AAC on SAMBA share does not work.

[ZeteticApparatchik]

I have my music files on my laptop (running Mac OS X 10.5 - latest updates) shared to my desktop (Windows Vista - largely updated) via a SAMBA (smbd version 3.0.25b-apple) share, mapped to a network drive.
(This means that the files appear, for example, to be located at
'S:\iTunes Music Files\R.E.M_\Eponymous\12 It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine).m4a')

The following works fine:

• Playing .mp3 (MP3) files from the share in Audiosurf
• Playing .m4a (AAC) files from the share in VLC
• Copying .m4a files from the share and then playing them off a local disk in Audiosurf

However, attempting to open .m4a files in Audiosurf directly, fails: it produces a song with zero length, no profile, no tags ('Unknown Artist') (and which then fails to work in slightly curious but understandable manner if I try to continue).

Any insights? I'd be curious even to know why Audiosurf is falling over, even if I can't fix it...

[Lavos^]

Just doesn't work too well over a network. Keep copying the files locally.

[ZeteticApparatchik]

That's not a solution, that's a workaround.

There's evidently nothing wrong with streaming files of the share in practice. It even appears that Audiosurf doesn't even bother trying to open .m4a files (since smbstatus reports no locking on .m4a files when I try to open them while any .mp3 files are noted in the locking status); I'm wondering if the code for accessing .m4a files actually uses different system calls to the .mp3 ones, and if so this should be fixable relatively easily.

[Laserrobotics]

.m4a files have to be not DRM protected to work.  so, either unprotected by some program/burn, or in iTunes Plus format.

[Melodia]

.m4a files have to be not DRM protected to work.  so, either unprotected by some program/burn, or in iTunes Plus format.

.m4a are 'normal' AAC files. Protected ones are .m4p

Granted the above poster may not realize this and is calling all AAC files .m4a, DRM'd or not.

-Lala-

[Laserrobotics]

oh.  never mind then.

[ZeteticApparatchik]

.m4a files have to be not DRM protected to work.  so, either unprotected by some program/burn, or in iTunes Plus format.

.m4a are 'normal' AAC files. Protected ones are .m4p

Granted the above poster may not realize this and is calling all AAC files .m4a, DRM'd or not.

-Lala-

Well, actually, I guess the correct way to patronise someone would be to say  that .m4a is a unofficial file extension popularized by Apple, for the container format defined in MPEG-4 Part 14 (or see ISO/IEC 14496-14). (The official extension being .mp4 and .mp4 only.) If lasserrobotics actually read my post, they might have realized that I am not a utter moron. (Only, as this post reveals, a ill-mannered pedant.)
Any other similar suggestions? I could defragment my hard drive or try cycling the power. Maybe a fuse is the problem?

Meh. Maybe the latest update might have fixed this inadvertently and will calm me down...
(Although I suspect that a caffeine antagonist and some sleep and not having what little intelligence I do posses insulted repeatedly in airports and on the internet might work better...)

Edit:
No. It doesn't. Oh, well.

Thank you for trying laserrobotics and Melodia, nevertheless. It's nice that you tried, even after this fell off the first page. (Thank you Melodia, for trying to demonstrate that I'm not utterly stupid even if this is a position you may yet change your mind on.)
(And hey, my post made me feel better.)