How to Cure a Poorly Executed Desktop Migration

[matabb]

I am retiring an 8 year old desktop and trying to move my MM5 library (and its play history) to the new windows machine. I transferred all the music files, but did not duplicate the path structure on the old desktop. Then I installed MM5 on the new machine and had MM5 scan the library. I never tried to copy the MM5 database from the old desktop to the new because I knew the file structure would be different and I thought those differences would be insurmountable. Needless to say, there is no play history on the new machine, because the database is completely new.

Doing some reading on the forum and MM site, I now realize I could have copied the old database and MM5 is smart enough to have matched up the old paths to the new paths, had I done it correctly.

I'm wondering however, if it's not too late to transfer the old database. If I copied the old MM5 database to the new machine, could I then use the "Locate Moved/Missing Files" function to preserve the old database play history data, but have MM5 remap the file locations on the new machine? (I have MM5 Gold). The same music files are on the new machine, so the file sizes and file metadata ought to be the same. The file creation dates, however, are different however. And the library has 16,000 files. So if I ran Locate Moved/Missing Files would I have to individually approve 16,000 new locations for each and every file in the library?

Or, to keep my old play history, would it be easier to just recopy the music files and keep the old path structure--other than the files would now be on a c: drive instead of a d: drive (which I now understand it not a problem for the program)? If I wanted to use that solution, can I just copy the old database over the database MM5 created on the new desktop when I originally installed MM5 on the new machine? Or do I have to uninstall MM5 on the new machine and reinstall it once the files have been recopied in the old path structure?

Or are there any other alternatives that I've missed?

Thanks for the help.

[Lowlander]

Yes, the best is to copy the media files in the same structure as the old PC and the database as then you just re-assign drive.

If that didn't happen you can still copy the database file and use it instead of the new database file and use Locate Moved/Missing Files. However do check the matches made before allowing the Path updated suggested.

Related: https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/index. ... w_computer

[Jim Kelly]

Hello again Lowlander, my first post for many years!
Great to see that you are still actively helping 'the lost souls' of MM.

I have got myself into an even deeper mess here than 'matabb', but am happy to start again as I have several useful backups of MM.db to assist. After too hurredly setting up a new notebook when my trusty desktop failed about four years ago I failed to get anything useful up and running. Way too busy to nut it out at the time and now it is all very distant into the fog of the past.

The (was!) new w10 notebook has a much too small an SSD to allow the music files to live in C:\Music\ and so I planned to use a vacant SD-Card slot with a 360GB fast card purchased for the job of being an MM-Portable installation - also new for me. Never got it working . . . [if an SD card is silly now that SSDs are a reasonable $, happy to be advised too].

Now in 2023, I've tried in vain to instal MM5 (went well, including that the auto-update initiated, of MM.DB and ran happily) but I ended up with duplicates that I cannot shake off, and whilst much of the data seems to be there, my cherished work using several Custom Tags on every track has gone completely. And although my complex nested AutoPlaylists are there to some extent, they are incomplete and thus useless. So some auto-playlist names have arrived but not enough by any means to be useful.

Is there an obvious approach to begin the rebuild process? I'd like to use the exact same track files rather than get a backup of them from a matching era as I may have spent some time getting filenames and tracknames consistent in the intervening time on a small %age of the tracks, but worthy of keeping if possible. But it is the complex nested autoplaylists that I would most like to set the spotlight onto, but I have no idea where that is all stored and how it is linked to the files.

Many thanks to anyone who has read this far and can guide me into the scope of the project.

Jim Kelly

[Lowlander]

1) AutoPlaylists are a database only thing. If their names make no sense it may mean an incorrect database file has been used.

2) Duplicates are often due to scanning being done, before updating the existing files in the database after migration. Do both copies work at this point?

[Jim Kelly]

Hi Lowlander,
1. I have not been vigilant about matching database with MM version/build. It might be possible to be vigilant on a rebuild by using the installation log that I have kept for each computer. IE, I had listed what MM version I installed on what date. So first thing might be to research that for the MM.DB files and isolate them into folders with a name that declares the likely MM version-build used to make each of them.

2. track listing the new address works. However the track listing the old URL fails with the message:
Playback failed: {old wrong URL} is inaccessible.

