Library full of M4A, want to scan only Apple Lossless but not AAC

[the-ninth]

Hi,

I have an iTunes library full of AAC and Apple Lossless files in it. Those are duplicates, the Lossless ones are for SC, the AAC for mobile players.

The problem is that both use the M4A extension, so I cannot use the SC extension filter to exclude the AAC.

Does anybody has a hint for me on how I can scan the library without having duplicates in SC?

Thanks and regards, Robert

[sxr71]

Hi,

I have an iTunes library full of AAC and Apple Lossless files in it. Those are duplicates, the Lossless ones are for SC, the AAC for mobile players.

The problem is that both use the M4A extension, so I cannot use the SC extension filter to exclude the AAC.

Does anybody has a hint for me on how I can scan the library without having duplicates in SC?

Thanks and regards, Robert

Get MediaMonkey. That is always the first thing. Then you can sort out all the .aac files and have them all moved to a separate folder using its auto-organize feature.

Done.

[funkstar]

You could also go to Settings -> Advanced -> File Types

Then set the FLAC and MP3 options for "AAC or Movie File" to Dissabled.

The only issue is that none of them will get scanned, duplicates or not.

[the-ninth]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies. Media Monkey looks very interesting, I'll take a look at that but first I'll try the hint to disable AAC, then I can live with iTunes for now. It is no problem for me if AAC does not work at all in teh SC, I have everything in lossless anyway.

See you, Robert

[DaveWr]

Hi,

In iTunes, sort on File type, select the lossless ones. Then bulk check box the lossless files. Then set SqueezeCenter to only use checked files.

Easy

Dave

[the-ninth]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for this idea, but unfortunately I am not using iTunes integration since on my setup the iTunes integration does not work with songs that have special characters (like German umlauts) in the file name. So I am using the normal scan function.

See you, Robert

[the-ninth]

You could also go to Settings -> Advanced -> File Types
Then set the FLAC and MP3 options for "AAC or Movie File" to Dissabled.
The only issue is that none of them will get scanned, duplicates or not.

Hi Funkstar,

I tried this now, but SC still scans the AAC. Actually I did not have to change anything, for "AAC or Movie File" everything is disabled and cannot be changed. But anyway I get the files in my SC library after the scan.

Do you maybe have any ideas on what I am doing wrong?

Thanks and regards, Robert

[funkstar]

Hi Funkstar,

I tried this now, but SC still scans the AAC. Actually I did not have to change anything, for "AAC or Movie File" everything is disabled and cannot be changed. But anyway I get the files in my SC library after the scan.

Do you maybe have any ideas on what I am doing wrong?

Thanks and regards, Robert

It might actually be me thats wrong. I thought that would turn off scanning of that file type, but I may well be mistaken.

[the-ninth]

I now built myself a solution for this problem. I have already been using SmartSync Pro for synchronizing my iTunes library from the PC to the NAS and since it is able to execute scripts before and after the sync I have enhanced this now by:

*) Before the sync there is a JScript running that uses the iTunes COM interface to go through the library and then marks all AAC files as hidden. iTunes also works with hidden files, so this does not affect it.

*) Configured SmartSync to filter out hidden files during the sync.

*) And for comfort there is a JScript running after the sync that triggers a rescan in SC via the CLI interface.

Since the sync can be triggered via a link (e. g. on the desktop) I have now the complete iTunes/SC sync at one mouse click. :-)

SmartSync is not for free, but I think there are other similar programs around that do the same (maybe a bit less powerful) and cost nothing. Also instead of JScript of course VBScript could be used as well.

If anybody is interested, here are the two scripts. They are for Windows but I am sure that it is possible to do something similar on MacOS X via AppleScript.

======= File Start =======

/*
* HideAAC.js
*
* Script for marking all AAC files of an iTunes library as hidden.
*/

var ITYPE_MP3 = "MPEG audio file";
var ITYPE_AAC = "AAC audio file";
var ITYPE_ALC = "Apple Lossless audio file";

var FSFLAG = 2;

var fso = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
var iTunesApp = WScript.CreateObject("iTunes.Application");
var tracks = iTunesApp.LibraryPlaylist.Tracks;
var numTracks = tracks.Count;
var i;

for( i=1; i<= numTracks; i++ )
{
var currTrack = tracks.Item(i);

if( currTrack.KindAsString == ITYPE_AAC )
{
var f = fso.GetFile(currTrack.Location);

if( ! ( f.attributes & FSFLAG ) )
{
f.attributes = f.attributes + FSFLAG;
}
}
}

======= File End =======

======= File Start =======

/*
* Rescan.js
*
* Script for triggering a rescan of the SqueezeCenter library
* via the telnet command line interface (CLI).
*
* Please note, that this script requires Windows telnet.exe to be
* installed. This is by default not the case on Windows Vista, it needs
* to be installed via Programs and Features, Turn Windows features on or
* off, Telnet client.
*
* To customize modify the upper-case variables below.
*/
var TELNET = "telnet.exe";
var SERVER = "<your_server_here>";
var PORT = "9090";

var shell = new ActiveXObject( "WScript.Shell" );

shell.run( TELNET + " " + SERVER + " " + PORT );

WScript.sleep( 500 );

sendCommand( shell, "rescan" );
sendCommand( shell, "exit" );

shell.sendKeys( "% " );

function sendCommand( shell, command )
{
shell.sendKeys( command );
shell.sendKeys( "{Enter}" );

WScript.sleep( 500 );
}

======= File End =======

See you, Robert