Centre Stage Discos
I would like to write in some detail about two unusual events we experienced with VirtualDJ at a gig last night. I expect at least one of these is of my own doing, but I just don't know what set them in motion and I hope somebody can help.
The first problem:
A few days before our gig, I had added some songs to our hard drives and performed the usual database update by right-clicking on the appropriate sub-directories > Batch > Add to search DB. This has always been successful, until very recently where, instead of seeing the new additions being added to the database, Virtual DJ simply stated "xxx tags to read" and did nothing else. Nothing was added to the database. I didn't see the regular 'Add to DB [directory name] procedure.
On arriving at the gig, VirtualDJ was only able to see a handful of songs on any of our drives. It couldn't access the database, yet no changes had been made to the drives.
With a couple of hours to go before the gig, I quickly ran a dB update of the whole drive, but I noticed that it continued to only READ the tags without ADDing anything.
What has happened?
Assuming the database is corrupt, what are the correct procedures to start again? i.e. delete any existing databases and begin new ones? I just want to check I am doing the right thing. I will do a full software update before I begin any procedure.
After a minor panic, I switched to live streaming so I could access our Tidal membership. Luckily, this saved the evening, but not without one more weird glitch.
My second problem:
In the Tidal streaming directory, entering artist's names and song titles to the search field worked perfectly to begin with, but after a few minutes, Tidal was only able to fetch karaoke/instrumental versions of songs. Nothing I did would bring back the regular vocal versions.
I hadn't set the Virtual DJ search process to SHOW VIDEO FILES or SHOW KARAOKE FILES. Only SHOW MUSIC FILES was selected. I didn't know what to do. Another panic situation! I decided to restart the laptop as there weren't too many people present at that time. This worked and I was able to find regular songs again within the Tidal streaming directory ... but only for a few minutes. I had to resort to restarting the laptop again and, thankfully, this weird glitch didn't happen again for the rest of the evening.
So why did this oddity happen in the first place? What did I do wrong?
The first problem:
A few days before our gig, I had added some songs to our hard drives and performed the usual database update by right-clicking on the appropriate sub-directories > Batch > Add to search DB. This has always been successful, until very recently where, instead of seeing the new additions being added to the database, Virtual DJ simply stated "xxx tags to read" and did nothing else. Nothing was added to the database. I didn't see the regular 'Add to DB [directory name] procedure.
On arriving at the gig, VirtualDJ was only able to see a handful of songs on any of our drives. It couldn't access the database, yet no changes had been made to the drives.
With a couple of hours to go before the gig, I quickly ran a dB update of the whole drive, but I noticed that it continued to only READ the tags without ADDing anything.
What has happened?
Assuming the database is corrupt, what are the correct procedures to start again? i.e. delete any existing databases and begin new ones? I just want to check I am doing the right thing. I will do a full software update before I begin any procedure.
After a minor panic, I switched to live streaming so I could access our Tidal membership. Luckily, this saved the evening, but not without one more weird glitch.
My second problem:
In the Tidal streaming directory, entering artist's names and song titles to the search field worked perfectly to begin with, but after a few minutes, Tidal was only able to fetch karaoke/instrumental versions of songs. Nothing I did would bring back the regular vocal versions.
I hadn't set the Virtual DJ search process to SHOW VIDEO FILES or SHOW KARAOKE FILES. Only SHOW MUSIC FILES was selected. I didn't know what to do. Another panic situation! I decided to restart the laptop as there weren't too many people present at that time. This worked and I was able to find regular songs again within the Tidal streaming directory ... but only for a few minutes. I had to resort to restarting the laptop again and, thankfully, this weird glitch didn't happen again for the rest of the evening.
So why did this oddity happen in the first place? What did I do wrong?
Inviato Sun 17 Mar 24 @ 4:34 pm
Centre Stage Discos
Maybe my long message has deterred people from reading.
Please can somebody throw any light onto what happened above?
Thanks.
Please can somebody throw any light onto what happened above?
