CTMobileDJ
As background, my old PC (HP Pavilion) was a Vista machine running VDJ (Cue) 7.0.2 with a Numark DJIO as the sound interface and a Numark DJ2Go midi controller. The PC bit the dust. I now have a new Windows 8.1 laptop (HP Envy 17t) but I am using all the same files, software, and external hardware. Before the PC died, I was able to retrieve all my music files and also the folders under the Windows > Users> User > Documents > Numark Cue directory. So far, I have done the following:
1. Copied all my music files into a new directory into the C: drive.
2. Installed VDJ 7.0.2 on my new PC (the same version I installed on my old Vista PC).
3. Copied my old Numark Cue folders (which also contained all the database XML files) into the equivalent path on my Windows 8.1 PC (Windows > Users> User > Documents > Numark Cue).
4. Opened up each playlist XML file (in the Playlists folder) using Notepad and replaced all incorrect drive letter with the new (C:) drive letter.
5. Launched VDJ (Cue) and held my breath... (see results below).
6. Connected my DJ2Go controller and that worked (even picking my modified mapping I did on the old system).
7. Ran a "recurs" on my whole music library and it seemed to pick all of my song tags (I think).
8. Loaded my ASIO driver for the Numark DJIO sound card (the latest one I could find on the Numark website) and connected the device.
Here are the results:
GOOD NEWS
- All my songs were found
- All my Genres were found
- All my History files were found
- All my Playlists (and the songs) were found
- All my Filter folders were found
BAD NEWS
- I had roughly 30 Virtual Folders nicely organized and nested. Now I see only 8 (and none of my songs are in them)! This took me countless hours to create and arrange. I don't think I could recreate them the same way from memory if I wanted to. This would be a HUGE disappointment if they can't be retrieved (I base most of my gigs on this feature too).
- Album covers don’t display on those songs that I used the File Info > Change Cover Artwork > Google, Rhapsody, or Amazon method to load a cover. This represents about 3% of my song files (that’s a lot when you have over 44,000 songs). I thought stuff like this was stored in the Cache folder that was brought over to the new PC?
- In the Browser tab, all the fields (like “Title”, “Artist”, etc.) defaulted to the factory presets. I had to manually select each field and change the order. How come the app remembers these settings when you re-open it on the same PC, but not when you re-install it? Are these stored in another folder that I missed on my old PC?
- The sound coming out of my Numark DJIO is garbled and choppy (sounds fine in the Single Output, Simple Sound Card option). I tried various latency settings in the ASIO driver but to no avail. I guess that means I now have to hunt down and disable various components in my Device Manager while monitoring the PC using the dpclat.exe app. I remember doing that a few years back on my old PC…
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.
1. Copied all my music files into a new directory into the C: drive.
2. Installed VDJ 7.0.2 on my new PC (the same version I installed on my old Vista PC).
3. Copied my old Numark Cue folders (which also contained all the database XML files) into the equivalent path on my Windows 8.1 PC (Windows > Users> User > Documents > Numark Cue).
4. Opened up each playlist XML file (in the Playlists folder) using Notepad and replaced all incorrect drive letter with the new (C:) drive letter.
5. Launched VDJ (Cue) and held my breath... (see results below).
6. Connected my DJ2Go controller and that worked (even picking my modified mapping I did on the old system).
7. Ran a "recurs" on my whole music library and it seemed to pick all of my song tags (I think).
8. Loaded my ASIO driver for the Numark DJIO sound card (the latest one I could find on the Numark website) and connected the device.
Here are the results:
GOOD NEWS
- All my songs were found
- All my Genres were found
- All my History files were found
- All my Playlists (and the songs) were found
- All my Filter folders were found
BAD NEWS
- I had roughly 30 Virtual Folders nicely organized and nested. Now I see only 8 (and none of my songs are in them)! This took me countless hours to create and arrange. I don't think I could recreate them the same way from memory if I wanted to. This would be a HUGE disappointment if they can't be retrieved (I base most of my gigs on this feature too).
- Album covers don’t display on those songs that I used the File Info > Change Cover Artwork > Google, Rhapsody, or Amazon method to load a cover. This represents about 3% of my song files (that’s a lot when you have over 44,000 songs). I thought stuff like this was stored in the Cache folder that was brought over to the new PC?
