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Topic: Can't add FLACs to WMP's Media Library (Read 10766 times) previous topic - next topic
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Can't add FLACs to WMP's Media Library

Hi all
Didn't find a topic which could include my problem , so here it is.
Win7 x64 machine there, using WMP12 x86
I installed the FLAC media foundation codec, here, a real nice alternative because doesn't install as a DSF but rather as a simple codec, and, most of all, gets rid of the annoying seekbar problem;after that I installed the WMP Tag Plus plug in, wishing to tag my few FLAC files; though that I'm experiencing the fact that my FLAC files can't be added to the media library, let alone be tagged.
Now I can't relate the problem to the WMP itself, I know I first installed the FLAC 1.2.1b frontend, then the FLAC mf, then the WMPTag plus; now I uninstalled the FLAC frontend but nothing changed : I can't add FLACs to th MEdia Library nor tag them via Windows Explorer despite the WMPTag plus is correctly pluged in.
Can anybody help me get around this problem?
many thanks
Max

Can't add FLACs to WMP's Media Library

Reply #1
My "educated guess" is simply that Microsoft doesn't care... about OpenSource projects! Just kidding, sorta.

Is this something as simple as an open/add filter dropdown box issue? Like, if you hit ADD FILES or whatever you do... does it pop open a box for you to choose a folder, or do you specify file types, etc? Can you type * and then hit Open or *.flac and hit open?

I assume you're smarter than that, so next... what about actual file associations. They hid those as best they could in Windows 7 I noticed. Are FLAC files actually associated with WMP as the handler? Here's the exact one (actually the only one which allows you to choose the EXTENSION as the primary criteria, then choose the PROGRAM to open it with. There is a similar entry that does the opposite... lets you choose the program, then check which file extensions for it to handle, which are pre-existing and can't be changed.

Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Default Programs\Set Associations -- you should have FLAC in the list, so select it then choose change program and browse, (expand the program listing if you need to) and then choose Windows Media Player then OK out of all that, see if that fixes the problem.

If both of those fail, my only other guess is the original joke... Microsoft did not include any code to look for or be able to add file types it doesn't automatically search for in its code... which is not an impossible possibility  Especially considering who it is, and really the codecs you speak of I believe... only just came out fairly recently... that is say... within the last several months to a year? So it may have never been anticipated for a DS filter for FLAC to come along... which I doubt should mean anything whatsoever... but I've seen stranger things.

I'll be honest with you, I refuse to open the program. Literally. The first time that POS went through and completely just... had its way molesting all of my MANUAL LABOR and precise things I wished to have done that way for a REASON -- 90% of you all know that even despite telling this monstrosity of a program NOT to connect to the internet, NOT to touch any metadata, NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING OR RETRIEVE/REFORMAT ANYTHING, WHATSOEVER... it went through and did what still shocks me to this day which of course is...

Every single one of my album folders this a-hole program immediately destroyed all of my hand-done high resolution album art and resizes it to a stunning... truly stunning 200x200 as the LARGE version of the album art... then creates those two stupid little hidden/system files that are copies of the original art, a really useful 75x75 "small" version -- uh... this is a damn album cover... not a desktop icon -- which by the way, in explorer or anywhere for that matter I can resize basic .ICO ... icons to a scale that stevie wonder could navigate!

Ok, sarcasm. I typed this reply like hours and hours ago so I have no idea where I was going with this other than WMP raped my music collection and album art and it destroyed probably what cumulatively took days or weeks to do and just took a dump on it, without asking a single question if i wanted this done or not. My 200x200 album art is awesome on my 63" 1080P tv when i'm using media center or other programs that use my artwork. I couldn't ask for a crisper, more pixelated "what the f*** is that, even?" wretched 1980's album art collection. Originally I could see the pores on peoples' faces.. .... now I can't even discern if what is on the screen is indeed even a face or something like a genital part or what not. You rule Microsoft. Learn what a prompt is or maybe deeper... give a s*** what the USER might want, not what you SAY happens. WMP, dead to me. After that day, turned to foobar2000 and I haven't opened that atrocity since. WMP i mean. foobar2000 i open every day and it hasn't ever done something like that in the years that i've been using it....

