Laming problem in 1.3 beta

[steve]

I just want to be absolutely clear in my mind about this before trying anything more radical:

Even now, Preference > Library shows: "Mp3 export library not found"?
but the audacity.cfg file says:
MP3LibPath=C:\Program Files\Audacity 1.3 Beta (Unicode)\lame_enc.dll

[Baaul]

Yes, that's what it shows now.

[steve]

OK, here's an alternative build of Lame for you to try:
lame_enc.dll (3.98.2) without manifest

Delete or rename your current version of lame_enc.dll and put this new version into the Audacity folder, then open Audacity.

[Baaul]

I unzipped the dloaded lame _mainfest file and followed Your instruction. But result is the same- Mp3 library could not be found . I've installed ImTOO audio converter to carry on my task for the time being and found that this software uses lame_enc.dll as its encoder by default. Can it make any trouble against your latest suggestion ?

[steve]

I've installed ImTOO audio converter...

That shouldn't be a problem.

I've got another lame_enc.dll for you to try.
Use the same method as before.
This is the more recent lame 3.98.4

If this one does not work I'll have to call for the cavalry.
(actually, I have one more idea we could try - and then I'll call the cavalry )

[Baaul]

Actually I tried all the versions of lame available including
lame3.98.4-float
lame3.98.4_23.3.10
lame3.98.4-libsndfile
lame3.99.b0
However I'll try your latest 3.98.4 as well.. lets see

[Baaul]

Great ! Finally it worked. Thanks a lot. But one thing I don't understand, Why ver 3.98.4 23_3_10 that I mentioned earlier didn't work ? If I want to save audacity 1.3 beta in different drive should I send lame seperately and install it as I did for this one ?

[steve]

Great ! Finally it worked.

Hooray

But one thing I don't understand, Why ver 3.98.4 23_3_10 that I mentioned earlier didn't work ?

Because Audacity accesses lame at a low level (which is a lot faster than through the command line interface) it needs a version of Lame that has been built against the same code as the rest of Audacity. Occasionally non-Audacity builds of Lame will work, but often they do not, and can then confuse Audacity as to where to find the correct version of Lame (hence the steps to check that an incompatible version was not listed in the audacity.cfg file).
We always recommend that people use versions of Lame that have been specifically built for use with Audacity.
There are millions (literally) of users that install the standard 3.98.2 version and it works straight away. I don't know why it didn't on your computer.

Now that you have a working version of Lame, if you want to move Audacity to another drive (or another computer) you should be able to just copy the entire Audacity 1.3 folder (including the lame_enc.dll) to the new location, then create a Desktop link to the audacity.exe file.
If this is done onto a new drive in the same computer, the audacity.cfg file will still say that Lame is in the old folder, so if the old folder is deleted, then Lame may not be found. If that occurs, just go to "Edit menu > Preferences > Libraries" and use the "locate" button to point Audacity to the new location of lame_enc.dll.