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Author Topic: Device Management - Not Optimal  (Read 1919 times)

steven.porteus

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Device Management - Not Optimal
« on: March 28, 2015, 06:10:29 am »

I've confirmed this behavior in Media Center as well, so this is core product behavior that is not quite right.  I have two microSD cards to store different music.  Each with a different volume name, so when they mount, they show that volume name.  I have different playlists for syncing to each card.  So, I define devices that clearly have a path to the correct volume name and set up the options for that device to sync the playlists I want on it.

The problem is, PMW/MC doesn't respect the device that I have set up and when I switch chips it usually shows two (or more) devices;  The one I defined for that volume and the one that is defined for the other volume even though it's not mounted.  Sometimes there will be a third that looks like an auto-detected device.

So, this seems like simple code clean up.  If the device mounted is defined by user, only show that device and stop.  If not defined, auto-detect.

There's also a related enhancement ask here also.  I have two PonoPlayers which get different music playlists synced to them.  Right now, there is no way in PWM to differentiate them because when mounted, they have the same volume name.  If there were a way to go beyond just volume name to identify devices, that would be cool.  Even just a small hidden config file with the device name that I define that gets put on the device that PWM/MC looks for to identify the device would work.  That would also help overcome any issue of where/how I mount a given volume (USB, SD Card slot, remote SD card slot on NAS or printer, etc, etc) that might change the path.  This might also allow the inverse, if you want multiple devices to appear the same, regardless of volume name, you can have this config file there containing the same defined device name and skip looking at the volume name or mount path.

Related to this, can we PLEASE have the ability to delete individual devices cleanly (that's not always working right now) and allow to auto detect new devices WITHOUT loosing everything we have defined?!!  That's just annoying to have to recreate everything when there is a glitch. 

If JRiver is going to be the device manager software for Pono, feels like this side of the software needs some focused attention.   Seeing as this behavior shows up in the core product as well, I'm thinking other licensed users (of which I am one) would have issue with as well.
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REShaman

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Re: Device Management - Not Optimal
« Reply #1 on: March 28, 2015, 10:27:06 am »

Appreciate your perspective and feedback. I imagine that more of what you provide as feedback will be essential to help PMW help us as your suggestions sound quite reasonable and practical. I, too, experience problems but PMW is not responsible for the firmware which despite being updated persists in creating undesirable results that are neither consistent nor practical and make administering the management of our music a trial and error and in some cases more a trial of errors. Not being glib. Merely frustrated when I am told my problem that some have and some don't have, have been cured, but they're not. Keeping a positive outlook. Hope the results support my POV.

Best,
Richard
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JohnT

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Re: Device Management - Not Optimal
« Reply #2 on: March 31, 2015, 09:37:21 am »

Thanks for the feedback.  It sounds like there needs to be improvement for handling multiple devices with the same volume name.
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John Thompson, JRiver Media Center

steven.porteus

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Re: Device Management - Not Optimal
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2015, 06:00:17 pm »

Thanks for picking up on this thread, JohnT.

One kind of related issue which others are posting in various forms.  The syncing is kind of spotty with the delete feature.  I have one card that is syncing as expected every time.  I have another card that simply doesn't behave right.  Even after a fresh format and complete reload, the syncing either reloads EVERYTHING on the card even if I've only added a few tracks or doesn't delete things it should or some mixture of reloading some tracks that it shouldn't need to and leaving others alone.  No direct pattern that I can discern, but it's only with this one card.  Kind of odd.   I'm going to try syncing it again later, so I'll try to troubleshoot a bit more if it continues to do it.

Bottom line, reloading a 128GB card is PITA when it only needs a few tracks.  Side loading is always an option, but not the point.
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steven.porteus

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Re: Device Management - Not Optimal
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2015, 06:40:57 pm »

Tried to troubleshoot and nothing definitive.  I turned off the delete and update if modified selections and was able to load the few tracks that needed to be added.  changed those settings back and now everything on the card is reloading again (nothing has changed in my library).  Really odd.  Like I said, this doesn't happen with my other storage card.  (BTW, this is all in my local SD card reader, not via the PonoPlayer.  That's way too slow)
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steven.porteus

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Re: Device Management - Not Optimal
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2015, 09:59:09 am »

Tried again last night and I think I've narrowed down part of the root cause.  It's the sync if modified function.  I did this in MC 20.0.87 just to rule out PMW specific behavior.

Wipe the SD card completely (secure format).  Reset all device profiles (redetect).  Customized the one profile for this card with the modified and delete options checked and the appropriate playlists selected.  Synced the card.  After that completed, restarted the computer, reinserted the card, and brought up MC.  The device sync wanted to resync EVERYTHING on the card.  I then unchecked the modified option and everything went to "on device" status.

So, since no files were modified that would cause them to need to be resynced, this seems like a defective behavior.  Maybe the wrong date is being checked? 
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