Music Folder Naming Problem

When I load folders onto my Clip+, the name of the music folders are pretty typical: “Poseidon - Music from the Motion Picture” and “Wicked - Original Broadway Cast Recording”. Yet when I look for the folder on my Clip+ it shows up as:0B050000_Poseidon [Music from the Motion Picture]" and “B0040000_Wicked (Original Broadway Cast Recording)”

So, why are the names different and how do I correct it?

Oh and yes, I did rename these folders in the ‘Properies’ field for each file.

Thanks! :slight_smile:

If you don’t already have it, download mp3tag (its free) and look at the files with that. It will show the ID tag album and title etc. If need be you can edit and change names.

@thetypest57 wrote:

 

So, why are the names different and how do I correct it?

 

As noted above, the answer likely is:  ID3 tags.  As a general matter, digital audio players, including the Clip, use metadata embedded in content files to display on the screen.  Called ID3 tags, the tags include fields for artist name, file title, year, genre, artist and the like.  Under most players, file and folder names do not come into play, as part of this system–this seems to be the situation you are facing.

Oftentimes, the ID3 tags are already filled in when you purchase or otherwise obtain music and audiobook files.  But not always, and some of the information might be incorrect or not to your liking.  Also, if you rip your own files from CDs, the ID3 tag information needs to be filled in.  Nicely, to help with this, Internet databases exist, containing the information, and many rippers will automatically add the information in.

To help with your ID3 tags–either to add the information in or to edit it, in case it is not correct or to your liking–you can use a tag editor.  Very good, free editors are available online, such as the well-regarded MP3Tag.

A few additional things to note.  First, with the Clip+ and Zip, you actually can navigate by your folders and files and not by the player’s ID3 tag database:  if you go to the bottom of the Music listing category, you should see the Folders option, which will let you navigate by your folders and files setup.  

Second, you might want to check your USB mode under the player’s Settings.  MTP USB mode can sometimes change the names of files when they are transferred to the player–MSC mode tends to be less problematic.  And so you may want to set the USB mode to MSC.  However, note:  a mix of files transferred under the 2 USB modes–MTP and MSC (the Auto mode simply tries to use MTP mode but will fall back to MSC mode, if needed)–can be problematic, as your computer will only show the files that were transferred in the USB mode that you then are connected to your player under.  And so, to avoid a mix of USB modes, you can set the player to MTP mode (for example), connect to your computer, transfer your player’s content to your computer, detach the player and set it to MSC mode, and then transfer your content back to the player.  Do note as to the USB modes:  if you are using any files protected by digital rights management, such as some library content, you need to use MTP mode on your player.

Hope this information is of help–

MP3Tag:  http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

@thetypest57 wrote:

When I load folders onto my Clip+, the name of the music folders are pretty typical: “Poseidon - Music from the Motion Picture” and “Wicked - Original Broadway Cast Recording”. Yet when I look for the folder on my Clip+ it shows up as:0B050000_Poseidon [Music from the Motion Picture]" and “B0040000_Wicked (Original Broadway Cast Recording)”

 

So, why are the names different and how do I correct it?

 

You must have transferred these files to your player in MTP mode. For some unknown reason, using this mode will sometimes re-name files, causing mass confusion and hysteria in the user. :laughing:

Using MSC mode, as suggested by Miikerman will solve this dilemma.

@tapeworm wrote:

For some unknown reason, using this mode will sometimes re-name files, causing mass confusion and hysteria in the user. 


I think it only happens for long names. 

@contrapuntal wrote:


@tapeworm wrote:

For some unknown reason, using this mode will sometimes re-name files, causing mass confusion and hysteria in the user. 


I think it only happens for long names. 

I’m not saying you’re wrong, but “The name’s too long? Let’s make it even longer!” What’s Microsoft’s (the “brains” behind the MTP protocol) rationale for that?

Here’s a couple of things I’ve learned through trial-and-error about creating music folders on my Clip+.  I am talking about folders within in the Music folder.   (BTW, I am using Windows XP.  I don’t know if the following applies to any other OS.)

