Nervious newby - why am I getting multiple track instances?

[jk]

Hello,

New to using MM but love what I see . . .
All going to plan until I got brave and introduced a second computer (that drives our home theatre system) and realised that I would need to make the music source drive such that it could be seen as the same from each computer . . .

So I shared the folder on the server, and mapped the share point as drive M: (for Music). Then I even mapped this point at the server so that the database could always be found at M:

Now, when viewed at the 'server', I have up to three instances of each track!!

Luckily I was cautious and did not delete any nodes as I now see that the TAG info has not been synchronised!!!!! Wow - did I nearly lose all of that time entering that stuff (inc Tempo, Mood, Occassion, Custom, etc)???

I guess I need to know how to securely save the TAG info to each file?

Hope you can help??
Cheers,

jk

Details:
Gold v2.5.5

So, it finds copies in:
# M: That's what I wanted!
# D:\Music That's where the Music really is!
# \\Server-Name\Music The URL where the Music really is!
How do I get the TAGs to be saved in the music files?? I had thought that this was the default setting!!


PS, I am jotting down some enhancement thoughts/ideas from a newbies point of view to forward on separately . . .

[nojac]

You should probably:

1. Rescan E: (so your Library is updated from the tags)
2. Delete the other drives from your library (NOT from the computer)

MediaMonkey sees your drives as separate (though they are really the same) And when you edit a tag on one drive, the library will not be updated on the other drives, though the tag is updated. (in the standard version of MM)

If you edit a tag from another program, you will also see that the change in tag will not be registered in MediaMonkey before you rescan the drive. (iTunes, on the other hand, reads the tag each time a track is played. And probably the Gold version of MM, too. It has automatic update of the library.)

Just make sure that in Options that the box Update tags when editing properties is activated (default....)

[julzcompufreek]

Firstly, Welcome to the MediaMonkey Club! (we've got jackets!)

So basically what you are saying is that it has scanned the files in to Mediamonkey 3 times, from the same directory (in theory). So you want to delete the ones from the D: and the \\server out of mediamonkey (not from the actually computer) but your tags arnt synchronized, so it isnt scanning them in with all the details.

All you have to do is go Tools > Advanced Tag Management > Synchronise tags. And it will update all your tags so that they match the library data. (You should only do this with the tracks with the actual information in them though)

I hope this has been of help

[nojac]

Two replies written simultaneously....

The advice that "All you have to do is go Tools > Advanced Tag Management > Synchronise tags. And it will update all your tags so that they match the library data." must be used with care. It is NOT the tags that need to be updated, they are probably OK. It is the LIBRARY that needs an update.

[jk]

Thanks for your kind help . . .

I am not sure how to be careful though . . . Would you mind elaborating on the "You should only do this with the tracks with the actual information in them though" and hopefully I'll understand the process better and prevent such errors and questions again!

Also, can all database info be written to the music files or is there some info always held just in the mediamonkey.mdb database? If so, where can one see which is which?

Thanks again, I'll be home in a few hours and will follow your guidance and report back for others to see.

Cheers,

Jim

[jk]

You should probably:

1. Rescan E: (so your Library is updated from the tags)
2. Delete the other drives from your library (NOT from the computer)

Please clarify! I have three 'drives', none of which are E . . .
I can see unique info in each of the 'drives', depending on which way I was pointing to the files at the time I guess . . . I need a method that captures it all . . .

MediaMonkey sees your drives as separate (though they are really the same) And when you edit a tag on one drive, the library will not be updated on the other drives, though the tag is updated. (in the standard version of MM)

I am using the GOLD version . . .


Just make sure that in Options that the box Update tags when editing properties is activated (default....)

Will check on this . .

Thanks all.

Jim

[jk]

Two replies written simultaneously....

The advice that "All you have to do is go Tools > Advanced Tag Management > Synchronise tags. And it will update all your tags so that they match the library data." must be used with care. It is NOT the tags that need to be updated, they are probably OK. It is the LIBRARY that needs an update.

I suspect that you are right Nojac! I don't want to inadvertently copy NUL data over the data that I have tediously entered . . .

Is there a way that I can see where the data truly is stored? It is Mood, Tempo, Ocassion and Quality that I can see 'missing' when I look from one 'copy' of a track to another.

I also did a lot of editing of Artist/Album/etc/etc that I need to look at closely too.

Great program, pity I seem to have fallen into a trap for beginners . . .

