Talk:DirectSong

EotN Music from DirectSong
Just a quick word to let you know that DirectSong has released the Eye of the North Soundtrack a few days ago and it's now available for purchase and download at their site (320 kbps, $9.99). It's mentioned in the bundled readme file that it is not working ingame as of now and they'll update the GuildWars.ds file some time after the game's official launch to allow ingame playback. An all new pak full of nice music tracks thanks to Jeremy and Julian Soule! Jaxom 06:46, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Wait, you need to buy a separate music pack to get the new music for EOTN? That seems silly. :( Counciler 07:08, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Negative.. Its released with the game, but say you want everyone to listen to the soundtrack during your GW:EN prerelease weekend party or on the way to work. That will cost you 9.99 USD. - elviondale  (tahlk) 07:11, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Howdy - i love this soundtrack! Can't wait until GW:EN release ;) -- Grethort [[Image:User Gret Chii.jpg]] 07:52, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Good. Counciler 08:54, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
 * No you don't need to. The music is already in the game (such as the one from the login screen). It’s just that the tracks provided by DirectSong are higher quality and bitrates and some of them have a license that allows you to burn them on CD for replay. It's been the same for previously released mainstream paks. It's maybe not the case with the mini-pak from Sorrow's Furnace, at least not when the extension was originally released (I do not remember having special music in the Furnace and Grenth' Footprint until I activated DirectSong, but then I have had all their paks installed ever since), Battle Pak 1 and maybe the exclusive paks (the ones that comes with collector editions and Guild Wars Special Edition) though. Jaxom 10:28, 8 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Mr Jeremy Soule already put one of the new EotN tracks on his myspace Dwarf Theme for who's interested =) --[[Image:User_Tribina_Mulogo.jpg]] (Tribina / talk) 11:18, 8 August 2007 (UTC)

Is it normal for these never to include the various battle themes? Got EotN's for expressly these songs (and Tome of the Rubicon, among a few others) only to find them not here. Feeling kind of jipped. =\ 24.113.62.55 00:28, 25 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, first, they are not currently enabled ingame (though the game may use its own similar music tracks) as DirectSong has yet to issue a new GuildWars.ds file that supports GWEN. And second, we do not have access to the whole game content as well. Note that DirectSong tracks were known not to play during the ingame cinematics, this was described as a sound engine limitation by someone from ArenaNet a while ago. Jaxom 08:50, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

nightfall CE and directsong music
I purchased the CE edition of nightfall ages ago and just recently added the key to upload the new funky music from directsong. However upon doing so, i got a wee yellow warning symbol telling me to contact their support. Now after going through their knowledge base and trying EVERYTHING they had listed there, the problem was still happening. Thus i contacted their support group, however it's now coming up on a week and still no one has got back in touch with me. Gaile have you got any idea what i can do to resolve this issue as i think directsong's support department has up and left the building leaving me with a set of music that i cant get to work for the life of me. -- Salome 18:57, 19 March 2008 (UTC)


 * Gosh, I'm so sorry, I really don't know what to say. It could be that Support is just having a few extra issues to deal with, and that they'll be getting back to you soon. If I learn more, or discover what the message may mean, I will post a message to you. Sorry I cannot help in greater detail. -- Gaile 19:55, 19 March 2008 (UTC)

I have the very same problem. I tried to enter the code on September 1st, and then they said an error occured with an URL and I should contact the support. Well, it´s been over THREE MONTHS now and my tickets have not been responded to. The only eMail address I can find on the site returns my mails. If there IS any support, it sure as hell doesn´t do its job.92.228.194.80 09:40, 6 October 2009 (UTC) Ralph

I know it's been a while since this came out, but I'm trying to redeem my code for the NightFall bonus in-game music, but I don't see any place on DirectSong's website to redeem my code. Any help would be appreciated! I've already contacted their support for giggles. My guess is, they don't support it anymore.


