Jump to content

Playlist m3u detection broken since 823 update


water

Recommended Posts

I'm using the non-playstore download version from here: https://forum.powerampapp.com/files/

Poweramp-v3-build-823-uni.apk

Since updating, Poweramp finds the m3u playlist file and makes a playlist but it puts very few songs in the new playlist and the playlist is errantly composed of the wrong songs that were already in other playlists.

I'm on Android 6.0.1 and it was working great before the update.

My m3u files used to work OK, but I also tried m3u8 and I get same results.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you tried a Full Rescan in case there is anything wrong with the library database? Also, do the contents of the M3U files exactly match the song file details? And if there are any non-alphanumeric characters then you need to use the .M3U8 file extender, but you say you've already tried that.

PA now only uses the filename and one level of folder naming to match songs by the way - to prevent issues when people move playlist files from one filesystem to another - so make sure none of those could be ambiguous with other songs (it would have to be a very contrived situation for that to be the problem though).

Andre

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For file based playlists (m3u included) Poweramp tries to match songs which are in its Library. If m3u contains entries which point outside checked Music Folders, such entry is not visible at all.

Btw, due to the upcoming Android Q storage changes (scoped storage), playlist resolution was changed in 824+ a lot - now un-resolved entries won’t be hidden and will be visible (as filenames), though not playable if track is outside of checked Music Folders (partially due to the no-permission to access them on recent androids). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, andrewilley said:

Have you tried a Full Rescan in case there is anything wrong with the library database? Also, do the contents of the M3U files exactly match the song file details? And if there are any non-alphanumeric characters then you need to use the .M3U8 file extender, but you say you've already tried that.

PA now only uses the filename and one level of folder naming to match songs by the way - to prevent issues when people move playlist files from one filesystem to another - so make sure none of those could be ambiguous with other songs (it would have to be a very contrived situation for that to be the problem though).

Andre

Thank you both for replies!

How do I do a full rescan?  Do you mean something in Android or within Poweramp?  I've hit Rescan under the Playlists option in Poweramp, but it doesn't help.

rescan.png.a84b207cf42fd769bb2b7e406661157e.png

I think I'm figuring out what causes the issue.

When I export this 'Rage Against the Machine' iTunes playlist from here (not within an iTunes Playlist folder),

It works perfectly with Poweramp:

686450733_ScreenShot2019-04-15at4_01_02PM.png.1488a81302d536685124a300e0efb9eb.png

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:244,Bombtrack - Rage Against The Machine
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Rage Against The Machine/Rage Against The Machine/01 Bombtrack.mp3
#EXTINF:314,Killing In The Name - Rage Against The Machine
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Rage Against The Machine/Rage Against The Machine/02 Killing In The Name.mp3
#EXTINF:337,Take The Power Back - Rage Against The Machine
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Rage Against The Machine/Rage Against The Machine/03 Take The Power Back.mp3
#EXTINF:288,Settle For Nothing - Rage Against The Machine
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Rage Against The Machine/Rage Against The Machine/04 Settle For Nothing.mp3
#EXTINF:309,Bullet In The Head - Rage Against The Machine
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Rage Against The Machine/Rage Against The Machine/05 Bullet In The Head.mp3
#EXTINF:295,Know Your Enemy - Rage Against The Machine
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Rage Against The Machine/Rage Against The Machine/06 Know Your Enemy.mp3
#EXTINF:364,Wake Up - Rage Against The Machine
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Rage Against The Machine/Rage Against The Machine/07 Wake Up.mp3
#EXTINF:331,Fistful Of Steel - Rage Against The Machine
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Rage Against The Machine/Rage Against The Machine/08 Fistful Of Steel.mp3
#EXTINF:324,Township Rebellion - Rage Against The Machine
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Rage Against The Machine/Rage Against The Machine/09 Township Rebellion.mp3
#EXTINF:366,Freedom - Rage Against The Machine
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Rage Against The Machine/Rage Against The Machine/10 Freedom.mp3

Poweramp results:

985318784_ScreenShot2019-04-15at3_53_38PM.png.e2d0d55fab13df5eb5eb58dbdc87d069.png

15880705_ScreenShot2019-04-15at3_53_56PM.png.f84148cea24cfea482515c72005d81c4.png

Works perfect.

HOWEVER:

When I export this 'Porno For Pyros 93' iTunes Playlist from within an iTunes Playlist folder,  Poweramp creates the Playlist, but puts nothing in it.

