Print

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

[GHammer]

This is actually in the MC 11.177 thread, but it seems to stay from build to build so it would be easier to follow and maybe beat into submission in a different thread.

From tlongacre:

"One of the albums I just ripped didn't have an image file. I got it from amazon and then added it to the songs. This time 4 songs came up listed that their tags could not be updated. I went to look at them via Explorer and MC had RENAMED THEM.

Example:

was -- 06 - Tempo.mp3
now -- 06-TE~X7.MP3

was -- 07 - Miracolo.mp3
now -- 07-MI~DN.MP3"

[GHammer]

Ok, so, refresh me. What OS and what filesystem are you using?
I'd like to see if I can get the same behavior here.

[JimH]

It's possible that this is our bug.  There are other possibilities though.  An empty folder, for example, may not be empty because of hidden files.  Or it may be read only.  Or it's parent may be read only.

Are the files local or on a network drive?  If the files are on a network drive, there may also be network file system errors.

Drives occasionally mis-fire.

Viruses can do strange things.

I'm not saying that the problem isn't an MC problem.  I'm just saying we need to know the cause before we make that decision.

We tend to chase problems that are common to many people since they are more likely to be our bugs.  We also wait to chase the uncommon ones until people can supply more information.

An example of the kind of thing that could cause your problem is a user terminating the program from the Task Manager because they thought it was "hung".  I doubt that you would do that, but it does happen.

If you find more information, please let us know.

[GHammer]

It's possible that this is our bug.  There are other possibilities though.  An empty folder, for example, may not be empty because of hidden files.  Or it may be read only.  Or it's parent may be read only.

I view folders with Directory Opus. I see everything in a directory.
I also see the attributes of folders and files. I have none that are s, r, or h. And, for other reasons, I have made certain that my My Music folder does not inherit from its parent, not do its child folders.

Are the files local or on a network drive?  If the files are on a network drive, there may also be network file system errors.

All my files are local on SATA drives.

Drives occasionally mis-fire.

Indeed they do. And XP catches them in the System Event log when they do. Hasn't been a problem here.
Yet...

Viruses can do strange things.

Yes, but they would do more than randomly rename files only when MC writes to them. I should see many such files. I do not.

I'm not saying that the problem isn't an MC problem.  I'm just saying we need to know the cause before we make that decision.

We tend to chase problems that are common to many people since they are more likely to be our bugs.  We also wait to chase the uncommon ones until people can supply more information.

I have stopped automatic backup of my music files because I want to check them for changes before syncing. I'd suggest that those who have seen this problem do the same. Then it is a simple matter of restoring your files if there is a problem.

And best, that way you can say it always happens on this or that file. If in fact it does.

[Alex B]

It seems to happen only with MP3 files. Correct? I have not seen that happening on my PCs, but if it is a "short name/long name" issue it may be relevant with this:

The problem is only with ID3v2 tags. For ID3v2 tagging, we talk to the file using the short filenames for improved Unicode support. (the standard v2 tagging library isn't unicode friendly)

Maybe Samba doesn't handle long and short versions of filenames the same as Windows?

These are not standard short names for Windows:

was -- 06 - Tempo.mp3
now -- 06-TE~X7.MP3

was -- 07 - Miracolo.mp3
now -- 07-MI~DN.MP3

and the reason is probably this:

... BTW, my system is a Linksys Network device that had 2 Maxtor HDDs on it.

In that other thread I added some links:

Actually also Windows 95/98/ME and NT/2000/XP handle the short names a bit differently.
Here is one explanation: http://kb.indiana.edu/data/acyu.html?cust=3338970.5784.131.

In Samba the process is called "name mangling" and it has several configuration options.
http://freebooks.by.ru/view/SambaIn24h/ch07-05.htm
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/samba/chapter/ch05.html

Since the new dll file helped Samba users in that thread, that knowledge may help also in this.

[hit_ny]

Regarding the ~ in filenames, im wondering if its caused by the pathname+filename exceeding the windows limits. So when you make a change, MC tries to write to the file, windows informs it that it cant, so it cant and leaves the ~ file, BUT MC does commit the change to the library.

Which makes me wonder is there an esy way to tell if changes exist in the library for certain files but not in the files themselves ?

My drives are all local.

[Alex B]

http://freebooks.by.ru/view/SambaIn24h/ch07-05.htm

That site seems to be down, but the page is available at Google's cache:
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:hwgnPCxe_lMJ:freebooks.by.ru/view/SambaIn24h/ch07-05.htm


I checked the Linksys Network Storage device specs. It uses embedded Red Hat Linux and Samba.

