FAQ

Some features of the site such as file downloads are restricted to members only. Registration is free and gives full access to our document library, forum and gallery

Registration emails are sent immediately after pressing the submit button and should normally arrive within a few minutes. Delays or missing emails can occur for a number of reasons, the most common of which are listed below. As these issues are beyond our control, no support is provided for registration issues outside of the general advice given in this FAQ.

The following is a list of common reasons for delayed/lost registration emails:

(1) The email has been put on a grey list by your email provider/ISP. Some email providers 'grey list' emails and will "temporarily reject" any email from a sender it does not recognize. After a delay, our server will retry sending the registration email and, if sufficient time has elapsed (the delay is set by the email provider and is out of our control), the email will be accepted.

(2) Spelling mistakes in your email address - if you made an error when you entered your email address the email will not be deliverable. If you suspect that you made an error you will have to re-register using a valid address and an alternative username, or wait for the username to be available again (non-authenticated accounts are deleted after 24 hours).

(3) Using an email verification service such as Spam Arrest/Zone Alarm to filter your email. If you use a service which blocks emails until the sender has verified they are a human being, your registration will fail. For obvious reasons, these services are not compatible with automated registration systems. Please contact your email provider for further information.

(4) The email was rejected by your ISP - in addition to user controlled junk mail filters, some internet service providers silently reject emails as potential spam without notifying the end user. A list of providers which are known to reject registration emails from this site is included on the registration page, but it is not an exhaustive list. If you suspect that your internet provider is not relaying registration and/or other account emails to you, you will have to use an alternative email address to administer your account. Please contact your email provider for further information.

(5) The message is in your junk mail/spam folder - please check the relevant folder in your email client or contact your email provider for further details.

Note that a valid, working email address is required to authenticate your account, receive password reminders etc. If after checking your spam filter and contacting your ISP you still do not receive your registration email, you will have to re-register using an alternative username and a working email address, or wait for the username to be available again (non-authenticated accounts are deleted after 24 hours).

(1) If you receive the message 'incorrect username' when logging in, please check that caps lock is off and that you are are using the correct character case.

(2) Your account may have been removed due to inactivity - your account will be considered inactive if you have not logged in for for 3 years or more, and have never posted in the forum.

Inactive accounts are removed as part of our scheduled database clean up, but if you wish to use the site again you are welcome to re-register using your original username, if still available.

HiFi Engine and Vinyl Engine are separate sites running different software and user authentication databases. If you wish to download files or post on the HiFi Engine you will need to sign up for a free account there.

To change your password follow the link in the forum to User Control Panel / Profile / Edit account settings

Usernames can only be changed with moderator approval.

You may request a change of username here

Follow the link to User Control Panel to manage your account settings.

Use the tabs at the top and side of the page for additional options for the forum/pm system etc

note forum signatures are removed from any account that has been inactive for more than 6 months but can be reinstated on your account page

Most failed logins can be traced to sessions/cookie problems which can be corrected by logging out, deleting the cookie cache in your browser and logging in again. You should avoid using a proxy server to access the site eg the AOL browser

note cookies must be enabled to use this website

To retrieve a forgotten password please use the send password form. An email containing details of how to reactivate your account will be sent to your email address.

If you do not receive the email please check the 'Why haven't I received my registration email?' section above

Please note that closing your account is permanent. If you simply wish to change your user-name/email address etc please see the relevant section of the FAQ

You may request account closure here

If after posting in the forum you receive a message saying that your post must be approved by a moderator, it means that your post has been flagged by the Anti-Spam system and will be checked by a moderator before appearing in the forum.

Please allow up to 24 hours for the message to appear.

To add a signature to a post you must first create one via your User Control Panel. Once created, you can check the Attach a signature box on the posting form to add your signature. You can also add a signature by default to all your posts by checking the appropriate radio button in your profile. If you do so, you can still prevent a signature being added to individual posts by un-checking the add signature box within the posting form.

To change you national flag that is displayed in your profile/forum posts please follow the link in the forum to User Control Panel / Profile and use the drop down box. Note that the choice of flags is based on sovereign nations rather than individual countries within nations.

If you would rather not display a national flag in your profile/posts you can choose the option 'No Flag' from the list of flags.

If you can log in to the site but get a permission denied error trying to post in the forum, either

(1) Your browser is set not to accept cookies from the site - please check that cookies are enabled as they are used by the forum to verify that you are logged in

(2) There is a corrupted/out of synch cookie in your browser cache - log out using the link on the news page then log in again. If the problem persists you may need to log out, delete the cookie cache in your browser then log in again

(3) You are using an unsupported browser - the site has been tested working with Internet Explorer 7 (or newer), Firefox 3.5 (or newer) and Google Chrome. Other browsers may work but are not supported.

If you have recently upgraded your browser and are encountering difficulties you may need to check your security settings.

If you suspect that your browser is causing the problems we recommend trying the latest build of Firefox.

