I recently noticed that a number of ripped CD’s have gone missing from my UServe database. I looked at the backup on the NAS and they are there. I looked at the US database via Windows File Explorer and again the missing albums are there.
However I also spotted the following:
all the “missing” albums have file extensions of .WAV.DEL or .FLAC.DEL
-some of the items that are still showing up also have the .DEL secondary suffix
As an example Aretha Franklin Greatest Hits CD 1 doesn’t show, but CD 2 does; and both are showing as being .WAV.DEL.
The internet tells me nothing about a supplementary file extension. I had noticed this phenomenon before but assumed it was a quirk of the US as it didn’t seem to affect things. The tracks that do show play perfectly.
I have rebuilt the DB twice; above items still missing.
Can anyone suggest what is going on here? In passing I thought about restoring the backups; but I couldn’t work out how to do that either!
Strange, I’ve never seen the .del thing you mention on my Unitiserve, or anywhere else for that matter. Do you still have the CDs? If so can you try deleting an album, then ripping it again?
If I remember correctly from when I had an HDX, I noticed that when I deleted files using the app (Nstream?) they weren’t removed from the drive, but had a .DEL suffix added and weren’t visible from the HDX any more. If that’s The case it would suggest that the files have been marked deleted by your US.
It was a while ago now, I think I was clearing out my rips when I sold it, and spotted it in the NAS backup, so not absolutely certain.
As far as I can remember I have never consciously deleted any tracks but the .DEL suffix is suggestive. I thought I’d try to restore from the backup but can’t see how to do that. Documentation is thin on this point. Any pointers?
Update - Chris SU’s speculation about deleting files lead me to the recycle bin, where I found a stack of albums that I had never knowingly intended to delete. However, when I migrated from my HDX (many months ago) I did have to delete a stack of duplicatrs that appeared when I used the MOve Music function to upload them to the US. What I cannot understand is how I played many tracks repeatedly over the intervening months, then suddenly they disappear.
Anyway, the answer was to painstakingly go through and restore each missiing item; all missing items were there, but there were also albums that were not missing; another mystery. I found the restoring to be hit and miss. It took 4 goes at least before it would restore Jeff Buckley’s Grace, and it didn’t like Fleet Foxes either. It’s worrying when one’s system starts expressing it’s own musical tastes rather’s its owner’s…
Many thnaks for the hint; it set me on the right road.
I’ve just tried deleting an album, as I noticed that the US hadn’t ripped all the tracks, and sure enough, the deleted tracks, now sitting in the recycle bin, are suffixed .DEL so one way or another, it looks like that’s what happened to yours. Still, at least you are sorted now, even if you’ll never know exactly how it happened!