Topic: WAV album -- Cover art wont display (Read 5553 times)

WD_Guy · « **on:** September 05, 2020, 05:06:37 pm »

Hi Does anyone have any idea why one album is refusing to display Cover art? Album is made entirely of WAV files of differing HiRes quality although they are in the same folder. They were initially discovered as individual tracks in MC 26.0.106 but I went into each one individually and manually assigned the compilation Album Title - now they all sit in one album just as I want it. However the incorrect (i.e no) album art is displayed. I have tried deleting art and 'add from file' but it just doesn't display. There is artwork in the host folder with the 'Folder.jpg' name but it just doesn't want to accept it. The file size is 498 Kb in size and is 1984 x 1187 pixels. An odd size but that shouldn't stop it from displaying.

When I start playing a track it suddenly assigns an image but then it disappears - but the image it briefly displayed must be linked to one of the the WAV files as it is not the one I selected. When I check the album TAG info the correct album art is shown. Closing down and restarting MC doesn't solve the issue. Any ideas?

WD_Guy · « **Reply #1 on:** September 21, 2020, 05:26:52 am »

Updated to MC27 but the issue still remains - the defined cover art will not stay and seems to be pulling the same image file from somewhere. This image file does not appear on my machine and is not embedded in the actual music file as it is a wav with no metadata. This is driving me nuts! Where is this image file coming from?

Dawgincontrol · « **Reply #2 on:** September 21, 2020, 09:42:01 am »

WAV files don't hold metadata well.

With that statement out of the way, make sure all the files are tagged correctly in the "Album" and "Album Artist" fields. Your tags are a little inconsistent with track numbers as some file names and not others, but I don't think that would inhibit the art.

After checking the tags, if still having the same problem, go the "Albums" view in standard view or highlight all the files in the file view and go to the image and redo the image field. See where that takes you.

The folder.jpg file should correlate to all the files at this point, though.

WD_Guy · « **Reply #3 on:** September 21, 2020, 10:11:28 am »

Thanks for the info. The album is not a true compilations 'Album' in that it was provided as a free download in a single zip file of multiple artists and multiple albums from MA recordings. WAV files without metadata just get grouped in with other unassigned wav files on my system so the database just cludges them in one folder on MC. That clearly doesn't work, so I manually assigned the album name for each one and that put them into a single folder inside MC27. I cant assign a single artist as this is a compilation so that won't fly. The album name is consistent so that looks Ok. The variable title formatting btw is how they were provided by MA recordings within the original zip file. I had to add track numbers manually to get sequence right.

I tried selecting whole album and deleting art and redoing thumbnails, adding a specific file etc. None of this works. As mentioned above if I click on the first track the art is temporarily replaced by artwork which is being pulled from somewhere but I don't know where or why. This temporary art work then embeds itself as the folder.jpg for that album which is not correct. I'm going to use MP3tag to see if metadata has been added and remove it if it exists. I'll let you know how I get on.

WD_Guy · « **Reply #4 on:** September 21, 2020, 11:37:44 am »

Alas - no joy despite early implications it was the wav file. When I used MP3 tag it found 3 different album art embedded in the wav files (RIFF ID3v2.3). One of them was the album art that popped up everytime I pressed play. Interestingly the first track metadata was not editable at all in MP3tag (Ie no meta data possible at all). However even though I removed all album art from the rest using MP3tag it still does exactly the same thing even after completely removing the album from the database and starting again by re-importing etc. Something is still reading the embedded metadata, displaying it and then creating the Folder jpg from this file! How do I stop this behaviour for just this one entry?

dtc · « **Reply #5 on:** September 21, 2020, 04:56:54 pm »

Some suggestions to try.

What album art is shown in the MC database - that is the Image tag in the tag editor? If there is an image there, it might be corrupt. Try replacing it.

MC creates a thumbnail from the image file in the database. When you are sure you have a good image in the MC database image tag, select the track and use Cover Art to Rebuild Thumbnail.

Try removing the first track. MC gets album art from the first track. If the tagging in that track is corrupt, it may be causing a error that causes your strange behavior.

