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[lOth]

sorry, I didn't wait for the update and fixed the problem by deleting some more files from iTunes and reimporting them. I still don't know which one(s) was creating the issue.

So, everything ran smoothly with 25k files.

Now, the issue I have is that I also use xpTunes and it seems that it doesn't play well with MC iTunes Synchronizer. Whenever xpTunes is running MCiS is unable to find MC. Same thing if I close xpTunes: it leaves an instance of MC running that MCiS can't recognize (stuck on "Looking for MC 13") and that can't be closed either. The only way to get rid of it so that MCiS can run another "clean" instance of MC -and by that, I mean an instance it can recognize to start the sync- is to kill the Media Center process in the task manager.

[prod]

Not much I can do about that - must be something to do with the internal workings of MC and/or xpTunes. All I am doing at that stage is requesting a COM interface to MC, if MC denies the request or doesn't respond there's very little I can do.

[bspachman]

Hmm, no there's no telling which file it is unless I put in some more logging detail .... but you're right, the key in question would definitely be the filename - which options do you have selected? (including the About box)

All of the combo boxes are checked in the main window under the categories "Fields to aggregate" and "Fields to export from MC to iTunes".

In the 'About' window, all I have checked is "Log files not found".

Earlier in the thread, you mentioned that you sanitize the filenames. Could I have an edge case that is causing otherwise different filenames look the same after the sanitization routine?

Also, I'm assuming that when we've been discussing filenames, we REALLY mean full pathnames (M:\blah\blah\blah\file.m4a), right?

brad

[prod]

Yep, full pathnames - I don't suppose you're using a file system that's case sensitive?

[prod]

brad,

I've put v1.9.9 up just for you...  

This will give you some more information in the error message i.e. the pathname that's causing the problem.

[bspachman]

OK!

iTunes 8.2.0; MCiS 1.9.9; MC 13.0.171

Here's the new error:

Code: [Select]

<Result EndDateTime="2009-06-03T08:55:20">Duplicate album file key encountered: M:\Mine\Soundtrack\L.A. Confidential\01 - Jerry Goldsmith - Badge of Honor.apl</Result>
Nothing looks like a duplicate on my end--but I'm not entirely sure what I should be looking for.

Also, I'm just using NTFS on my music drive ('M' is a mapped drive letter to a homebuilt NAS), so no case-sensitivity as far as I know.

brad

[prod]

Funny one this... it's to do with the Track and Disc counts. So I've deduced that either (1) the file is part of more than one album (I'm not sure how that could be possible) or (2) the file is for some reason being returned more than once in the GetAlbumFiles call to MC (which returns a file's fellow tracks in an album).

I've made a change (v1.9.9.1) which will fix the problem if it is reason (2). If this doesn't work the problem is reason (1), so let me know and I'll fix that too.

[lOth]

fyi, posted the question there (with more info):

[bspachman]

Alas, no luck with v. 1.9.9.1:

Code: [Select]

<Result EndDateTime="2009-06-03T17:59:22">Duplicate album file key encountered: M:\MINE\SOUNDTRACK\L.A. CONFIDENTIAL\01 - JERRY GOLDSMITH - BADGE OF HONOR.APL</Result>
It's strange that's it's choking on an apl file that isn't even in the iTunes Library. The corresponding m4a file IS in the iTunes Library. They are the only 2 copies of that track that exist anywhere on the server or in the libraries.

Is it something silly like having periods and spaces in the directory name (L.A. Confidential)?...or maybe I should Anglicize the spelling of 'Honour'

More seriously, I will try deleting that track from both libraries to see what happens next.

brad

[prod]

fyi, posted the question there (with more info):

I agree with Messiahs, I don't think this is an xpTunes problem. There's something up with MC that can be demonstrated simply with the following javascript;

Code: [Select]

var oMC = WScript.CreateObject("MediaJukebox Application");
WScript.DisconnectObject(oMC);
oMC = null;

This code will run over and over with no problems as long as MC was not running before running the javascript.

However, run MC first and then run the script. The script runs OK first time, but subsequent runs don't work (there is a timeout - you should eventually see an error dialog).