 * Better wait until DirectSong's support reply to you, as this is a DirectSong issue, and it is not in ArenaNet's Hand. The DirectSong's web site has been redesigned lately and they may have forgotten to re-add that option. Actually I already contacted them to send over some suggestion for my account (with the new system it's not easy to redowload every track I've previously bought) and they we quite fast to reply (though nothing has changed yet). Be patient and follow any update to your support ticket. If (and only if) problem persists, then contact Gaile about that, as she may contact DirectSong's support.
 * Also better sign your posts with, which will automatically generate a signature for you. Jaxom 07:20, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

getting music to play ingame
anyone know how to get this music to play once u've moved to a new comp? i copied my old gw directory over and it won't play anymore. i deleted my old .dat file to troubleshoot something and it hasn't shown me the directsong symbol ever since. it still sits in the same named directory as it used to and i can still listen to the songs on windows media player whenever i want. -- VVong | BA 19:29, 17 April 2008 (UTC)
 * You can listen to musics in WMP ? That means you already reactivated the licenses. But you still need the, the  most recent version of  , and the   key in the Windows registry at  . This registry key has the path to the DirectSong store directory on your harddrive. This is the home directory that contains each album's folder as well as previously mentionned files (the DLL and the DS). Of course each album need to be in a directory correctly named according to the content of the DS file (txt file you can manually edit to add music or replace WMA file by MP3 files if you want). Anyway, concerning the Windows registry, in most recent updates, DirectSong gives the program   that when executed from the proper location does this for you. You may find it as well as the DLL and DS files in their own repository in a sub-location of their website : http://www.directsong.com/zip. you may also get that by re-downloading the music using the installers that are listed in your DirectSong account.
 * Note : the music they provide in the zip files in the repository are of course DRM enabled and require owning the proper license to be played ingame or through WMP.
 * Jaxom 02:53, 19 April 2008 (UTC)
 * wow, thanks man. problem solved. -- VVong | BA 08:51, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Seems it doesn't work on Windows 7 (64bit here). I managed to reactivate the music directly in Windows Media Player 11 (tried to play them and WMP connected to DirectSong, logged in and reactivated). I may play my CE music in WMP now, but I still have got no DirectSong Icon in GW. Yes, I used the  from the new ZIPs and I found some entry in the Windows Registry, with the right path to the music, but no success. Btw, the registry entry is not directly at the place you described, I have got two entries containing the MusicPath: Entry  didn't have the MusicPath String (was empty except the   String), thought it would be a good idea to place it there, so I pasted it in. After it, I got the DirectSong icon ingame, but there was a yellow warning triangle over it and it said  Unfortunately their support page contains only 2 hints at all. I additinally pasted a new key at the spot you described above + the MusicPath String, but still the same, even after Windows restart. Now, after spending hours with this problem, I wouldn't bet that it is ever going to work again. --85.181.208.119 01:36, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * This is new, previously (XP or Vista 32-bits and without ), only 1 single key was needed to make this work. Jaxom 04:57, 8 November 2009 (UTC)
 * I added the MusicPath string Mr. IP did and ran the  as an administrator (right click -> run as an administrator) and it worked just fine in Windows 7 32-bits. --MrDark88 01:14, 9 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Yeeeeees! Thank you! It works now! I'd never think about that running as Admin, because I have got an Admin-Account anyway on my PC. But that truly seems to make the difference, thanks a lot. Yours, Mr. IP ;-) --85.181.209.0 14:37, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

Bad DirectSong
Okay, the upgrade option is awesome. I have all the additional music packs, that's cool. But why the hell do you have to download crappy bitrate WMA's with HORRIBLE DRM. DRM is very very very very bad. All those who want them to add the option to download the soundtracks you purchase as FLAC files, say I! -- Tr33zon ಠ_ಠ (Talk - Contribs) 15:21, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

double proph soundtracks
Just rebuilt my pc and got to work on putting in my directsong packs and noticed something odd. For my origional guild wars special edition i have two different ds packs. One named "Guild_Wars_Special_Edition_Soundtrack_Setup.exe" with a ds code of "GW101" and another named Guild_Wars_Special_Edition_Soundtrack_CE_Setup.exe with a ds code of "GW101e". Anybody else know why there are now two different ones offered and what, if any are the differences? (Kurosawa - talk - PyonTube]) 14:23, 24 October 2008 (UTC)


