Another Beginner's Guide To Save/Backup Playlist To PC

[EJSchwab]

I am sorry to rehash an old subject, but I have read several related posts in different Power Amp forums and the most helpful seemed to be Rexnord's Beginner's guide to save/backup playlists to PC or wherever else on March 22 & 23. 

I have Power Amp build-957-bundle-play[957004-fc6ea6fb] Ful Version 64 bit operating on a Samsung S10e with my music files on an SD card and am trying to save a back-up copy of my playlists on my computer so I can transfer them to a new phone (a Samsung S23).  I have gone to Library>Playlists and have selected Export, a little circle goes around for a few seconds and a message comes up confirming that five playlists have been exported.  However, when I connect the phone to my Windows 10 computer, there is nothing ("This folder is empty.") in the phone's internal storage Playlists folder.  I have repeated this process probably at least a half dozen times, with the same result.  I have also tried to rescan between attempts and still nothing.

Also, I have tapped on the Export target folder indicated in Power Amp, but my phone comes up with a message that says I Can't use this folder...."To protect your privacy, chose another folder."  Unfortunately, I do not know how to do this.  There is a Playlist folder within the locked folder, but it is empty ("No items").

Can you please provide some insight that will get me back on track?

Many thanks for your help!!

 

[andrewilley]

I assume you are just wanting to make a backup of some internally-created playlists to physical files? Might be easier to just use the Settings=>Export Settings/Data feature and make sure you select Playlists from the list. You can then just import the resulting file back into your new setup.

You cannot use root locations to save files on modern versions of Android by the way, you need to first use the Android permissions selector to choose a specific folder before you can save to it. Google's annoying process for granting access to a storage folder on recent Android builds is the same as the one outlined in:

 

 

I also recently created a FAQ on using playlists across multiple devices, in case you want to delve further into the process:

 

Andre

[EJSchwab]

Your assumption is correct.  However, following your first response last night, which it seems you have expanded upon since, I granted permission to access the Playlist folder in my old phone and repeated the Export function from the Playlist folder and it worked.  I then copied the Playlists to my computer and, in turn, copied them back to my new phone.

I understand in that process the root portion of each Playlist file's path changed but in the end, the final Folder and file names remained intact.  (with the exception in the file names where I had a "/" in some of the names, which was replaced in the final path with " _".

In your Rexnord conversation you said, "If you move the M3U8 file to another device, or perhaps a computer, you may need to adjust the first ("root") part of the path details. For example, another Android device will have a different name for its SD Card.  Instead of D0D8-84ED, and a PC might need a very different root path path such as "C:\Users\youraccountname\ Music\...".  Some apps may try to work it out the differences for themselves (Poweramp can do that). So if you have a PC-based M3U or M3U8 file which you copy over to your phone's music folder, as long as the final folder name and the filename match correctly, Poweramp should be able to resolve and find the same audio file on your phone."

Unfortunately, even though I have rescanned both the Library, in general, and the Playlist folder, specifically, it still "Doesn't look like anything to me."

Your insight has moved me much closer, but I am still short of the finish line.  Can you help me over?

Or, should I try repeating the process using the Export/Import functions from the general Settings menu?  If so, once I connect the 2 phones together, designating the Playlist folder in the old phone to be imported into the new phone has presented a new challenge.

Thank you very much!!

[EJSchwab]

Andre,

I am not sure if I was clear, but in a nutshell, my M3U8 playlist files have been copied into my phone.  (There was not a Playlist folder originally in the new phone so I created one and gave Poweramp permission to access it.)  The files resided in an SD card on my old phone, from where I exported them and copied them onto my computer.  From there, I copied them into the new Playlist folder that I created on my new phone.  I did not modify their paths as I thought you said Poweramp would recognize them anyway.  Unfortunately, it does not.

Oh....and also, the new phone does not have an SD card, thus the new files in the new Playlist folder are in its internal storage. 

[andrewilley]

Do you see the Playlist names (e.g. "Music Playlist Name.m3u8") in PA's Library=>Playlists category? i.e. has PA found and read the copied M3U8 files successfully.

And if those playlist names are visible, what do you see when you tap on one of them? Do you see a list of audio filenames with no other Title/Artist/Album/etc information (e.g. just "song_file.mp3") or simply nothing at all?

