Media Tree not updating

[Lowlander]

A new database won't have your Playlists, Play History and unsaved tags (most tags are saved by default for most formats).

[flying monkey]

Hi everyone. New to the forum.
I am having a somewhat related problem of tree not updating, although not in quite the same way as OP.
Wasn't sure whether I should make a new thread. Seemed to me the same issue.

I just deleted 500+ songs from my library. All of them were by different artists.
The reason I deleted them was so that they don't clutter my artist list.
I deleted all from the library, edited the file name, artist tag, and album tag of these songs by Mp3tag, then scan my music folder to import the new, edited files.
I basically gave them all a same artist name but different album titles, so that I have a short artist list but a long list of separate albums.
Although all the new songs are displayed in the main window with correct new track information, 500+ old artist names, which no longer exist,
still show up in the media tree under 'artist & album artist' on the left side of the window.
Obviously, these old artists do not have any album or songs in my library, so I can't filter them out to delete in one-go.
How can I get rid of all these ghost artists that no longer exit in my library except in the media tree, other than selecting and deleting one by one in the tree?

Thanks for your help!

[Lowlander]

Do they still show tracks when selected?

[flying monkey]

No. When selecting any of the 500+ ghost artists, they don't show any album or song with them. Empty.
Just a long list of artist names in the media tree, and they don't appear anywhere else in my library.

[flying monkey]

I spoke too soon.
Actually, each of thees 500+ ghost artists does show a single album under them, again in the tree but not in the main window.
And, no there is no song in this album.
All of the ghost artists used to share one album, which I also deleted at the same time with all the ghost artists. Album artist for this album was "Various artists".
Unfortunately, this single album also still appears in the media tree under "Album" 500+ times each with the name of a ghost artist in parenthesis.
This album too only appears in the tree and nowhere in the main window, and none of these 500+ entries from the same album has a song in it.

How can I get rid of all these ghost artists & album left over?

[Lowlander]

Start with File > Maintain Library with complete optimization enabled. It seems you're dealing with a corruption of the database.

PS. You're not seeing this in the My Computer node no?

[flying monkey]

I changed Maintain Library > Optimize database from Quick to Complete some time ago, before I noticed this problem.
I did not notice any change, nor do I know the difference between the two options, though.
Anyway, I have this problem with Optimize database (complete).

No, none of the problem I described is in My Computer node.
This is expected as none of the artist names or the album name I am having issue with has anything to do with directories or file names.
These ghost artists and album only existed in ID3 tags, and they no longer exist in the tags.

I just noticed something else.
All of the ghost artists and album only show up under Entire Library node, and not under Music node.
Music node seems exactly the way I intended the tracks to appear.
So, if I hide Entire Library node, my problem is gone!

But I am curious. Entire Library node seems to simply combine Music node and Podcast node. Why such redundancy?
And, if Entire Library indeed supposed to duplicate Music and Podcast nodes, why the discrepancy I am experiencing?
Shouldn't the all nodes referencing the same database?
Or, is it the intended behavior of Entire Library node that everything that goes in stays forever?
I have found a few other albums showing up in Entire Library node with no song in it, that I could have had in the past, but no longer.

[Lowlander]

Entire Library shows everything in the Library whereas other Collections filter the Library (Gold users can customize this). If things aren't shown in Music it means it doesn't match the Filters of the Music Collection.

Have you tried removing (if any) files from the Entire Library > Files to Edit > Dead Links node?

PS. Changing the setting for optimize does nothing, you'll need to actually run Maintain Library to have anything done.

[flying monkey]

Ahhh...I get it. So, Music and Podcast nodes are filters while Playlists, Media servers, etc. aren't. Kind of confusing, but I get it.

There is nothing in Dead Links as all tracks by the ghost artists were deleted from the library first before I did anything to the files.
I just don't understand why these artists and album stay in the library without any songs by/in them.
Beginning to think this is the intended behavior of the MM library - lose nothing.
If you don't want to see them, you have to filter them out. Otherwise this is a huge bug.

I pressed OK after choosing optimize database (complete). No changes at all.
But as I said, no problem as long as I don't look at Entire Library.

[Lowlander]

Beginning to think this is the intended behavior of the MM library - lose nothing.

No, only entries with files associated should be shown in the Media Tree. Somewhere you have a database corruption that causes this problem. Are you on MediaMonkey 4.1.6?

[flying monkey]

I am using 4.1.5.1719. Should I update now?
Is there a way to get rid of the corrupt database without losing my ratings, history, and playlists?
I have playlists based on playcounts and hate to screw those up.

[Lowlander]

No, removing the database would seem to be the last recourse and that will result in the loss of Play History and Playlists (regular ones can be exported, but AutoPlaylists can't).

You could attempt to manually remove entries (right click > Remove), but this may prove tedious if it works.

I'd suggest updating, although as you likely have a database corruption it is unlikely to resolve the problem.

[daztrue]

A new database won't have your Playlists, Play History and unsaved tags (most tags are saved by default for most formats).

Since beginning this thread and last posting I've done little with my database, but have finally accepted (as you said!) that I'll need to create a new one. But can you clarify whether tags are saved to the following formats: FLAC, MP3, M4A, M4P? Also, are ratings and comments saved as tags to these formats?

I'd prefer to secure a new database before deleting the existing one, but I can't seem to find a way to open/create another database. How is this done, can I have them open simultaneously, and can I choose where a new database is created or is it created in its default directory?

Also, will I need to create a second INI file - if so, how - or do I have to edit the existing one?

Finally, from symptoms previously mentioned, would it definately be the database and not the INI file that is corrupted? If so, why are there a few settings with many lines of what appear to the layman as random characters?

Code: Select all

DefaultViewSettings=21464C5421E180860000D18001D48001DC8001E1808001E1848001E0B08001E0B48001E1A88001E1AC8001E1888001E0B88001E1988001E2988002E1B08002E1B48002E1B88002E19C8001E2948002E29C8002E2A08002E1908001E0A08002E0BC8001E2A48002E1A08002E1A48002D88002E2B08002E2848002E2888002E28C8002E2908002E2B48002E2B88002E1948002E0A48002E18C8002E1BC8002E2848002E0AC8002E2A...(continues for many lines)

[Lowlander]

1) See: http://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/index.p ... erties/4.0

2) Simultaneous is not possible (unless you're running 2 MM installs), however you can copy/move the old one for backup, then have MM create a new one.

3) MediaMonkey will automatically create the new DB if the old on can't be found (moved/deleted).

4) That's just the way they store that information.

[daztrue]

Thanks for the link. Informative.

MediaMonkey will automatically create the new DB if the old on can't be found (moved/deleted)

Will it create it in the MM.db default directory or allow me to choose? Or do I have to move it and the INI file like before? And do I need to delete the original INI file and allow a new one to be created?