Yes, Good advice - I corrected this today. The OS and Apps are now on an onboard 500MB SDD.

This has also given me a 300MB to act as a staging area for incoming music and movie files while I upscale bit-rates or embed sub-title files.

Thanks.

So that is a bit more understandable. it may be possible to find and copy over many of those compilation albums from existing drives, if so much quicker than reripping.

The hard part might be figuring out how to delete the mis-auto-organized copies scattered in various folders

One thing strikes me is that you indicate you have the os and mm application on an hdd? This would be the most important place for an SSD, due to the huge performance increase. Windows updates done in seconds, not minutes. Mm database stored in app data folder much more responsive, etc

Thanks Rob.

You're right to call me out for backups. But this project was about creating a long term storage solution with backup for that very reason.

Let me explain.

Over the years, my library has grown from a 20GB drive in the early 2000s to just under 1TB spread across multiple disks, each with its own backup procedure. Two 500GB disks were connected using RAID 1, files stored on a 300GB drive were backed up via schedule to the 1TB disk I used to store family photos, although that disc failed in 2019. Other folders were stored in OneDrive, iCloud, Google Drive and Dropbox. None of those disks were full.

The reason for these multiple storage solution is more about availability and cost of storage over the years. As available retail drive sizes increased, I added storage (with backup) imagining that I had provided more than enough headroom for my library.

But the library continued to grow, and so did the size of individual files as the bit-rate we could playback increased, and the ability to store rich artwork increased, and so on...

Last year I moved everything to an external 3TB HDD running over USB-4. This has been brilliant, but I didnt have a backup solution.

So this was the moment when I would consolidate my library by introducing two 2TB SDDs. Both disks are mounted in an standalone machine with 24 core i9 (but only 2.2Ghz because media streaming doesnt need more), 16GB machine with 2.5GB Networking, and the old 300MB drive (also HDD) hosts the OS, MediaMonkey and some helper applications. The existing 3TB HDD will act as a mirror but only for portability. That was all prepared before installing MM.

While this catastrophic MM event that has threatened the very soul of mankind [i]is [/i] annoying, I [b]do still have all the files[/b]. I also have the original file structure with the artwork in it as a reference, and some excellent coding skills. Today, I can play all my music, it just looks crap in MM and on disk. So it's not the end of the world (probably).

I am working on some code that will use the MusicBrainz API and one other to help audit the new library and let me know what I need to fix. There are many albums which are in a reasonable shape but need some tag repair. Compilations are a problem, but as long as I can recover a few of those, I can always dig out the CDs and re-rip the 100 or so when I have a chance.

Thanks for your interest, I thought you might be interested in this, I hope I am right.

Yes, but Album, Album Artist, Date and sometimes Genre and Artist are Album based tags. Title will file based.

You can try Auto-Tag, but it will not always have Genre.

So yes, as it seems you changed tags and then organized the files based on those new tags there isn't a quick and easy recovery.

[quote=Lowlander post_id=532506 time=1775357771 user_id=262]
Organize Files can be done later in bulk.. tagging can probably done per Album for some tags, others may need to be done per file.
[/quote]

:D I think you're teasing me now by not answering directly, perhaps showing me what an idiot I have been, and you're right.

So you [i]are [/i]suggesting that I manually visit each file and check the tags within MediaMonkey. Unfortuately, that's not practicable given the sheer number of albums, artists and tracks.

I guess I really have fubbed my library.

Thank you anyway, I do appreciate your time thinking about it.

I am so sorry to hear about your experience so far, what a disaster! So are you saying you have no backup copy of your original music folder anywhere, even an older one?

If your hdd ever fails, you would instantly lose your entire collection, never mind just the tags???

However, if you do have such a backup someplace, I would start by restoring from that.

If not, I would also immediatly obtain a portable drive, and copy what you have currently onto it, in case you lose any while working on the fixes.

Then spend a bit of time just trying various methods until you find what works the best.

Organize Files can be done later in bulk.. tagging can probably done per Album for some tags, others may need to be done per file.

Thank you very much for continuing with this.

Before I start work on this, I want to make sure I understand the process you are suggesting, because I might not know about some tool or technique in Media Monkey that will make this quicker.

The solution you would choose is:

[i]For each track in the library[/i]:

[list=1][*]right click on the file and select Properties
[*]check and edit the 5 important tags* if they are incorrect or missing
[*]add back the deleted genre tag
[*]run 'Organise Files' on that one file.
[/list]

I must have misunderstood something, because this feels like a tragedy.

Please trust me when I say that I really appreciate your help, but I have 70,819 tracks (not including the new duplicates). I tested this process on one file just now and it took about 90s. I reckon I could get it down to under a minute after the first hundred..

