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Author Topic: previously good tracks sometimes become non-playable with error msg:  (Read 1429 times)

torgny

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previously good tracks sometimes become non-playable with error msg:
« on: March 31, 2018, 08:26:44 am »
Playback Failed

(i) The media types pf the selected files are not supported for playback. (<none>)
[OK]

The files are suddenly gone from the library, usually 2-3 tracks from an album no longer shows in in the playlist for any given album.  Attempting to play the file by right-clicking on it in Windows Explorer gives the above error if selecting Playback with MC (while playback with Foobar is fine, and also with VLC and Zoomplayer).  Only MC can't play it or recognize the file as music and the problem appears on FLAC and WAV files alike, standard or HD resolution makes no difference.

The error can be corrected by editing the file ID-tags with Windows Explorer : [right-click]-> properties-> edit ID-tags) and changing any trivial data such as removing images, changing disc number, artist name, etc.  At least one ID-tag must be changed for the file to be updated.  After a delay of 5-10 minutes the track will show in MC again and play normal as before.

I have the current version of MC23 and Windows 10 but this problem has been in evidence at least a couple of years.  Could it be that MC updates files randomly in the background and causes this (without updating the date of the files)?  Something like that is going on somehow as some file have an ID-tag called "tool name" and "tool version" indicating MC and version number, respectively.  Could it be the MC "analyze files" function that has a bug?  Otherwise, I am unable to find any causation or system in this.  Sometimes it happens with newly imported files and sometimes with files that have been in my library for years. 
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JimH

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Re: previously good tracks sometimes become non-playable with error msg:
« Reply #1 on: March 31, 2018, 09:02:12 am »
Antivirus software might do that.
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torgny

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Re: previously good tracks sometimes become non-playable with error msg:
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2018, 08:39:23 pm »
OK so Anti-virus might be the issue -- but what can I do about it?  Could the security SW be suspended during playback? 

But I only have Windows Defender and I believe it can't be uninstalled, and even if it could, maybe that's not a good idea.  And why isn't this an issue for Foobar or other players, just MC?  Frankly, I think it is a bug and needs to be adressed by J River. 
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Awesome Donkey

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Re: previously good tracks sometimes become non-playable with error msg:
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2018, 05:31:03 am »
There's a taming Windows Defender topic here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,114101.0.html

As for MC writing tool name and tool version tags, you can disable this by opening MC's Options > Audio > Advanced and uncheck Write tool name and version.
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torgny

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Re: previously good tracks sometimes become non-playable with error msg:
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2018, 04:40:24 pm »
Thank you for those hints, Awesome Donkey!  Certainly an awesome list of things to do, I consider myself computer adept but can imagine it a stumbling block for many -- could JRiver consider building an app to automate this?  After all, upgrading to MC24 will necessitate a revisit to this as many items reference MC23 by name ....
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~OHM~

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Re: previously good tracks sometimes become non-playable with error msg:
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2018, 05:55:27 pm »
Quote from: torgny on April 01, 2018, 04:40:24 pm
could JRiver consider building an app to automate this?  After all, upgrading to MC24 will necessitate a revisit to this as many items reference MC23 by name ....
That would be sweet. the reference by name is just that tho. most will pertain to MC# tho x64 vs x86 may make a difference now to a few items.
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torgny

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Re: previously good tracks sometimes become non-playable with error msg:
« Reply #6 on: April 13, 2018, 12:07:52 pm »
Well, I followed your instructions and also updated to Windows Spring 2018 in the meanwhile.  Unfortunately, no change to this issue. 

To illustrate the problem, I found yet another album missing several track and copied the whole album to a USB memory stick, added the location to the MC library and voila - all tracks are available.  So there's nothing wrong with the files themselves.  The question now becomes how to get the complete album back into the ordinary library.  Simply copying the files from the USB back to the original location does not accomplish this.  So instead, I delete the source tracks and move the files to the Recycle Bin using Library Tools.  Restart.  Then I use the "move and update library" function moving the file copies from the USB to to the original location.  Result: there are now 3 versions of those files that were available to start with (the source location, the USB, and the overwritten source location (yikes!).  The missing tracks are only listed on the USB location.  So I remove the USB stick from the library and I am back where I started with an incomplete album.  Appears the library "remembers" files that have been deleted. Something's very funny here, or maybe not so funny.

Again, freeware like Foobar has none of these issues and neither does dBpoweramp.  It is without a doubt a problem with MC. 

I will now remove all those exceptions to Windows Defender because I don't feel comfortable opening my computer up to bad actors.

Any other suggestions?

TG


Quote from: Awesome Donkey on April 01, 2018, 05:31:03 am
There's a taming Windows Defender topic here: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,114101.0.html

As for MC writing tool name and tool version tags, you can disable this by opening MC's Options > Audio > Advanced and uncheck Write tool name and version.
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torgny

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Re: previously good tracks sometimes become non-playable with error msg:
« Reply #7 on: April 20, 2018, 05:43:59 pm »
Just realized that somehow the Import settings have been changed to uncheck "update for external changes" option.  Don't quite know how that happened, maybe the update to 23 did it?  Anyway, I checked it again (as it should be, by default) and the problem with extraneous version of an old file has been resolved.  Now - like before - editing file tags is enough to correct the MC library and include "problem" files.  Still tedious, though. And still not a problem with freeware like Foobar. // TG


Quote from: torgny on April 13, 2018, 12:07:52 pm
Well, I followed your instructions and also updated to Windows Spring 2018 in the meanwhile.  Unfortunately, no change to this issue. 

To illustrate the problem, I found yet another album missing several track and copied the whole album to a USB memory stick, added the location to the MC library and voila - all tracks are available.  So there's nothing wrong with the files themselves.  The question now becomes how to get the complete album back into the ordinary library.  Simply copying the files from the USB back to the original location does not accomplish this.  So instead, I delete the source tracks and move the files to the Recycle Bin using Library Tools.  Restart.  Then I use the "move and update library" function moving the file copies from the USB to to the original location.  Result: there are now 3 versions of those files that were available to start with (the source location, the USB, and the overwritten source location (yikes!).  The missing tracks are only listed on the USB location.  So I remove the USB stick from the library and I am back where I started with an incomplete album.  Appears the library "remembers" files that have been deleted. Something's very funny here, or maybe not so funny.

Again, freeware like Foobar has none of these issues and neither does dBpoweramp.  It is without a doubt a problem with MC. 

I will now remove all those exceptions to Windows Defender because I don't feel comfortable opening my computer up to bad actors.

Any other suggestions?

TG
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