1.3.14 unable to open libmp3lame.dylib

[vickyp]

Hi, I'm using Audacity 1.3.14 on an Intel Mac OS X 10.6.8 and can't get Audacity to open the Lame file libmp3lame.dylib. As a result exporting to mp3 creates an empty file.

The location of the Lame file appears in the Audacity/Preferences/Libraries/MP3 Export Library/Locate Lame window correctly, and when I browse to it the file is not grayed out, but it doesn't stick. Maddeningly the ffmpeg file, which is located in the same place does stick.

I've tried locating the files in both the hard drive library and the user library, but it doesn't change anything. Restarting Audacity hasn't helped either.

Currently both ffmpeg and the libmp3lame.dylib file (plus all the other .dylib files) are located as follows:

Macintosh HD/Library/Application Support/Audacity/libmp3lame.dylib

Are there other files that need to be located in the same place to get it to run?

[Gale Andrews]

Go here
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/FAQ: ... ns#maclame

get the "Alternative zip download for Lame 3.98.2" listed in the bullet point and follow the instructions.

I suggest you unzip the "libmp3lame.dylib" to either your Desktop or to the folder Audacity is in, then you should be able to locate and open it in the Audacity Libraries Preferences.



Gale

[vickyp]

Sadly, it didn't work. I had tried the zip option before and I just tried it again and placed the lame file in the Audacity application folder (I think that's what you meant). I also tried just leaving it on the desktop and navigating to it there. I also quit and reopened Audacity. It just doesn't like the lame file!

[Gale Andrews]

Yes, I meant the folder that the Audacity.app was located in.

You could try searching Finder for all instances of "libmp3lame.dylib" (include hidden folders in the search). Delete all of the "libmp3lame.dylib" files except the one you have in Applications/Audacity. You may have to log in as admin or root if you need to delete files in some locations.

Then exit Audacity and reset Audacity settings thus:
http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Preferences#stored .

If you still have a problem after restarting Audacity, try resetting permissions. Go > Utilities > Disk Utilities. Select your system drive and Verify Disk and then when that's done, Repair Permissions.

Note you can (probably) export MP3's from Audacity using FFmpeg. When you export, choose "Custom FFmpeg Export" instead of "MP3 Files", click "Options", select "libmp3lame" from the list under the "Show All Codecs" button and "mp3" from the list underneath the "Show All Formats" button. Add ".mp3" (without quotes) to the end of the file name before saving.

Or, export as WAV or AIFF from Audacity and convert to MP3 in iTunes .



Gale

[vickyp]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions. I've tried everything on the list and currently the only one that worked (but thankfully it did work) was to export as AIFF into iTunes and then export as MP3.

When I tried exporting Audacity as both an AAC file and an MP3 file--using custom ffmpeg--and then imported them into iTunes, the "get info" dialog box showed them as being encoded with "Lavf52.64.2."

They could play in iTunes but when I tried to import them into Garageband (both by dragging and dropping, and by navigating to iTunes within Garageband) they appeared to load but then stopped and a dialog box came up saying they were "empty .aif files".

Anyway, I seem to have a work-around that works. Thanks again.

Vicky

[vickyp]

PS. I do have one mp3 file that I was able export from Audacity a week or so ago when Audacity was able to open the libmp3lame.dylib file. It does import into Garageband, and when I look at it in iTunes get info says it was encoded by LAME3.98.

[Gale Andrews]

The "encoded by Lavf" is because FFmpeg writes that in the "TENC" frame.

If you want to, you could check if the attached mp3 encoded by Audacity on Windows/FFmpeg opens in GarageBand.

I'm afraid I don't know why Audacity won't recognise the libmp3lame.dylib now. Were you possibly logged in as administrator at that time? If you try and locate libmp3lame.dylib and it does not succeed, there may be some information in the Audacity log about it (Help > Show Log...).



Gale

[vickyp]

It looks like I'm always logged in as the Admin, so I don't think that's it.

