Song/Artist Names titled strangely after Database Initialization.

[Maikuru]

So I just recently installed a fresh version of Rockbox onto my iPod 80gb 5.5 Gen.

This is the first time installing it into my iPod
My iPod contains about 7000+ songs already on there.

I went into the database to initialize and retrieve the already existing songs which it did with no problem.

However, a good majority of the song names are incorrect and not display properly.

Some say "Music" while others appear like "w01923" or something along the lines of a w##### format.

Is there a way to fix this and reset the database initialization?

Also is it possible to find the songs within the database through the computer?

[saratoga]

Are you songs actually tagged?  If not, then the database won't work very well.

[Maikuru]

Are you songs actually tagged?  If not, then the database won't work very well.

I thought it might've been a tagging issue. I'm assuming just having a song title and artist labeled in the properties and showing up in Winamp doesn't fully cut for a tag correct?

I see that Mp3tag can place tags in batches. How does this work?

I just looked into the iPod_Control>Music folder; there are a bunch of folders that contain all the songs. Looking at the filenames, they have that similar format of w##### but when going into properties the song title is there.

[saratoga]

I thought it might've been a tagging issue. I'm assuming just having a song title and artist labeled in the properties and showing up in Winamp doesn't fully cut for a tag correct?

No that should be fine, assuming its showing you the ID3 tags or whatever.

I just looked into the iPod_Control>Music folder; there are a bunch of folders that contain all the songs. Looking at the filenames, they have that similar format of w##### but when going into properties the song title is there.

For all of them?  I would find a file that doesn't parse correctly and then see what the tags for that specific file look like. 

[Maikuru]

For all of them?  I would find a file that doesn't parse correctly and then see what the tags for that specific file look like.

Yes, I just went through the folders and most are named in the w#### format. If not, they have a letter format like "XKJS." I clicked the properties and the details display the title of the song correctly.

[saratoga]

If you play the file in rockbox does it display correctly?

[Maikuru]

If you play the file in rockbox does it display correctly?

No they display as "Music - (Album Name)" or "w01235 - (Album Name)"

I also checked the tags of some random songs in my library; they all include ID3v2 tags. Some have only ID3v2 and not ID3v1 tags. I don't think that's really an issue since the manual states that ID3v1 and v2 are both supported through the database.

[saratoga]

If its reading the album name, doesn't that mean its parsing the tags correctly?  Or do you mean something else?

[Maikuru]

If its reading the album name, doesn't that mean its parsing the tags correctly?  Or do you mean something else?

Yes, it reads the album name sometimes but the title of the song is still in that strange format for some reason.

[cereal_killer]

I suspect, this might be related to the way how iTunes puts music on your iPod.

[evilnick]

Which theme/wps are you using?

Some themes will use the directory name as the album and the filename as the title, and ignore the tags entirely.

[Maikuru]

I suspect, this might be related to the way how iTunes puts music on your iPod.

According to the FAQ, it states that the each file has the included ID3 tags in them, but the iPod firmware (although synced with Winamp) encrypts these "w01234" or "JTRLX" file names, and thus Rockbox reads them as such.

I also found this page: http://www.rockbox.org/wiki/ConvertiTunesDBtoTagCache
However it says that it is outdated and no longer requires such conversion because the database is able to initialize itself on its own.

It also states that Picard can be used: "However, the id3 tags are intact, so picard can be used to transform this directory tree into a sensibly-named tree of music files, which can then easily be used with rockbox, and added to the rockbox data base using the standard method for adding files to a rockbox databse. "

Could using Picard be a possible solution?

Which theme/wps are you using?

Some themes will use the directory name as the album and the filename as the title, and ignore the tags entirely.

I noticed the issue with the BlueRay theme, not sure about the default theme.

I removed rockbox so that I can use it for today, I will reinstall it right now and try out different themes.

[bluebrother]

I removed rockbox so that I can use it for today, I will reinstall it right now and try out different themes.

I don't think a different theme will change much here -- that sounds like the tags missing. Most themes display the filename / foldername if title / artist tag is missing. The files including ID3 tags isn't sufficient, the ID3 tag also needs to contain the required fields. Make sure to check for them when checking the files. Itunes is known to prefer putting information in its own database file instead of writing the tags to the files (where they should go).

How are you checking the tags of the problematic files?

[Maikuru]

I removed rockbox so that I can use it for today, I will reinstall it right now and try out different themes.

I don't think a different theme will change much here -- that sounds like the tags missing. Most themes display the filename / foldername if title / artist tag is missing. The files including ID3 tags isn't sufficient, the ID3 tag also needs to contain the required fields. Make sure to check for them when checking the files. Itunes is known to prefer putting information in its own database file instead of writing the tags to the files (where they should go).

How are you checking the tags of the problematic files?

Changing the theme didn't help; the issue still appears even on the default theme.

I'm going into the iPod_Control/Music folders and right clicking the properties to view the details, which are there.
Since I sync through Winamp I also checked the metadata and file info options when right clicking the tracks. Mentioned before, all have the ID3v2 tags. Some have both v1 and v2 while others only have v2.

[bluebrother]

Since I sync through Winamp I also checked the metadata and file info options when right clicking the tracks. Mentioned before, all have the ID3v2 tags. Some have both v1 and v2 while others only have v2.

With id3v2 tags not all entries need to be present -- i.e. you can have an id3v2 tag with artist but no title entry. This is different to id3v1 (where you can't leave out single fields). I can also imagine the tags to differ for the files containing both v2 and v1 tag, and one having empty fields.