(4) You are using a proxy server - the forum is not compatible with the use of proxy servers such as the AOL browser. Using a proxy server may cause you to become logged out from the forum during your visit.

note The permission denied error does not mean there are restrictions on your account and there is no action that can be taken from this end to fix these issues

To start a new thread, navigate to the appropriate category of the forum and click the new topic button

To post a reply navigate to the appropriate thread in the forum and press the reply button

If you have made an error such as a spelling mistake in one of your forum posts you can edit/delete it by clicking on the relevant button above your post.

note This feature is available for one hour after the post is submitted

(1) Browse to the gallery page that displays the full size image that you want to display in your post

(2) Copy the code in the 'BBCode' box under the image

(3) Paste the code into your post where you want the image to display

note there is no need to add image tags or any other code, just paste the code exactly as shown in the BBCode box

Paste the web URL of the image you want to display between IMG tags

[IMG]http://www.somesite.com/image.jpg[/IMG]

note images hosted on external websites may not display if the owner has restricted external linking of images

You can report spam/troll posts etc using the report post icon above the post in question

Either follow the 'Messages' link at the top of the forum, or click on the name of the member you wish to send a message and use the 'Send private message' link on their profile page.

Messages are moved to the recipients inbox immediately after pressing the submit button.

There is a limit of 30 messages per mailbox (inbox/sentbox/savebox)

If you get an error message stating that your mailbox is full you will have to delete old messages to continue using the PM system to send/receive new messages

(1) Not all users accept private messages

(2) Due to abuse, newly registered users are not permitted to send private messages

(3) Is your mailbox full? If you have reached the limit for stored messages please delete old messages to continue using the PM system.

(4) If you have a very low forum post count your message will be scanned for known spam words and rejected if any are found. This is to prevent spammers attacking the PM system. Before resubmitting your message you should ensure that your message does not contain web links etc.

Restrictions on uploaded image dimensions and file sizes are necessary to reduce the load on the server, disk usage and bandwidth, and to prevent the site layout being broken by oversized images.

While resizing images is beyond the scope of this FAQ, a google search of 'how to resize images' will provide all the information you need to process your images ready for upload.

To upload images to the gallery browse to the relevant category, click on the New Image button and follow the on screen instructions

Navigate to your personal gallery using the link at the top of the main gallery page. If you have not yet created a personal gallery you will be prompted to do so. Follow the on-screen instructions to add/edit/delete images.

If you have any issues printing PDF files (blank/corrupted pages etc) first ensure that you are using the latest version of Free Acrobat Reader. If you continue to experience issues please refer to the Acrobat troubleshooting guide:

http://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat.html

If you have logged in to the forum and get a message asking for you to log in again when either following a download link or posting a message, it is most likely a problem with your security settings.

The forum and download script require cookies to be enabled for account authentication. Non-standard security settings which affect cookie handling, or use of proxy servers, are not recommended and are not supported.

The scripts have been tested working with the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome under Windows XP, Vista and 7 with standard security settings. Other browsers/operating systems may work but are not supported.

Download managers cause excessive load on the server and are not supported by the script.

All downloads are provided free of charge for personal, non commercial use

note files are not licensed for redistribution in any form

The download system has been tested with the latest versions of Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox - other browsers may work but we are unable to offer any support for them. Download managers such as Getright are not supported.

If you are having difficulties opening documents, getting blank pages or receiving encrypt errors you should upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Free PDF Reader which is available free of charge from the Adobe web site

Please note that 3rd party PDF readers have multiple compatibility issues and are not supported

The most recent files in the library are built using the official Acrobat writer to the international standard PDF 1.7 ISO 32000-1:2008 for maximum compatibility and portability.

Unfortunately Apple has chosen not to fully implement the ISO PDF standards in it's native document reader 'Preview' so some files may not be readable in this reader.

To view PDF 1.7 files it is recommended to install the latest version of the official free Acrobat reader from the Adobe website and use this program to open the downloaded files.

There is no password required to open any of the files for reading/printing

If you get an encrypt error please upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Free PDF Reader

You will need the latest official version of Adobe Free PDF Reader to open PDF documents

There are daily, weekly and monthly limits to the number of files you can download. The actual limits are constantly under review but a very low percentage of visitors should be affected by the restrictions

Please note that the use of download managers to make multiple connections to the site causes a heavy load on the server and will quickly eat up your download quota

Downloadable documents can be viewed, copied or printed provided the document is used for non-commercial purposes only and any copy of the document includes the Vinyl Engine cover page. We reserve the right to revoke such authorization at any time.

The downloadable files are copyright the Vinyl Engine and are provided under our user agreement. The content reproduced in many of the distributable documents listed on this site is believed to be in the public domain. Permission has been gained for the reproduction of additional documents wherever possible. If you believe your copyright has been infringed by any document posted on this web site please contact the webmaster with details.

Manufacturers who have allowed the use of their copyrighted material on this site include:

Mark Baker (Origin Live)
Bruce (Eminent Technology)
Chris Brady (Teres Audio)
John (Rega)
Heins Henrich Moerch (Moerch)
Steve Rowland (Michell Engineering)

We are always looking for new material to add to our free archive. If you are able to provide scans of relevant documents that aren't already in the library, or have been requested in the forum, you can submit them using the upload scans link in the left hand menu. Note that you must be logged in to see this link

If you have a query about using the website please read the FAQ above for answers to frequently asked questions

If you want to request a username change please use the change username form

If you want to close your account please use the close account form

To report problem posts in the forum please use the report post icon which is found in the upper right corner of each post

To report problems with a PM message please use the report post icon which is found in the upper right corner of each PM post

If you are having a problem registering an account please read the FAQ. It is not possible to provide support for registration problems beyond what is written here

If you are having a problem logging in please read the FAQ. It is not possible to provide support for login problems beyond what is written here

If you wish to report an issue that is NOT covered already in the FAQ you can submit it using the Contact Webmaster form. Please note that it is not possible to respond to reports individually.