MacBook Pro 13 (Mac OS 10.14.5)
+
PC running windows 10
Description Of Issue
Tag contents are empty after migrating Roon (MacBook Pro => Windows 10 PC)
I just tried to migrate Roon from my MacBook Pro to my Windows 10 PC and while tracks, iTunes playlists and metadata all appear restored, the Tag contents are empty. I can see the Tags I have created but the contents of all Tags appear empty.
I am using iTunes to store music and I then Tag iTunes playlists in Roon (I find it easier that way… so far). The iTunes library is located in a local folder (/user/myMusic) that I then share between my MacBook Pro and my Windows 10 PC using OneDrive. Essentially this replicates and syncs my entire iTunes database. The purpose for doing this is to be able to switch Roon Core between the two without having to copy my entire music each time. I travel quite a bit so I need to take Roon Core with me (MacBook Pro) and then switch back to my Home PC when I am back.
iTunes playlists are added to Tags and I then use Bookmarks on these Tags.
The problem is that once I restore the latest Roon backup on my Windows 10 PC, I lose all Tag content. iTunes playlists appear just fine, all tracks appear just fine and so do the metadata. Tag contents however are empty. One more thing to note: After restoring the latest backup on my Win10 PC, I have to edit the storage folder path in order to point my home PC to the OneDrive folder.
Question: is there any way to transfer / restore the Tag content when they contain iTunes playlists? Has anyone done this in some way?
I guess the fallback plan is to either i) not use the Home PC and keep the Roon Core on the MacBook only or, ii) Stop using iTunes as a database layer and access the tracks directly.
I was hoping to find out whether I can fix this issue with iTunes before abandoning it.
Can you share a screenshot of Settings | Library | Clean Up Library? Note that you don’t want to run this process, we just want to see the numbers showing here.
Just to let you know though… I had already cleaned the library (prior to my initial post here) after restoring. There were tracks associated with disabled storage location, essentially all tracks that were associated with the edited path.
Hope this helps
Thanks for confirming. Do you have a backup you could restore from before changing your watched folders? I believe that this issue is due to the local library being imported fresh rather than a proper migration of the storage locations occurring. For more information about moving your music library and how that works in Roon, see this article.
Thank you for getting back to me and I can confirm I have the backup. I can use this to restore the database from before changing the watched folders. This backup corresponds to the Core operating on the MacBook Pro with the music folder path /MacHD/OneDrive/Music. If startup Roon on my Windows 10 PC (where I am trying to migrate), unauthorised the MacBook Pro and then restore using the backup from before, I also end up with the folder path from before which is of course no longer valid. I have to edit this path to /HomePC/OneDrive/Music. Tracks are re-imported successfully, metadata, play counts etc all migrated successfully. Unfortunately while the Tags are also restored, the contents are empty. These Tags are all pointing to iTunes playlists. The iTunes Playlists are visible after migrating but they are somehow no longer associated with the Tags I previously created.
I think this use case is different to what the article / knowledge base covers, unless I am missing something?
My understanding is that after editing the path, the iTunes playlists updated path breaks the Tagging links?
After doing this do you see tracks in Library Cleanup? You mentioned previously that you ran this process after migrating.
Just to confirm, everything is working as expected after the migration except for tags involving iTunes playlists. Everything else is exactly as it was prior to the update, including all edits, playlists, and tags not involving iTunes playlists?
After migrating I have to edit the path to point the Windows PC to the One Drive folder where the music is stored. After I do this Roon re-processes the tracks. My entire library is about 8400 tracks. Selecting Library / Clean shows the same number of tracks indicated as non associated with a watched folder (which I guess is correct as I have edited this folder). I went ahead and deleted these but it did not seem to have any impact on the situation. Everything works, all tracks appear correctly, metadata is there (including edits I previously inputed), play count history, etc. all seem to migrate successfully. iTunes playlists do appear correctly (from main Roon menu on the top left). The problem is the once I go into my Tags, I can see they are all empty. It seems that somehow the association between iTunes playlists and the Tags I previous created are lost. The tags themselves migrated successfully but they are empty.
I suspect that somehow editing the folder path breaks this link?
I see what you mean and that would explain the situation. Play counts are definitely correct (they are not reset) after the move. I don’t have any Roon created playlists to check but I can test the following:
Reinstate the core on the MacBook Pro and the original library location before trying to migrate again. I can create a few Roon playlists there and see what happens after the move.
I will try to re-read and follow the migration steps carefully in case I have missed something.
I guess the complication in my case is that when I move the core to my Windows PC, I also have to migrate the database as the path is edited. Not sure if this makes sense.
Hi @Dylan
Just a quick update with good news: I managed to successfully migrate this time. My mistake was that I was re-adding the storage folder where my iTunes music folder is. I had disabled the old path and then re-added the same folder. This seems to have broken the link between iTunes playlists and the tags I previously created.
This time I did not disable the storage folder after restoring from the backup. Instead I edited the path to point to the correct location.
Somehow I missed the importance of significance of this.
Anyway, all is great now and thank you for the support
Best
Yiannis
PS: This is what probably confused me:
" 6. In Roon’s Settings > Storage , either add the folder(s) that contain the files or edit the folders disabled in step 1 and change the folder location and re-enable it."
It appears that after migrating the core and restoring from the last backup, adding the folder that contains the music is what led to my problems. In this case, Editing the old path (not re-adding) is what worked.
Glad that things are working for you now. The KB page has been updated (thanks Geoff!) so this is more clear moving forward. If you have any other questions please feel free to reach out!
