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M3U playlists aren't working properly

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  • ttarpd
    • Feb 2015
    • 11

    M3U playlists aren't working properly

    Hi

    I hope someone can help me please...

    I run Asset UPnP R4.4 on my Qnap TS-459 Pro II NAS streaming music via a wired connection through my Naim Uniqute 2 - using the Naim App on my ipad to control what's playing.
    Almost all of my music are FLAC files ripped from CD using dBpoweramp CD Ripper.

    I've created some .m3u playlists semi-automatically using a Perl sript - initially I've just created a playlist for each artist containing all the songs from their albums (based on the folder structure they're stored in).

    If I go to the Asset UPnP main menu in the Naim App and select Playlists I can see what appears to be the full set of playlists saved on the NAS drive in a folder that Asset knows to read them from.

    However I must be missing something about the way M3U playlists work - because although the playlists appear, when I click on a lot of them they don't contain all the music that's in the playlist. Some are missing several full albums - others appear to be missing a few tracks.

    Example 1: A-ha
    A-ha.txt

    This playlist contains the tracks from 3 albums - but in the Naim App it's only showing the last 17 tracks starting from this one:
    *EXTINF:-1,01. Take on Me
    /share/Music/Lossless/A-ha/The Definitive Singles Collection 1984-2004/01. Take on Me.flac

    Where did the first 2 albums 20 tracks go? They're definitely on the NAS drive in the folder specified. I can see them in the Naim App through main menu -> Artist/Album -> [All Artists] -> A-ha.


    Example 2: Avril Lavigne
    Avril Lavigne.txt

    This playlist contains the tracks from 5 albums - but in the Naim App it's missing 6 seemingly random tracks:

    *EXTINF:-1,02. Here's to Never Growing Up
    /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Avril Lavigne/02. Here's to Never Growing Up.flac

    *EXTINF:-1,02. What the Hell
    /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Goodbye Lullaby/02. What the Hell.flac

    *EXTINF:-1,12. Too Much to Ask
    /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Let Go/12. Too Much to Ask.flac

    *EXTINF:-1,09. I Don't Have to Try
    /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/The Best Damn Thing/09. I Don't Have to Try.flac

    *EXTINF:-1,10. One of Those Girls
    /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/The Best Damn Thing/10. One of Those Girls.flac

    *EXTINF:-1,10. Fall to Pieces
    /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Under My Skin/10. Fall to Pieces.flac

    Why are these tracks not showing up in the playlist in the Naim App please?

    Note - I've had to change the file name extensions of the attached files to get the file uploader to accept them. I've changed them from .m3u to .txt


    Sorry if I've done something silly - I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction.

    I was hoping to be able to create some neat playlists that I could save & play - but I seem to have fallen at the first hurdle.


    Regards,
    David
  • Spoon
    Administrator
    • Apr 2002
    • 43915

    #2
    Re: M3U playlists aren't working properly

    These missing tracks, you can browse and play them through Artist >> Album ?
    Spoon
    www.dbpoweramp.com

    Comment

    • ttarpd
      • Feb 2015
      • 11

      #3
      Re: M3U playlists aren't working properly

      Hi Spoon - yes, I can definitely browse and play them through Artist/Ablum or Album or Title navigation from the Asset main menu.

      Comment

      • ttarpd
        • Feb 2015
        • 11

        #4
        Re: M3U playlists aren't working properly

        In case it makes any difference - here's the streamer info from the Naim App:


        Product: UnitiQute

        App: 4.5
        App Build: 10585
        ARM APP: 4.01.000
        ARM BSL: 2.1.9
        3D APP: 13436.61
        3D BSL: 2110.2
        3D CNE: 13436.61
        Device: iPad Air (WiFi)
        iOS: 8.3

        Comment

        • ttarpd
          • Feb 2015
          • 11

          #5
          Re: M3U playlists aren't working properly

          I just tried creating a new .m3u playlist with ONLY the 6 missing Avril Lavigne tracks from Example 2 above:

          *EXTM3U
          *EXTINF:-1,02. Here's to Never Growing Up
          /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Avril Lavigne/02. Here's to Never Growing Up.flac
          *EXTINF:-1,02. What the Hell
          /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Goodbye Lullaby/02. What the Hell.flac
          *EXTINF:-1,12. Too Much to Ask
          /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Let Go/12. Too Much to Ask.flac
          *EXTINF:-1,09. I Don't Have to Try
          /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/The Best Damn Thing/09. I Don't Have to Try.flac
          *EXTINF:-1,10. One of Those Girls
          /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/The Best Damn Thing/10. One of Those Girls.flac
          *EXTINF:-1,10. Fall to Pieces
          /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Under My Skin/10. Fall to Pieces.flac


          And in the Naim App when I open the playlist no tracks are shown at all and nothing plays.

          Comment

          • Spoon
            Administrator
            • Apr 2002
            • 43915

            #6
            Re: M3U playlists aren't working properly

            Can you try a 2nd control point, such as Kinsky on ipad? as a test.
            Spoon
            www.dbpoweramp.com

            Comment

            • ttarpd
              • Feb 2015
              • 11

              #7
              Re: M3U playlists aren't working properly

              I've just downloaded and installed the Kinsky app on my ipad.

              I get exactly the same result I'm afraid.

