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[AJN]

Hi guys,
First post, so hopefully am putting it in the right place! I've been using MC for some time as a player, but finally decided to take the plunge and rip all my CDs to a Synology NAS. I can't say that it's been a pleasant experience so far, but I'm perfectly prepared to accept that it's of my causing due to not understanding how it works. There are a few problems:
First, I had to add a second disc and decided to change the structure of the folders on the NAS. When I tried to restore the Library all my carefully edited fields were gone and the default fields were back in place with all the info as it was when I first ripped. With some genres this might not be a problem but with 600 or so CDs-worth of classical music this is an unmitigated disaster. Is there any way to restore the fields to the "custom" ones?
Second, when I try to edit the Library now, I get "MC encountered errors while tagging or moving files. Check that the exist, are not read-only, and are not in use by other programs". They DO exist, they are not read-only and they are not being used so the only thing I can come up with is that there's a problem with network permissions in Win10 and it won't allow changes for some bizzare reason. I can't see that there's anything wrong with Win10 setting, but is there a setting in MC?
Hopefully someone can give me some pointers here!

[JimH]

If you moved files around outside of MC, you could move them back, then use MC's tools to move them.  Please read Moving Files on our wiki.

[AJN]

That's great, thank you. But what about restoring the custom fields to the Library?

[JimH]

If you add them again, the data should be there.  Names have to match exactly, including case.

You could also restore a backup of the MC Library.  MC makes them automatically.

[AJN]

I'm afraid it doesn't, unless I have the process wrong - Import files, then restore Library?

[blgentry]

First, go find your Library Backups.  I believe they are in your Documents folder under JRiver.  You should see many backups there that are generally made every 1 to 3 days.

Restore that backup and you should see all of your original data on your files.  BUT, since you moved files around, MC will now not be able to locate those files, since you didn't do the move with MC, and you didn't tell MC where you moved the files.

Did you do a simple move that just changed the top level folder?  Or maybe moved some large groups around?  Or did you do a bunch of complicated moves?  It would probably be best if you could return the folder structure to exactly the same as it was before.  Then MC will be able to see all of your files again.  If you get to that stage, it should be easy to use the Rename, Move, and Copy files tool to help you move your files or to tell MC where you are moving groups of files to.

It's also possible to use RM&C without moving your files back.  As long as it's straight forward, you can use RM&C to update the records for your files, substituting the new paths to where the files are now.

Give an example or two of how your files have been moved and we may be able to help you.

Brian.

[AJN]

Thank you Brian, this sounds hopeful. The actual files are all still in a single directory, and the only changes were to the top level folder name - changed from "Music_files" to "Music_and_Video" with subdirectories for audio, music video and movies etc within this. It sounds as if it'll be a relatively straightforward process to point the Library to the new folder? I've restored from Library Backups each time, and I can see the data. The problem of all the custom fields not returning and data that was in a custom field now in a default one is still there. If I understand you correctly, the best thing would be to use RM&C to put the files back on to the NAS rather than Import? When I restore the Library, will it then see the new files?

[blgentry]

Your case is a simple one.  All you did was change top level directory names.

Restore a recent backup and make sure it's right.  MC should then think that all of your files are missing and put a red (-) next to them.  All you have to do then is use RM&C to UPDATE the file location inside of MC's database.

Use the UPDATE mode at the top.  Uncheck directories, and filename.  Check the find & replace section.  Then just do something like:

Find:  C:\Music_files
Replace: C:\Music_and_Video

Be SURE to look at the preview window on the right to make sure it looks correct.  Do this before you press OK.  Start with ONE FILE.  If that works, do a whole album or something.  When you are confident, highlight all remaining files and do them all.

This section of the RM&C documentation describes how to do this along with screenshots and explanation:

https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Find_and_Replace_Template#Moving_Files_to_a_Dedicated_Media_Drive

Be sure to the UPDATE mode.  NOT RENAME as in the documentation.  You have already moved your files.  So you just want MC to update it's internal database.

Good luck!

Brian.

[AJN]

Hi Brian,

Thank you very much for this. I've tried it on a single file as you suggest, but although the process of changing the path works exactly as described, MC still can't find the file to play - "Something went wrong with playback. Check that the file name in the library matches the file name on disc". The cover art doesn't display and the red "-" is still there. The path is correct, the file exists and plays if you open it as a file. I've restarted a couple of times, but still the same result. It feels as if I'm very close!

[AJN]

IGNORE LAST MESSAGE

I tried again, not using the mapped drive but putting in the full path to the NAS and it works! I've tried a number of albums and some tracks are still not recognized for some reason, even though they're sitting in the same folder as recognized tracks. Is there an explanation for this? Really close now!