Windows 10: Groove music - i'm losing my mind! (indexing problem - probably)

Groove Music - the default music app in windows 10 is behaving a bit weird lately.
So, the symptoms are as follows: when I add a series of mp3s in my folder, which is set as default music location in Groove Music, the files aren't being added. Granted, since forever this app behaved in a manner that you had to wait a few seconds, perhaps a minute, to add the new files - the refresh of the library wasn't instant. but now it just doesn't refresh the library anymore. Or it does, after a few hours.

So I investigated a bit and found out that I have to manually rebuild indexes (using this option: http://www.winbeta.org/sites/default...?itok=AXFIURoi), in order to get the new music into groove music. This seems absurd, since it never happened before.

What are your suggestions? What's going on, what's wrong?

:)

 

Groove (version 3.6.1210.0) Keeps Losing My Album Collection!

Microsoft has released a new version of Groove (version 3.6.1210.0), and this keeps losing my entire album collection, and trying to rebuild it in a never-ending cycle.

I have 1,000+ albums stored on a Windows Home Server system, and four Windows PCs (desktop, laptop, a Windows Tablet and a Surface 3) all running Groove connected to it, with the root music folder on the WHS2011 system defined as a library (and hence defined
as a watched folder within Groove).

Now that all the instances of Groove have been updated to version 3.6.12.10.0, what will happen is that when I'm viewing my Albums, the albums will suddenly disappear, Groove will say there are zero albums available offline, and display the "Get some music"
message. After some time (30 minutes?), or a restart of the app, Groove will start reindexing the music folders and albums will start appearing. This goes on (slowly!) until all the albums have been scanned from the WHS2011 folders, at which point they will
all suddenly disappear again and the process starts over.

This is happening on three all four of the PCs. Interestingly, the Surface 3 is not losing the albums. However, it's also not displaying the correct number of albums held in my music library. I have 1,103 albums in my collection; according
to Groove on the Surface 3, I only have 1,084. I suspect that this instance of Groove isn't actually watching my watched folders...

Edit: I deleted the database within Groove on the Surface 3, to force it to rebuild its index. And now it is behaving the same as the other instances of Groove - it loses the albums, rebuilds the index, loses them again - in a never-ending cycle...

The 3.6.12.10.0 version of Groove is also not always displaying the "Adding music" notification when music is being added. Is this change in behaviour expected?

I feel that Microsoft is not testing this app sufficiently well; does anyone on the testing team bother to test it with a library held on a Windows Home Server 2011 system?

I don't mind being a beta tester when software is in beta; but Windows 10 and the Microsoft apps are now released. Groove is still not fit for purpose.

I have also sent this information in as feedback.

 

Playing music with Cortana

You should be able to add index locations from external drives just fine in Control Panel>Indexing options..

I've often done it.

Just make sure the drive and the music files are set to have their contents indexed too.. As I mentioned above.

Edit:

Ok I just cut and pasted an album on to a usb drive and added it to groove, and cortana found and played it immediately, no problem.. so Yes..

I'm assuming it needs to be added to groove and have it's contents ALLOWED to be indexed.. it doesn't necessarily have to be added to the Windows index locations.. if that makes sense..

It's like, when Cortana finds the music in Groove, it then uses the indexed content (album artist etc) to distinguish and play songs.

 

Hi, just takes a second for Groove to respond to copying them into the only folder (default) it 'watches' for me.. Have you checked it's actually watching the folder into which you're copying mp3's?

For comparison, you could check how quickly after you copy a file into a folder that is an indexed location from one that is not is found by Cortana, 'My stuff'. That should tell you whether indexing is actually working. (And you can watch the index being updated, of course).

 

thanks for your response!

Yes, the folder where I copy mp3s is being watched. If I do index rebuild, I immediately see the added folders in Groove Music, otherwise I don't.

I'm afraid I don't understand exactly the second part of the response. How do I achieve this? Watching indexes being updated and all?

 

Ok, so you want to know, in general, if indexing (automatic) is actually working.
Cortana search (My Stuff) uses indexed locations only (hmm!).
So move sthg new into your indexed folders (note.. you need to know your indexed locations).
Quickly click in Cortana's search box and type what you want to search for.
Then click 'My Stuff' above the search box to search.

