Author Topic: Wifi android device synching  (Read 310735 times)

NighTeagle

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I assume you have the paid version? Pretty sure I tested the trial version and reverse syncing didn't work.

I might have to edit a few posts I've made on here implying it might not work.

Yes I have the paid version. It would surprise me that the trial version wouldn't work, since it is basically the same app, with the same functionality, just with a license of 14(?) days.

Just to be sure: how exactly did you notice reverse syncing didn't work? Did you receive some kind of error message or did you check your MB library after syncing where you noticed playcounts weren't incrementally increased?

I remember I manually checked some playcounts after my first wifi sync a few months ago, which indeed confirmed that the playcounts were succesfully incremented. Ratings however did not reverse sync.
I'll verify this once more this weekend, to be sure I'm not spreading false information :)

Edit: A new test this weekend indeed confirms that the playcounts from the paid Poweramp version were reverse synced to MusicBee on android 12.
Last Edit: August 20, 2022, 09:15:04 AM by NighTeagle

BoringName

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Yes I have the paid version. It would surprise me that the trial version wouldn't work, since it is basically the same app, with the same functionality, just with a license of 14(?) days.

Just to be sure: how exactly did you notice reverse syncing didn't work? Did you receive some kind of error message or did you check your MB library after syncing where you noticed playcounts weren't incrementally increased?

Only the paid version of GoneMad allows reverse syncing. I think it even pops up an error if you have reverse syncing options ticked and try a sync with the trial version.

For poweramp I just installed the trial version, played a few songs and then did a sync. None of the songs I played had their play counts updated in musicbee, it didn't show any errors. I only tried it once so maybe I did something wrong. Looking into the differences between trial and full for poweramp does say the trial is a full featured version.

edit: Gave it another shot and I can't get reverse sync to work with PowerAmp trial version. Maybe I'm missing a setting or something. No errors pop up. It just says no changes detected. If I look at the song info in PowerAmp, it lists the play counts for the songs I played as a test.
Last Edit: August 20, 2022, 12:37:39 AM by BoringName

PD

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So I never had any issues with the Musicbee Wifi Sync app from the Play Store, even on Android 12. Reverse sync worked great with Poweramp, including play counts and ratings. I updated to Android 13 several days ago did several syncs with no issues -- until today.

Did a sync this morning and everything was fine. Tried another sync this afternoon and it was broken. I get the "Folder 'Music" is not valid" and "You must select the SD card root folder and not one of it's sub-folder" error (I'm using a Pixel 5, so it's internal storage, not SD). I can't select any folder on my phone that doesn't give that error now in the app. A wired sync still works fine from Musicbee on my desktop.

So, I go back and follow BoringName's steps and create the new apk that will hopefully give the app the right permissions. I created the apk and installed it just fine, including changing the settings in app permissions to allow all files,  but when I try to sync in the wifi app, I still get the same error message about the folder not being valid and am still unable to select a folder on my phone.

Anybody have any suggestions on what I try to fix this? Or is this something Android 13 broke and I'm powerless to fix? It's just so weird to me that I was still using the app just fine even after installing Android 13, and then for some reason, it just stopped working today.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

BoringName

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So, I go back and follow BoringName's steps

I'm kind of amazed you were able to use it on android 12 with the app store version... anyway. Try putting 33 in this line of code instead of 32
if ((Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.N || Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 32) &&

If it still gives you the root error try 34.

PD

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So, I go back and follow BoringName's steps

I'm kind of amazed you were able to use it on android 12 with the app store version... anyway. Try putting 33 in this line of code instead of 32
if ((Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.N || Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 32) &&

If it still gives you the root error try 34.

Changing to 34 fixed it! Thanks so much!

In reading through this thread, I'm also amazed it continued to work for me on Android 12. I had installed and started using the app awhile ago (for sure when I was still on Android 11), but I only started using it again earlier this year, so maybe that somehow played a part in it? Regardless, I'm glad to get it's back working again. Thanks again for the help.

BoringName

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I had installed and started using the app awhile ago (for sure when I was still on Android 11)

That might explain it. If you installed it on android 11 and your phone did an OTA update to android 12, it might have done some finicky things with permissions during the upgrade that allowed it to work.

My partners phone still hasn't updated to android 12 yet (it should be soon) so I don't have to worry about android 13 compliance for a good while yet. But at least we know it works.

NighTeagle

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Looking into the differences between trial and full for poweramp does say the trial is a full featured version.

The trial app and the full app are exactly the same app actually. You first install the trial version and additionally install the 'full version' unlocker app. This changes the temporary license of the base (trial) app to an undefinite license. You can even uninstall this unlocker app after this action (which I did) leaving only the base app, i.e. the original trial app.

edit: Gave it another shot and I can't get reverse sync to work with PowerAmp trial version. Maybe I'm missing a setting or something. No errors pop up. It just says no changes detected. If I look at the song info in PowerAmp, it lists the play counts for the songs I played as a test.

