Can't import music database (all flac files)

[James-e]

Hello, Im very new to Xlobby, just got it today.

Xlobby seems to be just what im looking for as it has support for foobar2000, but I just can't get it to import my music database. Heres what im doing.

I hit F2 then go to Basic, then Music Paths, then Add. My music is at C:\My Music. After I hit import Xlobby starts to do its thing, it finds file and starts to import then it just freeze's. If im lucky I can import one track.

All my music encoded in flac.

Can you please offer any advise/help.

Is there any chance I can make a database by copying from my foobar2000 database, and then when I start Xlobby it will have a database but without Xlobby doing it. I hope you know what I mean with that one.

[dvard]

I don't think that flac is working in xlobby right now

[James-e]

I hope that is not true as I really like what Xlobby offers.

[rembetis]

I don't think that flac is working in xlobby right now

Not true. The only thing not working with flac is automatic computation of track length upon import. I have a couple hundred gigs of FLACs working just dandy.

@James-e: try this

1. Run Xlobby and upon load, hit F2 to open setup screen
2. Click "Databases" in list on left, then select the Import tab
3. From the dropdown list on top, select "Music"
4. See if "flac" (no quotes) is in the Extensions window. If not, add it after a comma.
5. Go back to Basic and try to re-import.

Your FLACs must be meticulously tagged, with no non-ASCII characters or Xlobby will choke on import. If you still have problems, create a test folder with one or two albums and re-test.

Hope that helps.

[rembetis]

Hmmm, just checked and it looks like latest install package has flac included in music import. So that ain't the problem.

Must be your tags, then, I'm afraid. How is your music organized? The most friendly folder heirarchy for Xlobby is

Artist / Album / Tracks

with cover art image in the tracks folder.

[rembetis]

Well, sorry to be hijacking your thread, but out of curiosity I just did a couple test imports and -- your right -- the new exe is choking quite a bit on standard imports of flac files from the Basic screen. I did, however, find consistent success using the import within the Databases > Import screen.

Just in case your music database has gotten corrupted in the interim (happens occasionally during crashed imports):

1. Go to Basic tab and under Music Paths hit the Delete DB button
2. Go to Databases > Import and on right side of screen type "music" (no quotes, no caps) in the New DB window and click Add.
3. Now choose music from drop down list just below.
4. Add paths and click Import.

[James-e]

Im ripping with dbpoweramp music converter to flac, using the offical dbpoweramp flac codec.

My music is stored like this,

C:\My Music\Pendulum - Hold Your Colour\Pendulum - Slam.flac
C:\My Music\Drum and Bass Arena - The Classics\Drum and Bass Arena - The Classics CD1\Various - John B - Up All Night.flac

Is that right? It all works fine for foobar2000 and I'd hate to have to re-tag for Xlobby.


How can I check my tags are correct, Should I upload a file maybe so you can test.

I will try what you suggest in you least post.


Cheers

[James-e]

Ok, I just tried what you suggested in you last post and it froze on the first track to import.

[rembetis]

Should I upload a file maybe so you can test.

Hmmm... yeah, if you want to make one of your flacs available for dl, I'd be happy to grab and test it.

[rembetis]

Oh and FWIW, I meant

C:\My Music\Pendulum\Hold Your Colour\Slam.flac

but I don't think that's the problem.

[James-e]

Whats FWIW?

Can't upload a file tonight as it's like 40mb +.

[rembetis]

(F)or (W)hat (I)t's (W)orth.

Tell you what, right click one of your files in foobar, choose Properties, and paste the metadata here.

[James-e]

Right I think I know what you mean about meticulously tagged.

I copied a track to the desktop and then opened that file in foobar2000 and used foobar2000 to convert it to flac level 5 (same as it was so audio wise they are the same). But when I put these side by side to compare them the actual file naming is different. The foobar2000 converted file can be imported into Xlobby.

I am about to do an album no to test if it all works, and if it does that means dbpoweramp is tagging my files wrong.

How can I go about re-tagging without converting the whole file as, a: that would take ages to do all my music, b: having all my music twice would be to much data to fit on my HardDisk.

[James-e]

Tracks converted from flac to flac with foobar2000 can be opened in Xlobby. I just did a whole album and they imported no problem, album art showed and played back using foobar2000.

Now im in love with Xlobby and if I can get this tagging issue sorted, I'll be very happy.

What do you suggest, I do.

Here is metadata of a track (that has NOT been converted by foobar)

Artist Name : The Prodigy
Track Title : Spitfire
Album Title : Always Outnumbered Never Outgunned
Date : 2004
Genre : Electronic
Track Number : 1

Edit: it seems the metadata stays the same after foobar conversion but i'll double check on that.

[rembetis]

Tagging and Converting are two separate things. (Though I guess some program (like dBPoweramp) do them simultaneously)

You just need a dedicated tag editor. I use Tag and Rename -- great program, but not free. Foobar has its own tagger. Never used it before just now, but it looks like the easiest way to go about it is to:

1. Load up an album into foobar.
2. Highlight all tracks
3. Rick click > freedb > Get Tags
4. Hit preview button to make sure album was identified correctly, then
5. Tag Files button.

Do that for one album, check Xlobby's import, then repeat.

Otherwise, look around for a good tag editor. The process outlined above is a little more labor intensive than necessary.