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[shmoo7]

Hi Everyone,

I have been using MediaCenter for quite a while now. I have been having a problem for over a year now (more likely two) but haven't had the chance to post about it. I currently have MC24, 25, and 26 installed. MC24 shows/contains the correct number of files. MC25, however, shows 8,411 fewer tracks and MC26 shows 6,718 fewer. I was noticing this when wanting to listen to particular songs and discovering they weren't shown in the newer versions. I haven't run into this with previous versions.

The missing songs all come from the same folder, which is the primary music folder.
I have carefully checked that all the settings are the same, and that MC is importing from the same folders.
I have tried deleting all the items from within MC and re-importing them.
I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling MC25 and 26.

Now I'm really stumped and could use some help figuring out what is going on. Obviously I'm not feeling eager to upgrade to MC27 when I am still using MC24. I am running Win7 Pro 64 bit on a desktop system. I am not using any add-ons in MC. The files are contained on an internal data drive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[AndrewFG]

I think you will need to provide some additional info about (at least one of) the missing files:

1) what is its media format?
2) what is its full path file name?

[JimH]

In Import settings, you can tell MC to import (or not) previously deleted files.

[shmoo7]

I think you will need to provide some additional info about (at least one of) the missing files:

1) what is its media format?
2) what is its full path file name?

1. The media format is flac.
2. The full path is D:\Music Files are contained within this path in folders by artist and album. Missing songs are from various folders within the directory.

[shmoo7]

In Import settings, you can tell MC to import (or not) previously deleted files.

Sorry, I should have added in my initial post that this was already done.

[tij]

In autoimport there are settings that can exclude sub folders ... that can influence count (i usually have folder on my music folder that I exclude from importing ... I use that folder to temporary place new rips before moving them to final location)

Also are you sure MC24 count is correct?

I would use Window Explorer search to count flac files in concern folder.

Then create search function for that folder in MC to see which MC has correct number.

PS. there is setting in Options->General that import files into library if played (regardless of where they are located) ... maybe that makes count different ... that would explain why MC24 got more files

[AndrewFG]

2. The full path is D:\Music Files are contained within this path in folders by artist and album. Missing songs are from various folders within the directory.

Please give the full (complete) file name (including the full path name) of one of the missing files.

[shmoo7]

In autoimport there are settings that can exclude sub folders ... that can influence count (i usually have folder on my music folder that I exclude from importing ... I use that folder to temporary place new rips before moving them to final location)

Also are you sure MC24 count is correct?

I would use Window Explorer search to count flac files in concern folder.

Then create search function for that folder in MC to see which MC has correct number.

PS. there is setting in Options->General that import files into library if played (regardless of where they are located) ... maybe that makes count different ... that would explain why MC24 got more files

I have just compared the count in MC24 again Windows Explorer and received the same count, so MC 24 is correct. I have re-checked that MC24/25/26 are all set to import the same directories and not set to ignore deleted files.

I just checked the count of flacs between MC24 and 25 and flacs account for approximately 6,000 of the missing items. It is missing random songs rather than entire albums. All flacs are located within D:\Music. I have not set any subfolders to be excluded.

I do not have the option selected to import files into the library if played.

[shmoo7]

Please give the full (complete) file name (including the full path name) of one of the missing files.

As mentioned in my previous post immediately above, I'm not missing entire albums, but rather random songs.

The file path is:
D:\Music\Artist\Album\Track # - Artist Name - Title.flac

So, one example I have found is:
D:\Music\U2\The Unforgettable Fire\04 - U2 - The Unforgettable Fire.flac

Please keep the suggestions coming. I've been trying to fix this intermittently for more than a year now, but I usually have to move on to something else and just default back to using MC24. It would be really nice to start using the updates that I've paid for.

[DJLegba]

Are you running different versions of MC at the same time? Is it possible that MC24 has those files open when 25 or 26 try to import them? If that's not the case, are you using some external tag editor or anything else that accesses those files?

[shmoo7]

I think I might have just found a clue, but I'm still testing to verify. I thought I would put this out there to see if anyone could think of a reason why this would make a difference.

I used to rip all my soundtracks/mixed CDs to a "Various Artists" folder. In early 2016 I changed that to "(Multiple Artists)". When trying to find examples of songs that were missing, I compared the counts between these two folders. For "Various Artists" I'm showing a discrepancy of 1,372 songs. For the newer "(Multiple Artists)" folder, they are identical.

