Karaoke Forums

I'm FINALLY working with the program. Ripping went well, so I thought. Then I blew a week editing some huge nightmare song listing (don't want to go there), finally got editing figured out, & had my son load the hoster. I'm still pretty intimidated by it all. We can't get the second monitor to act as a second monitor. I can get it to mirror my laptop, but that's not too cool. I have an adaptor from monoprice.com that somebody recommended. I thought it was the adaptor, so I pulled out an old computer monitor and plugged in directly. That worked, so now I have monitor & Tv hooked up. Just wish I could figure out how to make them work as singer's monitor.

Also I found a disc that didn't rip right (compuhost's database was wrong). So I re-ripped it using the online database. How do I erase the wrong disc?

Also, how do you get rid of the little info box when setting up the autoplay? The only way I can get rid of it is to close it, thus dis-enabling the auto play.

And it doesn't always recognize the dongle. Do I have to use the disc each time I use the program?

Sorry so many questions. I've been saving up for almost a month now.
I'm sure looking forward to that day when this will "be worth it all"....

Thanks All
Mary

Mary,

You may wish to direct your question to the CH support. In my experience they have always been very helpful. Anyway, I've used CH for sometime now, so I'll try to assist you with what I can.

"We can't get the second monitor to act as a second monitor."

From what I understand, you are only able to get the two screens to mirror each other? If that's the case, there should be a setting in the Video Device driver that offers either MIRROR or EXTEND, or something similar, you'll need to explore or refer to the documentation.

"Also I found a disc that didn't rip right (compuhost's database was wrong). So I re-ripped it using the online database. How do I erase the wrong disc?"

It would have been simpler just to edit the information within the CH database rather then rerip the songs. To edit any entry in the database you just bring the listing up in the song search and click the EDIT button on the lower left. As for deleting the disc, you'll need to locate each listing and click the DELETE button, again on the lower left. You can do this very easily by search by discid and then using the multiselect feature to select all listings, then click the DELETE button. As an example, if you want to delete all the listings of disc BS9230, just select the DiscId tab, enter the search term "BS9230" and click SEARCH DISCID. All of the listings on BS9230 will be displayed. You can either delete them one at a time, or use the regular windows multiselect keys (click the first listing and then while holding down your SHIFT key click the last listing). After all of the desired listings are selected you only need to click the DELETE button once.

"Also, how do you get rid of the little info box when setting up the autoplay? The only way I can get rid of it is to close it, thus dis-enabling the auto play."

I don't really use the AutoPlay Controller (well maybe occasionally when nature calls) but to answer your question, that is NOT an info box. It IS the AutoPlay Controller! Imagine the AutoPlay Controller as being your assistant, if you close it, your assistant goes home! The idea is just to set your options and then click the START button found on the AutoPlay Controller (not to be confused with the main START button). Although you're still able to add singers and songs once the AutoPlay has started, its typically better to get your lineup set before starting the AutoPlay.

"And it doesn't always recognize the dongle. Do I have to use the disc each time I use the program?"

No, you don't need the disk after you originally install CH. You're probably plugging the Dongle into different USB ports. Please understand that USB drivers are port specific, meaning just because the driver has loaded for one port, doesn't mean its loaded for all. It's best to pick a USB port, install the dongle and follow the onscreen windows instructions to properly load the driver, and then ALWAYS plug the dongle into THAT port. The other alternative is to load the driver in ALL ports by individually plugging the dongle into each port and load the driver for EACH port, following the windows onscreen instructions.

Hope this helps,
tbreen

You will drive yourself crazy messing with video settings while Compuhost is running. The secondary lyric monitor has to be setup & working correctly as an extended desktop in Windows FIRST, before you even start up Compuhost.

In your video settings you need to set the second monitor as an extended desktop (check the box that says extend my desktop onto this monitor). Once you can move your mouse off the main screen and it shows up on the second (lyric) monitor, THEN startup Compuhost and it will find it and work just fine.

Thanks guys!! I now have dual monitors. The singer's screen is only on the top left third of the screen. Something about a file:system device & options.... I can't seem to find it, but I'm hoping my son will. I'm just tickled to have a second screen

Also the editing tip worked well. It's really hard when you don't have a clue what you're doing. But I see a light at the end of the tunnel. THANKS! Mary

P.S. re: the compuhost error in labeling songs. I just happened upon this disc looking for singer's favorites. Do mistakes like this happen often?

