Topic: Music on 2 computers (Read 2403 times)

audiogym65 · « **on:** May 24, 2018, 08:59:26 pm »

Forgive me if this has been addressed previously, but I have not been able find the instructions I need. I have my music on my home PC. I enjoy the use of Gizmo and JRemote on my Android phone - everything sounds great! I am unable to use Panel on my my work PC, at the office, due to network restrictions. I was able to install a 2nd copy of JRiver on my work PC, and now I want to copy the music from my home PC to my work PC. How can I do this? Thank you all, in advance.

JimH · « **Reply #1 on:** May 24, 2018, 09:38:40 pm »

The wiki has a topic called Moving Files .

rsg · « **Reply #2 on:** May 25, 2018, 05:48:09 pm »

I always use a paid-for program called GoodSync for copying files from one place to another. It costs a little, about $30 one-time fee, but it makes the process quick and painless. For instance, I decided to buy another external hard drive recently as my present one is getting kinda full. GoodSync copied everything over from the old one to the new one without a hitch, including all metadata (copied over 1TB in about 7-8 hours). You would need the additional step on PC 2 of generating your library...you can do this with auto-import after you have copied the files over. Best to not have MC open when you are copying files like that (not sure why, but I was advised). Make sure MC knows where to look for the files on the external drive (if that is what you are using) when you open up the program.

BryanC · « **Reply #3 on:** May 25, 2018, 06:47:03 pm »

I have a similar setup and use syncthing because it is really good at bypassing firewalls via relays. If you allow MC to update file tags this will keep the metadata in sync too. The only thing you will miss out on is automatic playlist updates, but you can periodically perform library backups and restores (you can sync the MC library backup location via a separate syncthing folder share).

Quote from: rsg on May 25, 2018, 05:48:09 pm

I always use a paid-for program called GoodSync for copying files from one place to another. It costs a little, about $30 one-time fee, but it makes the process quick and painless. For instance, I decided to buy another external hard drive recently as my present one is getting kinda full. GoodSync copied everything over from the old one to the new one without a hitch, including all metadata (copied over 1TB in about 7-8 hours). You would need the additional step on PC 2 of generating your library...you can do this with auto-import after you have copied the files over. Best to not have MC open when you are copying files like that (not sure why, but I was advised). Make sure MC knows where to look for the files on the external drive (if that is what you are using) when you open up the program.

For direct copies, it's easiest to perform the copy in MC as Jim provided a link to above in conjunction with a library backup. No need to complicate things with external tools and no need to reimport.

audiogym65 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 26, 2018, 08:17:14 am »

Thank you all, for this information.

dtc · « **Reply #5 on:** May 26, 2018, 08:39:18 am »

Note that the task is to move the files from a home computer to a office computer. I would suspect that firewall as well as simply bandwidth issues may be a problem. It may not be as elegant, but a straightforward copy to a external usb drive and moving the usb drive to the office may be an easy solution. Once in the office, the usb drive could be used directly or the files copied to a local drive. A backup from the home computer could also be moved. Once the backup is installed in the office, Rename, Move, Copy under Library Tools could be used to change the path name if needed. Using a common drive name/mapping on both systems would make it even easier. Not very elegant, but may be easier than dealing with firewall and bandwidth issues.

audiogym65 · « **Reply #6 on:** May 27, 2018, 05:40:54 pm »

I wound up trying that - copying to my external/backup drive. It took over an hour, which I figured was a good sign. I then tried to Import the files to JRiver on my work computer, and that took significantly less time (approx. 2 minutes). As I suspected, I was unable to play anything from my work computer. I would prefer not to have to bring my backup drive to work each day.

astromo · « **Reply #7 on:** May 27, 2018, 05:58:43 pm »

I've got a 1TB usb drive that contains my digitised music collection and an instance of MC as a portable installation on the same drive.

I sync the music files with home base occasionally.

The only flaw in my plan is that I may listen to a track twice in one day. My smart list profile to not listen to a track from the last week doesn't work between home and the office because the libraries aren't in sync. Not the end of the world.

That's one way of doing the job you're dealing with. Maybe it could work for you?

dtc · « **Reply #8 on:** May 27, 2018, 06:21:15 pm »

Quote from: audiogym65 on May 27, 2018, 05:40:54 pm

I wound up trying that - copying to my external/backup drive. It took over an hour, which I figured was a good sign. I then tried to Import the files to JRiver on my work computer, and that took significantly less time (approx. 2 minutes). As I suspected, I was unable to play anything from my work computer. I would prefer not to have to bring my backup drive to work each day.

What's the problem? Do you think it has something to do with security on your system at work?

audiogym65 · « **Reply #9 on:** May 28, 2018, 08:00:35 am »

Not sure about the security issue with my work computer. It does recognize the external drive when it is plugged in. I think the issue is me trying to understand the process of Rename, Move, and Copy Files and how to use it to copy files to my external drive and then to my work computer.

