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[larryrup]

I am still struggling with getting a library (any library) to work.  Attached are two snips one showing how my auto import is configured and the other some file paths the library shows the files are in.  The only correct path is E:\music.  I know what the other paths are trying to show but any song in a path other than E does not play.  The  local LAN IP path and the network path (\\mediaserver) have never been used as a auto import setting nor a manual import setting.

I restored an older library, which oddly was way incomplete (a fraction of the library size expected as the backup was from 09/17.  Auto import started adding  to the library and finished at a reasonably close file size as compared with the music folder size on the drive.  When I went to play, every other song or so did not play (error loading file) and a check of the path showed something other than E:.  Anybody have an idea as to what is going on?

Thanks

Larry

[larryrup]

Anybody?  Am I going about asking for help the wrong way?

Thanks

Larry

[JimH]

The wiki has a topic called "Moving Files".  It may help.

If the files don't play, check the tag for the file location, then make sure the file is actually there.

[larryrup]

Jim:

Thanks.  When it does not Play it's not there.  A file locate shows path as either a network machine name path, or a LAN IP path, neither of which is in the import settings.  That's one problem, the other is the library keeps reverting to a meerl fraction of the folder in the  import path.  I have tried (more than a half a dozen times) to either create a new library, or restore an older one.  When the library restores...it is the small size.  You can see auto import start up and the size, artist and album count start increasing.  Once complete, I guess within 5 minutes, it's back to the fractional size.  Pretty odd, and likely a setting somewhere.  I've been using MC since v. 18 and have never come across this.

Since I've tried both restoring and creating a new library, I don't know how to get around this.  I am certain however, the problem was caused by an attempt to use either: hard drive via a network connection to another PC in the house, which was running it's own copy of MC, or again using another PC with MC, attaching to the MC server running on this machine., not as a player, but by building a library on the remote machine.  Although I'm usually careful, I found the library on MC for the machine with the problem empty.  Sure I wacked it but unsure how.  Cannot restore or build a library now on the machine I was connecting to.  Songs always play (and I'm certain are present) if you say play in MC from Windows file manager.  If that song is not one of the few the library retains, it will be dropped in short order (a few minutes).

I have stopped short uninstalling and re-installing MC and testing that, as I was hoping to avoid loosing all my settings.

I'm aware this version is retired.  I think the issue is this user and hope someone can get me around my dilemma.

Thanks

Larry

[blgentry]

Is E:\ a network path?  I'm guessing yes.

How about unmapping E: and remapping it to something like M: and trying again with a fresh clean library:  File > Library > Clear Library .  Good luck.

Brian.

[marko]

Larry,
Unrelated, but I recognise my skin

I think you've made some mods to it, and in a couple of screenshots you've posted, you're dealing with some funky scaling issues there. If you zip up the folder and send it to me, I'll see if I can't fix it and send it back to you.

-marko

[larryrup]

Thanks to all, and Marko, thanks for the generous offer to take a look at the skin.  If I modified it, it would have been either whatever user functionality is available make changes or unintentional.  I'll try to get a compress copy out to you.

I've seemed to have stoped the library from dropping the majority of the files, but 3 different paths are still present (a path of E-which only exists on the PC that have a external drive attached to it;\\mediaserver which is the network path to this drive; and B: which is the mapped shared drive letter of that E path mentioned above).  The only import, and setting in auto import is to the mapped B drive.  I have a new external drive coming tomorrow and it will be a local backup to this e: drive and serve as the source for the 2nd PC I've been trying to get to access the files on E.

So a better question from me:  What is the best practice method to run MC on two different machines, and have the ability to add files and edit meta data so the changes are reflected on both PC's?  I thought by having MC locally installed on both machines but using source files from a common hard drive would be the logical way, but it has been problematic.  Just before I lost one of the hard rivers, I was trying a two way syncing app.  This has proven interesting and might be quite useful after a rather large investment of time getting the two drives looking the same.  I found many many variances in the drives.  Directories like artist\album\song seem straight forward but when you go after the never ending metadata clean up, you find artist directories mis-spelled on one drive but not the other and loads of other similar differences.  Syncing software will want to create and copy entire directories where there is a mis-spelling.  Then the concerns of adding an album on one drive and forgetting to copy it to the other drive.  So you can imagine the initial work needed to get the benefit of the sync application.  But what else does a music/computer weenie have to do!

Thanks

Larry

[larryrup]

Marko:  What folder to zip up?  A library backup?

Thanks

Larry

[marko]

Hi Larry,
I've sent a PM to avoid dragging your thread off-topic.

-marko