MusicBee suddenly not seeing library (music, playlists etc)

[LtTawnyMadison]

I had MusicBee last night, and everything was fine; all music was there, all playlists were there. I opened it today, and there were NO music or playlists showing and I have no idea why; I didn't do anything differently. I restarted the PC but that didn't fix it.

I backup my library often and in fact did so last night before I shut down, and all my music, backup files and playlists seem to be intact and still in the same location on my computer. When I try just dragging the playlist .mbp files onto the "Playlists" folder icon in MusicBee, nothing happens.

The "restore" Wiki page isn't really applicable (I don't think?) because all the files are already exactly where they were before, and MusicBee just isn't seeing them.

[boroda]

try to open old library manually: file> library> open library/create new library.

[LtTawnyMadison]

Oops I forgot to include that I tried that and nothing happened.

[boroda]

you can see library path there (file> library> open library - <library path>). is the library database (MusicBeeLibrary.mbl) in that folder? if not, is there library database backup (MusicBeeLibrary.bak)? try to copy .bak file and rename the copy to MusicBeeLibrary.mbl. then open library manually again.

[LtTawnyMadison]

There is a MusicBeeLibrary.mbl file there. There is also a MusicBeeLibrary.bak. After copying the MusicBee folder I tried replacing the .mbl file with the .bak as you described, but it didn't change anything.

Here are screenshots of my MusicBee main folder files and MusicBee backup folder files. 6/10 is when the library had "disappeared" when I opened MusicBee for the first time that day.

[boroda]

make backup of the whole library folder (including "MusicBee backup" folder) 1st. then move and rename files "\MusicBee backup\USB_4G.mbl", "\MusicBee backup\MusicBee3Settings.ini" to "\MusicBeeLibrary.mbl", "\MusicBee3Settings.ini". and try to open library again.

if this doesn't help, then, i think, it would be easier to recreate the library from scratch (but you will lose ratings/play counts).

[LtTawnyMadison]

Thank you -- that didn't work, so I'll follow the steps for re-creating the library on a new PC and hopefully that will work.

[Arsalan]

Is there a long-term-solution to this? I keep getting this issue sometimes, even after having updated to MusicBee 3.5.8698 recently. And every time it happens I have to try a bunch of troubleshooting steps to rescan all music and then my entire library gets duplicated randomly and I have to fix that. But it's not that easy because the menus on this program are mega bloated and if you try to Google how to perform those steps, you find outdated information on it so it's just really annoying every time this happens.
Honestly, I think this is inacceptable even for freeware and should be fixed asap.

I'm not sure if this is a MusicBee issue or if it has something to do with my songs being on Google drive.

[hiccup]

Honestly, I think this is inacceptable even for freeware and should be fixed asap.

Wow, big words.
And making demands on a developer that consistently has been putting in an impressive amount of his (free) time and effort for more than 15 years now in creating and improving MusicBee to the amazing level of quality it is at.

If you are convinced that MusicBee is doing something wrong, you should not hijack someone else's older Questions topic.
You should create a Bug report.

Then, describe exactly what you are doing and what it is that you believe MusicBee 'is doing wrong'.
It is also important that your bug report is well-described and as complete as possible so that it can be replicated by other users so that they will be able to confirm what you are assuming to be the software bug.

[phred]

If you are convinced that MusicBee is doing something wrong, you should not hijack someone else's older Questions topic.
You should create a Bug report.

First rule of troubleshooting: make sure you're on the latest version. The version you're using is more than a year old. Before you create a bug report, you should update to the latest 3.6 version since many bugs have been squashed and improvements made. Available as a patch update from my signature below or from the first forum topic. This assumes you're using the Installer or Portable versions as the Store version can not be updated until a new Store version is released, which could be some time off.

[Arsalan]

Honestly, I think this is inacceptable even for freeware and should be fixed asap.

