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Empty crates on my external drive?
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Empty crates on my external drive?

Product
Scratch Live
Version
-
Hardware
Ortofon | Serato S-120
Computer
-
OS
Platform
-
hogg 6:23 PM - 26 February, 2006
Once every two weeks or so, I copy my entire My Music folder onto my external drive as a backup. This folder contains all my mp3s as well as the ScratchLive folder. Oh yeah: I'm on 1.528.

When I plug in my external drive to try to DJ just using that, I go to the IMPORT window and I see my external drive, as well as the My Music folder. In it, I see all my folders (hip-hop, dancehall, 90-100 bpm, acapellas, etc.). And I see my Crates, but there's nothing in them.

I'm guessing that the reason I don't see anything in my crates is because of the relative path issue. My crates are still looking for files on the C drive, but now they're on the external drive.

Is there a way to create a crate ON the external, or do I have to use folders as crates?

I had a long discussion about this with Cashless and we couldn't come up with a crate-based solution. But $10 says that nik39 already knows three answers to this. :)

Thanks.
hogg 7:33 PM - 26 February, 2006
I thought I had searched everywhere for this, but it looks like Revolutionary was describing the same problem here:

scratchlive.net
nik39 9:17 PM - 26 February, 2006
The location info for each track is already relative... relative to its root folder. So, you gotta take care you have exactly the same folder structure on your ext drive. Example:

location of track on c: drive:
c:\ab\cd\ef\gh\track1.mp3

Now on e: (external drive or any other permission):
e:\ab\cd\ef\gh\track1.mp3

Is that the case for you?
Revolutionary 9:35 PM - 26 February, 2006
Definitely not the same issue, Hogg. The problem I was having should have been fixed in the latest beta build.
hogg 10:13 PM - 26 February, 2006
Quote:
The location info for each track is already relative... relative to its root folder. So, you gotta take care you have exactly the same folder structure on your ext drive. Example:

location of track on c: drive:
c:\ab\cd\ef\gh\track1.mp3

Now on e: (external drive or any other permission):
e:\ab\cd\ef\gh\track1.mp3

Is that the case for you?


Thanks, nik.

I suppose that the case for me is that the crates on my external drive are looking for files with this location:

C/My Documents/ScratchLive/nikstheme.mp3


But the files copied to my external drive have this location:

E:Hoggs_Drive/My Documents/ScratchLive/nikstheme.mp3

So I guess it can't be done, can it?

When other DJs just bring their external drives to gigs (to plug into someone else's laptop), how does it work? You don't use crates?
nik39 10:18 PM - 26 February, 2006
hogg, why shouldnt it work? Simply move the "My Documents" to the root folder of E: :

E:\My Documents\ScratchLive\niks_in_deep_concentration.mp3

Quote:
You don't use crates?

I do, I have my songs in a folder in the root directory:

c:\fs_songs\blabla

On my ext drive I simply copy the fs_songs folder over to e:

e:\fs_songs\blabla

fs_songs comes from final scratch songs ;)
hogg 3:16 AM - 27 February, 2006
Quote:
hogg, why shouldnt it work? Simply move the "My Documents" to the root folder of E: :



But that's what I did. The crates that now reside on my E drive are copied from the crates on my C drive, so all paths still say:

C/My Documents/ScratchLive/hoggcantdoit.mp3
Serato
Josh 1:27 AM - 1 March, 2006
the crate files should only contain relative paths, that is, they will not reference C:\ or any other drive letter.

one thing I notice in your posts though, is that you have My Documents as being in the root of the drive. The default location of My Documents is C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents

open one of your .crate files on your external in notepad, and see what the paths are.
hogg 3:08 PM - 1 March, 2006
Quote:
one thing I notice in your posts though, is that you have My Documents as being in the root of the drive. The default location of My Documents is C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents



You got me! You're absolutely correct, Josh.

