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Author Topic: Library tool to find missing tracks, avoid duplicates or re-imports of same file  (Read 4282 times)

imeric

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Self explanatory and as per my several other posts on a similar topic, the Import is not always working for XYZ reason so a way to re-associate missing files pleazze!

OR a smarter, more interactive "Fix Broken Links" option
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blgentry

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If you want help, you should describe what's happening.  I could try to guess what you mean, but...

MC has been around for a very ,very long time.  There is probably a way of doing what you want; it's just a matter of figuring out what's going on.

Brian.
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imeric

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I know there are several ways around this but that's not the point and I'm OK  with workarounds. Let me try to explain:

My point is the "Fix broken link" should simply be smarter when it tries to find missing files in the import folder.

Here's an example:
1. I made folder changes to 3-4 albums on one PC using windows explorer. (Yeah I know I should do this within MC but let's keep reading...)
2. On the same PC I have fix Broken links set to Yes (Protect Files on missing drives) and AUto-Import Unchecked
3. I re-ran the Import scan and It was able to find the files just fine.
4. I then sync the physical files between this same PC's hard drive to another Drive on my HTPC that has the same music folder
5. (I don't want to use backup restore because those 2 PCs have different Video Files, TV setups and subscriptions (which is also another ask I have to be able to syncup libraries separately..)
6. On the HTPC I have the same config for AUto-import and fix Broken Link
7. When I run the import on this PC it behaves differently and will just removed the same files as 1. above and I will endup with duplicates (a set of newly imported files for these albums + Missing Files for these same albums)

Let me know if unclear.  This keeps happening and the workarounds are time consuming.  If you have any other ideas on how to do this let me know.
Thanks Brian for your help with this.  

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blgentry

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7. When I run the import on this PC it behaves differently and will just removed the same files as 1. above and I will endup with duplicates (a set of newly imported files for these albums + Missing Files for these same albums)

Something is not right here.  The exact same files, moved around in the exact same way yield different results on two different MC instances.  That implies the settings are different.  In fact, you say that you have fix broken links set to Yes, but you also say you get duplicates and "missing files".  You shouldn't get any missing files with fix broken links set to yes.  Unless the drive you are syncing to is removable and changes drive letters or something?

Quote
4. I then sync the physical files between this same PC's hard drive to another Drive on my HTPC that has the same music folder
5. (I don't want to use backup restore because those 2 PCs have different Video Files, TV setups and subscriptions (which is also another ask I have to be able to syncup libraries separately..)

There are several different ways to do that kind of thing.  Glynor has outlined a method that's pretty interesting in this thread:

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=97242.0

The gist is this:  He sets up a handheld definition to send over to his other machine.  He then tells the handheld definition to use MPL as the playlist type.  Over on the other machine, he IMPORTS the MPL playlist.  This grabs all of the files he synced with handheld sync, including all fields, custom fields, ratings, etc.  If the path to the files is different, then the MPL needs to be edited first, but that's pretty easy to do with a text editor and find and replace in the editor.

But again, something is odd with your setup.  Frankly, I think your workflow is sort of "off".  Why?  Because you're moving things around outside of MC. Then you're doing a sync in some way that doesn't let MC's internal logic pick up your changes.

I would suggest some of the following:

1.  Move files inside of MC using RM&C.  Or at least move files in a structured way, and then tell MC about it, by using RM&C in UPDATE ONLY mode.  If you need to do renames, then do those with RM&C.  I would only go external to RM&C if I was moving across physical drives.  Everything within the same drive should be done through RM&C.  There's very little reason to do it otherwise.
2.  Have a structured plan for moving changes from MC instance to MC instance.  MPL is your friend.
3.  The handheld sync technique is great, but may be more than you need.  Or it may be perfect.

I recommend doing some experiments.  Make sure to make library backups before each experiment so you can roll back if necessary.

If you need more help, giving more details about what happens and your settings might be helpful.  I'm pretty sure you can make this work through the proper process.

Brian.
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imeric

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Something is not right here.  The exact same files, moved around in the exact same way yield different results on two different MC instances.  That implies the settings are different.  In fact, you say that you have fix broken links set to Yes, but you also say you get duplicates and "missing files".  You shouldn't get any missing files with fix broken links set to yes.  Unless the drive you are syncing to is removable and changes drive letters or something?

I agree with you it doesn't' make sense but it happened more than once so something is wrong.

I'm moving things "outside" of MC because I have different MC configs.  The only thing consistent is the music library.

So not sure why you're saying my workflow is "off" you will need to explain or tell me more why you think it's off...As I wrote before if MC allowed me to restore and backup library items separately (Video, TV, Music) I wouldn't have any issues and would just backup restore library on different PCs and wouldn't need workarounds like using a second library as a handheld as per Glynor's.  So not sure how this is supposed to help me as he's requesting a feature with handheld sync and related to iTunes? ie different than what I need.



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imeric

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I tried to replicate my issue posted in the first post and wasn't able to...

I did the exact same thing on other PCs and it could find the files just fine.

So if you move your files around outside MC but inside your monitored folders AND WITHOUT renaming the file, the "Fix Broken Link" feature seem to work just fine.  Even though I'm a 100% convinced about what I had done in the first post, I can't reproduce the issue and I tried hard :)!

I would suggest some of the following:

1.  Move files inside of MC using RM&C.  Or at least move files in a structured way, and then tell MC about it, by using RM&C in UPDATE ONLY mode.  If you need to do renames, then do those with RM&C.  I would only go external to RM&C if I was moving across physical drives.  Everything within the same drive should be done through RM&C.  There's very little reason to do it otherwise.
2.  Have a structured plan for moving changes from MC instance to MC instance.  MPL is your friend.
3.  The handheld sync technique is great, but may be more than you need.  Or it may be perfect.
Brian.

I'm usually doing 1. and will definitely try to leverage 2. when I have issues it is very usefull to "re-write" the date imported tag...3. Will eventually play with No 3. as I can see lots of potential with this as I still use iTunes to sync music with the Iphone...

I still wished for a smarter and more interactive Fix broken links when file names change (a bit like iTunes where it prompts you when it can't locate a file...That would be a nice option..)
...But it is definitely not as important now that I'm confident it works fine after testing it several times if you don't rename the file outside MC.

Thx Brian for your valuable feedback and help on this.
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imeric

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Here is a a perfect example of what will often happen when running an import.  See import.txt file and snapshot of my library.

Auto-Import set to no
Fix Broken Links set to Yes (Protect files form missing drive).

The only Workaround I found to resolve this duplicate issue was to choose "Delete form Library and send to recycle bin"  on the newly imported of the same files then hit restore on the files in the recycle bin and perform a re-import...A little extreme but it works.
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imeric

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Here is another example of the "Fix broken links: Yes (protect files on missing drives)" not working as it should.

I just made a folder change on another PC, sync the files on this PC and MC didn't find one particular album (not all of them).

Filename wasn't changed so MC should have found it...It did work for other albums of the same artist that were also moved.

See attached for details.
thx
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