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[wizbang]

Background:
My media server is a mini-itx box with a 1Ghz Via processor and I have over 6000 mp3's installed on it. It works great as a basic file server and for running Media Server for remote MC clients, but really struggles (and gets very hot) when I run a batch of MP3s for audio analysis :-(

Question:
Is there a way that I can use my 2.4Ghz Intel Pentium desktop PC to do the audio analysis on all the files and update the library on the server with all the file information?

But there is a catch! I cannot store the replay gain etc. in the actual MP3 files as I do not want to modify the actual files. I only want the information stored in the MC library.

Any ideas on how I can do this?

[JimH]

The MC client can't update the library on the MC server.

[wizbang]

Hi Jim,

I know it can't, but I am trying to think of a way that I can update the library on the remote server with the audio analysis info without having to do all the analysis on the remote server.

I guess from your answer that there isn't a way to do it, otherwise you would have suggested it  

[Uwe]

Maybe it's too simple-minded, but isn't it possible to move the library files from the Server to the 2,4 GHz Client, analyse them and move them back to the Server ? Of course, this should only be done once, it's not a daily job. And you need to have the same Names for Drive and Directorys.

Just my two pence...

Uwe

[gpvillamil]

Can't you use Windows file sharing to access the files on the server from an MC instance on the desktop PC? Then switch OFF the option to update file tags, and it should leave your files alone.

So basically:

1) Share the folder where the music is on the server
2) Mount the shared folder on your desktop machine, assigning it th same drive letter as on the server*
3) Make a new local library in MC on the desktop machine
4) Import the files from the shared folder to MC on the desktop
5) Turn off the option to update tags
6) Run audio analysis
7) Copy the resulting library file back to the server machine

* This is so that files will have the same path on the server and on the desktop. If you don't do this, you will have to do a final step which is to do a search & replace on the file path to reflect the server's file structure.

[wizbang]

Okay, so what I am hearing is that as long as I have the same directory structure and drive letter on both machines I should be able to move the library between machines (obviously I'll make a backup before even attempting this).

I'm already sharing the directory and I've already turned off the update file tags option.

I'll give this a go tonight and see what happens...

So is there nothing in the library that is machine specific e.g. machine name, ip address etc?

[gpvillamil]

Yep, that's the ticket. Identical paths & drive letters, you should be OK. That's basically the setup I've got at home.

[Uwe]

@gpvillamil:
Thanks, same idea but a much more professional way !

Uwe

[urlwolf]

Before you spend a long time getting running audio analysis, you should know that the tags that MC is going to write are not the same (standard?) tags that you get with MP3Gain. Just in case you need ANY other program or player to read them... because they won't, they are MC-specific. Just learn about that in another thread...

[JimH]

As I said in that thread, there is not a clear standard.  Please use that thread to discuss.