- In the Browser tab, all the fields (like “Title”, “Artist”, etc.) defaulted to the factory presets. I had to manually select each field and change the order. How come the app remembers these settings when you re-open it on the same PC, but not when you re-install it? Are these stored in another folder that I missed on my old PC?
- The sound coming out of my Numark DJIO is garbled and choppy (sounds fine in the Single Output, Simple Sound Card option). I tried various latency settings in the ASIO driver but to no avail. I guess that means I now have to hunt down and disable various components in my Device Manager while monitoring the PC using the dpclat.exe app. I remember doing that a few years back on my old PC…
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.
Posted Sun 15 Mar 15 @ 10:05 pm
PachN
For the virtual folders, the filepaths and drive letters have to be the same as on your old vista machine. Also make sure you use the same Username.
I think the order of the columns is stored in the registry. So one machine would know the order, while on your other machine you get the default values after installing VDJ.
I think the order of the columns is stored in the registry. So one machine would know the order, while on your other machine you get the default values after installing VDJ.
Posted Mon 16 Mar 15 @ 5:40 am
CTMobileDJ
I just realized I am also missing all the "Ratings" field assignments (1 star, 2 stars, etc.) for my songs. Again, for me, this affects a ton of files. Wouldn't this also be stored in the database XML?
When I went to locate the database XML file(s) to open in Notepad, I found I had several files to choose from:
- VirtualDJ Database.xml
- VirtualDJ Database v5.xml
- VirtualDJ Database v6.xml
- VirtualDJ Local Database v5.xml
- VirtualDJ Local Database v6.xml
The VirtualDJ Database.xml had the latest date, so I opened it and did a search on "virtualfolder". I found the virtual folders that display on my new PC, but none of my missing virtual folders. I did see several songs under those folders, but they were only the ones VDJ found in my Cache folder on my new PC.
I then opened up all of the other database XML files and did the same search. I finally found my missing virtual folders (and their respective songs) in the VirtualDJ Local Database v6.xml file. There, I saw the "Song filePath" and it had the old drive letters on all of the songs. I did a search and replace to put the correct drive letter in. I restarted VDJ, but the old virtual folders still did not display. Should I copy these folders from this file into my VirtualDJ Database.xml file, as that's where it looks like VDJ is pulling my virtual folders from?
Also, what text string do I use to search for my missing "ratings" assignments on my songs? I tried "Ratings", "Field1", "Field2", and "Field3", but no luck so far in any of the database XML files.
Regarding my audio issues, is there anything peculiar to Windows 8.1 that I need to configure to make my ASIO driver work correctly? It almost seems like it is "fighting" against another sound app. On my machine, it has the Beatsaudio sound app installed. Do I need to select something in there?
When I went to locate the database XML file(s) to open in Notepad, I found I had several files to choose from:
- VirtualDJ Database.xml
- VirtualDJ Database v5.xml
- VirtualDJ Database v6.xml
- VirtualDJ Local Database v5.xml
- VirtualDJ Local Database v6.xml
The VirtualDJ Database.xml had the latest date, so I opened it and did a search on "virtualfolder". I found the virtual folders that display on my new PC, but none of my missing virtual folders. I did see several songs under those folders, but they were only the ones VDJ found in my Cache folder on my new PC.
I then opened up all of the other database XML files and did the same search. I finally found my missing virtual folders (and their respective songs) in the VirtualDJ Local Database v6.xml file. There, I saw the "Song filePath" and it had the old drive letters on all of the songs. I did a search and replace to put the correct drive letter in. I restarted VDJ, but the old virtual folders still did not display. Should I copy these folders from this file into my VirtualDJ Database.xml file, as that's where it looks like VDJ is pulling my virtual folders from?
Also, what text string do I use to search for my missing "ratings" assignments on my songs? I tried "Ratings", "Field1", "Field2", and "Field3", but no luck so far in any of the database XML files.
Regarding my audio issues, is there anything peculiar to Windows 8.1 that I need to configure to make my ASIO driver work correctly? It almost seems like it is "fighting" against another sound app. On my machine, it has the Beatsaudio sound app installed. Do I need to select something in there?
