FWIW, I listened to and rated the remaining 5 tracks on the album and tried another WiFi sync. This time it did the same thing where it said it updated 1 and downloaded 5 tracks. It's definitely doing the conversion so it seem to think there is a difference in the file that requires an update even though the only change in the track was the play count and the rating.

I submitted a ticket but don't think there's anything to act on. The files eventually transferred by a combination of USB and WiFi. It was far from smooth but all worked out.

Then today I was listening to and rating some tracks on a new album and afterwards tried to sync MMA via WiFi. None of the files changed other than the rating and yet MMA is currently downloading the 15 tracks because the metadata changed. I thought that was held within the database so I'm surprised it would need to transfer the files.

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/XJfJ63jw/Screenshot-20240228-153302-Media-Monkey.jpg[/img]

I have no idea why this process was so difficult, but after many, MANY iterations, I now have a synced set on my phone. I created a ticket with the info I had collected but unfortunately there is likely nothing actionable for the support team to help make changes.
[img]https://i.postimg.cc/hvdBy6TN/Screenshot-20240227-105837-Media-Monkey.jpg[/img]

I tried a couple more times with USB and it appears that most of the list synced eventually after transcoding. I still have a set that refuses to sync for some reason but they play fine in MM5. When I try WiFi sync it just runs through the list of songs very quickly and pops a message saying "Sync error" with the info being "Unknown Error" and letting me adjust the sync settings. It really doesn't mean anything to me other than it's clearly not doing anything (transcoding isn't instant). Since I can't attach images or files I'll open a case. I started one yesterday but got sidetracked and didn't submit.

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/0jdzpydj/Screenshot-20240225-232930-Media-Monkey.jpg[/img]

What error do you see when wi-fi sync fails?

I tried with WiFi last night hoping that if I just left it it would eventually work but it failed a couple times right away. I tried restarting the phone and computer but no help. I submitted the MMA log (BQ7IHUJ14). I'll create a ticket now and try debugview this morning. Since this is repeatable it should be fairly easy to reproduce for the log.

What are the exact error messages during Sync? Do the 11 files that failed play in MMW?

MMW debug instructions (step 4b): https://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=86643

I'm still looking into this and when I look at devices & services/<phone>/music I see around 441 tracks listed. I checked my database and it appears that I have 373 tracks rated as 4 or 5 stars. I did have a playlist for "recently added" synced but I don't think that completed. That list has 146 tracks. If I add those it would be 519 and I don't think there would be any overlap since I haven't rated any of the new tracks yet. I changed the option to delete tracks as suggested above and added my 3 star ratings so will see what I end up with. It currently doesn't appear that the lists match and I'm not exactly sure how to compare them easily to see what is/isn't on the phone.

I've tried a few options now and the sync is spotty at best. I am not using wifi sync because it's a lot slower than USB (or so it seems). I tried syncing with what I believed would be the correct full set and MM5 complained that there was an error and MMA displayed a different error. I tried changing settings and got the same. After some tinkering, I was able to select a single album and it appears to have transferred (I could play the audio in MMA). So I then selected all 5 star tracks and it appears to have mostly transferred. It complained that 11 seemingly random tracks were not transferred. I restarted the same sync and it gave the same error. It was late, so I gave up last night.

This afternoon I am trying again and tried adding 4 star tracks. When I tried initiating the sync from the MM5 side, it initially was giving messages suggesting it was going to work but eventually failed.

Is there a way to share the sync issues with a debug log? I know how to share a log from MMA but I'm not sure if that contains all the information needed. I can create an issue in the tracker if that is the best option to get this resolved. Or, I can share whatever would help here.

[quote=Lowlander post_id=517373 time=1708881051 user_id=262]
In that case change the delete option to [i][url=https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHelp:Exporting_Tracks/5.0#Sync_List_(Library_--%3E_Device)]all other media files[/url][/i]. It should delete any non-matched files and then Sync what's missing.
[/quote]

It's not clear to whom this post was intended.
If it was me, I have that option selected, although I cannot be 100% sure whether it was checked when I had the problem many months ago.

