winamp – Jan Verkoyen

Winamp 5.666 change media library location

One of my previous posts guided you to the process of moving your library location from drive X to drive Y with the aid of a HEX-editor. This was tested for Winamp version 5.61. It was a rather complex approach, since iTunes XML import did not work in that version.

I have tested this again with Winamp version 5.666 and XML export/import works perfectly.

Make a backup copy of your Winamp profile (c:\Users\<USERNAME>\AppData\Roaming\Winamp\*)
Open Winamp
Remove everything from your current playlist
On the media library tab, click local library
Click Library button and export media database

Open the generated XML file, and with a program like notepad++, you can find & replace the <key>location</key> values to the new location. Save the file

Reopen Winamp
Remove everything in your library
Close and reopen Winamp
On the library button, choose import media database and point to the new XML file you created

That’s it!

Move your music library from Winamp to iTunes

In a previous post I helped you to switch your music library from iTunes to Winamp, without losing any metadata (such as last play date, play count, rating…). Now Winamp has stopped releasing new versions, some might want to switch back sooner or later. I’ve made the switch as a kind of experiment to see whether it would be possible to keep (the most valuable metadata). iTunes won’t be able to please me in the near future, but as time goes by, it might be the only easy way to sync with my old iPod Classic and iPad.

What do you need?

– Winamp 5.666 (media library required, standard Winamp installation)
– Your favorite txt notepad software with find/replace features (Notepad++, GVim, …)
– iTunes 11.2.2.3

It will please you to hear that moving the library back to iTunes is less complicated than the reverse option.

Steps

Start up Winamp

The default view has a button called ‘library’ at the bottom of the left column (media library column). Click, and choose ‘export media database’. This will create an iTunes XML library database.

Start up your favorite txt editor

Open the XML file created by Winamp in the previous step. Replace F below with the drive letter on your system. Find:

<key>Location</key><string>file://localhost/F:%5

Replace with

<key>Location</key><string>file://localhost/F:/

(so the only thing that needs replacement is %5 to /)

Save and close XML file

Start up iTunes

File (Alt + F) > Library > Import playlist… Choose the XML file

If you have lots of media files, this will take some time.

Winamp, need to change your media library location?

Face it, your library location might change over time. When you’re using Winamp and don’t won’t to loose all valuable data like play count, last play date, … you probably searched around hours to find a solution on how to change the location to your media library (e.g. you swapped hard drives, bought a new pc, …). Rescanning your media folder is the easiest way to rebuild your media library, but you’ll loose play count, play dates and maybe more meta data.

I’ve searched the winamp forum for solutions, but the only result was people asking the same questions without getting the right answers. Depending on your Winamp version you might have tried some none working plugins too. The logical solution would be exporting your winamp media library to an iTunes XML format (and the export process will work!), but you’ll run into fatal errors when trying to import it. It all boils down to getting access to the core data file of your winamp media library (main.dat) and updating an outdated location to a hard drive or directory that has been moved. Continue reading “Winamp, need to change your media library location?”

Extending iPod support in WinAmp

This article is a continuation of ‘Moving your music library from iTunes to Winamp’

The standard distribution of Winamp already comes with basic functionalities for connecting iPod/iPhone devices. However, these features are really basic! Album art, smart playlists and ratings are not transferred.

The plugin ‘ml_ipod‘ enables such features (installation and configuration are self-explanatory). Compatibility should be checked with your device at the ml_ipod website, since Apple is not very happy with third party software.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/mlipod/mlipod

Moving your music library from iTunes to Winamp.

It took me a long while to find a decent alternative for iTunes. First of all I wanted to get rid of Quicktime. It’s a player that really likes to hijack file associations. Still, I managed to live with that. Unfortunately the iTunes software keeps getting bigger with no benefit whatsoever. In my case I just need a mediaplayer (music player) for Windows that manages a music library and makes it easy to synchronize with my iPod Classic. I don’t need any other software stuffed down my throat containing drivers, connectors, features, ads,… for Apple hardware which I’m not planning to buy!

Moving from one player to another would be very easy if you hadn’t been upgrading like a good citizen into one of the latest iTunes releases where you followed the candytrail into the sealed fortress. Continue reading “Moving your music library from iTunes to Winamp.”

Raken we dan nooit van iTunes verlost?

Mijn pogingen uit het verleden om iTunes eruit te gooien en te vervangen door iets anders zijn nog steeds niet gelukt. Het probleem blijft nog steeds om alle kostbare (!) meta-data in een ander programma te krijgen én de functionaliteit te behouden om te synchroniseren met een iPod.

Op dit moment probeer ik opnieuw Winamp, maar nog steeds gebeurt niet alles vlekkeloos, maar Winamp komt van alle alternatieven toch het dichtst in de buurt. Continue reading “Raken we dan nooit van iTunes verlost?”

Enter Songbird, Exit iTunes of eerder WinAmp of MediaMonkey?

Het ging niet lang meer duren, zo bleek al uit een van mijn vorige berichten. Ik heb iTunes nu definitief naar de prullenbak verwezen en Songbird geïnstalleerd. Wat een verademing, of toch niet helemaal?? Continue reading “Enter Songbird, Exit iTunes of eerder WinAmp of MediaMonkey?”