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Music file attributes (album, artist) not present in all sync'd mp3 files.

I have a Win10 machine where I save songs from vinyl and apply file attributes like Album, Artist, Title, etc (using mp3Tag v2.89a).

These files will sync just fine to my other AWS Win10 machine, but about 60 out of 320 will not show any attributes that were present in the originals. Just the standard mp3 file name and size are there, no Album or Title like all the others.

I've tried changing one or two fields, just to see if a re-sync would bring them over. I can see the modified date change, but the Attributes are still empty.

What can I do or check to learn what's possibly different between the ones which carry all their attributes thru the sync process, vs. those that don't?

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Jane

Thanks a lot for your detailed update here @AlHolden, this has been really helpful!

If I were in your shoes, I’d check whether syncing takes place as expected between steps #1. & #2. (namely :desktop: ➡️ 🕸️// 🕸️ ➡️ :computer:). From there, I’d isolate the issue on my Windows 10 device & see if I could replicate the behavior outside the Dropbox folder (i.e. This should help you determine whether the issue is specific to Dropbox or not).

Also, it may be worth working on a specific example file & checking back on its Version History (tip: it’s on the on the 💬 of the file in question) that will point you towards the last modifications of the file.

Please do let me know how you get on with my hints on this discussion & I’ll do my best to check back with you!

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Jane

Hey @AlHolden, that’s an interesting inquiry, let’s look into the matter together in a bit more depth!

While Dropbox should generally sync attribute file types across all computers, this information should also be recognized by your device as well. In general, these supported file systems are NTFS for Windows, HFS for Mac and on Linux a file system with xattrs support. If you are not running a default file system, you may want to check if your file system supports xattrs.

In other words, if you’re unable to see your attribute files across your Windows pcs, then I’d suspect that either these files aren’t recognized by your OS or there’s a missing setting that would enable you to view these files locally. For context, you could read more about xattrs on this resource.

For information about supported attributes and file systems please check the details for your specific OS.

Hopefully this answers your question, though please do keep me updated on this discussion on how my pointers work for you or if I’ve misunderstood your query in any way. Thanks for getting in touch on our Community & enjoy the rest of your day until we talk again!

AlHolden

Thanks Jane, I appriciate the reply...

But I think you're saying that one of my Win10 machines is using one file system, while the Win10 machine on the other end of the sync is using a different file system? I'm suprised that this is possible.

Here is the workflow:

The songs are ripped from old 33, 45 & 78 RPM vinyl using a Linux Ubuntu system and placed in Dropbox.
Once synced to the Win10 machine, the mp3 tags are applied there - using the software I mentioned. I assume this happens on NTFS.
Another Win10 machine (also on Dropbox, and also NTFS I assume), places the songs into streaming rotation a few days later.

It is the sync between steps 2 and 3 where the attribute tags are disappearing. Again, this does not happen with all of them. Just 10~20% or so. So the filesystem idea does not seem applicable here.

The workaround is to repeat step 2 (apply the tags over again), so I suspect the tagging software over a dropbox flaw.

As part of my debugging steps, I just wanted to know if this was a problem with any "memory" in the community.

Jane

Thanks a lot for your detailed update here @AlHolden, this has been really helpful!

Please do let me know how you get on with my hints on this discussion & I’ll do my best to check back with you!