Thanks.
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 12:13 pm
Legaldj1
Do you have VDJ set to automatically backup the database? If yes, did you go into Browser Options, Database, Restore Database Backup?
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 3:27 pm
Centre Stage Discos
Hi LegalDJ1.
I didn't know it could be set to automatically back up the database. It took me a while to locate the actual database itself, which was clearly corrupt as it only contained a few entries.
Is this the problem? What do I do to correct this?
Edit: I found the database backup setting and it looks like nothing has been set.
I couldn't tried following some information regarding how to start the database again from scratch, firstly analysing each track, but this got as far as 4% and has slowed down to a halt so I had to cancel it.
Sorry, but need some help here as the next gig is in two days.
I didn't know it could be set to automatically back up the database. It took me a while to locate the actual database itself, which was clearly corrupt as it only contained a few entries.
Is this the problem? What do I do to correct this?
Edit: I found the database backup setting and it looks like nothing has been set.
I couldn't tried following some information regarding how to start the database again from scratch, firstly analysing each track, but this got as far as 4% and has slowed down to a halt so I had to cancel it.
Sorry, but need some help here as the next gig is in two days.
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 4:10 pm
Centre Stage Discos
I tried to "Add to search DB" again and the message "add to db Music Collection" (my folder name) was displayed for a few seconds and then disappeared. Still, it appears that nothing is being added to the database.
I am unable to search for songs. Therefore I, effectively, have no music to play.
I am unable to search for songs. Therefore I, effectively, have no music to play.
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 4:22 pm
PhantomDeejay
I don't know about Tidal.
It could also be a problem on their end (as VirtualDJ passes the search query to Tidal, it doesn't hold "a copy" of Tidal's DB to search on it's own) or not.
However, for your first issue, I would start by scanning the entire drive for possible corruption.
It "could be" just the database ? Maybe. After all the database is just a file. However the general behavior reminds me the time one of my drives failed. It would suddenly introduce random problems, and before I know it, a few days later it completely died.
So, check the hard drive itself first (even if it's a brand new one, just to be safe)
It could also be a problem on their end (as VirtualDJ passes the search query to Tidal, it doesn't hold "a copy" of Tidal's DB to search on it's own) or not.
However, for your first issue, I would start by scanning the entire drive for possible corruption.
It "could be" just the database ? Maybe. After all the database is just a file. However the general behavior reminds me the time one of my drives failed. It would suddenly introduce random problems, and before I know it, a few days later it completely died.
So, check the hard drive itself first (even if it's a brand new one, just to be safe)
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 4:23 pm
PhantomDeejay
PS:
Starting "clean" is as easy as deleting the "database.xml" file from the VirtualDJ directory of your external drive. (e.g. D:\VirtualDJ\database.xml)
Of course you don't have to delete the file. You can rename it, so that you actually have a backup of your database in case your problem is not that.
So rename it to "database-old.xml" and you can start clean.
If you still have issues, then it's NOT the database itself that was the problem.
Starting "clean" is as easy as deleting the "database.xml" file from the VirtualDJ directory of your external drive. (e.g. D:\VirtualDJ\database.xml)
Of course you don't have to delete the file. You can rename it, so that you actually have a backup of your database in case your problem is not that.
So rename it to "database-old.xml" and you can start clean.
If you still have issues, then it's NOT the database itself that was the problem.
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 4:27 pm
Centre Stage Discos
Hi PHANTOMDEEJAY.
Thanks for the info re. Tidal. That makes sense. Will keep an eye on that.
Re. the database, I will run a scan of both drives, but I suspect it's not the drives which have become the problem as the behaviour is the same for both of them.
Thanks for the info re. Tidal. That makes sense. Will keep an eye on that.
Re. the database, I will run a scan of both drives, but I suspect it's not the drives which have become the problem as the behaviour is the same for both of them.
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 4:38 pm
Centre Stage Discos
Regarding starting CLEAN, I already did this. I deleted the database and started from scratch. Nothing doing still. What on earth can be wrong?
