Albums not showing up in KODI Artist menu

MusicBrainz
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Okay - this post is gong to send us down many rabbit holes… especially as there are multiple ways to answer your questions… but I’ll be with you on those chases if you have deeper questions. You ask about a lot of different OSs at the same time…

1\ I have multiple folders on my NAS. I don’t add the music folder as a single KODI source.

\\NAS\Music\!!Ripped CDs\
\\NAS\Music\Other Digital\
\\NAS\Music\zzBootlegs\
\\NAS\Music\zzzSoundtracks\

Instead of adding one source called “Music”, I add multiple sources to KODI. I then tweak the names so they alpha sort. This then lets me control what KODI sees “first”. So my cleanest tagged music gets scanned first. Pre-populating the Artists with the best quality data.

It also lets me do a quick search in only my FLAC ripped CDs for music and not pick up that dodgy low quality MP3 copy a mate gave me of an album.

(KODI Source: Source folder - Official Kodi Wiki Just the same as you have a separate Source for video and music. I have multiple Music sources)

3\ One simple trick is to just temporary MOVE those wrongly tagged albums out of the NAS music folders. Temp hide all the Uriah Heep and Ken Hensley music. Now do a “clean library” on each device to delete the trace of them. Then move the music back in and hope for clean scan.

OR: Kodi data folder - Official Kodi Wiki tells you where to find the databases on each OS.

For Android I use Total Commander with the LAN plugin to copy docs on and off. (Assuming you can’t just see it when attaching to a PC?)
For the PI, just put the database onto an SD Card or USB drive. Or simply stop KODI and use Putty to navigate to the PI KODI folder and delete the database and rebuild it.

OR: For a future idea - KODI can run with a single centralised database. It should possible to put some kind of SQL Server on the NAS and then just keep one central database all devices share.

My solution? I only have one KODI install. Other machines I access the music using the KODI web interface. That web page allows search and playback to the local device. OR acts as a remote control for my main KODI system on the main speakers. (also have other sets of Bluetooth speakers on that PC for other rooms… but now getting OT and I don’t want to confuse too much otherwise I’ll start talking HA too :upside_down_face: :joy: :nerd_face:)

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Well, there is so much useful info you are giving me. Thanks!

  1. On the NAS I have only ripped CD’s in FLAC, so at the moment it does not make sense for me to split the sources. However, this might become important in the future.
  2. I did try even before to get into the Android files precisely with Total Commander (on the PC). It did not work, cannot copy onto the proper folder of the tablet. I did uninstall Kodi, I will think about whether to reinstall it given your advice about the web interface.
  3. For the PI, I will still have to work on. I am not proficient in Linux, so everything is done step-by-step. However, this is connected to my audio system with a HiFiBerry and I have enjoyed using it for quite a while. So probably this will be my main Kodi install.
  4. I enabled the Web interface on the Kodi install on the PC. It seems to be a great thing, but the controls of the interface seem to be quite awkward, slow, or non-reacting, or at least I have not figured out yet the right way to use them.
  5. The SQL Server on the NAS seems to me, as you put it, a future thing, which I have no idea how to set up.

Thanks again for all your help! I will follow up as things advance. :grinning:

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1\ As you have only spotted and fixed the one error, you are probably okay. Do you have a plan to run through and check more albums with Picard? My main “error correction” trick has always been the “hide tunes\artist from KODI, clean database, then reintroduce the files”. So anything else you spot you can handle manually.

Remember - any changes by Picard to tags have to be manually rescanned into KODI with a “Files\Scan to Library”

Also a visual check through your SQL database can flush out other errors to look into. Like how many other artists do you have without MBIDs? Typos? Gives you other files to focus on for a fix.

2\ I find the web page works fairly well for local playback on the PC\Laptop. Gets a bit small on a phone and you have to use pinch to zoom a fair bit. Worth experimenting with the different choices as I mainly use Chorus2.

Total Commander is a bit geeky and old skool in use. But can’t you just attach the tablet to your PC and look at the SDCard? (Yeah, on tablet this also means use Settings\Apps\ to move KODI to SD card)
\TABLET\SD card\Android\data\org.xbmc.kodi\files.kodi\userdata\Database

As my house is small and speakers are large I really only use my tablet as a remote for the main system via Yatse. And on the phone it is again Yatse as I just import a small selection to the phone for out of house playback.