Obviously when your dealing with a database that with my last update exceeds 390,000 items there's bound to be errors. That's why you should always check the listings before ripping, comparing them to the actual disc. The karaoke industry is known for improper listings even on the discs themselves. I have several discs that even the printed listings on the label does NOT match the actual songs on the disc, go figure. I'm sure that all of the songbook providers (KJPro, FastTracks etc.) receive their listings from the disc manufactures themselves, the same manufactures that mislabel their own discs, so errors are bound to occur.

Glad to hear you're making ground.

tbreen

Make sure the screen resolution is set to 1024x768 and Compushost is set the same in the video settings area. They have to match up.

Okay, now I have both on the same size (1024x768), centered the pidture, but it still doesn't fill the whole screen. Is that the way it's supposed to be?

No, it should fill the entire screen if setup properly. Too bad you do not have someone more computer savvy to assist you hands on, it's kind of difficult for us to help you without actual access to your computer.

Did you reboot your computer after setting the screen sizes?
Check that the DPI is set to the standard 96 DPI within the video device dialog. This is usually found under Settings->Advanced within the Video Driver Setup dialog.

Another thing, are you using some sort of video converter or adapter (HDMI-S-video/Composite etc.) between your computer and external display? If so, many of these have different aspect and windows position settings. For that you'll need to refer to the documentation provided by the adapter.

Other than this, I have no other suggestions.

tbreen

I'm not sure what your setup is, but I am using Vista wide screen computer going to a flat screen regular computer monitor with VGA and another TV monitor with coax cable. I had to experiment with it for quite a while to get the screens to look right. In order to fill the whole screen I ended up using the 800x600 setting in compuhost. Remember, you need to shut down Compuhost every time you change the setting for the setting to take effect.

Thanks everyone for your help. It was just as easy as turning it back on and there it was in full screen! Who was it that said "It's too bad I don't have someone more computer savy"? Oh how true. I'm in that "Lost Generation". Computers when I went to college was a big thing in some room, and something about the binary sytem (but what did I know, I was in the music dept.)

I really appreciate everyone's help through this whole process. And what a process!
I really couldn't have done it without you. Saturday night will be the big test. I'll let you know how it goes.

Mary

P.S. Look me up if you ever get to NW Iowa. I'll buy you supper!

Quick question before my rant, why did some of my songs turn to scrambled lyrics, like when you jolted a cdg?

My last name should be Murphy. Thurs. I had everything figured out (I thought) and had 5 new discs coming Fri. They came, 2 ripped great, 3 I had to type in... So Sat AM I was printing my books, doing fine, until I ran out of ink. I managed to get a copy printed, but couldn't figure out how to get it to quit printing. I kept getting the "Report Destination" window that gives me the option of viewing or printing. Couldn't get it to kick off the viewing option. So I wrote to CH support, but spelled it wrong, so no answer. I was busy slicing and pasting (I turned a 2 column book into a three column book with no disc numbers). So I didn't get an Artist listing printed (sure could have used it as 2 people asked for something by so and so... No biggie.) But, this morning I pulled it up again, hit the "view report", and it started printing. So I now have a new songbook, looks great, but really not sure how I got it.....

The tension began when I was setting up at the bar and I couldn't get it to recognize my monitor. I replaced everything that could have made it not work. Then called my son (who was luckily up the street at the other bar) and he figured it out. Something about a generic pnp and a something else.. I really don't know what could have changed that short 8 blocks to the bar....... Anyway, I got going, and everyone was enjoying the cd playing on my old cdg player, (which will always have a warm spot in my rack.....) I guess I should have played with the program a little more. On the "Autorotate Method" options, I had the delete button pushed and it kept asking me something, yes or no, and I always pushed the wrong one, and the song dissapeared. Then I figured it out and hit select. That worked ok, except when a singer got done, they would still be on the tv until I deleted them (made for a few nervous moments for a too drunk singer's husband....). I guess I should select rotate. But I only had 1-3 singers to choose from at a time, so what was to rotate??

But I survived the marathon (we play that extra hour here). And thanks to your help, will live to play another day. My next gig is Saturday, (40 miles from my son who will be busy harvesting, I hope). Wish me luck!

Thankfully Yours,
Maryoke, Marcus, IA