I then started looking at the songs that weren't showing up in MC25 versus the ones that were. While I now rip my music using MediaCenter exclusively, at one time I used to rip my music using dBpoweramp. When comparing all the missing songs, they have been ripped using dBpoweramp version 14.2. When ripped using dBpoweramp version 14.4 they are showing up in MC25. I'm still investigating this, but so far it has held true for every song that isn't showing up in MC25.

Does anyone have an explanation for this? A setting that needs to be changed?

Thanks!

[shmoo7]

I think I might have just found a clue, but I'm still testing to verify. I thought I would put this out there to see if anyone could think of a reason why this would make a difference.

I used to rip all my soundtracks/mixed CDs to a "Various Artists" folder. In early 2016 I changed that to "(Multiple Artists)". When trying to find examples of songs that were missing, I compared the counts between these two folders. For "Various Artists" I'm showing a discrepancy of 1,372 songs. For the newer "(Multiple Artists)" folder, they are identical.

I then started looking at the songs that weren't showing up in MC25 versus the ones that were. While I now rip my music using MediaCenter exclusively, at one time I used to rip my music using dBpoweramp. When comparing all the missing songs, they have been ripped using dBpoweramp version 14.2. When ripped using dBpoweramp version 14.4 they are showing up in MC25. I'm still investigating this, but so far it has held true for every song that isn't showing up in MC25.

Does anyone have an explanation for this? A setting that needs to be changed?

Thanks!

Sorry, a correction. Just in case it is even remotely relevant, the switch in folders happened around 2012-2013. The switch to dBpoweramp version 14.4 from 14.2 was around early 2013, I think.

[shmoo7]

Now that I know what I'm looking for, I searched for albums from single artists that I knew I'd ripped a long time ago. Roxy Music - Avalon was the first one I thought of. As expected, it was ripped using dBpoweramp version 14.2 and it wasn't showing in MC25, but was in MC24. Went and found the disc and re-ripped it using MC24. I then opened up MC25...and the album showed up within a few seconds.

Does anyone have an explanation as to why CDs ripped using dBpoweramp version 14.2 would show up in MC24 but not MC25 and MC26?

Thanks.

[tij]

I rip using EAC ... all my files show up ... so I don’t think that matters

Are you running MC24 and MC25 at same time?

Can you screen shot your auto import settings?

That “Various Folder” you mention ... are you sure it is located on the drive you auto importing in MC26 ... Possible that folder is located on another drive but used to be included in import settings of MC24 (deleting drive/path from auto import does not remove things that were previously imported from there)

[AndrewFG]

So, one example I have found is:
D:\Music\U2\The Unforgettable Fire\04 - U2 - The Unforgettable Fire.flac

My reason for asking is that the MC scanner has some limitations on full path names that are very long, or which contain “exotic” characters. But that seems not to be applicable in your case..

[AndrewFG]

Does anyone have an explanation as to why CDs ripped using dBpoweramp version 14.2 would show up in MC24 but not MC25 and MC26?

If the ripping software was inserting meta data that falsely matched an a/v signature, then the a/v software might prevent MC from seeing those files? Just a thought..

[shmoo7]

I rip using EAC ... all my files show up ... so I don’t think that matters

Are you running MC24 and MC25 at same time?

Can you screen shot your auto import settings?

That “Various Folder” you mention ... are you sure it is located on the drive you auto importing in MC26 ... Possible that folder is located on another drive but used to be included in import settings of MC24 (deleting drive/path from auto import does not remove things that were previously imported from there)

I have checked ~150 songs up to this point, and, so far, every one of them was ripped using dBpoweramp 14.2. Note that version 14.4 does not have the same issue, even within the same folder.

No, I'm not running MC24 and MC25 at the same time with the exception of a few instances tonight where I've been looking for missing tracks.

Again, these songs are all under the same parent folder, D:\Music. Screenshot is attached.

Yes, I'm sure the "Various Artists" folder I mentioned is included in that parent folder. It has never been on another drive.

[shmoo7]

If the ripping software was inserting meta data that falsely matched an a/v signature, then the a/v software might prevent MC from seeing those files? Just a thought..

That would make sense, but if that's the cause it seems odd that MC24 would import the files without a problem while MC25/26 couldn't.

I've now re-ripped three CDs in MC24, closed it, opened MC25, searched for the album and initially it doesn't show up, then autoimport does its thing and the album appears.

[shmoo7]

My reason for asking is that the MC scanner has some limitations on full path names that are very long, or which contain “exotic” characters. But that seems not to be applicable in your case..

That would be a reasonable suggestion, but I would have to have a very odd naming structure to end up with 8,000+ songs containing exotic characters. 