Dawgincontrol · « **Reply #6 on:** September 21, 2020, 09:43:01 pm »

Are you against the idea of converting all these WAV files to FLAC? FLAC files will hold the metadata and you won't lose any quality of sound.

Also, you did not mention if you changed the "Album Artist" on all these. You can make the album artist anything you want, as long as they are all the same (ie WAV Artists, Various Artists, Zip Dudes, Pain In The Art).

RoderickGI · « **Reply #7 on:** September 22, 2020, 12:51:02 am »

What are your settings in "Options > File Location > Cover Art? All settings.

Quote from: WD_Guy on September 21, 2020, 10:11:28 am

WAV files without metadata just get grouped in with other unassigned wav files on my system so the database just cludges them in one folder on MC. That clearly doesn't work, so I manually assigned the album name for each one and that put them into a single folder inside MC27.

MC doesn't move files into one folder unless you tell it to, usually using the Rename, Move, and Copy Files function. MC just displays all the files as one group, called an Album. Where are all these files actually located, and are there other WAV or image files in the same folder? Is the second image in your first post the full content of the folder these files are in?

If you are unable to edit metadata for the first file using MP3Tag, is that file write protected?

Quote from: WD_Guy on September 21, 2020, 11:37:44 am

However even though I removed all album art from the rest using MP3tag it still does exactly the same thing even after completely removing the album from the database and starting again by re-importing etc.

Deleting files from the MC Library and then re-importing will very rarely fix these sorts of problems, unless you take extra steps. It usually isn't even worth trying. MC keeps track of deleted files and re-uses the metadata it knew about them. It also doesn't delete external Cover Art files, depending on settings, so it can re-use old Cover Art if it finds it. Search the forum for "Removed Database" if you want to know more.

WD_Guy · « **Reply #8 on:** September 22, 2020, 03:09:19 pm »

Dawgincontrol - Yes I did change the Album Artist to 'Various Artists' - this did not change the behaviour. Although I am grateful that you advised this - I don't like blank fields if I can help it. I also tried the conversion to FLAC but it only imported the first 2 files ( I waited 5 mins). SO I deleted album from db and re-added and this time it imported tracks 3-18 but ignored first 2! Third time I reimported - it didnt discover it at all! I restored the library from a previous time slot and thsi then worked. The FLAC file works as expected. This may be what I have to work with. I like to keep original files if at all possible.

Quote from: RoderickGI on September 22, 2020, 12:51:02 am

What are your settings in "Options > File Location > Cover Art? All settings.

These are set as 'Audio Mode:In the same Folder as the File (As Folder.jpg)' the "Also store image in the Files tag" is checked.

During the composition of this reply MC27 must have had a minor update as i went through the install process splash screen when I launched.. And now playing these wav files causes MC27 to close prematurely and reports that MC did not close properly. Never rains but it pours... but lets get past this one issue first before we look at that.

WD_Guy · « **Reply #9 on:** September 22, 2020, 03:37:04 pm »

And now it seems that any file I play MC27 randomly closes. Maybe after 30 seconds maybe after 30 minutes. I don't think this issue is related to the WAV file - I think its a bug in that latest release. Either way it's bloody annoying.

JimH · « **Reply #10 on:** September 22, 2020, 03:58:03 pm »

Random problems are often related to antivirus or similar products.

WD_Guy · « **Reply #11 on:** September 22, 2020, 04:52:59 pm »

Quote from: JimH on September 22, 2020, 03:58:03 pm

Random problems are often related to antivirus or similar products.

Perhaps - but strange it only started showing this behaviour after that latest update. I've never experienced this issue before with any previous version of MC. It's been rock solid. In the time its taken to compile this reply its shutdown 3 times of its own accord. Not even playing anything. Make that 4 times...

JimH · « **Reply #12 on:** September 22, 2020, 05:46:40 pm »

Please read the Windows Defender thread on the MC26 board.

And this thread:
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php/topic,24031.0.html

It's not likely that it's an MC problem.

Dawgincontrol · « **Reply #13 on:** September 22, 2020, 08:44:55 pm »

Quote from: WD_Guy on September 22, 2020, 03:09:19 pm

The FLAC file works as expected. This may be what I have to work with. I like to keep original files if at all possible.

