marv comes through again! He not only figures out a new way to convert Napster DRMed files, but he also give a tip on how to do it faster! Check it out:
1. Download and install Virtuosa 5.0 Trial [download.com] [alternatively download a copy from me that still works; if you appreciate this, please click my Google ads on the right. I have to pay for that bandwith and thousands of people downloading a 15 MB file adds up...]
2. If you want to convert to MP3: Download the LAME 3.97a7 encoder
and put the “lame_enc.dll” in your Virtuosa\Plugins\MpgL3 folder
replacing the one that is already there. This new version of the LAME
encoder greatly speeds up the MP3 encoding process.
Update March 24, 2005: marv has another article about converting DRMed files using Virtuosa. Go read it.
24 Responses
February 28th, 2005 at 3:16 pm
I downloaded Virtuosa 5.0 Trial as well as the LAME 3.97a7 encoder. I then installed Virtuosa and copied the new 3.97 lame_enc.dll file to the C:Program FilesVirtuosaPluginsMpgL3 folder. It plays the protected DRM’d WMA files just fine, but when I try to convert them to MP3, WAV or WMA (basically any conversion) it gives an error: “Unauthorized Conversion – source file has been secured!”
Not sure why. Is there another step I’m missing? I tried the same thing on both Windows XP and Windows NT.
February 28th, 2005 at 3:29 pm
I had that same problem (same error message) with a version that I got by, *cough, cough*, other means. I then downloaded the trial directly and it worked fine. Virtuosa might have “fixed” this in the latest version. I have posted a mirror (If you appreciate this, please click my Google ads on the right. I have to pay for that bandwith and thousands of people downloading a 15 MB file adds up…) of the version that I downloaded: http://hansmast.com/VirtuosaTrial.exe
Try uninstalling what you have now and reinstalling the version that I uploaded.
If you wish to link to this file, Please do not link directly! Link here: http://hansmast.com/index.php?title=marv_on_record_convert_napster_faster&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 The file name itself will change at random. I don’t want people sucking up my bandwidth without getting a little recognition.
February 28th, 2005 at 4:09 pm
You are the man. Just needed to add an AUTOEXEC.NT file to the mix, update the dll and voila! Thanks so much.
February 28th, 2005 at 4:18 pm
Could you please tell me more what you did with the AUTOEXEC.NT? I am unclear on exactly what happened. Thanks!
February 28th, 2005 at 4:30 pm
Oh sorry… when I began installing your version, I encoutered an error, so I looked back on another thread I was reading which had the error posted: “16 bit Windows Subsystem C:WINDOWSSYSTEM 32AUTOEXEC.NT. The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows applications. Choose ‘Close’ to terminate the application”
So I clicked on the link they supplied in the thread which explained the error further – http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/FAQ00642.htm
And it appears that I didn’t have the AUTOEXEC.NT file in my system32 folder, so I grabbed it from my WINDOWS/repair folder, copied it to the system32 folder, and the install of your Virtuosa version on my NT machine went smoothly from there.
For some reason, with the newer version of Virtuosa, I didn’t receive the error upon installation. Your version is the first time I encountered it. But thankfully it was already dealt with by some other folks who discussed it on the marv blog and provided info on how to solve it. So now I’m a happy camper!
Here’s some stats on my conversion rate as well so far using the 3.97 lame_enc.dll:
Initial conversion from wav to temp file: 10x
Conversion to mp3: greater than 5x
(the original dll does the mp3 conversion at only 1.5x)
February 28th, 2005 at 4:31 pm
Correction:
“Initial conversion from wav”
should be
“Initial conversion from *cough, cough*, DRM protected WMA”
February 28th, 2005 at 4:42 pm
Good! Glad it worked for you! I had a new blog entry open to post those exact stats.
February 28th, 2005 at 4:45 pm
Thank you…
March 13th, 2005 at 1:54 pm
The first version I DL from download.com did not let me convert, said files were protected or sumthin, the version I got from this board works, THANKS SO MUCH !!!!
March 28th, 2005 at 11:44 pm
i installed the lame_enc.dll to the plugin folder the music converted with out getting the Xmark from write window but if you try to play it from the music and movie database window it won’t play or even at the write window. why is that?
March 29th, 2005 at 5:27 pm
did everything as described above, but the conversion hangs at 0% on drm wma files. any suggestions?
March 29th, 2005 at 5:31 pm
landy & anon: I am afraid that Napster has closed the little loophole that my version left open. This is the way I understand it: Whenever Virtuosa or any other program wants to play (or convert in this case) a DRMed file, it first checks with the issuer’s (Napster in this case) DRM permissions server. When this whole thing became an issue, Napster blocked the Program ID for Virtuosa. They blocked the Program ID for the most recent version of Virtuosa. My version of Virtuosa had a slightly different Program ID because it was a slightly different version. They overlooked it the first time they blocked Virtuosa from playing their DRMed files. It seems they have corrected that oversight.
March 29th, 2005 at 8:11 pm
i guess better luck next time.
thank you for the time
March 30th, 2005 at 12:26 pm
thanks for the reply….
Foiled again!!
May 12th, 2005 at 2:45 pm
well, i tried this with the new yahoo! music service tracks for the unlimited subscription and they do the same thing…. hang at 0% conversion.
if these services are blocking the program id, would there be a way to intercept that before it is sent and mask it to a different program…?
May 12th, 2005 at 2:49 pm
strange, i just noticed that when you try to convert them, it lists the size as the same on every track i try (3061443 Kbytes)….
sounds like the drm wrapper is causing virtuosa to freak out or the fact that it cant reach the service to get the key is keeping it from going any farther.
May 12th, 2005 at 2:51 pm
Hmm.. dunnno… I haven’t used it for a while…
I am using Yahoo’s music service now. At only $5 a month… That’s only $60 a year.. that’s only six hours of work a year… that’s worth it for me…
May 12th, 2005 at 2:53 pm
Sorry I couldn’t be more help…
May 12th, 2005 at 3:07 pm
As to intercepting program id, I think all the communication is encrypted…
I’m not using the Yahoo as a “download-and-convert”, I’m just using it as intended: subscription service. Yahoo is proving that if you price something reasonably, people will use it.
June 10th, 2005 at 9:52 pm
I also switched to Yahoo! Music. It’s much better and easy to use than Napster. For $5 per month, I don’t dare to waste all the time to download and convert from Napster. Also the music collection is much bigger @Yahoo!
June 10th, 2005 at 11:32 pm
Shoot, I have the YME subscription, but ’bout all I use anymore is the Yahoo LaunchCast radio that comes with it. It delivers pausable, full quality “radio” that changes playlists according to the way you rate the tracks it plays. I love it! It’s integrated right into Y! Messenger.
October 7th, 2005 at 12:50 pm
Thank You!
October 10th, 2005 at 4:57 pm
Sure thing!
January 28th, 2006 at 12:44 am
wholesale diamonds Heh. How it goes? Buy it all. ASAP. Last discount in your live (AAAAA!!!!!). Take a rest.
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