Posted Mon 16 Mar 15 @ 8:57 pm
PachN
If you did a search an replace, now do the following:
Backup and rename the file "database.xml" which you will find in your VDJ folder in .../documents/virutaldj
and on any external / other internal drives in the folder x:/virtualdj/
this database.xml is the new file for version 8.
do also a backup of the "folders" folders which you will find at the same locations.
Now delete the origin database.xml files and "folders" folder.
Make sure all your externals holding you music are connected and start up VDJ8.
Wait a minute or two. Close VDJ and reopen it.
Are your files and virtual folders back?
The reason this has to be done is, that version 8 only converts your v7 database at the very first start of version 8 and/ or if there is no database.xml file.
Backup and rename the file "database.xml" which you will find in your VDJ folder in .../documents/virutaldj
and on any external / other internal drives in the folder x:/virtualdj/
this database.xml is the new file for version 8.
do also a backup of the "folders" folders which you will find at the same locations.
Now delete the origin database.xml files and "folders" folder.
Make sure all your externals holding you music are connected and start up VDJ8.
Wait a minute or two. Close VDJ and reopen it.
Are your files and virtual folders back?
The reason this has to be done is, that version 8 only converts your v7 database at the very first start of version 8 and/ or if there is no database.xml file.
Posted Tue 17 Mar 15 @ 6:51 am
CTMobileDJ
PachN - Thanks for the suggestion, but I am running VDJ 7.0.2 on a Windows 8.1 system (I do not have VDJ version 8). Given that, I do have some updates:
GOOD NEWS
I took a gamble and it paid off! I wound up copying the virtual folders text strings from my VirtualDJ Local Database v6.xml file into my VirtualDJ Database v6.xml. I then relaunched VJD and voila! - they all displayed. That tells me something about VDJ. Because I migrated VDJ versions over the years on the same machine (my old PC), everything (i.e., XML from earlier databases) was always being picked up in VDJ. However, once I re-installed VDJ, all bets were off. It seems VDJ only picks up virtual folders from the latest database XML file it recognizes (in this case, the VirtualDJ Database v6.xml file) and ignores virtual folders set up from earlier VDJ database XML files. Something we can all learn from when we migrate our library to another PC.
BAD NEWS
- still can't find where "ratings" assignments field (1 star, 2 stars, etc.) is located or stored in the Database XML
- the system still can't load album cover artwork that was done using the File Info > Change Cover Artwork > Google, Rhapsody, or Amazon method on my old PC
- still getting garbled/distorted/jerky sound when using my Numark DJIO sound card. I ran dpclate.exe to check for latency spikes, and all the results were in the yellow "safe" zone. I even disabled every network/Wi-Fi/Webcam device on my machine in Device Manager, but it did not help. Does anyone know of an issue with the DJIO sound card driver and Windows 8.1? I downloaded and am using the latest version from Numark's website.
GOOD NEWS
I took a gamble and it paid off! I wound up copying the virtual folders text strings from my VirtualDJ Local Database v6.xml file into my VirtualDJ Database v6.xml. I then relaunched VJD and voila! - they all displayed. That tells me something about VDJ. Because I migrated VDJ versions over the years on the same machine (my old PC), everything (i.e., XML from earlier databases) was always being picked up in VDJ. However, once I re-installed VDJ, all bets were off. It seems VDJ only picks up virtual folders from the latest database XML file it recognizes (in this case, the VirtualDJ Database v6.xml file) and ignores virtual folders set up from earlier VDJ database XML files. Something we can all learn from when we migrate our library to another PC.
BAD NEWS
- still can't find where "ratings" assignments field (1 star, 2 stars, etc.) is located or stored in the Database XML
- the system still can't load album cover artwork that was done using the File Info > Change Cover Artwork > Google, Rhapsody, or Amazon method on my old PC
- still getting garbled/distorted/jerky sound when using my Numark DJIO sound card. I ran dpclate.exe to check for latency spikes, and all the results were in the yellow "safe" zone. I even disabled every network/Wi-Fi/Webcam device on my machine in Device Manager, but it did not help. Does anyone know of an issue with the DJIO sound card driver and Windows 8.1? I downloaded and am using the latest version from Numark's website.
Posted Tue 17 Mar 15 @ 9:55 pm