So, the bottom line is, you can't use crates on your external drive?
nik39 3:16 PM - 1 March, 2006
You can. Replace "My Documents" with "Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents"

So create a folder on E:

e:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents

How about you give the exact path of on example song, and we tell you how the folders on E: should look like?
DJ Goldfinger 11:17 PM - 22 July, 2006
I'm on SL 1.6.1 both on a Macbook (out for playing) and on a PC (at home). I am using an external drive and everything (mp3s crates) is on it. I created all my crates on the macbook. When I plug the external drive into the PC, the crates show up but there is no music in them. I take it that it is because the paths are different on mac vs pc? I have the .ScratchLIVE folder on the external with all the crates on it. All the mp3s are on the external organized by g:\hiphop\ etc. I don't understand why the crates show up on the PC but they are empty?
DJ Goldfinger 1:10 AM - 23 July, 2006
As I go back and forth with the external drive from PC to Mac, I can now see crates and songs in them on both systems(therefore it is not a relative drive/path problem). Some crates show the songs and others don't? What could be the cause of this and is it only a problem in 1.6.1? HELP! Generally, the last crate made does not show and songs in it when you disconnect then connect the external drive.
Rane, Support
Zach S 10:12 PM - 24 July, 2006
DJ Goldfinger,

Please post your issue in a seperate thread so we can keep this discussion for hogg organized and on track. Thanks:)
hogg 4:52 AM - 27 July, 2006
Quote:
You can. Replace "My Documents" with "Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents"

So create a folder on E:

e:\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents

How about you give the exact path of on example song, and we tell you how the folders on E: should look like?


Wow, I forgot all about this thread! Guess I gave up too soon.

Okay, I just created a new directory on my E (external) drive to match the file path on my laptop:

E:\Documents and Settings\hogg\My Documents\My Music\ScratchLIVE

I then connected my E drive to my laptop and tried it out. Same thing--empty crates on the external.

It sounds like Goldfinger is having the same problem (sort of).

I know that lots of people (allegedly, ha ha) play entirely off of their external drives. Do those people NOT use crates, only folders?
Revolutionary 1:35 PM - 27 July, 2006
They use crates, too.
nik39 2:50 PM - 27 July, 2006
hogg, thats not what I asked for. ;) What I mean is, give the complete path of one audio file on your internal harddisk.

Another question, are you saying that the crates are complete empty? Or that you cant see any crates? Or all files within a crate cant be found aka missing?
hogg 5:07 PM - 27 July, 2006
Okay, Nik! Here ya go, an example of a file path:

C:\Documents and Settings\hogg\My Documents\My Music\ScratchLIVE\80-89_bpm\ray_cash-bumpin_my_music.mp3


Quote:
Another question, are you saying that the crates are complete empty? Or that you cant see any crates? Or all files within a crate cant be found aka missing?


I can see the crates in the IMPORT window. For example, I see reggae.slc, etc. But there's nothing in those crates, or to use your own wording, all files within a crate can't be found.
n3lly 6:06 PM - 27 July, 2006
Quote:
Okay, Nik! Here ya go, an example of a file path:

C:\Documents and Settings\hogg\My Documents\My Music\ScratchLIVE\80-89_bpm\ray_cash-bumpin_my_music.mp3




That file path is different to the one you originally gave us..

eg.

Quote:

C/My Documents/ScratchLive/nikstheme.mp3


But the files copied to my external drive have this location:

E:Hoggs_Drive/My Documents/ScratchLive/nikstheme.mp3


Dunno if i'm picking up correctly on this but it seems that you've added a /My Music folder to your filepath?

Maybe i'm wrong but it's something i noticed.

nelly
hogg 6:10 PM - 27 July, 2006
True, it's a little different, but it's also correct. The original one I gave was just an example. Nik asked me for a specific file path, so that's what I gave.

Now if only someone who DJs off an external drive and uses crates would post here, my day would be complete. ;)
nik39 8:25 PM - 27 July, 2006
Quote:
C:\Documents and Settings\hogg\My Documents\My Music\ScratchLIVE\80-89_bpm\ray_cash-bumpin_my_music.mp3

New path should be:

Quote:
H:\Documents and Settings\hogg\My Documents\My Music\ScratchLIVE\80-89_bpm\ray_cash-bumpin_my_music.mp3

Exactly like this.

Your crates should automatically pop up. As they dont, something is still wrong with them. So, tell us, where did you put the crate files to?
hogg 5:32 AM - 28 July, 2006
Okay, I just got home and did this exactly like that. And I still see the crates (for example, reggae.slc, etc.), but they still don't show any files in them.

Had it worked, my other question was going to be: Now, if I bring my external drive to a gig and plug into someone else's laptop, will it work? ;)

I found this online today:
ssl-wiki.help.bootlegs.de

I'll give it a go next week. I'm off to some out-of-town gigs over the weekend.


