INTERACT FORUM
More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: sixrivers on September 12, 2006, 08:40:50 pm
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I have shifted my media library to a new computer. As part of the new arrangement, the media hard drive has a different letter than the original setup. I imported my library and as I suspected, it could not find the music. I reimported the music into the library - found all the music. But I am still having difficulties with the playlists
1) SMART Playlists - All the songs are duplicated. One of the files can be found (recent import) and the other cannot (location of file from old computer). It is a bit of a pain, but I can sort on the [directory] filename and remove the old file locations for each smart playlist. But is there an easier way?
2) Regular Playlists - Here is the main problem. None of the songs have been imported. All the links are broken - major pain to fix. I tried to do a search and replace the drive letter on the filename [regualr, name & directory fields]. The drive letter changed to the correct path, but the links are still broken. I could really use some help on this one.[/pre][/pre]
If there was some major first step that I missed, I can rebuld the library again.
Thanks
Rob
Build 11.1.196
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Hi
Would it not have been best to
1. Backup library on old machine
2. Move media and library backup to new machine.
3. Install MC and restore library backup (files will still appear to be missing)
4. Use Find/Replace to change all references from "Old Drive Letter" to 'New Drive Letter"
Is it too late to be able to do this now?
I often do this (copy library backup to new machine), but I ensure the drive letter stays the same (ie on one machine my media is on M: drive, on the other machine, it has the nertwork drive mounted as drive letter M:, and it works just fine...)
cheers
Rob
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My media drive is drive M as well. ;D Great minds....
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4. Use Find/Replace to change all references from "Old Drive Letter" to 'New Drive Letter"
I use this a lot. Another option would be to change the drive letter if it is not the system drive (usually C:) and does not contain installed programs. All other drive letters can be easily changed with XP's Computer Management tool.
It is also possible to make virtual drive letters.
I have identical virtual X:, Y: and Z: drives on four networked PCs. I have imported my media files from these virtual drives instead of direct local paths like C:\Music, D:\Video etc.
One of the PCs (= the server) accesses local HDs through the same virtual drive letters. This can be accomplished by the SUBST* command or by simply mapping the shared folders also locally with drive letters. The other PCs have the X:, Y: and Z: drives as mapped network shares. All PCs can use an identical copy of the same library.
When I'm traveling with my laptop I often have a subset of my media files on an external HD. I use the SUBST command also with this drive to make the same drive letters appear. Again, I can use the same library even some of the files are deliberately offline.
* SUBST (http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/subst.mspx?mfr=true) associates a path with a drive letter.
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4. Use Find/Replace to change all references from "Old Drive Letter" to 'New Drive Letter"
For this, you can find some step by step instructions here:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=34211.0
and some more here:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=28888.0
With the Find and Replace tool you can also change the base path at the same time. For example, Find what: C:\Documents and Settings\sixrivers\My Documents\My Music\, Replace: D:\Music\
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Thanks for the advice, but I am still having trouble. My original plan was to switch the drive letters using the search & replace feature. I tried this before I posted and it failed. Even with the correct link reflected in the filename, it cannot locate the song. I am getting recommendations to use this process, but it just does not work. I would not continue to recommend it to others.
I had originally tried it in a playlist. Today, I tried it the master list of songs. Here, every song is currently duplicated. When I searched and replaced on the filename, it changed the drive letter, but added a "(1)" at the end. Hense, it could not find the song. My orignal plan to delete all files from the old hard drive is the best option for the master list of songs.
But, I still cannot get the playlists to recognize the songs with the correct drive letter & path. Is it time to rebuild all my playlists?
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I am getting recommendations to use this process, but it just does not work. I would not continue to recommend it to others.
It did work at one time, and may depend how you do it and in what order.
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Inside MC the playlists always refer to internal library files. The filename path is just one of the file attributes in the database and it does not have a direct relation to the playlist contents. If you remove files from the library they will be removed from the playlists too. If you import the same files from another location they will be different files inside MC's library.
MC makes those "(1)" filenames because the library already contains the duplicate files that you imported from the new location. For making the procedure work you need to start with your old library that has only the offline files.
I have found that the path replacement works fastest and cleanest if both locations are temporally offline, the old and the new.
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one of the problems with useing a non-standard database
if the db was a standard type like jet or sql then you could modify it outside of MC to get it working right
i'm a bit kingsparta'ry about this issue - the way it works at them moment means you can only do things from MC unless you know how to program
i've got about six programs that i wrote to just do simple things to the library that could easily be done from any jet/sql database, but there's no way to do it in MC
it's definately to be my main irritation - luckily i can do it myself but that's no help to others
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I'm a bit kingsparta'ry
This is one of the new words for this year
Word: kingsparta'ry
To Be Sarcastic, Pessimistic, And Down Right Ornery
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;D thought you'd like it (It's one of the words I use when talking - gets a lot of strange looks though unless they visit these forums)