FLAC Frontend 1.7.1 Command Line Flashes and no results

[Nabeel Ansari]

When I try to batch convert some wavs into FLACs, I hit "encode" and then get a command line that says:

'win2dos' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

'flac' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

Previously i also got

'tag' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

but google actually helped with that. I can't find any more answers. Did anyone else have this problem?

[Moseph]

You might have to add win2dos and flac as path variables in Windows. This would let you run the programs from the DOS prompt (or whatever batch file you're using) by specifying the names only without the entire filepaths. How to do it in XP, or Google for more detailed info. Alternately, you could edit the batch file to include the entire filepaths of the programs instead of just the program names.

EDIT: In case it wasn't clear from my post, the problem is that Windows doesn't know where the win2dos and flac programs are located, and the batch file isn't telling Windows where they are because the batch file references only the names of the programs and not their entire filepaths. So you have to tell Windows where the programs are either by setting the programs as path variables or by replacing the programs' names in the batch file with their complete filepaths. (I'm assuming you downloaded the batch file from the internet -- the reason it doesn't contain the complete filepaths is that the programs are in different places on every computer, so every user would have to edit the batch file with the correct filepaths anyway. And it's also cleaner and simpler just to type the program name instead of the entire filepath every time you want to invoke the program, which is what setting the path variables lets you do.)

[Drayzon]

While I'm not sure how it would help with this problem in particular, I know that in order to get the FLAC frontend to do anything for me I had to choose to run it as an administrator (even though I'm on an admin account). I can't think of why it would help her, but it's still worth a shot.

[Nabeel Ansari]

why it would help her, but it's still worth a shot.

I'm a guy, thanks very much.

And that's a very crappy "How To", Moseph.

It says "add or modify lines". That's it. HOW do I add them or modify them?

[Drayzon]

I'm a guy, thanks very much.

I meant here, not her.

[Moseph]

I'm a guy, thanks very much.

And that's a very crappy "How To", Moseph.

It says "add or modify lines". That's it. HOW do I add them or modify them?

For the variable named path, hit edit (as shown in the link). The box that comes up will have a string of filepaths in the "variable value" field. For example, my computer has this string:

c:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\ProgramData\East West\playgui

This is a bunch of folders' filepaths separated by semicolons (. Windows will look in the folders specified by these paths for programs that can be executed. Any program that Windows finds in these folders can be accessed at the DOS prompt or in a batch file by simply referencing the filename for the program (minus extension) without giving the complete path.

Say I want to use this method to access the program Firefox that is located at:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe

I would add the path of the folder that contains firefox.exe to the end of the list, separated by a semicolon. The modified value for the path variable would then read:

c:\Program Files (x86)\NVIDIA Corporation\PhysX\Common;%SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem;%SYSTEMROOT%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\ProgramData\East West\playgui;C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox

I can confirm that the change has taken effect by okaying the open boxes and then running cmd.exe. (In XP: Start > Run ... > cmd.exe. In 7: Start > Search Programs and Files > cmd.exe.) This brings up the DOS prompt. When I type

firefox

and hit enter, it launches the browser just as if I had opened it from the desktop, confirming that the change worked. If I had tried this DOS command before changing the path variable, it would have given me the error message that you encountered.

To do this for your FLAC stuff, you'll need to locate flac.exe and win2dos.exe and add the path(s) of the folder(s) that contain them to the string in the path variable.

If you're concerned about screwing something up, you can copy/paste your current path variable into a text file and save it to make a backup that can be pasted back into the variable field if the need arises. Basically, you just don't want to delete anything that's already there.

[prophetik music]

of course, you could always just get dbPowerAmp, and let it convert literally every audio format to every other format. i think i've got converter packs for 65 formats, now, maybe more. it also modifies your mouseover info box, so when you mouseover an mp3 file it shows the tag, length, and everything else.

oh, and it adds a right-click command to auto-convert whatever you want.

yeah, the command-line version is probably better.

[Nabeel Ansari]

Thanks, Moseph, that seems to have worked. It's always nice to know a little more about how operating systems (or at least Windows) work, so thanks for that too.

And unfortunately prophetik, I won't be needing to try out what you suggested, but I'll keep it in mind for the future.

[Liontamer]

Moseph explained it, but just leaving this here as another reference: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=60151