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Author Topic: Best way to synchronize media and tags  (Read 828 times)

joetiii

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Best way to synchronize media and tags
« on: August 18, 2024, 12:59:39 pm »

OK so long story short. I have all my audio files on a NAS and running MC32 on a Win laptop. I am in the process of labeling and rating the audio, but I have 6500 files to go and have 1 month until I leave on a 6 month sabatical away from my NAS. I plan to copy all my music files onto a 2TB portable usb drive and continue working on updating and labeling the files using my laptop while away. I assume that once I return, I can simply import my last library backup and all the tags will be written/updated to the NAS files. I also realize I have to change the location of the file association location in JRiver, as well as delete any files on the NAS that I have earmarked for deletion. (tagged as a rating of 1).

What else is there I should be concerned with?
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joetiii

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Re: Best way to synchronize media and tags
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2024, 06:58:26 am »

Anyone ?

Am I going down the right path here? or is there a better way?
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JimH

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Re: Best way to synchronize media and tags
« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2024, 07:32:48 am »

Wiki on Moving Files

Setting for Update Tags When File Info Changes

Experiment.  Set up a test library with a few files.
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Frobozz

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Re: Best way to synchronize media and tags
« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2024, 05:46:48 am »

I do this when I go traveling.
NAS music is on \\NAS\music\
Portable drive is M:\music\

Use a file sync tool like FreeFileSync to do a mirror sync to copy your music to the portable drive with all folders and folder structure.

In JRiver Media Center select all of your files.
Then open the "Rename, Move, & Copy Files" dialog (Tools >> Library Tools >> Rename, Move, & Copy Files...)
We want to do a find and replace to get the library pointing to the files on the portable drive instead of the NAS
Wiki page for the Rename, Move, & Copy Files dialog: https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Rename,_Move,_and_Copy_Files

In the top dropdown select "Update database to point to new location (no file rename, move, or copy)"
Clear all of the other checkboxes except for "Find & Replace"
Find What: \\NAS\
Replace With: M:\

Then when you get home you do things the other direction. Use FreeFileSync mirror to copy the music folder from your portable drive to the NAS.
Use the Find & Replace with
Find What: M:\
Replace With: \\NAS\

Be very careful when using sync tools like FreeFileSync. It is too easy to accidentally do things in the wrong direction and overwrite and destroy your source. So doublecheck everything before you hit the "go" button. And have up to date backups of the NAS just in case. And while traveling have two portable drives with one acting as a backup.

I do things this way when I travel. It works for me. All of the tag updates and file changes you make and file additions and file deletions will get transferred to the NAS when you get back. You can even buy new music while on sabbatical and those new files will get transferred to the NAS when you return.

I would suggest formatting your portable drive as NTFS. Because NTFS handles long filenames and long paths better than FAT32. That way you won't end up with truncated filenames or lost files because of names or paths that are too long when you sync to the portable drive.
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BryanC

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Re: Best way to synchronize media and tags
« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2024, 04:45:15 pm »

A wireless option w/ syncthing if you don't want to use MC's Library Server: https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=121116.0
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