Thanks for your promt reply )

[Lowlander]

1) A search for mm.db (MediaMonkey 4 and older) or mm5.db (MediaMonkey 5) on your whole PC and then look at last modified may give clues on which is the best to use.

2) That seems to confirm that you scanned the files before fixing them. Removing the new/working files and then fixing the old files should do the trick.

[Jim Kelly]

Thanks again Lowlander.
I have looked through all my backup disks and carefully listed the MM.DB files that I have at my disposal.
There are two other registered PCs that are 'dead' but getting them to run might reveal more recent working MM.DB files.

DONE:
I could see that I had accidently began to install MM4-1919 to the current notebook but when I double clicked the exe, it started the install again and I stepped through it carefully, avoiding the chances to SCAN for files. It looks encouraging. The tracks are listed (from a wrong location, as expected - I did not try to play them), and my AutoPlaylists are intact (although not the latest versions) and the elaborate tags are intact against the tracks.

CONSIDERING:
Should I change the path to the music files to be just M:\Music\ so that the only thing to grapple with is the drive letter? It makes sense to stick with the Portable installation as the current notebook may not last much longer, easier to move if necessary.

Will try to get one of the failed computers to start and grab any more MM.DB files; maybe one will be more recent and have better autoplaylists.

QUESTION:
Should I continue with the install of v4-1919(not portable) and forget about finding a newer v4 MM.DB?
How best to clean up the failed attempts at v5-Portable before I attempt it again?
Should I get v4-1919(not portable) running with the music on M: drive first or is that process better supported in v5?
IE What is the most reliable way to get from an incomplete install of v4-1919(not portable, not attached to the music now on drive M:, no duplicates)
to
v5-Portable(all on a mSD Card, M:).
Should I be getting .ini files too?

Sorry for being a bit vague here.
Thanks,
Jim

[Lowlander]

MediaMonkey 5 has an easier method to fix the non-working files (drive letter doesn't matter as long as their Path remained the same).

However, MediaMonkey 4 has a more comprehensive Addon to do this.

Both versions can also match files with Locate Moved/Missing Files, but here you need to verify the matches before accepting the changes.

So the first thing to do is to make sure you keep a copy of the correct database, so that you can always go back to it in case things don't work out as expected. Then use whichever MediaMonkey you feel more confident with.

I only recommend using the database between installations.

[Jim Kelly]

Thanks, that makes it much clearer thanks Lowlander.

It makes sense then for me to get MM4 working properly first (as I have never had MM5 successfully installed so the MM5 databases may as well be ignored).

Reminder that my five goals are:
1. Get the best recovery possible from the DB mess that I have created.
Measured by access to the adjustments that I have made to the track data 'tags' like rating, mood, tempo, occassion, and standardising of artist name format and track name formats.
AND use of the existing AutoPlaylists which were carefully nested for maximum ease of improving sets of them.

2. Have a 'portable' installation(s) on my big mSDcard, along with the music-files (mostly .FLAC). This will be easily backed up together with ancilliary files (.DB, .INI, etc).

3. Move from MM4 to MM5 to take advantage of recent and future developments.

4. Also have a version of MM4 on the mSD card BUT only if it makes sense as they will be both pointed to the same music files. I expect that this may be foolish and if so would not risk doing this.

5. End up without any unnessessary installations robbing me space on drives C:\ or M:\

NOTE:
All good MM.DB files will expect the music files' path to be C:\Music\ . . .
There is not enough room on the C drive for the music datafiles, and no way to replace the SSD with a bigger one. Hence the choice of the mSDcard as it can fit into (the usually available) SD-card-slot.
Somehow I managed to get w10 to remember that this particular mSDcard is M:

I have already changed the path of the music files to M:\Music\ (expecting that it simplifies the reconnecting process).

Would you mind clarifying the broad steps to this please? It is the order of doing things that I am finding confusing.
Many thanks for your help.
Jim

[Lowlander]

A) Install MediaMonkey as you need (location, version and portable vs. regular), make sure that it's not set to scan (no Folder Monitoring is enabled).

B) Take the original DB pointing to C:\Music and put it in the MediaMonkey installation.

C) Update the driveID (see above as it depends on MMW version).

That should have you backup and running.