3\ Using Putty on PI just means learning a bit of basic command line. The simple commands to show directory lists, copy, paste. Tricks like how to mount a USB drive. There will be better experts in Linux than me around, but I can hack my way through most systems. I currently have a couple of PIs in the house running Wireshark VPN, Pi-Hole, Home Assistant and have often thought about replacing my old Quad Core PC that runs KODI to use a Pi instead to save on the electricity use.

4\ Which Web interface? I use Chorus2. Then the playlist on the right hand side I swap to “Local” to allow playback on the local machine. It is not perfect as I hit the odd bug, but I am also still on the older v18 KODI.

You can mess with all of the available Webinterfaces by looking at http://kodi-ip:8080/addons/ but I find Chorus2 by far the more advanced

5\ SQL Server will be one of those things you have to learn lots of commands to setup… and then forget about for years while it “just works”. Certainly a future item.

To be honest, I setup my KODI system many years ago. And have not done much to it since. This is why it still lurks on v18 Leia. Threads like this give me an excuse to poke into the system again. The great side of projects like KODI is it “just works”. And once you have manipulated to fit your needs, you then just leave it and forget it.

Current experiments have been with PI’s and getting Wireshark VPN access running so I can remote into the house for access to file server and KODI from the phone. Never expose KODI through a firewall.

KODI is the reason I am on MB as I came here to “tag a few albums” and half a decade later I am still here… :laughing:

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  1. I am still building my music library. I have ripped all my English language CD’s and all my classical music to the NAS. Most of that was done during the first months of the Covid shutdown. However I have left quite a few of my Bulgarian CD’s, for which in many cases tagging means adding new releases to MusicBrainz, some of which need adding new artists, etc. I need a bout of enthusiasm to start doing it :grinning:. Originally, my understanding of the process was poor, and I believe I have done some imperfect things tagging so far, especially in the beginning. This means that one day I will have to sit down an reexamine all my music library. As you say, I always rescan in the library all changes. I figured that out pretty soon.
    I like very much your suggestion of the visual check of the database. You remember that the only entry left for Uriah Heep was the one that did not have the MBID. There are probably a lot like that that need fixing.
  2. For the last 2 days I got more comfortable with the web interface. You know, before starting this thread, I had no clue that this thing existed. I had seen it in the menus of Kodi, but did not think that it serves this purpose. There are some problems, maybe you know the answers. First, on the web interface there is an option to “Stream” in the menu, with the icon of the Chromecast. I have a Chromecast on my TV. However, touching it just restarts playing locally on the tablet. Any input? Second, the web interface is not “gapless”. When I listened to the second side of “Abbey Road”, on which there are several tracks that continue into each other. On the PC, where the Kodi is installed, they play without a gap. On the interface, there is a short, but well heard gap between the songs. Any setting that may be tweaked?
  3. As I wrote before, my main Kodi install is on the PI. I have a PI 2, with the first generation of the HiFiBerry DAC’s, and I can tell you that it works very well. Recently, there have been several new and improved ones, and I am thinking of upgrading at some point. I also use Yatse, and I am very happy with it. However, I have encountered a problem. At random intervals, which may be a day, but at other times may be weeks, the WiFi connection to the PI stops. The PI is running, as judged by the LED, but no connection. Then I have to reboot it. Also, I know some basic Linux. I connect to the PI with VNC. But Kodi is using the graphics in a way that does not show up on VNC. I have to plug it to a monitor to be able to work with Kodi directly. Now, with the web access that will probably get better.
  4. The default on the Kodi install is the Chorus2, it would be too much for me at the moment to experiment with the others. I will take your word on it. :slight_smile:
  5. The SQL Server will be on the back burner for now. :slight_smile:

Same thing here. I got to MB to “tag a few albums”. I have entered several new release groups and have made some corrections. But I still have a lot to learn about Kodi and MB. Thanks for your help! :+1:

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Yeah - we all do that :rofl:. Always learn more by fixing our mistakes. My biggest mistake was ripping 500 CDs to MP3 and then I bought a new HiFi system with decent speakers. Had to start again on the ripping to FLAC…

With the Bulgarian CDs, as long you are consistent with your names and no typos then you should be fine with the KODI database reading this data without MBIDs. Your previous errors came from typos and cross linked data hiding the Uriah Heep in a place you didn’t look. KODI will always read the MBID first

I remember doing this myself. After my first scans I realised I had 95% good tags, but some junk in my scrappy digital files pile. Music from “other sources”/bootlegs. Poking around with the alpha sorts in the database on the Artist Table (and the Album table) helped things stand out to me I had to chase down and fix first. As you are mainly self-ripped this is going to be less of an issue.

In my case, I would fix these in the files, then rescan them. Usually enough to straighten up the database without hacking around with too much SQL.