First, if a folder is empty, the Clip+ will not display the folder name on the OLED at all.  It’s as if the folder didn’t exist.

When it comes to creating a new folder, if you create a new folder \ *directly within the Music folder and rename it (“Stones”, for example), Windows will show the folder name “Stones”, but the Clip+ will display the folder name as “New Folder”.  (On the Clip+, the path to the folder is " Music > Folders > MTP > Music > Stones" even though the Clip+ shows the folder name as “New Folder”.) 

(By “_ directly within _”, I mean you have the Music folder open in Windows (My Computer\Sansa Clip+ 4GB\Internal Memory\Music), then you create a new folder either using the File menu or by right-clicking and selecting “New Folder”.)

On the other hand, if you create and name the new folder on your computer and then move that folder to the Clip+, then the Clip+ OLED will display the actual folder name “Stones” (assuming the folder is not empty, as mentioned above).  OR , if you create and name the new folder within the player’s “root menu” (see image below) and then move it to the Music folder, the player will display the folder’s name as “Stones” (again, assuming the folder is not empty).

"root menu"

At least that has worked for me.

MUSIC as displayed on the Clip (or other Sansa players) is not a folder. Music is mostly a database–EXCEPT for its Folders listing. 

Music lists Artists, Albums, Songs, Genres, etc. from information gathered from the ID3 tags in the files. It finds them on both the internal memory and the card in the card slot, anywhere in folders or sub-folders, and combines them,

Folders on the display, under Music,  IS a folder. It mimics a Windows folder structure, showing the two drives separately (internal and external memory) and folders and subfolders within them. If you want to use that kind of structure, just name folders and files as you want them on your computer and send them over in MSC mode (Settings/System Settings/USB Mode/MSC). But you’ll have to remember that you put Beggars Banquet in Stones and 12x5 in Rolling Stones.

You may find that the database method is more useful; it just takes a different mindset to navigate. Under Music on the display, Artists will find all your Rolling Stones songs or albums under Rolling Stones as Artist, assuming the files have good tags–that is, the Artist tag in the mp3 files says Rolling Stones, and the Album tag says Let It Bleed for every song on Let It Bleed.  It will find the tags in folders named Stones, or Glimmer Twins, or Satanic Majesties, or anywhere else, assuming the ID3 tags in the files say Rolling Stones under Artist. 

You can check and fix your tags–in bulk–with mp3tag, which is free.

http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

Allow it to add itself to context menus, an option while installing. Open it and go to Tools/Options/Tags/Mpeg and under Write option choose ID3v2.3 ISO-8859-1. Those are the tags that Sansa players think are extra tasty.  You can, for instance, highlight all the songs on an album and tag them all “Rolling Stones” by putting that in the Artist field on the left and Save Tag.

Meanwhile, if you have files but have not filled in the tags–or got them some weird place that didn’t already have them tagged, or prefer relying on your memory about what you called any particular folder–then Folders is for you.

Sansa is one of the few players that offers that flexibility. Many players just go by the ID3 tag database.You can’t always get what you want but it’s possible you might.

@cmih -

That’s because you’re using MTP mode. If you use MSC mode, you won’t have to jump through all those flaming hoops. :wink:

@black_rectangle wrote:

But you’ll have to remember that you put Beggars Banquet in Stones and 12x5 in Rolling Stones.

 

You can, for instance, highlight all the songs on an album and tag them all “Rolling Stones”

 

 

_ You can’t always get what you want _ but it’s possible you might.

 

 

Love the Stone’s lyric reference, but I think you’ve slightly mis-quoted it . . .

"You can’t always get what you want . . . But if you try sometimes well you might find . . .

 

You get what you need"

:laughing:

It was an allusion. Not a quote.

@Tapeworm

Every time I’ve tried to use MSC mode I get a “Windows - No Disk”,  “Exception Processing Message” followed by a string hexidecimal numbers.

Does that happen without a microSD card in the slot?