Quote:
Now if only someone who DJs off an external drive and uses crates would post here, my day would be complete. ;)
hogg 5:34 AM - 28 July, 2006
Oops. Meant to say that I found that wiki link today and that it appears to say the same thing, but still, no luck. Thanks to everyone who tried to help me out in this thread.
nik39 5:50 AM - 28 July, 2006
Quote:
Okay, I just got home and did this exactly like that. And I still see the crates (for example, reggae.slc, etc.), but they still don't show any files in them.

You see them in the import window, is that what you mean? If so... that doesnt mean SSL "sees" them, at least not where it looks for crates.

You didnt answer my question...

Quote:
So, tell us, where did you put the crate files to?
stefski 11:58 AM - 28 July, 2006
I think the matter of using an external drive with serato needs better explaining in the wiki. There's mentioning of a script for moving songs to an external source but that's gotta be for PC users? When I asked for this someone asked if my drive ws HFS formatted and I just gave up I have no clue what that means. I sat staring at Disk Utility for three hours. My external just lies on my sofa I don't wanna touch it. I can't get my head around this. It's confusing.

There needs to be an easier function to move songs to an external from serato. This should go like hello do you want to a) Backuyp music library b) Copy crates to use with somebody else's computer.

I'm an OT knucklehead.
nik39 12:05 PM - 28 July, 2006
Quote:
There's mentioning of a script for moving songs to an external source but that's gotta be for PC users?

Its the opposite, its for Mac' users only.

Quote:
There needs to be an easier function to move songs to an external from serato.

You mean the script needs to be easier?
hogg 3:28 PM - 28 July, 2006
Quote:
Quote:
You didnt answer my question...

Quote:
So, tell us, where did you put the crate files to?



Nik,

I copied everything in the ScratchLIVE folder--including the crate (.slc) files--to the external drive. The crates are in the ScratchLIVE folder (H:\Documents and Settings\hogg\My Documents\My Music\ScratchLIVE).
hogg 3:38 PM - 28 July, 2006
And yes, Nik, I meant that I see the crates in the Import window. I see all the external drive folders, MP3s, and *.slc files.
Konix 4:08 PM - 28 July, 2006
Quote:
Now if only someone who DJs off an external drive and uses crates would post here, my day would be complete. ;)


I use my external drive almost exclusivley and have never had a problem.

But anyway, I think I have the answer. After some succesful testing, I believe I figured it out, and it's quite simple really.

First, crates on an external drive are stored in the hidden .ScratchLive folder (notice the period before ScratchLive) on the root of the external drive. So, if you are going to transfer all you crates that were on the C: drive to the external, then they HAVE to go into that hidden .ScratchLIVE folder on the root of the external for it to work. So crates should go..

H:\ .ScratchLIVE\Crates\cratename.crate

and not....

H:\Documents and Settings\hogg\My Documents\My Music\ScratchLIVE\Crates\cratename.crate

That's about it. Everything Nik has said though still applies, the folder path for the songs has to be the same on the external drive as it was on the C: drive.

Quote:
Quote:

C:\Documents and Settings\hogg\My Documents\My Music\ScratchLIVE\80-89_bpm\ray_cash-bumpin_my_music.mp3


New path should be:

Quote:

H:\Documents and Settings\hogg\My Documents\My Music\ScratchLIVE\80-89_bpm\ray_cash-bumpin_my_music.mp3


Exactly like this.


If you need more help or better explaining let me know.
nik39 9:33 PM - 28 July, 2006
Quote:
Oops. Meant to say that I found that wiki link today and that it appears to say the same thing, but still, no luck. Thanks to everyone who tried to help me out in this thread.

hogg, you did not read the wiki articel correctly.

LEt me quote the relevant part (which Konix has described in his own words):
Quote:
Tracks are on the d: drive (or any other drive not equal c:)

Create a folder ".ScratchLIVE" folder on your g: drive's root folder, in other words, you should have a folder g:\.ScratchLIVE Copy the whole content from the folder d:\.ScratchLIVE to g:\.ScratchLIVE. Example: You have one crate named "Dancehall", the correspondant location of the original crate file is d:\.ScratchLIVE\Crates\Dancehall.crate so the new location will be g:\.ScratchLIVE\Crates\Dancehall.crate. The database file's old location is d:\.ScratchLIVE\database V2 new location is g:\.ScratchLIVE\database V2