Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[tunetyme]

I just installed 25 and I went into options and turned auto import off.  Apparently, this wasn't saved since my server was turned off. I brought my server up and began importing files from my server. It promptly went to another drive and imported files from there as well (my hard back up drive). Now have a ton of duplicates.

2 questions:

Why is this option turned on?

Why isn't my settings from previous version copied into 25 when installing? Ever other software package I own keeps my settings.

 

[JimH]

Try setting up Auto Import.  You can tell it what directories to import or ignore.

[tunetyme]

I am from the school that doesn't like software doing anything that I explicitly didn't tell it to do. When I want the software to take some action I will tell it do it.

I've paid for a master license and it looks like I will have to go back several generations to find a version that doesn't try to automate things. The other problems are metadata and album artist auto. They have created way to many hours of problems for me.

Jim, this is a real problem for me. As far as I am concerned this is a deal killer. There was a time when you were concerned about  addressing user needs and actually responding directly to question being asked. Is JRiver that big now?

[blgentry]

1.  That "import countdown" annoys me, but it's always stopped when I pressed the cancel button.  Sorry to hear yours imported a bunch of stuff you don't want.  You can probably very easily get rid of it though.  Is all the duplicate stuff on a drive by itself?  If so, you can just go to Audio > Files and select the drive, which will show you everything from that drive the MC knows about.  Then just delete it, and take the default option, which is to remove from MC, but to leave the files on disk alone.

2.  I thought the Windows version of MC was really good at finding the previous version and importing the library and all settings.  I mostly use the Mac and Linux versions, which do not find anything from the previous version.  So I always do a library backup in the old version, then install the new version and do a File > Library > Restore library .  This gets all of my media files back into MC correctly, and it restores 98% of my settings too.  It's pretty fast and easy.  You should probably try this method as it should eliminate tons of potential work for you.  No need to re-import.  No need to rebuild or reset anything.  It should just all be there after you do a Library Restore.

Good luck!

Brian.

[tunetyme]

I understand what you are saying Brian.

Yes it was pretty easy to get rid of. Had this happen in background I may not have noticed for awhile. It's not that it imported the files, it is the fact I didn't tell it to even look. 

For some reason I have some files that will not import into MC. I can go to the file and click on it and MC will play it with no trouble. As a result, I import the files all over again with a new version. Hopefully the missing files will show up this time. Perhaps they were a part of some files that I deleted permanently but have replaced them because they were defective and the software remembers. I simply don't know. 

This time, it showed me that a large number of files that I ran analyze on did not have the info stored in their tag. So, I ran it again and I will, continue to check other tag items, when I am done, I was impressed with the analyze speed at over 100 per minute using just 6 of my processors. I will write from MC to the tags just to be sure. The new analysis overwrites some of the music key information that was stored in the tags so I will need to figure out where I can store that info and run that software again.

I have been buying master licenses since they were first offered in anticipation of finally making the commitment to Linix and kiss Microsoft goodbye. It looks like you have done it already. How did that go?

There are so many options in MC that you can toggle on or off, what's a few more? If they can create a sidecar for movie tags why not something like that for all our settings. Once I have them set to what I like, I don't go back and look at them so I tend to forget that I need to make all those selections again but don't always remember what they are. I guess I have been spoiled by other software vendors.

[blgentry]

I have been buying master licenses since they were first offered in anticipation of finally making the commitment to Linix and kiss Microsoft goodbye. It looks like you have done it already. How did that go?

I might be kind of an odd case.  I'm a Linux/Unix professional.  I used Windows at home for maybe 3 to 5 years.  I stopped that around 10 years ago and now use mostly Mac at home.  The transition wasn't a big deal for me.  Definitely differences.  The differences are mostly in approach.  Once you figure out the Mac philosophy (or approach) most things become easier.  There *are* less choices though.  If you are the kind of person that has to tweak every control and feels the need to customize everything, the Mac might not be the right platform.  I've met (online) some Windows users that just can't get over the fact that Mac is not Windows.  Windows seems right to some people and those people just won't ever like Mac.  But those people are not the majority.  I truly believe that most people can use Windows or Mac.

