7.4.2 scanner is confused by multiple album versions

[guyfawkes]

I filed a bug with the gory details here:

https://bugs.slimdevices.com/show_bug.cgi?id=15776

But, in a nutshell, any albums for which I have multiple versions in my music library (e.g., a stereo version and a mono version) are scanned incorrectly. The first version the scanner encounters is correct, but any subsequent versions show up as multiple single-track albums (one for each unique track on the alternate versions). This problem also occurred in 7.4.0, but does not exist in 7.3.2. In 7.3.2, each version of the album shows up in the library as a complete, unique album with the proper tracks. I haven't tried 7.4.1 as I decided to wait awhile after my bad experience with 7.4.0.

I'm running today's release of 7.4.2 from the slimdevices.com Debian repo on a Debian sid system. The scanner log shows messages like this for each duplicate track:

[10-02-24 18:17:25.1444] Carp::Clan::__ANON__ (216) Warning: DBIx::Class::ResultSet::single(): Query returned more than one row. SQL that returns multiple rows is DEPRECATED for ->find and ->single at /usr/share/perl5/Slim/Schema.pm line 2538

Line 2538 in Schema.pm is tagged with the ominous comment:

# XXX: can return multiple objects

so it appears that case isn't being handled properly in 7.4.2.

Anyone have a workaround or hack that doesn't involve changing album or track names? I have a couple hundred albums with multiple versions in my library, and anyway, the album and track names *should* be the same if they're the same album.

[funkstar]

Anyone have a workaround or hack that doesn't involve changing album or track names? I have a couple hundred albums with multiple versions in my library, and anyway, the album and track names *should* be the same if they're the same album.

If all the album names are correct, then how you you tell them apart when you cueing then up?

I have quite a few multiple editions, but they all have "(Special Edition)" or "(20th Anniversary Edition)" or similar on the end of the albums. If they have identical listing I wouldn't know which one to choose, especially on the SB3 or Boom screens.

[guyfawkes]

If all the album names are correct, then how you you tell them apart when you cueing then up?

I explain that in the bug report: each track has a comment indicating which version of the album it's from.

I have quite a few multiple editions, but they all have "(Special Edition)" or "(20th Anniversary Edition)" or similar on the end of the albums. If they have identical listing I wouldn't know which one to choose, especially on the SB3 or Boom screens.

Yep, if you only use the remote, it's not clear which one you're choosing. Fortunately, I almost always use the web interface to queue music, so it's not a problem in practice.

If you use a different name for each version of a particular album, there's no guarantee that services like LastFM or MusicIP will be able to match your tracks. LastFM, for example, uses MusicBrainz tags, and there's only one release of an album named Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles on MusicBrainz: there are no "mono" or "stereo" or "2009 remaster" or "Dr. Ebbets" versions, just Sgt. Pepper's. And that's the way it should be: they're all the same album, they're just mastered differently.

Anyway, this is all beside the point. I'm not interested in debating whether this is strictly correct, whether it makes sense to you or me or whomever, etc. This is how I organize my music. The 7.3.2 server had no problems with this scheme, but it's not working in 7.4.x. In my view, that's a regression, so I filed the bug, and I'm hoping to find a fix.

[funkstar]

Anyway, this is all beside the point. I'm not interested in debating whether this is strictly correct, whether it makes sense to you or me or whomever, etc. This is how I organize my music. The 7.3.2 server had no problems with this scheme, but it's not working in 7.4.x. In my view, that's a regression, so I filed the bug, and I'm hoping to find a fix.

Yup, fair enough. I think this case is probably pretty unusual, hence why the bug has appeared in the 7.4 branch, probably not something that is going to be tested for specifically.

Have you seen this thread, specifically the post by JJZolx?
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showth...321#post520321

I think having an ALBUMSUBTITLE tag would be incredibly useful. Would let you list albums by the correct original title, but also let you navigate by the longer name as well.

[JJZolx]

I explain that in the bug report: each track has a comment indicating which version of the album it's from.

That would be of very limited to use for most people. Unless you just play random mode, how do you browse _to_ the album to pick the track? You browse the whole way down to the track level and then to track details just to determine which album you're looking at? Yuck.

If you're relying on MB album IDs, though, I'm not sure that giving them unique album names would make any difference to the SbS scanner.

[guyfawkes]

That would be of very limited to use for most people. Unless you just play random mode, how do you browse _to_ the album to pick the track? You browse the whole way down to the track level and then to track details just to determine which album you're looking at? Yuck.

Works for me. Criticizing my way of queueing up music is pointless: this is how I do it, and I have my reasons. Why do you bother to take the time to respond in an unhelpful way? What's it to you if I make a couple of extra clicks to find the album I'm looking for? What did your comment accomplish?

Would I welcome an extension like the one you describe the thread referenced by funkstar? Of course -- I think it's a great idea, and I'll add my own 2 bits over there where it's on-topic. But in this thread, I'm not asking for help organizing my library or criticizing my technique. I'm asking if anyone else has seen this bug and whether there's a fix. Can we keep the comments on-topic and constructive, please?

[guyfawkes]

Have you seen this thread, specifically the post by JJZolx?
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showth...321#post520321

I think having an ALBUMSUBTITLE tag would be incredibly useful. Would let you list albums by the correct original title, but also let you navigate by the longer name as well.

No, I hadn't. Thanks for the pointer. It doesn't help me with my bug (unless this extra tag were added to the album discriminator logic), but it would be useful. I'll go follow up in that thread.

[JJZolx]

Works for me. Criticizing my way of queueing up music is pointless: this is how I do it, and I have my reasons. Why do you bother to take the time to respond in an unhelpful way? What's it to you if I make a couple of extra clicks to find the album I'm looking for? What did your comment accomplish?

Hopefully, so others don't do something that causes them similar headaches. Things can be so much easier if you know what you're doing rather than pretending you have reasons for doing something in a manner that makes little sense.

[guyfawkes]

Hopefully, so others don't do something that causes them similar headaches. Things can be so much easier if you know what you're doing rather than pretending you have reasons for doing something in a manner that makes little sense.

I'm gonna take the high road here. Thanks for your contributions, they've been incredibly helpful!