When I run my audio CD for Steely Dan's The Royal Scam, it identifies as
Scorpions - the Same Thrill for the playlist. I am not even sure where
it is pulling this data from.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of weirdness?

Poppy da mad

On Sat, 15 Jul 2023 08:57:49 -0400, Popping Mad wrote:

> When I run my audio CD for Steely Dan's The Royal Scam, it identifies as
> Scorpions - the Same Thrill for the playlist. I am not even sure where
> it is pulling this data from.

IIRC, VLC pulls data from the CDDB (now "Gracenote").
According to wikipedia[1], the CDDB client application (VLC) "calculates
a (nearly) unique disc ID and then queries the database. As a result,
the client is able to display the artist name, CD title, track list
and some additional information."

> Has anyone else experienced this kind of weirdness?

Never run into this myself, but it seems that the CDDB hashing
algorithm allows some collisions, and /could/ get confused this way.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDDB

HTH
--
Lew Pitcher
"In Skills We Trust"

On 7/15/23 09:05, Lew Pitcher wrote:
> On Sat, 15 Jul 2023 08:57:49 -0400, Popping Mad wrote:
>
>> When I run my audio CD for Steely Dan's The Royal Scam, it identifies as
>> Scorpions - the Same Thrill for the playlist. I am not even sure where
>> it is pulling this data from.
>
> IIRC, VLC pulls data from the CDDB (now "Gracenote").
> According to wikipedia[1], the CDDB client application (VLC) "calculates
> a (nearly) unique disc ID and then queries the database. As a result,
> the client is able to display the artist name, CD title, track list
> and some additional information."
>
>> Has anyone else experienced this kind of weirdness?
>
> Never run into this myself, but it seems that the CDDB hashing
> algorithm allows some collisions, and /could/ get confused this way.
>
>
> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDDB
>
> HTH

what does it hash off of?

Lew - what is the internet going to do when you grow old and retire from
answering everyones questions for free :)

Popping Mad <rainbow@colition.gov> wrote:
> On 7/15/23 09:05, Lew Pitcher wrote:
>> On Sat, 15 Jul 2023 08:57:49 -0400, Popping Mad wrote:
>>
>>> When I run my audio CD for Steely Dan's The Royal Scam, it identifies as
>>> Scorpions - the Same Thrill for the playlist. I am not even sure where
>>> it is pulling this data from.
>>
>> IIRC, VLC pulls data from the CDDB (now "Gracenote").
>> According to wikipedia[1], the CDDB client application (VLC) "calculates
>> a (nearly) unique disc ID and then queries the database. As a result,
>> the client is able to display the artist name, CD title, track list
>> and some additional information."
>>
>>> Has anyone else experienced this kind of weirdness?
>>
>> Never run into this myself, but it seems that the CDDB hashing
>> algorithm allows some collisions, and /could/ get confused this way.
>>
>>
>> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDDB
>
> what does it hash off of?

Putting "cddb hash" into "Duck Duck Go" returns the wikipedia page for
CDDB (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDDB).

Down in the section "How CDDB works" that same page describes it as:

The identification process involves creating a "discid", a sort of
"fingerprint" of a CD created by performing calculations on the track
duration information stored in the table-of-contents of the CD (see the
following section for an example calculation). This discid is used
with the Internet database, typically either to download track names
for the whole CD or to submit track names for a newly identified CD.

In the "Example Calculation" setion of the same page it says:

CDDB1 identifies CDs with a 32-bit number, usually displayed as a
hexadecimal number containing 8 digits: XXYYYYZZ. The first two digits
(labeled XX) represent a checksum based on the starting times of each
track on the CD, mod 255. The next four digits (YYYY) represent the
total time of the CD in seconds from the start of the first track to
the end of the last track. The last two digits (ZZ) represent the
number of tracks on the CD.

> Lew - what is the internet going to do when you grow old and retire
> from answering everyones questions for free :)

You may have to learn to use search engines to find web pages that
already answer your question and in that way become proficient at
answering your own questions.

