Ratings sync

[muckster]

I can't quite tell from the descriptions or forums whether there's a way yet to sync Winamp desktop ratings and playcounts with Winamp for Android. Does this work on the pro bundle? Some other configuration? Thanks!

[muckster]

OK, I'm a little confused. I've got 10+ years of ratings that I used to sync to my iPod with ml_ipod, and it worked great. Now I'm switching to an Android phone, and apparently, the Winamp for Android app doesn't support ratings? How can that be? Is there another plugin or app that does? I see something called PlayerPro supports Winamp ratings, but apparently that's a one-time library export/import kind of thing. I need to be able to auto sync ratings and playcounts both ways every time I sync. I'm really surprised this doesn't seem to be available in Winamp for Android. Thanks for your help.

[muckster]

I take that as a no? Does anyone have an answer? Is ratings sync planned for an update? It may not seem like much, but it's a dealbreaker for me. I've seen it asked in the features thread, but a long time ago, so now I'm not sure if it got added or if people have stopped asking...

Thanks again.

[MrSinatra]

you might want to try the new winamp beta, as well as the winamp for android beta 2.0, and also make sure your ratings are saved to file.

then, if things don't work properly, you can report it in the WfA beta thread and get them to fix it in time for the 2.0 release.

[muckster]

Thanks, MrSinatra, I appreciate the response.

I'll try that, but I have one question: I've been wary of using the "save ratings to file" feature so far because doesn't that mess up the file times? I assumed "last played"/"last updated" use the file time, and if I save the ratings to the file, I'll lose my last played counts (going back 10 years!) Thanks again.

[MrSinatra]

Originally Posted by muckster

Thanks, MrSinatra, I appreciate the response.

np.

Originally Posted by muckster

I'll try that, but I have one question: I've been wary of using the "save ratings to file" feature so far because doesn't that mess up the file times?

imo, no. and be aware, if you DON'T save ratings to files, they will only exist in the DB, and you will lose them if the DB ever gets corrupted, which is not all that rare, and has happened to me and others. yes, u can backup the DB, but imo its best to save the rating to the file. once you enable the feature, you have to sort the ratings, and then "re-rate" the files.

Originally Posted by muckster

I assumed "last played"/"last updated" use the file time, and if I save the ratings to the file, I'll lose my last played counts (going back 10 years!) Thanks again.

you are conflating a lot of things there.

as DrO said, and I agree with, "last updated" should update anytime any modification is made to the file, and I believe that's based on the file's property value, so if u rate with windows explorer, (which is buggy so you shouldn't btw), but if you did, it would update that value as well in the DB upon rescan, (or so I think).

last played and play counts however, are DB only values, meaning not in the tags or file properties. they should remain as they are whether you save ratings to files or not.

as I mentioned in another thread, it would be good if winamp did support play count (and for that matter, last played) tags so that you could sync such info from desktop to device, or vice versa, and / or the cloud. not all things lend themselves to being tags or metadata, but I believe those two do, and its pretty clear that it would be helpful for syncing and clouds and so on.

[DrO]

updating a tag will affect the file time and the last updated time (if known to the library). it doesn't (and shouldn't) affect last played which is different as far as the library is concerned. i know people don't like tag updates affecting last updated but technically editing the file should alter the value (which is why Winamp does as it does).

[muckster]

Thanks again for the help, guys. A few questions:

- I just backed up my library and db, and I'm going to try saving ratings to files. I think I understand the distinction between last played, last updated, and file time. My "recently added" ML smart view uses "file time" so I'll have to see if changing the tags will ruin that or just "last updated."

- Definitely agree about writing playcounts/lastplayed to the files as well. If we're going with the tags for syncing, seems like those should be included.

- Where would I find the betas for Winamp and Winamp Android you mentioned? I'd like to give those a try.

Thanks--I'll report back on how this is going... rewriting 600 GB of music now (gulp.)

[muckster]

Hmm, apparently I'm doing this wrong--can't seem to get the tags to update. I checked "save ratings to files" in the prefs and I'm rerating the files, but they don't seem to change. I rescanned, rebooted, restarted, but I'm still not seeing last update change, and the files appear unrated in Explorer. What do I need to do to update the tags?

[MrSinatra]

first of all, are you using the newest winamp beta?

secondly, make sure you experiment on copies, meaning test files, before you do big things.

Originally Posted by muckster

Thanks again for the help, guys. A few questions:

- I just backed up my library and db, and I'm going to try saving ratings to files. I think I understand the distinction between last played, last updated, and file time. My "recently added" ML smart view uses "file time" so I'll have to see if changing the tags will ruin that or just "last updated."

make sure u use the latest beta and saving ratings should update last updated, not date added/recently added.

Originally Posted by muckster

- Definitely agree about writing playcounts/lastplayed to the files as well. If we're going with the tags for syncing, seems like those should be included.

they should be added imo, regardless of syncing. but it seems to me they'd help it.

Originally Posted by muckster

- Where would I find the betas for Winamp and Winamp Android you mentioned? I'd like to give those a try.

search the forums. they are in stickies.

Originally Posted by muckster

Thanks--I'll report back on how this is going... rewriting 600 GB of music now (gulp.)

experiment first!

Originally Posted by muckster

Hmm, apparently I'm doing this wrong--can't seem to get the tags to update. I checked "save ratings to files" in the prefs and I'm rerating the files, but they don't seem to change. I rescanned, rebooted, restarted, but I'm still not seeing last update change, and the files appear unrated in Explorer. What do I need to do to update the tags?

checking that in prefs should be enough. do other tag updates, like to title, take effect?

what format files are we using?

EDIT: also, be aware that in the prefs you can specify your email addy for rating id3 files.

[muckster]

Thanks, MrSinatra, and sorry I need so much handholding.

I first tried to update a backup with the regular Winamp release, and it did indeed change the file times. So I restored and upgraded to the beta. Now, it looks like it is updating the files without changing the file time--but the beta tends to crash when I try to re-rate ~10,000 files at a time.

My problem with the crashing is that I'm not sure anymore which files have been tagged with the ratings, and which weren't yet. Since the file times don't change, I'm not sure how to tell the difference. I can see the ratings stars on some files in Windows Explorer now, but it would really help if there was a way to see/sort by ratings tags in Winamp, so I can identify & update the files that weren't changed yet when it crashed. Is there a way to tell the difference (or keep Winamp from crashing?)

As always, grateful for your advice...

[MrSinatra]

you're kind of conflating things. it might help if you could be more precise and narrow in your questions.

imo, you should use the newest beta only. afaik, rating a file will always update its last modified date, as it should. any change should.

just do ~1000 files at a time. there is no way to tell in the ML if the rating is actually in the file or not. u can try to use mp3tag to check whats in the tags.