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[prod]

Hi Nathan

Looks like you have no tracks in your iTunes library? The "analysed" total is zero - that would normally be the number of entries in your iTunes library.

You can either turn on "Import files to iTunes of type" or import those files manually from within iTunes, but to sync a file it must first exist in both libraries.

Your other question - making a playlist of those MP3's would work for now - I'll look into stacks and see if I can perhaps utilise that info.

Pete

[jmone]

Thanks Pete - I knew it would be something simple.  I'll see what works with playlists and stacks...

[jmone]

Syncing a Mixed Library of Lossless, Non-Apple Compatible and MP3 files

For these (like me) with a mixed Library of Lossless (or other non-apple compatible audio files) and MP3 Audio tracks, here is another option for Syncing.  I'm sure this can be improved on, but the following works well

1) Create a Handheld Cache:   Under Options --> Handheld --> Device Management --> Add Device and configure as per the screen shot below for the bits in the red box.  The rest does not matter too much as we are not going to ever "sync" to this device but once the settings are correct click on "Build cache for selected handheld" and MC (over many many hours) will then create a MP3 version of any of your non MP3 Audio and store them in a "stack".

Note: the "Stack Location" default is "with originals" but I preferred to keep them all in a separate directory (not that it matter for this process).

Alternative: Instead of Building the Cache for "All Audio" you could just build it for the subset you want under the very right hand box, under Playlists.  This would could save alot of time and disc space if you are only every likly to want to sync some of your entire collection.

[jmone]

2) Create a MP3 Only View:  The next step is to then create a Customised View that only displays MP3 (see the screen shot below).  At this stage it will only show those original MP3 files you had in your library as the ones made in step 1 above are hidden in the "Stack"

[jmone]

3) Expanding Your Stack:  To make the MP3 versions visible you now need to select all you Audio files and Right Click--> Expand Stack (as per the screen shot below).  MC will now display the original Audio file and also any MP3 created in Part 1.

[jmone]

4) Sync as Usual:  At this point you just select the Stacks View that shows all the MP3 (your originals and those from the "stack") and sync/send to as usual and let "MC iTunes Synchronizer" do its thing from here just like it was a "normal mp3 only" library.

Hope it helps
Nathan

[prod]

Thanks for sharing that info, looks like using the stacks feature really simplifies the sync'ing of lossless and lossy. In fact it looks like a much better alternative to the "Use Alternative Keys" option - probably make the sync process a little faster as well. Though getting your head around the stacks concept can be a challenge.

[jmone]

I think the stacks option has some real merit as not only does it give a MP3 version for MC iTunes Sync to use I could also do this with WMA for syncing to my WinMo.  The other big benefit I see is that MC will track and manage all "version" as one stack without any input from us (eg if I change meta data on one it should change on all versions etc).  I'm sure there must be a better way to:
1) Build and keep built the Stack to the profile you want, and
2) Create a View that shows all items in you library that are MP3 even if they are in a Stack, whithout having to "Expand the Stack" in other views.

I'll post both Q's in the Main MC15 forum.

Thanks
Nathan

[jmone]

Also added an Alternative suggestion in Point 1 "Instead of Building the Cache for "All Audio" you could just build it for the subset you want under the very right hand box, under Playlists.  This would could save alot of time and disc space if you are only every likly to want to sync some of your entire collection."

[jack wallstreet]

Does 5.5.5 fully work with mc15.  I had 14 and 15 installed at the same time and updated the 15 library.  MCIS seemed to access the new library just fine.  However, since then I uninstalled MC14 and I get a sync error as follows:   <Result EndDateTime="2010-04-25T19:05:01">Could not access J River Media Center. Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {572802D5-FBF6-4C30-89CA-BDF2CE4AEC2B} failed due to the following error: 80040154.</Result>

Don't know if it is related to unistalling MC14 or not.  Using Win 7, 64 bit. and only MC15

[prod]

Yes it works fine ... The problem is that sometimes uninstalling an older version of MC appears to de-register MC from the class factory. Just reinstalling your current version of MC15 (like doing an update) should fix it.

[Cerebro]

Hi Prod..
Just a small side question from a risk-averse user. The new iTunes 9.1.1 took 1 hour on its own to update the iTunes database once I started it (mighty steve only knows what the software did in that time to my media collection). My question is, how sure is it that MCiS will always work with an updated iTunes and not do any harm to my database? Should we wait for you to give a green light after an iTunes update or is it generally safe to use?

We all know that Apple likes to tinker around to close down their hardware and software eventually...as we saw with the latest ipods that MC cannot handle anymore.
I just hate the thought of locking myself out of iTunes and having to redo a lot of rework..