On 2023-07-15 17:15, Rich wrote:
> Popping Mad <rainbow@colition.gov> wrote:
>> On 7/15/23 09:05, Lew Pitcher wrote:
>>> On Sat, 15 Jul 2023 08:57:49 -0400, Popping Mad wrote:
>>>
>>>> When I run my audio CD for Steely Dan's The Royal Scam, it identifies as
>>>> Scorpions - the Same Thrill for the playlist. I am not even sure where
>>>> it is pulling this data from.
>>>
>>> IIRC, VLC pulls data from the CDDB (now "Gracenote").
>>> According to wikipedia[1], the CDDB client application (VLC) "calculates
>>> a (nearly) unique disc ID and then queries the database. As a result,
>>> the client is able to display the artist name, CD title, track list
>>> and some additional information."
>>>
>>>> Has anyone else experienced this kind of weirdness?
>>>
>>> Never run into this myself, but it seems that the CDDB hashing
>>> algorithm allows some collisions, and /could/ get confused this way.
>>>
>>>
>>> [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDDB
>>
>> what does it hash off of?
>
> Putting "cddb hash" into "Duck Duck Go" returns the wikipedia page for
> CDDB (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDDB).
>
> Down in the section "How CDDB works" that same page describes it as:
>
> The identification process involves creating a "discid", a sort of
> "fingerprint" of a CD created by performing calculations on the track
> duration information stored in the table-of-contents of the CD (see the
> following section for an example calculation). This discid is used
> with the Internet database, typically either to download track names
> for the whole CD or to submit track names for a newly identified CD.
>
> In the "Example Calculation" setion of the same page it says:
>
> CDDB1 identifies CDs with a 32-bit number, usually displayed as a
> hexadecimal number containing 8 digits: XXYYYYZZ. The first two digits
> (labeled XX) represent a checksum based on the starting times of each
> track on the CD, mod 255. The next four digits (YYYY) represent the
> total time of the CD in seconds from the start of the first track to
> the end of the last track. The last two digits (ZZ) represent the
> number of tracks on the CD.

Doesn't seem to me a very reliable system...

--
Cheers, Carlos.

On Sat, 15 Jul 2023 20:03:53 +0200, Carlos E.R. wrote:

> On 2023-07-15 17:15, Rich wrote:
>> Popping Mad <rainbow@colition.gov> wrote:
>>> On 7/15/23 09:05, Lew Pitcher wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 15 Jul 2023 08:57:49 -0400, Popping Mad wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> When I run my audio CD for Steely Dan's The Royal Scam, it identifies as
>>>>> Scorpions - the Same Thrill for the playlist. I am not even sure where
>>>>> it is pulling this data from.
>>>>
>>>> IIRC, VLC pulls data from the CDDB (now "Gracenote").
>>>> According to wikipedia[1], the CDDB client application (VLC) "calculates
>>>> a (nearly) unique disc ID and then queries the database. As a result,
>>>> the client is able to display the artist name, CD title, track list
>>>> and some additional information."
[snip]
>> In the "Example Calculation" setion of the same page it says:
>>
>> CDDB1 identifies CDs with a 32-bit number, usually displayed as a
>> hexadecimal number containing 8 digits: XXYYYYZZ. The first two digits
>> (labeled XX) represent a checksum based on the starting times of each
>> track on the CD, mod 255. The next four digits (YYYY) represent the
>> total time of the CD in seconds from the start of the first track to
>> the end of the last track. The last two digits (ZZ) represent the
>> number of tracks on the CD.
>
> Doesn't seem to me a very reliable system...

Obviously, it isn't. But, then again, it was designed early on when CD
rippers were just becoming available, and most CDs had not been catalogued
so collisions (at the time) were rare.

Not so much, these days, though. :-)

--
Lew Pitcher
"In Skills We Trust"

On Sat, 15 Jul 2023 10:18:43 -0400, Popping Mad wrote:

[snip]

> Lew - what is the internet going to do when you grow old and retire from
> answering everyones questions for free :)

I'm sure that someone will take my place. They already have, on many
other fora. And, remember, google search is only a mouse-click away.

FWIW, I /am/ old and retired :-)

--
Lew Pitcher
"In Skills We Trust"