Maintaining MM across two laptops in the same household

[pcmoan]

Hello All-

I've read through the synchronization postings and have not come across information regarding maintaining a media library on two laptops. I've purchased a gold license (lifetime) and my wife and I would like to maintain the same library (e.g. consistency in custom tagging , copies of music etc.) on each of our respective laptops. I would imagine this is frequently done within households, yet I"m not coming across the information. Is there a source of information that will get me started? I'm looking for a description in the help documentation similar to my own and have come up short.

Thanks in advance for any insight or direction.

Patrick

[Lowlander]

Most would share the media (ie only have one copy) often by having it on a NAS. If you're looking to duplicate the media files themselves you should look at backup software like SyncToy (free).

[pcmoan]

Thanks for your response.

There is a standard feature on iTunes which allows a family to "Sync iTunes across multiple computers". It uses a feature in iTunes called "Home Sharing" and keeps music libraries in sync (up to 4 within a household). My wife and I don't want to set up separate NAS pers se, but do want to conveniently keep our libraries in sync from within Mediamonkey.

A description of "Home Sharing" is found on CNET at this link: (see 1 minute video below).

http://cnettv.cnet.com/sync-itunes-mult ... 83365.html

If I am correctly comprehending the response to my question, Mediamonkey is not designed to enable two people within a household to easily and conveniently keep their libraries up to sync within Mediamonkey. Mediamonkey users are required to install a separate piece of software like SyncToy. In brief, Mediamonkey is not designed for a husband and wife who have the same music tastes with the desire to conveniently maintain the same library on their respective laptops. Have I got it?

Thanks again,
Patrick

[Lowlander]

Home Sharing (as shown on the video is very limited too) as explained is not available, but in essence you can do what it does. First of all Home Sharing only copies iTunes purchased content and doesn't seem to share personally ripped CD's nor maintain tags across computers.

In MediaMonkey you can share your media files by enabling Media Sharing. This would allow other users on the network to play those files and copy them to their local PC. Other users don't even need MediaMonkey to do so as long as their using a DLNA capable software. This however won't manage tagging across computers nor allow others to tag files in your Library.

What you're asking for differs from this, but Media Sharing could still work. You could maintain a Library on a single computer and have the other computer access the Library through Media Sharing. Benefits are that all files are in one place, problems are that the sharing PC needs to be on for this to work and only the sharing PC can make tag changes.
As stated above using a central NAS or PC that's on when people need to play/edit media files is the ideal solution when people want to edit tags from multiple PC's. An alternative to this is to use Backup Software to synchronize files between the 2 PC's so both have the latest tag changes (you will need to scan files in to MediaMonkey after this).

[MMuser2011]

... my wife and I would like to maintain the same library (e.g. consistency in custom tagging , copies of music etc.) on each of our respective laptops...

You have to be sure what is most important for you:

a) Both like to HEAR (different) music at home, at the same time, from your own laptop?
b) Both needs to MAINTAIN the same tracks (tagging, add covers, rate them, add/delete songs) at home, from your own laptop?

[pcmoan]

Thanks for your reply Lowlander (and MMuser) two weeks back. Three small children at home delays these activities etc, but today I had enough time to spend on gaining familiarity with MM and set up Media Sharing. Yes, I agree that Media Sharing will work for us and now understand how it works.

Progress thus far.
1) Installed MM on Windows 7 Laptop (aka W7-L)
2) Installed MM on XP Laptop (aka XP-L)
3) Set up a Media Server on W7-L
4) Successfully played music files on W7-L from XP-L.
5) Successfully downloaded files from W7-L to XP-L and subsequently used "Auto-Organize Files" to move files from Download directory to desired location. This provides me with half the solution I need.

Where I'm currently stuck:
1) Set up a Media Server on XP-L. Settings are identical to what was set up on W7-L, except I've got unique name for the Server Name on each box.
2) After creating the Media Server, I do not see the Media Server listed locally on XP-L when I expand the Media Server node. I do see my W7-L Media Server in both the XP and W7 instances of MM.
3) When I return to Tools->Options->Media Sharing on XP-L I do see the Server Name (i.e. my unique name) listed. An IP port has been assigned (46959) and its status is "Running".
4) I've trolled the forums and searched elsewhere for problems with the MM Media Server on XP, but I've not come up with anything. Any assistance welcomed.

Thanks again for your previous replies. Much appreciated.
Patrick

[pcmoan]

Additional testing indicates I am not as far along as I thought. Previously, I was able to select files that reside on the W7 box from the XP then click the Download button and the selected tracks would be pulled to the XP box. I'd then just have to move them to the desired location using the "Auto-Organize" feature. I was able to do this with 2 albums, but later in the evening, my experience has been that the metadata isnt being pulled over nor are all the selected files. I've retested this several times with different album tracks and the results are the same. (i.e. only a handful of tracks and all the title, artist info is lost. Filenames come across as generic "Unknown.mp3".

There appears to be another option however, namely to use the "Network" node within MM to copy files from one machine to the next. Subsequent testing indicates this works fine. All the files are brought over. Filenames and metadata are preserved etc. (I have each laptop sharing a folder local to each box etc.) Given this, Perhaps the Media Server option isnt necessary.

Learning as I go here.

[Lowlander]

2) After creating the Media Server, I do not see the Media Server listed locally on XP-L when I expand the Media Server node. I do see my W7-L Media Server in both the XP and W7 instances of MM.

MediaMonkey only sees it's own Media Server (the Media Server run by the same instance of MediaMonkey) if you set it to use port 4000 (as there is no need to see your own Media Server).

Media Servers only provide limited tag support due to the limits of the DLNA standard (although Artist should work). In turn the Network node provides full access to the files like local files and thus are fully tagged.

[pcmoan]

Thanks much for the response. As I've gotten more familiar with MM and managing music libraries in general, I've realized that the suggestion to set up a NAS is optimal for our purposes (per your earlier suggestion). I've since purchased a VortexBox, and we're successfully accessing the shared database from two laptops. We've got a Squeezebox attached to our stereo and are much further along than a month ago when I first jumped into this.

I've got a separate issue with MonkeySqueeze which I'll post under a new category.

Thanks again,
Patrick

[zephyr]

Hi, sorry if this question is inappropriate, but is this answer now obsolete? Does MM have a simple way of sharing (streaming) music over a local (home, wireless) network?

Maybe I' m confusing the issue. I'm confused about what uses bonjour, and what for, and how to setup the router for Media Server...

Running MM4 on vaio just added shares to collections and playlists, open media server on xp desktop on local network.. . but no servers.

Are any services (server?) required for this?

I'm having lots of issues with software. considering a reinstall.

any info anyone can provide / point to would be most appreciated.

Thanks

[Lowlander]

MediaMonkey 4 has a UPnP (DLNA) Server you can enabled under Tools > Options > Media Servers. It will require access rights in your PC's firewall. Generally you don't need to modify the Router settings (someone has recommended that UPnP is enabled in the Router). Also Windows Server 2012 won't be able to do this.