Sync back ratings & play counts (MSC) v1.9.2 2013-03-12

[Aff]

Question---Any way to make it so that it only syncs the most recently updated ID3 tags to your pc? (ie: some ratings from your phone sync back, but some that have been updated more recently on your pc remain) (...)
I'm with you...I think new files on the pc with blank ratings should get overridden with the phone rating if it exists..
Keep up the great work man!

Implemented in v0.8.1! Now by default the script only syncs back if the rating was changed on the device, so when you only changed the rating on the PC it wouldn't get overwritten anymore. Additionally there is an option to not sync back even if the rating was changed on the device, but the file date is newer on the PC and there is a rating on the PC.

[threehills]

PM sent!

[Aff]

I'm also getting the sync back error mentioned previously "you have no syncronized devices".

The problem was that WMDM instead of USBMass was used. SyncBackRatings only supports USB Mass Storage Devices, not Windows Media Device Manager (see the OP please).

The reason is that the Android implementation of WMDM/MTP doesn't support ratings (see http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=12433). Otherwise MM would be able to read and sync back ratings by itself.

And here comes a short description on how to set up a mobile phone or any device as MSC:
1. Mount your device in USB mode
2. In MM you will see it as a drive letter
3. Maybe there are 2 or 3 drive letters, so check which is the one with the music on your device
3. Go to Tools > Options > Portable/Audio Devices and check whether the device has been detected by MediaMonkey's WMDM plugin. Uncheck that device.
4. Select the 'Generic Portable/Audio Device' plug-in and press 'Configure'
5. On the 'Device Configuration' tab, enter the Drive Letter and a Drive Label (e.g. "SPH-D710"). (Find the USB Device ID if you are sure). Press 'OK'. Once this is done, when the device is plugged in in the future, it will be recognized by the Generic Portable/Audio Device plugin instead of the WMDM plugin.
6. Configure the device (storage locations, conversions etc.)
7. Auto-Sync
If you have several MSC devices you can simply create a copy of Plugins\d_USBMass1.dll for every device.
You may read some more in the help:
http://www.mediamonkey.com/sw/webhelp/frame/index.html?mtpdevices.htm

[Aff]

(...) can't wait for the play count sync (...)

But what really caught my attention was the ability to import/export play statistics (...). If you add support for this, then we could get a real sync between device and MM, like what MM already does with iPods and iPhones.(...)

Done!

At the moment, the export of play statistics from PlayerPro in iTunes format doesn't seem to work. (...) The Songbird format works, but it has no file path, only title, artist and album. If you change one of those tags in MM, the track can't be matched anymore.

I was able to use the existing logic where I match a track by MM ID and Auto-Sync file path, which then gives me the current title, artist and album on the device. This is quite a safe way to determine a track independent of changed tags (but of course double identical tags may be an issue where only the first matching track would be synced back).

[petermgates]

I was able to use the existing logic where I match a track by MM ID and Auto-Sync file path, which then gives me the current title, artist and album on the device. This is quite a safe way to determine a track independent of changed tags (but of course double identical tags may be an issue where only the first matching track would be synced back).

This is great! Am I right in saying that in order to sync play counts, you would need to export that data to a songbird format xml file (in the playerpro settings menu) beforehand? [EDIT - Just read the first post again and my question is answered].

There is a slight issue for devices that have both internal and external storage. Playerpro saves its data on internal storage by default and if the user syncs media to the external SD card (as I do) then the script has no access to the exported xml file (unless it is manually copied to a \playerpro\stats folder on the external SD).

There's not really much that can be done about this other than perhaps make a note for people wishing to use the script.

[Aff]

There is a slight issue for devices that have both internal and external storage. Playerpro saves its data on internal storage by default and if the user syncs media to the external SD card (as I do) then the script has no access to the exported xml file (unless it is manually copied to a \playerpro\stats folder on the external SD).

Thanks a lot for your feedback. I just didn't have the time yet to cover this case, but in a next version there will be an option to choose a different drive for the XML.

[Aff]

There is a slight issue for devices that have both internal and external storage.(...)

(...)there will be an option to choose a different drive for the XML.

No option needed, as the new version 1.1 automatically scans all available removable drives for the newest XML statistics file!

In the very rare case that the folder and file could be found on several attached removable drives (e.g. from a backup or another attached phone) it would be enough to make sure that the one you'd like to sync back has the newest file date (i.e. was the last export).

[petermgates]

No option needed, as the new version 1.1 automatically scans all available removable drives for the newest XML statistics file!

Fantastic. This script really has made me happy. I now have a decent workflow for rating my music on the move and playcount sync is the icing on the cake! Now I need to press the dev of PlayerPro for a simpler or automatic way of exporting the stats.

Is there a way I can support your great work or perhaps just buy you a beer to say thanks?

[Aff]

Thank you very much for your kind words and appreciation. I'm really happy if the script is useful and makes other people happy!
To support just comment here as you did or maybe recommend it at other places. I may be looking for beta-testers as well for a next version. If download figures exploded I would think about a donate button, but surely there are better ways to get rich.

[gpzbc]

I hate that when I play my songs on my Android, the play count does not change. So I love the idea of this script, but unfortunately I use PowerAMP for my music player on Android. It is actually a very good player. Is there any chance of supporting other players besides PlayerPro?

Thanks for your work.

[Aff]

If a music player somehow creates a file containing the necessary information (play count, album, artist, title), there is a chance of supporting it.
As far as I know PowerAMP has no ability to do this. You may contact the author of PowerAMP to propose an export functionality similar to PlayerPro.

[gpzbc]

Thanks, I will request it.

EDIT: Here is the link to my feature request in the forum: http://forum.powerampapp.com/index.php? ... playcount/

[rexrod]

Just curious, would it be possible to have this script sync back skip counts as well? I'm using this along with PlayerPro and it works great. However, it would help me out if they skip counts also could be sync'd back to MM. I believe PlayerPro keeps track of these. I was browsing through the script file to see if I could add this myself, but it is way beyond my knowledge level to try to do this change on my own.

Great add-on to MM! This has made using my phone for playing music much easier.

[Aff]

(...) sync back skip counts (...)

Thanks for your suggestion, I will implement this in the next version.

[pdbc]

Great script...if only I succed in making it works

HTC Desire, Cyanogen 7.1, PlayerPro, MM 4.0
I synced a trial playlist with MM. I listened and rated some songs. Then, I did an "Export statistics" in Songbird format and I connected my mobile to my laptop (d_USBMass1.dll). I launched on MM "Sync Back ratings", and all I receive is a "No songs found to be updated". But I checked the stats made by PlayerPro, and everything is correct. Here is an extract:

<mediaitem>
<last-played>1324082126273</last-played>
<artist>Catherine Zeta-Jones, Susan Misner, Deidre Goodwin</artist>
<track>Cell Block Tango</track>
<album>Chicago OST</album>
<duration/>
<rating>4</rating>
<play-count>1</play-count>
<skip-count/>
</mediaitem>

So, where is my mistake (I suppose is an error of mine, obviously)?

Thanks, and keep on updating this!!! You are doing the work which should be done by Android developers!!!