Transfer All Song Files To external Drive

[Joe Nieves]

Originally Posted by laddie

I said you can view it, I would not recommend trying to change it. I don't have a 3.xx version playlist so I don't know what was in it. I have only looked at the 4.00 version playlist. Incidentally, you can change .hst to .txt and read the data without the script. Again I would not recommend trying to change the file.

Thanks laddie i'll try it and report back.

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by Joe Nieves

Thank you all for you’re input.
Quote:
I know what you mean, but the only way to avoid having to re-Add a song to the playlist is to preserve the file path

Thanks for that suggestion Shybird74, but in my case my drive c:\ is my default internal drive and I'm running out of HD space how would I solve that?
Joe...

Joe, are you saying that all your Songs (kma's) are located on the C: drive & that's where you created your Playlists from? If so, then there is nothing you can do, except have to re-add all your songs to the playlists, once you change their location. The reason is, if you move all your songs to an ext.hd to save space on your C: drive, the drive letter will be different. I don't think there is anyway that you can name an ext. drive C: also.

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by laddie

I said you can view it, I would not recommend trying to change it. I don't have a 3.xx version playlist so I don't know what was in it. I have only looked at the 4.00 version playlist. Incidentally, you can change .hst to .txt and read the data without the script. Again I would not recommend trying to change the file.

When you expose the contents of the 4.06 list files, there are no obvious links to a file location. The file references the BookID. I don't think the list files care where the files are located, it simply calls the bookID from the DB, the DB knows where the file is. I have changed file locations in 4.06 and did not reload the list, list still worked.

Laddie, your original post did say that your Playlists located the songs "by Book ID" and not by the file path..... that's what I was asking about, because in my experience Hoster follows the "file path" to locate the files that are in a Playlist. So, when you said to "view" them in HTML, I wondered how that would help solve what Joe & I are asking - i.e. how to get Hoster to find the songs in a saved playlist without having to re-enter them (after we moved those songs) Am I missing something???

[ddouglass]

The file path is in the playlist. It does not go by BookID, so therefore you will have to re-enter them if you move your files.

[laddie]

Originally Posted by Skybird74

Laddie, your original post did say that your Playlists located the songs "by Book ID" and not by the file path.....

What is said is that "there are no obvious links to a file location. The file references the BookID. I don't think list files care where the list is located, it simply calls the bookID..."

Originally Posted by Skybird74

So, when you said to "view" them in HTML, I wondered how that would help solve what Joe & I are asking - i.e. how to get Hoster to find the songs in a saved playlist without having to re-enter them (after we moved those songs)

Kinda thought the benefit was obvious, if you can read the file you can make a determination as to what can or cannot be done outside of Hoster..
I reviewed some of my old list and did find a path reference. If your list has a path ref. Just search for the path ref and replace it with the new one. ( make sure you make backups of the .hst files, cause this process may corrupt them)

Originally Posted by Skybird74

Am I missing something???

I don't know.

[Joe Nieves]

Hi laddie

I opened the .hst playlist file by changing the ext. to txt as you suggested and it has the file path to each playlist listings.

The problem is if you find and replace with the new file path it won't work, even though I coppied all my songfiles and folders to the external drive I referance in the edit. (I know they work I checked it.)

When you open Hoster and try to open and load the playlist it errors out with file is currupt.

Is there another way or program that doesn't have this effect on the playlist file when edited?

This would solve the playlist problem when moving files and a big savings on time and effort to reimport all you're playlist listings.

Any help on this is appreciated.

Thanks

Joe....

[laddie]

Originally Posted by Joe Nieves

Hi laddie

I opened the .hst playlist file by changing the ext. to txt as you suggested and it has the file path to each playlist listings.

The problem is if you find and replace with the new file path it won't work, even though I coppied all my songfiles and folders to the external drive I referance in the edit. (I know they work I checked it.)

When you open Hoster and try to open and load the playlist it errors out with file is currupt.

Is there another way or program that doesn't have this effect on the playlist file when edited?

This would solve the playlist problem when moving files and a big savings on time and effort to reimport all you're playlist listings.

Any help on this is appreciated.

Thanks

Joe....