[Sam]

...the one where a "rename file from props" behaves oddly, either by not completing the the job...

...I've played around with rename from props for quite a bit, and cannot find a way to reproduce the problem at will.

I've had this problem occasionally as well.  I just played around with it and was able to reproduce the problem consistently.  I just Rename File From Properties, and then immediately change the rating on the song.  The file is renamed in the MC library, but not in Windows.  I just created a dozen orphan files in my library.  Now I have to go repair the damage I've done... 

[GHammer]

For those who have seen this on local drives, here are some items I'd suggest you do.

If you have an Intel chipset motherboard, get and install the latest INF drivers for the chipset. Errors with IDE, SATA, USB, and Firewire have been corrected in various releases. This link will get you close, it is for an 865 chipset though:
http://downloadfinder.intel.com/scripts-df/Product_Filter.asp?ProductID=1049

If you aren't current with patches/updates for Windows, get that way. Yeah, I know. "I like to wait". "SP2 is only a firewall". Wrong!

Every Service Pack addresses problems found since the last service pack or release. There are all kinds of hotfixes that are then tested and released in a SP. If you look, lots of these deal with data corruption under this or that circumstance. Untoward behavior of certain hardware combinations.

If you are not current, you can't be sure you are not seeing a correctable error.
If you are current, you still aren't 100%, but a darn site better than not patched.

Finally, if you haven't looked at your computer maker's site (or motherboard site) to see if there is an updated BIOS for your system, do so. Especially with new motherboards, you see update after update to correct oddities in things like IDE, SATA, etc. Again, without this, who knows?

Because as Jim says, "It could be lots of things". Take care of the others.

[Bartabedian]

Don't know if this helps or not, but I often download all my files into one directory, then use "rename files..." to put them into "artist - album" directories. Many times I do hundreds of files at a time. I have yet to see a problem with doing this, but I can see MC renaming and moving files at a somewhat slim pace, and I could foresee problems if I changed anything about those files (as Sam did, changing the rating) while this process was underway.

[hit_ny]

Because as Jim says, "It could be lots of things". Take care of the others.

I have not seen this ~ issue with MC 9.1, only with MC 10.173

But i upgraded from win2K Pro to XP (SP2) which is what MC 10 is running on.

I will look at the chipset driver u mentioned, but i alread use intel's app accelerator. My motherboard does not have any recent firmware update.

[JimH]

Please see what you have in common, if anything....

OS
Codecs used
Other programs used (including MC third party plug-ins)
Work flow
Network

[GHammer]

I use:
XP Pro SP2
LAME 3.96 (both the J River version and an "official version)
Monkey's Audio 3.99 R4
I Rip with EAC 0.95
I tag with The Godfather because it can access AMG data and handles all my formats.
I use MP3Gain 1.2.5 to "normalize" MP3 files.

My work flow is:

RIP to APE with CUE file.
Run MakeAPL to generate APLs for the single APE.
Run TGF to get AMG info, the cover art for the CD, and tag the files.
Use TGF to rename any files that need it after the tagging.
Move files to artist/album folder structure under "My Music"
Run Import from MC.

Enjoy music!

I do not use any network devices for storing/working with my audio files.

[GHammer]

I tried renaming a file using Rename From Properties.

The Title of the song is:
How Deep is the Ocean (How High is the Sky)

Previously it was named Diana Krall - 10 - How Deep Is the Ocean (How High Is the....apl
I did the rename from MC and the file name was not changed.

I got no errors in this process.

MC however updated the library and now the file shows as missing.

A matter of the library being updated before the rename returned successfully I'd think.

To recap, renamed a file according to properties within MC. File was not renamed. MC updated its library with the 'new' filename causing the selection to be 'broken'. No indication of any errors at any time.

[Omni]

I use:
XP Pro SP2
LAME 3.96 (both the J River version and an "official version)
Monkey's Audio 3.99 R4
I Rip with EAC 0.95
I tag with The Godfather because it can access AMG data and handles all my formats.
I use MP3Gain 1.2.5 to "normalize" MP3 files.

Wow... talk about a glowing endorsement to use MC to manage one's media.

[KingSparta]

Thats How Some Novice Users Get There Library Screwed Up.

[GHammer]

You might want to look 2-3 posts up...

[Sam]

Please see what you have in common, if anything....

OS
Codecs used
Other programs used (including MC third party plug-ins)
Work flow
Network

I guess that means you can't reproduce the problem...
Can anyone?

