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[Christopher Robin]

I have three "copies" of my library:

Home: this is used to serve out (via UPnP) music to various sets of speakers at home. It is on a computer that doesn't get much use (except as the music server), I am rarely in front of it.

Work: for listening through headphones on my work computer.

Laptop: for listening on a trip. I carry this with me almost everywhere.

All three copies should be the same. I'd like to be able to create a process where I can add new music, add or update playlists, and change tags and have all three copies stay in sync.

First, a couple of scenarios that won't work:

Library Server. This would require all editing to be done from the home machine, and I'm never there. Most of my listening is done from work or a UPnP device. I can't use the Laptop as a server, since when it is not on the network, no one at home could listen. (I might be able to use remote desktop to edit on the home machine, then use library server, but my home bandwidth is not really high enough when someone else is streaming NetFlix).

Library Sync. I had high hopes for this one - establish the laptop as the "main" copy, and use library sync to keep the other two up to date. I tried changing the album title for some tracks, and when I did the sync, the synced copy got a complete new version of the changed tracks, and the old tracks were still there. So the sync process really doesn't keep things in sync enough.

Now, something that might work:

The laptop is the "main" copy of the library, all changes will be done here. Whenever a change is made, I'll sync the other two machines in a 3 step process: content files, import and library files.
1) Content files: use a rsync like tool to make the "client" directory the same as the "main" directory. All tags should be stored inside the file.
2) Import: run auto-import (with the appropriate settings). This will add in new files and get rid of old files. Will it update files that have had the tags rewritten?
3) Use library sync on playlists only to copy any changes in playlists.

Is there any easier or better way to do this? I don't care about playcounts or last played times.

Thanks,

CR

[Alex B]

I have the media files imported from the same drive letters in various MC libraries. I can load a library on any PC and MC uses the same file paths.

I use letters like X:, Y: and Z:

For example,

The media files are in C:\Media\  (or any other path, like on an external drive: E:\Media\), but MC accesses them through X:\

Windows provides several ways to create a virtual drive letter from a folder path. I use mostly the SUBST command: "SUBST X: C:\Media\". I usually place a batch file (.bat) that contains the needed SUBST commands in the Startup folder so that the virtual drive letters are created automatically on system startup. If the media files are on a shared network folder it can be mapped as a drive letter.

When you want to sync the latest library you can create a new library backup file and restore it on the other Media Center instances. Alternatively you can sync the library files outside MC when the MC instances are not running.

You can even use this method and the auto-import feature simultaneously. Just sync the media files outside MC and the local library will import the new files and update library data from the changed file tags (set Auto-import to monitor the virtual drive letter or letters). From time to time you can sync the libraries so that the also the playlists and view settings will be updated.

[Christopher Robin]

Thanks for the Reply, Alex, I'll give it a try.

CR

[Christopher Robin]

How do you keep the files in sync? I was planning on using cygwin+rsync, is there a better way?

CR

[Christopher Robin]

bump...

[Alex B]

I use SyncBackSE.

A nice freeware alternative is Karen's Replicator.

[mschneid]

When you want to sync the latest library you can create a new library backup file and restore it on the other Media Center instances. Alternatively you can sync the library files outside MC when the MC instances are not running.

So, If I have one external hard disk with the media files and two laptops with the MC library resident on each laptop.

I want to edit the MC library and add lyrics and notes and keep the MC libraries in sync.

So, If I create a backup and have it saved to a memory stick.  Then restore the library from the stick  on the second PC. I will be have synced the two libraries?  So long as I don't make independent changes to the two libraries. i will be OK.

Related question, I discovered what look like automatic backups of the library buried in the hidden apps data folder.  If I save the backup to a different location.  Will the automatic backups keep propagating to the hidden folder Library Backup in the apps folder.  How often is the library automatically backed up.

Thanks

[MusicHawk]

I have a similar situation, and having tried and ruled-out MC's various streaming and synch options, here's what I do:

MUSIC-PC is where my library is managed. I do all ripping, tag updating, etc. But I never play the library on this machine. This is the master music library, so it is never updated from the MC "remotes".

AV-PC is in my family room, where we listen via MC. But it's playback-only. We never edit or rip on this machine, so synch is just one-way.

MOBILE-PC is a small laptop that usually lives in a vehicle, where we listen to MC music.

There are also a couple of iPods.

Key ingredients: All the PCs use drive M: for MC library, music and cover art files. (This is much easier than doing mass path changes in each instance of a library.)

All tags are stored in the music files. All cover art is stored in a separate folder, not in the music files (helps keep the overall storage much smaller).

I use a backup program (SyncBackSE but most would work) to keep it all synchronized.

Every night the backup runs on AV-PC and pulls new/changed files from MUSIC-PC drive M: to AV-PC drive M: (And deletes anything removed from MUSIC-PC.) It copies all MC's library files (to get the database, field definitions, view designs, and playlists), the music files (in a subdirectory tree), and the cover art (in a separate folder). It pulls from MUSIC-PC but never writes back to it. Even though I'm copying the entire library database, for belt-and-suspenders MC on AV-PC is set to auto-import from its M:\music to be sure that new files appear in the library right away.

Re views, in MC12 days, I had to manually recreate views on the "remote" PCs (or do a registry hack) but now with MC13 I can copy a view design, though clumsily because MC13 doesn't (yet?) provide a smooth way to save/load library files where I want them, which is with the rest of the library files in my custom location M:\music.

For the MOBILE-PC, I use a USB portable drive. It is drive M when hooked to the laptop, and has the identical folder structure and files, managed by the backup software. When I need to update, I either do it remotely via wi-fi from wherever it happens to be, or I connect it directly to MUSIC-PC. Then I manually run a backup script that copies everything from MUSIC-PC M:\music to USB drive M:\music. The backup program doesn't care what the USB drive letter is; it's not M: when hooked to MUSIC-PC because it already has an M:, but when reconnected to MOBILE-PC laptop it must be M: so all MC paths work.

While using auto-import on the "remote" PCs seems to do the job of adding new tracks to the library, to reliably refresh the library I simply reclick it in File > Library. I don't find it necessary to close/reopen MC.

Another benefit of this system is it gives me three copies of my complete library on three drives in three places. (Further, each machine has a true backup USB drive, so I have at least six copies of everything. When we had a huge fire nearby a year ago I grabbed all my drives and evacuated without fear of losing my digital music; I wish my vinyl and tape libraries were so portable.)

I abandoned MC streaming because, while it mostly worked, it used two PCs and lots of my network bandwidth for no real benefit. The low price of large drives, and free backup software, makes it reasonable to automatically duplicate the library rather than stream it. I never found MC's synchronization to be useful between PCs, but of course its ability to manage iPods is fabulous.

[hit_ny]

How do you keep the files in sync? I was planning on using cygwin+rsync, is there a better way?

You could use other windows syncing software, syncback is my preferred option on windows but if rsync is your way then i've used a similar soft called cwrsync. It just uses minimum cygwin to get the job done