A playlist that won't go away!

[NewAgePensioner]

Hi,

Apologies that I'm new into this forum and whilst I've seen playlist problems from the past, my issue seems slightly different. I'm also not proficient enough to go delving into the B2 hard drive.

I have a Playlist called Best Of (Quiet) with 20 entries, a mixture of album and artist files. If I add more music to it, I get a duplicate playlist with the extra tracks eg Best Of (Quiet) (20) and Best Of (Quiet) (24). If I then, try to delete the original version with 20 tracks, it is the larger playlist which disappears (I've done this a few times!).  If I delete the playlist via the menu on the B2 the display says the playlist has been deleted although it is still there when scrolling through the Play Playlist menu. I've tried renaming it via the Web UI and when I refresh the screen, it reverts to the original name. I've even tried deleting all the music within it but it still reappears with the 20 files!

It isn't one of the original lists because the colour coded buttons on the remote are assigned to other playlists that I've created. I think it was the first playlist I created so it could be something I did from inexperience. It isn't a major problem because I've created another playlist with more entries and a different name but it's bugging me that I can't  do something that would appear to be simple.

Thanks,

NAP

[PMB]

Hi NAP,

Have you tried deleting Best of (Quiet) (20) via the web UI and then run Scan Disk?

Paul

Brennan Support.

[NewAgePensioner]

Yes, I have Paul. Makes no difference. I always do a Scan Disk after changes I make via the UI. It may initially disappear from the UI screen but if I refresh the screen it comes back again.

NAP

[Jasper Warwick]

I have had this problem before.

If you are feeling brave you can download Putty and delete the playlist using the command console.

Download and install Putty

Open a console to the B2 u/n: root p/w brennan

then type;

cd /media/hdd1/playlists

 ls

This will show all of you playlists, then type

rm nameofplaylist

this will delete the playlist 

[Mitchell Howard]

Hello - 

I too have had this same nagging little problem for over a year now. I have one playlist that just won't die. Tried every trick and workaround suggested (deleting from Web UI - changing name - emptying first, then changing  name, then deleting - creating duplicate, then deleting previous, deleting from B2 settings), all to no avail. Same duplicating behavior as well, just as NAP describes above. I haven't learned to love it, but I have come to terms with our living arrangement.

B2-2T purchased Dec 2017. Using MacBookPro for web UI. 

Thanks for re-introducing this issue NAP. Any ideas Paul, short of downloading Putty?

Mitch.

[PMB]

Hi NAP,

Open the Debug file on the UI and click 'Clear' > exit this and try deleting the 'playlist' > run scan disk > open the debug window again and send us the file to thebre...@gmail.com (the  brennan  b2 (at)  gmail  .  com).

Paul

Brennan Support.

[PMB]

HI Jasper,

Is there any 'save' and/or 'exit' command after deleting the playlist with Putty?

Paul

Brennan Support.

[Daniel Taylor]

Question for Paul"

It is my understanding that the pre-defined "colours" playlists cannot be deleted.  Once a playlist has been renamed, it becomes difficult (impossible?) to know which colour it started out as.  If you delete a renamed colour playlist, will it revert back to its original name.  Or do I have this all wrong.

[lesliebr...@gmail.com]

Hi Daniel. I had one of the original coloured playlists renamed as Classical. Don't have much classical music so it will be easy to reconstruct. I deleted it and it reverted back to the Green playlist. Before deleting it, I deleted the albums in it and it obviously stayed as "Classical, but on deleting the playlist it changed back to Green. The coloured playlists seem to be in the sequence of the rainbow. I haven't used all of them, but I think they stay in that sequence even after they are renamed, and others are added on to the list of playlists. I could be wrong here, but I don't think there's a way to arrange them alphabetically. Maybe there is. I as I say I haven't even used all the ones already there. Ones for Rock, Blues, Prog Rock, Classical and Christmas.

[Jasper Warwick]

From what I remember the file name of the undeletable playlist is called "Invalid" in the directory.

This probably wont work but still worth a try; 

Rename the playlist as Invalid or invalid and then try deleting it. The coloured lists can be renamed but in that case the underlying file name is not changed just the text that is shown on the drop down. Most imp[ortantly they cannot be deleted, just renamed. It is possible that the B2 is treating the "invalid" file in the same was as a coloured playlist.

[Mitchell Howard]

Hello Jasper & Paul - 

Jasper may be on to something there. Never having toyed with the colored-named lists, I knew that wasn't my particular issue. 

So I did as Jasper instructed (renaming my zombie playlist to "Invalid" ((w/cap)), and then deleting it. I then ran a scan, a save, I powered down, then powered up, and voila, the playlist is still gone. By this point in all other attempts, it would have reappeared as an empty playlist with its name, "Celtic" intact.  

My only hesitation is that even after countless attempts to delete it, this particular playlist has often disappeared temporarily, then returned. But as of now, it is still gone. 

Paul - If it does return yet again, I will do the steps as you recommended them to NAP, then email you the debug file.

Thank you Jasper for what seems like the fix. I appreciate it.

