Thanks scoff for the reply.

The files I am trying to add are in standard mp3 format, cbr 320. I some cases, these have been had their main mp3 tags edited using mp3tag. In some cases they have their tags blank (in which case I assume that most apps that deal with mp3s will use the filename when displaying the file. But note that I have made a point of adding mp3 tags to files that are not showing up in MMA, just to see if that was somehow the issue. And it was not.

There is just no apparent difference between those files that show up under the main buttons and those that do not. By main buttons I mean Albums, Artists & Album Artist, and Tracks. If I use the Folders button -- after being told I can use it only on a trial basis and so I should "consider upgrading" -- I am able to nav to the folder (the default Android "Music" folder) and see everything. I can add the files I otherwise can not see to a MMA playlist, and at that point I can access them that way. But that amounts to having two different overlapping but non-integrated "collections". And one of them I will lose as soon as the "trial" period is over, because my confidence in and the appeal of MM is rapidly dwindling.

When I do a search for Android Media Scanner (as suggested above) I find some very technical info at developer.android.com, that frankly I have no interest wading into (and see no reason why it should necessary.) I also find a link to something at the Play Store called "Media Scanner" but that does not seem to be from Google and I have no idea of that is what I should be looking at... and again do not think it should be necessary.

This DOES in fact seem to be an issue with how MMA works, considering (as I mentioned above) that every other player and folder/files viewer I have on the device is able to see all the files without any issue and without the support of a third party Android app or a separate Windows-based sync system.

I will also point out that yesterday when I tried to download the update to the MMW, I was unable to do so in Firefox because the dl page did not load correctly and would only allow me to get the dl after signing up for Trial Pay (there were no graphics on the page, only the trial pay form). This was on two different Windows machines. In Chrome, the page loaded fine.

Then a few minutes ago when I tried to return to this thread, Firefox informed me that there was something wrong with the site's certificates and that the connection was insecure, and it refused to let me proceed without creating an exception, which I did not do. When I tried in Chrome, it worked, and that is where I am typing this now.

There are a lot of things I like about MM, but there are just too many hoops and inconsistencies to make it a reliable part of my flow.

The idea that it can't "just work", on the most basic level of recognizing valid file types, in a default location, on a modern and up to date Android device, is just silly. The fact that I'll have top upgrade to a paid version in order to use what is still a workaround that randomly bifurcates access to my library, is sillier still.

Very disappointing.

Just curious WinampLover, what format are the "missing" files in? Are all of your music files MP3, or are some in other format(s)? Some audio file formats don't haven't very good tagging and just don't show up under the "standard" fields like Artist, Album, etc. even though they are "in" your library. I've run into this myself, but not specifically with an Android device. I've tried Adding/Scanning WAV files into MM without success even though I've duplicated the file name and folder structure EXACTLY like all the other CDs I've ripped into MM, but WAV files just don't have very good file tags. If I stick in a CD and rip it as WAVs, it allows me to tag it and add it to my MM database no problem, but try to add an album that is already in WAV format and no dice; it's very annoying but it's not MM's fault per se, it's the limitation of the file format. I can manually add each WAV track and properly tag it, but it's frustrating as I can't add the whole album based on the file/folder name and structure. I'm just wondering if you are running into something similar based on the format of the music files you are trying to add to your MM database.

scoff

Thanks again for the replies. They've been helpful.

WinampLover wrote:You say that it needs Android Media Scanner "at the moment." What does does that actually mean? How long has that moment been?

Since inception of MMA. There are plans that in the future MMA will have it's own scanner as well as its own codecs so it relies less on the underlying Android.

I don't know more about the workings of Android Media Scanner.

Like I said you can send in a debug log after scanning. The developers can look at it and maybe there are bugs in MMA causing the files to not be seen.

Thanks again, Lowlander. I see you're a long time MM user (are you officially with MM?) so I'll take it that you know what you're talking about.

You say that it needs Android Media Scanner "at the moment." What does does that actually mean? How long has that moment been?