Thanks for your insight!
Cheers

[prod]

Hi

MCiS accesses the library through the iTunes interface so shouldn't cause problems, unless that interface changes. I'd most likely pick something like that up pretty quickly though Magic_Randy tends to beat me to testing a new iTunes version

To be absolutely sure though, after iTunes does an update, run MCiS but check "Run in Test Mode" first. The log will then tell you any changes, without actually making any change.

[Magic_Randy]

I'd most likely pick something like that up pretty quickly though Magic_Randy tends to beat me to testing a new iTunes version

Late to report but I did download 9.1.1 as soon as it was available. I've had no luck with it at all. I'm going to try to find an old version of iTunes and use that.

This is not related to MCiS. I just can't make iTunes 9.1.1 work.

iTunes playback freezes up when playing MP3 files. I thought maybe there was a problem with the install, but that's not it. I even did a complete uninstall and reinstall cleaning registries in between. I also rebuilt the iTunes library from scratch and that does not help.

[prod]

Thanks for the heads up Randy, I'll give it a bit of testing and see if I get the same result.

[Magic_Randy]

Thanks for the heads up Randy, I'll give it a bit of testing and see if I get the same result.

I rolled back to iTunes 9.1 and rebuilt my library. Everything is working fine there.

I may try upgrading to 9.1.1 again later or may just skip this release. If the only problem is playback I don't care. I only use iTunes to manage my app store content and sync my Apple devices.

[Magic_Randy]

There may be no problem directly related to 9.1.1. I've upgraded to this version again.

I still have playback problems but it happens in 9.1 and 9.1.1. I see the problem when I multi-task within iTunes. If I'm playing something and also browsing the library, going to iTunes store, looking at preferences, etc. Then the track randomly freeze playback. When it freezes I get constant noise through the speakers. If I exit iTunes I start playback again.

As I don't really use iTunes other than syncing and the App Store, I will stop my testing and move on.

[Magic_Randy]

prod, a quick question.

Do the iTunes Playback Preferences impact syncing or just playback in iTunes?

To be clear, should check Crossfade Songs or Sound Check? Will I get the same results on my synced devices regardless of these settings?

[prod]

Hmm yep I'm not having any problems here.

I believe crossfade does not affect your devices, only playback in iTunes... but sound check must be enabled in both iTunes and on your device for it to work (on your device).

[Magic_Randy]

I believe crossfade does not affect your devices, only playback in iTunes... but sound check must be enabled in both iTunes and on your device for it to work (on your device).

Thanks...

[mesue]

HI prod,

Would it be possible for you to add an option to export Ratings from iTunes to MC instead of aggregating them?

[prod]

Can do, is this something you'd want to do as a one-off or continually?

The reason I ask is because you can do this at the moment as a one-off by doing the following to the files you want to import the iTunes rating for;

In MC:

• Set the iTunesRatingSync field to -1
• Clear the Rating field to zero

MCiS will then put the iTunes rating into MC. Try it out on one file first.

[mesue]

Can do, is this something you'd want to do as a one-off or continually?

The reason I ask is because you can do this at the moment as a one-off by doing the following to the files you want to import the iTunes rating for;

In MC:

• Set the iTunesRatingSync field to -1
• Clear the Rating field to zero

MCiS will then put the iTunes rating into MC. Try it out on one file first.

I'd want it as a continual thing. The reason is because I do most of my rating in Squeezebox Server. That then syncs to iTunes, and then iTunes syncs with MC. With it merging the ratings, it's creating a lot of half-star ratings in iTunes which is messing up my rating-based playlists.

Thanks for the tip on how to do it as a one-off.

[Taxee]

Downloaded MCiS and synced MC15 with iTunes 9.  Everything appeared to go well with no error messages.

The only problem is that it says that it successfully analyzed 49067 tracks, of which 1077 were synchronized.  Why didn't it sync all of them?

Thanks.

[prod]

Downloaded MCiS and synced MC15 with iTunes 9.  Everything appeared to go well with no error messages.

The only problem is that it says that it successfully analyzed 49067 tracks, of which 1077 were synchronized.  Why didn't it sync all of them?

Thanks.

That's fine, only files that have differences are sync'd - so in the 1077 there were changes, in the rest there were no differences so no action was required.

[jack wallstreet]

Problem with one directional sync - is it me or ?

I have been using mcis 5.5.5 (and versions before that) and have just noticed a problem with my one directional sync.  (I only sync from MC to Itunes - I want all playlists in my MC library to be in Itunes. 

I have 400 playlists and they all seem to sync fine between MC and Itunes (it is one diretional only), EXCEPT, my classical playlists and my one playlist with only a single video file are empty in Itunes (the playlists is created but it is empty).  The only thing I can find unusual about this is that the files for ALL of these empty playlists reside outside of the tree structure for all the other files. They are on my hard drive, I just don't have them in the same folder/subfolders. Any thoughts?  I don't know if this problem has been around since I started using MCIS or not.  I rarely look at those particular playlists so I don't know if this is a new problem or not.