 * There used to be two alternate packs for the Prophecies soundtrack : one on sale at Direct Song's with 3 - Mhenlo's Theme, 7 - Sands of Kryta, 11 - Cynn's Theme, 24 - Temple of Tolerance and the other as a key in the Guild Wars Special Edition box with 3a - Journey to Lion's Arch (bonus v3), 7a - Divinity Coast (bonus v3), 11a - Tears of the Fallen (bonus v3), 24a - The Great Raid (bonus v3) (strangely the Audio CD in the box had the tracks from the other version). Bonus tracks 29, 30, 31, 32 come with the 2 packs though and they are not present on the Audio CD.
 * Anyway, tracks get stored in the same directory, but I think all tracks are still played (they do not override each other). Jaxom 04:54, 25 October 2008 (UTC)


 * GW101 is the same as GW101e except that the e version has tracks 3, 3a, 7, 7a, 11 and 11a
 * However both the Factions and Nightfall e versions only have the bonus tracks, you would need to get both the 101 and 101e's of these for their full soundtrack... Longshot Hammerhand 20:23, 29 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes but you cannot acquire a licence for those, as the redemption code is only available in each chapter's respective Collector edition. Jaxom 01:47, 30 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes Jaxom, the 'E'nhanced versions are only available with the redemption codes, but the Prophecies e version had all the non e tracks plus 3 additional tracks, whilst the Factions and Nightfall e versions only contain the additional Collectors Edition tracks.
 * Longshot Hammerhand 17:46, 8 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I was indeed refering to Factions' and Nightfall's.
 * The extended soundtrack pak for Prophecies was originally only available when buying Guild Wars Special Edition (mine came with that), Guild Wars 2006 Edition and may be Guild Wars Game of the Year Edition (the physical box in stores, not the digital one sold in the GW ingame shop).
 * The "normal" soundtrack pak was the one sold at Direct Song's. However it looks like both have the same licence and thus one can play the 4 extented tracks with the license of the regular pak. Jaxom 06:35, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

DirectSong installation offline! - Use the .zip files!
If you try to use the directsong setup files from their site's login/download when you run the setup you get the following error message:

The DirectSong server could not be reached. Please check your internet connection and try again. Error Message - 11010 ( ip req timed out ) - This error means that you either have lost your internet connection or that you are behind a firewall.

And trying to aquire a licence from a pre-downloaded or a zip-download gets you through to the select licence type, and when you click submit you get a Http 500 - Internal Server Error

I am waiting for a response from both DirectSong and NC Europe (NC West) and thought it would also be advisable to post here, before anyone ends up out of pocket and annoyed due to not getting paid for DRM content! Longshot Hammerhand 20:23, 29 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the notice. I am actually helping a fellow French player to get the music (self-downloader fails for him) and he was about to reach the activation point. Jaxom 01:46, 30 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Got some more news from the player I was helping and he told me he could activate the music without trouble. Jaxom 20:30, 31 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Re: DirectSong Technical Support

MY PREVIOUS ISSUES ID    TITLE                                                         STATUS  SUBMITTED  MODIFIED 4610 Error Message - 11010 ( ip req timed out )                     New     1/17/2009  n/a 4609 Aquire Licence HTTP 500 Internal Server Error                  New     1/17/2009  n/a 2036 Windows media player 11 doesn''t have DRM licence management... Updated 12/29/2006 1/7/2007
 * No reply from DirectSong as of this post...
 * Just checked 'Setup files' still fail with error '11010', and yes you can download the setups but they fail to install the DS files when you try to run them! Longshot Hammerhand 22:16, 31 January 2009 (UTC)
 * Update licencing now seems to be working again... Longshot Hammerhand 20:13, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Update 10 February 2009 Still no reply from Directsong and getting the Error Message 11010 Reuben

DirectSong Update
Directsong now lets you redownload all the GW music WMAs that let you play them in game from http://www.directsong.com/wma. A problem i was having which i figured out was when i was running the registerdirectsongdirectory file Guild wars still didnt recognise the folder id put them in. If you have Vista and have UAC on, make sure you run the file as administrator then it will work. 82.30.69.79 20:21, 2 May 2009 (UTC)