2\ There is a lot of good in that Chrous2 interface. (ignore the others) Mainly used when I don’t want the main house speakers on. Had not noticed the gapless hiccup before. Testing Dark Side of the Moon on my PC and there is a small, fraction of a second drop. Had to focus on it to spot it. Not enough to have noticed the drop before - and I listen to plenty of gapless. But when on the PC that usually means it is background as I work. Maybe a combo of network lag? My music files are on decent disks in a PC file server. Not a simple NAS box. Both have gigabit network cards, on a gigabit switch. A quick test with an android tablet seems about the same. Certainly better than VLC’s gaps.

The browser fits my use case - being lazy. LOL. I like the easy search on the interface.

Can’t comment about casting as don’t do it. I thought a Chrome browser could cast any web page? Been a few years since I messed around with one.

(Just learnt a new trick… didn’t realise I could run two separate browsers at the same time streaming different albums on the same PC. That was a little confusing for a moment… :laughing:)

3\ PI 2 wifi errors I can’t really comment on. I have 3s and 4s and I always run these on Ethernet. WiFi is too easy to be interfered with. I live in a noisy wifi neighbourhood. I know there are hardware issues on the Pi 4 with WiFi and USB combos, but never bothered reading into them due to cables. Ever tried using a USB WiFi dongle instead?

I just been to a client’s house fixing streaming issues on his fancy wifi streamer. He paid many hundreds of pounds for some audiophile wifi streamer box… something we can do with cheap PIs. His wifi was lagging out and knackering his audio. Swapped to Ethernet, problems gone. Copper is King.

My main File Server is actually a Quad Core PC, and so is the separate KODI PC. For various reasons I have a PC connected to the TV and more importantly to the main Yamaha RX-A1070. HDMI connections from the PC to the Yamaha and KODI running in passthrough mode. I have a PI4 spare I may experiment with later in the year. PI’s were not really around when I first set my system up.

Another trick I have that KODI PC doing is connecting to Bluetooth speakers around the house. It lets me push the audio around from that central point to other extremes in the house. Another reason I haven’t needed to go deep into an android audio route. I use Bluetooth Audio adapters connected to decent speakers.

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You may be familiar with this little icon:
2629729-200

It should be on the display somewhere - tap/click it to connect to the Chromecast (with your device and the TV/Chromecast on the same wifi network), then it should stream to the TV.

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The confusion is caused by this home created web interface using the icon to mean “Playback on local device”

image
image725×264 59.7 KB

Pushing that button is not chromecast. It is play on local PC. Or “stream” to this PC where the web browser is running. The dev has just “borrowed” a pretty looking icon.

The “Play” button means play on the KODI device through KODI’s speakers.

In “theory” it may be possible to “Stream” to the browser, and then attempt to use the Browser’s own Chromecast button to redirect the webpage to a device with a Chromecast on it.

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Wow… That is a bad idea in the case of this icon :sweat_smile:

Edit: that said, maybe it has a broader meaning than I’m familiar with. But for the average user this will be trouble

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Yeah, well, you know the kinda troubles devs can cause by not following design rules.

KODI is all open source. And this web interface was created by someone not in the team. Just was such a good addon it got added to the official product. They probably just picked a pretty icon with the plan to replace it one day… and forgot.

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Btw @uriahfan, if you install Google Home on your device you should be able to use that to cast your screen + audio without any trouble.

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I thought Chrome used to have this built in? Trouble is I don’t use Chrome so can’t check.

So many options to bounce things around all over the place. :smiley:

If it was me, I’d slap a bluetooth receiver onto the TV and push the audio direct from the KODI box. I have switches to flick the KODI audio output (think it uses JSON but don’t quote me on that)

It is the best part of open source projects - someone will have needed to do it, so an option gets built in.

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Yup, can also do this if you use Chrome!

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@IvanDobsky and @aerozol thank you for your comments and advice. A couple of things:

  1. I started ripping my files in .wav, since I wanted to preserve highest quality. Quickly realised that these do not have (enough) tags and switched to .flac, which as you know are “lossless”. I will also try to fix things in the files rather than play with the database.