You can have both MMW4 and MMW5 working on the same files. Do remember that MMW is a database software, so any changes outside of it, require the files to be rescanned to see the changes.

[Jim Kelly]

WOW!
I have MM5-Portable working by following the ideas in your last post - thanks Lowlander!
Some files cannot be found and I can see that some of these have had their filenames tidied - perhaps in Windows Explorer. Yes, I should have known better . . . Maybe a utility can recognise them and see that it is the exact same track, thus keeping my tag info? I hope so! Probably some others have had their foldername slightly changed. I am happy to try a method that requires me to confirm each change, especially if I can confine it to a subset by location.

I have avoided turning on any scanning, autofixing, database management, etc until getting your next guidance. And have backed up the database via File > Manage Database (with all boxes unticked).

Happy at this stage to forget MM4 if that makes it easier to sort out. My AutoPlaylists are working ok, thank goodness.

Thanks so much for getting me this far, am looking forward to getting your clues on the final reconnections. It must be about five years since I have had MM working and it is so lovely to see it all again )
Kind regards,
Jim Kelly

[Lowlander]

If the Paths (folders/filenames) have been altered you can try File > Locate Moved/Missing Files on those files. They're likely listed in the Music > Files to Edit > Dead Links node in the Media Tree.

[Jim Kelly]

No, the utilities did not find files even when the folder was exactly the same (just filename adjusted). Does not seem to even check that the track signature is identical.

Other weird things include a simple AutoPlaylist including the wrong tracks - seem to be random tracks . .

Going back to see if I can get MM4-1919 working properly in portable mode from the mSDcard M: that contains the music-files.
The tracks are listed at the moment but all still pointing to the C drive (as expected). Will follow instractions from the posts above.

Thanks, have a happy weekend Lowlander.
I'll report here how I manage.

[Lowlander]

Then it's a case of removing the files, and then scanning them in again. This will remove them from Playlists (but not AutoPlaylists) and you'll loose Play History.

AutoPlaylists are Criteria based, thus if files are included they're likely matching the Criteria set for the particular AutoPlaylist.

[Jim Kelly]

Hello Highlander,

I decided to get MM v4-1919 working properly, which went fairly well.
The free 3rd party script "Update location of files in database" helped remarkedly well (and very quickly after a slow start) at changing the C: to K: but it ignored many instances EG: where the filename had changed.

Then I ran the (MM4 menu) File > "Locate moved/missing files" over the files in the "Music>Files to edit> Dead links" node, and that claimed to have sorted hundreds of tracks too. **

The last thing was to use Jam's "UltraSearch" utility (I love that, and it's brother "Treesize") on some of the important missing files that were still claimed to be 'dead'. By searching for just a portion of the album name that I was unlikely to have edited, I quickly found groups of folders where I had changed the folder names (usually I had added the year of album release at the beginning to give an idea of timeline of the music when looking at the folder trees - sounded like a good idea at the time!).

At this stage I tried a copy of the MM.DB in the failed MM5 portable installation, and it all seemed to convert and present perfectly. I tried MM5's version of "Locate moved/missing files" and it sorted quite a few more tracks, so I perhaps needn't have spent so long fixing things manually in MM4.

Have now abandomed that MM5 install and gone back to keep improving MM4's portable database, thinking that I might wish I had both versions workable (for reasons not yet apparent - as I am new to v5). This process is well under way including thoroughly checking the important AutoPlaylists and adding some new ones. This has been helpful at rekindling the MM4 methods in my brain that have not been used for several years.

So, next step is to turn things on that we turned off earlier, I am wary of these things now - and confused by trying to adapt to both MM4 and MM5 at the same time. Mistake!

If you have time to say what I should do next in v4 (before repeating the 'new' install/conversion to MM5) that would give me confidence to get both versions running nicely. No hurry as I will get the file structure and AutoPlaylists perfect whilst in v4 for a few days. EG: the settings under "File > Maintain Library". And "Add/rescan and Monitor folders".

Thanks again Lowlander, for your most kind attentiveness and guidance. I would have given up without your help! It is so good to see again the finesse of MM after working with many other 'developed' software that has gone in poor directions over the years. I am looking forward to seeing what progress has been made in MM5 soon.

Kind regards,

Jim Kelly