INTERACT FORUM

Devices => Androids and other portables => Topic started by: contium on May 28, 2020, 06:08:12 pm

Title: m3u Playlists Broken on Android 10
Post by: contium on May 28, 2020, 06:08:12 pm
m3u playlist are broken on Android 10. This has worked for years but know the playlist show as empty. This is a pretty well documented issue. I believe this is google's fault. After beating my head, I read that if the \ in the file path name is changed to / the playlists work. For instance, JRiver exports paths in m3u like:

.\..\Podcast\Corsten's Countdown Official Podcast\2020-05-27 Corsten's Countdown 674.m4a

Which does not show up.

If I change it to this, it works:

./../Podcast/Corsten's Countdown Official Podcast/2020-05-27 Corsten's Countdown 674.m4a

I tried it and all my playlists work until the next time I export them out of JRiver. Any way can get a work around?
Title: Re: m3u Playlists Broken on Android 10
Post by: BradATIMA on May 28, 2020, 06:15:33 pm
What are you using to play the playlist? The native syntax for Android is a /. Some players can handle either, but others might not.
Title: Re: m3u Playlists Broken on Android 10
Post by: contium on May 28, 2020, 06:23:37 pm
The default android media scanner which many programs use. In my case, I have an LG V60. The LG music app, Youtube music, google play and many other apps all have the same issue as they all read the same library.
Title: Re: m3u Playlists Broken on Android 10
Post by: contium on June 11, 2020, 02:02:08 pm
Can this be addressed? Will changing to forward slash break anything? From what I have read, back slash is a windows thing. A lot of hardware devices don't run windows and can't read back slashes. And windows will read either forward or back slashes.
Title: Re: m3u Playlists Broken on Android 10
Post by: BradATIMA on June 11, 2020, 02:50:21 pm
Media Center should be able to play m3u playlists that use forward or backslashes as long as the path is still correct. However, by correcting the issue, do you mean an option for Media Center to export the playlist with reversed slashes?
Title: Re: m3u Playlists Broken on Android 10
Post by: contium on June 11, 2020, 02:52:34 pm
Export playlists with forward slash for use with other devices.
Title: Re: m3u Playlists Broken on Android 10
Post by: RoderickGI on June 11, 2020, 05:40:03 pm
Are you talking about the Handheld Sync functionality?

Because Handheld Sync still uses a Backslash when creating Playlist files to put on the target device, whether that is a directory on a hard disk in a PC, an SD card mounted on a PC, or an Android device connected to the PC.

My Sony Experia XZ Premium is still on Android 9, so it handles the Backslash and the Forward Slash without any problems, but I hear that Android 10 can't handle Backslashes. This has been reported on the forum several times.

I tested with the "M3U (relative paths)" format of Playlists.


PS: If anyone is going to do some work on Handheld Sync, please run a few Syncs in a row and observe what happens to the [Name] field and the listed metadata on rechecking Sync, and for the second and subsequent syncs. Run "Recheck Sync" multiple times in succession. It is still broken, at least for me, and always sends the full list of files each time, as it can't match what is on the device compared to what is in the Sync list. It also loses the Cover Art display for any file listed as "On Device", even if it was only just Synced, and the "In Queue" version with the correct [Name] has Cover Art. This stuff has been reported multiple times by others.

I would really like to use Handheld Sync more, but...
Title: Re: m3u Playlists Broken on Android 10
Post by: contium on June 11, 2020, 05:47:31 pm
Are you talking about the Handheld Sync functionality?

Because Handheld Sync still uses a Backslash when creating Playlist files to put on the target device, whether that is a directory on a hard disk in a PC, an SD card mounted on a PC, or an Android device connected to the PC.

My Sony Experia XZ Premium is still on Android 9, so it handles the Backslash and the Forward Slash without any problems, but I hear that Android 10 can't handle Backslashes. This has been reported on the forum several times.

I tested with the "M3U (relative paths)" format of Playlists.


PS: If anyone is going to do some work on Handheld Sync, please run a few Syncs in a row and observe what happens to the [Name] field and the listed metadata on rechecking Sync, and for the second and subsequent syncs. Run "Recheck Sync" multiple times in succession. It is still broken, at least for me, and always sends the full list of files each time, as it can't match what is on the device compared to what is in the Sync list. It also loses the Cover Art display for any file listed as "On Device", even if it was only just Synced, and the "In Queue" version with the correct [Name] has Cover Art. This stuff has been reported multiple times by others.

I would really like to use Handheld Sync more, but...

No, I don't use the handheld sync on androids. I found it to be incredibly unreliable. I export the playlists and then sync the music and playlists over wifi. It would be equivalent to drag and drop onto my V60.
Title: Re: m3u Playlists Broken on Android 10
Post by: RoderickGI on June 11, 2020, 05:53:59 pm
Okay. Thanks for clarifying.

PS: If Handheld Sync was reliable, would you use it?
Title: Re: m3u Playlists Broken on Android 10
Post by: contium on June 11, 2020, 06:08:03 pm
Okay. Thanks for clarifying.

PS: If Handheld Sync was reliable, would you use it?

Yes I would. I do use it for syncing 3 iPods and it works perfect.
Title: Re: m3u Playlists Broken on Android 10
Post by: contium on June 26, 2020, 12:37:42 pm
Not sure if any effort is being put into this so I created a batch file to correct all the exported m3u playlists from:

.\..\Albums\Rock\James\James - Laid\13 - James - Skindiving.flac

to:

../Albums/Rock/James/James - Laid/13 - James - Skindiving.flac

This format plays on every device I have tried. Android, Android TV, Bluesound, Roon, Sans Disc, my trucks stereo...

Title: Re: m3u Playlists Broken on Android 10
Post by: RoderickGI on June 26, 2020, 06:03:48 pm
Yep, that makes sense to me, and is the logical solution when using Playlist Export, rather than handheld Sync.