MediaMonkey sd card access issue

[MTK]

I know this is irrelevant to PA but I've been having issues with modifying music on sd card. I went to MM forum but no one is helping me. I use MM to sort and organize playlist then use PA play on phone. I use the sd slot on laptop to do so but when I used usb method so that I don't have to take out sd card anymore it worked the 1st time but afterward it doesn't and now I can't edit anything or have the info of the songs to modify on MM.

I downloaded the android version of MM to see if it'll help but only thing going for that is adding the song straight to folder and moving it playlist on android app but the songs doesn't change in PA which I just notice the MM app made its own playlist that PA isn't using. Anyways point of the matter I just wanna do what I've been doing without taking the sd card out and usb method to edit my music folder and playlist in MM any help would be nice.

[andrewilley]

Can MM read or manage folder/files from FTP sources? Could you set up a wireless FTP service on your phone, that's how I generally copy stuff back and forth between my PC and my phone. I don't use any special management tools though, I just drag and drop in Windows.

For a new Playlist to show up in Poweramp, it needs to exist as an M3U (or PLS) file in one of the local folder locations that PA is set up to scan (which can be configured in PA Settings > Library > Music Folders). 

Andre

[MTK]

26 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

Can MM read or manage folder/files from FTP sources? Could you set up a wireless FTP service on your phone, that's how I generally copy stuff back and forth between my PC and my phone. I don't use any special management tools though, I just drag and drop in Windows.

For a new Playlist to show up in Poweramp, it needs to exist as an M3U (or PLS) file in one of the local folder locations that PA is set up to scan (which can be configured in PA Settings > Library > Music Folders). 

Andre

IDK I know the android app has upnp I tried looking it up on window but cant find the option. Also some features is for the premium version. If it does it probably end up the same problem. 

[andrewilley]

It's a bit difficult to determine the exact problem from your descriptions. Phrases like "but the songs doesn't bulge in PA" are a bit difficult to interpret and troubleshoot.

Andre

[MTK]

15 minutes ago, andrewilley said:

It's a bit difficult to determine the exact problem from your descriptions. Phrases like "but the songs doesn't bulge in PA" are a bit difficult to interpret and troubleshoot.

Andre

Oh thats a typo and the 2nd half was going off from the problem sorry. Lets just go with how can I get MM to read and write on sd card with a USB connection and not taking the card out and putting in the adapter slot.

[andrewilley]

I suspect it's because Windows does not see a phone tethered by USB cable as a properly mapped USB drive, but as a mapped media source. In the example below, drive K: is a USB memory stick, and drive J: is a Micro-SD Card in the PC's card reader slot.

If I try to play music or view pictures from my phone (first device), Windows first has to copy the content to a temporary location in local memory (C:) before it can be handled. With proper USB memory devices (J: and K:) the content plays directly from the location. 

Andre

 

[MotleyG]

To the best of my knowledge, Android phones don’t expose the SD card back to windows when tethered by USB. Only the internal memory is available to copy music back and forth. Even with MS Remote Desktop cannot get access to the  external memory devices.

I use the Remote Desktop app from the phone to copy new music files from my main PC library to the Download folders, but then have to move it afterwards from there using a file browser on the phone itself to the uSD card. A bit cumbersome, but this works when adding a few new tracks or making small changes. A simple rescan afterwards catches these file updates.

If I make any big changes, or every couple of months, I remove the card and update the entire library to make sure I keep it completely updated including any playlists. This needs a FULL rescan as it affects some files that may have been removed.

[andrewilley]

13 minutes ago, MotleyG said:

To the best of my knowledge, Android phones don’t expose the SD card back to windows when tethered by USB.

Depends on the device and drivers I think. On my Samsung A70 I see internal (user) phone memory and SD Card:

Andre

[MTK]

6 hours ago, MotleyG said:

To the best of my knowledge, Android phones don’t expose the SD card back to windows when tethered by USB. Only the internal memory is available to copy music back and forth. Even with MS Remote Desktop cannot get access to the  external memory devices.

I use the Remote Desktop app from the phone to copy new music files from my main PC library to the Download folders, but then have to move it afterwards from there using a file browser on the phone itself to the uSD card. A bit cumbersome, but this works when adding a few new tracks or making small changes. A simple rescan afterwards catches these file updates.

If I make any big changes, or every couple of months, I remove the card and update the entire library to make sure I keep it completely updated including any playlists. This needs a FULL rescan as it affects some files that may have been removed.

Na, my sd card shows up in windows I mess with all the time. I can add music to it and then move them around on the MM Android app but it creates new playlist and if I did get PA to show them I'll have dupes and dont wanna delete my old one. Anyways MM and other apps on Windows wont let me write anything. Also it read and write that one time when I 1st plugged usb method which is weird that it didnt do it again. That one time shows that it's possible to do it while inside phone. 

[MTK]

8 hours ago, andrewilley said:

I suspect it's because Windows does not see a phone tethered by USB cable as a properly mapped USB drive, but as a mapped media source. In the example below, drive K: is a USB memory stick, and drive J: is a Micro-SD Card in the PC's card reader slot.

If I try to play music or view pictures from my phone (first device), Windows first has to copy the content to a temporary location in local memory (C:) before it can be handled. With proper USB memory devices (J: and K:) the content plays directly from the location. 

Andre

 

Yeah, I had a problem with the path letter awhile back when I got a new hdd and sd card. That's what I thought where the problem was the wrong letter. When it worked fine that one time and then tried a 2nd time I didn't mess with anything. Afterward I changed the path letter to G: like the sd card slot but nothing. Unless I'm doing something wrong with it.

