System library playlist location?

[DragonJTS]

When I import playlists from the system library, where is it getting them from?

I ask because when I import, it imports playlists I've removed from my devices, and if I try to add a new copy of a playlist, it imports all version, appending numbers to their names and removing duplicates from later ones (so new playlist2 will only have the songs new playlist1 didn't).

[Upquark]

Sorry for the late answer, just answering this for those who search for it I guess.

System playlists are stored in a .db file in the directory /data/data/com.android.providers.media/databases/

[platypie]

[edit: I want to leave this post here so that the discussion flow makes sense, but please skip these steps and move further down this thread for a better solution. Thanks!]

...Okay, this post is also hopefully for people having this or similar problems in the future. I have spent hours trying to solve this problem and I have discovered what I believe is a workaround:

1: In Poweramp delete all playlists again, and close it.

2: Open the stock music player. In my case, a Razr Droid Maxx with ICS, the app is called "My Music." Navigate to the playlists and delete all the playlists you do not want to show up again. Close the stock player.

3: Open Poweramp again and navigate to Settings > Folders and Library > Playlists Import/Export > Import System Library Playlists. Doing this should result in no new playlists, unless you left them in the stock player in the previous step. This is just a check that you have eliminated the source of those pesky duplicate lists.

4: Import your playlists again using your choice of app - DoubleTwist, Songbird, etc. If this results in an empty playlist (and in my case it always does), again navigate to Settings > Folders and Library > Playlists Import/Export > Import System Library Playlists. This should create new playlists in the form of "Imported - [playlist name]." You can delete the empty playlist, and rename the newly created playlist if you desire.

I have not been doing this for long, so I am not sure what other obstacles I am going to run into using this method. I thought I should respond for future users, as I know that reading this earlier would have saved me a few hours of work. I hope this helps somebody. I hope that some developer will make music transfer for Android phones an easier and effective process at some point. This been an enormous waste of time for a device which is supposed to create convenience. Thanks all and good luck!

--Jeff

[choppyhodes]

Hello...this is choppy...I'm having a similar problem I posted yesterday...my recently added file/playlist in Poweramp is now located in a music download app...and the recently added file/playlist in Poweramp is composed of totally randon songs...so, I just delete one and import the other???

[@Poweramp2]

Choppy, sorry but I am not following along... What happened?

[platypie]

...Worked in my test runs, but when I ran my full sync my playlists are not populating the System Library Playlists. This means I can't import them back using Poweramp. Darn it!! So does anyone know how I can get a m3u playlist into the System Playlist? I really feel I have almost got this thing cornered, but I need to solve the last part. So frustrating.

--Jeff

[platypie]

Hello All! I am happy to report that after many, many hours of reading posts and experimenting (and killing my battery) I have found a solution to adding music AND playlists that work in Poweramp. I thought I should post this for all the music loving Android users who may be tearing their hair out. I hope this may help someone. I am not a techie, per se (I guess I'm just more of a nerd) - I don't write code, etc., but I am into puzzles, and this was a brain teaser. This really needs to be easier.

As the techs at Poweramp probably already know, the top section of the app's Playlists area are system playlists. They exist in the Droid stock music player database. From what I have experienced and read from other posters, synchronizing a playlist directly using some of the common music synchronization apps usually (or often) fails when the resulting file is accessed in Poweramp. If you are lucky, from within PA you can successfully export the file-based playlist created during a synchronization to the system playlist and import them back, but again this is hit and miss, too. There are a lot of steps, rescans and hoops to jump through. The following is one method that I have found which works very well to overcome all the hassle.

I am using Songbird with the Foldersync add-on on a PC and syncing it to a Droid Razr Maxx. I am sure the Mac version of these are similar, but I haven't seen or used them. I like all my files in one folder (both on my PC and on my phone), and Foldersync allows the user to store them whichever way they choose. It also has a lot of options available to customize the synchronization and creation of usable playlists. First, Songbird imports the iTunes song database and all playlists. Then using Foldersync I set up my target folder as the external SD (64GB) card on my phone and select the playlists to be copied, including one called "Library" and "Save [it] as Favorite Sync." Then in the dropdown list in the "Current Profile" section I configure the sync features, especially the "Playlist Writing" elements. In "Split character for file paths" I specify, "/mnt/sdcard-ext/mobile/music/" to force an absolute folder destination where all my music files will exist on the phone. I uncheck the box, "Start relative paths with .[split]." I uncheck the box, "Sort items in Playlists." The playlist format is set to M3U, but I think extended M3U might be fine, too. Playlist coding is set to UTF-8. I emptied the field for "Relative target folder" and save the current profile. At the top right you need to make sure the new favorite is loaded. Connect the phone and wait for the USB Mass Storage to set up and for Foldersync and Songbird to recognize and finish shaking hands with the phone. Take a deep breath and click "Start Sync."