[prod]

I think possibly those files that are being excluded aren't in your iTunes library, or they aren't in the sync scope i.e. the MC playlist/viewscheme/library you've specified when running MCiS... either that, or for whatever reason the full pathnames for those files are different in your iTunes and MC libraries respectively.

Turning on <FileNotFound> logging in Settings may help in finding the problem - it will list in the log any files in iTunes that could not be matched with a corresponding file in your specified MC playlist/viewscheme/library.

[jack wallstreet]

Prod,

Well, this is embarrassing, but I guess since I raised an issue in this public forum, to avoid having anyone think there may be a problem with your fine program., I have to disclose my stupidity

The issue was solved by my simply importing the missing files into Itunes.  Since I never use Itunes for anything but loading my Iphone from MC through your program, I forgot how Itunes works and forgot that although your program does a lot, it doesn't actually load the song files into Itunes.  I was patiently waiting for MCiTunes to load the actual files.  Hmm!  Maybe in version 6? 

[prod]

I forgot how Itunes works and forgot that although your program does a lot, it doesn't actually load the song files into Itunes.  I was patiently waiting for MCiTunes to load the actual files.

Well, good news - you don't have to wait till version 6, that option has been in there for some time now ... just check "Import files to iTunes of types" in Settings and put the file types into the text box that you want automatically imported (separated by semi-colon), e.g. "mp3;mp4;wav".

[jack wallstreet]

Well, good news - you don't have to wait till version 6, that option has been in there for some time now ... just check "Import files to iTunes of types" in Settings and put the file types into the text box that you want automatically imported (separated by semi-colon), e.g. "mp3;mp4;wav".

Wow - nice feature!  I did try it and it worked but it seemed about an order of magnitude slower to check import files to Itunes then to just import the files via Itunes - so I just imported them through Itunes rather than let MCiS do it.  Based on speed/convenience it would seem better to import directly initially (the big import) and then use the checkbox to just do any updates automatically.

Thanks again.

[prod]

Based on speed/convenience it would seem better to import directly initially (the big import) and then use the checkbox to just do any updates automatically.

Yeah I've had these reports before but in my tests I got pretty much the same speed as manual import... I guess iTunes isn't the most consistent of apps. Like you say, the feature is meant more for keeping things tidy and sync'd rather than for a massive import of 10,000's of files at once.

[prod]

Tested with iTunes 9.2, no issues found 

[lOth]

Tested with iTunes 9.2, no issues found 

Same here.
Now waiting to test iTunes 9.2 with iPhone 4 next Thursday

[Magic_Randy]

Tested with iTunes 9.2, no issues found 

Tested with 9.2 and no issues with MCiS

I do have problems with iTunes itself. It crashes when it tries to upgrade. I know what the problem is. It has to do with Genie Timeline backup software (this is software that constantly backs up the system). In order to install or upgrade iTunes, I have to Pause Genie Timeline. Thought I would pass this on in case anyone else has similar problems.

[broncodan]

Hi Prod,

using most current version 5.5.5 and most current version of itunes 9.2 - I have an ipad/touch sync with itunes:  I am getting the following error:

  </Track>
  <FileNotFound Pathname="C:\Documents and Settings\************\My Documents\My Music\Books\A. A. Milne\Winnie-the-Pooh.epub" />
  <Result EndDateTime="2010-06-19T17:25:54">Object reference not set to an instance of an object.</Result>
</MCiS>

I also got this error with some podcasts but was able to delete those from itunes and it was working.  Is there a way to exclude podcasts, books from MCIS as it seems to cause some issues?

Thanks in advance.

[prod]

Hi, do you have any more info I could use to narrow this issue down? For instance, during which process is it occurring, and how you determined it was some podcasts causing it.

[broncodan]

Hi again,

Well - I thought that in the past that I had turned off the file not found logging and it would progress nicely but I still get an error:

  <Track Filename="K:\Music Collection Share\Music Collection\VARIOUS ARTISTS\SINGLES\Music Ninja\Upular.mp3">
    <Artist ChangedIn="iTunes" OldValue="Various Artists" NewValue="" />
  </Track>
  <Result EndDateTime="2010-06-20T09:03:06">Object reference not set to an instance of an object.</Result>
</MCiS>

I realize that the last line regarding "object reference not set to an instance of an object" is the same error I have been receiveing before (with the podcasts) and even in an instance prior to that.  I am not sure what this means or what else I can provide you to figure it out please let me know.