[tij]

That would make sense, but if that's the cause it seems odd that MC24 would import the files without a problem while MC25/26 couldn't.

I've now re-ripped three CDs in MC24, closed it, opened MC25, searched for the album and initially it doesn't show up, then autoimport does its thing and the album appears.

This picks my curiosity ... if you can upload smallest flac that has problem (dropbox?) ... we can verify if its really old dbpoweramp problem.

[shmoo7]

This picks my curiosity ... if you can upload smallest flac that has problem (dropbox?) ... we can verify if its really old dbpoweramp problem.

I don't have a cloud storage account, but I believe I can email up to about 50MB. Does MC have somewhere I could upload it to? I have a track (old one) from a disc that I re-ripped tonight that is just under 10MB (assuming you don't need the whole album!). I also have the original rip log if that would help. I would just need to know where to send it and what the subject line should be.

[tij]

Dropbox basic is free and up to 2gb

[JimH]

I haven't read the entire thread, but when you import, there is an option to import previously deleted files. 

[JimH]

Does anyone have an explanation as to why CDs ripped using dBpoweramp version 14.2 would show up in MC24 but not MC25 and MC26?

A different decoder for the file type?

[JimH]

If the ripping software was inserting meta data that falsely matched an a/v signature, then the a/v software might prevent MC from seeing those files? Just a thought..

Also possible.

[shmoo7]

Dropbox basic is free and up to 2gb

I have set up a Dropbox account to transfer the file. Dropbox appears to require an email address for the person/people the folder is to be shared with.

[shmoo7]

I haven't read the entire thread, but when you import, there is an option to import previously deleted files.

As shown in the screenshot posted earlier, this is not selected. I have now set up a Dropbox account with a sample file ripped with dBpoweramp v14.2 to see whether that can provide any answers.

[tij]

I have set up a Dropbox account to transfer the file. Dropbox appears to require an email address for the person/people the folder is to be shared with.

A link can be created to share file ... then can post link here

[shmoo7]

A link can be created to share file ... then can post link here

Then it could be accessed by anyone who reads this thread, which isn't particularly appropriate with copyrighted material. I have no problem sharing with sysadmins and beta testers who can actually do something useful with the file...and hopefully find a solution that doesn't involve a) re-ripping a large quantity of files or b) having to remain stuck at MC24 if I want to view all of my library.

[tij]

Then it could be accessed by anyone who reads this thread, which isn't particularly appropriate with copyrighted material. I have no problem sharing with sysadmins and beta testers who can actually do something useful with the file...and hopefully find a solution that doesn't involve a) re-ripping a large quantity of files or b) having to remain stuck at MC24 if I want to view all of my library.

understand ... can PM me the link?

[shmoo7]

understand ... can PM me the link?

PM sent.

[tij]

Strange ... my MC 26.0.103 imported the file in first scan

... I really suspect it has to do with combination of auto-import and the actual location of file

[shmoo7]

Strange ... my MC 26.0.103 imported the file in first scan

... I really suspect it has to do with combination of auto-import and the actual location of file

Very strange indeed! You have seen my auto-import settings in a previous post. Is there anything out of order there? As mentioned, all the tracks are in D:\Music and subfolders are being included.

I just tried manually importing an album that I knew wasn't in MC26, to bypass the question of auto-importing. MC26 did not see/import any of the ten tracks. They were, however, auto-imported (previously) into MC24 and earlier versions. The files are in the exact same location so I'm absolutely stumped as to why one version would recognize it and more recent versions wouldn't. While I definitely wouldn't rule out something in my settings is causing this, I don't think it's auto-import or the location of the files as they are exactly the same for all three versions I currently have on my system. I took screenshots of each iteration and compared the auto-import settings of each and they are identical, with the exception of MC26 having a "Lookup lyrics" option.

[tij]

FLAC looks normal to me ... its really strange ... especually considering some flac are mussing in the album (implying that other flacs fron album were imported)

Do you have .cue files present in the folders that missed some flac in import. Its a long shot, but maybe you importing only cue files ... and some file names in cue dont match actual file names?

[tij]

I recall some time ago ... i had problem with one cue file ... CUE specified files as .WAV but files were actually .FLAC ... and it fail to import

which was strange as othed CUE files i have also specified .WAV but actual files were .FLAC (basically my ripping software generated CUE after ripping but before encoding rip stuff to FLAC) ...  and they imported normally

I recall i changed that CUE file to indicate FLAC ... and it worked ... maybe your problem is similar (old dbpoweramp generated CUE in different format?)

