Audacity Forum

Audacity 1.2.16 with Lame encoder was working on my computer, for many months, running Windows XP Home with SP3, and all post-SP3 fixes.

I had saved the Audacity 1.2.16 installer and the Lame installer that I had used when I installed both products.

Then, due to other problems, I wiped the disk-drive, reinstalled Windows XP Home with SP2, and then installed SP3, and then installed all the post-SP3 fixes, and the (free) Microsoft Security Essentials anti-virus product.

I reinstalled Audacity, and reinstalled Lame, from those saved .EXE files, following the posted instructions for integrating Lame into Audacity.

Now, I get the same error-message that the other people have been reporting, namely:

"Could not open MP3 encoding library!",

when I try to integrate the MP3 encoder into Audacity.

I've also tried the "Edit" and "Preferences" clicks to try the integration, with no success.

I've also uninstalled Audacity, uninstalled Lame, deleted all references to 'lame_enc' from the Windows Registry, and rebooted.

Then, I fetched Audacity 1.3.12-beta from SourceForge, and downloaded the Lame encoder, and installed the newest versions of both programs. But, I still get that same error-message. So, now what?

Let's stick with the 1.3.12 version of Audacity (the 1.2.6 version is really old now and there's been no development or bug fixes to the 1.2 series for years - and 1.3.12 is a much better program).

Download the file libmp3lame-win-3.98.2.zip from here: http://lame.buanzo.com.ar/
Unzip the file to extract the file lame_enc.dll
Put the file lame_enc.dll into the Audacity program folder (usually C:Program FilesAudacity 1.3 Beta (Unicode))
Start Audacity.
Go to "Edit menu > Preferences > Libraries" and click on the "Locate" button for Lame.
Follow the on-screen instructions.

Please help I have spent so many hours trying to get LAME to work I don´t know what else to do.

I have Audacity 1.2.4 on Windows XP Professional V 2002 and downloaded the Lame for Audacity as well as simply the .dll file 0 I have tried it in every place I have been told to and am clean out of ideas. I am in Spain and wondering if this is the issue. Any ideas please help!!!

Thank you

Heddi

Thank you finally an MP3 recording yeah!!!! Lots to do now! Happy New Year!

I am having difficulty with getting some of the actions to work.
I just installed LAME, but I can't click "Preferences" or anything like that.
I have Audacity 1.2.6, and WIN XP.

Also, I've tried uploading a new file, and it only won't work after I've recorded something.

Ashley5ash, I'd highly recommend upgrading to Audacity 1.3.12 (it's a much better program than the ancient 1.2.6 version and all of the regular forum contributors use and are more familiar with it).

Most functions in Audacity are only available when you are in "Stop" mode. Most functions are unavailable during Record, Playback or Pause. Check that Audacity is "Stopped" and not "Paused".

It is also preferable if you could post new questions in new topics rather than tagging them onto the end of other topics. To find the correct place to post, go to the forum index page and click on the appropriate section for your version of Audacity and Operating System. Then click on the "NEW TOPIC" button.

I, too, struggled for HOURS following alllllll advice on the "LAME libraries NOT FOUND or opened"...and still got repetitive failures when exporting to MP3. Somehow, FINALLY, something appears to have worked (though i may have forgotten to jot down one step)!!!
I tried to export one audacity file to WAV....then i downloaded a free MP3 Encoder from Pianosoft...converted the WAV to MP3...went back to Audacity to make a change to this "newly converted" MP3. Then, when i chose "export to MP3" i was expecting same failures but instead, a TITLE & ARTIST page appeared...which after filling in Title & artist ALLOWED THE EXPORT!!!!
i checked its properties and it was in fact an MP3...was able to play regularly...and i even tried to change it again and Audacity must have recognized it worked once (which is the requirement) and now i have changed 3 other test Audacity tracks successfully so i assume problem solved!!!???....
i think i may have had to enter that title & artist again...but still testing and i believe i did not have to the last time i tried.
I WANTED TO POST HTIS MUCH in case i forget to go back to this forum...hope it works for somebody and helps!!!

for the record, the LAME dll IS installed and i actually copied it and dragged it into Audacity plugins folder (whether that helped or not)...so somehow the combination of steps worked and maybe going forward, Audacity is actually usingrecognizing LAME on the 3 tests i tried...