I use Linux daily at work and it's no problem.  But I wouldn't choose to use it as a desktop operating system at home.  I think the Mac is a way better choice for that.  I do use Linux as a music server running JRiver at home.  It took a lot more effort to set up than MC on the Mac, or MC on Windows.  But it works pretty well and I like it.

There are so many options in MC that you can toggle on or off, what's a few more? If they can create a sidecar for movie tags why not something like that for all our settings. Once I have them set to what I like, I don't go back and look at them so I tend to forget that I need to make all those selections again but don't always remember what they are. I guess I have been spoiled by other software vendors.

As I mentioned before, you should try doing a backup and restore.  File > Library > Backup library (in an older version of MC).  Then File > Library > Restore Library (in a newer version).  This will repopulate your library with all of your media.  It will also restore ALL OF YOUR SETTINGS.  Restoring the settings can be a big deal for the reasons you just outlined.

Good luck to you.

Brian.

[tunetyme]

Thanks for the insight on Linux. My file server is an Unraid box that is Linux based. It has run flawlessly since 2005. It is past time time to upgrade the CPU and motherboard. With an upgrade I will be able to use for more than just a server. I have a hard time fixing something that is working so well.

I am not a Mac person at all. I've tried before. My approach is the a computer should reduce my workload not make more work for me. I strive to get right the first time because I hate having to do things over.

I never knew that settings were a part of the backup. I thought it was strictly the database file info. You are probably right about doing a restore first. The reason I import files as if it is a first time install is I get to see what is really stored in the tags and address it. But I think I could also do a restore then delete the database and import my files accomplishing the same goal.

[timwtheov]

". . . I get to see what is really stored in the tags and address it."

You can also set up maintenance views to accomplish this purpose, so as to avoid having to delete/reinstall a library again each time there's an upgrade or whenever it is you do this. Maybe take look at the Expression Language and Search Language pages on the wiki to help you out, but really, you can do a lot with just different fields.

One quick example from my own set-up: I use two custom tags for classical works called [Classical Grouping] (e.g., Orchestra, Concerto, Chamber, Vocal, etc.) and [Classical Sub-Grouping] (e.g., depending on the grouping, Piano--for piano concertos--Quartet--for one type of chamber music--Symphony--for one type of Orchestral, and so forth). To make sure these are filled for all completely tagged classical albums/works, I just set up a quick view to only populate if one or the other of these is empty. If they are, that work + album will show up in the view. If nothing shows up in that view, then all my fully tagged classical albums are indeed fully tagged. You can do this for any one field or any combination of fields, depending on what it is you want to check.

Just a suggestion . . .

[RoderickGI]

I never knew that settings were a part of the backup.

Knowing that should make your life so much easier!

The reason I import files as if it is a first time install is I get to see what is really stored in the tags and address it. But I think I could also do a restore then delete the database and import my files accomplishing the same goal.

This is what is creating all the work, and rework, that you have explicitly said on multiple occasions that you do not want to do. Just take Brian's advice and use the Library Backup and Restore process during each major MC upgrade process. This is what I do, unless MC actually finds the previous version Library and uses that automatically, which it often doesn't.

Then if you really want all the tags in your library also in the files, select everything in your library and run "Update tags (from library)". Best not to do the whole Library at once of course, because it would take a long time, and you should check what you are doing on a small group first, then do more in reasonable and definable chunks. That process will write all the MC fields that have been set to be written to file tags (in "Options > Library & Folders > Manage Library Fields > {select a field} > Check "Save in file tags (when possible)", and can be written to the files, to tags in the file or in a Sidecar file.

It can't be easy to find missing tags in files by re-importing and looking at the mess that is created. As timwtheov suggests, use the tools in MC, specifically Views, to check tags if required... after Restoring a backup from the previous version. Learn to use the Tag() function to directly read a tag from a file, and if you get creative, check that the corresponding Library field has the same value, or only display records where the file tag and the MC field value are different.

For goodness sake, stop re-importing files every year and making work for yourself!