That's 147 * days (8 working hours) or 3 years of one full day per weekend..

Please note that at the same time, for some tracks I have other issues to work on, for example files were wonrgly renamed for one example from something like "Culture (Extended Ibiza Mix)" to "Culture" which effectively ovewrites the original 'Culture track.

Please let me know if I have misunderstood your instructions. .. and/or restate with steps rather than conceptual instructions - it took a while to work out what you meant.

FYI - there are 3070 artists, many with multiple albums.

[size=85]*important tags: Artist, Album, Track #, Album Artist(s), Date[/size]

2. You can either change folder/filenames and then tag from them, or as suggested change tags and then organize files. I'd choose the latter, but whatever is easier for you.

4. Shouldn't be needed, unless you're modifying files outside of MediaMonkey.

No, you just set a [url=https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHelp:Configuring_Directory_and_File_Formats]Mask[/url] in Tag from Filename. This only works for files with the same Path makeup.

So, just to be clear, your suggested recovery process is:

[list=1]
[*]Turn off Auto-Organise files.
[*]Visit each folder and
-- check if it is structured correctly, if not sort that structure out manually or GOTO (3)
-- check if filenames are correct, if not sort that out manually or GOTO(3)
-- run Tag from Filename on that folder.
GOTO(4)
[*]Run Tag From Filename when all folder are corrected manually.
[*]I am assuming at the end it would be good to re-run Add/Re-Scan the LIbrary.[/list]

Is that correct, and is it possible to script the Tag-From-Filename so that I can automate some of that process. I can write a script to deal with some of the obvious issues with filenames, so it would be useful if I can then call on MM to tag from file, and let the process run.

To recover I'd worry about tags first.

I'd disable [url=https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHelp:Changing_Filenames#Auto-Organize_as_a_Background_Process]Auto Organize Files[/url] first, as any tagging you do will trigger this.

If folder/filenames have the correct information (even if just for most files and not all) you could try using [url=https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHelp:Auto-Tag_from_Filename]Tag from Filename[/url].

If that's not the case, you could try Auto-Tag (I'd use this on smaller batches of files or even just per Album), or you'll have to do manual tagging.

 - There are 86,000 files added to your library
     - we identified 8,110 unique albums by recognised artists, 256 are unknown
     - we identified 325 compilation albums, click here to specify how you would like to manage them
     - we particularly like your interest in 70's/80's indie, alternative and electronic.  you are clearly very cool.
     - our code precent us from indexing that ****ing frog song
 - We recommend you run auto-tagging on 32,365 files
 - Your target drive has sufficient space to accomodate a move
 - We have contructed a database on <source> and stored a backup on <target>

So the original files are moved, and all retagged, so I don't have these anymore.

I think you are right that I didn't "just do" the initial scan for files. In fact I am sure of that because the files moved.

As a first time user, when I installed the application, and am presented with the initial scan screen, there is an options button to push, or similarly named. I went through that to make sure everything was configured as I would expect, just in case. What I didn't realise is that I was being presented the options/settings for the whole application, not just set-up. This feels counter-intuitive, but I realise it now.

So in going through those options, I made sure file patterns and folder names were correct in case MediaMonkey needs to do some checking or set something up on the drive I will eventually be moving to. Also, since we are scanning, I would be happy to fix any broken tags or mis-tagged file automatically, lets turn that on... But to be safe, I checked to make sure that the tags I use are being supported and that file naming conventions are correct in case MM is setting up placeholders... I think you get the point.

What I expected (as a human) was that MM would scan all my files and comeback with something like:

[code] - There are 86,000 files added to your library
- we identified 8,110 unique albums by recognised artists, 256 are unknown
- we identified 325 compilation albums, click here to specify how you would like to manage them
- we particularly like your interest in 70's/80's indie, alternative and electronic. you are clearly very cool.
- our code precent us from indexing that ****ing frog song
- We recommend you run auto-tagging on 32,365 files
- Your target drive has sufficient space to accomodate a move
- We have contructed a database on <source> and stored a backup on <target>[/code]

... I think you get the picture.

I would even have been OK with the move had it recreated the same structure, and preserved filenames, then given me a list of recommendation. So, yes I was OK with the principle of the move.

It's unclear what features you used, it doesn't sound like you just did the initial scan for files.

It sounds like you may have enabled [url=https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHelp:Changing_Filenames#Auto-Organize_as_a_Background_Process]Auto-Organize[/url], or used the manual [url=https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHelp:Changing_Filenames#Manually_Organize_Files]Organize Files[/url] (potential set to copy files) and used [url=https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHelp:Getting_Track_Information_from_the_Internet#Using_Auto-Tag]Auto-Tag[/url] as well.