Open one of the copied M3U8 files in a text editor on your new phone and have a look at the contents. Each one should contain a simple list of filenames (with path details that reflect the old SD Card structure. Don't worry about any extra lines commencing with #EXT. Apart from the root parts of the paths which will be ignored by PA, do the entries match the exact audio filenames, and their containing folder, on your new device?

Andre

[EJSchwab]

No, that is the problem.  I do not see the Playlist names in the PA's Library>Playlists category.  However, if navigate to the Playlist folder using PA's Target Folder function, I can see the .m3u8 files there.

When I tap on any of the above files, the screen "blinks" and nothing happens.

However, when I go back to the files that I exported from my old phone and have saved on my computer and open them in a text editor, I can see, that at least there the folder and file names are, indeed, correct.

Then, I tried to use the computer to open the phone's Playlist files with it attached.  When I double-click, or right-click and select Open, I only get the file's Properties screen.

I can't copy the entire song (All Songs) listing from my phone's PA Library, but just to give you an idea as a comparison of the first listing in my Blues etc. playlist, this is how it shows in PA.

Any additional thoughts??

Many thanks, Andre!!

[andrewilley]

Is that 'Playlists' folder enabled in the PA Settings=>Library=>Music Folders list? If it's not specifically enabled for scanning, PA won't be able to access it for any sort of content (either audio files or playlists).

If not, in the Music Folders list use 'Add Folder or Storage' and tap the 'Use This Folder' button when you are viewing the required 'Playlists' folder. Even though it is an Android system folder - which I prefer to avoid and use my own named folders instead - it should work.

Andre

[EJSchwab]

Andre,

That did it!!  You are 'da Man!!

Many thanks for your help and patience!!  I know you posted the "Allow Poweramp to access photos......" link earlier, but it didn't click in my feeble brain until reading your sentence that immediately preceded it above.

I marked your final post as the Solution, but in reality, each bit of information that you shared moved me closer and closer to the solution.

Again, THANK YOU so much!!

EJ

[andrewilley]

@EJSchwab Excellent!

Another solution would have been to create your 'Playlists' folder as a subfolder of 'Music' - which was already granted access. But either solution will work as long as the playlist files are finally located somewhere that PA has permission to access and scan.

Blame Google I'm afraid, their current Storage Access Framework is an utter mess in terms of allowing you to easily access content on your own device. I sometimes think they forgot to read the definition of an Operating System, which is to provide a process to allow programs, the user, and the layers of hardware devices to operate and interact seamlessly.  

Andre

[EJSchwab]

I agree about Google. 🙂

But, unfortunately, I still have one last question.

In March (25th) Rexnord wrote..... 

Quote

The playlist names displayed in Poweramp I've resolved by deleting the M3U8 versions. The imported test playlist names I fixed by selecting all the tracks in it, setting a new playlist up with them that I can name as I wish & deleting the imported playlist with the M3U8 title.

I have tried everything I can think of as to how he might have done that and have exhausted my ideas, all to no avail, of course.  You mentioned you would have suggested he do that.  Can you share exactly how you would have suggest he do it?  Using a text editor to create new file names, in which I have added the playlist data from my backed up copies have simply yielded .txt files.  I have also tried to create new playlist file names within PA.Library>Playlists>Add New on my new phone with the intention of importing the just actual "playlist" data into, but cannot find an Import function in the Library>Playlist section once the playlist name is created.  Obviously, I am missing something major.

Thanks.

[andrewilley]

@EJSchwab All that the older conversation was referring to was someone not wanting to see the filename extenders of file-based playlists - e.g. the ".m3u8" bit at the end of filenames, which is there to tell you that the playlist is file-based and what type. This is solely cosmetic in terms of how the title looks when seen in PA's 'Playlists' Category.

What he did was copy all of the songs from the external M3U file to an internal (i.e. database only) playlist, and then he deleted the old file. To do this, long-press on the title of any file-based playlist in the Playlists list (e.g. "My_Playlist.m3u8") and select the '+Playlist' button to create a btand new playlist with all the same songs. Then so you don't see two copies of the list title, move the existing M3U8 file to somewhere safe, but not a location Poweramp can see. A Full Rescan might be needed to tidy up the list if it doesn't happen automatically.

Andre