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[Skeezix]

I set up a Windows Vista (SP2) computer and installed Media Center Version 21.0.9 on it. I did not connect to the internet. Then I transferred my library to it and played a couple tracks without problems. Next I copied my playlist (containing over 100 names). When I choose Playlists I can see the names that I gave the playlists but none of the playlists have any contents. How can I get my playlist contents to reappear so I can play them?

I uninstalled MC and reinstalled it but nothing changed. I might add that I cannot select more than one MP3 file in my window. The usual Shift-hold and Ctrl-hold have stopped working. If someone could help me I would really appreciate it.

[blgentry]

Transferring playlists only works if the path names (drive letter and directories below the drive letter) are identical on both systems.  If one system has different paths, you'll need to edit the playlist file.  You can use something like TextEdit to do a Find & Replace on the text file and replace one path with another.  For example, substituting D:\Music with F:\Stuff\Music .

Another way to do it is to do a backup and restore on the whole library, which would preserve all playlists, ratings, play counts, import dates, etc.  You would then need to use the Rename, Move, and Copy files tool to update the paths in the restored library.

Depending on your needs one of these methods should work for you.

Brian.

[Skeezix]

Brian,

I took your suggestion and verified that the paths to my MP3 files on my source and target computers were identical. Then I opened one of the m3u files on each computer and verified that the paths inside it were also identical.

Upon closer examination of the playlists on my target computer (a Vista computer), I see that the last playlist file is dated 20170302 (I put the date at the start of each playlist name). On my source computer (a Win 10 computer) there are many playlists that are dated later than 20170302.

It appears that MC on the target computer is reading something other than the playlists in my "AppData/Roaming/J River/Media Center 21/Library/Playlists" folder which contains the later files (all 30+ of them). So where do I look for the playlists that MC is reading and displaying to me?

[blgentry]

Playlists are stored in MC's internal database.  I do not think MC maintains any kind of human readable playlists on disk automatically.  As far as I know, if you want human readable playlists, you have to do File > Export Playlist .

To transfer that human readable playlist to a different MC system, you have to import it with File > Import Playlist .  This should work if you only have a small number of playlists.

If you have lots (say more than 30), then my second method of transferring the entire database, is probably the best solution for you.

Good luck.

Brian.

[Skeezix]

Brian,

My inability to select more than one MP3 file at a time, and the apparent loss of Shift+ and CTRL+ was caused by a loose keyboard connector to my computer. With respect to my "empty" playlist files, they are still empty. Here's what I did today:

1. I deleted all MP3 files and all MC files on my WinVista computer, and all references to them (that I could find) in the registry.

2. I reinstalled MC 21.0.90.

3. I then reloaded the MP3 files from a backup I made and restored the library that I made two days ago on the source computer.

4. I restarted MC and took a look at my playlists. Unfortunately, all of the playlists are still empty, and the last name in the list is dated 20170302.

Since that March I had renamed many of those files and had added another 40 or so files, for a total of 160 playlists. I've tried everything I can think of. Surely somebody there (maybe Jim??) knows where that information is stored and how I can move it from my source computer to my target computer. Can you help me with this problem?

[blgentry]

3. I then reloaded the MP3 files from a backup I made and restored the library that I made two days ago on the source computer.

At this point, do your files play?  Not the playlists.  The songs.

Also did you use File > Library > Restore Library at this stage?  Or some other operation?

Brian.

[Skeezix]

I did use File>Library>Restore to restore the library contents to my Win10 computer, and yes, all the files play nicely.

I might add that on March 2, 2017, I did a Library Backup on the WinVista computer. The next day I installed my new Win10 computer along with MC21. Next I used a memory stick to copy all MP3s to it and then did my Library Restore. The playlists on the Win10 computer all retained their contents and I had no problems whatsoever.

Since that time, I lost the contents of my playlists on my WinVista computer, and the date of the last playlist was March 2, 2017. Yesterday (October 11) I did a complete uninstall of MC on the WinVista computer and reinstalled MC21.0.90 followed by a Library Restore (from a Library Backup I made on the Win10 computer on October 10).

[blgentry]

This is really hard to follow.  Does either computer have your playlists on it now?

Brian.

[Skeezix]

This is really hard to follow.  Does either computer have your playlists on it now?

Brian.

Yes.

The Win10 playlists start at 2014 and end on October 2, 2017 and each playlist contains a list of the MP3 files used to make it.

The WinVista playlists start at 2014 and end on March 2, 2017, and none of the playlists contains any MP3 files.

[blgentry]

Hmm.  I'm not getting your meaning about the dates.  If you restored the Win10 library to the WinVista machine a day or two ago, how could the playlists on the vista machine be so old?  Are you sure you restored a recent library backup from the win10 machine to the winvista machine?

Brian.

[Skeezix]

Here is an image from my WinVista computer showing the UNpopulated playlists and another image from my Win10 computer showing the populated playlists. I incorporate the dates that I play each playlist in the playlist's title:

[blgentry]

The two images show two different lists of playlists.  It's not simply that one set of lists has no songs.  There are lists entirely missing from the vista one.

I feel like something weird is going on.  In my experience, restoring a library backup always brings everything:  All media entries, all playlists, all metadata, etc.

Have you restored a recent backup from the win10 machine to the vista machine?  Like one made today? 

Brian.

[Skeezix]

I've backed up my library on the Win10 computer on October 9th and restored it to the WinVista computer on October and again on October 10th with negative results. Today I backed up the library again and restored it all within 2 minutes, and now my playlists are fully populated!  The only difference that I can see is the date of the last backup was a day before I restored it...

I don't know what the problem was, but I'm sure glad that you helped me with it!  (I realize that the Vista list differs from the Win10 list because I used the Win10 computer almost exclusively since last March, and have edited the playlist names on the Win10 computer and have added 30+ playlists since last March.)

So: Thanks again for sticking with me until the problem was solved! I'm PDF'ing this thread for future use.

Clayton