Sorry Joe, thats kinda what I thought would happen. I think Dale is right, just going to have to change it in hoster

[laddie]

Joe,
I am curious, my older .hst files show a drive path, but my new ones do not.
If you open your list in 4.06, add a song to it and then save it as a new name, does it still have drive path information. Again, I'm only curious

[Joe Nieves]

Hi laddie

The answer is yes, Hoster 4.6a logs the drive peth of each song file in you're playlist listings.

Is there another way or program that doesn't have an adverse effect on the playlist file when edited?


Thanks

Joe....

[laddie]

Originally Posted by Joe Nieves

Hi laddie

The answer is yes, Hoster 4.6a logs the drive peth of each song file in you're playlist listings.

Is there another way or program that doesn't have an adverse effect on the playlist file when edited?


Thanks

Joe....

Sorry Joe, all out of ideas.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by Joe Nieves

Hi laddie

The answer is yes, Hoster 4.6a logs the drive peth of each song file in you're playlist listings.

Is there another way or program that doesn't have an adverse effect on the playlist file when edited?


Thanks

Joe....

Joe that is what we have been trying to tell you all along. There is no way for you to edit the HST files.

[Joe Nieves]

Hi ddouglass

Question

If it can be seen why can't it be edited, you only need to change the drive path from c:\ to e:\ ?

Any input is appreciated.


Thx Joe...

[ddouglass]

Because when you save it Notepad or Wordpad or whatever program you are viewing it with changes other characters (notice the square boxes) that makes it unusable in Hoster.

[marklwood]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

Because when you save it Notepad or Wordpad or whatever program you are viewing it with changes other characters (notice the square boxes) that makes it unusable in Hoster.

I am not going to try it because I don't have any playlist files, and don't care to ever have them but, how about a hex editor? I used to change text in .exe files back in the old DOS 3.0 days just to mess with people. I can't even remember what hex editor I used, but it was probably Norton.

[capnvic]

BTW this is a moot point, but If you want to move many files from one location to another I suggest that you use microsoft robocopy. You can download it to you computer from MS for nothing, they also offer a web based API for it as well.

[Joe Nieves]

Hi every one

I transferred all my KMA files to external drive E:\ and started on the long struggle to reimport all my playlist song listings.

I ran into a problem with the edit song menu play feature under tools, it errors out on all songs (Bed Zip File) on some and nothing on others.

What can I do to solve this problem it was working before?

Thank You

Joe...

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by Joe Nieves

Hi every one

I transferred all my KMA files to external drive E:\ and started on the long struggle to reimport all my playlist song listings.

I ran into a problem with the edit song menu play feature under tools, it errors out on all songs (Bed Zip File) on some and nothing on others.

What can I do to solve this problem it was working before?
Thank You
Joe...

Playlists that had zips in them would have been converted by Hoster when they were opened in 4.0x. However, if you didn't open a particular playlist so that Hoster could convert them, then you may need to re-import any files that say "bad zip". They will also import better if you convert them first using MicroStudio. There was a way to manually run the conversion process, but I'm not sure if it is still available in 4.06. The Manual will explain zips in more detail (I haven't had a chance to read the 4.06 Manual to see if there are any new instructions.)

[ddouglass]

Joe are they ZIP files or have they been converted to MP3+G type?
Edit Songs doesn't show what type they are but if you add one to the playlist then it will show the TYPE. It will be either HDZIP or HDMP3G.

If they are ZIP files your best bet would be to convert them to MP3+G. If you own Songverter it can do them in mass for you. The required space for them is slightly larger than what it is now, but will work faster too.

[Skybird74]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

Joe are they ZIP files or have they been converted to MP3+G type?
Edit Songs doesn't show what type they are but if you add one to the playlist then it will show the TYPE. It will be either HDZIP or HDMP3G.

If they are ZIP files your best bet would be to convert them to MP3+G. If you own Songverter it can do them in mass for you. The required space for them is slightly larger than what it is now, but will work faster too.

Yes, I meant to say to use "Songverter" (instead of MicroStudio) to convert. Although I always open MicroStudio first & go to Songverter from there...... thinking anyone who owns Songverter probably owns MS also

[Joe Nieves]

Thank you guy's for you're help

I found out why it didn't work, my external usb drive was not securely pluged in to the port.

Thanks Again,

Joe...