Thanks,

jk

[nojac]

Sorry, I wrote E:, should be M: (the one you want to use Guess you found out)

I suppose the best way to make sure what is really in the tags is to use another program (iTunes, WinAmp or some tag editor..) But after a rescan what you see in MediaMonkey should be what is in the tag

I do not have the Gold version, so I do not know how to activate the automatc update of the library. (Choose folders to be watched?) It seems not to work for you.

[jk]

Sorry, I wrote E:, should be M: (the one you want to use Guess you found out)

I do not have the Gold version

That's a shame . . . the AutoPlaylists are fantastic, I'm so glad that I have found out about this program . . . now to use it properly!!

Will check these ideas out when I get home . .

Thanks

jk

[Lowlander]

PS. MediaMonkey doesn't handle mapped drives very well, which can result in duplicates. As MediaMonkey doesn't use drive letters in the first place it's best to go with the UNC path (\\Server-Name\Music) or it's IP (if not dynamic).

When Add/Rescanning make sure you don't scan drive D on the server, but always use the UNC path instead.

You can delete locations from the Locations node, but you will need to decide which nodes to delete to prevent the loss of data. Synchronize the tags for the node you'd like and delete that node too. Now you can start with a fresh database (clean library, but loose playlists & playcounts) or try to edit the database manually in MS Access to modify the location to the UNC path.

[Guest]

PS. MediaMonkey doesn't handle mapped drives very well, which can result in duplicates. As MediaMonkey doesn't use drive letters in the first place it's best to go with the UNC path (\\Server-Name\Music)

That seems to explain things . . Thanks.
But, I also had in mind to introduce my XP notebook so that I can have at least a goodly portion of the music with me whilst at work and/or travelling. Normally to do this I'd create a mapped drive to the 'server' and use 'Offline Folders' to synchronise the two computers (at least for the music - I expect to just grab a copy of the database and lose any changes made offline). Am I expecting too much? Perhaps I treat the notebook as a 'portable device' instead?? Anyway, this is a last destination and I am just keen to get the foundations right at this stage . .

You can delete locations from the Locations node, but you will need to decide which nodes to delete to prevent the loss of data. Synchronize the tags for the node you'd like and delete that node too.

That seems to make sense . . . and I see where the care is needed

Now you can start with a fresh database (clean library, but loose playlists & playcounts)

I can live without playlists and counts at this stage . . .

or try to edit the database manually in MS Access to modify the location to the UNC path.

That's an option too . . . I do have Access 2003 installed, but am not familiar with it . . .

Thanks very much for taking the time to help. Much appreciated . . . I will tackle this carefully over the weekend . .

jk

[nojac]

Synchronize the tags for the node you'd like and delete that node too.

If you syncronize, the tag is updated from the library. I still think it is your library, not the tags that need an update.

jk: Yes, it is probably a shame that I have not payed the MM-team for their great program. I use it all the time to manage my music collection. But I have to admit, to PLAY the music I normally use iTunes. The main reasons are:
1. The automatic playlists (I often use random play of all tracks with ratings **** or *****)
2. Though I never buy music from iTunes, their Store is a great resource for high quality Album Art (600x600), and a handy music encyclopedia.
3. I can move to the next track with one button (-->) No CtrlAlt--> for me! (There is probably a plugin for that out there.....)

[Guest]

Following up on my progress . . . misery has set in I'm afraid. I seem to have lost heaps of 'classification' data although in some situations I can see it (in the mapped drive) but cannot copy it to the node in the network (UNC) node.

It does seem as if mediamonkey is very unreliable with mapped drives which is a pity as it allows a lot of flexibility in a network situation. I saw that it would not even find music during a manual scan let alone the FILE-MONITOR scan. No errors or clues, except perhaps thatit gave up in an instant as if it had encountered an error immediately. However I have music tagged in this node and would like to get the info . . .

BTW, I have made several copies of the database along the way . . .

ALSO, the lost data is all that which is held in the mediamonkey.mdb database - the FLAC files are tagged ok. Typically the info entered on the classification page of properties (Tempo/Mood/Occassion/Quality) has vanished . . .

I had a quick look at mediamonkey.mdb in Access 2003, but could not see where these fields live. Can someone please give me a clue as I suspect that my best option is to copy and paste the data inside access?

Thanks.

Very grumpy tonight - jk

[jk]

Oh! There is a chance that the problems are related to me adjusting the folder names. I tested this a couple of times and thought that MediaMonkey picked up very well, but now I am not so sure.

Anyone able to shed light on this one.

Thanks,

jk

[jk]

Starting a new thread . . Tempo, Mood, and Occassion problems with FLAC