  2. The “hiccups” are very annoying to me, especially as I said on “Abbey Road”, since there is a long overlap of several songs. As I mentioned, it does not happen on the PC Kodi install. And it does not happen on the PI Kodi install, when I play it through its sound card into the stereo system, although its connection to the network is wireless. I have not tried it through the browser, when the PI is connected with “copper” :slight_smile:. I am too lazy to drill a hole from my basement, where the NAS is, to the fist floor, where the Pi is. This “hiccup” thing seems to be an important issue, in general. As far as I get it it is referred to as “gapless” play. I have an old Sony CD player, and I am toying with the idea to replace it. Since my receiver is Yamaha, I would prefer the Yamaha brand. However, the only one in my price range is specifically commented by users not to be “gapless”.
    Also, since my stereo system is on the opposing corner to the TV, I cannot take advantage of the HDMI output to the TV and use the CEC controls. Also this “stream” thing seems strange indeed. The difference I find is that when you hit “play” only one track plays, when you hit “stream” the whole album plays. I tried with both Firefox and Chrome browsers, on both a tablet and an Android phone. Could not find any way to stream it through the Chromecast. And I routinely stream things from my tablet on the TV though the Chromecast otherwise.

  3. PI 2 does not have built in WiFi. I use a USB dongle. Sometimes I think, that the dongle is causing the problem, but I do not have enough knowledge/experience to trace that. Indeed the best thing will be to connect the PI to the network with a cable. I am sure it will happen … one of these days :grinning: :wink:

  4. Pi 2 does not have bluetooth, as well. Otherwise, I would pair it with the soundbar that is also connected to the TV. It is probably time to upgrade the PI, but they are so expensive these days :frowning: .

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I understand the gapless headache. You need audio perfection and not stutters. Are you saying the NAS is on WiFi due to the basement location? Or is only the PI WiFi? If the NAS is on copper, a quick test is just move the PI for a few hours and sit in the basement with a laptop and all three on a network switch. See if the gap is less \ enough to be bearable.

If gaps are less, maybe powerline devices would do a better job? I use them a lot in houses with tough walls.

If you play Abbey Road a lot, then installing KODI on each device and syncing the database is not a total headache. It is all about options. Cost of effort vs payback. I understand the mental twitch a gap causes. I tried using VLC as a player and DSotM on that makes my brain hurt.

Physical CD Players are getting harder to find. Better to look second hand on EBay. Or your local second hand stores, charity shops, house clearance, local papers. A “Yamaha” player is going to have the same Chinese made kit inside as I don’t think you find many manufacturers left. They are not even in laptops and computers now. Is your blu-ray connected to the Yamaha? Just put CDs in that? I not played a CD on the HiFi for over a decade, since the death of my Marantz. I buy a CD and rip now.

It is just a more generic use of “Stream”". I have other open source projects that use that icon. It is not copyright to Google.

When I use the “local” option of Chorus2, I’ll swap the playlist on the right side of the screen to “local” and then press Play from any part of the interface. (I often like using the Random Album page to find forgotten gems) To be honest, I had not hit that Stream button before this conversation. :smiley:

The Chromecast is confusing though. Surely this is “just a website” to the browser? So the Chromecast should cast the website and audio? Isn’t Chromecasting a feature that Yatse can do? (He is worth giving him his small payment for the full app)

3\ Pi USB wifi dongles are cheap as very cheap things. Just buy a new one. Also look close at placement between it and the router. I tell my clients - imagine attaching a piece of string between it and the router. Now pull tight. This magic string goes through walls. What, exactly, does it pass through in the walls? No water, metal, radiators, metal support beams, foil insulation, electrical, washing machines, fridge, mirrors, fish tanks, fat people sitting in a chair… I have have all of those mess with WiFi signals in a house. Sometimes it just means moving the WiFi aerial 12 inches to the left and it is clear of the obstruction.

(I won’t mention the ID-10T who used to have his router sitting on the floor underneath his large speakers… I know you ain’t that daft :rofl:)

Can’t a new WiFi dongle also add that bluetooth to the PI2? And therefore a more direct route to TV? You can then just swap speakers with Yatse.

So many options. :rofl:

And yeah, I’ll happily talk this stuff for hours. My own system is currently morphing and updating a bit as I automate the house more. Technical puzzles like this are also part of the day job.

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The NAS itself is on copper. The Raspberry Pi is on wireless, but no problems with the gapless play. It seems more of an issue related to the fact whether you are using the kodi device itself, or are connecting to it through the web interface.
At any rate, new developments here :grinning:. When you mentioned the sql server, I spoke to a friend of mine who is well versed in these, and he told me that he used to have that, but has found a new software, which is simpler to use and recommended it to me. It is called Emby server, and can be installed on almost anything, including on the NAS itself, which I did. When you rip a CD and tag it with MusicBrainz and save it, the Emby database detects it immediately and includes it (as opposed to Kodi, when you have to scan it in yourself). It has its own front end, which is also very good, but there is an add-on for Kodi, which connects to the Emby-database seamlessly. I am still in exploratory mode, looking for the pros and cons. If you have explored this already, I would be interested in your opinion/remarks.

