Author Topic: Locate missing files THE EASY WAY  (Read 26086 times)

Audio Ad

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I use both MusicBee and mediamonkey and both have a confusing way of locating missing files.


I make music and use various DAW's - All of them have a very simple way of locating missing files. It's as simple as selecting drive/folder you want to search then the program finds it and it's done.

In MusicBee I have a playlist where the original files were on the C: drive but then I moved them to the D: drive. MusicBee has these files greyed out with no option to actually search for these files automatically. A very simple option that DAW'a have been using for years would be if we could right click on a playlist that has missing files and select 'locate missing files' with an option of picking entire drives to search or folders.
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beehive

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Steven

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Tools/ Tagging Tools/ Other Files to Edit/ Locate Dead Links

HHM

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I'm thinking of another thing to improve:
Part of my collection is on external drive (not allways plugged in).
In Winamp or Aimp, when I want to play a track from the previously prepared playlist, but path to this particular track is incorrect (I mean when I want to play track from the unplugged drive), program skips it automaticly and plays the next track. BUT when I plug the drive and try to play the same file again, program finds it and plays it instantly. think those programs just try to find the same filepath once again and play track if succeeded to.

In MusicBee I observed it works two ways:
1. after plugging ext. drive clicking on previously missing track opens a locating window even though the filepath didn't change. So if I had a - let's say - "Smells Like Teen Spirit" from "Nevermind" folder on external drive, it (obviously) won't play it when disc is unplugged, but after replugging clicking on the same track opens locating window. And it opens the same folder the track is in ("Nevermind" in this case), but without indicating the particular item...
Shouldn't it locate the track automaticly if the filepath didn;t change and play the track instantly like Winamp?

2. After some time it relocates all the missing files and plays them as it should, but it takes quite a while (as I believe it rescans the whole library or all missing tracks).
And it's good but there should be an automatic algorythm of playing the track on demand instantly (like in point 1.)

cheers!
Last Edit: June 19, 2012, 04:13:32 PM by HHM

WarPig

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I know this is a bit of a necropost, but rather than start a new thread that says exactly the same thing...

I'm sitting here looking at a library that has about 75K files on a network drive. The songs are there - but MusicBee tells me they are missing.

No way I'm going to manually add playlist tracks every time I open a playlist.  :'(  Did this feature ever blossom?

Analien

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This: "Tools/ Tagging Tools/ Other Files to Edit/ Locate Dead Links" is not present in my MB, I use 2.1.4923. Only "Show dead links" is there and clicking it it only -as presumed- shows dead links. How to automatically relocate 'em? Doing the rightclick-command "Locate in Computer/Explorer/Node", will take extensive work as one can only relocate one at a time. Having a large library with many playlists and files on a external HD and with MB always popping up the dialog starting with the MusicBee folder it's a pain.

ihavnoclue

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I noticed this issue the other day too. I think when I used Songbird and I changed the file name for a song it and it was added back into the library when it scanned it was smart enough to link it to the missing track in a playlist.

MrDivinePotato

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There is actually a fairly easy solution to this (having moved all my files myself and having a heart attack thinking i'd have to repopulate all my playlists manually). there is a function called "remap music folders" which can be found under file/library/remap music folders. as long as you know the old directory your music was located at this will let you relocate all missing files. thinking about it, you can probably find the old file directory in the edit window. i have no way of testing this unfortunately as i have already successfully remapped my folders.

hope this helps.

warvolin

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There is actually a fairly easy solution to this (having moved all my files myself and having a heart attack thinking i'd have to repopulate all my playlists manually). there is a function called "remap music folders" which can be found under file/library/remap music folders. as long as you know the old directory your music was located at this will let you relocate all missing files. thinking about it, you can probably find the old file directory in the edit window. i have no way of testing this unfortunately as i have already successfully remapped my folders.

hope this helps.

This worked for me.

malinky

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There is actually a fairly easy solution to this (having moved all my files myself and having a heart attack thinking i'd have to repopulate all my playlists manually). there is a function called "remap music folders" which can be found under file/library/remap music folders. as long as you know the old directory your music was located at this will let you relocate all missing files. thinking about it, you can probably find the old file directory in the edit window. i have no way of testing this unfortunately as i have already successfully remapped my folders.

hope this helps.

Thank you SO much...I thought that I would never get my Library back...you are a life saver!

buttholetrees

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I received this welcoming error message upon trying to remap my music folders after an attempt at switching my MusicBee library over from one laptop to another:

"MusicBee v3.1.6610.38118 (Win10.0), 11 Mar 2018 11:45:

