moving the singers database to a new computer

[djbikeerrob]

hello everyone I thank each and everyone of you for all the support during this new computer move-in. i seem to have all but 6 out of nearly 15,000 karaoke tunes(all legal) i don't know which 6 are missing but i am sure to find out via Murphie's law. But in any case this is my question. how do i move my singers database fro the old xp based computer running hoster 5.04 to the new windows 7 based computer running hoster 5.07 ( latest and greatest) ?

thanks in advance

DJ biker rob

[Roy Dennis]

This may not work as there are extra fields of data in 5.07 to what was in 5.04. The other point that depends on this working is if all file paths are exactly the same.
Other than those 2 points just copy the singers.mdb from your C:/MTU/Hoster folder to the same folder on your new computer.
Easiest way is use a usb memory stick and copy it to that first, then transfer that to your new computer and copy & paste from there to your Hoster folder.
Let us know if it works OK.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by Roy Dennis

This may not work as there are extra fields of data in 5.07 to what was in 5.04. The other point that depends on this working is if all file paths are exactly the same.
Other than those 2 points just copy the singers.mdb from your C:/MTU/Hoster folder to the same folder on your new computer.
Easiest way is use a usb memory stick and copy it to that first, then transfer that to your new computer and copy & paste from there to your Hoster folder.
Let us know if it works OK.

Roy those field changes were in 5.03 if I remember correctly. So his only problem may be the file locations.

[Roy Dennis]

There was one change in 5.06
"NEW - #Times Fields in Singers.mdb Database - We added a Singer #Times field and a Song #Times field. These increment by one each time a Singer sings, or a Song is performed."

It may not matter, It might just add the extra field when you run 5.07, if he lets us know if it works or not that will help us in future answers

[djbikeerrob]

thank you everyone all set on that i did a built the data base thing but when i clcik on certain songs it tells me that the files is not on the drive so i went back and put that folder in the add folders thing and clicked build database again and then tried to play it again and it still tells me the file isnt there even though i can search for it with both hoster and windows search and see it plain as day. now my question is do i have to have the actual mpe+g song in the computer or just the kma? i've never not had the actual mpe+g files before. and do i have to index them on the new computer to get them to play?

[Roy Dennis]

Originally Posted by djbikeerrob

thank you everyone all set on that i did a built the data base thing but when i clcik on certain songs it tells me that the files is not on the drive ?

Are you referring to clicking on a song from the singers list which was what this thread started as ?
If so then as I stated before, it's because the file path has changed.
If you use the Hoster search dialog does it find and play that song title from there ?

Originally Posted by djbikeerrob

so i went back and put that folder in the add folders thing and clicked build database again and then tried to play it again and it still tells me the file isnt there even though i can search for it with both hoster and windows search and see it plain as day. now my question is do i have to have the actual mpe+g song in the computer or just the kma? i've never not had the actual mpe+g files before. and do i have to index them on the new computer to get them to play?

You need to understand the difference in importing songs as KMA files or KMH. Read the manual on this point, if you scroll down the left column of the manual to "Index Song Files" clicking that will take you to that section.
If you imported as kma then it would copy your existing mp3+g file and convert it to kma file, this type does not require the existing mp3+g file to remain on the computer.
If you choose to import as KMH type then Hoster just adds a small file with the same name as the original but with the kmh extension which has to remain in the same folder as the original mp3+g.
So if you imported as a KMH file you would see them listed as example:
Foreigner - Feels Like The First Time - LG104.mp3
Foreigner - Feels Like The First Time - LG104.cdg
Foreigner - Feels Like The First Time - LG104.kmh
All 3 files have to be on the hard drive for Hoster to play them.
Or if you had them as zip types then you would have just 2 matching files, 1 with .zip extension and the other with the .kmh extension.

If you import them this way it is unlikely you would find them from the singers lists as the file paths would have changed so I would say from the singers button delete those missing songs.

