MediaMonkey forum

After installing the latest build, my library changed the path to all my songs to an old, no longer existing UNC path. I had to run Locate Moved/Missing Files to get all working again. I think the install maybe used an old MM.DB database and created a new MM5.db and wrote over my old one. I currently have a AppData\Roaming\MediaMonkey directory as well as a AppData\Roaming\MediaMonkey5. Both have a MM.DB AND MM5.DB in them. I don't have MM4 installed anymore. It seems that only the MM5.db located in the AppData\Roaming\MediaMonkey5 gets updated. Should I delete the AppData\Roaming\MediaMonkey directory? Also, is it (still) recommended to use UNC paths? If so, how can I change from mapped drive to UNC?

A couple of questions that may help diagnosis.

The issue is probably related to the issue you had when you replaced your hard drives and did a fresh install of Win 10.
Did you reinstall MM4 after that ... ie. has MM4 ever been reinstalled after the Win 10 replacement?
Do you remember whether you were asked if you wanted to import data & settings from MM4, when you first opened the new version of MM5?
What are is the date of last update for each of your MM.db files?

MMMM wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 6:27 am Should I delete the AppData\Roaming\MediaMonkey directory?

See here for the default file locations for MM5

I wouldn't delete anything until after they help you sort this out.

I didn't install MediaMonkey 4 after my fresh install of Windows 10, but I did copy over the AppData\Roaming\MediaMonkey directory. When I installed MM5, I was prompted if I wanted to import data & settings from MM4. I had the same "issue" with a UNC path that no longer exists, so I ran the "Locate moved/missing files" to fix it. I was surprised that when I updated to the latest build, that old UNC path returned. I ran "Locate moved/missing files" again to fix it. After that I renamed my MediaMonkey.ini file because it contained many old "Path" locations that no longer worked. It seems that installing the new build re-imported my old MM4 data & settings, so I think I should just get rid of the AppData\Roaming\MediaMonkey directory to avoid this possible issue in the future. Everything seems to be working properly now, but I still have these questions:

1. What's stored in the persistent.json file? Do you think there's any reason I should remove that file?
2. Is it best practice to use UNC paths instead of mapped drive path? If so, is it easy to do that? I'd rather not re-import all my songs as I would lose the Date Added and Last Played information and maybe other information
3. Is it recommended or considered best practice to use a Portable installation?

They must be away or busy.

Health Alert: I am not from MM ... I am only answering because they don't seem to be hete atm.

Is hard to know what happened for you because much of it happened out of sight within the Tech Ticket that you raised.

My guess is that your recent MM5 install has imported data from an old MM4 database.
If you ask for MM4 data to be imported, an install of MM5 needs to know where your active MM4 database is located, ... it probably gets this from the Windows Registry, and since you have not installed MM4 with your new disk and Operating System, this information probably isn't available.

You didn't answer my question about the dates for your MM4 databases.

If it searched and found an old MM4 db , this will mean that you will be missing Date Last Played, and have an inaccurate play counts, for any tracks played after the old MM4 database was active. ... You will also be missing any new tracks added, and when you fix this up you will have inaccurate Date Added for those tracks.

Probably no big deal if the databases are of similar vintage ... ?

Otherwise you could close ALL copies of MM that you have running, and then rename the older MM4 databases, and put a correctly named copy of the most recent MM.DB in both the places you named.
Then rename MM5.db. Restart MM5. ... That should rebuild the MM5.db, and ask whether you want to import from MM4's db.

Or if you have a good MM5.db, from a previous installation of MM5 ... then you could use that database with this new version of MM5.

MMMM wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 11:44 am What's stored in the persistent.json file? Do you think there's any reason I should remove that file?

I don't think that there is any reason to delete persistent.json ... I think that just records info about the current MM5 state ... how many tabs open, what is in the tabs, how is it filter|sorted ... that kind of stuff

MMMM wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 11:44 am 2. Is it best practice to use UNC paths instead of mapped drive path? If so, is it easy to do that? I'd rather not re-import all my songs as I would lose the Date Added and Last Played information and maybe other information ... It is something you can delete if you are trying to reset MM's User Interface.

I don't know why there would any preference between mapped drive or UNC path, from a MM POV

MMMM wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 11:44 am 3. Is it recommended or considered best practice to use a Portable installation?

AFAIK a portable installation is just a regular MM, but with everything (all data, programs, everything) installed inside a single folder, so you can easily take MM away to use on some other computer ... or create a test version MM, so you can experiment without trashing your production MM db

The regular installation is installed in well known places ... the Windows Registry is informed ... static items (the program files) are kept separate from volatile (database & the json file) for various reasons; like different backup strategies for different types of files, or SSD vs spinning disk considerations, etc ... and it Is easier to apply MM upgrades, because the MM installer can see where you choose to install MM. ... you can use Windows Apps facility to housekeep and remove MM from your PC

I think that a regular install would be recommended normally.

I understand that you're not from MM, and I appreciate you reaching out to help. All seems to be working right now, so I probably won't mess with anything. The MM5.db in the AppData\Roaming\MediaMonkey5 folder has today's date. The MM.db in that folder has the same date and time as the one in the AppData\Roaming\MediaMonkey folder (11/19/2020 10:56 AM). There is an MM5.db in the AppData\Roaming\MediaMonkey with a date stamp of 11/20/2020 7:12 AM. The older dates are probably the files I manually copied over when I was setting up the new install. That all makes sense.

I think I had to use UNC paths when I was streaming my collection using Sonos or maybe Plex. Now I'm using MyMedia for Alexa. It would be nice if I didn't have to rely on 3rd party tools to stream to my Alexa devices. Hopefully someday soon.

Thank you for your help!