System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access is denied. [C:\Program Files (x86)\MusicBee\Playlists\$ $ $ $ $.mbp]
   at #=zj$Rts5zZ5Sm1GIuh$TaEE5g=.#=zghkz6xSB_KGM.#=zMpbOe7o=.#=zSDYLVuI0udmY(#=zJ_WS5odZNDGGeDDlHw== #=zQY8WPBY=, FileMode #=zyxm7DEo=, FileAccess #=zCuKLqTw=, FileShare #=zHqgy3SY=, Int32 #=zdEKcerQ=, Boolean #=zZITNGd3mPSQf)
   at #=zjQCSzHNUMtLsjPU80PcedKuEahMy.#=zSDYLVuI0udmY(#=zJ_WS5odZNDGGeDDlHw== #=zQY8WPBY=, FileMode #=zyxm7DEo=, FileAccess #=zCuKLqTw=, Int32 #=zdEKcerQ=)
   at #=zf97sAhozazZQrIEh0ou_9FU=.#=zUbriSWI=(List`1 #=zrJtywvc=)
   at #=zf97sAhozazZQrIEh0ou_9FU=.#=zKJ4NczpNyneV(#=z_oo0I5XuZ11wKfI_qFzuqm0= #=zRODbDcU=, #=z_oo0I5XuZ11wKfI_qFzuqm0= #=z3RdXBMw=, List`1 #=z_WGEmQs=)
   at #=zQMhOk2lFbkHZyEXlGOZtq2E=.#=zF6TcF1Dc_7z_AugdzA==.#=zKJ4NczpNyneV(#=z_oo0I5XuZ11wKfI_qFzuqm0= #=zRODbDcU=, #=z_oo0I5XuZ11wKfI_qFzuqm0= #=z3RdXBMw=, List`1 #=z_WGEmQs=)
   at #=zQp2LzkV0A3JW_l6PCyKxKsb3QGVBD5amkA==.#=zJZ1s2E7dqVTj()
   at #=zQp2LzkV0A3JW_l6PCyKxKsb3QGVBD5amkA==.#=zePCjsum1To_S(Object #=zmCbX1dQ=, EventArgs #=zkA3kaTs=)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at #=zDAfC5OLYTFLK3$trV49QK5U=.OnClick(EventArgs #=zkA3kaTs=)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)"

Please help! All music files are in one directory, and using the 'Locate Missing Tracks' feature only finds about half of them and ceases to find the rest (although still listed as Missing) upon a secondary measure of said feature!

P.S. I do have a auto-playlist titled '$ $ $ $ $' which contains 5 Star songs in case it is a problem, as I see it clearly in the error message, but I am not allowed access to delete this playlist within my newly installed MusicBee. They are both running the same version.
Last Edit: March 11, 2018, 05:03:01 PM by buttholetrees

Steven

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you dont have write access to the Playlists folder. I have no idea how you managed to have it working where the playlists is in your Program Files folder which is normally admin only.

You might try updating to the latest patch version which might handle the situation better, but the end result will be your playlists are not updated to reflect the new file paths.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/unrhsff4h2tisp6/MusicBee31_Patched.zip?dl=1
unzip and replace the existing musicbee files

Longer term you will need to have your playlists in a writeable folder, which is normally
xxx\Music\MusicBee\Playlists

buttholetrees

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Appreciation, Steven - I have gotten past that small hurdle by relocating the playlists folder into the correct position on my new hard drive. Now is the larger issue with a new error message when I try to drag and drop my music files into the program (remapping did not bring my files back):

"MusicBee v3.1.6610.38118 (Win10.0), 12 Mar 2018 0:05:

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
   at #=zvjrlR5P3nYM5I_vNucDLtKu7QhuV.#=zSfmDpUk=(#=zJ_WS5odZNDGGeDDlHw== #=z2_dh4u0yM3fS)
   at #=zGINhMwW$DjEMLNC8FObbHjM=.#=qhwuCwtYaq8lxEb2lEdcdKBaPhmYz$AvT1McnL1MQ3po=._Lambda$__0()"

I am attempting to remap music folders (remapping from music file location of previous laptop to new location on separate hard drive did not bring my files back into the program). I have switched over all preferences, settings, and music files to my new laptop. Once installing the same version of MB and replacing backed up files into the AppData\Roaming and the installation folder, everything looks as it had except that my files are missing. The program is installed in the C: drive (SSD) while my music files are stored in my D: drive (HDD) (I couldn't find appropriate AppData\Roaming nor \Music\MusicBee folders upon setup when installing the program on the D: drive (HDD)). I do not understand the next step as I seem to have followed instructions properly. Thank you for your time and dedication. Please let me know if any more clarification is needed - just looking to get things back to the way they were!


EDIT: I do believe the error was simply because of "noncompliant" .cue in one single folder (thanks Pan Sonic). All other files are adding upon drag and drop, but would not return with the remap music folder option. Still, the playlists say 'source file for the track could not be found on EVERY track, even after rescan.
Last Edit: March 12, 2018, 06:16:31 AM by buttholetrees

rashters

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Bit if a noob here but felt the same about missing files after Id moved them to another drive.  I think the tools >> > locate missing files device allows you to manually point to the first one on the list, and then it will scan that drive (in my case D after they were moved from C....) and then update the rest contexually.  Premiere Pro works like this as well.  At least I hope MB does! Seems to be running for me now.

Tinidazone

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There is actually a fairly easy solution to this (having moved all my files myself and having a heart attack thinking i'd have to repopulate all my playlists manually). there is a function called "remap music folders" which can be found under file/library/remap music folders. as long as you know the old directory your music was located at this will let you relocate all missing files. thinking about it, you can probably find the old file directory in the edit window. i have no way of testing this unfortunately as i have already successfully remapped my folders.

hope this helps.

thank you
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