When you used the ADD folder option from the Build database dialog, if the files in that folder were mp3+g files you would have had to had that type button mp3+g selected before adding that folder. Importing this way will only import those songs as kmh types. You can still add those files by selecting that folder in the folders list, with the type button selected as well then press the "Rescan folder" button that will just rebuild that folder but I personally prefer using the Index songs files button which is found below the build database button as this dialog allows more control over how it lists your files in the database. Also from here you can choose to import as either KMA or KMH types.

[Roy Dennis]

If you want the file paths to match then open the Build songs database dialog on both computers and compare the file path names in the list of folders. If anything is different or missing then that is why they can't be found in the singers lists.

[Lonman]

As long as all the drives match up (although now that I think about it my drives are different the music on my shows computer is on "E" drive & at home they are on my "L" drive - but still finds the sing when I choose a song from the singers list at home with the singer list from the show), you should be able to copy and paste the singers.mdb file to the new computer. I bring home my singers list from my show computer to my home system once every couple weeks.

[djbikeerrob]

thanks.

[SteveD]

I am currently running 5.09 and discovered that I can't just copy the singers.mdb over from an older version of hoster and get it to work correctly. Singers Songs show up as null. I do have MS access on my computer but need to know exactly how to add the new fields. Don't the new fields have to be in the right format and programmed to work.

Would it be smarter to just add the data from the old db to the new db? Or should I just start over? I have an extensive singers DB of names and songs and my singers really rely on these. Thanks,

[Roy Dennis]

Originally Posted by SteveD

I am currently running 5.09 and discovered that I can't just copy the singers.mdb over from an older version of hoster and get it to work correctly. Singers Songs show up as null. I do have MS access on my computer but need to know exactly how to add the new fields. Don't the new fields have to be in the right format and programmed to work.

Would it be smarter to just add the data from the old db to the new db? Or should I just start over? I have an extensive singers DB of names and songs and my singers really rely on these. Thanks,

I'm not absolutely sure about this as I no longer have an old version to try. When you upgrade on the same computer Hoster would recognise the old database and convert it so you need to make it think you are upgrading an existing.

To do this try this: Open Hoster 5.09, go to Tools/Hoster Data Folder, now close Hoster but keep the data folder open.

Now delete the Singers.mdb (or for backup purposes rename it) then paste the old singers.mdb in it's place, now start Hoster, if that doesn't work It maybe you have to also delete the songs.mdb as well, doing that causes Hoster to rebuild the database as soon as you start it which may also rebuild the links to the singers. If you do this last step and your songs are on an external drive be sure to connect the drive before starting Hoster, it will start the rebuild process so don't interfere with it while this is happening.

[SteveD]

Thank you Roy, you are always willing to lend a hand or give good advice and I appreciate that!

[stublack]

I have the same problem and tried both of the things that Roy suggested and it did not help I still have NULL records

[Roy Dennis]

Originally Posted by stublack

I have the same problem and tried both of the things that Roy suggested and it did not help I still have NULL records

Just to check you are pasting it to the correct folder, since version 5.09 the folder containing the data was moved to C:\ProgramData\mtu.com\Hoster which for most users is via a hidden folder.
To open it you either need to set your folder view options to display hidden folders or use the Hoster's Tools Menu/Hoster data folder.
Prior versions path for the data folder was C:\MTU\Hoster.
You may still see a folder in the C:\MTU\Hoster path but if you are pasting to that path it is no longer in use.

If you have pasted it to the correct folder and after rebuilding the database it still shows null, hover your cursor over the singers.mdb and a pop up should show the size in KB, is yours showing zero ?

[stublack]

I realize that I did something wrong without being aware of it. I took an old singers database and pasted it into the folder that is in tools on Hoster after I installed 510.1. I tried restarting Hoster and then reinstalling Hoster and I still have Null files. Only about 10% are NULL. I have been searching the BookID and replacing the NULL files during those shows.

One of the Karaoke hosts that worked for me switched laptops so I wanted to give him the singers database that he used before from and old laptop. This worked in the past.

I plan to handle this manually and I will try not assume that things that worked before will work again.

Thanks for you help Roy