              Comment

              • ttarpd
                • Feb 2015
                • 11

                #8
                Re: M3U playlists aren't working properly

                I haven't worked out why yet... but as a test I created a new folder for the 6 offending Avril Lavigne tracks and copied them in to it.
                I removed the numbers, quotation ['] marks and spaces from the filenames.
                Then I created a new playlist for these 6 tracks - with no EXT info lines.

                Here's the playlist file content:

                /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/PlaylistTest/FallToPieces.flac
                /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/PlaylistTest/HeresToNeverGrowingUp.flac
                /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/PlaylistTest/IDontHaveToTry.flac
                /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/PlaylistTest/OneOfThoseGirls.flac
                /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/PlaylistTest/TooMuchToAsk.flac
                /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/PlaylistTest/WhatTheHell.flac


                And this new playlist works!! No idea why though...

                Now I just need to repeat this process and miss out certain steps to try to identify by a process of elimination what is causing the unwanted behaviour.

                But it's not the file format of the music - it's something to do with folder / filenames and the M3U file format.

                Comment

                • ttarpd
                  • Feb 2015
                  • 11

                  #9
                  Re: M3U playlists aren't working properly

                  Latest "discovery"....

                  This playlist does not work - no files appear in any UPnP browser:
                  *EXTM3U
                  *EXTINF:-1,02. Here's to Never Growing Up
                  /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Avril Lavigne/02. Here's to Never Growing Up.flac
                  *EXTINF:-1,02. What the Hell
                  /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Goodbye Lullaby/02. What the Hell.flac
                  *EXTINF:-1,12. Too Much to Ask
                  /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Let Go/12. Too Much to Ask.flac
                  *EXTINF:-1,09. I Don't Have to Try
                  /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/The Best Damn Thing/09. I Don't Have to Try.flac
                  *EXTINF:-1,10. One of Those Girls
                  /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/The Best Damn Thing/10. One of Those Girls.flac
                  *EXTINF:-1,10. Fall to Pieces
                  /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Under My Skin/10. Fall to Pieces.flac


                  But this playlist works perfectly:
                  *EXTM3U
                  *EXTINF:-1,02. Here's to Never Growing Up
                  /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Playlist Test/02. Here's to Never Growing Up.flac
                  *EXTINF:-1,02. What the Hell
                  /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Playlist Test/02. What the Hell.flac
                  *EXTINF:-1,12. Too Much to Ask
                  /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Playlist Test/12. Too Much to Ask.flac
                  *EXTINF:-1,09. I Don't Have to Try
                  /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Playlist Test/09. I Don't Have to Try.flac
                  *EXTINF:-1,10. One of Those Girls
                  /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Playlist Test/10. One of Those Girls.flac
                  *EXTINF:-1,10. Fall to Pieces
                  /share/Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Playlist Test/10. Fall to Pieces.flac


                  I created a new folder "Playlist Text" and using Windows Explorer (under Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1) copied the tracks from their source folder into this new "Playlist Test" folder.

                  The act of copying these files from one location to another seems to enable them in a playlist.
                  Why is that?

                  It doesn't appear to be anything to do with the EXT Info data.
                  The fact that some tracks have the same track number isn't an issue.
                  Spaces and ' marks in the filenames aren't an issue.

                  So this looks like some sort of file property issue with the files on my NAS drive.

                  What's I find very strange is that in this Avril Lavigne example it's individual tracks in amongst various albums.
                  I rip whole CD's at a time. So what makes these tracks "special"?

                  I'm still scratching my head about what properties are altered when I copy from one location to another - that would make the playlist work...?

                  Comment

                  • ttarpd
                    • Feb 2015
                    • 11

                    #10
                    Re: M3U playlists aren't working properly

                    Perhaps the missing link - although I still don't understand why....

                    Changing the absolute file paths to be relative file paths appears to make the playlist "work"!


                    *EXTM3U
                    *EXTINF:-1,02. Here's to Never Growing Up
                    ../Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Avril Lavigne/02. Here's to Never Growing Up.flac
                    *EXTINF:-1,02. What the Hell
                    ../Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Goodbye Lullaby/02. What the Hell.flac
                    *EXTINF:-1,12. Too Much to Ask
                    ../Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Let Go/12. Too Much to Ask.flac
                    *EXTINF:-1,09. I Don't Have to Try
                    ../Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/The Best Damn Thing/09. I Don't Have to Try.flac
                    *EXTINF:-1,10. One of Those Girls
                    ../Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/The Best Damn Thing/10. One of Those Girls.flac
                    *EXTINF:-1,10. Fall to Pieces
                    ../Music/Lossless/Avril Lavigne/Under My Skin/10. Fall to Pieces.flac


                    These 6 tracks now appear in my playlist and play normally.

                    Any ideas why relative filepaths work and absolute ones don't - but only for some tracks??

                    Comment

                    • PeterP
                      Super Moderator
                      • Jul 2011
                      • 1365

                      #11
                      Re: M3U playlists aren't working properly

                      Problem being investigated, thanks for reporting.

                      There seems to be a bug related to playlists referencing files in folders being indexed by Asset. If a playlist is referencing a file path that was once seen by Asset media indexer but is no longer in Asset's library, the playlist entry is disregarded; if the folder with media files is fully indexed by Asset, no such bug should occur.
                      Try doing a "rescan all" cycle and see if it helps.

                      Comment

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