good choice on FLAC, though. my favorite too. the frontend wouldn't affect this... it's not akin to a rootkit like some other crap programs.. i think the nastiest integration it does is registers a single DLL file.

sorry. didn't mean to start a flame war against my own festering hatred for the damage that was so great that i was like ... eff it. what if i spent the next 2 months of my life undoing what that thing had done in 2 seconds and then one day i accidentally opened WMP with a misplaced click or something and it did it a second time?  ... i would lose what little mind remains and probably spend the rest of my life in a mental hospital talking to Windows Media Player and asking it why it did this to me when i told it to just dont destroy anything today... just open.. and then wait. that's all i wanted to happen! Oh.. wow. I think i'm already there. I need to make some phone calls about being committed now... hope my whatever i said helped


Can't add FLACs to WMP's Media Library

Reply #3
what if i spent the next 2 months of my life undoing what that thing had done in 2 seconds and then one day i accidentally opened WMP with a misplaced click or something and it did it a second time?  ... i would lose what little mind remains and probably spend the rest of my life in a mental hospital
......or you could just restore your media library from your backup......

Can't add FLACs to WMP's Media Library

Reply #4
My "educated guess" is simply that Microsoft doesn't care... about OpenSource projects! Just kidding, sorta.
[...]

Quoting every single word, Chinch..., though that the thing is I want to use WMP, because I messed a lot with other players in the past, which ended up corrupting some files, and I simply don't like the fb2k interface, talking about very personal tastes  .
At the moment I wouldn't build an album art library, though I've already scanned my cds, not now at least, I just would like the very few files I have to be added to the WMP library...I can't understand that because with WMP11 it was an easy task once installed the wMP Tag program, and using the illiminable DSF... strange thing as the OS codec should be less invasive...hm, maybe I think I should ask to the WMPTag plus support, thx anyway


Can't add FLACs to WMP's Media Library

Reply #6
I actually opened this topic primarily because of the assumption I'd get to read a funny anti-WMP rant. Thank you so much, this surpassed all my expectations.
Nothing is impossible if you don't need to do it yourself.

 

Can't add FLACs to WMP's Media Library

Reply #7
I installed the FLAC media foundation codec, here, a real nice alternative because doesn't install as a DSF but rather as a simple codec, and, most of all, gets rid of the annoying seekbar problem
That's your first mistake: you're using the wrong codec. Generally speaking anything you want WMP to play has to either be natively supported or have a DSF. Here's how I get FLAC playback to work in WMP12 on Windows 7 with tag and seeking support:

- Install latest Xiph.org DirectShow filters here: http://www.xiph.org/dshow/downloads/ <- this is as close to an "official" FLAC DSF as it gets so you should always use it
- Install latest WMP Tags Plus version here: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=75123
- For .flac: Re-import files into WMP 12 by either:
    - Pressing F3 while WMP is open
    - Closing WMP for 30 seconds, delete all .wmdb files here C:\Users\YourUsernameHere\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player, reopen WMP

BONUS:
- For .m4a: Change extension for tagged m4a file to mp4, play in WMP. It will show up in your Library -> Music and you can edit it there

Hope this helps.

I actually opened this topic primarily because of the assumption I'd get to read a funny anti-WMP rant.
For all its shortcomings, WMP has the best metadata lookup functionality of any (free) audio player I've tried, which is why I use it. Messy tags annoy me and I prefer WMP's convention for multi-artist tracks and multi-disc albums. But that's just me.


PS: In all fairness, figuring out how to make the above work isn't easy. It took me hours of forum post reading and trial and error to get it right, and when I finally did I saved the steps in Evernote so I could refer to them if I need to re-do them.
EAC>1)fb2k>LAME3.99 -V 0 --vbr-new>WMP12 2)MAC-Extra High