The first step is to check if your original files are affected. If their tags are unaffected you're likely still in a good shape.

Music/<Artist>/<Album>/<Track> <Title>.ext
Music/Various Artists/<Album>/<Track> <Title>.ext

I have a reasonably well-curated large music collection that I have been building since the early 2000s. All tracks are from CD's, a few Self-Recorded Vinyl and Digital Media.

I used manual techniques and later MusicBrainz Picard to tag.

My library [b]was [/b]stored as:

[code]Music/<Artist>/<Album>/<Track> <Title>.ext
Music/Various Artists/<Album>/<Track> <Title>.ext[/code]

All tracks were tagged with:

[list]Artist
Album
Title
Track #
Disc #
Genre
Date (Year)
AccoustID
Contributung Artists[/list]

..and in some cases, depending on the source or purpose, ISRC, UPC, ISI, ISNI, Catalog codes etc.

There were no duplicates, except where a track is stored in it's original album, and also included with a compilation. Even in this instance, the two copies were ripped from their different, original CDs and located/tagged correctly, so easy to differentiate. MusicBrainz Picard had no problem with these.

I had about 100 Compilation albums including full collections of Trojan Records, Ministry of Sound, NTWICM, John Peel Festive 50's and more.

I intend to move my library to a new drive with a backup solution and a platform that is capable of sharing between devices, among other features. After a humanly reasonable amount of research, it looked like Media Monkey was the right application, offering all the features I need and is described as being best for large collections. I would like the same sotware to manage my video to, so I decided to take a look at MusicMonkey and see if it is right for my needs.

I downloaded installed [b]Media Monkey[/b] and during that installation process was promoted for the directory of my music, and a target directory presumably for the database and a copy of my library. I checked the options made sense, like the folder structure and naming conventions. I saw an option to allow compilations... well I have compilations so checked this too. ..and selected an option to bring the artwork along with the tracks.

Nothing else seemed to be unusual, and in the few cases where there were deeper option choices, these seemd to be aimed at advanced users. I just wanted Media Monkey to undestand my library so I could see how it worked.

I was then faced with 3 hours of looking at and confirming tags, which I didn't expect to be doing. But tried to keep up. Unfortunately that GUi was incredibly slow making it difficult to use, so it might take 2-3 minutes to validate and correct track names that MM seemed to be getting wrong all the time, ignoring the tracks existing name and tags.

Several hours later the software crashed. It had completed moving music files but was somehow stuck in the tagging process. I think it had pretty much completed, and I had no choice but to reboot and hope for the best. I went to bed.

Today, I am horrified:

[list]Multiple instances of the same Artist appear in the Artist 'Collection'
An incredible compilation broken into the folders of the individual artists.
More than 30,000 duplicated files. The folder size has increased more than 200GB
Tracks mis-Identified, ignoring the original tags, so instead of 2 tracks "foobar and foobar (extended mix)", I now have two instances of "foobar", THOUSANDS of tracks affected this way.
The genre tag has been removed from at least 50% of the files (why?)
Multiple ways to describe 'Various Artists' have appeared, I now have four folders of various artist compilations, one of which [b]was[/b] called "Various Artits" and contained only one track.
Albums have been broken up into 'similar' releases, so although I ripped a UK CD, I now have albums split over what things like US, UK, JP releases.
Albums have been broken up to populate compilations I have never owned
Created multiple copies of the same artist in its database (‘Beautiful South 1’, ‘Beautiful South 2’ etc)
Changed some year based release dates to specific days, and in many cases got that date wrong.
Removed contributing artist details (Why?)
Left the artwork behind
I asked for lyrics but in many cases get just the first few lines.
Added cover.jpeg files instead of folder.jpg
Some inexplicable stuff[/list]

Now, when I open Media Monkey and open (for example) the Albums list, I have to wait while the album covers slowly populate. I have Full Fibre but It feels like I am back in 2005 waiting for a photo album to load.

I have no idea what do next. I feel like I had no choice but to follow the installation process. I have spent two hours reading all your support articles and FAQ's but the way its written and the terminology used is a hell of a learning curve for a paid for product. I still don't understand wether to ''Add/Rescan' or 'Find Lost Files'. I don't know if an Album is a 'Collection' or something distinct.

There are occasional errors that don't make any sense like: "Error scanning file: error while reading file info". What does that mean, and what do I have to do manually to correct it...

Honestly, I am broken right now. I have a wretched headache and can only think of going back to manually tagging several thousand albums with Picard.

That took me years so I am not a happy bunny.