Problem with double-CDs

[josch67]

Hello Simon and all users,

first of all I like to say, that I use the Minim Server since last week and it is the best piece of DLNA-Software I found, really great, thank you for this great job!

During my tests I found a "speziell feature". If I open an album that is marked as different CD-Numbers (1, 2 etc.), the tracknumbers don´t go through from 1 to the last number.

For example the first CD has 8 Tracks, they are numbered from 1 to 8, but the first track of the second CD is not 9 but 17. The next tracks are again normal like 18, 19 and so on.

I can see this the same way on several CDs. A Tag-Software (MP3-Tag) shows me the right numbers. If I use my previous Mediaserver (Twonky, not nearly so good as Minim) the Track-Numbers are also correct.

Do you got any idea what is going wrong?

Regards Josch

Used devices:
QNAP TS-212 NAS
Linn Klimax DS/1
Control Points: Linn Kazoo, Bubble DS Next (both have the same problem)

[simoncn]

(02-06-2015 18:04)josch67 Wrote:  Hello Simon and all users,

first of all I like to say, that I use the Minim Server since last week and it is the best piece of DLNA-Software I found, really great, thank you for this great job!

During my tests I found a "speziell feature". If I open an album that is marked as different CD-Numbers (1, 2 etc.), the tracknumbers don´t go through from 1 to the last number.

For example the first CD has 8 Tracks, they are numbered from 1 to 8, but the first track of the second CD is not 9 but 17. The next tracks are again normal like 18, 19 and so on.

I can see this the same way on several CDs. A Tag-Software (MP3-Tag) shows me the right numbers. If I use my previous Mediaserver (Twonky, not nearly so good as Minim) the Track-Numbers are also correct.

Do you got any idea what is going wrong?

Regards Josch

Used devices:
QNAP TS-212 NAS
Linn Klimax DS/1
Control Points: Linn Kazoo, Bubble DS Next (both have the same problem)

As you said, this is a feature, not something that is going wrong. See this section for more information.

[DavidHB]

Please forgive me if I'm just being stupid, but I think that josch67 is saying that his albums do not behave in the manner described in the User Guide.

The relevant passage would appear to be:

"For albums whose contents are tagged with the same album title and contain more than one DISCNUMBER tag value, MinimServer displays the album contents as a merged list of items with no disc information shown. The tracks are sorted first by disc number and then by track number. The tracks are renumbered to match the order of the merged list, so if disc 1 of the album has track numbers 1 to 10 and disc 2 has track numbers 1 to 4, the tracks from disc 2 will be displayed as track numbers 11 to 14."

So josch67 is expecting that the tracks of the second disc in his example would be numbered from 9 on, whereas they are in fact numbered from 17 on. I cannot think why this would be the case; I use the same CPs as josch67 and (having looked at a dozen or so multi-disc albums in my library) I get the continuous numbering described in the User Guide, unless of course the 'Disc n' feature or DISCSUBTITLE tag is used, in which case there is (as stated in the User Guide) no renumbering of tracks.

David

[simoncn]

(03-06-2015 00:36)DavidHB Wrote:  So josch67 is expecting that the tracks of the second disc in his example would be numbered from 9 on, whereas they are in fact numbered from 17 on. I cannot think why this would be the case; I use the same CPs as josch67 and (having looked at a dozen or so multi-disc albums in my library) I get the continuous numbering described in the User Guide, unless of course the 'Disc n' feature or DISCSUBTITLE tag is used, in which case there is (as stated in the User Guide) no renumbering of tracks.

This would happen if the tracks of the second CD are tagged as Disc 2/Track 9, Disc 2/Track 10, etc. instead of Disc 2/Track 1, Disc 2/Track 2, etc.

[DavidHB]

(03-06-2015 06:32)simoncn Wrote:  This would happen if the tracks of the second CD are tagged as Disc 2/Track 9, Disc 2/Track 10, etc. instead of Disc 2/Track 1, Disc 2/Track 2, etc.