You will see the same behaviour with MCiS. I'm releasing the COM objects fully and successfully, I've been tearing my hair out trying to get MC to let go but I'm only doing the same with iTunes and iTunes exits gracefully.

[prod]

Alas, no luck with v. 1.9.9.1:

Ah well, it's narrowed the field down to one or two lines of code at least. I'll get back to you with a fix.

[prod]

Ok should be fine now, it will now gracefully ignore any duplicate track siblings and carry on... v1.9.9.2. I guess I'll have to add a new feature to it now to push it up to v2.0

[bspachman]

I hate being the bearer of bad news, but I think we've taken a step back...

The latest (1.9.9.2) chokes more often....

Code: [Select]

  <Result EndDateTime="2009-06-03T21:17:40">An item with the same key has already been added.</Result>
...and isn't including the filename any longer...

brad

[Messiahs]

@prod
thanks for testing the CreateObject-behaviour.

cheers
Markus

[prod]

I hate being the bearer of bad news, but I think we've taken a step back...

Oh cr*p, sorry I knew I shouldn't have put something out so late....

Try again, v1.9.9.3. I deliberately input some duplicates to test it out, should be fine.

thanks for testing the CreateObject-behaviour.

No probs.

[prod]

Now, the issue I have is that I also use xpTunes and it seems that it doesn't play well with MC iTunes Synchronizer. Whenever xpTunes is running MCiS is unable to find MC. Same thing if I close xpTunes: it leaves an instance of MC running that MCiS can't recognize (stuck on "Looking for MC 13") and that can't be closed either. The only way to get rid of it so that MCiS can run another "clean" instance of MC -and by that, I mean an instance it can recognize to start the sync- is to kill the Media Center process in the task manager.

I'm hoping this is fixed now with v1.9.9.4. If an instance of MC already exists I don't bother creating a new one, but use the existing one. This solves the problem I was having, hopefully it should solve yours too.

[bspachman]

prod,

You are clearly on a bug-busting roll! 1.9.9.3 was working much better for me for quite some time. I noted in the log several files that were causing it to choke in previous runs.

However (and you knew this was coming), I've stumbled on some 'catastrophic' errors:

Code: [Select]

  <Result EndDateTime="2009-06-04T08:34:05">Catastrophic failure (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8000FFFF (E_UNEXPECTED))</Result>
This one occurred after it synced a WAV file, but I don't know what one it was working on when it failed.

I had another 'catastrophic' failure yesterday with an earlier version when I tried to multi-task in iTunes while the sync was running. I opened an "Get Info" window on a track that had already been synced. When I switched back to iTMS, it had stopped, with an error message in the main interface window.

I will try removing the WAV files from my iTunes library to see if it helps solve the first problem....

brad

[prod]

haha yep getting through those bugs... I hope.

Right, catastrophic errors ... iTunes doesn't like to be used much while the sync is going on. I've come across this myself - I thought about giving a less alarming error message, but sometimes it's good to spread a bit of panic

Certainly, the "Get Info" dialog causes it every time, basically iTunes tells MCiS that it's busy doing something else now so get lost.

However, it shouldn't happen if you're leaving it alone to do its thing. Sounds like it's not consistently happening, that right?

[bspachman]

However, it shouldn't happen if you're leaving it alone to do its thing. Sounds like it's not consistently happening, that right?

You are right, catastrophic errors are not consistent (except in the case of using iTunes while the sync is running).

The one that popped up in the log file (in the <code> block above) seems to have been caused by a WAV file getting synced. I'm in the middle of another run with 1.9.9.3--having deleted the WAV files from the iTunes library--and the sync has proceeded normally through 9000 of 14000 tracks so far...

brad

[prod]

Strange that individual files would cause an error ... still, I've put a bit of handling in there (v1.9.9.5) so that if an error occurs during sync to an individual file, an error is reported in the log and the sync continues to the next file. That way an error particular to a certain file doesn't cause the whole sync to stop.

