Deleating numbers at the beginning of song files

[comictimes]

OK, so I just got a new mp3 player (my ipod died, and apple said I would have to pay $255 to have it reapired even though I just got it a few months ago...), the Archos Gmini XS200, in case anyone's curious about it. And I absolutely LOVE the new player. It's ridiculously tiny, the interface is perfectly acceptable, it's just wonderful. The only problem is that apparently if a song file starts in a number (you know how a lot of songs have the track number then the song name- like "07 Snowman", that sort of thing) then the player (or mne at least), makes a copy of the song in the browser (it doesn't use up memory) called, for example, "._07 Snowman", as well as having the original file. Unfortunately, it can't play the random copy it put in, and so if you're listening to your entire library on random, the it get's killed A LOT because of these files that don't play.

So I was wondering if there's any way to get rid of the numbers in the song files, other than indiviually editing the 1500 songs I have which have numbers at the beginning...

Sorry that took a long time to say, but some help would be really....helpful...

 

[spacepower7]

OK, so I just got a new mp3 player (my ipod died, and apple said I would have to pay $255 to have it reapired even though I just got it a few months ago...), the Archos Gmini XS200, in case anyone's curious about it. And I absolutely LOVE the new player. It's ridiculously tiny, the interface is perfectly acceptable, it's just wonderful. The only problem is that apparently if a song file starts in a number (you know how a lot of songs have the track number then the song name- like "07 Snowman", that sort of thing) then the player (or mne at least), makes a copy of the song in the browser (it doesn't use up memory) called, for example, "._07 Snowman", as well as having the original file. Unfortunately, it can't play the random copy it put in, and so if you're listening to your entire library on random, the it get's killed A LOT because of these files that don't play.

So I was wondering if there's any way to get rid of the numbers in the song files, other than indiviually editing the 1500 songs I have which have numbers at the beginning...

Sorry that took a long time to say, but some help would be really....helpful...

Check out a freeware app called TriTag on versiontracker.com or macupdate.com
This app allows you to rename files or batch rename files. It is great.
It took me an hour to get it to do what i wanted, but now i know how to use it, Bam, it rocks.

It can do so much more too.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

OK, so I just got a new mp3 player (my ipod died, and apple said I would have to pay $255 to have it reapired even though I just got it a few months ago...), the Archos Gmini XS200, in case anyone's curious about it. And I absolutely LOVE the new player. It's ridiculously tiny, the interface is perfectly acceptable, it's just wonderful. The only problem is that apparently if a song file starts in a number (you know how a lot of songs have the track number then the song name- like "07 Snowman", that sort of thing) then the player (or mne at least), makes a copy of the song in the browser (it doesn't use up memory) called, for example, "._07 Snowman", as well as having the original file. Unfortunately, it can't play the random copy it put in, and so if you're listening to your entire library on random, the it get's killed A LOT because of these files that don't play.

So I was wondering if there's any way to get rid of the numbers in the song files, other than indiviually editing the 1500 songs I have which have numbers at the beginning...

Sorry that took a long time to say, but some help would be really....helpful...

I'm familiar with this particular issue - it strikes me all the time going from Mac to Windows. That ._filename you're seeing is Mac OS X's way of representing the resource fork of a Mac file on a Windows filesystem - hence why it doesn't play. If you have the offending files in your iTunes library, iTunes can do this for you. Simply enter iTunes preferences, go into Importing, and uncheck the "Create file names with track number" option. Click OK when done. For best results, also check the "Keep iTunes Music folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" boxes under Advanced in iTunes preferences, then re-import all your music into iTunes by going to your Library, selecting the whole thing, and pressing delete(Mac)/backspace(Windows). If prompted whether to move files to the Trash(Mac)/Recycle Bin(Windows), choose No. Then select all your music files and/or folders and drag them to the Library window in iTunes. This causes iTunes to make copies in its library of any files that weren't already in the library. Once that's done, iTunes will ask you if you want it to organize your music. Go ahead and let it do that by clicking Yes - this causes iTunes to rename and move your files within the iTunes Music folder as specified by your preferences set earlier.

Disclaimer: This procedure has not been tested by me, so I don't know if it works or not.

 

[comictimes]

well, I tried what wrldwzrd89 suggested, and it didn't get rid of the extra copies of the song, unfortunately. However, it did solve a different problem I had, namely that about half my songs had track numbers in front of the song name, which made finding specific songs very difficult. Now the track numbers are gone! It makes finding music and making playlists MUCH easier So... does anyone have any suggestions on getting rid of the unplayable files?

edit: I just tried using a program which lets you see invisible files, and it couldn't see the ._ files. Very annoying..

 

[wrldwzrd89]

well, I tried what wrldwzrd89 suggested, and it didn't get rid of the extra copies of the song, unfortunately. However, it did solve a different problem I had, namely that about half my songs had track numbers in front of the song name, which made finding specific songs very difficult. Now the track numbers are gone! It makes finding music and making playlists MUCH easier So... does anyone have any suggestions on getting rid of the unplayable files?

edit: I just tried using a program which lets you see invisible files, and it couldn't see the ._ files. Very annoying..

Why don't you search for a resource fork stripping program? Running it on the song files should correct your second issue (extra unplayable songs).