I was trying to lookup a CD in Picard 2.6.4, it was not found and the prompt to submit a disc id appears. If I run CUERipper which uses the MB database, it finds the exact CD release correctly which leads me to assume that the disc id is in the database.
Why doesn’t Picard find it?
Could be multiple reasons:
CUETools has its own MB database cache that is synced with the MB database, and desync can happen (I’ve seen it the other way round - data that I added to MB never showed up with CUETools, or they had stale data long after my edits have been committed).
Also CUETools have the ability to “fuzz match” - using keywords and track lengths, instead of solely rely on the disc ID, though I believe you have to turn it on manually. But in this case, it will match releases that lack the disc ID, and you will want to manually check the MB entry to be sure.
Is there anyway to see what Picard is doing?
The CD does exist in the MB database. Ignore the fact that Cuerippper finds it. The main question should be why doesnt Picard?
I mean, you should check whether the MB entry of the CD has an associated disc ID at all.
If the CD release does not have a disc ID associated with it, as in the case of 謎掛閑店, then Picard will not be able to match it, while CUETools can still match it if the fuzz search option is turned on (since it has track lengths).
How can I see the disc-id calculated by Picard from my CD? There are two ids connected to the
2003 remaster, one is for the 1986 original. I think this is the problem
Click the “submit disc ID” button and you’ll land at the MB page for submitting it and it will be shown there (you will need an MB account for that).
If you don’t have an MB account and don’t want to open one, look at the URL, it would be something like https://musicbrainz.org/cdtoc/attach?id=<disc id>&tracks=<num of tracks>&toc=<cd table of contents>&tport=8000. The <disc id> part is what you want, usually something like xJ3To4cxPwBNKCNQC1kLIRCFHHc- (which is an actual disc ID).
Another possibility for Picard failing to match the release is that the copy you have might be a different pressing from the one that is on record with MB, and you are encouraged to submit the disc ID in this case (does not affect CUETools with fuzz search enabled). See the official explaination for details. The exact calculation process is documented here, but if you can’t understand the latter, it does not matter.
If you do plan to contribute, be sure to check the release group where all the different versions of the release is grouped into a single entity. You need to add the disc ID to the correct release of the release group. Also check official documentation and style guidelines to determine if you need to add a new release within the release group. Though different pressings of the same release is possible, it is also possible that your copy should be constituted as a different release altogether.
They do, but they’ve added MB support for some time now. However, they use their own mirror of the MB database, so there are some glitches from time to time.
Thanks.
Note that i have the 2003 remaster vs the original release in 1980. The release date is obviously different and the remastering credit is only valid on the 2003 release. Is it a seperate release group?
I’d rather assume that CUEripper falls back to FreeDB for the lookup.
If picard doesn’t find it that means that disc ID is not in the database. If I look at that release group there also seems to be only a single disc ID currently assigned to both the 1986 original CD release and the 2003 re-release. That’s not impossible, but especially if the second is a remaster and not just a re-pressing it is at least unlikely. So I guess MB currently misses the correct disc ID for your CD and the disc ID currently assigned to the 2003 release is probably wrong.
What you should do is use the submission link to add your disc ID to the proper release. If the release you own matches the 2003 US release currently in the database, add the ID to that. There are front and back cover scans, so you should be able to compare. If you release is different (e.g. different front or back cover, different barcode or catalogue no., …), add a new release.
No, it is the same release group. It’s still the same album. For different versions there should be different releases then.
You can enable Picard debug mode, it will show which queries it does.
See General Troubleshooting — MusicBrainz Picard v2.10 documentation
Picard finds both and lists them for me to choose. Mine is 2003 and matches the artwork exactly and the disc ID. Seems like the only way to confirm that the disc ID is linked to the 1986 original is to have a copy of that CD?
Ok, now I’m confused, because you originally wrote Picard does not find results for that CD 
But yes, the only way to see if the 1986 disc has the same disc ID is to actually have a copy of that CD.
Yes, I was confused by that as well. I went back and checked everything including downgrading to the previous version of Picard as I had upgraded during the investigation. I am embarrassed to admit that I mixed up two CDs. The Cd that Picard did not find is Bob Seger’s greatest Hits. Looking at the debug messages that @zas showed me how to turn on, I can see that the disc ID for my copy is not in the MB database and that’s why Picard prompts me to submit the id. I have yet to do this. I am sorry to not have been accurate in my report earlier.