[Messiahs]

I'm hoping this is fixed now with v1.9.9.4. If an instance of MC already exists I don't bother creating a new one, but use the existing one. This solves the problem I was having, hopefully it should solve yours too.

Yes, fixed. Thanks

Markus

[bspachman]

Strange that individual files would cause an error ... still, I've put a bit of handling in there (v1.9.9.5) so that if an error occurs during sync to an individual file, an error is reported in the log and the sync continues to the next file. That way an error particular to a certain file doesn't cause the whole sync to stop.

This fix works! I had finally gotten 1.9.9.3 to get through all of my files, but only by deleting all of the WAV files from the iTunes library.

I then added the WAV files back to the iTunes library and ran another sync with version 1.9.9.5.

The 1.9.9.5 sync completed 'successfully', although every WAV file generated the following error in the log:

Code: [Select]

  <Error Message="Error encountered while synchronizing field Lyrics: Catastrophic failure (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8000FFFF (E_UNEXPECTED))" />
The funny thing is that iTMS did actually sync some of the fields before crapping out on the various WAV files. Track numbers, titles, albums, genres all synced. I don't think the other fields did....

Hope this info helps track down whatever is happening with WAV files.... I'm ecstatic that a few (well about 130) tracks don't screw up the remaining ones.

Thanks!
brad

brad

[prod]

Cool. I'll probably tweak this a bit so it'll continue syncing other fields and report all the fields that cause an error.

If you try manually putting the lyrics (using iTunes) into one of the WAV files that errored out, what happens?

[prod]

v1.9.9.6; Made the sync a little more forgiving of errors encountered whilst sync'ing certain fields. All errors are reported to the log, but failure of one field will not necessarily mean the failure of others.

[bspachman]

I wonder if part of the issue in this specific case is that iTunes doesn't allow you to add artwork or lyrics to a WAV file. The tabs don't even exist in the user interface.

If I add lyrics to a WAV file with MC13, then run a sync with v1.9.9.5, the same error is written to the log.

Running a sync with v1.9.9.6 does do a better job. It still gives an error (below), but seems to sync other fields after the error is thrown. The error now reads:

Code: [Select]

 <Error Field="Lyrics" Message="Catastrophic failure (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8000FFFF (E_UNEXPECTED))" />
brad

[prod]

iTunes obviously doesn't support lyrics in WAV files... perhaps a solution would be to convert to another format for use in iTunes and use the Alternative File Keys option?

[prod]

v2.0;

• Added command line argument; /RunMinimized
• Add new option in About box; Minimize iTunes before sync

[Doof]

Will this add/remove files that are/are not in the MC library to/from the iTunes library?

[prod]

Nope, though I was thinking of an option to add iPhone/iTouch compatible files to iTunes if they exist in MC but not in iTunes.

I don't want to overstep the line with it and it become a migration tool, this is just a tool for getting my MC stuff with tags intact on to my iPhone.

[park]

Nope, though I was thinking of an option to add iPhone/iTouch compatible files to iTunes if they exist in MC but not in iTunes.

I don't want to overstep the line with it and it become a migration tool, this is just a tool for getting my MC stuff with tags intact on to my iPhone.

Yes that's a good aim. And auto adding files to the itunes library when they exist in the MC one would be useful for synching new music to the iPhone.

I can't wait to try this out one day. If you ever get the plugin to work on a mac based itunes library file (which I keep on the server and so is accessible from any windows pc), then I'll be first to test.

[prod]

v2.1; Added option to import files into iTunes.

I'll have a look at a Mac-friendly option at some point, when I've got a couple of hours to spare learning Applescript maybe!

[zxsix]

How does this work with flax files?  ITunes won't automatically convert them to mp3 or sac during sync to the iPhone will it?

[prod]

No it won't. I put the Use Alternative File Keys option in for this.... basically in MC, say you have a file called "C:\Music\Bob Dylan\Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone.flac" and you make an mp3 copy of it with a filename of "C:\iTunes Music\Bob Dylan\Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone.mp3" then you can sync the fields between those two files.