If there are a few thousand files to upload it will take quite a bit of time. If they are already there the time it takes depends on how you have configured the "Sync features" section. When the process is complete eject the phone as you would in iTunes in the upper left window.

Back to the phone and Poweramp. Once the phone has come out of USB Mass Storage mode open Poweramp. It would be best to have PA do a Full Rescan and wait for it to thoroughly complete before peeking at the Playlists and Songs sections. It may even take a few seconds after the full rescan to adjust. Again, take a deep breath and check that your songs and playlists are all there and function properly. I was fortunate enough at this point to find everything exactly as I had hoped (and of course I let out a victory cry!!!). Also, please note that the system's media scanner may also be using the phone's resources to scan and update its databases. If you have just uploaded 5000 songs these processes will heat up your phone and your battery may discharge at a faster than usual rate. There may also be lag until the system is done. The stock media scanner is slower than the Poweramp scan.

I am elated that I will finally be able to sync music and playlists to my Droid with not much more trouble than I had with my old iPod. I hope that this information finds Poweramp and Droid users and serves them well. Actually it would be nice if it finds the devs at Poweramp, Songbird, Doubletwist, Motorola (Motocast), iSyncr, etc., and prompts someone to come up with a full application that does not take a layperson such as myself this much time and research to get it done. Synchronization is the one weak point of Android versus iPhone, and really even iTunes is not worry free. Android users love music as much as any iFan. Please help us listen to our music at least as painlessly.

Best Regards,

--Jeff

[MichRick1]

I am just so frustrated. I have used and loved PA for years, but all of a sudden about two weeks ago, right after that update, I might add, all my playlists are empty. The playlists still appear in my library, but the songs are gone. I tried creating a new playlist, on my phone and put just a dozen or so songs in it. The next time I opened PA, the new playlist appeared and all the songs were gone !!! I am NOT a techie and had created hours and hours of playlists on my Galaxy Nexus manually. So they are not backed up or imported from anywhere like iTunes.

My nexus is running ICS 4.0.4 and I am using PA 2.0.6 build-508 full version.

In the past I have always gotten a really good response from the developer. This time nada. It has been a week since I reported this and all Max said was to do a full re-scan of all folders from within the settings menu. I did that and it did not help one bit. I wrote back right away and have heard nothing in return.

I know a little bit but not a lot. Does anyone have any ideas ? If not, I am going to have to delete this app and purchase a different one. I really did put a lot of effort into those playlists and am disappointed right now with the lack of support I am getting.

Regards,

MichRick

[@Poweramp2]

I am just so frustrated. I have used and loved PA for years, but all of a sudden about two weeks ago, right after that update, I might add, all my playlists are empty. The playlists still appear in my library, but the songs are gone. I tried creating a new playlist, on my phone and put just a dozen or so songs in it. The next time I opened PA, the new playlist appeared and all the songs were gone !!! I am NOT a techie and had created hours and hours of playlists on my Galaxy Nexus manually. So they are not backed up or imported from anywhere like iTunes.

My nexus is running ICS 4.0.4 and I am using PA 2.0.6 build-508 full version.

In the past I have always gotten a really good response from the developer. This time nada. It has been a week since I reported this and all Max said was to do a full re-scan of all folders from within the settings menu. I did that and it did not help one bit. I wrote back right away and have heard nothing in return.

I know a little bit but not a lot. Does anyone have any ideas ? If not, I am going to have to delete this app and purchase a different one. I really did put a lot of effort into those playlists and am disappointed right now with the lack of support I am getting.

Regards,

MichRick

Hi MichRick, sorry you're getting these issues and lack of support. Max has been busy working on the 3.0 update, as well as the Poweramp theme files, and now he's on vacation (that's why he didn't respond the second time), I also was on vacation, and that's why I didn't see this issue before.

I think Max changed the Playlist handling a bit between the previous updates and the latest one, or so I suspect, which broke the playlist for some and I don't think the music would be able to come back, but don't quote me on that.

We're improving the whole tag, rating, playlist, and sync system of Poweramp with the 3.0 update and we would hate to see a long term user like you leave before of something we are planning on improving.

