Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

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sean
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:29 am

Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by sean »

Hey.

So I just tried playing a song in MM4 and it couldn't find the file.

I went over to the Deal Links section and found that there are 345 songs there! This is sudden. I've listened to this much of this music recently and I haven't changed anything.

I'm looking in my Windows folders, and the music is still there. The paths look correct (see screenshot).

What can I do to quickly fix this?

https://imgur.com/a/ZzoQtVl
Last edited by Lowlander on Mon Dec 12, 2022 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Moved to correct forum
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Lowlander
Posts: 56465
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:53 pm
Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by Lowlander »

Do the files still play in MediaMonkey? It looks like the Paths are the same. Does this still happen after a PC restart?
sean
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:29 am

Re: Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by sean »

Nope, MediaMonkey doesn't play any of these 345 files. But they are all present in Windows Explorer, and all their paths look correct. Restarting didn't fix it.
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sean
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:29 am

Re: Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by sean »

I just noticed a common thread. Nearly all of these 345 files have special characters in their tag info (see image). Like characters with umlauts (ä). But, again, this is not new. I've always had these in my library.

https://imgur.com/a/ZTv9BIE
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Lowlander
Posts: 56465
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:53 pm
Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by Lowlander »

That should be no issue, I'd still recommend comparing Paths as it's likely there is a difference.

I assume the files from File Explorer play without problem when opened with MediaMonkey?
sean
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:29 am

Re: Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by sean »

No, special characters are definitely the issue here.

Examine these 3 screenshots. MediaMonkey finds every song in the album except those with special characters. The paths are all matching.

- Track 07 of Beuna Vista Social Club is the only track in the album with a special character, and MM can't find it
- Track 04 of Black Holes and Revelations is the only track in the album with a special character, and MM can't find it
- Track 05 of Crack-up is the only track in the album with a special character, and MM can't find it

https://imgur.com/a/kWueZRw

Yes, the files play using other media players.
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Lowlander
Posts: 56465
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:53 pm
Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by Lowlander »

Special characters is not a known issue and always has worked for me. I can confirm that the files are not listed in Dead Links on MediaMonkey 5.

If you can reproduce with MediaMonkey 5, then please capture the loading of Dead Links in a debug log (step 4b) and attach the log to a Support Ticket: https://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=86643

The developers can then troubleshoot this with MediaMonkey 5.
sean
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:29 am

Re: Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by sean »

I am using MM5 already. Only just realized I'm in the wrong forum. :lol:
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Lowlander
Posts: 56465
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:53 pm
Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by Lowlander »

In that case please capture the loading of dead links in a debug log as requested above.
Rob_S
Posts: 869
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 1:53 pm

Re: Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by Rob_S »

Have you tried to add/rescan your files? Does this find any of them?

I have lots of files with special characters in filenames and in tags, and these all load and play just fine. To clear up the issue of special characters in your tags, if you have or download another tag editor, and change them, what happens?

Also, what happens if you right click the file in windows explorer, and select "play in mediamonkey"?
Using 5.1 LATEST alpha or beta build on Windows 10, HP laptop, managing 13k tracks
sean
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:29 am

Re: Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by sean »

Well, I got as far as installing the debug version. When I open it, I get these messages, and then it hangs.

https://imgur.com/a/1QzZjHv
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sean
Posts: 91
Joined: Thu Nov 03, 2011 10:29 am

Re: Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by sean »

Anyway, I just completely uninstalled MM5 and reinstalled it. Then I rescanned my library. The dead links are all fixed now.

I just resynced my phone, and it added all the missing songs with special characters.

Sorry, I don't have the time or energy to collect and send logs properly, but it was definitely something with special characters. It's the only thing those 345 songs had in common.
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Lowlander
Posts: 56465
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:53 pm
Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: Bunch of my music is suddenly in Dead Links

Post by Lowlander »

As it works now and is not reproducible by others we'll consider it some corruption in the install.
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