View Issue Details
| ID | Project | Category | View Status | Date Submitted | Last Update |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0001580 | MMW v4 | Synchronization | public | 2004-11-08 13:49 | 2005-02-04 03:47 |
| Reporter | rusty | Assigned To | |||
| Priority | immediate | Severity | major | Reproducibility | always |
| Status | closed | Resolution | fixed | ||
| Fixed in Version | 2.3 | ||||
| Summary | 0001580: Synchronization if multiple devices exist: Impossible to choose a profile & difficult to configure | ||||
| Description | a) If the user wishes to configure multiple devices for synchronization (e.g. a MediaServer and a portable device), it is a bit confusing to configure because if the user clicks the 'Options' entry via the synchronization button there's no way to choose which synchronization profile to configure (e.g. on my system the General plugin is configured and I was trying to configure the H-xxx profiles, but couldn't do so in an obvious manner--no matter what I did, clicking 'options' always configured the 'General' plugin and not the H-xxx plugin). The workaround is that the user can configure all profiles via the Tools|Options menu. There needs to be a simpler means of configuring multiple profiles. b) If the user has managed to configure multiple profiles, then it is _impossible_ to select which profile to use when synchronizing. This should also be configurable. c) It's impossible to configure multiple general devices Possible Resolutions discussed thus far: a) (Rusty) On that screen provide some means of allowing the user to change the Device Plugin Profile that is being changed. The best option would be a dropdown list, but this may be complex because it would introduce an in-place editing metaphor (i.e. if the user would make changes and then switch the Device Plugin, it would be unclear whether or not to save changes). b) (Jiri) This could be fixed by showing all connected devices in the Synch button drop-down menu and add a check-mark to the 'active' device. This way user could choose which is the device he works with now. Assigning to Rusty to finalize spec | ||||
| Additional Information | Originally raised in 0001573 User discussion of the problem at: http://www.songs-db.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2774 | ||||
| Tags | No tags attached. | ||||
| Fixed in build | 812 | ||||
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The end user requirements that must be met are fairly simple: -Ability to configure multiple devices (current deficiency is that the user cannot configure multiple _general_ devices) -Ability to choose which of multiple (including General) devices to synch or configure via the main panel (currently this is impossible) -Clear communication of configuration/synchronization in terms of the Device rather than in terms of the driver being used -Automatic configuration of devices whenever possible Implementaion details: The problem domain is similar to that of a network adapter. The user may install 1 or 2 physical network adapters plus multiple virtual network adapters. The user expects that when the adapter is installed, appropriate drivers are automatically located and that the system works at some minimal level of functionality. Furthermore, the user also expects that more in-depth configuration of the Adapter drivers will yield (improved) connectivity. What they do not expect is that they must look up a list of drivers, e.g. 'Generic NDIS driver' and map it to the card(s). So where does this leave us? 1) 'Available Device Plugins' should be changed to 'Devices' -The panel should list any devices that have been automatically been detected because plugins exist and any General devices that the user has manually configured e.g. 'General Device (Rusty's Frontier Labs Z32)' -To manually configure devices, there should be 'Add Device'/'Remove Device' buttons -The configure device should work pretty much as it does today -If the user plugs in a device and it isn't detected, then it should be obvious to the user that they can a) Add it as a General Device b) search the Device Plugins page and download an appropriate plugin after which pluggin in the device will result in it being detected and added 2) The synchronize button in the main panel should be modified slightly so that it contains a list of configure devices with a manually settable checkbox next to the currently active device. The checked device indicates which device configuration is modified when the user chooses configure and which device is synchronized when the user clicks 'synch'. Note: if only one device is plugged in, then the checkbox appears next to the plugged-in device. 2) Change 'Available Device Plugins' to 'Devices' |
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Fixed in build 812. - User can now select the active device from the list of connected devices in the Devices toolbar button pop-up menu. - Originally I agreed with "'Available Device Plugins' should be changed to 'Devices'", but now I'm not that sure. Problem is that device plug-in is supposed to be used for some set of devices, e.g. 'iRiver H series'. However, when user insert the device, it has more specific name, e.g. 'iRiver H300 series'. After the suggested change we would user term 'Device' for both of them which could be quite confusing. So I would say that the current terminology isn't bad. - Re. support for adding/deleting devices - as we already discussed over IM it's something I wouldn't like to do for several reasons. I think that the most important point is that the current functionality works great for our OEM partners, other things can be solved anytime later. |
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I'm not able to test the fix that allows the user to choose between multiple devices that have been configured, however, re. your last 2 comments: -Re. the fact that the 'Device' would change from 'iRiver H Series' to 'iRiver H Series (Rusty's H-320)', in the suggested implementation this would not occur since _drivers/plugins would never be listed_. i.e. just as available network drivers are not listed in Windows--they are automatically chosen, so a driver would be automatically associated to a Portable device--however, the _device_ would be listed rather than the driver. For example: -User want to synch MM with new iRiver device -User connects iRiver H120 device --> MM automatically adds a device for the H120 (using the iRiver plugin) OR for a generic device: -User wants to synch MM with brand 'X' device -User clicks 'Add Device' --> General Device entry appears as General Device (<Device Name>) -Regarding the OEM issue, I tried to make this proposal so that it would not compromise the user/OEM experience--i.e. it would be as automated as the current implementation. Let me know what you think. |
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There are some technical problems related to this. In the current state the plug-ins are responsible for recognizing which device is connected because of the USB ID. However, in the proposed case probably drive serial numbers would have to be used to recognize individual devices. This wouldn't work for non-mass storage devices, could cause problems for devices without SN assigned while formatting and mainly after re-formatting drive (e.g. an internal command of H320) the SN would change which would confuse MM a lot. So given complexity of the issue, related problems and it's usefulness for only small group of people (because unique plug-in will solve it for almost all usage cases) I wouldn't do anything about it now. |
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Ok--marking as fixed. We'll track the remaining issues in 0001353. |
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Verified that UI functions as expected for configuring multiple devices. |