Max should be back in a week, and I'm sure he'll reply again.

[@Poweramp2]

Hello All! I am happy to report that after many, many hours of reading posts and experimenting (and killing my battery) I have found a solution to adding music AND playlists that work in Poweramp. I thought I should post this for all the music loving Android users who may be tearing their hair out. I hope this may help someone. I am not a techie, per se (I guess I'm just more of a nerd) - I don't write code, etc., but I am into puzzles, and this was a brain teaser. This really needs to be easier.

As the techs at Poweramp probably already know, the top section of the app's Playlists area are system playlists. They exist in the Droid stock music player database. From what I have experienced and read from other posters, synchronizing a playlist directly using some of the common music synchronization apps usually (or often) fails when the resulting file is accessed in Poweramp. If you are lucky, from within PA you can successfully export the file-based playlist created during a synchronization to the system playlist and import them back, but again this is hit and miss, too. There are a lot of steps, rescans and hoops to jump through. The following is one method that I have found which works very well to overcome all the hassle.

I am using Songbird with the Foldersync add-on on a PC and syncing it to a Droid Razr Maxx. I am sure the Mac version of these are similar, but I haven't seen or used them. I like all my files in one folder (both on my PC and on my phone), and Foldersync allows the user to store them whichever way they choose. It also has a lot of options available to customize the synchronization and creation of usable playlists. First, Songbird imports the iTunes song database and all playlists. Then using Foldersync I set up my target folder as the external SD (64GB) card on my phone and select the playlists to be copied, including one called "Library" and "Save [it] as Favorite Sync." Then in the dropdown list in the "Current Profile" section I configure the sync features, especially the "Playlist Writing" elements. In "Split character for file paths" I specify, "/mnt/sdcard-ext/mobile/music/" to force an absolute folder destination where all my music files will exist on the phone. I uncheck the box, "Start relative paths with .[split]." I uncheck the box, "Sort items in Playlists." The playlist format is set to M3U, but I think extended M3U might be fine, too. Playlist coding is set to UTF-8. I emptied the field for "Relative target folder" and save the current profile. At the top right you need to make sure the new favorite is loaded. Connect the phone and wait for the USB Mass Storage to set up and for Foldersync and Songbird to recognize and finish shaking hands with the phone. Take a deep breath and click "Start Sync."

If there are a few thousand files to upload it will take quite a bit of time. If they are already there the time it takes depends on how you have configured the "Sync features" section. When the process is complete eject the phone as you would in iTunes in the upper left window.

Back to the phone and Poweramp. Once the phone has come out of USB Mass Storage mode open Poweramp. It would be best to have PA do a Full Rescan and wait for it to thoroughly complete before peeking at the Playlists and Songs sections. It may even take a few seconds after the full rescan to adjust. Again, take a deep breath and check that your songs and playlists are all there and function properly. I was fortunate enough at this point to find everything exactly as I had hoped (and of course I let out a victory cry!!!). Also, please note that the system's media scanner may also be using the phone's resources to scan and update its databases. If you have just uploaded 5000 songs these processes will heat up your phone and your battery may discharge at a faster than usual rate. There may also be lag until the system is done. The stock media scanner is slower than the Poweramp scan.

I am elated that I will finally be able to sync music and playlists to my Droid with not much more trouble than I had with my old iPod. I hope that this information finds Poweramp and Droid users and serves them well. Actually it would be nice if it finds the devs at Poweramp, Songbird, Doubletwist, Motorola (Motocast), iSyncr, etc., and prompts someone to come up with a full application that does not take a layperson such as myself this much time and research to get it done. Synchronization is the one weak point of Android versus iPhone, and really even iTunes is not worry free. Android users love music as much as any iFan. Please help us listen to our music at least as painlessly.

Best Regards,

--Jeff

Thanks for the heads up, and don't worry about it... We'll work on a way to better handle music between your PC and our Player.

[MichRick1]

Hi MichRick, sorry you're getting these issues and lack of support. Max has been busy working on the 3.0 update, as well as the Poweramp theme files, and now he's on vacation (that's why he didn't respond the second time), I also was on vacation, and that's why I didn't see this issue before.

I think Max changed the Playlist handling a bit between the previous updates and the latest one, or so I suspect, which broke the playlist for some and I don't think the music would be able to come back, but don't quote me on that.