~OHM~ · « **Reply #10 on:** May 28, 2018, 09:23:29 am »

Quote from: audiogym65 on May 28, 2018, 08:00:35 am

Not sure about the security issue with my work computer. It does recognize the external drive when it is plugged in. I think the issue is me trying to understand the process of Rename, Move, and Copy Files and how to use it to copy files to my external drive and then to my work computer.

then just do it the old fashioned way using windows explorer copy and paste. do you know how to do that?

BryanC · « **Reply #11 on:** May 28, 2018, 09:25:21 am »

Make sure the top dropdown box in the RMaC tool is set to "Copy". Then select the Find & Replace function and search for the drive letter on which your music currently resides (normally, "C:"), and replace it with your external drive letter (e.g., "D:", "E:", etc.). Preview your change in the right pane to make sure everything looks good.

audiogym65 · « **Reply #12 on:** May 28, 2018, 01:43:36 pm »

this all sounds very simple, but I am seem to getting stuck at this point (just testing with 1 album) - please see the attachment.

I am sorry to come across as such a dolt trying to decipher this process.

BryanC · « **Reply #13 on:** May 28, 2018, 04:17:10 pm »

1. Uncheck directories.

2. Under find and replace:

Find what: C:
Replace with: G:

audiogym65 · « **Reply #14 on:** May 28, 2018, 06:01:33 pm »

Thanks BryanC. I was able to move a test file (album) to my external drive. Now, I have to get it to my work computer where I am trying to run a 2nd version of MC.

audiogym65 · « **Reply #15 on:** May 29, 2018, 09:21:48 am »

This is what is showing on the MC on my work computer:

tij · « **Reply #16 on:** May 29, 2018, 09:46:30 am »

Quote from: audiogym65 on May 27, 2018, 05:40:54 pm

I wound up trying that - copying to my external/backup drive. It took over an hour, which I figured was a good sign. I then tried to Import the files to JRiver on my work computer, and that took significantly less time (approx. 2 minutes). As I suspected, I was unable to play anything from my work computer. I would prefer not to have to bring my backup drive to work each day.

You copy at home to drive ... that took long because all files have to be copied there

I suspect you plug that drive to your work pc ... then import them to MC ... that took fast because files still remain on your external drive ... all MC did was scan the file list of that drive ... and read some metadata ... but files still remain on external hard drive

You need to first copy media files from external hard drive to local hard drive of work PC (that will take long) ... then import files to MC from local hard drive

audiogym65 · « **Reply #17 on:** June 03, 2018, 04:57:20 pm »

Where in JRiver do I want to be when copying to my external drive? Albums? Artists? How would I copy my entire library? Is there a way to "highlight" the entire library? Screenshots would be helpful.

thank you

dtc · « **Reply #18 on:** June 03, 2018, 06:00:39 pm »

Do you know how to use Windows Explorer? With it all you need to do is drag the top level directory with your media files in it to your external drive. You really do not need MC to simply copy files from your existing drive to the external drive.

audiogym65 · « **Reply #19 on:** June 04, 2018, 05:15:53 am »

Parts of it, I do. Parts, such as a "top level directory" I do not.

JimH · « **Reply #20 on:** June 04, 2018, 05:48:12 am »

Quote from: audiogym65 on June 04, 2018, 05:15:53 am

Parts of it, I do. Parts, such as a "top level directory" I do not.

You could probably find out more on Microsoft's site or by using Google, but you can copy a directory and paste it somewhere else. Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V. That will include all of its sub-directories and files. Practice a little.

dtc · « **Reply #21 on:** June 04, 2018, 06:45:25 am »

Your set up the directory (folder) structure for your media files yourself. It is unique to your computer.

The structure should look something like this, for example.

C:
Users
Your PC Name
My Documents
My Music
J River Music Media Files
Artist 1
Album 1
Track 1
Track 2
...
Album 2
Track 1
Track 2
...
Artist 2
Album 3
Track 1
Track 2
...
Album 4
Track 1
Track 2
...

Where Artist, Album and Track are the actual names for your music files. The unique part in this example starts with J River Music Media Files. That is your top level directory for you media files. With explorer you can click on the J River Music Media Files folder and drag it over to the external dirve, something like K: Alternatively, you can click on that folder, hit Ctrl C, then click on the external drive (K:) and hit Ctrl V. You will then have the same directory structure on K:. You then move the drive to the new computer and use Windows Explorer to move the directory from K: to wherever you want it on the disk on the new computer.

Personally, I would not use the Microsoft Users/PC Name/My Documents/My Music structure, but would place the top level directory right under C: or whatever drive designation you have. But that is up to you.

If you want to use the Rename, Move Copy function of Library Tools, just select one of your views (e.g. Albums), click on the first album cover (it will become highlighted), scroll down to the bottom, and click on the last album while holding down Shift. All the albums should then be highlighted. Then right click, select Library Tools and Rename, Move Copy and then follow Bryan's instructions.

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Author Topic: Music on 2 computers (Read 2403 times)