To do this add the MP3 version to your iTunes library then add a string field in MC called iTunesFileKey. Type "C:\iTunes Music\Bob Dylan\Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone.mp3" in it for the file "C:\Music\Bob Dylan\Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone.flac". The MP3 version should not be contained within your MC library, only the iTunes library.

Make sure Use Alternative File Keys is selected and when you sync, it will sync the selected fields from the FLAC file in MC to the MP3 file in iTunes (and vice versa).

[broncodan]

Hi,

I used this program for the first time and it added a bunch of erroneous informatoin to my itunes library - specifically - last played dates and last skipped dates. 

The last played data appears to be correct in MC - indicates not played - but it entered the date of 1/1/1970 in itunes.  For these same songs - if there was a skipped date in MC - these matched correctly in itunes but for those who didn't have a skip date in MC (never skipped)- Itunes liste 1/1/1970.  Hopefully this makes sense.

All files are mp3's.  Here is a small sample from the log - it appears that the log enters 12/31/69 and then it is changed to 1/1/1970 in itunes.  Not sure why though?

<SynchronizeResults StartDateTime="2009-06-11T21:56:07">
  <Track Filename="K:\Music Collection Share\Music Collection\Robin Thicke\Robin Thicke - The Evolution Of Robin Thicke\01 - Got 2 Be Down (Feat. Faith Evans).mp3">
    <Category ChangedIn="iTunes" OldValue="" NewValue="Calculated Rating" />
    <LastPlayed ChangedIn="iTunes" OldValue="(null)" NewValue="1969-12-31T16:00:00" />
    <LastSkipped ChangedIn="iTunes" OldValue="(null)" NewValue="1969-12-31T16:00:00" />
  </Track>
  <Track Filename="K:\Music Collection Share\Music Collection\Robin Thicke\Robin Thicke - The Evolution Of Robin Thicke\02 - Complicated.mp3">
    <Category ChangedIn="iTunes" OldValue="" NewValue="Calculated Rating" />
    <LastPlayed ChangedIn="iTunes" OldValue="(null)" NewValue="1969-12-31T16:00:00" />
    <LastSkipped ChangedIn="iTunes" OldValue="(null)" NewValue="1969-12-31T16:00:00" />
  </Track>
  <Track Filename="K:\Music Collection Share\Music Collection\Robin Thicke\Robin Thicke - The Evolution Of Robin Thicke\03 - Would That Make U Love Me.mp3">
    <Category ChangedIn="iTunes" OldValue="" NewValue="Calculated Rating" />
    <LastPlayed ChangedIn="iTunes" OldValue="(null)" NewValue="1969-12-31T16:00:00" />
    <LastSkipped ChangedIn="iTunes" OldValue="(null)" NewValue="1969-12-31T16:00:00" />
  </Track>


I have the full log if you need it but it all pretty much looks the same.

As an fyi for the above songs noted -
MC = never played/never skipped
IT = last played 1/1/1970 - last skipped 1/1/1970

[prod]

Interesting... looks like the app may be getting negative values from the dates in MC, or possibly it's a daylight savings/timezone calculation gone wrong. I'll have a look.

[lOth]

v2.1; Added option to import files into iTunes

Thank you so much! I wasn't expecting that one. I had iTunesLibraryUpdater running as a scheduled task and can now get rid of it (+ MC iTunes Synchronizer is faster).
Now, if you found a way of syncing playlists (or maybe even smartlists?) between MC and iTunes that would be just perfect.

The last played data appears to be correct in MC - indicates not played - but it entered the date of 1/1/1970 in itunes.  For these same songs - if there was a skipped date in MC - these matched correctly in itunes but for those who didn't have a skip date in MC (never skipped)- Itunes liste 1/1/1970.

I see the same thing, which doesn't bother me that much since I've actually not played or skipped anything in either MC or iTunes before 1970

edit: however, I just realized that because of the discrepancy it creates between the two libraries all the files that have never been played are synced every single time.

[prod]

edit: however, I just realized that because of the discrepancy it creates between the two libraries all the files that have never been played are synced every single time.