1445235295_ScreenShot2019-04-15at3_36_17PM.png.af99661fdf2f346b14a7c0ae4ecf091a.png

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:154,Sadness - Porno For Pyros
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Porno For Pyros/Porno For Pyros/01 Sadness.mp3
#EXTINF:187,Porno For Pyros - Porno For Pyros
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Porno For Pyros/Porno For Pyros/02 Porno For Pyros.mp3
#EXTINF:193,Meija - Porno For Pyros
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Porno For Pyros/Porno For Pyros/03 Meija.mp3
#EXTINF:205,Cursed Female - Porno For Pyros
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Porno For Pyros/Porno For Pyros/04 Cursed Female.mp3
#EXTINF:231,Cursed Male - Porno For Pyros
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Porno For Pyros/Porno For Pyros/05 Cursed Male.mp3
#EXTINF:217,Pets - Porno For Pyros
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Porno For Pyros/Porno For Pyros/06 Pets.mp3
#EXTINF:179,Bad Shit - Porno For Pyros
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Porno For Pyros/Porno For Pyros/07 Bad Shit.mp3
#EXTINF:250,Packin' .25 - Porno For Pyros
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Porno For Pyros/Porno For Pyros/08 Packin' .25.mp3
#EXTINF:274,Black Girlfriend - Porno For Pyros
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Porno For Pyros/Porno For Pyros/09 Black Girlfriend.mp3
#EXTINF:211,Blood Rag - Porno For Pyros
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Porno For Pyros/Porno For Pyros/10 Blood Rag.mp3
#EXTINF:269,Orgasm - Porno For Pyros
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Porno For Pyros/Porno For Pyros/11 Orgasm.mp3

Poweramp results:

1702168911_ScreenShot2019-04-15at3_55_20PM.png.1378df50160b09f740d92352eea62514.png

256533350_ScreenShot2019-04-15at3_55_56PM.png.c7f55e75b11b1ea4ca40eccd391649de.png

 

So the issue has something to do with Playlists that are exported from iTunes that are within iTunes Playlist Folders.

Any way to fix that?

A huge majority of my Playlists are organized in iTunes Playlist Folders and having to remove them all would be a nightmare for my discographies.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Full Rescan is in Settings > Library, but I doubt that is your problem if some playlists work and some don't. Worth a try though

When you say that you "export" them from within iTunes within (or not within) an iTunes Playlist folder, what do you mean? Is iTunes creating the folders and/or playlist files?

Both sets of M3U content look fine to me to be honest, PA ignores most of the non-filename portions anyway, all it really should need are the folder/filename bits, e.g.:

Rage Against The Machine/01 Bombtrack.mp3
Rage Against The Machine/02 Killing In The Name.mp3

Does the folder structure on your mobile device match the path layout on your computer? Is the duplication of the artist name in both lists deliberate - perhaps the album titles match the artist names in these cases?

Andre

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

When you say that you "export" them from within iTunes within (or not within) an iTunes Playlist folder, what do you mean? 

iTunes allows the user to keep playlists in playlist folders.

https://support.apple.com/guide/itunes/organize-playlists-in-folders-itns3140/mac

I utilize that for discographies for bands like so:

folders.jpg.aaf388e58a9929c81d4b38413eb3d3d7.jpg

When I export a playlist from within a folder it's like this:

10qFv80.png

Then the user has a playlist file for the playlist contained within that playlist folder.
 

Rage Against The Machine/01 Bombtrack.mp3
Rage Against The Machine/02 Killing In The Name.mp3

The example you're showing is the playlist that works correctly.  The playlist that doesn't work correctly is the 'Porno for Pyros' Playlist that's exported from within the Playlist Folder as shown above.  Both are in the Android 'Music' Folder like this:

iTLvTRo.png

But for some reason, the "Porno for Pyros 93' playlist file doesn't work at all with with Poweramp, but the 'Rage Against the Machine' playlist works perfectly.

The only difference is "Rage Against the Machine' was exported without it being contained within an iTunes Playlist folder.

/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Porno For Pyros/Porno For Pyros/01 Sadness.mp3

Ok, I see the problem.  For some reason iTunes exported the playlist file with the number 93 on the end of the folder.

I changed the name of the folder from 'Porno for Pyros 93'  to ' 'Porno for Pyros' and it's fixed.

I'm going to test some other playlists and report back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok I think I figured out what's going on with some of the playlists with compilations of song from various bands.  The sync program I use to bring over songs from the playlists from iTunes to Android has changed the way it performs the task.  It used to create album folders for the songs like this:

zMsDFDq.png

Instead of that folder structure above, my sync program now just puts all the songs into ONE folder without the Album folders.

In doing so, the folder structure no longer matches up with the iTunes playlist structure.