Mitch 

[andrew...@gmail.com]

Hi,

Not sure it's related but I recently had problems with duplicate playlist names after rearranging my playlists. This happened in spite of consistently running Scan disk after changes and using the Standby option afterwards. The problem occurred whenever I selectively some old playlists using Load playlists. At first these looked fine but immediately after I ran Scan disk again some playlists appeared corrupted. Two observations:

1) I had, for instance,  2 playlists showing in the WebUI, both named Classical. One was as it should be, the other was a playlist which actually contained tango music and was originally called Tango. When I examined the contents of the playlist file the file header had changed to #Classical (which could explain the double name listing in the UI). I could only delete this playlist after I used the WebUI to rename the playlist with a completely different name.

2) Several playlists contained tracks from other playlists whilst others had content missing. Some remained as they should be. Which playlists were affected seemed to vary each time.

Originally I was using the Jan 7th version of the software. This also happened after I upgraded to the March 11th version - in fact immediately after the reboot. I finally regrouped all the correct playlist files I wanted on a backup disk, deleted or cleared all the B2 playlists and did a complete reload via Load playlists. Everything now appears stable again.

Is it possible there is an indexing problem when playlists are (re)loaded selectively?

[Mitchell Howard]

Hello NAP - 

Just in case you missed it, Jasper Warwick's ("This probably wont work but still worth a try") solution near bottom of this thread seems to have worked for me. I had the exact same Playlist behavior as you described above for the past year, with no fix. I just learned to live with it. As Jasper says, "it's worth a try". 

Good luck.

Mitch

The steps in some detail just for clarity's sake (not knowing your comfort level with these matters)...

1. Rename your problem playlist to "Invalid" (w/cap). Select your problem playlist, then use 3-dot dropdown toolbar next to that Playlist name on Web UI. (Rename this playlist).

2. Delete it (again use 3-dot dropdown toolbar next to that Playlist name on Web UI. (Delete this playlist).

3. Run a Scan Disk from Web UI using "Settings and Status" toolbox (sprocketed gear at top of Web UI). Wait for Scan to complete.

4. Do a Save from the B2 itself by holding down the Play/Stop button on B2. When "Saving" appears, release Play/Stop button. 

5. When clock reappears on B2 display, with no other commands in progress and no music playing, power down the unit (however you do this... unplug from wall or if you have a power-switch, use that).  

6. Walk away for a bit, maybe have a bite to eat, then return and power up again. 

7. Hopefully your problem playlist will be forever gone to wherever it is these things go.

As I said, this worked just now on my deck after a year or so of fighting, then surrendering. If it doesn't do the trick, near bottom of this thread, Paul from Brennan has provided instructions for sending him a "debug" log.

Good luck. 

Mitch 

[NewAgePensioner]

I've posted the debug file to Paul as suggested. I also tried Mitchell's suggestion (including having lunch during the process!). I can rename the playlist 'Invalid' although when I go to delete it, the name simply reverts to the original and persists. 

Hopefully, Paul can identify the issue without me needing to resort to the Putty option.

[Mitchell Howard]

Hello NAP.

Any resolution on your playlist issue yet?

Mitch.

[Tony B]

Hi

I'm a newbie having treated myself to a B2 as a 'lockdown' present. I am really enjoying it, but now have a playlist problem that I can't solve.

I created about 8 playlists using the UI and they worked fine.  Having previously created many .m3u playlists using MS Excel I decided to write a small 'test' playlist for my Brennan - basically a text file imaginatively called 'TB Playlist'.

It uploaded okay but wouldn't play. And then the problems started ...

PROBLEM 1

The existing playlists are all present and correct when you access via the front panel, and they work okay. However, the playlist I created & uploaded cannot be deleted; the screen says it is deleting, but it won't go away - 'TB Playlist' persists....

PROBLEM 2

The Playlist section of the web UI has disappeared; I've tried it on PC & on my Android phone. The rest of the UI is fine and works normally. There is a heading for 'Red' but none of the associated tracks appear; and it can't be renamed, edited, deleted or combined either. None of the other playlists appear in the UI at all. I've tried scans, hard reset of the B2, but no change.

PROBLEM 3

So feeling brave and inspired by Jasper's excellent detailed postings I downloaded Putty. Jasper's instructions on getting to the playlist files worked a treat, and I found 'TB Playlist' amongst the others. However the 'rm' command failed to delete, strangely saying it couldn't find the file.

So I'm stuck, with no capability to delete / add / change any playlists.  Does anyone have any ideas?

[Jasper Warwick]

Stupid question but have you tried switching the B2 on and off again? it is a cliche but switching it off and on again does fix many computer based problem?

[Jasper Warwick]

If the file name is "TB Playlist" has spaces in the file name you will need to put the name in single quotes (more experienced Linux users please correct if I have this wrong!) e.g, rm 'TB Playlist" the names will also be case sensitive.

[Tony B]

A big thank you Jasper, I returned to Putty, added the single quotes as you suggested and the rogue file was deleted, resulting in the Web UI returning to normal ... :)

I will have another go at creating playlists via text file, avoiding spaces in the titles ...