Question for tech guys (Computer, not guitar)

[FloydRose4Prez]

My phone will not play mp4 files so I have to convert them to a format they will play. Is there a way to do this without buying a converter program?

[xenophobe]

Why don't you just download an MP4 player for your phone?

[pianoguyy]

Why don't you just download an MP4 player for your phone?

A simple download may be an answer for a smartphone, but feature phones (aka dumb phones) do not have the ability to install codecs.

My phone will not play mp4 files so I have to convert them to a format they will play. Is there a way to do this without buying a converter program?

There are a lot of ways to do this. It all depends on all of the information you did not include and how much time you are willing to spend.

for example:
what is the model of your phone and the carrier because the same phone can vary because carriers put their own software on them?
is there a computer involved? and do you have internet available on both the pc and phone.
are these locked in any way (like a DRM), did you buy them, download them for free, or rip them.


And before we even get in to specifics...
sometimes, depending on the phone, it can be as simple as renaming the extension. If its going to work, change mp4 to aac or mp3. Those are the most likely going to work, you could also try m4a.
But the extension rename does not always work.

[Hellbat]

What OS is your phone? VLC player will play MP4 files and is available for Android, in Beta at least.

[neilli]

I'm in the process of converting a bunch of MP4s into MP3s because my car's stereo will only read MP3. I got a free converter online and it works fine, albeit the process is a little 'hand-raulic'...

[FloydRose4Prez]

It's M4p (typo). I've tried 3 different apps from Google Play Store and none of them work.

[FloydRose4Prez]

No go. The whole album is DRM protected, upon further investigation.

[pianoguyy]

It's M4p (typo). I've tried 3 different apps from Google Play Store and none of them work.

m4p is a drm protected m4a. Its from your itunes. I hate apple.

What you need to do is burn them all to cd. I mean burn, not write. As in, make an 80 minute audio cd.
Then rip the cd. ~~~~~~~ in a format that isn't protected and that your phone reads.





The one question I have is this:
Are you transferring the licenses when you transfer the file. Your phone may be able to play them if it is DRM allowed.

[LouSiffer]

You could also get a piece of software called Audials that will rip the protection out for you. -Lou

[AdRock]

Dowload Audacity. Put the mp4 in there, highlight it and export selection as MP3. It's really simple, and FREE. Also, set the mp3 setting so that when it converts it it does it at 320kbps.

[pianoguyy]

Dowload Audacity. Put the mp4 in there, highlight it and export selection as MP3. It's really simple, and FREE. Also, set the mp3 setting so that when it converts it it does it at 320kbps.

will that work with itunes new m4p extension?

[AdRock]

As far as I know it will. It also works with AIFF files that apple uses.

[AdRock]

Here's one of the Wiki pages that Audacity uses to store their info. It has all the info for importing files from Itunes http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Ho...es_from_iTunes

Here's what it says about M4p files.

Importing protected M4P files from iTunes Store

If the files are shown as M4P they will be DRM-protected (copyrighted) files purchased from iTunes store. Some files shown as AAC may also be protected. If so, you cannot convert them directly to another format in iTunes because of that protection. There are two main solutions: either burn the files to an audio CD in iTunes, then extract the CD tracks to WAV or AIFF; or play the files in iTunes and record them.

As of April 2009 Apple is offering all content on iTunes free of DRM protection. Existing DRM-protected files can be converted to DRM-free versions for 30 cents per song or 30 per cent of the album price.



Burn to audio CD then extract to WAV/AIFF

To burn the file to an audio CD in iTunes:

1. Drag the file from your iTunes Music window (under Library in the left-hand panel) into an iTunes playlist (all files from this playlist will be burned to the CD)
2. Click the Burn Disc button bottom right of the window (in iTunes 10, click File > Burn Playlist to Disc)
3. In the "Burn Settings" window that appears, select the "Preferred Speed" and make sure "Audio CD" is selected. Note: in iTunes 7, this should be configured on the small "Burning" tab inside the Advanced tab of Preferences
4. Click "Burn"
5. If you receive a "computer not authorised" error, double-click the file in the iTunes playlist and enter the password you use to login to iTunes store; additionally, you cannot burn a playlist containing M4P files that have been burned more than seven times.
6. If you receive "Error 4880" this means burning cannot initialise because of a hardware defect or because the burn speed is too high

Then extract the CD tracks to WAV or AIFF in iTunes, using the following instructions. These instructions are for iTunes 9 or later. If you have iTunes 7, the import setting is changed on the small "Importing" tab inside the "Advanced" tab of Preferences. If you have iTunes 7 or 8, the WAV or AIFF is created by right-click or control-click over the tracks(s) to be extracted.

1. Click Edit > Preferences (or iTunes > Preferences on Mac)
2. Click on the leftmost "General" tab
3. Click the "Import Settings" button half way down on the right
4. In the "Import Using" dropdown, choose "WAV Encoder" or "AIFF Encoder"
5. Click OK and OK
6. If the CD tracks have imported automatically to your Library, select "Music" under "Library" top left, otherwise select the CD that you burned in "Devices" further down on the left
7. In the main window opposite, deselect any track(s) you do not want to extract
8. Select the required tracks then click Advanced > Create WAV version or Create AIFF version (if you are in "Devices" this will import the songs into the iTunes Library)
9. In "Music", right-click or control-click over the extracted file(s), click "Get Info", and check the location of the file at "Where"

A WAV or AIFF file gives a lossless digital copy of your iTunes file which can now be imported into Audacity from the location given in "Where".

[FloydRose4Prez]

Cool, thanks.

BTW, the album is Lightning Strikes Again, if any of you were wondering.