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[k2103]

The best way to move Media Center to a new Mac ?

I followed the recommended method:
- Make a backup of the library on the old Mac
- Move my Music folder
- Restore the library on the new Mac from backup
- Change the file path with the Find and Replace tool

It's almost beautiful, except that a lot of the metadata are lost.
In fact, everything I personally added or modified:
- Some missing cover art
- Some changes of names, titles, artists, etc.
As if these modifications had not been embedded in the the tracks files.
Which is also confirmed when I open my Music folder with another application (Swinsian).

After a moment of discouragement, I thought of trying this:
- Fully transfer the J River folder contained in the Mac library: "/ Users / iMac-01 / Library / Application Support / J River"
And here, instantly, I find the entirety of my library.
I conclude that the changes made are exclusive to the MC Library.

Am I making a mistake?

[blgentry]

It seems like your Restore from the backup part didn't work.  Let me ask this:  BEFORE you restored from backup, did you have any files in the library?  You should not.  *After* you restore from backup you should have all of your old files showing, but with the incorrect path.  At that point, all of your metadata should be exactly the same as it was on your old system.

My guess is that you accidentally imported all of your files and MC read the metadata out of the files.

Brian.

[k2103]

Thank you for answering me.
First, to your question: No, there was no file in the library before restoring from the backup.

And, to be sure, I redid the whole process from a new clean install of Media Center.
- Make a new backup of the library on the old Mac
- Move my Music folder
- Restore the library on the new Mac from backup
- Change the file path with the Find and Replace tool
- Run Rebuild Thumbnail tool (a long enough operation)

I got the same results as the first time, all the files were restored, except that a lot of the metadata are lost.
In fact, everything I personally added or modified:
- Some missing cover art
- Some changes of names, titles, artists, etc.

And to go further, I started all over again with the difference that:
- I did not restore the library from a backup
- I only have fully transfer the J River folder in the Mac library: "/ Users / iMac-01 / Library / Application Support / J River"
And here, instantly, I find the entirety of my library with all the additions and changes I made personally.

So I come to believe that there is something wrong with the Backup and Restore process.

I also conclude that not all metadata are embedded in the tracks files, but that some are rather preserved in the MC library.
To confirm this, I only had to open my Music folder with another application (Swinsian) and also have the track files analyzed by a specialized application (Yate).

[blgentry]

Restoring the library should restore all of the metadata.  That's one of it's primary purposes.  Are you seeing missing data in common fields like [Artist] or [Album] or similar?  Or only in custom fields?  I ask because this might relate to re-creating custom fields.  Or it might not.

Are you able to check a few songs on the old system to see if the metadata is the same or different?  That would tell us something.  I'm not sure if you made a backup of your old system recently or not.  That might explain some differences.  But it wouldn't explain *all* the files be wrong (or most of them).  Are you sure the file you are restoring from is recent?

Metadata is definitely put into the JRiver MC database.  It is *optionally* written back to the files as well.  The option that controls this is:

Tools > Options > General > Importing & Tagging > Update tags when file info changes > (check to make it write metadata to files)

You can force MC to write to your files by highlighting the file or files in question and then doing:

<right click> Library Tools > Update Tags (from Library)

If you decide to do this, on your old system, I recommend doing it in batches.  Maybe 10 or 15 albums at a time.  I recall something about MC hanging up if you try to update too many files at once.  Note that you would normally not need to do this, as setting the option above would update each file as you made your changes in MC.  This is kind of a one time operation to get your files in sync with the metadata that's inside MC's internal database.

The database restore really should be working.  I've done this quite a few times.

Brian.

[RD James]

Not all metadata is written to files, but it is stored in the database (library).
I've suggested that JRiver automate this, but you should first disable auto-import before creating a backup of the library, and only re-enable it after restoring the backup and updating the file paths using the Rename, Move, and Copy tool in Update mode.
 
If the file paths differ and auto-import is enabled when you restore the backup, it may be removing the files (because they are "missing") and re-importing the files as "new" which would discard any metadata that is not stored in the file itself.

[k2103]

RD James :

I never use auto-import, but this information is good to know.
Thank you.

blgentry :

I use only one custom field and it works ok.
I always make a backup just before restoring.

The tools "Update tags when file info changes" and "Update Tags" seem interesting. I will try them and continue my exploration.
I will come back later.

[Awesome Donkey]

I always use the "Update tags when file info changes" and "Update tags (from library)" options and never have issues with missing metadata after booting into a different OS (Windows, macOS or Linux), moving my library to a different computer or changing the storage location.

[k2103]

Awesome Donkey :

I begin to believe that this is the key to the riddle.

[blgentry]

If you do a Library Restore, your metadata should be correct *before* you do the Rename, Move, and Copy files to fix paths.

I would do a restore, into an empty library, and immediately check a song's metadata to see if it's right.  If not, there's something wrong with the backup, the backup file, or the restore.  It should be correct immediately after restore.  The metadata written to the files should have NO impact on this at all.  Because the Library Restore is purely internal to MC's database.

Brian.

[RD James]

I never use auto-import, but this information is good to know.

Not using auto-import is not the same as disabling auto-import.
I believe it will still check the library for missing files automatically even if you don't have any watched folders.

[k2103]

Not using auto-import is not the same as disabling auto-import.

I meant that auto-import is always disable.
Anyway, I think my problem is solved now. I will eventually submit my findings after better verified.

[k2103]

The metadata written to the files should have NO impact on this at all.  Because the Library Restore is purely internal to MC's database.

This is partially true.

I noticed that the Cover Art are not transferred during recovery and that was my first concern.
When I make a restore from a backup, it's true that all other metadata are correctly transferred to the corresponding fields. My first failures were due to errors on my part in the restoration process or in my Music folder.

But Cover Art only appears after correcting file paths with the Find and Replace tool, which shows that they are well recovered from the files. And by the way, if we open the backup file, we see that it does not include the Cover Art folder found in the JRiver folder of the Mac library.

It is therefore important to always keep the files in the Music folder up-to-date by using the "Update tags when file info changes" and "Update Tags (from Library)" tools.

My restoration is now done to my satisfaction and it was an opportunity for me to learn a lot about Media Center. Thank you for your help, Brian and RD James and Awesome Donkey.

Long life Media Center.

[blgentry]

I'm happy to hear that you have this sorted out to your satisfaction.   

I agree that cover art can be a problem during a restore because you have to remember to transfer your cover art folder (if you use one) to the correct place.  If you use FLAC or ALAC or another format for many of your files, you should also consider storing the images *inside* the file tags.  That way the cover art, and the music file are the same file, so they can't be separated.  The MC option to do this is:

Tools > Options > File Location > Cover Art > also store image inside the files tag > (check this option)

Brian.