jay1911[m] uploaded an image: (35KiB) < https://matrix.chatbrainz.org/_matrix/media/v3/download/chatbrainz.org/aiezlvNCBGcsvNbdHXRWcLUV/image.png >
2025-07-18 19928, 2025
jay1911[m] uploaded an image: (5KiB) < https://matrix.chatbrainz.org/_matrix/media/v3/download/chatbrainz.org/EaBHMpKZINnEdWusCAosdTec/image.png >
2025-07-18 19928, 2025
jay1911[m]
Hi all, not sure if this is appropriate place to ask . I'm using MusicBrainz Picard for the first time and added my library which is on an SMB share. Some of my library worked but the rest looks like the attached in red. The error says the file doesnt exist but it obviously exists because it found the file when I added the directory. Any idea?
2025-07-18 19959, 2025
BobSwift[m] joined the channel
2025-07-18 19959, 2025
BobSwift[m]
Here or in the community channel where you first posted are both okay.
2025-07-18 19900, 2025
BobSwift[m]
I can't say for certain, but it looks like it could be a permissions problem. Are you sure that the destination directory isn't read-only and that you have sufficient permissions to write to it?
2025-07-18 19956, 2025
BobSwift[m]
Sometimes working from network shares can be a bit of an issue.
2025-07-18 19907, 2025
jay1911[m]
Oh its definitely possible that there is no write access, didn't figure it would be needed to view library. I'll confirm
2025-07-18 19951, 2025
BobSwift[m]
What happens if you copy the files to your local hard drive and have Picard save the updated files to the local drive and then try to copy them to your network share? Also, perhaps try mapping the network share to a drive letter and then try accessing the files that way.
2025-07-18 19947, 2025
BobSwift[m]
Sorry, I assumed that you were having the problems on saving.
2025-07-18 19928, 2025
jay1911[m]
all i did was "add folder" and ended up with a list of mostly red files and maybe around 15% of them were white and seem to be working fine - it's identifying those now, almost done.
2025-07-18 19956, 2025
BobSwift[m]
The other thing you might check is if there are any error messages in Picard's log that shed any more light on what's happening.
2025-07-18 19907, 2025
BobSwift[m]
Also, I'm assuming you're on a Windows system based on the backslashes used in the path.
2025-07-18 19958, 2025
jay1911[m]
musicbrainz is windows, music is stored on ubuntu linux server. file ownership/group and permissions are identical on working and non-working files so not that. I'm currently waiting on the log, I clicked it from the help menu about 2 minutes ago and the app is frozen... maybe its massive for some reason not sure whats going on.
2025-07-18 19915, 2025
BobSwift[m]
That can happen if you're loading a bunch of files. In general, I suggest working in small batches of a couple of hundred max.
2025-07-18 19910, 2025
jay1911[m]
whooops haha, I've got a lot loaded up. I'll let it do its thing and see what happens.
2025-07-18 19936, 2025
BobSwift[m]
By "that can happen" I mean it appearing to be frozen. Usually it's still working in the background.
2025-07-18 19954, 2025
jay1911[m]
yeah ill let it sit, hopefull it comes back to life
When you add files (or a directory) Picard will try to read the existing metadata from every (supported) audio file in the directory (and subdirectories). This is generally a bit slower with a network drive because of having to access everything over the network.
2025-07-18 19932, 2025
BobSwift[m]
Anyway, I need to run off to an appointment. If things don't sort themselves out and you're still having problems, please let us know and someone will try to help. Good luck with it. 🤞