Glad that's working anyway. You can always keep original files in a back-up location if you like (I do the same kind of stuff

, but the FLAC transition is still the WAV file, just in a compressed format.

Try the Defender recommendations JimH linked and then reboot to see if that fixes the other problem.

tij · « **Reply #14 on:** September 22, 2020, 09:45:09 pm »

Quote from: WD_Guy on September 22, 2020, 04:52:59 pm

Perhaps - but strange it only started showing this behaviour after that latest update. I've never experienced this issue before with any previous version of MC. It's been rock solid. In the time its taken to compile this reply its shutdown 3 times of its own accord. Not even playing anything. Make that 4 times...

Every major upgrade of MC (going from MC25 to MC27 for example) requires taming antivirus for it. Antiviruses treat new major version of MC as separate program (even executables files are different MC26.exe and MC27.exe).

So if your MC26 was running rock solid ... it is expected MC27 will run into AV problem unless you configured AV for new MC27.

WD_Guy · « **Reply #15 on:** September 23, 2020, 04:02:56 am »

Hi Guys - I did a complete uninstall - ccleaner registry clean- reboot- download MC27 latest - reinstall - restore library and so far this lasted 30 minutes first time before it closed down.. and yet again its started closing after 60 seconds or so after every launch.

This wasn't an AV issue as far as I could see as MC27 was already included in the exceptions list on my AV. Windows defender exclusions are not available as the Kaspersky programme was managing this. Just to make this clear - in the forum and windows defender section it advises to add exceptions. This is not available in my version of windows due to the presence of Kaspersky AV. Within Kaspersky AV the programme is already an allowed application.

Frankly I'm at my wits end with this. Even considering a move to a different platform if it continues.

WD_Guy · « **Reply #16 on:** September 23, 2020, 04:15:42 am »

Including debug files if anyone knows how to interpret them...

zybex · « **Reply #17 on:** September 23, 2020, 04:23:45 am »

The AutoImport is crashing MC when analyzing this file:
0069171: 8788: Import: AnalyzeAudio: Analyzing: D:\Music\Bucks Fizz - Writing On The Wall\NoiseSample.WAV

Try removing the file or disable AutoImport.
MC may be crashing because it's reading the file as 0Hz in one of the steps - the file may be corrupt:

0069171: 8708: Playback: CAutoConfigureAudioOutput::GetOutputFormat: Start
0069171: 8708: Playback: CAutoConfigureAudioOutput::GetOutputFormat: Using specified output format
0069171: 8708: Playback: CAutoConfigureAudioOutput::GetOutputFormat: 0 Hz 16bit 2ch
0069171: 8708: Playback: CAutoConfigureAudioOutput::GetOutputFormat: Finish (0 ms)
0069171: 8708: Playback: CAutoConfigureAudioOutput::GetOutputFormat: Start
0069171: 8708: Playback: CAutoConfigureAudioOutput::GetOutputFormat: Using specified output format
0069171: 8708: Playback: CAutoConfigureAudioOutput::GetOutputFormat: 44.1 kHz 64bit 2ch
0069171: 8708: Playback: CAutoConfigureAudioOutput::GetOutputFormat: Finish (0 ms)
0069187: 8708: General: TopLevelExceptionFilter: Unhandled exception -- program crashing

No, it's not the antivirus...

WD_Guy · « **Reply #18 on:** September 23, 2020, 04:40:11 am »

Quote from: zybex on September 23, 2020, 04:23:45 am

The AutoImport is crashing MC when analyzing this file:
0069171: 8788: Import: AnalyzeAudio: Analyzing: D:\Music\Bucks Fizz - Writing On The Wall\NoiseSample.WAV

Try removing the file or disable AutoImport.
MC may be crashing because it's reading the file as 0Hz in one of the steps - the file may be corrupt:

Thank You - I've deleted that file - Not sure whats more embarrassing - that I couldn't read the txt file or that I have bucks fizz in my DB! So far MC has been open for 9 minutes so lets see.

zybex · « **Reply #19 on:** September 23, 2020, 05:05:06 am »

Hey, at least it's not Scooch. [edit: fixed url]
If it was in fact that file, you should send it to JRiver for analysis to prevent similar issues.

