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[Shasta Mcnasty]

I have MC running on an inaccessible server machine.  It is running Library Server.

I also have MC running on my laptop, connecting as a client to the Library Server.

I plugged my iPod into the laptop and tried to sync it with files on the server.  It worked, but in the process made local copies of all of the music on the laptop's hard drive.  I didn't expect that, and couldn't find a setting to disable that action.

Is there such a setting?  If not, what should I do to avoid this?  The server also makes the files available over the network through regular Windows networking, so I could make a new local library on the laptop and point it at the files on the server. That seems kind of klutzy though.  If I did it that way, would ratings work properly (that is, could I rate songs on the iPod and have the ratings propagate to both the laptop library and the server library?)

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. 

[BillT]

You don't seem to be able to change this behaviour.

My workaround is to load the library directly on the local machine. This is OK if you don't want to edit tags, as the library will be opened read only.

If I need to edit tags on the local machine, I RDP into the server and close it down temporarily and then open the library on the local machine, this way your ratings should propagate back to the library. Unfortunately it's still a kludge!

[Shasta Mcnasty]

You don't seem to be able to change this behaviour.

My workaround is to load the library directly on the local machine.

How do I do that?  I don't want the music files stored on the local machine, are you saying I can open the server's library file on the local machine (not sync the libraries, which copies the files also)?  And if I do that, won't all the entries be wrong?  On the server, the files are stored on F:<path>\<filename>, but when I access them through Windows Networking on the laptop, they're in \\jukebox\f\<path>\<filename>.  Do I need to mount that drive on the laptop with a letter that matches the drive letter on the server?

This is OK if you don't want to edit tags, as the library will be opened read only.

I want to update ratings (from iPod back to library) when I sync the iPod.  Does that mean I want to edit tags?   

If I need to edit tags on the local machine, I RDP into the server and close it down temporarily and then open the library on the local machine, this way your ratings should propagate back to the library. Unfortunately it's still a kludge!

Seems like it would be easier to just have a 2nd library on the laptop pointing to the files on the server.  With auto-import on, the maintenance hassles shouldn't be too bad.  It's still not clear to me how (if?) ratings I make on the iPod could be propagated back to the master library on the server though.  Any hints on that? 

Thanks for the info! 

[BillT]

How do I do that?  I don't want the music files stored on the local machine, are you saying I can open the server's library file on the local machine (not sync the libraries, which copies the files also)?  And if I do that, won't all the entries be wrong?  On the server, the files are stored on F:<path>\<filename>, but when I access them through Windows Networking on the laptop, they're in \\jukebox\f\<path>\<filename>.  Do I need to mount that drive on the laptop with a letter that matches the drive letter on the server?

Yes, you do open the server's library on your local machine. Yes, there are issues with paths. My solution is to use the full path for each file in the library, but you could just mount the drive locally to give the same drive letter as you suggest.

It's quite easy to change all the filenames in the library, just do a find and replace on the filename (path), search for F: and replace with \\jukebox\F:

I want to update ratings (from iPod back to library) when I sync the iPod.  Does that mean I want to edit tags?

You don't, but J River Media Center needs write access to the library in order to update the tags with the ratings from the ipod.
   

Seems like it would be easier to just have a 2nd library on the laptop pointing to the files on the server.  With auto-import on, the maintenance hassles shouldn't be too bad.  It's still not clear to me how (if?) ratings I make on the iPod could be propagated back to the master library on the server though.  Any hints on that?

You still have the problem of the first instance of Media Centre locking the Library files. Sorry, i don't have a solution to that except one that involves unloading the library from the remote machine, which doesn't help.