A Small SHN and MD5 FAQ

The FAQ below gives a quick overview pitched toward new folks, whether ftp downloaders or regular mail traders. For another simple explanation, see Allen's new Basic .shn and Trading Information. There are additional FAQs at etree.org (beginner and detailed level also at their older site, especially oriented toward downloaders), U2SHN.com, benharpershn, and Phishhook.com.

The Japan Times has recently published a well-written article with sidebar.

What are SHNs?

Although many people just download shns, keep in mind that these files can also be traded through the mail on disc very easily. The overview below focuses on working with shn files that are already created by others. Once you are familiar with that side of things, it will become obvious how to create shns sets on your own.

Ethical note: For historical reasons, much of the music available in Shorten format is of trade-friendly bands. To make it easier for all of us to continue to enjoy this hobby, please respect the artists. Please, no bootlegging (selling of trade-allowed music, stealing of commercial releases) through shns. Thanks!

Where can you get SHNs?

Information about some specific shns circulating for a number of trade-friendly artists is listed in the "Lossless Sources in Circulation" Database (aka the "shn db"). There are no actual shns in that database, just information about them, although the Database now features crossreferences to the Archive's music.

What does a "SHN set" look like?

If you are collecting shns of live music, you will receive various data files together in a group. Files you may see:

.shn: Binary files with compressed music data. Since shn files are meant to be decompressed to .wav for burning onto audio CDs for listening, they will be organized by CD layout. Typical shns are  named by band abbreviation, show date, disc and track, such as  ph2000-04-20d1t01.shn.
.txt: A plain text file with information about the shns- CD tracklist, recording details, credits, flaw notes, etc. They're typically named by band abbrev plus show date, such as ph2000-04-20.txt.
.md5: Plain text files with checksum information for the shns. The checksum strings inside are like 32-character ID numbers for each shn, used to check the integrity of the shns and to "fingerprint" them. People create md5s at the same time they create the shns. The files are typically named by band abbrev, show date, and often disc, such as ph2000-04-20d1.md5. Within the md5 file there should be a separate line for each shn. See below for their important use.
.skt: Optional files used in support of playing shns "on the fly" on a computer. See below.

When you download a shn set, you will at least want all .shn, .md5 and .txt files that you see in the directory you are after.

What do you do with SHNs once you get them?

2) Required: Use the handy md5 files to verify the integrity of your shns. Software to "check md5s" may be bundled with the Shorten program or may be available separately (as Md5sum). Why check md5s? Since shns are really big, they can get corrupted more easily than smaller files during data transfer or even during data CD burning. A shn file copied without glitches should always be identical to its parent shn, and have the same checksum "fingerprint". If the shn was changed through corruption, it will no longer match its original fingerprint and the check will fail. If the md5 check fails for a shn, redownload that shn (or even try "resume" in your ftp program- you may have a simple truncation), or recopy the shn from your data disc and try again. If it fails repeatedly, contact your host operator or trading partner- his own copy may be defective. If there are no md5s to check, you take your chances with errors.

If the md5s you received just don't seem to work right, read these tips on md5 file format.

3) Optional: Play the shns directly on your computer. They'll only sound as good as your computer speakers though, and may sound no better than mp3s that way.

4) Recommended: Decompress the shns to wavs, then burn audio CDs for best listening quality. Don't delete the shns, md5s or txt if you plan to go to the next step:

5) Recommended: Archive the shn set. It's a great idea to save the shn set itself by burning all of the files (.shn, .md5, .txt) to data-format discs for storage and trading as data. A typical 3-disc audio show will fit on 2 shn data discs. Many people would rather trade music as original shn sets than as audio CDs. But if you do trade audio, archiving shns also makes it easy to produce multiple, identical audio copies painlessly without any troublesome, error-prone audio extraction. Note "reshn" from audio discs is strongly discouraged and will draw criticism for various reasons; save the original shn set only.

For extra carefulness, run an md5 check on the archived shns after the burn, to make sure they all burned OK.

What SHN and MD5 software is available?