Strangely the Audacity log shows that LAME was loaded, but it doesn't show specific version numbers like with FFmpeg, if that means anything.

The Windows tone you sent does open in GargeBand...

09:23:30: Audacity 1.3.14-beta
09:23:30: Trying to load FFmpeg libraries...
09:23:30: mLibAVFormatPath ('/Library/Application Support/Audacity/libavformat.52.dylib') is not empty. Loading from it.
09:23:30: Checking for monolithic avformat from '/Library/Application Support/Audacity/libavformat.52.dylib'.
09:23:30: avformat not monolithic
09:23:30: Loading avutil from '/Library/Application Support/Audacity/libavutil.50.dylib'.
09:23:30: Loading avcodec from '/Library/Application Support/Audacity/libavcodec.52.dylib'.
09:23:30: Loading avformat from '/Library/Application Support/Audacity/libavformat.52.dylib'.
09:23:30: Actual avutil path /Library/Application Support/Audacity/libavutil.50.dylib
09:23:30: Actual avcodec path /Library/Application Support/Audacity/libavcodec.52.dylib
09:23:30: Actual avformat path /Library/Application Support/Audacity/libavformat.52.dylib
09:23:30: Importing symbols...
09:23:30: All symbols loaded successfully. Initializing the library.
09:23:30: Retrieving FFmpeg library version numbers:
09:23:30: AVCodec version 0x344802 - 52.72.2 (built against 0x344802 - 52.72.2)
09:23:30: AVFormat version 0x344002 - 52.64.2 (built against 0x344002 - 52.64.2)
09:23:30: AVUtil version 0x320f01 - 50.15.1 (built against 0x320f01 - 50.15.1)
09:23:30: FFmpeg libraries loaded successfully.
09:24:53: Attempting to load LAME from previously defined path
09:24:53: Loading LAME from /Library/Application Support/Audacity/libmp3lame.dylib
09:24:54: Actual LAME path /Library/Application Support/Audacity/libmp3lame.dylib
09:24:54: LAME library successfully loaded

[Gale Andrews]

It looks like I'm always logged in as the Admin, so I don't think that's it.

Strangely the Audacity log shows that LAME was loaded, but it doesn't show specific version numbers like with FFmpeg, if that means anything.

If you see "Lame" and a version number in the Libraries Preferences rather than "not found", then Lame is detected.

Reading what you said again, Audacity wouldn't export MP3 at all if it could not find the encoder, so the real problem with the empty file lies elsewhere. Is the file silence if you import it back into Audacity? Is it the correct length?

The Windows tone you sent does open in GargeBand...

Thanks for testing. When you did the custom FFmpeg export, can you double-check you selected "libmp3lame" from the list under the "Show All Codecs" button and "mp3" from the list underneath the "Show All Formats" button and added ".mp3" (without quotes) to the end of the file name before saving?



Gale

[vickyp]

If you see "Lame" and a version number in the Libraries Preferences rather than "not found", then Lame is detected.

Can't find any Lame files in either HD > Library > Preferences or User > Library > Preferences, either by visual inspection or through Find.

Reading what you said again, Audacity wouldn't export MP3 at all if it could not find the encoder, so the real problem with the empty file lies elsewhere. Is the file silence if you import it back into Audacity? Is it the correct length?

I didn't save any of the empty MP3 files so I couldn't really test this because...(see below)

When you did the custom FFmpeg export, can you double-check you selected "libmp3lame" from the list under the "Show All Codecs" button and "mp3" from the list underneath the "Show All Formats" button and added ".mp3" (without quotes) to the end of the file name before saving?

I'm quite certain I followed the custom export steps correctly the first time, but I just reopened three saved Audacity files and did a custom export on each, saving them to the desktop, which meant I could see the icons (previously I had saved them to a folder). They appeared as iTunes MP3 files, I dragged them into Garageband, and it worked! Go figure. I will make copious notes so that I remember these steps next time!

Thank you. The noise removal effect, which is why I've been playing with Audacity, is fantastic!

Vicky