[shmoo7]

FLAC looks normal to me ... its really strange ... especually considering some flac are mussing in the album (implying that other flacs fron album were imported)

Do you have .cue files present in the folders that missed some flac in import. Its a long shot, but maybe you importing only cue files ... and some file names in cue dont match actual file names?

Sorry, that was my error that I should have corrected earlier. It looked as though it was individual songs when I was looking for missing tracks, but that turned out to be due to the soundtracks/compilations. It is, in fact, happening to entire albums. So far, I haven't found a single example of where an album ripped with dBpoweramp 14.2 is showing up in MC25/26 nor any examples of something ripped with dBPoweramp 14.4 or MC that is missing. That isn't definitive proof however.

No, I don't have any visible .cue files period. I will get error messages in the rip log itself, but no .cue files with the s/w I'm using.

[tij]

I just tried manually importing an album that I knew wasn't in MC26, to bypass the question of auto-importing. MC26 did not see/import any of the ten tracks. They were, however, auto-imported (previously) into MC24 and earlier versions. The files are in the exact same location so I'm absolutely stumped as to why one version would recognize it and more recent versions wouldn't.

that rules out that the missing albums is not in your auto import :/

can you take the screenshot of files inside this problematic folder?

[shmoo7]

that rules out that the missing albums is not in your auto import :/

can you take the screenshot of files inside this problematic folder?

I'm guessing you mean from a couple of the problematic folders? The problem starts at the album level, ones that I ripped a while ago. I will include two here. As previously mentioned, when I went searching last night for discrepancies, I found Roxy Music's Avalon. For the purposes of testing, I put the original rips into a separate folder. Just found another one that I haven't re-ripped as of yet. Here they are.

[tij]

Can you play those files in MC26 if you double click them in explorer

I seriously starting to run out of ideas

[shmoo7]

Can you play those files in MC26 if you double click them in explorer

I seriously starting to run out of ideas

I have a few updates to report. I tried to play a file when double-clicking it in Explorer. I had all MCs closed to see what would happen. It did indeed play, opening MC26, although the track did not show up in the list.

I then noticed that the old Avalon files that I had restored last night from the recycle bin, putting them into a new folder, had appeared in MC26. Hmm, interesting...a clue! I then created a separate folder for one of the Metallica discs that wasn't appearing last night, and transferred the files to it. Nothing happened on import of a single folder. I then tried deleting the folder and restoring it. Nothing happened, but when I did a single folder import it did show up. Yay, progress!

Then, I deleted the entire "Various Artists" folder, restored it and then ran a folder import in MC26. Suddenly it found 2,273 "new" files. Needless to say, I was extremely happy to know it was looking as though I wasn't going to have to re-rip 8,000+ files. 

I then closed MC26, opened MC25 and triggered an auto-import the D:\Music folder. Nothing happened. I then tried a single folder import on the Metallica disc. Nothing happened. Did the same with the Various Artists folder, with the same result.

I still have no idea why this is happening. The only things that I can say for certain is that it exclusively involves files ripped with dBpoweramp 14.2, and that the "fix" of deleting the files and restoring them only works with MC26 and not MC25.

So, my next step will be to methodically delete all the files and restore them and then run an import in MC26. I'll report back if I have any discrepancy in the file count once I've completed that. While I would love to know why the files still aren't appearing in MC25 when they do in MC26, and would welcome any theories, I will be concentrating on getting MC26 up to speed.

[shmoo7]

This is not going as smoothly as I'd hoped. I tried deleting all the "A" artists and re-importing them. I had a discrepancy of 188 files so I started going through them and comparing a screen at a time in MC24 and MC26. I discovered that various tracks were not being imported in both instances. This time it does involve individual tracks rather than entire albums. I have no idea whether or not this is related to the original problem.

When I went to import a single folder, I was receiving an error saying that x number of files were omitted because they were previously found to be bad. That caused a raised eyebrow. Better yet, I was being told that different files were bad in MC24 than in MC26! I checked the rip logs created at rip time and they said the files were ripped accurately. I then ran AccurateRip on a couple of them and it also said the files were accurate.

So, any ideas of what is happening and how I can correct it? Screenshots below.

[tij]

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=113395.0

Try reading through this and seeing bad file database

[shmoo7]

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=113395.0

Try reading through this and seeing bad file database

Will give that a read, thanks. Though, having done a quick scan, I'm wondering about whether deleting files will help. That's what started this new issue in the first place! We shall see.