Also, would you mind explaining what they mean at the Android Media Scanner google Play Store when they refer to the "Android media store"? Does that refer only to the "store" of media directly on the device, or does it somehow involve me with one of Google's online services schemes?

MMA relies on Android Media Scanner (at-the-moment) for files not synced from MMW to MMA. Either files aren't being seen or they're misclassified and thus aren't found where expected. You're always welcome to send a debug log (from About screen) after scanning and open a Support ticket with the logID.

Thanks again.

But there is something I do not understand.

You're saying that in order to see all of my music files under MMA's Albums/Atsitst/Tracks buttons, MMA requires that these files be synced (transferred) using MMW, or I have to use Android Media Scanner, even though MMA ALREADY has access to that folder and ALREADY sees some but not all what's in there. Otherwise, I need to access those files using MMA's Folders button.

But when I open, for example, ES File Explorer, I can navigate to that same Music folder and see everything that's in it, including the files and subfolders that MMA is able to see ONLY when I use the Folders button. And when I tap one of those files, playing it in MMA is one of the options.

Likewise, when I run the Android version of Winamp, which hasn't been updated in years, it is also able to see everything in the Music folder.

Why should MMA need the extra support of either its Windows version, or an Android helper app, to do what it reasonably should be able to do on its own?

Am I missing something here? This seems like a shortcoming of MMA.

I create many mp3 and wav files that I want to be able to move directly to my Android device, using Windows Explorer and a USB to the device, without needing to sync them through a separate Windows app like MMW. Isn't that possible?

To bypass the Android Media Scanner you need to use MMW to sync: http://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/index.p ... oid_device

Thanks again for the reply. This is the first I've heard of Android Media Scanner. After searching for what that is, it's still not clear what I need to do. At the Google Play store it says:

This application will search for all media files on your device and update your Android media store. Updating media store will fix some of your applications which can't see your media files. This problem is most seen on Android KitKat. Appliaction works well with Ice Cream Sandwich, JellyBean and KitKat.

But I am using Lollipop, whichever version is most recent for the Note 4. And it's not clear what "store" refers to in the description, whether it means my local "store" of media, off-device or cloud "storage" of some kind, or if it refers to items purchased through the Google Play store, or something else.

If two mp3 files, each with the same tags filled in (or not filled in) are sitting in the same device folder, and were copied to that folder using the identical method, and MMA has direct access to that folder, what would cause one to show up and another one not?

Not to be dense, but can I possibly get step by step instructions as to what I need to do and what I need to have installed (on the AOS device and also on Windows) to get this working? Thanks.

When you're not using MMW to sync the files to the device MMA relies on the Android Media Scanner to get the info on the files. If it has trouble reading the files or reading tags correctly it affects MMA too.

Thanks for the reply.

The files were not "synced" ... at least I didn't do anything to formally "sync" them.

In all cases, I am just connecting the device to my Windows laptop, where it appears in Explorer, then going to the Music folder, and Windows Explorer to copy them my laptop to the device. But for some reason, some files and/or folders are not appearing unless I look using the MM "Folders" button, while other files and/or folders, copied to the device in the same way, show up as expected.

I'm not sure what the difference is between those that do show up and those that don't.

In all cases, the files are either in the root, or in a subfolder of, the "Music" folder where MM looks by default for its media. But some files/fodles how up and some do not.

How were the files synced to the device?

I am using Media Monkey on my Note 4. Version 1.1.3.0554.

I am finding that some songs do not show up in the MM unless I access them through the Folders button (which I see is only available on a trial basis.) I am not sure why.

ALL of my music is in the Music folder /storage/emulated/0/Music, or in a subfolder of that folder. copied into that folder by connecting the Note 4 to my Windows lappy and using Explorer. But some subfolders show up and some do not.

Even with files that are the root "Music" folder, some show up under the Artists/Tracks/etc buttons as expected, but some do not, even though there is no obvious difference between them.

Some files have a full set of mp3 tags, some do not, but that is not what is determining whether or not they show up in MM.

Not sure what to make of this? Anyone have any ideas?

Thank you.