I do now understand what the option does, but the manual requires improvement on this point.

[quote]All other media files [b]will remove all media files from the device that aren't on the Sync List selection. This includes files not in the MediaMonkey Library[/b] that are found on the device. This option is needed if you want Auto-Sync to remove files from the device that you have removed from the MediaMonkey Library.[/quote]

Read the 1st two sentences. Emphasis is mine.

The intent is unclear.
The wording suggests that, in this mode, MediaMonkey may go outside of its bounds, and delete any unknown media files ... ie kiss goodbye to the images of your now deceased dog, and the video of your child's 1st birthday, or any other media file that MM has no business with.

IMO documentation should assure the user that housekeeping is restricted to just those folders listed in the syncProfile>fileLocations tab

Also that tab says the purpose of the settings are to "Save files to the following locations" ... There is nothing to assure that are the only locations where MM5 is enabled for destructive housekeeping.

In that case change the delete option to [i][url=https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHelp:Exporting_Tracks/5.0#Sync_List_(Library_--%3E_Device)]all other media files[/url][/i]. It should delete any non-matched files and then Sync what's missing.

[quote=bkenobi69 post_id=517360 time=1708836357 user_id=25160]
I think I'm just going to delete the flac files and sync again. It should be quicker than figuring it out the right way...
[/quote]

That is my experience also.
And AFAICS there is no evidence that a "right way" exists when you get into a situation where the MMA database gets messed re what it has got and where it got it from.

The problem is the MM sync process that is a black box, and there seems no way to diagnose what is going wrong. No way to verify whether it is coming right, and no way efficiently report an identifiable problem to MM Tech Support. Each successive sync takes a very long time. Files are deleted and (re)transferred multiple times for no apparent reason. I didn't get any confidence that I was going end up with a clean result.

The MMA <-> Google Play Music facility that they going, until Google shuttered GPM, had the smarts to do a two way scan of the PC database and the files and database at the other end. It could link up files that it were exported to GPM using some other tool, and it could repair the situation when the ends got out of sync. For some reason this has not been feasible for other sync targets, like MMA.

It is disappointing, but as you said earlier this not a "life altering" event :) I have had very good stability from MM sync for many months now, and even if it did happen again, transfer via USB3 can chew through quite efficiently. I decided not to transcode my flac files, as that slows things down. I have 60gb of music in my phone, so I would upset if this was a regular problem, but it is not. :)

That was my first thought so I plugged the phone into USB and tried to sync. It gave an error and would not proceed. I can get the message but as I recall it was related to no space. The card is 64GB and the card is reporting 233MB free. I'm sure it's less because the sync failed earlier which is how I realized the issue and each file is around 25-35MB.

I can't attach a picture but basically it is in fact a message saying I need 11GB and I have 223MB free. I think I'm just going to delete the flac files and sync again. It should be quicker than figuring it out the right way...

Re-sync should take care of that, if I'm not mistaken.

I have been working on getting the media on my phone synced to my current database today. I was able to get the phone to sync with a new profile and it indicated "pairing media" at one point which appears to have linked everything as expected. I ended up with 185 tracks needing updating which sounds about right for the number of new tracks added since last sync. After a while, the phone complained that it ran out of space. As it turns out, I didn't have it set to transcode the files so all were full flac which maxed out my microSD. I thought it was just the new ones, but from the looks of it, all tracks on the phone are in native format (mostly flac). I adjusted my transcoding settings but am wondering how to tell MM to replace the current files? I could delete all files on the phone but don't know if that would be the best plan since meta data may not be up to date on all tracks. I think they were updated before transferring files started so it's probably ok.

What would be my best option to get the media files on my phone that are currently FLAC with transcoded MP3?