Indexing MP3s in Sync is wrong

[Cobra348]

I'll be the first to admit I have no idea how Sync goes about indexing MP3s, but I would like to know why the total number of MP3s on my thumb drive is not correct.  Here's the background ...

 

I have a 64GB thumb drive that I use for MP3 tunes on long runs.  The total count of files on it is 2290.  When it is inserted into the socket, everything goes fine and it is accessible under Sources ==> USB Disk via the large screen on the center stack.  BUT ... the total number of indexed items is only 2275.  Where are the other 15 items?

 

I do have same-title tunes but the filename is different.  Example is Guitar Boogie Shuffle.  File formats are Guitar Boogie Shuffle_<artist>.mp3 where artist is Weedon, Virtues, Ventures, RCACamden.  Another is Grazing In The Grass_<artist>.mp3 where artist is Friends (Friends of Distinction) or Masekele (Hugh Masekele).

 

Is it possible that only 1 occurance of the title is registered when the items are indexed?  I would think title/artist or filename indexing would be better.  I'm going to go through the duplicate titles and count them to see if that does account for the difference but I do believe I have more than 20 titles where multiple versions exist.  I'll come back and edit this thing tomorrow after I've had some sleep.

 

Insight would be helpful.

 

ADDED:  What I did based on the assumption that Titles only are indexed by Sync ...

1.  Using the MP3 tag editor I have (MP3Tag), pulled and saved a CSV list of all MP3s.

In Access:

2.  Import the CSV file into an Access database - using only Artist, Title and Filename fields.  No primary key so not indexed.

3.  Developed a Query to select all records by Title so duplicates would be right next to each other.

4.  Tagged any NON-duplicated record and then deleted that data row.  I only want multiples of the same title.

5.  End result was 222 records that were titles with 2 or more MP3s but with different artists.  See ref to Guitar Boogie Shuffle above.

6. Using the same query used in #3 above, I tagged additional records, leaving only 1 of a set.

7.  Deleted all the tagged data rows and got a result of 107 titles that have more than one artist who did the tune.

 

Summary: 

I think indexing is NOT title only, but I really can't figure out what it is.

 

2290 on file in Windows

222 MP3s with more than 1 version of the tune; 107 after extras were culled out

2290 - 107 = 2183

2275 indexed in Sync.  This does not equal the expected 2183 if title only is indexing factor.

 

The numbers don't add up - or come anywhere close.  Any clues?

 

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Cobra348

[Cobra348]

Okay.  All that checking and stuff showed I had some different filenames for the same song and that one should be deleted.  I did all that and double-checked things as best as I could.

 

End result is Windows logs 2289 MP3 files.  I also changed how I refresh the thumb drive.  I have been simply deleting all the MP3 and copying to the thumb.  My thought was "what if a hidden index is there that ignores any new items?"  End result, thumb reports 2269 total MP3s.

 

By default the USB Browse button displays in alphabetical order.  Lo and behold, any tune with a parenthetical or numeric beginning are ignored.  Some examples - Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4, Beach Boys - 409, Gene McDaniels and Dorsey Burnette - (There Was a) Tall Oak Tree.

 

So Sync is incorrect in not only retrieving correct artist info for an MP3, but also in actually indexing MP3s.  I guess it's time I dropped a note to Ford (Engineering??) and explained how to a) properly retrieve data in a search and b) that there are some abnormal files that are not handled.

 

I love rattling cages ... especially on the search because I can supply the correct pseudo-code they can implement.  Forty years IT does that to ya.

Edited August 26, 2021 by Cobra348

[Cobra348]

Futzing around, I finally stumbled on a way to get accurate tallies of what is on the MP3.  When refreshing the thumb drive, quick format it.  When that finishes, rename the volume to something.  Then copy tunes to the UB device.

 

When inserted into the car, SYNC is forced to reindex because the volume name change fakes it out.  Have not had a failure since I started this process.  Am up to 2425 tunes now.