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[lalittle]

I've noticed that even though I do ALL my media management through MC, using the "Update Library from Tags" or "Update Tags from Library" will ALWAYS make changes to files.  If I don't make any changes outside of MC, why would it ever need to make changes?

I just ran "Update Library from Tags" and it said that out of 6010 files, 6000 needed to be updated -- it listed several fields that would be changed.  This strikes me as odd for a couple reasons.  First, why would it need to make changes at all?  All the files had been ripped off CD via MC, the only changes made to these files was with MC, and the "update tags when file info changes" option was on.  Given all this, how is it that the library needed updating?  Shouldn't the library be fully up to date by default as long as I don't change anything outside of MC?

The second thing that confuses me is the fact that I ran "update library from tags," yet it changed the actual files.  I ran my synching program and sure enough, it showed that 6000 files had been modified.  I ran "update library from tags," not "update tags from library," so why did it make changes to the files?

Thanks for any explanation on this,

Larry

[KingSparta]

I noticed that too.

[lalittle]

After the "Update Library," my Audible file tags had reverted back to their original state -- i.e. all my tag changes (necessary for proper management) had been wiped out.  I restored my previous library (which I backed up before doing the update) to get all my tags back.

Does this mess anything up?  i.e. given that after an update, the library AND the tags have been changed, so does it screw things up to revert back to the previous library without reverting to the previous version of the files?  I have a backup of the actual files -- should I restore it, or can I just use the current library of files with the restored library?

This honestly doesn't make any sense to me.  If the tags are automatically updated when making changes to the library (this option is active) than why would an "update" change anything?

Thanks,

Larry

[Sauzee]

I imagine this would play havoc with a backing up strategy too - requiring lots of unnecessary backing up of files that in reality haven't changed.

[lalittle]

I imagine this would play havoc with a backing up strategy too - requiring lots of unnecessary backing up of files that in reality haven't changed.

That's precisely what I just ran into.

Larry

[Matt]

I just ran "Update Library from Tags" and it said that out of 6010 files, 6000 needed to be updated

You're forcing MC to update the library, so it'll re-read every file.

There's no reason to do this unless you've done something with another program to make MC and the tags be out of step.

update library from tags," yet it changed the actual files

We'll look into it.

[lalittle]

On this subject, as I mentioned in another thread, after the "update" my audible files lost all the tag changes I had made.  Since this messes up the way the iPod shows these titles, I had to restore the previous library to get my "correct" Audible tags back.  Is this a problem?  i.e. is it okay to use the previous library with the "updated" tags?

Thanks,

Larry

[Warbird777]

This "Update Tag" behavior in MC is very concerning.

Hopefully I am just not clear on how to turn it off, and prevent MC from touching my MP3 files.

Cleaning up MP3 tags has taken a lot of effort on my part.
I use MP3 Tag Studio to do it. My workflow involves ripping (EAC) and encoding (LAME) outside of MJ.

I picked MJ because it can be used in a way in which it does not write anything to the MP3 file, let alone the tags.

After placing a new batch of MP3 files into my music folder, a simple "Clear Library" and "Import Media" is all that is required to resync MJ.

Many "media" apps write to (and sometimes even re-encode) existing MP3 files without notification of any kind.

I realize that MC may be trying to help, by fixing tags, beacuse most tags require it.

But please tell me that MC can be used in read-only way like MJ.

Michael

[JimH]

This "Update Tag" behavior in MC is very concerning.

Hopefully I am just not clear on how to turn it off, and prevent MC from touching my MP3 files.

Cleaning up MP3 tags has taken a lot of effort on my part.
I use MP3 Tag Studio to do it. My workflow involves ripping (EAC) and encoding (LAME) outside of MJ.

I picked MJ because it can be used in a way in which it does not write anything to the MP3 file, let alone the tags.

After placing a new batch of MP3 files into my music folder, a simple "Clear Library" and "Import Media" is all that is required to resync MJ.

Many "media" apps write to (and sometimes even re-encode) existing MP3 files without notification of any kind.

I realize that MC may be trying to help, by fixing tags, beacuse most tags require it.

But please tell me that MC can be used in read-only way like MJ.

Michael

MC keeps your tags in sync with your database, so if you correct a typo in MC, it will also correct the tag.  If you don't want this, go to Tools/Options/General and then:

Uncheck "Update tags when file info changes"

[Warbird777]

Thank you for the quick response.

I have been using older versions of both WMP (7.1) and JRiver (MJ 8.0.382), because I understood their effects on my data.

My previous post resulted from trying out WMP (9.1) and MJ (8.0.400) last night (after Ghosting my system of course). I was willing to try MC, if it worked out.

I am happy to hear that MC will not touch my MP3 tags.

But after my dismal experience with WMP and 8.0.400, my feet may be too cold to try MC.

The dismality is related to WMP "touching" both of the dates (Modified and Created) for each of my MP3 files. And I didn't even "Scan for New Media".

There must be a quiet WMP service running (in the background). Equally discomforting, WMP seems to want access to the Internet randomly.

In any case all of my MP3 files were touched. Their Modified dates were changed to a date&time shortly after I installed WMP (lastnight), and their Created dates to some random (slightly later than their original) Creation date, that has no relavence to anything I can determine.

Incremental backups from my working volume to a backup drive are based on Modified Date (using DirTool). Obviously I cannot have rouge apps "touching" my file's Modified Date attribute.

Can someone verify that setting "Update tags when file info changes" in MC will guarantee that my MP3 files will NOT be "touched", in any way?

And is the Library scheme and approach used in MC the same as in MJ? In other words, will perforimng a simple "Clear Library" and "Import Media" be all that is required to resync (after adding new files and fixing tags externally).

And can I use MC without WMP 9.1? And/or is WMP9 required?

Just like in the beginning of MP3's history, there is again too much activity in the media app arena today.  Each app wants control, you can't browse without all three media applets installed, tags are modified willy nilly. There is little consistency, much incompatibility, and its very time consumming, even for this engineer to figure out which combination of apps will best preserve and serve his data.

Three years ago MJ was like a breath of fresh air.  It knew what it was doing, did it simply, and didn't step on anyone's toes. Is MC really out of Beta yet! Have uncle's Bill and Steve really stabilized there platforms (XP, AAC, directSound, etc.) enough for creative folks like JRiver to begin to give us a smart media app again?

Please say yes, yes, yes , and yes!

Michael

[JimH]

If you're not sure of what could happen, just import a small group of files and see for yourself if there are any problems.