Yep I need to fix that... I'm changing the way all dates are processed in the next version that will fix this, plus I'm making some speed improvements that should see most sync times decrease by a quite a bit. Once I've got some minor issues (bugs ) worked out I'll stick it up.

[zxsix]

I'm seeing this in the log file:

<AlbumRatingCalculated ChangedIn="MC" OldValue="" NewValue="Yes" />

I have the "fields to export from itunes to MC" : "Album Rating" UNChecked.

Should this be setting the value to yes with the checkbox cleared?
Not sure what the AlbumRating field is for as far as MC is concerned....


Also, how are folks handling deleted files? i.e. track is rated as 3 star.  Sync is run.  Song gets updated to 3 star rating in MC.
MC's playlist says not to sync 3 stars to itunes folder.  Song file gets deleted from itunes folder.  Deleted song still shows up in itunes library.  Can your program clean these up?

[Neville]

I'm seeing this in the log file:

<AlbumRatingCalculated ChangedIn="MC" OldValue="" NewValue="Yes" />

I have the "fields to export from itunes to MC" : "Album Rating" UNChecked.

Should this be setting the value to yes with the checkbox cleared?
Not sure what the AlbumRating field is for as far as MC is concerned....

This is happening for me too. Every time i run the program, entire library is synced only with this log entry for each file.

  <Track Filename="D:\Public\Music\10,000 Maniacs\10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged\03 - Candy Everybody Wants.mp3">
    <AlbumRatingCalculated ChangedIn="MC" OldValue="" NewValue="Yes" />
  </Track>
  <Track Filename="D:\Public\Music\10,000 Maniacs\10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged\04 - I'm not the Man.mp3">
    <AlbumRatingCalculated ChangedIn="MC" OldValue="" NewValue="Yes" />
  </Track>
  <Track Filename="D:\Public\Music\10,000 Maniacs\10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged\05 - Don't Talk.mp3">
    <AlbumRatingCalculated ChangedIn="MC" OldValue="" NewValue="Yes" />
  </Track>

[prod]

I'm seeing this in the log file:

<AlbumRatingCalculated ChangedIn="MC" OldValue="" NewValue="Yes" />

I have the "fields to export from itunes to MC" : "Album Rating" UNChecked.

Should this be setting the value to yes with the checkbox cleared?

This is happening for me too. Every time i run the program, entire library is synced only with this log entry for each file.

This is a logging bug it won't cause any major problems for now, I've fixed it in the next version.

Not sure what the AlbumRating field is for as far as MC is concerned....

There is a good interface for setting album ratings in iTunes, so I use MCiS to export them to MC in order to base view schemes and smartlists on the resulting info.

Also, how are folks handling deleted files? i.e. track is rated as 3 star.  Sync is run.  Song gets updated to 3 star rating in MC.
MC's playlist says not to sync 3 stars to itunes folder.  Song file gets deleted from itunes folder.  Deleted song still shows up in itunes library.  Can your program clean these up?

Probably quite easily yes. Bit dangerous that one though.

[prod]

v2.2;

• Reworked to improve sync times
• Fixed: Logging error causing Album Rating Calculated field to be reported as changed every sync
• Fixed: Played/skipped dates in some cases where the track was never played/skipped were ending up as a date before 1/1/1970
• Moved Import files to iTunes of types option to About box
• Added new Only sync files of types option to About box; this option will speed up the initial loading of the MC library as MCiS will skip any files not of the types listed
• Ratings are now represented in the log in iTunes format (scale of 0-100)

Those affected by the played/skipped dates bug may experience a slower initial sync with this version while MCiS corrects those erroneous dates, but subsequent syncs will speed up.

I recommend always backing up your iTunes and MC libraries before running a new version of MCiS.

[zxsix]

Doesn't work at all now.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<SynchronizeResults StartDateTime="2009-06-14T11:20:52" Options="1000000001f000">
  <Result EndDateTime="2009-06-14T11:26:31">Catastrophic failure (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8000FFFF (E_UNEXPECTED))</Result>
</SynchronizeResults>

[prod]

It must have been doing something for nearly 6 minutes. Prob something to do with those broken links you mentioned earlier.