Wow, big words.
And making demands on a developer that consistently has been putting in an impressive amount of his (free) time and effort for more than 15 years now in creating and improving MusicBee to the amazing level of quality it is at.

If you are convinced that MusicBee is doing something wrong, you should not hijack someone else's older Questions topic.
You should create a Bug report.

That is great and all but I'm saying this from the perspective of an end user. The problem is obviously not MusicBee but it's that apparently no developer on Windows makes an out-of-the-box minimalistic player with dark mode which is lag free, supports keybinds outside of media keys (which have nonsensical interactions with some random programs), keybinds for skipping within a song and maybe some other features I can't think of right now (because I haven't thought about this in a long time, since i've settled for MusicBee 5 years ago).

You are making a typical argument people who support freeware make. But I personally don't believe in software being praised because of the time that was put in if it's causing major issues like that.
I think any software released should improve on the aspects other programs out there lack without introducing new issues. If it doesn't, you end up with a lot of different programs available that are all just mid and all have a bunch of annoying quirks. And in a lot of cases I think those programs shouldn't even be released (not sure how I feel about that in regards to musicbee). Then you have end users looking for a good program who have to try each of them one by one and commit time setting them up and doing troubleshooting and possibly don't even find one that's optimal for them due to a lack of time.
My point is, if you're a dev releasing that kind of software you're contributing to users having to waste time. To me personally and I suppose to a fair portion of power users who also don't enjoy setting up software, making forum posts, making bug reports etc. it is time wasted.

By the way, I just updated Musicbee and all my settings I spent like an hour to set up got deleted even though a thread by a high profile member here literally said that wouldn't happen. My backup is also gone cause I ctrl+Zd once to undo the patch which didn't help, then I ctrl-zd again in case Windows for some reason sees that one file-replacement-step as multiple steps but that removed my backup without me noticing. Couldn't even recover it with a recovery program. Could throw a tantrum.
Do you expect me to pat the people involved in Muscbee or Windows on the back for this or what?

[hiccup]

You are making a typical argument people who support freeware make. But I personally don't believe in software being praised because of the time that was put in if it's causing major issues like that.

As I said before, If you are convinced that there is some software bug, you should not hijack somebody elses 'Questions' thread, but create an official bug report topic for it yourself.
Then provide enough details on what you are doing so that others can replicate what you are saying to be  the assumed bug.
Only complaining is not being part of a solution.

My point is, if you're a dev releasing that kind of software you're contributing to users having to waste time. To me personally and I suppose to a fair portion of power users who also don't enjoy setting up software, making forum posts, making bug reports etc. it is time wasted.

Then maybe you should stop wasting your time on MusicBee.
Maybe hire a team of talented developers and order them to create some software to your exact demands and specifications.

By the way, I just updated Musicbee and all my settings I spent like an hour to set up got deleted even though a thread by a high profile member here literally said that wouldn't happen. My backup is also gone cause I ctrl+Zd once to undo the patch which didn't help, then I ctrl-zd again in case Windows for some reason sees that one file-replacement-step as multiple steps but that removed my backup without me noticing. Couldn't even recover it with a recovery program. Could throw a tantrum.
Do you expect me to pat the people involved in Muscbee or Windows on the back for this or what?

I would expect you to learn from your own actions or mistakes, and not act as being some victim of Windows or MusicBee.
And, while trying to change things for software such as Windows, which will be a very difficult path, contributing to help improving MusicBee is quite simple.

A good beginning is learning to ask questions about things that you are confused about in 'Questions',
and when you are convinced there is a software bug, create a proper and detailed 'Bug' report.
Both will get replies in a short amount of time.

And in case you would come up with some great new suggestion, use the 'Wishlist' board.
 

[sveakul]

If you start from scratch by installing the Portable version, all the MusicBee files and settings (except your music files of course) stay in ONE SINGLE FOLDER.  This makes making a complete backup as easy as copying that one folder elsewhere.  And the ability to restore a "botched" version to the last good backup as easy as deleting the botched folder and copying the backup folder over to take its place. https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=40059.0

BTW the way to install a patch with the Portable version is to download the patch file (https://getmusicbee.com/patches/MusicBee36_Patched.zip) and unzip the patch directly into the single Portable folder, allowing it to replace a file(s) of the same name.  All the other existing files, just leave alone.