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I have heard of it, but my KODI system is a kinda “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” setup at the moment. It has been running for far more years than I care to remember.

I don’t mind the manual scan of KODI. If Emby “auto-detects” that means it is chugging on CPU more, constantly watching for change. My collection don’t change that often. I’m more of a manual fiddler and happy to tell KODI where to look so I can check I not made any tagging errors. This is why I leave KODI’s own auto-scans off.

A quick look at the Emby website, and the fees for Emby kinda puts me off. If the KODI project collapsed today, then I loose nothing as everything still works. I’d be less happy if I lost features if Emby shuts down. I’ve seen a few too many media centres come and go over the decades.

The good thing is there are so many different choices available. The more competing products, the more drive to borrow ideas from each other and improve. And the more likely to fit something that fits each person’s needs.

I assume the issues of this thread would still have caught out Emby. I used to use Winamp as my media centre as it is very forgiving of bad tags and even falls back to a filename. What would be good is a tool that just looks at tags and flags anomalies. Yeah, this is kinda possible with Picard, but takes a lot of work to achieve. Your problem was caused by artist not making the artist-MBID. That’s the kinda thing that would be good to flag up in a collection.

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I agree with you, but I do not see why you are not upgrading to the new Kodi versions. Apparently, you are way ahead of me in understanding the ins and outs of Kodi. I am upgrading to every new version, since I feel that if I jump several versions, I will end up with more problems, than if I do it gradually :grinning:. I just upgraded a couple of days ago to version 20.0 on the PC.

Also, I downloaded the Emby server at no charge, and even the front end is working. I understand that there is a fancier version, which is paid, and I would not go for that either.

There are things that I do not like with the Emby add-on for Kodi, one of which is that if I click on a track in an album, when it ends, playing stops. Unlike Kodi itself, which continues to the end of the album. If you click on the whole album then it plays it completely. This may be a matter of some set up, but I have not seen how to fix this so far.

I also do not mind scanning albums into Kodi manually. In fact, it is kind of fun - adding a new one to your library. This is easy for my Kodi installation on the PC. My annoyance stems from the fact that to add a new album to the Raspberry Pi, I have to take it to a monitor in another room, connect it there and scan the album. Since this is annoying, I do it every now and then. Meanwhile, I forget what has been scanned recently, so I end up rescanning the whole library, which takes a while (especially on WiFi). For this reason, your advice about the SQL Server seemed very appealing to me, and I told you the story in my previous posting.

I am debating whether I should go back to a local database on the Pi, and then use the web interface, which is not perfect, but adequate.

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Time really… last few years I have been very distracted by MB instead of KODI and this leads to a lot of daft sticking points.

  • Change of KODI artwork handling. Means I need to find a way of exporting my current art, but KODI does not have write access to my Media folders. I should not be so fussy and allow change to some artists\series… but I am a little mad :crazy_face: and get used to how things look.
  • Change of the Video scraper sources. It will mean a lot of re-checking of multiple series as the different scrapers name a few series differently. And that will also be changing artwork.
  • I like the Leia image at startup. LOLz

I even wrote a KODI add-on in the past, but I got bored of the attitude on that forum and moved away to MB. Still read it to keep up but not participated in many years.

The upgrade is on the round-tuit list, but just never became important as I am happy with the current setup. I need to upgrade really due to little things like the better handling for multi-disc albums added in Matrix. Just not set the time aside to do it and the checks I’d want to make. Have thrown the new version onto a test PC before, and also updated the Android version due to this thread. Never dug that deep though.

Your comment about Emby playing just one track instead of the album is something I would also have to hunt down. But I also assume there is a simple “load this album to current playlist” option? I am an album person and nearly always play albums. What is their web interface like? If you are running the main DB, I assume that means you can use a web interface like Chorus? Is that gapless?

With your PI puzzle… why not just copy the updated database from your PC to your PI? No need for monitors. Just use putty.

Then all you need to do is rescan on the PC, update database, exit KODI, copy the musicxx.db, copy to the PI. I could run through the steps I would do if you want? Easier than it sounds. I guess you have a writable SMB share on the NAS where you can copy the database to? Somewhere both PC and PI can see? Ever used Putty?

If you don’t update the database that often, this is a quick task. If you update the database a lot, then we should look at doing it “properly” with an SQL DB.

I like threads like this as it gives me ideas for my own system…