rugbynerd

On the motorola photon, with gingerbread, etc., I just discovered I can drag and drop music and playlists without using any software like itunes, motoral media, or anything else. I just moved my mp3 files into the folder MOBILE-->MUSIC. Then I also put my playlists there under the same MUSIC folder (m3u or pls standard playlist filetypes, exported from itunes). At first, the playlists did not show up as available. But I went to the file manager on the phone and attempted to open the playlist files directly. It didn't work, but then when I went back into the music player program and looked under playlists, I found that all my playlists showed up and functioned! I found out that apparently the phone creates its own playlist filetypes (called ".pla") under the "PLAYLISTS" folder that already existed on the phone but was previously empty. Finally I am free of freaking itunes! (I just had to use itunes one last time to export the playlists.) Just thought this would be helpful to others.

Oh, and one more helpful tip is that to also transfer your ringtones, you can move them to MEDIA-->AUDIO-->RINGTONES, or for alarms same path MEDIA-->AUDIO-->ALARMS, or for notifications same path of MEDIA-->AUDIO-->NOTIFICATIONS. Any mp3 files work there. I'm not sure if this next part is necessary, but the filename by default seems to include the type of sound, e.g., if you have a ringtone named "abcde.mp3" it calls it "abcderingtone.mp3" or "abcdealarm.mp3" etc.

BigPapi

For Windows Media Player, once the Droid X is discovered, right click on the name of your Droid X device to SET UP SYNC LIST. Then, you identify which Windows Media Player playlists will sync in. Here is the rub...

When your device is connected in "USB Mass Storage" mode, the music and videos will sync, but the Playlists do not.

However, when you change to "PC Mode" on the USB Connection, everything syncs the way it's supposed to - including the playlists from Windows Media Player.

I personally have had NO success with "Windows Media Sync" mode on USB Connection, but I hear rumor it works with Windows 7 OSs.

Good luck!

Anfans

I just wonder that is the playlist file can be recognized by Android system.

Bob K

Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0
Win7 x64 Home Premium
Stock music player
Android 2.3.5

Here's what I've experienced so far when syncing music and playlists using Windows Media Player 12.


Mass storage mode. With the SGP5 is in Mass storage mode, I must first connect the SGP5 and then start WMP12 in order to WMP12 to detect the internal and external storage. I can drag a playlist to the Sync tab and it will properly sync the music; however, it will not add the actual playlist to the SGP5.

Media player mode. With the SGP5 in Media player mode, I can connect the SGP5 with WMP12 already open and WMP12 will properly detect the internal and external storage. I can drag a playlist to the Sync tab and it will properly sync the music. It will also create a .pla playlist file that it stores at /mnt/sdcard/Playlists. The .pla playlist file contains all the correct entries and the stock music player will recognize and play the playlist. However, there is a persistent error (see error #1 below)

I can, at any time, copy the WMP12 .wpl playlist file from my computer to the SGP5 (I put it in the /mnt/sdcard/Playlists folder) and the stock music player will detect it and play it. However, it does not contain the correct entries (see error #2 below)

Errors
#1. The .pla playlist has some kind of underlying problem that prevents it from working correctly with the stock player. The first song will play properly and the second song plays properly, but once it reaches the end of the second song, it will replay the second song as if stuck in "Repeat 1" mode. Additionally, any attempt to forward to a different song (regardless of where I am currently playing in the playlist) and it will go back and start playing the second song again. If I delete the first entry in the playlist, it will repeat the error on the new second song. Deleting the actual song file makes no change. The error occurs regardless of the current play mode (Play All, Repeat All, Repeat 1). Oddly, if I turn shuffle on, the problem goes away. I confirmed that this error exists will multiple playlists and occurs regardless of whether the music & playlists are stored on the internal or the external memory.

#2. I viewed the WMP12 .wpl file with Notepad. It appears to be an .xml structure file that has translated ampersand symbols ("&") in music folder names or song titles into the text "&". Any song entry will the "&" text in it will not show up in the playlist on the SGP5 stock player. Also, any song entry that is missing the "cid" and "tid" tags won't show up in the playlist on the SGP5 stock player. It will also not show up in the playlist when the playlist is imported into PowerAMP.

Last edited by Bob K; January 21st, 2012 at 04:26 PM.

Bob K

After many hours of troubleshooting, I finally decided to do a factory reset on my SGP5. Error #2 has gone away as a result. I believe I may have induced the original problem with some intense playing around with the stock player, Winamp, and PowerAMP (importing playlists, copying playlists, etc. to see how each player functions). I believe the error may have to do with messed up root tables as mentioned in this thread: http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=63031.

The best way I've found so far to sync the SGP5 with WMP12 is to connect the SGP5 in Mass Storage mode and sync by dragging the playlist to the Sync tab. Then, using Windows Explorer, I copy the .wpl playlist file to /mnt/sdcard/Playlists. The entire playlist shows up and plays just fine in the stock player.

I've discovered a couple extra things in the process. If the SGP5 is connected to the computer in Media Player mode, there's no option not to convert as I sync: Any files not meeting my sync and quality criteria (bitrate, etc.) will be converted to a .wma file before syncing to the SGP5.

If I connect in Mass Storage mode, I do have the option not to convert as I sync. I prefer this method right now because it speeds up syncing and 99% of my media is compliant with the codecs on the SGP5.


WMP12 Sync Quality Options in Mass Storage Mode



I'm going to keep troubleshooting with this new toy to see what it can and can't do.

Bob K

A little more troubleshooting.

I was able to repeat the playlist problem (error #2). If I select the option to let WMP12 convert music before syncing, it causes playlist problems in the .wpl playlist I manually copy to the SGP5. The actual music files are on the SGP5, but the playlist doesn't include all the songs. I was able to make the error go away by once again turning off the convert option. After erasing all the (converted) music files from the SGP5 and then resyncing them (without converting), the .wpl playlist then contains all of the correct entries.

So that's my long term syncing method. Operate the SGP5 in Mass storage mode, don't convert music before syncing, and manually copy the .wpl playlist over the the SGP. PowerAMP is also able to find the playlist and it has all the correct entries.

The bonus to syncing to the SGP5 in Mass Storage mode is that my Calibre ebook management software recognizes the SGP5. Calibre does not recognize the SGP5 when it is in Media Player mode...so I don't have to switch back and forth when syncing music and ebooks.