You may want to look at changing to a simple but quality 'folder player", like "1x1" (https://mpesch3.de/1by1.html) or "Boom" (https://perkele.cc/software/boom).

[Arsalan]

As I said before, If you are convinced that there is some software bug, you should not hijack somebody elses 'Questions' thread, but create an official bug report topic for it yourself.
Then provide enough details on what you are doing so that others can replicate what you are saying to be  the assumed bug.
Only complaining is not being part of a solution.

My point is, if you're a dev releasing that kind of software you're contributing to users having to waste time. To me personally and I suppose to a fair portion of power users who also don't enjoy setting up software, making forum posts, making bug reports etc. it is time wasted.

Then maybe you should stop wasting your time on MusicBee.
Maybe hire a team of talented developers and order them to create some software to your exact demands and specifications.

I would expect you to learn from your own actions or mistakes, and not act as being some victim of Windows or MusicBee.
And, while trying to change things for software such as Windows, which will be a very difficult path, contributing to help improving MusicBee is quite simple.

A good beginning is learning to ask questions about things that you are confused about in 'Questions',
and when you are convinced there is a software bug, create a proper and detailed 'Bug' report.
Both will get replies in a short amount of time.

And in case you would come up with some great new suggestion, use the 'Wishlist' board.
 

I see ur points but the problem is a fair amount of interactions in Windows are inconsistent. I don't know what I'm supposed to learn for my future usage of Windows from what happened today. Be more paranoid about my files? It was already overly cautious of me to make 1 backup even though the guy said settings would be kept. Should I incorporate the imo normally bad habit of making 2 backups? I think at the points when my settings were gone as well as when ctrl z didnt restore them the blame is not to be put on me but on WIndows and MusicBee cause those interactions normally don't work that way and the guy from Musicbee gave instructions which I followed and they didn't work.

Your suggestion is to spend even more time and effort. I've been doing that for years with programs like MusicBee. This stuff is too bothersome and I'm sick of it.
Hiring a dev? It's not worth to make that program just for me and I doubt it's gonna make enough money to be worth the time and money put into it because I don't remember having seen a paid music player app and even if, then it was probably small and barely had any ratings on the Windows Store. I think I've never seen programs that have a lot of somewhat similar freeware alternatives have a lot of ratings or appear like they're popular.

If you start from scratch by installing the Portable version, all the MusicBee files and settings (except your music files of course) stay in ONE SINGLE FOLDER.  This makes making a complete backup as easy as copying that one folder elsewhere.  And the ability to restore a "botched" version to the last good backup as easy as deleting the botched folder and copying the backup folder over to take its place. https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=40059.0

BTW the way to install a patch with the Portable version is to download the patch file (https://getmusicbee.com/patches/MusicBee36_Patched.zip) and unzip the patch directly into the single Portable folder, allowing it to replace a file(s) of the same name.  All the other existing files, just leave alone.

You may want to look at changing to a simple but quality 'folder player", like "1x1" (https://mpesch3.de/1by1.html) or "Boom" (https://perkele.cc/software/boom).

I'll keep that in mind for in 1 year when I do the exact same thing again ebcause of some new random issue when I forget about if I use the portable or the other version, then google it or not, then do what you said or not, then accidentally delete my backup folder again because I pressed it twice due to the first one not reverting the patch for some reason
what i'm trying to get at is I will 99% forget this stuff because it's impossible to remember how every inconsistent bullshit interaction in windows works and hard to have the discipline to look up which particular variant of musicbee you installed and perform further steps accordingly unless you regularly deal with this stuff and are actually enthusiastic about it.

[sveakul]

Man why are you still here then?