[broncodan]

Okay - I ran it again and got the same error - it occurs during the import to itunes process -

 </Track>
  <Result EndDateTime="2010-06-20T11:47:54">Object reference not set to an instance of an object.</Result>
</MCiS>

[broncodan]

Okay - more info - unchecked - import file to itunes of types and was successful.  So I am wondering - there are 3 types of files listed as the default for this selection -  mp3;wav;m4a - I don't have any m4a files in my library - could this be why the error is occuring?  I would think that if you didn't have a specific type it just would skip it but maybe not?

[prod]

Thanks, I think the problem is you have a file somewhere that, when MCiS tries to import it, iTunes rejects it. Maybe the file is corrupt, but I'll handle this more gracefully in the next version, and perhaps return the name of the offending file(s).

Cheers.

[broncodan]

That would be great.  With a library of 60k + = trying to find one file blindly is next to impossible.  Until then I will just leave the import option off.

[Quixote]

Found a bug:

I have files physically named:

Code: [Select]

M:\[audio]\[music]\[]\[00's]\Billboard Top 100 of 2003\#026 Black Eyed Peas - Where Is the Love.mp3
Please note the "[]" folder name.  Files with a "[]" in the path name receive the following error:

Code: [Select]

<ImportToiTunes Filename="M:\[audio]\[music]\\[00's]\Billboard Top 100 of 2003\#026 Black Eyed Peas - Where Is the Love.mp3">Unsuccessful</ImportToiTunes>
It looks like the "[]" is being replaced with Empty.

[Quixote]

Found another small issue:

Regarding the "Fields to export from MC to iTunes" option:

Apparently there are some fields that require write access for iTunes to change it's own library.  My files are read-only so I'm getting many of the following type errors:

Code: [Select]

<Track Filename="M:\[audio]\[music]\[B]\Black Eyed Peas\Monkey Business\#02 Black Eyed Peas - Don't Phunk with My Heart.mp3">
    <Error Field="Lyrics" Message="The track is not modifiable." />
  </Track>
This causes significant delays in synchronization.  Is there a more graceful way of checking for read-only files and skipping the writing of fields that require write access to the file?

Some of the fields that have this issue are:

• Comment
• Mix Album
• Lyrics
• Sort...

I didn't check any of the aggregating fields.

[steveklein]

I had no problems with an MC14 ---> iTunes 9.2 sync. Also had no problems transferring music from iTunes to iPhone 4 following this.

[prod]

It looks like the "[]" is being replaced with Empty.

MCiS just uses the pathname returned by MC ... if this is happening, it's unfortunately a bug in the MC API, not in MCiS. I'll have a look and see if I can work around it though.

Is there a more graceful way of checking for read-only files and skipping the writing of fields that require write access to the file?

Yeah I'm aware iTunes can be a slow, cumbersome beast when it wants to be. Unfortunately, unlike MC, iTunes insists on writing certain tags to the physical file - can't you just uncheck the fields that are in this category? It seems you're not worried about sync'ing those fields anyway.

[makersjam]

Help please.

I'm using MCiS 5.5.5, MC15 and iTunes 9.2.1. My library is located on a WHS. Oh and I have 64bit Win7. I've used this program in the past and love it. It always worked just as needed. I am just now trying it on my newest setup and it is not working. MCiS will start up fine but when I hit the synchronize button it says synchronize unsuccessful and returns the following in the log.

 <MC Version="15.0.73" LibraryName="Default" LibraryPath="C:\Users\the jammawuzzi\AppData\Roaming\J River\Media Center 15\Library\" />
  <Result EndDateTime="2010-07-27T16:42:18">Could not access iTunes. Retrieving the COM class factory for component with CLSID {DC0C2640-1415-4644-875C-6F4D769839BA} failed due to the following error: 800702e4.</Result>

Ive tried everything I can think of. Did it with iTunes running, not running, running as administrator, I've uninstalled iTunes, reinstalled it, tried 5-6 diff versions. regardless of what I try it always ends up doing this.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

[prod]

Sorry if this seems a daft question but are you definitely using the 64-bit iTunes installer to install iTunes? Looks like iTunes hasn't registered its automation interface on install.

[makersjam]

Sorry if this seems a daft question but are you definitely using the 64-bit iTunes installer to install iTunes? Looks like iTunes hasn't registered its automation interface on install.

Tis ok, thanks for your reply. Yes the setup file is named iTunes64Setup. I tried several times at installing it. Uninstalling before each reinstall.

[prod]

Hmm ok try going to your iTunes folder using the command line and type:

iTunes.exe /regserver

That should force iTunes to register itself. You may need to open the command line as administrator, not sure though as I've never come across this issue.

[makersjam]

Hmm ok try going to your iTunes folder using the command line and type:

iTunes.exe /regserver

That should force iTunes to register itself. You may need to open the command line as administrator, not sure though as I've never come across this issue.

I did exactly this and am getting the same result.