Ah. It's obvious when you put it like that, but I hadn't grasped that point from the original post or your reply.

The moral I suppose is that it's better (usually) not to change manually the track numbers assigned when the disc is ripped. I do make sure that discs in a set are properly numbered. I also change the file names in multi-disc albums (whether the files are saved in separate folders or not) to the format Disc Number > Track Number > Track title. This is not necessary from a MinimServer perspective, but it keeps things in order when I am dealing with the files in Explorer or MP3Tag, and in larger sets helps me relate tracks back to the original disc, which can be helpful if there is a problem.

David

[josch67]

Hello Simon and David,

yes, this should be the reason! I always tag my files like CD2/Track 09. I do this because some other devices (for example Mobil phones, older MP3-Players) got problems when Disc1 ands Disc2 both starts with Track 01.
But now i know what happens and it is not really a problem.

Maybe I should delete all the disc numbers, it is an unimportant information whether a song was on the first or second Disc before ripping.

Thank you for your fast help, I will go for a donation now!

Regards Josch67

[DavidHB]

(03-06-2015 16:51)josch67 Wrote:  Maybe I should delete all the disc numbers, it is an unimportant information whether a song was on the first or second Disc before ripping.

I'd not delete the disc numbers completely. What I would do would depend on circumstances.

The important thing to recognise is that MinimServer builds its library and relates to other components of the UPnP streaming system via tags, and not through file or folder names (though, like any other application, it must use these to access the files). So there is no automatic correspondence between what is on the physical CD(s) and the album(s) MinimServer builds from the files ripped from the CD(s). You can choose how things are arranged, by tagging the files, using the guidelines for what constitutes in the MinimServer User Guide on what constitutes an 'album'.

In the case you mention, you are effectively treating all the tracks as if they were on the same physical CD. In that case, I would give them all the Disc number 1, and renumber the tracks as you have done. They will then appear in lists provided by MinimServer with the continuous numbering you would expect. I would also rename the files with the new track numbers, so that they appeared in any file-based applications in the same order as in the MinimServer lists.

Where, for some reason, I wish to preserve the organisation of the physical CDs in a set, I would number the discs correctly, preserve the original track numbers and use either 'Disc n' or DISCSUBTITLE to identify the discs in the MinimServer lists. I would also rename the files as described in my previous post.

I actually use both these arrangements in my music library; one of the decisions I make when ripping a multi-disc set is how the resultant album is going to be organised. Sometimes, even, the set (or even a single disc) is organised into more than one album in the library.The point is that you have choices as to how albums are organised, and it is unlikely that any ome option will suit every multi-disc set in your library.

The other point is that the older applications and devices to which you refer may sometimes base their organisation of albums on tracks on file and folder names rather than tags; I have owned several devices which did this. So it makes sense to name the tracks/files of your discs so that they appear on those devices in the same order as they would in a MinimServer album.

David

[simoncn]

(03-06-2015 20:22)DavidHB Wrote:  In the case you mention, you are effectively treating all the tracks as if they were on the same physical CD. In that case, I would give them all the Disc number 1, and renumber the tracks as you have done. They will then appear in lists provided by MinimServer with the continuous numbering you would expect. I would also rename the files with the new track numbers, so that they appeared in any file-based applications in the same order as in the MinimServer lists.

@josch67:
MinimServer will handle this as you are expecting if you either remove all the DISCNUMBER tags or set all the disc numbers to 1.

[DavidHB]

(03-06-2015 20:53)simoncn Wrote:  MinimServer will handle this as you are expecting if you either remove all the DISCNUMBER tags or set all the disc numbers to 1.

Thank you for this clarification. My preference for setting DISCNUMBER to 1 arises from the fact that dBpoweramp will usually default to that. The drop-down selection on DISCNUMBER that will appear in MP3Tag will therefore almost certainly include that option, and the change can be made in one action. So it's only an ease of use issue with the particular software I use.

David

[josch67]

Thank you both for the help, I think I will remove the disc numbers!

Regards Josch 67