Print

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

[MrC]

This error message occurs after selecting all my tracks in an attempt to rename a file path.  I've selected about 15K tracks.  I'm not about to do a binary search in an attempt to determine where the problem is.  How about a list of which files are problematic?

[marko]

Do you have any internet streams imported into your library, and if so, is it possible that they could be among the 15,000 selected files?

[MrC]

Thanks.  There were two. I had then removed those.  The error persisted.  I did not have the patience or time yesterday to try to figure out what else was causing the error.

Still, we'll agree error messages shouldn't be a guessing game. Otherwise, they might as well just sound that horrid Windows error sound, and say "Error".  The "The program was unable to..." portion becomes superfluous.

What I was trying to do, without success, was to sync a virtual drive using stacks, converting from FLAC to mp3.  

There is no feedback indicating what is happening, the system is unresponsive during the process.  

Eventually a list of thousands of files is returned, some saying Duplicate, some saying In Queue.  The problem is, those are incorrect for me - my stack paths are incorrect, so I need to change them.  Hence the find-replace above, which fails.  

I wasn't able to quickly unstack/sort by the stacked mp3 file, so that I could just select those to find/replace.  The column for the icon that appears in MC for showing a file path that is broken, doesn't seem selectable, so I couldn't select the broken file list.  I want a list of the bottom files in the stack.  I tried searching / selecting only those that started with G:/Music and this kept failing on one form or another.

The Fix stack files command seemed to be deleting most of my library, and I could detect no pattern as to which files it retained and which were tossed into the MC deleted area.  I restored from a back up and tried again.  However the restored library (from yesterday) had no stack files.

Despite following the How To's, Wiki info & Help (which have become dated and somewhat inaccurate; the 3 recent versions of MC have different UIs, and there doesn't seem to be version info attached to the documentation), I have never been able to get sync to work a second time (sometime in the future).  I always end with wiping the entire set of cache data (on the removable drive), reconverting, and repopulating the removable drive's music folder.  This takes > 24 hours on a quad core machine.

I keep hoping that Drop (or is it Drag?) Files Here drop box interface goes away.  It could be improved.  

I don't think MC should ever attempt to go out and determine what it thinks is in or out of sync ... until I am ready for it to, because the process, with a large library, takes too long, during which the UI is unresponsive at a time when the user may not be ready yet.


Suggestions:
1) I think a better method would be to have a side-by-side (eg. To / From) mechanism similar to the pre-flighting which occurs with Find/Rename, where source/destination paths, etc. could be compared before one pulls the trigger.

2) Provide one global area where file paths, etc. can be managed and rememberred, so things like smart rules can be entered once, and used by default in any other specific file path area.

3) Provide a consistent UI dialog/panes/whatever for any conversion operation which shows before / after pre-flighting.  This will greatly reduce the number of errors, and going back and forth into various dialogs and trial/error.

4) Maintain device settings regardless of a device being detected/re-detected.  This will setup of new (similar/same) devices quickly.  I'd like to see the ability to re-pair my somehow disassociated device with the maintained device settings (i.e. the settings are still retained and shown in MC, and I just select them and say These settings should be used for This device).  Since synch a) takes a while to setup correctly, and b) complete, I'd like to avoid having to re-enter all the different settings associated with a given device.

5) Remove the "convert cache" button from inside the handheld options dialog - it is inconsistent with other options (vs. actions), and takes too long for anything but a small library.  Having the options dialog open while MC is actively processing data seems contrary to all other options settings which take affect after the options dialog is closed.

6) Make it simpler to select a track/album/group and perform a quick check to see the sync status, without moving from the current view.

7) Add a stacking command that allows selection/showing of only the stacked files.  Group/Ungroup is fine; but it is too hard to just select the bottom files.  I found I have to work too hard to manage the hidden stuff.

8 ) The repair command (don't have its name in front of me) for stacks is dangerous.  I have no idea exactly what it is doing, supposed to do, and it seems to munch my top library files at times.  More information about this command would be very useful.  Likewise the Search for stack files command (which seems to operate in a different way than I keep thinking it will work).

I have some more, but got called away here at home by Wifey...

[JimH]

MC once again lost the settings for the device ...

Did you do "Redetect Devices"?  If so, did you read the fine print?  That's the only way that MC would do it.

Sounds like you had a few other problems (itunes) this week.  How about watching golf on TV for a while?

[MrC]

Thanks Jim.

I did a Redetect after all other attempts failed.  There are two options:

A) Wait and pray to Pele that the device is detected, or
B) Redetect devices which of course loses all settings.

There needs to be a third option, a C) which saves my settings for a device regardless of the device.  I want the conversion, paths, supported file types, etc. all to be the same each and every time.  Yet, for every new (or lost) device, one has to go reset all the options, and then ensure each setting is correct, or the process must be restarted (often due to duplicate files being created, cache files deleted, etc.).

I just heard a quail outside - the ca-ca-caw, ca-ca-caw sound is one of laughter.  I hear you laughing too.  :-)

Syncing [ pun ] white balls isn't my thing.  I'll go try to MC sync [ uh, "delete" ] some more yard gophers instead.

[JimH]

Thanks Jim.

I did a Redetect after all other attempts failed.  There are two options:

A) Wait and pray to Pele that the device is detected, or

Interrupting it in the middle of detecting is probably not a great idea.  Devices take time to analyze.  It's just how it works. 

B) Redetect devices which of course loses all settings.

This should only be done as a last resort.  That's more or less what the message suggests.

There needs to be a third option, a C) which saves my settings for a device regardless of the device.

That's what MC does, unless you tell it to Redetect Devices.

[MrC]

Interrupting it in the middle of detecting is probably not a great idea.  Devices take time to analyze.  It's just how it works.  This should only be done as a last resort.  That's more or less what the message suggests.That's what MC does, unless you tell it to Redetect Devices.

Understood.  See my edits above, and added suggestions.

I get that analyzing takes time ... and there can be *feedback* indicating something is actually happening.  A spinney is agnostic as to failure, timeouts, or long duration.  A showing of track analysis progress (just like import) is very helpful.  Still, no analysis should occur until I say GO.

[JimH]

Thanks for understanding.