By looking at the music on MM I can play the music but music tags and info is jumbled around and messed up and the songs in the playlist doesn't show up. The songs in the new playlist from the MM android app shows but MM still wont let me write in that playlist. It might just be the path letter related IDK.

[MotleyG]

15 minutes ago, MTK said:

Na, my sd card shows up in windows I mess with all the time. I can add music to it and then move them around on the MM Android app but it creates new playlist and if I did get PA to show them I'll have dupes and dont wanna delete my old one. Anyways MM and other apps on Windows wont let me write anything. Also it read and write that one time when I 1st plugged usb method which is weird that it didnt do it again. That one time shows that it's possible to do it while inside phone. 

I meant you can’t see your SD card from windows, when it is still in your phone. How it worked once I have no idea.

[MTK]

1 minute ago, MotleyG said:

I meant you can’t see your SD card from windows, when it is still in your phone. How it worked once I have no idea.

Yeah I can see the sd card from Windows while its in the phone.

[andrewilley]

1 hour ago, MotleyG said:

I meant you can’t see your SD card from windows, when it is still in your phone. How it worked once I have no idea.

You can, but not as a separately mapped unique drive letter, which is what is needed. You only see the overall media device (no drive letter) and can then drill down into either phone storage or SD Card storage, but that doesn't give full access.

Andre 

[MTK]

On 6/23/2021 at 5:47 PM, andrewilley said:

You can, but not as a separately mapped unique drive letter, which is what is needed. You only see the overall media device (no drive letter) and can then drill down into either phone storage or SD Card storage, but that doesn't give full access.

Andre 

Any other suggestions?

[andrewilley]

1 hour ago, MTK said:

Any other suggestions?

I do all my editing and processing work on my PC, and then copy the final files back to my phone via wireless FTP. So I'm afraid I can't really give you any advice on MediaMonkey, have you tried its support channels?

Andre

[MTK]

14 hours ago, andrewilley said:

I do all my editing and processing work on my PC, and then copy the final files back to my phone via wireless FTP. So I'm afraid I can't really give you any advice on MediaMonkey, have you tried its support channels?

Andre

There support suck, took a guy about 3 weeks to respond and only because I outrage about it and it was only for me to provide more to him. Now it seems it gonna take another month. I'm bout done with that place.

I still cant get my head around that fact it worked the 1st time but not a 2nd time. I dont remember changing anything for it to not work again. I might just try your method. How do I do that anyways and does it do the same thing but just wirelessly.

[andrewilley]

2 hours ago, MTK said:

 How do I do that anyways and does it do the same thing but just wirelessly.

No, it doesn't map my phone as a Windows mapped device with a drive letter, it provides access as an IP-addressed FTP device which can then be opened from my desktop in Windows (rather like a phone with a USB cable, it's available but not mapped as a drive). I then copy stuff back and forth from my PC music folders to my phone wirelessly. All rather manual I'm afraid.

Looking at the MediaMoney spec page though, it does say that if you have it on both your PC and your Android phone it can sync via wi-fi - "Wirelessly sync with [MediaMonkey for Android] and manage your library from your phone or PC.".

Andre

[MTK]

4 hours ago, andrewilley said:

No, it doesn't map my phone as a Windows mapped device with a drive letter, it provides access as an IP-addressed FTP device which can then be opened from my desktop in Windows (rather like a phone with a USB cable, it's available but not mapped as a drive). I then copy stuff back and forth from my PC music folders to my phone wirelessly. All rather manual I'm afraid.

Looking at the MediaMoney spec page though, it does say that if you have it on both your PC and your Android phone it can sync via wi-fi - "Wirelessly sync with [MediaMonkey for Android] and manage your library from your phone or PC.".

Andre

Yeah, I think that puts the music on my laptop. I honestly dont want nothing to do with the syncing and my laptop dont have enough space. If I dont figure how I did it the 1st time I might have to start syncing.

[andrewilley]

If you don't want your music files stored on the physical local storage of your computer, you need to get your SD Card properly mapped as a local drive on your computer. Either put the card into the laptop manually using a USB-connected card reader, or find a solution that properly maps your phone into your PC's drive mapping. This used to work in the good old days when the Android USB cable connection from a phone just mimicked being a simply USB flash memory stick, before Google started messing around.

Perhaps it might be worth trying an SMB (aka Samba) server app that allows your phone to appear as a network drive on your LAN? Make sure you set any security options so that it isn't exposed when you are on public wi-fi though. See https://androidpctv.com/tutorial-samba-server-android-install/ or search the app store for Samba Server.

Andre

[MTK]

2 hours ago, andrewilley said:

If you don't want your music files stored on the physical local storage of your computer, you need to get your SD Card properly mapped as a local drive on your computer. Either put the card into the laptop manually using a USB-connected card reader, or find a solution that properly maps your phone into your PC's drive mapping. This used to work in the good old days when the Android USB cable connection from a phone just mimicked being a simply USB flash memory stick, before Google started messing around.

Perhaps it might be worth trying an SMB (aka Samba) server app that allows your phone to appear as a network drive on your LAN? Make sure you set any security options so that it isn't exposed when you are on public wi-fi though. See https://androidpctv.com/tutorial-samba-server-android-install/ or search the app store for Samba Server.

Andre

Hmmm maybe I can download something that would make it mimic the USB flash stick then.