The other idea is simply to
- watch the indexing progressing, where you set the indexed locations. (Control Panel, Indexing Options)
- then move sthg new into your indexed folders (note.. you need to know your indexed locations).
- hopefully you will see the number of items indexed increase.

 

OK, done. It works. I created a file named "test2.txt" and placed it in some folder that is not being indexed - Cortana doesn't find it. Then I place it in that folder where I store my mp3s and Cortana finds it immediately. I'd like to exclude the issues with indexing, but rebuilding indexes always works with Groove Music... any other ideas I can check out?

 

Strange- so it seems indexing is working, it can't be an inappropriate or non-recognised file or file type 'cos it's picked up after manual indexing.

You could obviously repeat what you've done with an mp3, for example: if Cortana finds the mp3, and Groove doesn't.. well.. hard to imagine what's going on.

So, try re-registering Groove, and if that doesn't work, uninstall it and reinstall it.
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/re-reg...ows-store-apps

Uninstall Groove Music:
Get-AppxPackage *zunemusic* | Remove-AppxPackage


or-

Step 1. First of all, download and install CCleaner for Windows 10. And then click on Tools and then click Uninstall tab to view all installed apps.

Step 2. Now right-click on Groove Music app, click Uninstall, and then click OK for confirmation to uninstall the Groove Music.


Reinstall:
Step 3. Reinstall: launch the Windows 10 Store.

Step 4. Now in the Store app, type Groove Music in the search box to see Groove Music in search results. Click on it.

Step 5. Click Install button. If the store is showing that the app is installed msg instead of Install button, close the Store app once and run it again.

Step 6. That’s it! Now clicking install button will download and install the Groove Music app on your Windows 10 PC.

 

unfortunately, I did that already before joining this forum - reinstalled Groove Music via powershell, also did a refresh (Groove Music Library Refresh : Surface). In all fairness, it behaves weird: sometimes, it immediately recognizes the changes, sometimes it does not at all and I need to do a manual rebuild of indexes. There's no real pattern.

 

Well, unless there's other experience of the same sort of problem, either turn to a different media player or try an in-place upgrade reinstall- which would seem like a sledgehammer approach..

 

OK now it didn't work again... so what I did, I went to the "indexing options", selected "modify" then looked for the newly added folder. It was there - checked - as if it was already indexed. Then I've UNCHECKED the newly added folder of mp3s, and checked it again. Clicked OK, and Groove Music started to update the library and added the new folder. Something must be seriously wrong. As if indexing is not being made real time - but when I tried your idea to create a new .txt file, it was found immediately

 

Hi, commendable persistence... (I've just fixed a significant search problem where Index Locations had vanished from the control panel). No accountable reason. But it happened to people with Win 7- which is where I got my solution, having understood basically what was missing).

Under Index Locations, click Advanced, check that mp3 is ticked (all should be by default) and Index Properties Only.

 

Thanks again. Every setting is as you've mentioned: mp3 is checked, index properties only is selected.

 

Ok, now we need to determine:
1. is your mp3 file ever indexed
2. is it indexed after a delay
3. if it is delayed, why?

So
1. display task manager, noting the idle CPU usage
2. also open Indexing Options (Control Panel, Indexing Options).
Note the number of files indexing; check indexing is complete.
3. move a new mp3 file into an indexed folder.
4. Observe Indexing Options and how long it takes for the mp3 to be indexed, meanwhile noting CPU usage in the task manager.

As you know, indexing is delayed until Windows deems conditions are quiet enough.

Have you tried Troubleshooting there?

 

Here's a different though pinched from another thread:
This is for windows 7, but it applies to windows 10 too:
It might be because of the security settings for that folder. For a folder and its content to be indexed, it must be configured with the System permission. Most folders already have this, but there are some cases where a folder might be missing theSystem permission.
To add the System permission to a folder

• Right-click the folder, click Properties, and then click the Security tab.
• If you don't see System listed under Group or user names, click Edit.
• Click Add, type System in the box that appears, and then click Check Names.
• Under Matching names, click System, and then click OK until all of the open dialog boxes you've opened are closed.

... how relevant this is I don't know, 'cos you say the file is indexed eventually.