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Topic: How to Fix Corrupted MetaData Tags? (Read 6845 times) previous topic - next topic
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How to Fix Corrupted MetaData Tags?

Right now I'm running Foobar2000 1.1.8 and everything is working correctly.  When I rip from CD's into FLAC and tag them, they play in my Sansa Clip portable media player just fine. 

However, I think a previous version of Foobar2000 wrote my FLAC tags wrong, or maybe it was from another media player.  When I play them in the Sansa Clip, they play, but some of the tags show up as "Unknown".  I think it's the Artist and Album tags that show up as "Unknown".  Anyhow...

Is there a command or procedure I can implement to correct all of the broken tags on my whole collection?  Some kind of batch command would be great, since this is hundreds of files.  Any ideas?

Thanks in advance. 

P.S.-I don't use iTunes, just Foobar2000.  I currently have Foobar2000 set up to write ID3v1 and ID3v2 tags on all files and that works.  In the Preferences, under Advanced, Tagging, I have selected all of the most compatible settings for both MP3's and FLAC tags.
opinion is not fact

How to Fix Corrupted MetaData Tags?

Reply #1 –
Quote from: astroidmist on
I currently have Foobar2000 set up to write ID3v1 and ID3v2 tags on all files

All MP3 files, you mean. FLAC files are not supposed to contain ID3 tags, and foobar2000 would not put them there. Maybe your problematic ones do, for whatever reason, and that’s the problem. If that were the case, you could try loading all of the affected FLAC files, right-clicking, and selecting the command Rewrite file tags; foobar2000 should then replace any non-standard ID3 tags with the proper Vorbis Comment format.

However, that doesn’t seem to completely explain how your player displays some tags but not others, so I might be way off.

How to Fix Corrupted MetaData Tags?

Reply #2 –
Hey thanks for your reply.  Actually I checked foobar2000 and it displays ? for the FLAC tag type.  It doesn't say ID3 or anything.  So you are right about Foobar being ok. 

Well, I have been re-checking my portable media player, and in fact some MP3 files have the missing/unknown/corrupt Artist tag also. 

I will try the re-write command.  Will I lose album front cover art during re-writing? 
opinion is not fact

How to Fix Corrupted MetaData Tags?

Reply #3 –
Ah, I didn’t realise it was one of the hidden options (apparently). You should be able to show it by holding Shift whilst right-clicking or by doing this:
Quote from: bb10 on
File > Preferences > Display > Context Menu > Rightclick [group] Tagging > Insert item > Command... > click Tagging/Rewrite File Tags > OK
As I said, I’m not sure if this’ll work. But it’s worth a go!

How to Fix Corrupted MetaData Tags?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: db1989 on
Ah, I didn’t realise it was one of the hidden options (apparently). You should be able to show it by holding Shift whilst right-clicking or by doing this:
Quote from: bb10 on
File > Preferences > Display > Context Menu > Rightclick [group] Tagging > Insert item > Command... > click Tagging/Rewrite File Tags > OK
As I said, I’m not sure if this’ll work. But it’s worth a go!



OK thanks.  You replied really fast LOL.  I found the command like you said and put it back. 

Well, I tried the re-write and it didn't help anything.  But it didn't harm anything either. 
The Sansa Clip still puts "Unknown" for the Artist, even though Foobar shows "God Lives Underwater".  Maybe the name is too long? 


Maybe it's a bug in the Sansa Clips firmware.  I know there are a few. 

Luckily the re-write command doesn't lose the artwork.  And it's actually really fast!  I re-wrote my entire MP3 collection in about 2 minutes!
Later on I'll try FLAC.
opinion is not fact

How to Fix Corrupted MetaData Tags?

Reply #5 –
Aw shucks... I just googled "Sansa Clip unknown artist" and tons of results show up.  It's a Sansa Clip bug I think.  I have to get busy reading the results.  Bu thanks dB 1989 for your help.  I really appreciate it.
opinion is not fact

How to Fix Corrupted MetaData Tags?

Reply #6 –
Quote from: astroidmist on
Aw shucks... I just googled "Sansa Clip unknown artist" and tons of results show up.  It's a Sansa Clip bug I think.  I have to get busy reading the results.  Bu thanks dB 1989 for your help.  I really appreciate it.


I guess I won't post any more messages about this here.  It's a Sansa problem.  However, I have found out a few things...

It seems to happen with ID3v2.4 tags for MP3's.  I'm not sure why it happens with FLAC.  It possibly might have to do with those MP3's that were created using the Fraunhofer codec instead of, say, LAME.  I'm still investigating.  I tried one recommended fix of disabling ID3v2.1 and rewriting the tags, but it didn't work because the ID3v2.4 tags are still there.  I don't know how to move them from 2.4 to 2.3, which should work.  There are Sansa Clip firmware updates available.  I updated my firmware and that got rid of some of the other portable media player bugs anyhow. 

If I find a full solution I'll post it here.
opinion is not fact

How to Fix Corrupted MetaData Tags?

Reply #7 –
You might also consider dumping the Sansa firmware and replace

How to Fix Corrupted MetaData Tags?

Reply #8 –
Quote from: tpijag on
You might also consider dumping the Sansa firmware and replace



Oh cool.  Thanks TPIjag.  I'll check into that. 

So far this is what I'm probably going to do with IDv2.4 tags from now on...
Quote
To prevent problems with converting tags between different ID3v2 revisions, foobar2000 will no longer convert ID3v2 tags between 2.3 and 2.4 unless explicitly requested by the user. [behavior changed in beta 5]
* The advanced preferences ID3v2 revision setting now affects creation of new tags only.
* New options have been added to the "MP3 tag types" dialog to accommodate for this.
opinion is not fact

How to Fix Corrupted MetaData Tags?

Reply #9 –
PROBLEM SOLVED![/u]

1) I converted all of my MP3 tags from ID3v2.4 (used in iTunes, etc) to ID3v2.3 (seemingly vastly more compatible)

Quote
To prevent problems with converting tags between different ID3v2 revisions, foobar2000 will no longer convert ID3v2 tags between 2.3 and 2.4 unless explicitly requested by the user. [behavior changed in beta 5]
* The advanced preferences ID3v2 revision setting now affects creation of new tags only.
* New options have been added to the "MP3 tag types" dialog to accommodate for this.


This was the main fix.  All of the troubled MP3's were ID3v2.4 so I selected ALL of them in my collection and did the above command, choosing v2.3. 

2) I upgraded my Sansa Clip firmware from the Sansa Clip website/support forums.  The manual firmware installation failed but the automatic installer worked (requires internet connection).  Be sure to set your Sansa to USB mode (USB mass storage) and retry if your operating system can't install the driver or if driver installation freezes/fails. 

The firmware update fixes some older Sansa Clip issues but I'm not sure if it helps this issue or not.  But it couldn't have hurt. 

Thanks to everyone who helped me with this. 

opinion is not fact
 

How to Fix Corrupted MetaData Tags?

Reply #10 –
Glad you solved it. Your focus on FLAC made me concentrate only on its incompatibility with ID3(v1) rather than considering that it might be another instance of 2.4 vs. 2.3, which I probably should have thought of.