sync to device has significant usability issues [#16324]

[Barry4679]

The albums node in the right section of the AutoSync(->Device) tab does no have a little triangle to open|close the node.

The only way to open the album node is check the checkbox to select all albums ... this opens the node
But this confusing workaround is only useful on first through.
If I decide to to another sync to my device, where I will add and subtract a few albums, the only way I can open the node is to check that checkbox again ... that actions wipes out my previous selections .... so I am unable to simply add and subtract a few albums, because I cannot see what I selected for the previous sync.

The Genre node is broken too. ... it opens to show all the genres, but there is no control allowing me to open a specific genre to select some albums or artists

The Album Artist node contains empty sub-nodes ... the illustration shows three nodes which I have opened ... one is empty ... In the instance shown in the illustration, I do have a track with artist tag = AfterLife in a composite album ... I have no track with an AlbumArtist Tag with value = AfterLife. ... this is the AlbumArtist sub-node, not the Artist sub-node ... these empty sub-nodes in the AlbumArtist node are a pain .... it slows down the task of selecting some albums to sync to my device.

Also the MediaTree in this panel is not sorted to the same sequence as my custom sort in the main Media Tree, which confuses navigation

[Ludek]

Thanks for reporting Barry, seems to be a recent regression introduced while incorporating the showAllNodes script into the vanilla version.

To be fixed as https://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view.php?id=16324

[Barry4679]

Thanks Ludek.

When you look at this issue, I think that there is more to it than just the missing Album node opener.

I retested sync to device.

I synced a couple of thousand tracks to my my phone with MM5, using a mix of Artist, AlbumArtist & Location selections.
That worked OK.

• I then went back to the AutoSync(->Device) tab, and unchecked all but one of my selections

• Applied

• Run Sync (from the PC) .... Delete Other File option set to "Unselected Library Files", with confirmation set on

• it offered to delete only 135 (?!), from the 2105 files that I had sync'd to the phone .... it seemed to only delete my Location selections

• I changed from delete "Unselected Library Files" to "All other media files" .... no improvement

• I tried running the sync from MM ==> "Everything is in sync"

• If I then naviagted MM5 out of D&S node, and then returned to D&S>My device, the rhs side in the AutoSync(->Device) tab has not persisted the selection changes, that I Applied earlier

• I select all Artists, and then uncheck ,to de-select all Artists

• Apply

• leave D&S ... come back, and my de-selections have been ignored

Also the rhs check indications seems unreliable ... I have seen this multiple times, but it is hard to replicate ... maybe it has something to do with having "hide unselected items" on when exiting the selection node (see below)

• change to a different node in the lhs list in the AutoSync(->Device) tab

• come back to the original lhs node

• all the nodes in the rhs list look empty, ie. check box is empty (not full or half checked)

• but if I open one of these "empty" nodes, I can see that it contains hidden selections

thought: is there exposure in the code, for somebody pressing the Apply button too early, when large selection lists are involved ... you don't display the spinning wheel much here, although I did see it once in an unexpected location .... but if I turn the music off I can hear that the cpu is doing something disk intensive for quite a while after making changes.

[Ludek]

Were you testing 2226 ? If not, could you test with 2226 (with the fix applied) ?

[Barry4679]

Oh, I had not noticed that new release.

Retest with 2226
Cleared phone of all music content
Ran a MMA sync to clear that side also
Synced 1000+ files to phone
Sync OK

But still issues:

• if I make selections in the albumartist node, the tracks are copied to phone, but the selections are not persisted in the rhs list at AutoSync(->Device)

• the reverse situation with the Location node ... ie. my sync requests are persisted, but the tracks not copied

• the issue where the lhs tree can (falsely) appear empty is still there, as described earlier

• shift click facility not enabled in lhs ... would be v useful when "Hide Unselected Items" is checked

• still can't open genre node beyond the genre list ... ie. to AlbumArtist>Album levels

• lhs tree still not sorted as per the main Media Tree ... ie. ignores custom tree sort sequence

• I have Entire library node enabled in the main Media Tree, but is not listed on the lhs of AutoSync(->Device)

• when MM5 deletes de-selected content, it does not housekeep by deleting empty folders ===> is hard to easily test what has|hasn't been deleted, and the user is left with a mess to manage manually

ie. so many issues that it is not worth spending further time testing ATM

[Ludek]

if I make selections in the albumartist node, the tracks are copied to phone, but the selections are not persisted in the rhs list at AutoSync(->Device)

=> I see, under the Album Artists node the partly checked [-] indicator is not appearing when an album is selected under particular album artist, workaround is to expand the album artist node, this will be fixed in 2227

the reverse situation with the Location node ... ie. my sync requests are persisted, but the tracks not copied

=> I cannot repliacate this, if you hover over the folder node like this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3baytx0pylmsj ... 0.png?dl=0
I can see the 12 files and all the 12 files are copied upon clicking [Apply] and [Sync now], maybe you did not press [Apply] before [Sync now] ?

the issue where the lhs tree can (falsely) appear empty is still there, as described earlier

=> This is not reproducible for me, do you have some exact steps starting with clean profile in the first step?
Or maybe sharing your MM5.DB and indicating the device profile could help me to replicate the issue.

shift click facility not enabled in lhs ... would be v useful when "Hide Unselected Items" is checked

=> I don't understand what do you mean by shift click facility? Are you talking about a multi-selection in the left hand side tree??

still can't open genre node beyond the genre list ... ie. to AlbumArtist>Album levels

=> Yes, this has always worked like this, also in MM4. I am not sure whether additional levels are really needed. Maybe for 5.1.

lhs tree still not sorted as per the main Media Tree ... ie. ignores custom tree sort sequence

=> I see, another (really minor) long-standing issue (has always been in MM4 too).

