getmusicbee.com
Support => Questions => Topic started by: undergroundatlas on March 02, 2015, 09:18:04 PM
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In many of my albums there are doubles of the tracks, one works, one has a blue exclamation point next to it, the letters are grey (as opposed to black) and when clicked on, error message reads"The source file for track 'example track' could not be found"
My question is, is there a setting, mode, etc... something I can click on, to delete all these dead end files, or do I need to go through every album, track by track to delete these?
Any help would be very much appreciated,
Thanks
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I think you can just rescan your library (File menu > Scan Folders for New Files or use hotkey Insert). It should ask you if you want to remove missing files at the end.
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File > Scan Folders for New Files has become somewhat misleading, IMO.
There used to be an option, once this window opened, where you could select "remove dead links." As psychoadept says, that dialog may now come after the scan is complete. But I think it would better serve all uses (new, old, and forgetful) to have that option back at the start of the scan.
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Yeah, the name has never been clear. Either it needs to be "Scan for New & Missing Files" or there should just be a separate function to the effect of "Remove Missing Links".
You can also use Tools > Tagging Tools > Other Filters > Show Dead Links, but I don't think anybody's just going to stumble on that one. Plus I tend to stay away from those filters because they're not very functional. (For this, it might actually be just the thing, since you're trying to update files, just remove them.)
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I've tried "Scan For New & Missing Files" The latest version gives me a box to check at the beginning to "remove dead links", also tried "Tools > Tagging Tools > Other Filters > Show Dead Links" but it said "no dead links", even though they are still riddled throughout my library...
and this is after I've deleted several of them several times, this s*** just keeps coming back, very frustrating... :P
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Huh. Are the problem files on a drive letter that's currently inaccessible? MB will not flag files on inaccessible drives as missing, because many people have collections on removable drives that are not always accessible.
If that's not it, a screenshot of the message on one of the problem files, and the Properties page of one of its working duplicate might be helpful.
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I've tried "Scan For New & Missing Files" The latest version gives me a box to check at the beginning to "remove dead links"
Hmmm ... What version are you using? Because the latest version of MB does not have "Scan for New & Missing Files." Nor does it have the 'remove dead links" option when you start the scan.
You can get the most recent patch here: http://musicbee.niblseed.com/V2_5/MusicBee_Exe_Patched.zip
Download, unzip, and replace existing files in your MB install folder.
I suggest confirming you have the latest version and then File > Scan Folders for New Files again.
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In the latest (2.5531) version, the option to re-scan all existing library files is now located at:
Tools> Advanced> Rescan All Files
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In the latest (2.5531) version, the option to re-scan all existing library files is now located at:
Tools> Advanced> Rescan All Files
Does this prompt somewhere to delete dead links, or does it just do so during the rescan? This appears to scan the entire library.
Doing the Scan for New Files from the File menu lets one choose the folders to scan.
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In the latest (2.5531) version, the option to re-scan all existing library files is now located at:
Tools> Advanced> Rescan All Files
Does this prompt somewhere to delete dead links, or does it just do so during the rescan? This appears to scan the entire library.
It doesn't prompt, it's an automatic option as you are only re-scanning files already in the library - not adding new files.
Doing the Scan for New Files from the File menu lets one choose the folders to scan.
Yes, because it only looks for new files to add into the library. It no longer scans files already existing in the library. That's why there is no longer an option to remove dead links.
Don't forget you have the option to right-click> Send To> File Rescan as well as scanning for updated or missing files on startup in Preferences> Library.
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So just to confirm, there isn't a way to remove dead tracks from a library?
I purchased a new harddrive and removed the old drive all my music was on, moving multiple folders into one folder on the new drive, that means I now have a ludicrous amount of blue exclamation marked tracks.
I've tried every scanning/updating option mentioned in this thread or that I could find in the menus and nothing is removing the dead linked tracks.
This is a pretty basic feature tbh, it sounds like it used to be supported, so I'm not sure why it no longer is?
I'm using v2.5.5721
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So just to confirm, there isn't a way to remove dead tracks from a library?
In theory this option should remove dead links: "on startup check for updated and missing files", located in the library preferences.
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So just to confirm, there isn't a way to remove dead tracks from a library?
I purchased a new harddrive and removed the old drive all my music was on, moving multiple folders into one folder on the new drive, that means I now have a ludicrous amount of blue exclamation marked tracks.
I've tried every scanning/updating option mentioned in this thread or that I could find in the menus and nothing is removing the dead linked tracks.
This is a pretty basic feature tbh, it sounds like it used to be supported, so I'm not sure why it no longer is?
I'm using v2.5.5721
Tools> Advanced> Rescan All Files will (should) remove missing links. You might want to update to the latest patch (2.5.5804) before rescanning. See my sig for details.
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a quicker way is Tools/ Tagging Tools/ Files to edit/ Show dead links and then remove them
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a quicker way is Tools/ Tagging Tools/ Files to edit/ Show dead links and then remove them
Seems to be the way to go, shame it's not automated. Thanks for the info though, as I've now removed all the dead tracks! So a result...
Tools> Advanced> Rescan All Files will (should) remove missing links. You might want to update to the latest patch (2.5.5804) before rescanning. See my sig for details.
I've installed the latest version you mentioned and the rescan option hasn't removed all dead tracks. It highlighted 3 albums that no longer exist and let me remove them, but I still have 3000+ tracks showing up with the blue exclamation marks. I don't get why it's only choosing a small subset of missing albums.
I've going to rescan it and see if it picks up another small batch.
In theory this option should remove dead links: "on startup check for updated and missing files", located in the library preferences.
I've had that ticked the entire time since I first installed MusicBee :/
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why is this in the bugs report?
its an automated when using folder monitoring in the library preferences or when you manually do a rescan for the files included in the scan path (using the Insert button).
The tools/ files to edit method is best if its just a once off exercise
any files on a drive that MB has no access will not be removed for safety reasons eg. the drive is temporarily unavailable.
For those files you would need to manually remove them
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any files on a drive that MB has no access will not be removed for safety reasons eg. the drive is temporarily unavailable.
For those files you would need to manually remove them
This is the crux of the issue then. I haven't seen that explained anywhere other than your post there.
Maybe in the future there should be a setting so the user can decide whether unavailable drives should be included in the removal of dead tracks or not.
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a quicker way is Tools/ Tagging Tools/ Files to edit/ Show dead links and then remove them
I had this same issue with dead links after merging two folders and this fixed it for me:
Tools > Advanced > Rescan All Files
then
Tools > Tagging Tools > Other "Files to Edit" Filters > Show Dead Links
just Shift select them all and hit Del...
Thanks guys :)