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Ruckus Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

 

Where can I access the Ruckus Knowledgebase?
http://ruckus.custhelp.com/

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Where can I find more information?
http://www.ruckus.com/

Where do I sign up?
http://www.ruckus.com/ruckus/registration/chooseUniversity.do

Who do I contact if I’m having problems?

  1. View the Ruckus Customer Help page.
  2. Email ruckus@custhelp.com if you are unable to submit a question using the Help link.

What does it cost?

Undergraduate Students
  1. Free tethered downloads
  2. Approximately $0.99/song or $9.99/album to copy to your mp3 player or burn to a CD
Faculty/Staff
  1. $5.99/month for tethered downloads
  2. Approximately $0.99/song or $9.99/album to copy to your mp3 player or burn to a CD

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What is a "tethered download"? How does it work?
A tethered download refers to the privileges determined by digital rights management (DRM) technology. In order to protect the copyright of the files, the DRM technology restricts the ability to burn, copy, or transfer the file to an mp3 player or another person. Also, you will need to be connected to the internet after 30 days of downloading a tethered file to continue listening to the file. When you purchase a song for the $0.99 fee, you are receiving a file that you now own and can listen to with fewer restrictions.

What format is music downloaded through Ruckus?
It will vary by record company. Most record labels use 192 kbps, however one label requires their tracks to be 128.  Ruckus receives many of their tracks in digital format directly from the record labels. If this is the case, the record label determines if they use lossless compression or not. However Ruckus does rip some smaller label's CDs themselves at 192 lossless.

When will this service be available?
The service is available now.

Will the service be limited to on-campus users?
No, this service will be available to all students, staff, faculty, and alumni. For pricing information, please refer to the "What does it cost?" question.

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Is this available to Mac users?
The Student Online Music Committee asked vendors in the marketplace to provide information on their ability to provide service for students with Macintosh computers.

Other vendors indicated that they did not have a solution for the Macintosh platform at this time except for iTunes. The vendor that was selected has stated that they would like to have their music available on all platforms and players, however due to the legality of a subscription service it's not possible with their current music protection.

So there is not a solution available for Mac users at this time.

Does Ruckus work with Vista?
Vista is not officially supported yet but tests are currently being run. The Ruckus Player will install on Windows Vista, but troubleshooting support is limited.

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Can I transfer songs to my iPod?
Yes, you have to buy the track. Burn it to a CD, then re-rip the song to mp3 and then you may transfer it to your iPod. If you have a portable player that is WMA / DRM enabled, then you may transfer the song straight from Windows Media Player. Unfortunately Apple has locked their iPods to their own proprietary service and file format.

How are users authenticated?
You will use your Goucher e-mail address to register. During the registration process, you will be asked to create your own password.

How often is the music catalog updated?
The music catalog is updated every week.

What happens when I am no longer affiliated with Goucher? What happens to my music?
Once you leave Goucher, you will no longer be eligible to access Ruckus through Goucher’s contract, but you will be able to subscribe at currently available consumer rates. The music you downloaded via the subscription service will be accessible as long as you change your status to Alumni. The songs you paid for separately are yours to keep.  If you would like to cancel your account after you've graduated, an unsubscribe link will appear on the My Account page once Ruckus has confirmed that you are no longer eligible for the free service.

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Can I do this off campus?
Yes, you can use the service off campus.  However, each computer that you install the player on will not retain the music you've already downloaded.  You will need to re-download the music on each computer.  Unless, you have two computers (a desktop and a laptop) that is on the same network can share music using the My Neighborhood feature.

What happens if I want to change the computer I use for Ruckus?
You can have two computers set up for your Ruckus account. If you buy a new computer, you can switch your Ruckus downloading privileges form your old computer to the new computer.  However, Ruckus only permits one such switch every 30 days per customer.  If you want, you can copy media files from the old computer to the new computer, although it might be easier just to download them again.

If you have reinstalled Windows, cleared your DRM store, changed hardware or reinstalled Windows Media Player, Microsoft may view your computer as a "new" computer.

Switching computers is easy.  When you log in to the Ruckus Player on the new computer, you will be asked if you want to switch computers.  Click OK to agree and you're set! If you have already switched computers within the last 30 days, the Ruckus Player will tell you that you cannot switch computers again yet.  Ruckus will keep the computer registered to your account that has signed into the Ruckus Player the most.

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What does the little key icon next to my songs mean?
The key icon key to your songs in the Ruckus Player shows that the Ruckus Player is retrieving a license for the song. Once the license has been retrieved, you should see a date in the 'Renew By' field in the Ruckus Player.

How do I resume previously downloaded songs?
Regular downloads will automatically resume when you login to the Ruckus player. If they are suspended, right click on that particular track to Resume.

Downloads from My Neighborhood do not count as regular downloads.  To resume a download from My Neighborhood, ensure your neighborhood is still connected, and renew your download request. 

Why won't my portable device work with the Ruckus Player?
The portable device must be WMA and DRM compatible and able to be used with the Ruckus to Go subscription..  Please check http://www.playsforsure.com for compatibility information.

Also make sure you have the following update installed on your computer:

Download the DRM-enabled players patch by going to Windows Update --> Custom --> Optional Updates --> DRM-enabled players or http://www.microsoft.com/downloads\thankyou.aspx?familyld=73c2650f-be61-4bd6-8408-1fd6e7827cd8&displayLang=en&oRef=

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What are the system requirements?
To use Ruckus, you must have:

  • A computer running Microsoft Windows XP SP2+ or Windows 2000 (player will not work on a MAC ). Vista is not yet supported but can be installed.
  • 1 GHz or faster CPU
  • 512 MB or greater RAM
  • Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3802 or higher (WMP 9 for Windows 2000)
  • Macromedia Flash Player 8.0 or higher
  • 10 MB free hard disk space for Ruckus Player
  • ~4 MB free hard disk space per song and ~700 MB per movie
  • Windows Internet Explorer 6 or higher  (medium security setting, javascript enabled, and allow cookies) 

To what folder do songs download?
Songs are downloaded by default to your My Music folder in My Documents.  This folder can be changed to your specification by clicking on Preferences from the File menu.

For faculty and staff downloading music on Goucher owned computers, you will need to change the default folder to the My Music folder on your hard drive.  The path to the folder is as follows:

XP Users
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\My Music

Vista Users
C:\Users\<username>\Music

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