We're improving the whole tag, rating, playlist, and sync system of Poweramp with the 3.0 update and we would hate to see a long term user like you leave before of something we are planning on improving.

Max should be back in a week, and I'm sure he'll reply again.

Thank you for the reply. Of course I will wait. I did not think I would be able to get my playlists back, and I am such a fan of PA that if i have to create them again that is not a problem as long as I know they will stay. I will bide my time. Thanks again.

Regards,

Rick

[MichRick1]

Thanks for the heads up, and don't worry about it... We'll work on a way to better handle music between your PC and our Player.

Wow ! I thought at first this might help me, but since I don't use my android stock music player at all (Galazy Nexus running ICS) the playlists are not in there. True, all my music is, but since my playlists were created on my phone, manually, that might be the reason. I wonder if for futue use, I might be smart to create these playlists on my computer and learn to export them to my phone. My only question would be, I had tried this in the past with Double Twist and an iTunes account I had at the time, and when the playlists were synched to my phone, the same songs would appear multiple times and they were actually duplicated because the storage space on my phone filled up. I have about 16 gig of music that is "must have" and the nexus has a limited storage since there is no micro sd slot.

That was my reason for creating all those playlists manually on the phone.

MichRick

[platypie]

Hi MichRick,

The method I described in my last post does import usable playlists created in Songbird in M3U format into Poweramp. All my playlists were created originally in iTunes (or SongBird). Synchronizing this way did not create duplicate music. In my case it is easy to check, because I do not use the folder organization method for storing the music files. All music files are stored in one big music folder. The M3U files (playlists) are just small instruction files accessing the "pot" of music in the one folder. Again, no duplicate music is there taking up space.

I did not experiment with the "organized" method of storing files (i.e., Artist folder > Album folder > Track number folder > music file). I know that if one used iTunes' default settings at any point, the music is organized in this way, so I cannot vouch that there would not be a few hiccups. I think with some patience, the right settings could be found to make it work. The FolderSync Add-in has a lot of options for customization.

And to Wen - thank you so much for the quick note. I am looking forward to what you all come up with. It would truly be a breakthrough if you could accomplish a PC/Droid combination of software to synchronize at least nearly as well as iTunes/iPhone combinations. I'm pleased to find that the method I describe above has continued to work for me, so far, but a more integrated approach would be welcome. Any first-time user would be very relieved to find that music synchronization is worry free.

Thanks!

--Jeff

[@Poweramp2]

We'll do our best guys... Don't worry about it!

[MichRick1]

I am just so frustrated. I have used and loved PA for years, but all of a sudden about two weeks ago, right after that update, I might add, all my playlists are empty. The playlists still appear in my library, but the songs are gone. I tried creating a new playlist, on my phone and put just a dozen or so songs in it. The next time I opened PA, the new playlist appeared and all the songs were gone !!! I am NOT a techie and had created hours and hours of playlists on my Galaxy Nexus manually. So they are not backed up or imported from anywhere like iTunes.

My nexus is running ICS 4.0.4 and I am using PA 2.0.6 build-508 full version.

In the past I have always gotten a really good response from the developer. This time nada. It has been a week since I reported this and all Max said was to do a full re-scan of all folders from within the settings menu. I did that and it did not help one bit. I wrote back right away and have heard nothing in return.

I know a little bit but not a lot. Does anyone have any ideas ? If not, I am going to have to delete this app and purchase a different one. I really did put a lot of effort into those playlists and am disappointed right now with the lack of support I am getting.

Regards,

MichRick

Well, I just tried again to create a playlist in my PA player, it was there yesterday and empty today . I don't see what good it does to use other applications ie; songbird, which I have not, to move playlists from your computer (iTunes) if PA does not save the content of your playlists.

PA has been wonderful to me and I certainly have gotten my money's worth over the past few years. However, having no playlists all summer and no support from anybody had made my decision easy, today I uninstall PA and the PA unlocker from my phone and go back to the stock android player. True, the sound is not as good, but at least I can listen to my music the way I want to. My biggest regret are the friends who also bought PA over the years because I raved about it so much to them. I feel bad if they are having he same issues as me. In the future, I will not be "singing any tunes" in favor of PA.

Good luck to the rest of you and hope your results are better than mine have been.

MichRick1

[andrewilley]

Silly question, but can you not just use plain old .m3u playlist files, which don't get altered by Poweramp and should be automatically re-imported on rescans?

Andre

[LuiFigo]

You can go and search in your search box.It will show all the files that you are unable to seek in your system.