About 1 week away.

[Unregistered]

well well, it seems the bantam 1000 may be identical to the phillips HD 100/120

http://solonweb.free.fr/tech.htm

this link gives the reverse engineering details of the database/index files.

from a cursory glance it seems to be exactly the same.

but maybe someone is working on HD100/120 drivers already?

this person has created a software tool to work with the philips. perhaps it will work on bantam also?

http://solonweb.free.fr/index.htm

Hi,
I am the guy who created HDDTool for Philips HDD100/120 :)

I had a look to a bantam 1000 database ... and it is not exactly the same structure than HDD100/120 but it is very close : only name of database and length of filepath and filename change between both players.

Bantam has also the good idea to not need to rename files on player :)

So it should be not a hard job to adapt my HDDTool to work with Bantam ... if some are interested to test a "BantamTool" ... i could try to provide a specific release ...

Let me know

Regards

Solon
Mail: solonweb@free.fr

[Unregistered]

yoooooo

I got a BA1000 with 5GO HD but I can not make the software working on my french computer....
Don't know why, tried on 4 computer (with different system) already....

Anyway I know how to upload file manually but I can not create playlist manually... and 5 Go of mp3 without playlist or sub directory structure is quite a mess...
Could someone know how to make playlist or just have a sample of the .plp file witch is use by the ba1000??

Thanks

kittychan

the CD that came with the player did not work for me either! you have to download the software from the website : www.bantamusa.com

yes, pretty lame. once i downloaded it i copied it onto the player to allow it to be used anywhere. but hoping something nicer will be developed before too long. their DMM program sucks badly.

[Spoon]

Solon is a mine of information, it makes you wonder - who created the HDD / bantam, was it philips created it for bantam, or bantam for philips?

[Unregistered]

my guess is the 'PortalPlayer, INC. PP5002 SuperIntegration™ system-on-a-chip controller' designed the file/database system. phillips and bantam just modified the UI a bit (logos), but both used the same horrid DMM software (with modified logo). what i'm wondering is if the philips firmware would work on the bantam...!? and is a test like that dangerous to my player.

to be honest, this kind of development is good. it would be nice if there was a common "OS" for mp3 players. this would allow the communities to develop better music players rather than relying on cost-cutting hardware manufactures scarce firmware upgrades. i guess archos took this approach.

[Unregistered]

Hi,

Anyone knows what kind of HD used on Bantam? Can I use it for digital camera such as Nikon D70

Thanks

[Unregistered]

Tha Hard Drive is a 2GB or 5GB PCMCIA Toshiba drive. It is not a microdrive nor is it flash memory. It is a full sized PCMCIA card drive. I've removed it before and inserted it into a PCMCIA slot and it does in fact come up as a storage device.

[kittychan]

yoooooooo


So it should be not a hard job to adapt my HDDTool to work with Bantam ... if some are interested to test a "BantamTool" ... i could try to provide a specific release ...

Let me know

Bah, so I let you know ^_-
If you could some kind of release you offer to, it would be really nice!
I would also be happy to do some beta testing if needed...

++

kittychan

[kittychan]

yooooo

the CD that came with the player did not work for me either! you have to download the software from the website : www.bantamusa.com

Thank you for the tip but no way, I had already tried that...
But I contacted Bantam support and thay told me that some system which don't have english as default language may not support their soft... (???)....

So they sent me a "patch version" and now it works.

++

kittychan

[Spoon]

If someone could send the database from the bantam:

http://www.dbpoweramp.com/email.htm

The new Sveta Hdd100 driver can be checked / adjusted.

[Unregistered]

I sent Spoon a copy of my Bantam database. I look forward to the new driver also supporting the Bantam BA1000. Thanks for all your hard work on this!

I think the way it works is PortalPlayer has created a set of hardware chips that can be used for MP3 players. A company like Bantam or Philips can license the technology and design their own player (shape, size, type of HDD used, etc.) and PortalPlayer will create a version of their DMM software for the licensee. Which is why the Philips player and the Bantam player have similar file/database systems and similar, crappy software. The solution is, of course, Sveta Portable Audio. All hail Sveta!!

[Spoon]

Bantam BA1000 released: http://forum.dbpoweramp.com/showthread.php?t=4628

[Unregistered]

Just out of curiosity, would this driver also make it possible to use the Bantam BA1000 with Windows Media Player?

Thanks!

Jason

[Unregistered]

I'd like to know if it will allow integration with Windows Media Player.

Ken

-----

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bantamplayers/

[Spoon]

No.

[Sabbelbacke]

Hy.

There is a new player sold in Europe from MEDION. It seems, its almost the same plattform as the bantam and philips-players. do u have any experience with this one?`Would it be possible to adjust the hdd-tool to be usable with this player? What information would be needed?
As it´s solt by "ALDI" in Europe, there shure are a lot of people in need for a good inexing-software :)

[Spoon]

If the contents of system\data are emailed I could take a look to see if is the same. Email address on front home page.

[Sabbelbacke]

Ok, Thanx :) I´ll email the content to you. As far as I understood the structure it should be at least similar to bantam and philips.