I have Entire library node enabled in the main Media Tree, but is not listed on the lhs of AutoSync(->Device)

I can confirm (also long-standing, in MM4 too), probably 5.1 item

when MM5 deletes de-selected content, it does not housekeep by deleting empty folders ===> is hard to easily test what has|hasn't been deleted, and the user is left with a mess to manage manually

=> I guess that this should work, going to verify and look into it.

Thanks!

[Barry4679]

if I make selections in the albumartist node, the tracks are copied to phone, but the selections are not persisted in the rhs list at AutoSync(->Device)

=> I see, under the Album Artists node the partly checked [-] indicator is not appearing when an album is selected under particular album artist, workaround is to expand the album artist node, this will be fixed in 2227

I am seeing that .... but that is just part of it .... I make the sync selection in the AlbumArtist ... I apply, and then sync ... the files are synced ok ... but when I leave, and then return to D&S node, there is no part tick for the AlbumArtist node, and there is no check against the "selected" albumartists either ... nor further down at their album album level

the reverse situation with the Location node ... ie. my sync requests are persisted, but the tracks not copied

=> I cannot repliacate this, if you hover over the folder node like this: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3baytx0pylmsj ... 0.png?dl=0
I can see the 12 files and all the 12 files are copied upon clicking [Apply] and [Sync now], maybe you did not press [Apply] before [Sync now] ?

Yes I am certain that I applied ... I know this because the request is persisted in the rhs tree ... but the files are not copied to my phone, as evidenced by Explorer and also your device Music node on the front tab

the issue where the lhs tree can (falsely) appear empty is still there, as described earlier

=> This is not reproducible for me, do you have some exact steps starting with clean profile in the first step?
Or maybe sharing your MM5.DB and indicating the device profile could help me to replicate the issue.

I have PM'd you a debug log of this happening.

Steps:

• D&S>Device AutoSync-> tab with some applied selections

• Set Hide Unselected Items on

• Navigate to outside D&S node ... in my case was a custom node in Album Grid view

• get dbox saying "You Have change Settings for <<phone>. Apply?" .... I have made no changes other than hiding selected, but reply Yes anyway

• return to D&S>Device ==> Hide Selected is still toggled on, and rhs is empty ... ?

• toggle off Hide Unselected ==> nodes still all look empty

• open the nodes, and I can see (expected) selections ... close the node, and it now appears partially checked

still can't open genre node beyond the genre list ... ie. to AlbumArtist>Album levels

=> Yes, this has always worked like this, also in MM4. I am not sure whether additional levels are really needed. Maybe for 5.1.

Thanks, 5.1 is Ok. .... I would never sync a whole genre .... but would often like to a sync a bunch of albums for a specific genre
The way that it is useless with a large library ..... maybe Ok if you are a track focused person, who has selected a limited random selection from a genre ... but as it is, it not useful for an album-focused listener .... I'll ckeck mantis for the entry with promised 5.1 version tag

lhs tree still not sorted as per the main Media Tree ... ie. ignores custom tree sort sequence

=> I see, another (really minor) long-standing issue (has always been in MM4 too).

I have Entire library node enabled in the main Media Tree, but is not listed on the lhs of AutoSync(->Device)

I can confirm (also long-standing, in MM4 too), probably 5.1 item

OK ... without Entire Library my workaround is to make a Entire Library custom collection
If they are long standing requests, it is a pity that you didn't tidy them up with MM5

when MM5 deletes de-selected content, it does not housekeep by deleting empty folders ===> is hard to easily test what has|hasn't been deleted, and the user is left with a mess to manage manually

=> I guess that this should work, going to verify and look into it.

thanks .... this one would be very good .... MM5 sync is making an annoying messy graveyard in my phone.

[Ludek]

Could you please share also your MM5.DB (zip it and PM me) so that I can analyze exactly _your_ selection?

If they are long standing requests, it is a pity that you didn't tidy them up with MM5

I don't think that they are long standing requests, these are rather long-standing behaviours that haven't been complained yet.
Actually we wanted to abandon "Entire Library" node entirelly for MM5, but later we decided to keep it.

Added the items to #16026 that Peke has entered last year (and seems related to these issues).

[Ludek]

Steps:
D&S>Device AutoSync-> tab with some applied selections
Set Hide Unselected Items on
Navigate to outside D&S node ... in my case was a custom node in Album Grid view
get dbox saying "You Have change Settings for <<phone>. Apply?" .... I have made no changes other than hiding selected, but reply Yes anyway
return to D&S>Device ==> Hide Selected is still toggled on, and rhs is empty ... ?
toggle off Hide Unselected ==> nodes still all look empty
open the nodes, and I can see (expected) selections ... close the node, and it now appears partially checked

Thanks, I can replicate using these steps!! Will be fixed for 2227.