@Jim: Isn't it about time that an AutoImport crash doesn't bring down the whole app? It should just skip the file that crashed the thread and carry on.

WD_Guy · « **Reply #20 on:** September 23, 2020, 05:30:23 am »

Quote from: zybex on September 23, 2020, 05:05:06 am

Hey, at least it's not Scooch.
If it was in fact that file, you should send it to JRiver for analysis to prevent similar issues.

MC27 still running after 1Hr - fingers crossed.

The noise sample.wav was for background noise reduction I was playing with over a decade ago - its possible it is just genuinely corrupted - its been across 4 cloned HDD in that time and I didnt even realise it was there! I can send it - please advise best place for that and I will fire it off.

Although this is just me - WAV files have always been an issue for me with MC as it cant associate/group wav files without metadata. I would prefer if MC during its auto import process would say something like " Found new Wav files - would you like to Manage TAG info before import?" or similar. Then I could group them as an album as one entry - rather than its current behaviour of adding x number of files separately - which does drive me nuts. I show music chronologically in my db - as I add music the latest album is first. So If I have any unnassigned wavs historically (ie way down the list )- they sometimes 'reappear' as brand new whenever new wav files are added under the album name 'Unassigned'. So I tend to avoid WAVs for that reason. - Anyway just thinking out loud FWIW..

RoderickGI · « **Reply #21 on:** September 23, 2020, 06:06:50 am »

If you import a new Album and the files aren't all associated together, so "scattered" around MC, open the "Recently Imported" Smartlist and the files will all be sitting together. Then you can tag them all together at once.

It's a very fast way to fix that sort of issue. I tend to open another tab for the Smartlist so I don't lose my place on the original tab, so my workflow isn't broken.

WD_Guy · « **Reply #22 on:** September 23, 2020, 07:34:14 am »

MC Still Up after nearly three hours - so I think we shall call that one solved...

Quote from: RoderickGI on September 23, 2020, 06:06:50 am

If you import a new Album and the files aren't all associated together, so "scattered" around MC, open the "Recently Imported" Smartlist and the files will all be sitting together. Then you can tag them all together at once.

It's a very fast way to fix that sort of issue. I tend to open another tab for the Smartlist so I don't lose my place on the original tab, so my workflow isn't broken.

Thanks for the advice - I will try and remember that next time around.

JimH · « **Reply #23 on:** September 23, 2020, 07:50:18 am »

Send the file to matt at jriver. Include a link to your post.

Can you play it? With MC or anything else?

It's still possible that the antivirus was involved. Uninstalling Kaspersky might have helped.

WD_Guy · « **Reply #24 on:** September 23, 2020, 09:17:40 am »

Quote from: JimH on September 23, 2020, 07:50:18 am

Can you play it? With MC or anything else?

No - not other music application that i tried will play it ; VLC, WMP, Foobar2000. WMP & Foobar report an unsupported or corrupted file. I can however import raw data into Audacity and it shows and plays fine. It is just a 20 second music sample.

zybex · « **Reply #25 on:** September 23, 2020, 09:24:27 am »

Sounds like it's just a chunk of bytes taken out of the original file, missing the WAV file header (RIFF/WAVE header). Just a sequence of raw 16/32 bit samples.
You can confirm this by opening it in an HEX editor, or just by drag&drop the file on top of Notepad and see if it starts with "RIFF".

Matt · « **Reply #26 on:** September 23, 2020, 10:16:20 am »

Thanks for sending the file. It reported zero for the sample rate so caused us to crash. I'll reject such files in the next build.

Thanks again.

WD_Guy · « **Reply #27 on:** September 23, 2020, 10:20:05 am »

OK here is the hex file snapshot FWIW

zybex · « **Reply #28 on:** September 23, 2020, 10:30:51 am »

Looks OK - as Matt said, it was just the 0 sample rate (highlighted in the crash report, " 0 Hz 16bit 2ch").

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Author Topic: WAV album -- Cover art wont display (Read 5553 times)