[zxsix]

It must have been doing something for nearly 6 minutes. Prob something to do with those broken links you mentioned earlier.

Quite correct.
I used the itsvf program to clean up the itunes library and remove references to the missing files.
I really hate having to use 3 different programs just to sync ratings I make on the iphone back to MC.
So, in review, here's what I'm doing:

1) flacs are imported into MC library.
2) sync to portable folder in MC.  MC converts the flacs to mp3.  Adds new files and deletes some if they no longer belong on the iphone.
3) itunes library looks at files in folder referenced in step 2.  This is a temp folder as far as I'm concerned.
4) run itsvf program, which adds new mp3's to the itunes library and removes deleted mp3 files from the itunes library.  As far as I can tell, this is necessary since itunes is so inferior that it has no watch folder functionality built in to keep the library in line with the actual files in the folder.
5)  Rate songs either in itunes or MC.
6) Run your program to sync the rating changes.


I'd really like to remove the need for the itsvf program if at all possible.  There's 4 programs involved here and they must be run in a specific order.  Would like to simplify more if it's possible.
Is this how everyone else with flac or ape are handling this?

[Neville]

I get this error now:
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
- <SynchronizeResults StartDateTime="2009-06-14T22:24:40" Options="100000000001000" ImportFileTypes="mp3">
- <Track Filename="D:\Public\Music\Madness\Divine Madness\11 - Cardiac Arrest.mp3">
  <Rating ChangedIn="MC" OldValue="0" NewValue="60" />
  <Category ChangedIn="iTunes" OldValue="Calculated Rating" NewValue="" />
  </Track>
  <Result EndDateTime="2009-06-14T22:27:05">Catastrophic failure (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8000FFFF (E_UNEXPECTED))</Result>
  </SynchronizeResults>

[zxsix]

Looks like albums with characters such as / and , and & are causing issues with matching up the alternative file keys.

Here's a couple of examples.  I can email you a complete log file if you need it.


  <Track Filename="E:\Users\brian\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Rick Springfield\Shock_Denial_Anger_Acceptance\Will I.mp3">
    <Error Message="File not found in MC library" />
  </Track>
  <Track Filename="E:\Users\brian\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Say Anything\Was A Real Boy\Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too.mp3">
    <Error Message="File not found in MC library" />
  </Track>
  <Track Filename="E:\Users\brian\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Sevendust\Chapter Vii_ Hope &amp; Sorrow\Contradiction.mp3">
    <Error Message="File not found in MC library" />

[prod]

Looks like albums with characters such as / and , and & are causing issues with matching up the alternative file keys.

Can't reproduce this... are you absolutely sure those entries exist on the drive and are referenced in the iTunesFileKey field in the MC library?

[prod]

v2.4;

• Reworked About box and renamed it Settings
• Fixed: Exception occuring on encountering broken links (missing files) in iTunes (introduced in v2.2)
• Added new option Fix Broken Links in iTunes to settings; when selected MCiS will remove any entries in your iTunes library where the file is missing
• Added Artist field to field export options
• More speed improvements

[zxsix]

Can't reproduce this... are you absolutely sure those entries exist on the drive and are referenced in the iTunesFileKey field in the MC library?

I'll try again after I load 2.4 update tonight.
What I've done is set up the itunesfilekey field in MC as a calculated field using this expression:
E:\Users\brian\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\[Artist]\[Album]\Replace([Filename (name)],flac,mp3)

Now with an album having slashes in the name, the itunesfilekey ends up something like:
E:\Users\brian\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Rick Springfield\Shock/Denial/Anger/Acceptance\song.mp3

The log file shows file not found as you're substituting in underscores.
Either it needs more cleanup by your utility or I'll need a more powerful expression that can handle all the culprits (slash, &, colons are the ones I've noticed so far).  I'm gonna work on the expression to use the Filename(path) field instead of the Artist and Album fields.

[prod]

The iTunesFileKey must be a valid path & filename that points to a file on disk where iTunes is locating its version of the file ... so therefore the iTunesFileKey can't contain /*?"<>|