Nonexistent support
It's been a week now and I still haven't received any reply from DirectSong's staff about an issue I've been having with downloading usage rights. I can't play the music in-game and it keeps giving me a password failure, even though I've entered it correctly in Windows Media Player several times. I'm at a loss now on what to do. Doomfrost 07:41, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

I have the very same problem mentioned some paragraphs above about the Nightfall Collecters Edition bonus stuff. I tried to enter the code on September 1st, and then they said an error occured with an URL and I should contact the support. Well, it´s been over a MONTH now and my tickets have not been responded to. The only eMail address I can find on the site returns my mails. If there IS any support, it sure as hell doesn´t do its job. 92.228.194.80 09:39, 6 October 2009 (UTC) Ralph

WMP11 Updates kills DirectSong
Recently, I started having trouble with DirectSong ingame. It stated after I installed a security update for Windows Media Player 11 Format Runtime. Microsoft support has been unable to resolve it. Has anyone else had this happen? 24.119.239.20 18:41, 29 August 2009 (UTC) Sorry, I forgot to log in before I posted this. KJZ 18:44, 29 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Hi I have absolutely no problem playing all my DS paks (GW and non GW) under Vista and WMP 11 (fully patched with all the latest security fixes). But my paks have been activated for a while. I have yet to try to activate them on Windows 7 RC and WMP 12 to see if that still works. Jaxom 23:32, 29 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I am using Windows XP Pro 64bit, WMP 11 also fully patched. The error I was getting is: "Windows Media Player is not installed properly. Reinstall the Player."  After hours of working woth Microsoft support they advised formating the drive and reinstall windows, doing all the updates then try again.  It did not work.  So I started uninstalling the updates in reverse order of when they were installed.  Here are the updates I uninstalled;KB923689, KB929399 – Hotfix for Windows Media Format 11 and KB9522069 – Security Update for Windows Media Format 11 SDK – Now it works!  I think the actual issue was caused by KB9522069 but I am not about to test that.  I am just happy to have my music back! KJZ 00:11, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Windows 7 64-bits
I've just reinstalled my PC with Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bits (previously was on Vista 32-bits) and while I had no problem whatsoever for re-activating the licenses of all the paks I've bought from DirectSong, the music does not play ingame anymore. In fact, there is no more DirectSong icon in my Sound menu anymore, something I find quite odd since it's been there for 4 years. I've imported my XP turned Vista GW install in 7 as usual with gw.exe -repair and I've verified that I restored the DirectSong MusicPath key in the registry and that it points to the proper location. I suspect the DLL is not loading for some reason. I'll create a ticket at DirectSong first and then later at NCsoft/GW support if needed. If I got no answer or result within 2 weeks I'll try to ask Gaile directly. Jaxom 10:16, 3 November 2009 (UTC)
 * What you need to do is re-run the RegisterDirectSongDirectory.exe file, but this time right-click it and select "Run as administrator". This is the only way to get it to work on 64-bit systems. -- ᴥ GreyGhost (talk!) ᴥ 23:00, 9 July 2011 (UTC)

DirectSong folder moved to a new hard drive.
And ofcourse the songs won't work anymore. Isn't there a file that makes them work again in a new direction? - J.P. Talk  15:44, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Ok, i found the file, launched it and now the game finds the folder. But now it says there's an error when i check sound options in-game. Any ideas? - J.P.[[Image:User J.P. sigicon.png| ]] Talk  16:34, 25 November 2009 (UTC)
 * When you moved you music over and re-registered the directory, have you copied the DLL and the DS files to the new location as well? Both are needed to make that work OK. Jaxom 02:02, 11 December 2009 (UTC)

