FreeChng

Freechange is an application that can control Sony changers and help manage the media inserted in the slots. The program does not have an installer yet, so in order to use it you should create a folder for it and expand the zip file into that folder. If you have used this application before you may be better off placing this version in a new folder.

This version retreives much more metadata for DVD media than the past versions did, so it would be best to allow it to rebuild the data rather than trying to reuse old files. If you choose to install it in the same folder the older version operated in, you should back up the csv and ini files before running it. You will also need to go into the configuration screen and select one of the newer metadata lookups based on WMP9 ir WMP10 to get the new metadata features to function. Once the configuration is in place any media you load that does not already have metadata in the grid will be looked up.

This version looks up DVD metadata through windowsmedia.com and plot summaries from IMDB. It also parses the DVD IFO files on the media for language, resolution and subtitle information. CD metadata is looked up from FreeDB by default, and if the included version of CDEX is used, minor cleanup is performed on the metadata lookup results. The program attempts to automate the metadata process fully to facilitate bulk ripping or any other bulk activity, but it also includes options to allow manual editing of the metadata to improve it. Metadata is saved and can be used outside the program freely.

The program can be used to drive any application that can be run from the command line and can therefore be used to do a lot of different things. It also has a Telnet interface that can allow it to be used as a remote control interface for one or more changers. Currently the only tool using the remote interface is a plugin I created for MediaPortal, but the interface could be used for many things.

What's New (5/26/2008):
Changer import and export functions have been added and many bugs have been fixed, error handling has been improved, and startup time reduced. CDEX has been modified to allow command line drive selection (-drive:xx). CD lookup retreives album art as well as title information. Title based media lookups have been added as alternates. A basic inventory database is maintained for all media metadata, and a basic list report or cover can be printed from it.

Here is an updated version of the Delphi changer app. This time around I made an installer for it. It contains a number of bug fixes. Most of them are aimed at making the CD functions work properly and making the metadata lookup more intelligent. I also fixed the Update Tags function which tries to set the changer tags the way the Sony software did.