I've found if I simplify the playlists to reflect this change Poweramp works fine. For example I just altered this exported playlist from this:

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:314,Hey Man Nice Shot - Filter
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Filter/Short Bus/01 Hey Man Nice Shot.mp3
#EXTINF:173,Biscuits For Smut - Helmet
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Helmet/Betty/03 Biscuits For Smut.mp3
#EXTINF:267,Like Rats - Godflesh
/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Godflesh/Streetcleaner/01 Like Rats.m4a

To this:

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:314,Hey Man Nice Shot - Filter
01 Hey Man Nice Shot.mp3
#EXTINF:173,Biscuits For Smut - Helmet
03 Biscuits For Smut.mp3
#EXTINF:267,Like Rats - Godflesh
01 Like Rats.m4a

In a folder on my Android phone that's structured like this:

800557307_ScreenShot2019-04-15at7_06_02PM.png.6738c28b88cfef45c8994634f7dc3181.png

And that works with Poweramp:

nCAmXj1.png

I think from now on I'm going to alter the iTunes playists to remove the folder structure for music compilations with varying artists.

Now I just need to find a good way to automatically do that.

 I'm going to see if some app can filter the text to remove the forward slashes and everything between them:

/Users/jimmy/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Music/Filter/Short Bus/01 Hey Man Nice Shot.mp3

Looks like I can use this regex to do it:

 \/[^\]]*\/\W*

I just need to have it work only line by line instead of deleting everything on all text lines.

This is the regex I have so far that I hope someone can help fix:

https://regex101.com/r/RhdWA5/13

I want the end result like this:

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:314,Hey Man Nice Shot - Filter
01 Hey Man Nice Shot.mp3
#EXTINF:173,Biscuits For Smut - Helmet
03 Biscuits For Smut.mp3
#EXTINF:267,Like Rats - Godflesh
01 Like Rats.m4a

Instead of this:

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:314,Hey Man Nice Shot - Filter
01 Like Rats.m4a

Ok, got the correct regex this works:

^\/[^\n]*\/

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Completely removing all path info from your M3U files could prove problematical later where your filenames just contain the track title rather than any other identifying data. This could cause problems with (for example, and thankfully rare) a case where you have a regular album and a live album where the first track by the band has the same title wording. Or where you have a song title that has been released by several different artists - either as  different songs (there are at least ten completely different songs entitled "Dreamer" for example) or just as cover versions. The fact the a track number is included in most of your filenames will reduce the possibility of ambiguity, but it's still there.

Any line that starts with # will be ignored by Poweramp by the way, so if you want to tidy the file up still further you could also delete ^[#].* (add whatever line terminator your files use,  \r  or  \r\n  to also remove the resulting blank lines)

In short, my own personal golden rule is not to let iTunes anywhere near any of my computers or devices, the darn thing has a mind of its own and I prefer to control my own setup of folders/filenames rather than letting Apple decide how to do it for me. :) 

Andre

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the further advice and the extra regex, Andrew!  What's the data there after the # for I wonder if apps such as Poweramp don't read it?

Quote

This could cause problems with (for example, and thankfully rare) a case where you have a regular album and a live album where the first track by the band has the same title wording. Or where you have a song title that has been released by several different artists - either as  different songs (there are at least ten completely different songs entitled "Dreamer" for example) or just as cover versions. The fact the a track number is included in most of your filenames will reduce the possibility of ambiguity, but it's still there.

Doesn't the metadata within the song files stop those problems?  I noticed that Poweramp pick that data right up to grab the artist at least.

I used to hate iTunes as well and used alternatives.  However, over the years Apple added various features and tweaks that I really enjoy.  I also learned to tame it by setting up my own methods of organizing things within it and I'm overall happy with it.  I sure do understand why it has a bad rep though.  A lot of the bloaty UI stuff can be removed from it by changing settings here and there.  I also utilize applescripts to bend iTunes to my will. The playlist issue was from a separate non-Apple app changing things unexpectedly, but it would be nice if Apple allowed more control over how it exports playlists in the first place that's for sure.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Poweramp first tries to match the path as given in playlist, but this usually fails (as it's unlikely your songs folders hierarchy matches absolutely the source PC hierarchy), so it then tries to "resolve" playlist entries by just last folder and filename.

Poweramp resolves entries vs its database, meaning, the playlist songs should be in checked Music Folders (they should be visible/searchable in Poweramp Library).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, water said:

Thank you for the further advice and the extra regex, Andrew!  What's the data there after the # for I wonder if apps such as Poweramp don't read it?

Doesn't the metadata within the song files stop those problems?  I noticed that Poweramp pick that data right up to grab the artist at least.

The extra "#" data in M3U files is used by some apps to enable them to quickly know the running time, title, album, etc of every contained song without having to first scan the tags from every file. However as PA is completely Library-based, and every song that is shown in a playlist must already have been scanned into its local library, it does not use that info at all. It also does not write those lines back out if your Export playlists back to new files by the way.

Andre

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...