I can't figure out how to install my Expansion music!
And that's infuriating, considering that I knew it was easy to install back when this stuff first came out in 2005. Could someone be kind enough to write some sort of guide on how to install the music that we've PAID FOR and have the right to use?! And I've read all the above and I downloaded the .zip files of the old .wma files above, and I can't make heads from tails from some of the advice above, and not to mention the .wma files won't work, as when it asks me to put in my RMA info, it greets me then suddenly WMP crashes, and the stuff is still unplayable. --ᴥ GreyGhost ᴥ 19:49, 29 January 2010 (UTC)
 * First: What is your Operating System ? And Windows Media Player Version ? Do you have an old pak dating from 5 years ago or do you have a more recent (re-)release from your DirectSong account or http://www.directsong.com/wma ?
 * Normally you can set them wherever you want and the recent rereleases have a batch file that can setup what's needed in the registry for you.
 * BUT basically if WMP crashes, you're screwed (sorry) ! Maybe try upgrading your system using Windows Update.
 * Jaxom 22:27, 29 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I'm using Windows Vista and WMP version 11.0.6002.18111 and I've re-downloaded the stuff from the directsong.com/wma file. I do have the option to re-download the .mp3s from the new DirectSong website, though, downloading that stuff won't take me very long if I have to, and I have plenty of HD space.  Normally what happens is that when I select a licensing option, it tells me that cookies aren't enabled, then WMP crashes and the music is still unplayable.  I try then to activate it through WinAMP and I get the same thing.
 * --ᴥ GreyGhost ᴥ 08:43, 30 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Maybe you have some anti-spyware that may block cookies and such? Normally activation does not work with WinAmp (or I should say it used not to work with WinAmp 3 years ago). I never had any similar trouble/crash like yours in XP : I used Direct Song with WMP 9~10~11), Vista (11) and I could even get the music activated in 7 (12) but could not get it work ingame with the later.
 * If you got the MP3s, you should be able to modify the GuildWars.ds file (it is a flat text file, just open it with notepad) and, in the track list, replace the wma extension by mp3 (should work but I never tried it).
 * As for the WMP crash you may try to contact DirectSong's Support at http://www.directsong.com/support (but good luck as they do not seem to be active lately) or Microsoft's (I do not know if they'll be able to help though). Jaxom 05:44, 31 January 2010 (UTC)

DirectSong working again
On 6 April 2010 DirectSong uploaded new versions. I have confirmed that Eye of the North is there and it works without use of DRM. I will be checking the other packs in a bit. KJZ 09:09, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
 * The only music pack no longer available is Sorrow's Furnace. All of the others are working correctly now if properly installed.  KJZ 09:52, 9 April 2010 (UTC)


 * I just tried the new DLL but it seems it still does not work on 64-bit Windows 7.
 * So so far it is still missing the Sorrow's Furnace's one and the 2 collector's edition still remain in WMA with DRM (and will probably remain like that). Jaxom 13:07, 9 April 2010 (UTC)


 * Re-downloaded the new collector packages and noticed they came in with a new RegisterDirectSongDirectory.exe as well and new installation guides too!
 * Now it works perfectly on my system again... waaahoooooo ! Jaxom 13:33, 9 April 2010 (UTC)


 * It looks like we have to thanks Gaile for that, see Feedback_talk:Gaile_Gray. Jaxom 00:54, 10 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Late but thank you so much, Jaxom. You and the rest of you guys posting on Gaile's wall there made me so happy! Directsong DID work again. I'm so glad to play through areas with new music. <3 Mango 21:27, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

Factions CE music doesnt work
Ok so I entered the key, clicked the link but i just got like ap age that said it was no longer available. So i went to the link here on this page, downloaded Guildwars.ds. But the CE zip file just does nothing when clikced. What to do? Magamdy 15:45, 16 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Ok seems it just took beep long to activate :\ Ill see now lol. Magamdy 16:09, 16 September 2010 (UTC)
 * Ok it works, call me a dumbass, im fine with it ^^ Magamdy 16:09, 16 September 2010 (UTC)

So,
Where does Prince Rurik's Theme play? – NuclearDuckie 12:54, 11 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Ahem, in bed. Mango 19:52, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

Sorrows Furnace, Battle Pak 1
Still no sign on how these will be re-implemented I guess? as I bought a new pc and have older installers for these packs. Really kind of frustrating.

Minako Okanim 84.13.75.174 01:51, 24 June 2011 (UTC)