[AryReisin]

Can anybody help me? I need to know if the Bantam BA1000 can transfer normal files and folders, or if it can trasnfer only files (and then it is needed to compress whatever into .rar or .zip for example). Thanks

[Spoon]

Files and folders - it appears as a drive in Explorer.

[ocayd]

Please forgive me, but I can't figure out how to create a NEW post/thread. Also, I'm BRAND new to these players, so I'm eager to learn.

Just got the Bantam 1000 (5G). Have downloaded Beta of Sveta Portable Audio, then the Bantam Driver. I opened Sveta from the desktop icon, went to my external HD (where my music is stored), chose about 20 songs to transfer to my Bantam. Got an error message "Unable to send ..(file location/song name). I also noticed that there are already files on the Bantam...some of which I tried to put there by dragging from Windows Explorer, but many of which I did not transfer.

My question(s):
1. Can I use Sveta to put songs AND playlists (created in MusicMatch) onto my Bantam?
2. Do I need anything other than the Beta 5 version and the driver for the Bantam?
3. How do I create a new post/thread - in case I have additional problems.

Thank you for any help you can provide,
ocayd

[Spoon]

The easiest way to check it is working is to use 'Audio CD Input' and try Ripping a CD to the bantam (load audio cd input, click the arrow next to rip button and set Rip to >> Bantam then select it again and click Compression - change the type of compression to use there). Then rip the cd, you should see it on the bantam after ripping.

One thing - if using Sveta Explorer you have to quit Sveta before unplugging your player.

[ocayd]

Spoon, thanks so much. It ripped the CP onto the Bantam perfectly. After that, I started copying songs from the PC to the Bantam, and got several "unable to move..." messages, although some songs were copied.

They showed up in Windows (Sveta??) Explorer - the ones that made it, but when I tried to play them, it said "no tracks". GRRR.

I'm almost thinking about just getting a Creative Zen Touch and calling it a day. Oh wait, I forgot...I don't have money to burn! LOL

Any ideas?

ocayd

[Spoon]

What are yuor audio files?

[ocayd]

What are yuor audio files?

Do you mean the format? They are .mp3. There are some .wav files, but I only tried to transfer .mp3 files.

ocayd

[Spoon]

Try (from Windows Explorer) right clicking on one of your mp3 files - Convert To >> and select your bantam, if that works you can set Sveta to not convert the mp3 files but send as is (see the help file for 'Smart Conversions').

[ocayd]

Try (from Windows Explorer) right clicking on one of your mp3 files - Convert To >> and select your bantam, if that works you can set Sveta to not convert the mp3 files but send as is (see the help file for 'Smart Conversions').


This is SOOO weird (at least to me). I transferred a Ray Charles song, then unplugged the USB wire. Went to By Artist, and looked for Ray Charles. Didn't find it, but found a LOT of other songs that I had moved over. I fiddled around with it and got it to play the songs that were on there...I suppose in no particular order. Then I stopped it, and tried to find Ray Charles again.

Here's the very strange part: I had just listened to a Beatles song, but when I went into the By Artist, chose Beatles, it said No Track!!!

Then I fiddled around with it again and got it to play the "random" songs that appear to be on the Bantam.

I just tried to move a Rolling Stones song (Miss You) to the Bantam. It did not show up (alphabetically, at least) ON the Bantam, but both it AND the Ray Charles song show on my PC when I look at the Bantam files.

PLUS, there are a LOT more songs on the Bantam than it shows in Explorer???

At least I did get to listen to some of the tunes I've put on there...I just don't know how to access them, or if I'm actually putting them on. I really want this to work, as I want to buy your program and make your time worthwhile.

I was going to send you a small screenshot of Explorer, but I don't see that there's a way to attach files.

Thanks again,
ocay

[Spoon]

If you click 'port reply' above you can select to add attachments (manage attachments).

[ocayd]

If you click 'port reply' above you can select to add attachments (manage attachments).

Alas, I must be blind, because I don't see "port reply" anywhere...:(

[LtData]

I think he means "post reply". And actually, I don't think you CAN add attachments. To post an image, you will have to upload the image to a free image hosting site and then post a URL to the picture in a post.

[ocayd]

I think he means "post reply". And actually, I don't think you CAN add attachments. To post an image, you will have to upload the image to a free image hosting site and then post a URL to the picture in a post.

That's what I thought, but, as you have pointed out, I couldn't find any way to attach a file. I'll take your advice and post it on my website.

Thanks for hopping in here. :)

[ocayd]

OK. I've posted 2 little screen shots. One is of the top of the Explorer pane, the other is the bottom half. You can see the Ray Charles and Rolling Stones songs, but I can't find them in By Artist on the Bantam.
http://www.ocay.com/bantam/bantamtop.gif
http://www.ocay.com/bantam/bantam_btm.gif

ocayd

[Spoon]

Those files are shown listed in windows explorer. Sveta will not write them like that to the bantam - it will write them into the data folder (if I remeber), you cannot copy files to the bantam without going through sveta.