I have XP SP2.
This library sits entirely on one external Maxtor 200GB firewire hard drive.
I also have 3 virtual drives on, but I don't use MC to do anything with them.
My workflow at this point is just listening to music while editing tags and rating songs.

[tofer]

I'm running XP sp2, and access an XP pro machine with 1 maxtor SATA drive (250G)

I think the user who suggested that MC is updating the library entries before getting a positive return code from the OS is correct.   This is evidenced by the fact that the location displayed by MC updates immediately, even when the rename requires hundreds of large files to be moved from one drive to another (something that couldn't possibly happen immeidately).  btw, does MC keep a thread running to do the renaming even if the application is closed?  It might be better to show a warning and not allow MC to close when it has a thread still running.   It is very possible that I rebooted or shut down the machine without knowing that it was still in the middle of something.

[KingSparta]

I tried renaming a file using Rename From Properties.

it worked fine

Media Center Registered 11.0.178 -- C:\Program Files\J River\Media Center 11\

Microsoft Windows XP  Workstation 5.1 Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
Intel Pentium 4 3048 MHz MMX / Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 162 MB

Internet Explorer: 6.0.2900.2180 / ComCtl32.dll: 5.82 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158) / Shlwapi.dll: 6.00.2900.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158) / Shell32.dll: 6.00.2900.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158) / wnaspi32.dll: 4.71 (0001) , ASPI for Win32 (95/NT) DLL, Copyright © 1989-2002 Adaptec, Inc. / Aspi32.sys: 4.71 (0001)

Ripping /   Drive I: HL-DT-STCD-RW GCE-8481B   Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Drive J:   Mode:Normal  Type:Auto  Speed:Max
  Digital playback: Yes /  Use YADB: Yes /  Get cover art: Yes /  Calc replay gain: Yes /  Copy volume: 32767
  Eject after ripping: Yes /  Play sound after ripping: No 

Burning /  Drive I: HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8481B    Addr: 1:1:0  Speed:48  MaxSpeed:48  BurnProof:Yes
  Drive J: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GMA-4020B   Addr: 1:0:0  Speed:12  MaxSpeed:12  BurnProof:Yes
  Test mode: No /  Eject after writing: Yes /  Direct decoding: No /  Write CD-Text: Yes
  Use playback settings: No /  Normalization: None

[GHammer]

I tried renaming a file using Rename From Properties.

it worked fine

MP3 or other format?
Most of my library is APE with APL files.

And for the past few builds, not many functions except "Play" and "Import" work with them.

[KingSparta]

MP3 or other format?
Most of my library is APE with APL files.

mp3

convert the same ape file to mp3

and see if it works on mp3

i can't see why the format would cause this, it should have nothing to do with it.

even more so if the rules have nothing to do with the format.

maybe you can run thru the rules and see if one rule works where another one will not.

[GHammer]

convert the same ape file to mp3

and see if it works on mp3

i can't see why the format would cause this, it should have nothing to do with it.

even more so if the rules have nothing to do with the format.

maybe you can run thru the rules and see if one rule works where another one will not.

Yeah, I think I'll make a small folder with MP3s and import it to play with a bit.

More later, stay tuned...

[GHammer]

Well, lovely.
I created a test directory, put 40 MP3s in it and imported it.
I did rename from properties on 1, 5, 10, 20, 40 files.
I changed the rules after and put them back where they started.
All worked.

I copied the APLs that failed last night and did the same.
All worked.

Sometimes I hate computers...

Of course, if this were easily reproducable it would be fixed.

I thought just now maybe it was because of the filename of the one that failed lastnight. So I renamed the file outside MC, imported it, renamed from properties. No problem.

The only difference is that the files that failed before are in the "My Music" folder. It has a much longer path than D:\MP3Test which is where I was just testing from.

Oh well, backup then play with some files in the real library.

[hit_ny]

The only difference is that the files that failed before are in the "My Music" folder. It has a much longer path than D:\MP3Test which is where I was just testing from.

Oh well, backup then play with some files in the real library.

This is my suspicion as well... as a side note ...i did not notice this problem with Win2K but only with XP(SP2)..

[grahamk]

Since upgrading to MC 11 (currently running 127) I have had this intermittent problem too. It was never a problem with MC 9 or 10, and it seems to happen after changing the rating.

I would say that for every 100 or so files that get changed there is 1 that gets left with an 8.3 name.

I use Win2K and all my files are on a NetApp.

Graham