Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Mike48]

I want two PCs to have identical libraries (databases) and play the same media files, which are already on a network drive that is reference by the library on one of the PCs.

Option #1 would be to move the MC library to the same network drive. Then, both PCs could use it.  However, I don't know what files to move, how to move them safely, and what precautions are needed.

As far as I can see, there is no Option in MC that sets the library's location. Have I missed it?

Option #2 would be to copy the library somehow to the second PC. I don't know how to do that. There is "Library Sync", but its documentation is really sketchy, and I'm afraid of losing data.

Do the library files internally refer to one another, and if drive letters are different on the second computer, what needs to be done?  (The actual media files will have the same locators on both machines.)

What's the better option?  The best way to accomplish it?

The "library" is a terrifying mystery, as its contents, location, and file names remain undocumented.

[~OHM~]

So if you plan on the 2nd PC playing the files on the network drive. You could use the first PC as the Media Server, in this case that PC would need to be on to play files from the 2nd PC or you could take the backup file from the 1st PC to the 2nd PC and install that and all your info would be the same as 1st PC, just be sure to point the 2nd PC to the files on the network drive.....

[Mike48]

Tao,

Thanks for the reply.  I am looking, though, for a solution that doesn't require the first PC to be on all the time. But I appreciate the time you took to reply.

Mike


(Rant mode on)

This is the part of MC that is so frustrating -- things like library backup, sync, etc., may be very powerful, but there is no real documentation of what they do or how they do it.

I tried backup up the library from PC1 and restoring on PC2 into a new library, but still it wiped out the non-selected, existing library on PC2. Why? How would one prevent this -- if that's even possible?

The Wiki and/or manual pages are sketchy, outdated, or both.

What is the point of these features, if no one but the developers knows what they do or how to use them? I suspect even they may have forgotten, since there's nothing meaningful written down.

(Rant mode off)

Mike

[glynor]

Please read:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Library
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Library_Manager
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Backup_Library

Also, read through the caution here so you understand implications if you move the Library to your network volume:
http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Troubleshooting_Network_and_Slow_Storage#Library_Location_on_Disk

How you do this really depends on your specific needs.  One possibility is to simply replicate your Library structure on both computers (using Backup/Restore) and then just operate them independently.  Unfortunately, this will result in the two Libraries becoming isolated (play counts and whatnot won't match).  This might not matter for your use, though.  If not, just using Auto-Import on both computers and using independent Libraries might be the easiest solution.

[glynor]

The Wiki and/or manual pages are sketchy, outdated, or both.

What is the point of these features, if no one but the developers knows what they do or how to use them? I suspect even they may have forgotten, since there's nothing meaningful written down.

(Rant mode off)

I agree that the Wiki could use some help.  However, much of the Library section is quite up-to-date.  I know, because I worked hard on it not that long ago.

[Mike48]

Thanks, glynor, for the tips. Much appreciated.  The Library section of the Wiki is a LOT better than last time I looked at it.

Still, I have no idea of how to get my PC #2 to have a library with the same fields that I added to the library on PC #1.  Possible to automate this?  Or do I need to add the fields manually to the existing library on #2?  I tried using backup from #1 and restore onto #2, but even though I had selected a new library on #2, the operation apparently overwrote the main library I had there.

I also tried the suggestion (on machine #1) to put the library onto an SSD. I cloned the existing library and loaded the clone. Speed is better. But when I try to delete the original library, Delete is always grayed out on its context menu.  ??



Mike

[glynor]

Still, I have no idea of how to get my PC #2 to have a library with the same fields that I added to the library on PC #1.  Possible to automate this?  Or do I need to add the fields manually to the existing library on #2?  I tried using backup from #1 and restore onto #2, but even though I had selected a new library on #2, the operation apparently overwrote the main library I had there.

Restoring a backup, with Restore library and playlists enabled, overwrites the currently loaded Library.  If you don't want to overwrite the current one, you need to make a new, blank one, then load it, and then do the restore to overwrite that.  It does not overwrite anything but the currently loaded one.

If you overwrote something you didn't mean to, you can probably restore a backup.  MC makes automatic backups of the currently loaded Library roughly every two days.  They're stored on disk in the location here: Tools > Options > File Locations > Program Files > Library backups.

If you restore a backup with Restore settings enabled, one of the settings it restores includes the list of Libraries loaded in the Library Manager.  So, if you had a bunch of alternate Libraries loaded, and you restored the backup with Settings, then it will erase those entries for the alternate Libraries, and replace them with the list on the machine where you made the backup.  This is often convenient, if you want to replicate Library Server and other alternate Library locations to multiple machines.

If the latter happens, it doesn't actually hurt the Libraries on disk.  It just removes the entries from MC.  You can always add them back.

User-defined custom Fields are a Setting, I believe, so to get those, you almost certainly have to restore Settings in addition to the Library itself.  Or, recreate them manually.  If the tags are included in the files, or the Library you restored, they'll actually be there and filled once you create them in Tools > Options > Library & Folders > Manage Library Fields.

But when I try to delete the original library, Delete is always grayed out on its context menu.

Yeah.  I think it won't let you delete the original Library in the AppData folder anymore.  You could before, but it is grayed out for me too.  Or maybe you always have to have one on C?  Not sure, but you can rename it, so you can just name it "DO NOT USE" or something.

I rename mine "Local Library" and use them only as an option of last resort, if my main Media Drive is offline or something.  It only contains stuff on drive C.

[glynor]

If you really want to share a single Library between two machines, that's the whole idea of the Media Server feature of MC, and it works brilliantly.  It even lets you access your Library from across the Internet, if you can figure out how to open the port on your home firewall properly.  It works cross platform (so if you have or get a Linux or OSX box, you can access the Library from those as well).  And because of the way it caches and syncs changes, it operates just as fast as using a regular vanilla local Library.

You would probably be best served by picking one machine to act as the server, leave it on all the time, and enable the Media Network features in MC.  Set that copy of MC to auto-launch into the minimal Library Server mode by changing Tools > Options > Startup > Windows Startup to one of the choices that includes Media Server.

It also helps if any other machines on the same LAN as the server have a mapped network volume mounted that matches the source file locations on the server exactly.

[Mike48]

Hi glynor,

I have a desktop machine, whose MC library catalogs media files on a NAS. When I travel, I take my laptop, which has copies of the media files. The best arrangement I've found is to sync the media files (NAS to laptop) with a file-sync program and to keep the desktop and laptop MC libraries independent. (Possibly Library Sync would help, but I'm still not sure exactly what it does, and therefor, it scares me.)

I do use Media Server for the DLNA-driven main system in another part of the house. (I also have MinimServer running on the NAS, which works better for some things.)

Thanks for all your help. It was an improvement moving my desktop library from its RAID volume to its SSD. Much faster! And since backups are on the RAID volume, there's no risk.

Mike