• Windows 95,98
• MKW Audio Compression Tool, by Michael K. Weise. The md5 checking and creating function is included in the software. Michael's help file (no longer updated) is online. Etree also has a great help page for this program (now covering up to Win XP), with screen shots. You will need to install "runtime libraries" before installing the MKW program, but you will see links for both.
• Batch file methods to set up DOS versions of the separate Shorten and Md5sum programs in Windows95,98 are described by etree and by Jeremy Clark (plus older mirror). This is more old-fashioned but quite effective.
• SHN2k by Peter W. King is designed to simplify using the DOS versions of the Shorten and Md5sum programs in Win2k, but will also work in other versions of Windows.
• SoftSound provides a registered version of Shorten for Windows. This program will also play shns directly. It does not include md5 checking or creation capability, however. You'd have to set an md5 program such as Md5summer up separately to check the shn files.
• Standalone md5 checking tools. These tools are very handy if you just need to create md5s for preexisting files (such as for wavs when seeding a show). These will all work in later Windows versions too.
• Md5summer by Luke Pascoe (free and simple)
• fsum by SlavaSoft (free)
• Advanced CheckSum by Irnis (shareware)
• shntool, a handy utility to check length, detect and fix sector boundary errors, etc. Extra guidelines and software (including a setup utility) are available at dankeeds. An alternative user-friendly help page was created by Chris Green. Recommended as an extra support program, once you're already comfortable with shns. Latest version is 1.2.0.
• Monkey's Audio by Matthew T. Ashland is primarily designed for a different compression scheme but reportedly has support for Shorten files. It does not include md5 checking or creation capability, however. You'd have to set an md5 program such as Md5summer up separately to check the shn files.
• Exact Audio Copy, the premier CD extraction program, will create shns on the fly from the extracted audio files- more info. We have no info on invoking it for decompression. Also, it does not include md5 checking or creation capability- you'd have to set an md5 program such as Md5summer up separately to check the shn files.
• Windows NT
• As for Win 95,98 above, with this advice about running DOS batch files, if used.
• Mike Heilmann has witten a Perl script for decompression of shns on NT systems.
• Windows ME
• MKW, SHN2k also work.
• We have no information on the other methods listed above.
• Windows 2000
• SHN2k by Peter W. King is designed to simplify using the DOS versions of the Shorten and Md5sum programs, especially  in Win2k.
• MKW (see above) reportedly works well. Reportedly the runtime libraries don't need to be installed first.
• We have no information on the other methods listed above.
• Windows XP
• MKW (see above) will work if run in compatibility mode. Reportedly the runtime libraries don't need to be installed first. There are conflicting reports on whether the seek table function will cause problems while creating shns. Try right-clicking instead of drag-and-drop to encode wav to shn. If you are still having problems compressing wav> shn even with right-click under compatibility mode, use the "do not generate seek table" option.
• SHN2k also works.
• Update: See Allen's FAQ for advice on setting up batch methods if you are having particular trouble with MKW.
• We have no information on the other methods listed above.
• Macintosh
• Doug Hornig has ported Shorten as GUI in various forms for OS X (Carbonized),  Power Mac OS 7-9 and 68K. Includes functions for md5 checking and SHN>AIFF.
• Mark Domyancich et al have an alternate setup (also mirrored) for OSX that overcomes some limitations of the GUI versions above. The procedure is especially valuable if you plan to create and seed acceptable shns from your Mac later on.
• Mike Kelleher's Mac User's Etree FAQ. There is also an older mirror at etree.org.
• Joliet tool: Handy support tool to read shn filenames created by PC users.
• shntool: Handy utility to check length, detect and fix sector boundary errors, etc.  Recommended as an extra support program, once you're already comfortable with shns.
• Linux/Unix
• Doug Hornig has also ported Shorten for this environment.
• etree.org has an excellent, detailed Linux page with links to many tools.
• Amiga
• Apparently no support yet. An experienced person would have to port it and release it. Source code is available for noncommercial use. Drop us a line if you create an Amiga version and we will link it here.

When you decompress a shn you may occasionally see an error. If so, did you check the shns against the md5s first (see above)? If the md5 check fails, you know there will be some kind of problem. If you have a corrupt shn, it's best to delete it and obtain an uncorrupted copy. Here are some typical error reports and what they mean:

• "Premature EOF on compressed stream"- The shn file is shorter than it's supposed to be, often due to a file corruption, perhaps caused by an error during download. Alternatively your hard drive may be full. Depending on the version of Shorten, you may get a note to contact Softsound. Don't bother with that, since they can't fix the music file.
• "Failed to write decompressed stream"- Your hard drive is too full.
• "Sanity check fails trying to decode function: (number)"- Usually the result of a corrupt file.
• "No magic number"- Indicates a corrupt file.

Can you play SHNs directly on your computer?

• Windows:
• Wayne Stielau's ShnAmp plugin for WinAmp allows you to play shns on the PC without decompression. Note: You will need to use ShnAmp3 in order to work with the Winamp3.
• SoftSound's registered version of Shorten for Windows will play shns directly.
• Mac:
• A Shorten plugin has been available for MacAmp Lite X. Update 1/2003- Company is apparently out of business now. Please send alternate links for this software if available. That plugin is no longer separately linked. Reportedly the beta version (r10c2) on the ghost page has Shorten and FLAC plugins already built in.
• Linux/Unix:
• Jason Jordan's xmms-shn plugin is covered on etree.org's Linux page.
• Also, here is a simple suggested script.

• These Shorten versions create shns with seek tables (appended or separate, depending on settings):
• Shorten "v3"- fan-modified version, released 10/3/00.
• mkwACT 0.97beta1 with appropriate settings (XP must run in compatibility mode). There will probably not be any higher versions than this.
• Monkey's Audio Shorten support function- creates seek-appended shns only
• These Shorten versions create shns without seek tables:
• Shorten "v2" (right-click to "save as" on shorten.exe link on the archived page) Fan-modified version, prior to 10/3/00. All shns created before 10/3/00 do not have seek tables appended.
• mkwACT 0.97beta1 with appropriate settings, or 0.96f and lower
• SoftSound's Shorten

Additional mirror or archive sites for some of the tools listed above may be found here:

• Wayback Machine for archives of the same links
• shns.net
• cyberial courtesy of Mike Wren
• chubbsub Downloads courtesy of John Pahlow

What about other lossless compression schemes?

FLAC (extension .flac) is free, open source and under active development. It is usable on many platforms including Windows, Unix and OS X. FLAC also supports 24-bit as well as the 16-bit audio taken by Shorten. This has strong future potential. Etree.org is just starting to try it out- more info. (Also, see Mike Wren's site.)

Monkey's Audio (extension .ape) by Matthew T. Ashland is also free, open source and under active development. It is currently available in Windows and is being developed for other platforms. Monkey's Audio also supports 24-bit as well as 16-bit audio, and supports other schemes including Shorten. This also has strong future potential.

MKW (extension .mkw) was in development by Michael K. Weise. This is not comparable in tightness of compression to Shorten and more importantly, it cannot be used cross-platform (Windows only). The scheme is folded into Michael's popular Shorten tool  (see above, often itself nicknamed "MKW") and is sometimes used by accident. If you get a show as .mkw, consider using the mkwACT tool to change it from mkw> wav> shn, for all to enjoy.