Syncing Windows & Android

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Sparky474
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 10, 2022 8:27 am

Syncing Windows & Android

Post by Sparky474 »

Equip: MM5 Gold on both Windows PC and Android phone.
Firstly the apps - MM (Windows PC) and MM Android phone - work faultlessly when used independently.
For many years sync has also worked well but problems since I installed latest update on MMW
So the problem I have is syncing between the two.
MMW seems to scatter the music and playlists to destinations on my phones SD card that bear no relationship to the path I have entered. It will often put them in a destination that is not listed in settings and sometimes duplicates groups putting them in different locations
I'm sure this is relevant but can't establish why - it also sometimes uses or creates a destination folder that was from a much earlier setting but visibly no longer exists in the present settings.
Is there any way I can clear MMW's memory from within the programme or is it better to uninstall and reinstall it ?(e.g. I notice there is a guide to remove some database and ini files but would this work without uninstalling?)
I've checked and rechecked the destination path I am entering and I cannot find any other visible listing of destinations or paths within any setting that may be giving conflicting addresses.
Any help would be very much appreciated
James
Forgot to add - syncing using cable because sync by wifi is mostly difficult to establish link
IanRTaylorUK
Posts: 536
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2019 4:41 pm

Re: Syncing Windows & Android

Post by IanRTaylorUK »

Hi James, you seem to be posting a MMW5 question in a MMW4 area.

Personally I find the best approach is to create Playlists and then synchronise the Playlist to the MMA device.

I sync to the device's Micro SD card and specify the file location as:

\Music\<Album Artist>\<Album>\<Disc#><Track#:2>-<Title>

I also sync all artwork to the file folders and file tags and use relative paths / linux separator / unicode / extended m3U for the Playlists.

First sync using USB then subsequent syncs over WiFi.

Start off with say a single Playlist and build up to more when you are happy everything is OK on the device!

I mostly use MMW4 for my own devices and MMW5 for my wife's phone. In my case I find that I can start WiFi sync for 3 Android devices in short succession - so they are running at the same time. Yet to try this with MMW5.

Perhaps the main thing to watch for is that the library on the Windows machine is 100% correct. Make sure every MP3 file has the Lyrics / Disc / Track / Album Art and Album Artist is consistent for a particular Album / Artist! There are a lot of add-ons that help with this in MMW4 (Tagging Inconsistencies / Advanced Duplicate Find and Fix / Lyricator / Randomise Playlist / RegExp Find and Replace).
Ian Taylor
Sparky474
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 10, 2022 8:27 am

Re: Syncing Windows & Android

Post by Sparky474 »

Hi Ian.
Thank you for your time and comprehensive reply - I will work through it - there are some bits in your reply that are immediately apparent like ensuring the completeness of the music files - I tend to just throw the music files in the appropriate hole if you know what I mean.
My problem is that MM has been largely faultless for me for some years and now it's 'acting up' you realise how complex it can be when you scratch the surface.
Thanks again
James.
Sparky474
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 10, 2022 8:27 am

Re: Syncing Windows & Android

Post by Sparky474 »

Yes, I now see there are separate sections for MMW4 and MMW5 - I'll work through your suggestions and repost in MMW5 if neeeded.
Cheers James.
IanRTaylorUK
Posts: 536
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2019 4:41 pm

Re: Syncing Windows & Android

Post by IanRTaylorUK »

Sparky474 wrote: Wed May 11, 2022 3:52 pm Hi Ian.
Thank you for your time and comprehensive reply - I will work through it - there are some bits in your reply that are immediately apparent like ensuring the completeness of the music files - I tend to just throw the music files in the appropriate hole if you know what I mean.
My problem is that MM has been largely faultless for me for some years and now it's 'acting up' you realise how complex it can be when you scratch the surface.
Thanks again
James.
Hi James,

Glad this helped. For new music downloads, try to let MMW help you. Something like this:
1 ). Download / unzip to a Download folder. A single album at a time. Select all the files in the album.
2 ). First start with Analyse Volume as it takes some time!
3 ). While the volume is being analysed check / add / edit the Disc #, Album Artist, Genre etc. Shorten the Album name if you think information might be superfluous. You could - for example - move information from Album name to Comments
4 ). Use RegExp Find and Replace to make Track Numbers two digits (Add Leading Zero to Single Digit Track Number)
5 ). Run Lyricator to check if lyrics available / Drag files to Foobar / Analyse BPM...
6 ). Check Artwork present with correct image type (Cover Front) or add using Add button or Lookup Button on Properties / Artwork. Worst case is to Google album artwork a cut / paste album cover image. Apply to ALL files in album.
7 ). Now you are ready to Auto-Organise (Move and Rename) to (for example) Drive:\..\Music\<Album Artist>\<Album>\<Title>
8 ). Now Create a Playlist for the album and listen to the playlist.

After you have done a few albums (or weekly / monthly), run Files To Edit / Tagging Inconsistencies etc. Make "Collections" for specific problems e.g. No Lyrics, No BPM, Low Bit Rate - so you can correct en-block.

