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As if by magic, Virgin Digital returns!


No sooner do I mope about missing my Virgin Digital subscription, than it returns! After getting very frustrated yesterday with the lack of decent alternatives while Virgin was offline, I got an email this morning letting me know that a fixed version was ready and that all I had to do was launch the program and let the auto-update kick in.

Well, the auto-update didn’t work as it failed to find the update file on the server – obviously still a few glitches to iron out – but with the aid of Wireshark, the Google cache, and some expert sleuthing, I was able to work out where they were keeping the full installer for the new version. Installed it, and everything is working again! Fantastic. I foresee a lot of music downloading this evening.

After trying to use the HMV software for just a few days, going back to Virgin was like an old friend returning from a long absence.

The Jay, he is happy again.

UPDATE 30/12/06: The patching issues have now been resolved and auto-upate should be working for all versions. If needed, the full installer for the newest version is available from the Virgin Digital website.

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This entry was posted on 22 November, 2006, 2.07 pm and is filed under Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  1. #1 by paulcapewell on 22 November, 2006 - 6.43 pm

    Ah dammit, satisfaction. I was too late to reply to your last post but it was a good’un. I read a few music/tech/industry/etc blogs and yours snuck right into that column. Nice post and some very good points raised.

    Virgin are lucky this time ;)

    Also agree about if iTunes launched a subscription model.

    Out of interest, what sort of music do you like?

    Paul

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  2. #2 by Jay on 22 November, 2006 - 7.22 pm

    I used to listen exclusively to commercial dance, then when I got married I absorbed some of my wife’s pop tastes, but the great thing is that now I don’t have to actually buy albums to listen to them, I’ve branched out and am listening to a lot more pop/rock, and also a little bit of soul & R&B.

    I still buy the albums I like the most on CD so I can listen to them in the car (amongst other reasons), and I think a good indication of anyone’s true musical tastes are what they bought last; my last 3 album purchases were The Pacha Experience, Lily Allen: Alright, Still, and Rogue Traders: Here Come the Drums

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  3. #3 by paulcapewell on 22 November, 2006 - 7.31 pm

    Nice one thanks :)

    I’m still not sure how much I’d like a Subscription model… But then before I got an iPod I was convinced I wouldn’t buy much music from iTunes, and I have about 10 albums and around 100 assorted tracks and videos all purchased there (to be fair, my main plus-point of iTunes is being able to buy those one hit wonders and cool b-sides). All that said, I much prefer owning something physical.

    And good point about the last three purchases thing. My last three were Ben Kweller – Ben Kweller, Willie Nelson – Songbird, and The Young Knives – The Voices of Animals and Men.

    Do you dabble in the world of last.fm by any chance?

    Paul

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  4. #4 by Anonymous on 26 November, 2006 - 1.19 am

    Would you mind sharing where the full installer is?

    Our Virgin Digital subscription hasn’t worked in way too long, I can’t get a response from their tech people, and I’m ready to cancel our subscription. Unfortunately, I don’t have the IT skills to sleuth out why it doesn’t work and how to fix it.

    By the way, thanks for your explanation of the problems with Virgin Digital. It’s given me hope that maybe someday we’ll be listening to Virgin again.

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  5. #5 by Anonymous on 26 November, 2006 - 10.41 am

    Virgin Digital Install

    auto-update didn’t work
    I also found that it didn’t auto update, so I went to the download page, and download the current version it offers then when I closed & re-opened that version, it patched itself from ’01.0501.R’ to ’11.0530.R’. Deep JOY … it now works.

    If Axel is still monitoring this Journal, perhaps he, take this up with the developers.

    Great to have it back.

    Colin

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  6. #6 by Jay on 26 November, 2006 - 12.26 pm

    Full installers

    The download page that Colin (below) used is here: http://www.virgindigital.co.uk/club/

    That page is currently serving up the 01.0501.R version, which is quite old, but the auto-update is working for that version. I was hoping Virgin would have sorted this out for themselves by now, which is why I didn’t post the links initially. I’ve added them to the post above now.

    If you are having different problems that aren’t resolved by doing a reinstall, it’s pertinent to note that Virgin Digital relies on Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player being fully up to date. Make sure you have installed all the latest updates from Windows Update.

    Also, I had a problem with 1 of my computers when I first installed Virgin Digital that required me to install a Windows Media Security Component Upgrade from this site and then reboot: http://drmlicense.one.microsoft.com/Indivsite/en/indivit.asp

    Hope that helps!

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  7. #7 by Jay on 26 November, 2006 - 1.03 pm

    Re: Virgin Digital Install

    The problem is that I was already using the 01.0521.R version, and although the patch that goes from 01.0521.R to 11.0530.R is on the website, but the update manifest points to the wrong location.

    Here’s how it all works (or doesn’t):

    I informed their tech support that the link was missing on the 22nd, but at the time I hadn’t worked out what the URL should be, and it’s such a slight difference they may not have noticed. The short story is that if you have any version of the Virgin Digital software other than the version immediately before the latest one, the auto-update will work.

    I’ve emailed them again to let them know; hopefully they’ll have the update manifest fixed soon and the auto-update will work for everyone.

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  8. #8 by Jay on 30 November, 2006 - 7.55 pm

    Re: Virgin Digital Install

    Had another reply from Axel on a previous journal entry to let me know that they’ve sorted out the auto-update problem. The patch manifest is unchanged, but they’ve added a copy of the patch at the location they mistakenly linked to, as well as at the location it was actually at all along. The new installer is also being served up from the official website now, so I’m taking my direct links down as they are no longer needed.

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