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More => Old Versions => Media Center 11 (Development Ended) => Topic started by: exodus on August 09, 2004, 01:57:04 pm

Title: How To: Copy files from CD without loosing tags?
Post by: exodus on August 09, 2004, 01:57:04 pm
Hi-

I made an archive data CD with .ape files on it.  I later went back and filled in the library tag fields.  Now that I have a larger hard drive, I'd like copy the tracks from the CD back onto the hard drive- but when I copy the files the library tag info gets obliterated.  Is there a way to get the copy things off a data cd and keep the tag info intact?

Thanks
Title: Re:How To: Copy files from CD without loosing tags?
Post by: exodus on August 09, 2004, 11:31:15 pm
has anyone else noticed this?
Title: Re:How To: Copy files from CD without loosing tags?
Post by: Alex B on August 10, 2004, 04:19:00 am
I suppose you copied your APE files to a data CD and the CD is read only. After that you inserted the CD again and tagged the files in MC.

Instructions:

1. Insert the CD.
2. Go to Drives & Devices (in MC tree) and click the CD name tab. Make a new playlist of your APE files. If you have a folder structure on your CD you can first import the files into Media Library and go to Media Library -> Advanced -> Hard Drive Location -> name of the CD disk. There you can see all files in one view.
3. Export that playlist. (MPL format, include all fields).
4. Copy the APE files to a hard drive location (use Windows Explorer if you have a folder structure).
5. Open the .mpl playlist in a text editor and find a string like this: "Filename">(0x0D9924E8):\
Search and replace all instances of it with your hard drive location. (e.g. "Filename">D:\Music\).
6. Import the fixed .mpl playlist into MC Library.
7. You can now update tags from the library. If your APE files are in read only mode after copying from the CD change that first.
Title: Re:How To: Copy files from CD without loosing tags?
Post by: LonWar on August 10, 2004, 10:03:15 am
If you use MC 11 it will fix any broken links...

You can put your ape files in the new destination and then import... It should associate your tags with the new files...

This has worked for me... If you try this, use a few files at first. And ALWAYS back up your library first.

As stated above, this will work in 11 only.
Title: Re:How To: Copy files from CD without loosing tags?
Post by: exodus on August 10, 2004, 12:33:45 pm
Alex B-
Thanks for your help, this has been bugging me.  I got it to work per your suggestion, however in MC 11 "select all fields/just visible fields" is not an option. It just takes the visible fields.  


Here is my situation, just to clairify from my initial post:  I have about 100 CDs (a mix of writtable and rewrittable) on which I burned a mix of .shn and .ape files.  None of the files have any tag information imbedded within the actual file.  All the CDs were imported into the Library.
Later, I created my own custom fields, and started entering data into the Library database.  
Now, when I put in a CD, Media Center recognizes it, shows me all my custom fields and correct data for the tracks.  The problem is that when I copy those tracks, within Media Center, to a folder on my hard drive, they appear in the folder as non-imported, unrecognized files, with no tag data.  I'm surprised that moving files within MC, from one folder to another retains the correct links to the library data, but moving from CD to HD doesn't.  This would be a VERY handy feature ;D

Title: Re:How To: Copy files from CD without loosing tags?
Post by: Alex B on August 10, 2004, 02:08:02 pm
One thing that threw me a curve was that MPL format playlists did not have the option to include all fields- thus it didn't export any tag data. (I'm using MC 11)...
I remembered wrong, there is no "include all" option. Anyway MPL should include all fields. It does in MC 10. Custom tags, all dates, playcounts, etc are included. If not in MC11, that must be a bug.

Read this: http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=22863;start=msg159124#msg159124 (http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=22863;start=msg159124#msg159124)