Seems like a lot of steps, but quickly becomes an easy habit.
Ian Taylor
Sparky474
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 10, 2022 8:27 am

Re: Syncing Windows & Android

Post by Sparky474 »

Thanks Ian - you're pushing me to NVQ level 2 territory now! but it is very useful.
Hope you don't mind me asking but there is one point in your first post that I'm not sure about - in fact I didn't know it existed and that is the ability to selectively sync, that is syncing one individual playlist - I can see the advantage - I just set it away using the ''music' and 'playlist' checkbox in the Sync List (Library to device) - in effect doing a whole sync if it is just for one or two playlists. Have I read that wrong?
Thanks again
James
Peke
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Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 7:21 pm
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Re: Syncing Windows & Android

Post by Peke »

Hi,
Let me step in. First you were done things logically by enabling Root of Music and Playlists, but most likely like many of us you will find that it is not enough. That said, me personally found out that instead of general all music sync I can archive that by disabling music and playlist, then in playlist listing just select Accessible tracks playlist. Then I found out that my 200k library will not fit on sdcard, so I created bunch Auto-Playlist to selectively sync only those I like. Where end result now is that I sync only 5k of tracks that I like and on top of that in playlists abd order that I like both static and Auto-Playlist and I can easily copy them from device to device.

Hope I explained it a bit.
Best regards,
Peke
MediaMonkey Team lead QA/Tech Support guru
Admin of Free MediaMonkey addon Site HappyMonkeying
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IanRTaylorUK
Posts: 536
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2019 4:41 pm

Re: Syncing Windows & Android

Post by IanRTaylorUK »

Sparky474 wrote: Thu May 12, 2022 5:24 pm Thanks Ian - you're pushing me to NVQ level 2 territory now! but it is very useful.
Hope you don't mind me asking but there is one point in your first post that I'm not sure about - in fact I didn't know it existed and that is the ability to selectively sync, that is syncing one individual playlist - I can see the advantage - I just set it away using the ''music' and 'playlist' checkbox in the Sync List (Library to device) - in effect doing a whole sync if it is just for one or two playlists. Have I read that wrong?
Thanks again
James
Hi James, yes.

Under the Auto-Sync(--->Device) tab you can select a single Playlist i.e. Music and all other options unchecked in the left hand "Tree". With MMW4, the Playlist node box changes from empty to a dot (rather than a tick if ALL selected) if one - or several - Playlists selected.

The point of this is you can quickly sync a device, check the files / folders on the device to ensure your File Locations selection is behaving as expected. You do not want to sync for an hour or more and find you made a small typo in the Sync Files option!

I will need to double check the behaviour is the same in MMW5.
Ian Taylor
Sparky474
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 10, 2022 8:27 am

Re: Syncing Windows & Android

Post by Sparky474 »

Thanks Ian
You are right, the option to select individual albums etc etc it is there in MM5 as you explained. That will save me a lot of time in the future.
But..... the good news after checking and going through all settings etc finally got a sync where everything went to the right place, no duplicates ,no omissions (as far as I can see) so the world seems a much brighter place!
I can only guess that the path in the Sync profile settings must have been corrupted and, strangely, every time I connected MMW insisted in adding a new listing for my phone even though my phone was already listed - no matter how many times I deleted it.
Anyway, can't thank you enough for the help - it is really appreciated. I was on the verge of sacking it off and going to something less demanding so you pulled me back from the dark side! - when MM works I don't think there is anything better,
Cheers
James
Last edited by Sparky474 on Fri May 13, 2022 12:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sparky474
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue May 10, 2022 8:27 am

Re: Syncing Windows & Android

Post by Sparky474 »

Thanks Peke,
Yes that does help. You will see from an earlier post that I think with help from this place that I've cracked it.
I thought I was a bit obsessive with my music but your 200k library puts things in perspective.
Anyway thanks for your help
Cheers
James
IanRTaylorUK
Posts: 536
Joined: Fri Dec 27, 2019 4:41 pm

Re: Syncing Windows & Android

Post by IanRTaylorUK »

Sparky474 wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 12:04 pm Thanks Ian
You are right, the option to select individual albums etc etc it is there in MM5 as you explained. That will save me a lot of time in the future.
But..... the good news after checking and going through all settings etc finally got a sync where everything went to the right place, no duplicates ,no omissions (as far as I can see) so the world seems a much brighter place!
I can only guess that the path in the Sync profile settings must have been corrupted and, strangely, every time I connected MMW insisted in adding a new listing for my phone even though my phone was already listed - no matter how many times I deleted it.
Anyway, can't thank you enough for the help - it is really appreciated. I was on the verge of sacking it off and going to something less demanding so you pulled me back from the dark side! - when MM works I don't think there is anything better,
Cheers
James
Hi James, great to know you have MMW / MMA working for you and this has helped. Took me quite a while to get to the stage where ALL 18k track on my devices were in the "right" folders, had BPM, album images, lyrics where possible, but it is really satisfying / amazing when you open up your phone / tablet and have everything working and displaying well.

I guess it is about having a mental process for MMW and sticking to this BEFORE synching to devices!

But don't stop exploring MMW - take a look at Collections, Auto-Playlists and Add-Ons. For example, use star ratings and create a playlist of your 4 star and above tracks into a playlist (using a collection?). Randomise this sort of playlist before synching... What is the extra overhead for the SD storage?

Star rate a new album synched to your device using MMA, then see whether these ratings get copied back to MMW at the next "sync". What happens to "ratings" if you have two devices? How might you "prevent" your ratings being over-written by the kids or your partner's ratings...

Let us know how you get on.
Ian Taylor
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