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 4:39 pm
PhantomDeejay
Restore databases (I assume you were smart enough to keep a backup of them) and try to rename your "settings.xml" then.
In case you did something funky with the settings.
PS:
Speaking of settings, if "getTagsAuto" is set to "no" then when you add tracks to search db you should not get the "Reading tags (3 of 50)" message, as the software does not read the tags!
In case you did something funky with the settings.
PS:
Speaking of settings, if "getTagsAuto" is set to "no" then when you add tracks to search db you should not get the "Reading tags (3 of 50)" message, as the software does not read the tags!
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 4:50 pm
Centre Stage Discos
Me? Smart? Sometimes. However, there were no databases to backup in this case. The file sizes were far smaller than what I had expected them to be. When I looked at the data within them, there were only a few files in there. I just don't get it.
I have set getTagsauto to "no" now. I guess this scans for id3 tags, etc. ???
Checking the discs reveals no errors.
after some thought, I am reluctant to update VirtualDJ as I have changed so many of the settings over the last year, it will take me ages to restore them all. I must make notes next time, if I am forced to do this.
I am beginning to wonder if somebody went into my laptop when I was away for the equipment for a short time and deliberately deleted the databases, but. I doubt they would have bothered to do it to both drives. One is a spare and wouldn't have been out for use.
I have set getTagsauto to "no" now. I guess this scans for id3 tags, etc. ???
Checking the discs reveals no errors.
after some thought, I am reluctant to update VirtualDJ as I have changed so many of the settings over the last year, it will take me ages to restore them all. I must make notes next time, if I am forced to do this.
I am beginning to wonder if somebody went into my laptop when I was away for the equipment for a short time and deliberately deleted the databases, but. I doubt they would have bothered to do it to both drives. One is a spare and wouldn't have been out for use.
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 7:45 pm
kradcliffe
Just set an automatic weekly backup as they take up little space. All your settings are in the settings.xml file that can easily be copied over if you have to reinstall etc.
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 7:47 pm
Centre Stage Discos
That's good to know. Thanks for this.
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 7:54 pm
Centre Stage Discos
I am going to ask a daft question now. Where can I find settings.xml?
Just want to be sure I have the correct file as I have more than one. Those I have found, with the Appdata folder, don't actually mention VirtualDJ but contain settings which could also apply to another piece of software I use.
Just want to be sure I have the correct file as I have more than one. Those I have found, with the Appdata folder, don't actually mention VirtualDJ but contain settings which could also apply to another piece of software I use.
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 8:07 pm
kradcliffe
Go to settings, options and click the cog in the bottom right corner. That will take you to the home folder location.
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 8:15 pm
Centre Stage Discos
Thank you KRADCLIFFE.
I know a little more about these things than I am letting on. (enough to be dangerous!) Just wanted to be 100% sure I was backing up the correct file. I forget so many things these days.
Thanks again all. Making a start on this straight away.
I know a little more about these things than I am letting on. (enough to be dangerous!) Just wanted to be 100% sure I was backing up the correct file. I forget so many things these days.
Thanks again all. Making a start on this straight away.
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 8:23 pm
Centre Stage Discos
Yep! Seems to have done the trick.
THANK YOU all for your help and patience with me on this.
Something, somewhere, somehow, must have become corrupted. It all seems to work perfectly with the latest update. Backed up settings.xml restored and working well.
Adding to the database worked so much more quickly too.
I'll take a copy of these notes so I can act quickly should this happen again.
You are my heroes! THANK YOU again!
THANK YOU all for your help and patience with me on this.
Something, somewhere, somehow, must have become corrupted. It all seems to work perfectly with the latest update. Backed up settings.xml restored and working well.
Adding to the database worked so much more quickly too.
I'll take a copy of these notes so I can act quickly should this happen again.
You are my heroes! THANK YOU again!
Inviato Mon 18 Mar 24 @ 9:51 pm