I've cobbled together a portable Pandora's Jar complete with a proxy for non-US citizens. It incorporates all the things usually needed to run Pandora's Jar internationally. Instead of having to install and configure everything, you just need to extract it and it all stays inside a self-contained folder which can be moved anywhere. I achived this with Portable Firefox 2.0.0.9, GreaseMonkey, FlashSwitcher, Portable Tor, the GreaseMonkey Pandora script, Pandora's Jar and "Pandora Renamer". The PandoraRenamer.exe application is courtesy of M2tM. I based this package on the instructions at his blog, and I've included the PandoraRenamer.exe app that he supplies. So if requires me to, I can remove PandoraRenamer.exe from this package. I've replaced his FoxyProxy solution with the tor.pac solution, as FoxyProxy cannot run in tandem with Portable Firefox. Some of the instructions below are an edited version of the instructions on his blog, so I can also remove them if need be. So all in all I wouldn't have been able to work this if it weren't for his instructions and application, so great thanks to him. This is largely based on his work, so it would be nice if you would give him a donation at his blog.
Instructions For Use
1. Download and extract PortableGlobalPandora.
2. Make sure Firefox is not running.
3. Run pandora.bat.
4. Within the Pandora’s Jar web interface, set "Songs Before Reload" to 40, so that it only reloads as much as it has to (there is a chance on every reload that the flash element won’t load through the proxy correctly).
5. Set "Cruise Control" to "On". This means that Pandora's Jar will download all songs that are played, not just songs you elect. This must be set to On because of some song-naming issues that I'll chat about later.
6. Set "CDDB Lookup" to "Off" (CDDB Lookup won’t work through a proxy because the delayed download misnames the files, there's a solution for that underneath). Click on "Save Settings".
7. Login to Pandora.
8. That's it for the moment, enjoy your tunes. Once Pandora is running, you can start your regular Firefox in addition to Pandora. It is best to to browse using the Pandora version of Firefox. Pandora will place the ripped mp3 files in the mp3 directory. They will be misnamed, see the solution below.
Instructions For Renaming
Pandora’s Jar won’t be downloading the files with the right names. The way it works is that the first song file is a useless file that is completely empty, or there isn't a first file at all. The second file contains the first song, but is named as the second song. The third file contains the second song but is named as the third song and so on. So at any given moment it is playing a song that it thinks it has just saved, but it has really saved the song previous to the one you are listening to. This forces you to rename each song individually after it is downloaded, however you can get around this with these steps:
1. Once you’ve finished downloading a batch of songs to the Pandora’s Jar mp3 folder and have closed Firefox, go to the mp3 folder and run PandoraRenamer.exe. The refresh value you need to input is 40.
2. Download ID3 TagIT.
3. Run ID3 TagIT and navigate to the "renamed" folder in the Pandora's Jar mp3 folder, via the "Folders" pane on the left.
4. Select all the mp3 files and then click "ID3-Functions" in the toolbar, then select "Filename -> Tag Ver. 2".
5. In the format field enter "<A> - <T>".
6. Click OK and all your files will be properly named.
7. Close ID3 TagIT and make sure you click "Yes" to "Save changes now?", or your songs will not be renamed.
8. Move your songs elsewhere.
Remember the following:
- Due to the naming kerfuffle, you will lose the first song you hear in Pandora. If you want to keep it, copy the first mp3 file in the mp3 folder and move it somewhere else. You will have to rename it manually based on the first song Pandora plays. Make sure you leave the original file in the mp3 folder, or it will mess everything else up. I find that it is best to play a radio station that you are currently not interested in for a few seconds, and then switching to the one you do want. Then the first song that is downloaded will be one you are less interested in keeping, and you will not have to worry about the first song.
- You will not get the last song you played, because the mp3 of that song will not be saved until you play the next song. So if you really want a song, wait until the next song has started playing and Pandora's Jar says it has been downloaded. Then the song you just played will not download, so you may have to play the next song if you really want to download it. You will always miss the most recent song.
- You must run PandoraRenamer.exe after each Pandora session. If you exit Pandora or refresh the Firefox window, that counts as a session. Do not run PandoraRenamer.exe with files from multiple sessions in the same folder, it will make a mess of everything. Do not run PandoraRenamer.exe in any other folder except the mp3 folder.
Troubleshooting
- If Pandora refuses to load (you just get a white box or something similar), then refresh the browser. You may need to refresh it a couple of times; it is tempermental. If Pandora loads but says it will not operate because you are not a US citizen, make sure Tor is running. If it is, double-click Tor and click "Use a New Identity". Then wait 10 seconds and refresh your browser. If it still doesn't work, close everything and restart pandora.bat (close Firefox, close the Java window, close Tor, close Privoxy).
- If you have made a mistake with the mp3 naming with PandoraRenamer.exe, try to fix it yourself. If you can't work it out, just delete them all and start again. There is no "undo".
I know these instructions are still extensive for something that is supposedly "portable", but this is easier than any other solution if you are a non-US citizens who wants to rip the Pandora mp3 files. Even if you don't want to use Pandora's Jar, it is still a chore to get Pandora working internationally. If you have any problems, I won't be able to help you with most of them. This is not my program. It is just a bunch of programs that I cobbled together. None of the code is mine, except for some of the pandora.bat batch file. Again, this is larely based upon M2tM's work, so it would be nice if you would give him a donation at his blog. Also, there are a few things I could have done to make it easier (for example, stopping Privoxy unnecessarily running or making the required Pandora's Jar settings the default), but this was originally just a solution for me, so I didn't bother with that. I just thought I'd post it here in case anyone wants it. Have fun.