No idea why it doesn't work for you then... I just did a reverse sync today with my Android 12 smartphone. The MB wifi sync app said sync completed succesfully and I verified that the playcounts were indeed incremented correctly in Musicbee.

I've had this phone for about 6 months and believe it had Android 12 from the start, but I'm not 100% sure.

BoringName

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The trial app and the full app are exactly the same app actually. You first install the trial version and additionally install the 'full version' unlocker app.

I think that is how a lot of the music players do it. GoneMad has a separate unlocker app and so does Rocket Player but they have limitations on the free versions. PowerAmp seems to be the exception with no limitations. But the other apps will work as free apps (with limitations) whereas PowerAmp is not usable beyond the 15 day trial as far as I am aware.

No idea why it doesn't work for you then... I just did a reverse sync today with my Android 12 smartphone. The MB wifi sync app said sync completed succesfully and I verified that the playcounts were indeed incremented correctly in Musicbee.

I don't know either but I'm assuming it was unlocked on that device?

What's interesting is if I select gonemad without gonemad installed, I get an error message. If I select PowerAmp without Poweramp installed I don't get an error message.

I might have to go through the code a bit, maybe I changed something on my version that just completely bypassed the check for sync data when poweramp is selected.

edit: The app is coded to generate a message about gonemad if it can't get the stats file. For poweramp it just dumps a message in the error log. So it does know poweramp isnt installed. When I installed it again and played a few songs, I don't get any errors in the error log but it also says there is nothing to sync.
Last Edit: August 21, 2022, 11:25:55 AM by BoringName

NighTeagle

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I don't know either but I'm assuming it was unlocked on that device?

Yes, I've always synced with the unlocked Poweramp version, never with the trial version.

mtnagel

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So, I go back and follow BoringName's steps

I'm kind of amazed you were able to use it on android 12 with the app store version... anyway. Try putting 33 in this line of code instead of 32
if ((Build.VERSION.SDK_INT < Build.VERSION_CODES.N || Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= 32) &&

If it still gives you the root error try 34.
Thanks again for keeping up on this!  After updating to Android 13, the modified apk kept working, but I had to reinstall it and then it didn't until I made this change.

roth377

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I'm getting a "package not valid" error when trying to install my own custom apk (from BoringName's steps)

So I just recently started to get the 'root folder' issue in my wifi sync app.

Don't quite understand as I haven't had a security update for a few weeks, but oh well.  So due to another issue I've had (where wifi sync app stopped seeing 'server' on my desktop), I would have a workaround where I'd clear app data/cache, and it would start working again.  Never found root cause, but workaround was fine.

This last time I did it, when I walked through initial setup (which I had to do with wiping data), it would now no longer allow me to use the folder I had been using for months.  Again, no recent security update on my phone that I installed, so I have no idea what changed.

So I attempted BoringName's apk process, and am pretty certain I followed it to the letter.  I've triple-checked myself, and I think I did it all correctly.  But when I take the apk I outputted and send it to my phone, it says the package is not valid -- "App not installed as package appears to be invalid".  This is different from the installing from unknown locations -- other apk's in this directory install fine.

Any thoughts on what's making the package invalid?  I've tried SDK versions 32,33,34 to see if any would work ... none do.

BoringName

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I'm getting a "package not valid" error when trying to install my own custom apk (from BoringName's steps)

Not sure what the issue is there sorry. Maybe just delete that project out of android studio and start again from the beginning?

Or try Build - > Clean Project.
Then Build APK's

No idea what that actually does but I found a few references to it with invalid APK errors.

roth377

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I think I got it to work -- I went into the java items that I modified (WifiSyncBaseActivity) and chose to recompile it in the build menu.  From there, the build seems to have allowed me to install it.  Seems to work "fine" now (quite a few warnings from Google play protect, but I guess that's to be expected).  Seems I'm able to use the folder as needed.

Thanks, BoringName for the writeup.  Hopefully the community can find a maintainer of the app, but you stepping up to assist Steven and the community is much appreciated!

phred

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@BoringName- since a number of users have found and used your suggestion for getting syncing to work with Android 12 and 13, I'd like to suggest you put together a 'how to' in the Tips & Tricks section. This should help folks who are getting updated devices to find the 'fix' more easily than going through this entire thread.

You might also consider adding it to the Wiki. If you have questions or need help with the Wiki, I suggest reaching out to psychoadept, who is very familiar with it.

Thanks.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

----------
The FAQ
The Wiki
Posting screenshots is here
Searching the forum with Google is  here

Kothra

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I managed to get music sync working but it won't copy playlists. I use the sync by playlist function.

The error given is this:

java.lang.SecurityException: Document 9C33-6BBD: is not a descendant of 9C33-6BBD:Music

9C33-6BBD is the SD card.

Edit: The problem could be that I didn't adjust the device's profile in MusicBee before syncing. I will try that.

Yeah, the problem was that I didn't change the Playlist filepath the Music/Playlists to work with the new Android permissions restriction.
Last Edit: September 19, 2022, 03:57:35 AM by Kothra